| The current study investigated the relative role of National and Organizational culture in multinational corporations in four different industries. Japanese and Taiwanese companies operating in Taiwan were studied. The finding indicate that the role of national culture plays a greater role in organizational culture within the organizations studied. Corporate culture was not a distinguishing factor when comparing Taiwanese companies with Japanese companies operating in Taiwan. It appears that the national culture dimensions are brought to the company from the home country and continue to influence the organizational norms despite the new host country of operations. The national culture factors that were investigated in this study, using the CPO questionnaire, were more effective in differentiating the critical factors effecting the organization than those factors directly related to corporate culture.;Future research should investigate companies from other countries than Japan and Taiwan. The current project does not permit a determination of whether the finding that national culture plays the dominant role when compared to the corporate culture is a generalizable finding or one restricted to the cultures studies. In addition, the findings may have something to do with the host country, in this case Taiwan.;This research project demonstrates the relative role of corporate and national cultures. In addition, it has demonstrated the value of an instrument designed to evaluate national cultures and shows the potential and relative importance of national and organizational culture on organizational behavior and effectiveness. |
