Process Standardization across Intra- and Inter-Cultural Relationships

Theory suggests that culture may hinder the ability to effectively standardize the process of relationship development strategies across intra- and inter-cultural relationships. Construct relationships between trust, commitment, conflict and satisfaction in manufacturer-distributor relationships are examined intra- (i.e., within a single cultural type) and inter-culturally (i.e., between different cultural types) with a sample of distributors from Canada, Chile, Mexico and the United States. Results support theoretical differences in the consequences of the trust-commitment relationship between intra-cultural and inter-cultural relationships. The results suggest process standardization based upon cultural type.© 2000 JIBS. Journal of International Business Studies (2000) 31, 303–324