ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a detailed account of both the empirical basis of the comparisons and the principle analytical tools deployed. A distinguishing feature of the Cranet surveys is that they are designed by a multi-cultural team and conducted by an independent team of academics; the results are analyzed in multi-cultural teams. By obtaining credible data on policies and practices within the firm, to address many of the institutional debates that have heretofore tended to rely on either case studies or aggregate data about firm activities. The relationships within the firm that Whitley and others have seen as indicative of the different forms that business within a society can adopt. These relationships are often studied by human resource management (HRM) specialists and therefore our text contributes both to a deeper understanding of the overall institutional bases of business within a society and to the way that human resources are managed in each society.
