Intercultural collaboration stories: On narrative inquiry and analysis as tools for research in international business

Martine Cardel Gertsen and Anne-Marie Søderberg
Additional contact information
Martine Cardel Gertsen: Department of Intercultural Communication and Management, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark
Anne-Marie Søderberg: Department of Intercultural Communication and Management, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark

Journal of International Business Studies, 2011, vol. 42, issue 6, 787-804

Abstract: The objective of this article is to show how narrative methods provide useful tools for international business research. We do this by presenting a study of stories told about the collaboration between a Danish expatriate manager and his Chinese CEO in the Shanghai subsidiary of an MNE. First, we explain and exemplify how narrative interviews are designed and conducted. In this connection, we consider the interviewers’ interaction with the interviewees, and clarify our reasons for focusing on the two selected interviews. Second, we demonstrate how narrative concepts and models are able to elucidate intercultural collaboration processes by analyzing how each member of a dyad of interacting managers narrates the same chain of events. We show how the narratological concepts of peripeteia and anagnorisis are well suited to identifying focal points in their stories: situations where change follows their recognizing new dimensions of their conflicts, eventually furthering their collaboration. We explain how Greimas's actantial model is valuable when mapping differences between and changes in the narrators’ projects, alliances and oppositions in the course of their interaction. Thus, we make it clear how they overcome most of their differences and establish common ground through mutual learning.

Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jibs/journal/v42/n6/pdf/jibs201115a.pdf Link to full text PDF (application/pdf)
http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jibs/journal/v42/n6/full/jibs201115a.html Link to full text HTML (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:jintbs:v:42:y:2011:i:6:p:787-804

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer. ... nt/journal/41267/PS2

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Business Studies is currently edited by John Cantwell

More articles in Journal of International Business Studies from Palgrave Macmillan, Academy of International Business
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().