Interpreting, categorizing and responding to the environment: the role of culture in strategic problem definition

The focus of this article is to closely examine the role of cross‐cultural factors on interpreting, categorizing and responding to the environment. To that effect, this article examines two different streams of research. The first is a review of the literature on the environment, and the second is an assessment of certain cross‐cultural factors that may systematically influence strategic problem definition. Based on an examination of the literature on the environment, two frameworks are developed. The first framework addresses issues associated with categorizing the environment and the second framework highlights organizational responses. Hofstede’s dimension of individualism‐collectivism is used to suggest that managers are likely to differ systematically on strategic problem definition on the basis of culture. Conclusions are derived that relate culture, environment, strategic problem definition and organizational responses.