ABSTRACT

One of the single biggest variables in the success of cross-border alliances such as IJVs and IM&As is culture, and more specifically, cultural differences or distances between companies:

Cultural distance is reflected and transmitted via human actors. In IJVs and IM&As, it is

articulated in the composition of human resources, with employees and executives being

the conduits for the cultural influences brought into the venture. These various employee

groups bring in different inputs anchored in national, industrial and corporate cultures

that make up the cultural mosaic of the IJV and the IM&A.