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The translation of corporate governance changes across national cultures: the case of Germany

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Abstract

Contrasting systems of corporate governance persist internationally but are subject to regulatory and firm-level institutional change. Such changes may be viewed as organisational innovations, often imported from the USA in the face of different national cultures. This paper analyses the implications of national culture for the translation of innovations, and provides case study illustrations of regulatory and firm-level governance changes experienced in Germany. These illustrations demonstrate that the diffusion of both kinds of change has been subject to substantial translation that is consistent with German national culture.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Professor Anand Swaminathan and three reviewers for some really excellent comments on our drafts.

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  1. Loughborough University Business School, Loughborough, UK

    Trevor Buck

  2. Leicester Graduate School of Business, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK

    Azura Shahrim

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Correspondence to Trevor Buck.

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Accepted by Anand Swaminathan, Departmental Editor, 22 August 2004. This paper has been with the author for two revisions.

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Buck, T., Shahrim, A. The translation of corporate governance changes across national cultures: the case of Germany. J Int Bus Stud 36, 42–61 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400109

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