Paradigms in International and Cross-Cultural Management Research

Paradigms exist and have always existed everywhere—assumptions about the world and how it works: Is the Earth round or flat? Is the Earth or the Sun at the center of the universe? Even as a child, you hear about the great paradigm shifts of our time, when worldviews and assumptions were discarded and reorganized. Such assumptions also exist in science, where a group of scientists hold similar assumptions about how they perceive, understand, and explain the world. Research paradigms thus encompass positions, ways of thinking, and views shared by a community to develop scientific theoretical frames of reference, formulate questions, generate methods, and design corresponding solutions with the aim of gaining knowledge. In recent decades, however, the academic literature on international and cross-cultural management (IM and CCM) has paid only limited attention to research paradigms. Although there are books and articles that explicitly deal with the philosophy and theory of science and paradigms, there is little space and attention given to one’s own basic assumptions, especially in empirical academic journal articles, which can lead to an increasing “forgetting” of one’s own paradigm and ultimately to a mutual lack of understanding between disciplines and scientific communities. Although paradigms are explicitly addressed in the theoretical literature, most empirical studies fail to clearly articulate or reflect upon the paradigmatic lens through which they are conducted. In some cases, it is even said that (self-)reflexive engagement with one’s own paradigm is useless. The articles discussed in this bibliography include basic categorizations of research paradigms as well as their application and debate in international and cross-cultural management research. They also provide a variety of perspectives and positions on how to deal with paradigms theoretically and empirically. The aim is to increase researchers’ awareness and reflexivity about the existence of multiple paradigms in international and cross-cultural management research and to reduce misunderstandings about paradigms. The encounter and discussion of fundamentally different paradigms, including perspectives and epistemologies, promotes the development of scientific knowledge and can lead to a “reinterpretation” of international and cross-cultural management research. Accordingly, the presented bibliography deals with research paradigms, their assumptions, and foundational works, but also with critical reflections on the “use” of paradigms, their incommensurability, the need for renaming, and the contribution to mutual understanding that can be achieved through active engagement with multiple paradigms. This meaningful selection provides an opportunity for those interested in the field to learn more about the central issues and publications in paradigm research in management, or to deepen their knowledge in this area.