Abstract
Two important streams of cross-cultural management (CCM) studies define culture in terms of either values or meanings. These are the positivist and interpretivist streams (see Sackmann, in this volume, as well as GertsenXX1Zølner, in this volume). In contrast to these, this chapter is positioned in the ‘critical CCM’stream (see Romani et al., Chapter 3 in this volume), inspired by the critical management studies initially formulated by Alvesson and Willmott (1992). This critical perspective questions the essentialist and naturalist view of cultural differences (building on values or meanings). We argue that these views are neither ‘natural’nor ‘essential’–that is, they do not represent the central aspect to be investigated in intercultural interactions. For example, in a corporate situation in which a manager of Israeli origin is leading a team of salespeople positioned in Iran, there might be additional aspects beyond national value differences that shape their intercultural interactions; even more so if the manager is a conservative Jewish person of Russian origin.