Parboteeah 2009 Human Relations-Religion

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Religious dimensions and work obligation: A country institutional profile

model
K. Praveen Parboteeah, Martin Hoegl and John Cullen
Human Relations 2009 62: 119
DOI: 10.1177/0018726708099515
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Human Relations
DOI: 10.1177/0018726708099515
Volume 62(1): 119–148
Copyright © 2009
The Tavistock Institute ®
SAGE Publications
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Singapore and Washington DC
http://hum.sagepub.com
Religious dimensions and work

obligation: A country institutional
profile model
K. Praveen Parboteeah, Martin Hoegl and John Cullen
A B S T R AC T The influence of religion as an important element of national

contexts has been largely neglected in international management
research, even though all major religions promote particular values
that believers express at work. In this article, we apply the country
institutional profile (Kostova, 1999) to specify cognitive, normative,
and regulative elements of national religious contexts and relate
them to individuals’ work obligation norms. Using Hierarchical Linear
Modeling (HLM) on data from 62,128 individuals in 45 countries, we
find support for our hypotheses regarding positive relationships with
one cognitive component (importance of God) and one normative
component (behavioral aspect of religion). Our hypothesis for the
negative relationship between the regulative component (state
religion) and work obligation is also supported. We also propose
that religious pluralism will weaken the relationships between the
cognitive and normative aspects of religion and work obligations.
Results provide varying support for the interactive effects of religious
pluralism. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of our
results and argue for the analytical importance of religion in under-
standing workplace behaviors.
K E Y WO R D S comparative and cross-cultural management country

institutional profile job/employee attitudes management
religion strategic and international management
119

120 Human Relations 62(1)
Religion, the shared set of beliefs, activities, and institutions based on faith
in supernatural forces (Stark & Bainbridge, 1985), remains an important
social institution in most societies (Barro & McCleary, 2003; Davie, 2007;
Ellison & Sherkat, 1995; Iannaccone, 1998; King & Crowther, 2004). The
growth of evangelical Christianity in the USA, the rise of Islam in many parts
of the world, the tremendous growth of Protestantism in Latin America, the
sustained influence of Buddhism in Asia, and the continued role of Hinduism
in Indian society all suggest that religion has significant influences on how
most societies and individuals within them interact (Iannaccone, 1998).
There is overwhelming agreement that religions are also important
within the work context (e.g. Gould, 1995; Kriger & Seng, 2005; Lund Dean
et al., 2003; Niles, 1999; Vinten, 2000). Such evidence is provided by the
resurgence of religion both at the workplace and within academic and
consulting activities (Bell & Taylor, 2004). For instance, Cash and Gray
(2000) argue that many employees appear to be searching for more meaning
in their workplaces through religion. Academic recognition of the import-
ance of religion is also shown through special issues devoted by international
scholarly journals such as the Journal of Management Inquiry and Journal
of Management Education (Lund Dean et al., 2003).
Despite this acknowledged importance of the role of religion in most
societies, it is surprising to note that international management scholars have
largely ignored religion in their research (for exceptions see Niles, 1999). For
instance, one of the most popular national culture frameworks, the Hofstede
(2001) model, only indirectly acknowledges the importance of religion and
its implications for the workplace. Although the relationship of religion with
some of the national culture dimensions is discussed, the link with the work-
place is not. Even the most recent national culture model, GLOBE (House
et al., 2004), only indirectly alludes to religious aspects. Furthermore, even
when research acknowledges other social institutions in explaining cross-
national phenomena (Cullen et al., 2004; Parboteeah & Cullen, 2003),
religion has generally been ignored.
Such a neglect of religion may be due to the fact that international
management researchers, trained in the scientific methods based on logic, are
wary of investigating issues that may not be perceived as necessarily
conforming to the traditional scientific model. This explanation is feasible
given that it is recognized that social scientists have long viewed religion as
immune to the positivist approach (Iannaccone, 1998). Furthermore, Davie
(2007) argues that researchers have also been reluctant to study religion as
such studies have provoked unease and controversy. Such controversy occurs
because religious adherents find it difficult to believe that religion can be
understood through science (Davie, 2007). However, it is also possible that

Parboteeah et al. Religious dimensions and work obligation 121
international management researchers have viewed the religion field with

skepticism given that most studies have tended to be regarded as largely
lacking theory or ungrounded (Lund Dean et al., 2003). Furthermore, the
difficulties of large-scale data collection pertaining to cross-cultural analyses
of religion may have compounded the problem.
Given the prominent role of religion in societies, it is imperative that
international management research acknowledges its potential influences on
how organizations and people within them operate. To provide an under-
standing of the influence of religion, we use the country institutional profile
(Kostova, 1997, 1999) and rely on recent developments in religion scholar-
ship in economics (e.g. Ahdar, 2006; Iannaccone, 1998) and sociology (e.g.
Barro & McCleary, 2003; Cornwall et al., 1986; Davie, 2007; DeJong et al.,
1976; Ruiter & DeGraaf, 2006; Sherkat & Ellison, 1999; Voas et al., 2002),
among other fields, to argue that the religious manifestations through cogni-
tive, normative, and regulative dimensions are linked to work obligations.
Work obligation norms represent the extent to which society expects that
individuals have a duty to work (Harpaz, 1998; MOW – International
Research Team, 1987). Societies with high work obligations norms expect
their citizens to view work as a duty to contribute to society (Harpaz, 1998).
Religion and work obligation: Contextual effects
Work and religion remain the very foundation of human society (Harpaz,
1998) and research examining the relationship of religion with work is not
new (e.g. Hrebiniak & Alutto, 1972; McClelland, 1961; Weber, 1930).
Weber’s (1930) Protestant work ethic, proposed that a work ethic derived
from Protestant beliefs, and in particular Calvinism, lay at the root of the
development of capitalism and industrial work organizations. His main
argument was that Protestantism encouraged their adherents to value their
social and economic environment (Niles, 1999), particularly emphasizing the
value of work in their daily lives and ‘the disciplined and austere pursuit of
gain, and the attitude appropriate to the growth of capitalism’ (Preston,
1987: 119). Protestants, imbued with such attitudes, would be driven to
conduct economic activities with diligence. Furthermore, Protestantism was
also seen as encouraging adherents to use the fruits of their hard work with
special care. Spending these material blessings on personal enjoyment was
seen as the path to sinfulness and Protestants thus wisely reinvested their
profits in their economic activities. Weber (1930) argued that religious teach-
ings encouraged Protestants to see hard work as the calling which would be
the best way to serve God. Weber (1930) thus articulated the mechanism by

which religion, a social institution that is very distal from the workplace,
could actually influence individual economic behaviors.
Although Weber’s (1930) works have generated important under-
standing regarding the relationship between Protestantism and work values,
Niles (1999) notes that it led others to interpret that the Protestant work
ethic is relevant only in Protestant countries. However, recent research (e.g.
Furnham, 1991; Furnham et al., 1993) suggests that the Protestant ethic does
not apply specifically to Protestantism. In fact, work by Cherrington (1980)
and Chusmir and Koberg (1988) has shown that there are no significant
differences among religions on work-related attitudes. Such research shows
that most other religions view work as an important obligation that
adherents must fulfill to live the pious life. A consideration of the world’s
major religions below shows that the essence of the Protestant work ethic is
likely present in other religions.
To understand how Buddhism views work obligations, it is important
to note that Buddha saw poverty as the main decline of ethical behavior in
society (Nanayakkara, 1992) and laziness as a very negative trait that must
be discouraged (Cullen & Parboteeah, 2005). Buddhism therefore prescribes
a work ethic that encourages workers to put forward their best efforts (Niles,
1999), thereby emphasizing work as an obligation to society. Christian
religious teachings also suggest that religion can interface smoothly with
one’s work and business (Ibrahim et al., 1991), where ‘economic success,
hard work and biblical values are seen as capable of existing together’
(Ibrahim et al., 1991: 124). Similarly, there is overwhelming evidence of a
strong and positive relationship of work with Islam. Abeng (1997) argues
that Islamic teachings view laziness and living off others’ labors negatively.
The Qur’an teaches hard work and dedication towards work as a virtue and
a means to absolve one’s sins (Yousef, 2001). The relationship between Islam
and obligation norms toward work is so pronounced that researchers have
found the existence of the Islamic work ethic (Yousef, 2000, 2001) parallel-
ing the Protestant work ethic. Previous research also suggests that Judaism
views work very favorably (Harpaz, 1998), prescribing that followers should
work hard to contribute to society and to religion. Work is seen as contribut-
ing to human dignity and no one is considered to be above working. Hofstede
and Bond (1988) also found evidence of similar views of work among South-
east Asian cultures embracing Confucianism. One of the core teachings of
Confucianism is the emphasis on hard work, acquisition of new skills, per-
severance and patience (Hofstede & Bond, 1988). Finally, Hinduism also
views work favorably and prescribes that individuals should participate in
work activities. In fact, Hinduism relies on the caste system, a hierarchical

ordering of the Indian society based on occupational groups (Cullen &

Parboteeah, 2005), whereby the caste system prescribes that each person
should work within their occupations.
Contextual effects of religion

As the above review shows, most major religions around the world have
similar views of work (Harpaz, 1998; Niles, 1999). But how is religion, a
broad societal characteristic, related to individual work obligations? To
understand such effects, it is important to see how broader social institutions
such as the family and industrialization are related to individual behaviors.
From the organizational behavior perspective, social institutions act as
contexts that provide ‘stimuli and phenomena that surround and thus exist
in the environment external to the individual, most often at a different level
of analysis’ (Mowday & Sutton, 1993: 198). Through a sociological lens,
social institutions produce formal and informal norms that provide people
with a freedom/constraint duality of prescribed behaviors, attitudes, and
values within some acceptable boundaries (Ingram & Clay, 2000). That is,
social institutions provide individual and organizational actors (albeit impre-
cisely) with sense-making and taken for granted heuristics to know what is
reasonable, appropriate, and legitimate (Biggart & Guillén, 1999; Scott,
1995). Although actors may act with self-interest (Clark, 1998; Ingram &
Clay, 2000), they have constraints on their behaviors, attitudes, and values
(Nee & Ingram, 1998). Thus, ‘people adapt their own values to fit the oppor-
tunities and demands of the significant societal institutions in their lives’
(Schwartz & Sagie, 2000: 470). Importantly, institutional theorists do not
claim that all individuals respond identically to the incentives and disincen-
tive imbedded in the institutional context. Rather, in functioning society,
most people conform to the institutional logistics resulting in observable
differences among societies.
Similarly, religion, as an important social institution, has a strong norm
setting influence on a wide range of societal life, given that religious teach-
ings explicate behavioral prescriptions (Parboteeah et al., 2008a). As we
outlined above, all major religions prescribe work as an individual’s obli-
gation. This suggests that independent of an individual’s level of religiosity,
the strength of religion as a social institution specifies a significant con-
textual influence. Such influence occurs because all major religions, over
centuries and generations, have explicated (e.g. through scripture) and re-
inforced (e.g. through ascription of societal status for living a diligent life)
work-related behavioral prescriptions. This results, over time, in norms

shared by the members of a society; in this case norms regarding work as an

obligation to society. Furthermore, to remain in good standing in society and
to avoid rejection, people feel an obligation to respect such norms (Myers,
2000). Thus, religion creates important work expectations that most indi-
viduals respect if they want to be accepted. Moreover, such pressures are
stronger in more religious contextual environments.
Kelley and DeGraaf’s (1997) study provides a good example of
religious contextual effects. They argue that if a person is born in a religious
environment, that person is more likely to interact with others (friends,
family, spouse, colleagues) who are more religious. Consequently, individuals
born in a religious environment are more likely to uphold religious values
compared to a similar person born in a less religious environment as they
are more likely to be exposed to and socialized with such values (Kelley &
DeGraaf, 1997). We extend this reasoning to work obligations and propose
that if an individual is raised and educated in a country with a stronger
religious environment, that individual is more likely to get exposed to values
consistent with stronger work obligation than a similar individual residing
in a country with a weaker religious environment. Individuals in stronger
religious environments are thus more likely to see work as an obligation.
In sum, the world’s religions overwhelmingly agree that it is necessary
to work in order to live the pious life, thereby implying a positive relation-
ship with work obligation as perceived by individuals. Such prescriptions
provide adherents with principles by which to live (Dodd & Seaman, 1998)
and these principles are also applied within the work setting. Because most
religions seem to have similar views of work, what is more important is the
general strength of various aspects of the religions environments in a country
rather than specific religious denominations.
Country institutional profile

To examine the relationship between religion as a social institution and work
obligation, we extend Kostova’s (1999) country institutional profile, which
provides a framework for specifying theoretically relevant religious insti-
tutional antecedents of work. The country institutional profile refers to ‘the
set of all relevant institutions that have been established over time, operate
in that country, and get transmitted into organizations through individuals’
(Kostova, 1997: 180). As such, we consider specific cognitive (e.g. shared
knowledge), normative (e.g. values and norms), and regulatory (e.g. rules)
elements as relevant contextual determinants of work obligation.

Cognitive context
As Kostova (1999: 314) points out, ‘cognitive programs such as schemas,
frames, inferential sets, and representations affect the way people notice,
categorize, and interpret stimuli from the environment’. The cognitive
component of the country institutional profile reflects the cognitive structures
and categories widely shared among individuals (e.g. shared knowledge). In
other words, the cognitive aspect refers to those elements of society that have
a ‘taken for granted’ nature (Kostova, 1997).
The cognitive component refers to the ‘knowledge’ dimension of
religion (DeJong et al., 1976) and tends to be one of the most frequently
measured dimensions of religion (Cornwall et al., 1986). This dimension is
manifested through personal or private religious beliefs that reflect the exist-
ence of the divine (Cornwall et al., 1986), such as, for example, the belief
that God exists or the belief that there is life after death. This dimension
pertains to the ideological aspect of religion as reflected in expectations
regarding religious beliefs (e.g. belief in the importance of God) (Parboteeah
et al., 2008a; Weaver & Agle, 2002).
We argue that the cognitive aspect of religion has a positive relation-
ship with work obligation. In societies with a higher degree of the cognitive
aspect of religious institutions, more individuals are exposed to values
encouraging attachment to work as an obligation to society. A strong cogni-
tive religious environment suggests that more people are likely to hold views
consistent with work as a calling (Harpaz, 1998) as they interact with others
holding similar values. It is therefore more likely that people in societies with
strong cognitive environments would have internalized such values. These
individuals are therefore more likely to express these values by having higher
work obligations. In contrast, in weaker cognitive religious institutional
environments, people are less likely to hold such values and also less likely
to encounter such values as they interact with others. We therefore expect
that in stronger cognitive religious institutional environments, more people
are likely to be exposed to and answer the calling by viewing work as their
obligation to society. As such, we propose:
Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship between the cognitive

aspect of religious institutions and work obligation.
Normative context
A country’s normative institutional context consists of ‘social norms, values,
beliefs and assumptions that are socially shared and are carried by indi-
viduals’ (Kostova, 1997: 180). Such normative components introduce

‘prescriptive, evaluative, and obligatory dimensions into social life’ (Scott,

1995: 37). These values and norms specify how things should get done with
characterizations of the preferred or desirable (Kostova, 1999).
The normative element of religious institutions is manifested typically
through religious practice, which indicates how much value individuals place
on religion. Most people act on their normative religious values through
participation in church activities, praying in private, and making financial
contributions to their church (DeJong et al., 1976). The more people value
religions, the more likely they are to ‘consume’ religion (Myers, 2000) and
thus be involved in attendance and other forms of public consumption.
Similar to the cognitive institutional component, we argue that the
normative component has a positive relationship with work obligation. The
normative aspects of religion should also inculcate values consistent with a
strong work obligation to people within a country. Through the norms and
values inherent in the normative aspect, individuals within a society are
expected to behave in ways consistent with religious teachings (Parboteeah
et al., 2008a). We expect that frequent exposure to rituals and practices
reinforce particular religious beliefs that encourage higher work obligations.
By being involved with others with similar beliefs, the normative component
‘provides a stake in conformity as well as restraint through a network of
time, place and behavioral obligations’ (Tittle & Welch, 1983: 657). Because
all religions view work very favorably, we expect that individuals will
conform to such norms and values by viewing work as a societal obligation.
Therefore,
Hypothesis 2: There is a positive relationship between the normative

aspect of religious institutions and work obligation.
Regulative component
Drawing on institutional theory (Meyer & Rowan, 1991; Scott, 1995),
Kostova (1997: 180) defines the regulatory component as those ‘existing laws
and rules in a particular national environment, which promote certain types
of behaviors and restrict others’. Through rules, boundaries, laws and regu-
lations, the regulatory component aims to ensure stability and order in
society (North, 1990; Williamson, 1991).
One of the most important indicators of the regulative aspect of a
country’s religious institutional environment is the existence of state religion.
In some societies, the government regulates the market for religion (Barro &
McCleary, 2005). In such societies, state regulation of religion can take the
form of appointment of religious leaders, collection of taxes for religious

purposes as well as subsidies in the form of payment to, for instance, church
employees (Iannaccone et al., 1997). Although there are certainly exceptions
where there is a strong religious environment in the absence of state religions,
most experts agree that this externally imposed religious aspect is seen to
have regulative effects on religion (North & Gwin, 2004).
In contrast to our hypotheses for the cognitive and the normative
aspect, we expect the regulative component of religion to have a negative
relationship with work obligations. State religion typically involves inter-
ference in the religious environment through the appointment of religious
leaders, collection of taxes and other contributions specifically for religious
uses (Barro & McCleary, 2005). As the state exerts influence on a country’s
religion (e.g. by appointing church officials), it may weaken the religion’s
core power base as it interferes with the more personal character of religion
(Barro & McCleary, 2003). In fact, Iannaccone et al. (1997) argue that the
state subsidized monopoly often ignores the spiritual aspect of religion. As
such, when religion is administered by the government, it can turn the
religious environment into a ‘spiritual wasteland’ (Iannaccone et al., 1997:
354). Furthermore, because the state imposes a monopoly on the market for
religion and limits entry of new religions, the quality and variety of religious
activities suffer (Barro & McCleary, 2005). This externally imposed state
involvement in religion may thus weaken the effects of religion, resulting in
religious values regarding work being less pervasive compared to societies
without state religion.
Hypothesis 3: There is a negative relationship between the regulative

aspect of religion and work obligation.
Moderating effects of pluralism

In addition to the above direct-effect hypotheses, we also argue that
religious pluralism has a moderating effect on the cognitive and normative
relationships with work obligation. Religious pluralism refers to the degree
to which there is an array of religions in a society (Barro & McCleary,
2003). Religious pluralism is also seen as an important factor influencing
the religious environment in a country (Barro & McCleary, 2003; Davie,
2007; Voas et al., 2002).
The effects of religious pluralism on societies have generated strong
debates in sociology (e.g. Barro & McCleary, 2003; Voas et al., 2002). On
the one hand, some argue that the exposure to a diversity of opinions and
teachings in societies with high religious pluralism weakens the taken-for-
granted aspect of religion and faith in religion (Berger, 1967). According to

this perspective, the presence of several religions would weaken the con-
textual environment regarding religious teachings and values.
However, on the other hand, others argue that religious pluralism
should strengthen the effects of religion, as the various religions have to
compete more rigorously for members (Finke & Stark, 1988; Finke
et al., 1996). This ‘religious markets’ hypothesis (Ahdar, 2006) suggests that
the more societies have religious plurality, the more the different religions
have to compete to get members. In turn, this increased competition should
strengthen the effects of religion as more people are drawn to religion (Voas
et al., 2002).
Despite the largely conceptual debate above, recent research by
Montgomery (2003) provides empirical support for the weakening effects of
religious pluralism on religion. We adopt this position and also argue that
the presence of several religions will weaken the effects of religion. Specifi-
cally, consistent with Berger (1967), we propose that the presence of several
religions will undermine the reinforcement of religious beliefs as individuals
are exposed to diverse views. We believe that religious pluralism will weaken
the various relationships between the different aspects of religion and work
obligation.
As mentioned earlier, the more unitary a country’s religious insti-
tutional environment, the more likely most people belong to the same
religion and are exposed to similar religious values (Berger, 1967). We expect
that in such societies, the transmission of religious values consistent with
strong work obligation is likely to be more powerful. Furthermore, the
religious institutional environment is also more likely to place stronger
religious pressures on individuals to respect such work attitudes. Most people
within that society are likely to interact with others who belong to the
dominant religion (i.e. normative element) (Kelley & DeGraaf, 1997) and be
exposed to values consistent with strong work obligations. In contrast, in a
society with many religions, people are less likely to be as strongly exposed
to the same consistent values regarding work obligation. Although we argued
that most religions carry the same message regarding work, we believe that
the differences on other issues will dilute the strength of the message concern-
ing work obligation. Moreover, as pluralism elevates the religions’ need to
compete in the ‘religious market’, it likely takes religions’ attention and
resources away from the (perhaps less popular) work obligation values. We
therefore propose that the plurality of religions weakens the contextual
cognitive and normative religious institutional environments. However, we
do not propose a formal hypothesis for the moderating effects of pluralism
on state religion as countries with state religions typically have very low
levels of pluralism. Therefore,

Hypothesis 4: Religious pluralism moderates the relationship between

the cognitive aspect of religion and work obligations, such that the
effect of the cognitive component decreases with more religious
pluralism.
Hypothesis 5: Religious pluralism moderates the relationship between

the normative aspect of religion and work obligations, such that the
effect of the normative component decreases with more religious
pluralism.
Methods
All individual-level data for the present study came from the World Values
Survey (WVS) (Inglehart et al., 1998; World Values Study Group, 2000) as
provided by the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social
Research. The European Values Study Group sponsored the WVS. Data were
gathered by universities or research organizations from the countries studied.
To ensure the cross-cultural equivalence of the questionnaire, a special
WVS methodology group sought assistance and suggestions from the various
participants around the world. The group then developed a final master
questionnaire for translation into the various national languages. However,
consistent with suggested translation procedures for questionnaires (Douglas
& Craig, 1983), most of the participants back-translated the questionnaire
into English to check accuracy of the translation. Investigators then pre-
tested the translated questionnaire in most countries to identify any
problematic issues with the translation. Problematic questions were omitted
from the national questionnaires (World Values Study Group, 2000). This
method therefore ensured maximal cross-cultural equivalence of the
measures.
The WVS collects data with face-to-face interviews. Interviews in
Eastern European countries were conducted by national academies of science
or university-based institutes, while interviews in Western countries were
carried out by professional survey organizations, typically the Gallup
organization. The World Values Study Group (2000) provides more detail
on the data gathering procedures and a complete list of the organizations
used in each country.
The World Values Survey is a critical research project that has
advanced understanding of religion both in terms of comparison between
countries as well as longitudinal comparisons within countries (Davie, 2007).
As Davie (2007: 113) further notes, the data gathered by the survey ‘generate

ever more sophisticated maps of correlations, about which many questions

can be asked’. As such, we see the World Values Survey as providing the
appropriate data to answer the research questions posed in this article.
Sample and measures

The sample included individual-level data from 62,218 individuals living in
45 nations (see Table 1 for list of countries). Nations were chosen based
on the reliability of the work obligation measure. Consistent with Harpaz
(1998) and MOW – International Research Team (1987), obligation norms
toward working were measured by asking respondents to evaluate five
normative statements about work. Respondents were asked their level of
agreement (1 – Strongly disagree to 5 – Strongly agree) with statements such
as ‘Work is a duty towards society’, ‘Work should always come first, even if
it means less spare time’, ‘To fully develop your talents, you need to have a
job’, ‘It is humiliating to receive money without working for it’ and ‘People
who don’t work turn lazy’. We note that we considered all those countries
that had work obligation with reliability above 0.60. Although reliabilities
of 0.70 are preferable, given the richness and depth of the available data and
a total sample reliability of 0.70, a reliability criterion of above 0.60 is
acceptable (Bagozzi, 1994; Cohen et al., 2003).
Religious component measures

To measure the various religious components, we used the average of indi-
vidual measures by country from secondary sources. For example, for the
cognitive measure for France, we averaged the individual responses of the
French respondents for the cognitive items as described below. This procedure
was repeated for all of the countries and national-level measures were there-
fore created from individual responses. We note that this practice of using
individual average by country as national-level measures is well accepted in
the literature (e.g. Cullen et al., 2004; Parboteeah & Cullen, 2003). This
approach is also consistent with Hofstede (2001) who derived his five cultural
dimensions based on individual responses from many nations.
For the cognitive component, consistent with DeJong et al. (1976) and
Kelley and DeGraaf (1997), we used a combination of five items reflecting
belief in religion. Respondents were asked the degree to which they believed
in 1) God, 2) an after-life, 3) in hell and 4) heaven. Although all religions
may not view these issues similarly, there is nevertheless some agreement that
they all recognize such concepts (Barro & McCleary, 2003). Furthermore,
recent research also suggests that this approach can adequately measure the
cross-cultural cognitive aspect of religion (Parboteeah et al., 2008a). The

percentage of people who responded positively to these beliefs (1 – yes, 0 –

no) were then combined with a 10-point scale, where respondents were asked
the degree to which God was important in their lives. These five items were
standardized and averaged to form the cognitive aspect. This measure has a
nation-level reliability of 0.96.
Religious practice is typically seen as an indicator of how much value
individuals place on religion and is thus an indicator of the normative
component. The more people value religions, the more likely they are to
‘consume’ religion (Myers, 2000) and thus be involved in church attendance
and other forms of public consumption, as well as more private prayer.
Consistent with the extant literature (Parboteeah et al., 2008a), we combined
the two forms of the normative component reflecting private versus public
religious practice. As discussed by Parboteeah et al. (2008a), this construct
provides an appropriate measure for the ‘normative’ or behavioral aspect of
religion. We computed the percentage of individuals within a country stating
that 1) they prayed and 2) attended church at least once a week. These two
items gave an indication of the strength of the normative environment (norms
to attend church and pray). Both normative and cognitive components were
derived from the World Values Study Group (2000) data. This measure has
a nation-level reliability of 0.91.
For the regulative component, we used Barro and McCleary’s (2005)
assessment of whether the state is involved in religion in a selected country.
This dummy variable (1 = state religion and 0 = no state religion) provides
an indication of the regulative environment as the state may potentially
appoint church leaders or provide subsidies to religious authorities. By
formally supporting religion, the state is more likely to exert regulative
pressures on individuals within the society through religion.
Finally, for religious pluralism, we used the Herfindhal plurality index
(Barro & McCleary, 2003; Voas et al., 2002). The Herfindhal index, the sum
of the squares of the population fractions belonging to each religion, ‘can be
interpreted as the probability that two randomly selected persons in a
country belong to the same religion’ (Barro & McCleary, 2003: 764).
Consistent with Barro and McCleary (2003), we computed the Herfindhal
index based on fractions of people expressing adherence to one of nine major
religions. The religious categories considered in the index are Catholic,
Muslim, Protestant, Hindu, Buddhist, other Eastern religions, Jewish,
Orthodox and other. This index is accepted as an accurate measure of cross-
cultural religious plurality (Barro & McCleary, 2003) and can vary from 0
(indicating the presence of only one religion) to 1 (indicating the presence of
many religions with each covering a negligible fraction of the population).
Table 1 provides an indication of the countries included in this study
and the magnitude of the various religious components.

132
Table 1 Countries and religious components
Country Sample Reliability Religious Normative: Normative: Cognitive: Cognitive: Cognitive: Cognitive: Cognitive: Regulative:
size or work pluralism (percentage (percentage Importance Belief Belief Belief Belief State
obligation of people of people of God in God in life in hell in heaven religion
who pray who attend after
once a a religious death
week) institution
Human Relations 62(1)
once a week)
Argentina 1197.00 .64 .13 .51 .25 8.49 .96 .63 .43 .80 1.00
Belarus 845.00 .69 .32 .27 .06 5.97 .83 .41 .35 .37 .00
Belgium 1813.00 .67 .05 .29 .19 5.39 .72 .46 .20 .34 .00
Bosnia 1161.00 .69 .70 .40 .28 7.42 .88 .60 .60 .62 .00
Bulgaria 927.00 .68 .28 .20 .10 5.15 .66 .34 .27 .30 .00
Canada 1869.00 .69 .56 .52 .06 7.45 .91 .75 .52 .77 .00
Chile 1121.00 .66 .22 .55 .31 8.75 .97 .82 .65 .80 .00
Croatia 951.00 .66 .22 .49 .31 7.20 .92 .68 .55 .61 .00
Czech Rep. 1813.00 .69 .43 .16 .08 3.76 .40 .36 .14 .21 .00
Denmark 950.00 .67 .02 .17 .03 2.78 .69 .38 .09 .18 1.00
Estonia 883.00 .69 .48 .14 .04 4.19 .51 .36 .16 .19 .00
Finland 1005.00 .72 .03 .32 .05 5.76 .81 .55 .30 .60 1.00

France 1594.00 .74 .17 .15 .08 4.37 .61 .45 .19 .31 .00
Germany 1889.00 .60 .54 .22 .11 4.39 .54 .29 .16 .25 .00
Greece 1096.00 .70 .04 .48 .14 7.31 .91 .61 .41 .47 1.00
Hungary 947.00 .71 .47 .29 .11 5.24 .79 .58 .43 .54 .00
Iceland 930.00 .66 .03 .37 .03 6.24 .84 .78 .18 .59 1.00
Table 1 continued
week) institution
once a week)
India 1663.00 .60 .31 .37 .32 8.53 .95 .66 .68 .72 .00
Parboteeah et al.
Ireland 943.00 .68 .08 .67 .65 7.74 .97 .82 .55 .87 1.00
Italy 1869.00 .68 .01 .55 .40 7.43 .93 .73 .49 .59 1.00
Japan 1300.00 .65 .46 .20 .04 5.02 .53 .51 .30 .38 .00
Latvia 901.00 .67 .68 .40 .07 5.65 .80 .45 .28 .33 .00
Lithuania 885.00 .67 .13 .30 .15 6.58 .86 .76 .60 .64 .00
Luxembourg 1115.00 .70 .23 .24 .20 5.40 .73 .53 .22 .34 1.00
Macedonia 978.00 .62 .61 .44 .22 7.66 .90 .47 .46 .50 .00
Malta 976.00 .60 .04 .81 .83 9.19 .99 .86 .81 .88 1.00
Montenegro 923.00 .73 .53 .19 .06 6.36 .83 .23 .21 .18 1.00
Morocco 1153.00 .56 .03 .73 .44 9.95 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00
Netherlands 999.00 .70 .53 .29 .14 4.92 .60 .51 .14 .37 .00
Philippines 1198.00 .62 .28 .85 .60 9.56 .99 .86 .93 .96 .00
Poland 1007.00 .67 .19 .68 .59 8.37 .97 .79 .64 .79 .00

Romania 982.00 .64 .40 .70 .25 8.63 .96 .68 .71 .75 .00
Russia 2225.00 .67 .51 .24 .03 5.34 .71 .37 .36 .37 .00
Serbia 1070.00 .68 .53 .30 .10 6.07 .83 .27 .18 .17 1.00
Religious dimensions and work obligation
133
134
Table 1 continued
week) institution
Human Relations 62(1)
once a week)
Slovak Rep. 1244.00 .74 .34 .50 .41 6.63 .83 .68 .45 .55 .00
Slovenia 970.00 .71 .12 .42 .17 5.02 .65 .32 .20 .28 .00
South Africa 2855.00 .60 .63 .79 .57 9.11 .98 .79 .70 .92 .00
Spain 2235.00 .68 .00 .33 .26 5.90 .85 .53 .37 .51 1.00
Sweden 977.00 .65 .08 .42 .04 4.09 .53 .46 .09 .30 1.00
Turkey 1165.00 .70 .01 .82 .36 9.16 .98 .89 .92 .93 .00
Uganda 943.00 .61 .72 .81 .79 9.26 .99 .85 .76 .93 1.00
Ukraine 1034.00 .68 .78 .37 .10 6.29 .41 .58 .42 .54 .00
UK 956.00 .70 .33 .23 .15 4.91 .72 .60 .37 .57 1.00
USA 1184.00 .68 .64 .72 .46 8.53 .96 .81 .75 .88 .00
Vietnam 943.00 .60 .33 .09 .04 5.25 .19 .16 .17 .16 .00

Control variables
The extant literature shows that individual characteristics also play a role in
determining work obligations (Harpaz, 1998; Parboteeah & Cullen, 2003).
To control for such effects, we used a number of variables provided in the
original data set (World Values Study Group, 2000). They included: 1) age
(measured in years), 2) gender (0: female, 1: male), 3) education (years of
education), 4) income and 5) religious belief (indication of whether the
respondent believed in God).
We also note that there are several other national-level factors that may
influence work obligations. For instance, work by Parboteeah and Cullen
(2003) suggests that the degree of industrialization and the level of education
may influence work obligations. We therefore included a country-level
control in the study. Specifically, we controlled for country wealth as this has
also been shown to relate to aspects of work. Wealth is an appropriate proxy
for both industrialization and the level of education as the degree of wealth
is very highly correlated with both industrialization and education. Wealth
is thus an important control as some argue that the effects of religions
weaken with industrialization (Barro & McCleary, 2003). By controlling for
the effects of economic development through wealth, we can more accurately
tease out the effects of religion.
Similar to other management researchers (e.g. Husted, 1999;
Parboteeah et al., 2004), we measured country wealth using the per capita
gross national product (GNP). However, gross national product can be
estimated using either the exchange rate or the currency’s purchasing power
parity. Given that exchange rates tend to be either under-valued or over-
valued, we used the purchasing power parity estimation of gross national
product to more accurately reflect relative degrees of wealth across countries.
As Husted (1999) argues, such estimates are more accurate as they reflect
the cost of living differences among countries. Data for per capita gross
national product were collected from the annual world development indi-
cators as reported by the World Bank (2003).
Work by Hofstede (2001) also suggests that the national culture
dimensions of masculinity and power distance may also be related to work
obligations. However, we were unable to control for culture as Hofstede
cultural scores for many of the countries included in this study were not avail-
able. We also looked to the newest study examining national culture dimen-
sions, namely the GLOBE study (House et al., 2004) but faced similar issues.
Finally, we also note that our country-level sample size of 45 limits
the number of country-level factors that can be included in our models
(Parboteeah et al., 2008b). Inclusion of a larger number of country-level

predictors will likely overwhelm our model and produce unstable parameter
estimates. We therefore focused on the country-level predictors discussed
earlier.
Analyses
Hierarchical linear modeling
To test our cross-level hypotheses, we used Hierarchical Linear Modeling

(HLM) (Bryk & Raudenbush, 1992). As more management researchers
grapple with the difficulties of testing cross-level relationships using
traditional regression techniques, HLM is becoming more popular (Cullen
et al., 2004; Parboteeah & Cullen, 2003). HLM simultaneously estimates
country and individual-level parameters without distortion of the results by
sample size, as characteristic of OLS methods. Underlying the logic of HLM
is that parameter estimates and standard errors are computed by weighting
group-level sample size by reliabilities at the individual-level (level 1), for the
dependent variables within each group (level 2). The estimates typically
correspond closely to OLS, except the level 2 standard errors avoid the defla-
tion inherent in OLS approaches. Since our hypotheses evaluated main effects
of level 2 variables on the country mean level 1 outcome (work obligations)
adjusted for within-country level 1 predictors, we used intercept-as-outcomes
models to test our formal hypotheses, which is consistent with previous
management research (Cullen et al., 2004; Parboteeah & Cullen, 2003).
Results
Table 2 shows a matrix of correlations and sample statistics of the

individual-level variables used in this study. Since our hypotheses concerned
only level 2 (country) effects, we report only the level 2 correlations and
statistics. In these matrices, the dependent variable is the country mean
adjusted for the within country individual-level 1 controls, as is consistent
with HLM analyses.
We acknowledge some of the high correlations among the religious
components of our model (see Table 2). This is not surprising, because, as
argued by Kostova (1997), although the dimensions are conceptually
distinct, they are certainly interconnected as they are ‘dynamically inter-
related as they affect and shape each other’ (Kostova, 1997: 180). However,
to ensure that our results are stable, we took two empirical steps. First, we
ran the model with each religious component separately and results hold,
suggesting a stable model. Second, we also assigned each of the religious

components to individuals within that country and ran linear regressions.

Multicollinearity statistics do not indicate distortions of results due to cor-
relation among independent variables. Variance inflation factors for all para-
meter estimates were less than 10, indicating that multicollinearity is not a
problematic issue (Studenmund, 1992).
Results are presented below based on the two sets of hypotheses
specified earlier. Table 3 contains the model 1 and 2 HLM results. Model 1
tests our main effects hypotheses for the religious components. Model 2 tests
Table 2 Correlations and descriptive statistics for level 2
Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4 5
1. Work obligation 3.63 0.35

2. Degree of wealth 14295.00 9345.00 –.76***
3. Cognitive 1.90 .99 .40** –.36*
4. Normative .43 .22 .30* –.28 .85***
5. Regulative .36 .48 –.16 .18 .07 .07
6. Religious pluralism .31 .24 .04 –.31* –.08 –.05 –.44**
N = 45 countries.
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.
Table 3 Hierarchical linear model results
Variable Model 1 Model 2
Individual-level variables
Age .17*** .17***
Income –.04*** –.04***
Gender .09*** .09***
Belief in God .06*** .06***
Education –.07*** –.07***
Country-level variables
Degree of wealth (logarithm of per capita GNP) –.70*** –.75***
Cognitive .02* –.08***
Normative .11* .78***
Regulative –.03***
Religious pluralism .93***
Religious pluralism cognitive component .41***
Religious pluralism normative component –.33***
* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.

the moderation hypotheses. Separate models are necessary because the

parameter estimates for the main effects variables are not interpretable inde-
pendent of their product terms. Indeed, once product terms are entered into
an equation, the interaction consists of both the main and product terms
(Cohen et al., 2003). Table 3 shows the results of the HLM analysis.
The HLM analyses (Model 1) provide support for our hypotheses.
Hypothesis 1 is supported as the cognitive component is positively related to
work obligation norms. Hypothesis 2 is also supported as the normative
religious environment is positively related to work obligation norms.
Moreover, Hypothesis 3 is supported as state religion is negatively related to
work obligation norms.
Results shown in Table 3 (Model 2) provide mixed support for our
hypotheses for the interactive effects of religious pluralism. Specifically,
Figures 1 and 2 show plots of the interaction effects testing the moderation
hypotheses. Plots show the effects of the cognitive and normative elements
of religion at illustrative high (mean + 1 SD) and low (mean –1 SD) levels of
the religious pluralism.
Results fail to support Hypothesis 4, although we see that the level of
religious pluralism significantly impacts the relationship between the cogni-
tive component of religion and work obligation, given the significant
4.5
Work obligation
High pluralism
Low pluralism
3.5
2.5
–2 –1 0 1 1.9
Cognitive component
Figure 1 Moderating effects of religious pluralism on the relationship between

cognitive component and work obligation

4.5
Work obligation
High pluralism
4
Low pluralism
3.5
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Normative component
Figure 2 Moderating effects of religious pluralism on the relationship between

normative component and work obligation
interaction effect. Contrary to our hypothesis, the interaction plot shows that
under conditions of lower religious pluralism, the cognitive component of
religion is negatively related to work obligation (see Figure 1). Conversely,
when higher levels of religious pluralism characterize a country’s religious
context, the relationship between the cognitive component and work obli-
gation is positive.
However, the results for Hypothesis 5 regarding the moderating effects
of religious pluralism followed a pattern consistent with our hypothesizing.
The significant interaction between the normative element of religion and
religious pluralism showed that under low levels of religious pluralism, the
relationship between the normative element of religion and work obligation
is positive while in countries with high levels of religious pluralism, the
relationship between the normative component and work obligation is
negative (see Figure 2).
Consistent with prior research all individual-level control variables and
the country-level control variable appear significantly related to individuals’
work obligation norms (Harpaz, 1998; Parboteeah & Cullen, 2003). Of
particular importance to this manuscript is the finding that, at the individ-
ual level, belief in God is also positively related to work obligations. Such

findings show that, similar to our arguments at the contextual level, people
with higher degrees of belief in God have higher levels of work obligations.
Moreover, including this individual-level control variable documents that
the influences of country-level religious context are above and beyond
individual-level religiosity.
Discussion
The empirical analyses based on 62,218 individual respondents from 45

countries provide some results consistent with the hypotheses. Specifically,
the results support the notion that the cognitive and normative elements of
religion are positively associated with individuals’ work obligation norms,
above and beyond individual-level influences such as age, gender, income,
and most importantly individual religiosity. The results also show a negative
relationship of state religion with work obligation. Additionally, our article
provides mixed evidence of the effects of religious pluralism on the cognitive
and normative religious environments.
As expected, our results for the cognitive and normative components
had the predicted positive relationship with work obligations and provide
evidence of the contextual effects of religion (Kelley & DeGraaf, 1997;
Ruiter & DeGraaf, 2006). This suggests that the contextual cognitive and
normative environments most likely expose individuals with religious values
consistent with seeing work as an obligation to society. As we discuss below,
religions create influential contextual environments that are related to work
obligations, above and beyond many important country and individual-level
controls. Furthermore, as we hypothesized, state religion had a negative
relationship with work obligations.
Although our interaction hypothesis for the normative component was
supported, our findings for the cognitive component are contrary to expec-
tations, as the relationship between the cognitive component and work obli-
gation was positive and stronger for countries with high religious pluralism.
Although such findings are surprising, there are some potential explanations
for these results. Perhaps for this ‘belief’ dimension of religion, the greater
diversity of religions promotes greater competition for religious adherents
and hence stronger inculcation of values consistent with viewing work as an
obligation to society. It is also possible that, contrary to our main arguments,
more religious diversity also increases the likelihood of exposure to values
consistent with work obligation because of greater competition. However,
these findings are different from our findings for the ‘behavior’ or normative
aspect of religion. We hope that future research will investigate this issue in
more depth.

Contributions
This study adds to the literature on religion on several levels. Most
importantly, consistent with Weber’s fundamental thesis (Weber, 1930), the
conceptual and empirical analyses put forth in this article highlight that
religions provide an institutional context with a significant influence on
work-related attitudes of individuals, independent of the individuals’
personal religiosity. Specifically, the study provides evidence of Weber’s
fundamental thesis that ‘any system of religion belief can, in theory, engender
forms of action that have an important impact in everyday life, including the
economic sphere’ (Davie, 2007: 29). Furthermore, these relationships hold
strong even after many individual and country-level factors are controlled,
emphasizing the important role religions play in defining the institutional
context of many societies. Such results are noteworthy, given that religion is
not necessarily directly related to workplace environments.
All major religions have, for many centuries, influenced societal norms
regarding many aspects of daily life, including work (Furnham, 1991;
Furnham et al., 1993). Such work-related norms operate at the societal
(national) level and complement the effect of an individual’s own religiosity
on his or her viewing work as an obligation to society. Religions have shaped
and continue to shape general societal norms that a diligent life is expected
of its members. Religions perpetuate such behavioral expectations through
their teachings, for example, that working and contributing to society is an
essential part of living the pious life. Institutionalized in society, our findings
suggest that these norms have effects on individuals regardless of whether
they are themselves religious. The cognitive and normative aspects of religion
as a social institution thus create boundaries that provide guidance as to how
individuals should behave when faced with work. Furthermore, as we
discussed earlier, individuals in a society face pressure to respect such
religious norms because they do not want to be rejected by others. Thus,
religion has important influences at the workplace.
Moreover, as discussed above, our analyses also hold interesting results
regarding religious pluralism, where several effects may operate simul-
taneously, affecting dimensions of religion (cognitive versus normative)
differently. This shows the importance of such more fine-grained models to
gain a deeper understanding of the impact of religion in society on work-
related attitudes of its members. However, beyond these general findings, our
study makes several other contributions.
This study also addresses the dearth of religion scholarly international
management work. By using the country institutional profile, we provide a
theoretical lens through which a country’s religious context can be examined
as it relates to work obligation. Unlike previous studies that consider only

single dimensions of religion (Parboteeah et al., 2004) or consider multiple

religion dimensions largely atheoretically (DeJong et al., 1976), we use the
country institutional profile (Kostova, 1997) to provide rationale to study
the contextual effects of selected religion dimensions. This study thus
provides a comprehensive theory whereby the key aspects of religion at the
country level can be understood. We believe that our study satisfies Lund
Dean et al.’s (2003) recommendations of presenting a theoretically grounded
study that incorporates appropriate empirical methodologies.
The article makes an important methodological contribution. The
study proposes and provides country-level dimensions for a large number of
countries based on important secondary sources. Given the growing import-
ance of religion globally (Iannaconne, 1998), this provides important data
that can be used by scholars in future studies incorporating religion. Further-
more, the separation of religion into various components also provides a
comprehensive perspective on religious dimensions.
Finally, our article provides an important contribution regarding the
effects of religious pluralism. While the debate continues as to whether
religious plurality strengthens the effects of religion through increased
competition (Finke & Stark, 1988) or weakens religion through increased
exposure to diverse religious views (Berger, 1967), our article provides some
evidence that pluralism may not have uniform effects on all religious aspects.
By considering various religious variables as opposed to solely religious
participation (Barro & McCleary, 2003; Montgomery, 2003; Voas et al.,
2002), we provide a more fine-grained analysis to help explain the mixed
results found in the literature.
Limitations and outlook

Despite the promising findings, we note several limitations. First, we were
constrained by the measures as made available by the World Values Survey.
Compared to primary data, use of secondary data is limiting as it constrains
the ability of crafting measures based on the available data. However, while
surveys are crucial, we agree with Kotabe’s (2002: 175) conclusion that ‘both
types of research are indeed important and complement each other’. Further-
more, we note that we have taken several steps to ensure the integrity of our
measures. In addition to choosing our measures based on a conceptual
model, we only rely on accepted measures in the literature and thus make
judicious use of available data.
Second, one may also question whether our religion measures are truly
applicable in the various countries discussed. As noted by Davie (2007: 114),
although surveys like the World Values Survey are critical, problematic issues
related to cross-cultural comparison need to be addressed. She therefore

notes ‘there is a corresponding need for care with respect both to the data
themselves and to comparisons that are made’. To attend to these concerns,
we follow prescriptions to ensure the cross-cultural equivalence of our
measure (Singh, 1995). For instance, most of our measures have already been
used in the literature and are accepted as accurate representations of the
religious environments in these countries. Furthermore, our measures are
also reliable indicating an acceptable level of agreement among countries
regarding the various items tapping the construct.
Third, it is possible that the degree to which various religions view
work obligation may vary. However, the overwhelming evidence suggests
that, at a certain level of abstraction, all major religions view work very simi-
larly. Furthermore, we do not want to judge any specific religion by consider-
ing specific denominations.
We hope that this investigation spurs future research to examine other
key questions in the religion and work attitudes debate. First, a post-hoc
analysis of our results suggests that, perhaps counter to prevailing wisdom,
not all religious components necessarily affect work obligations similarly. As
some of our findings are surprising, they point to a need for further study.
The initial explanations given above may provide a starting point for further
theorizing and empirical investigation. This may particularly include more
qualitative investigations on specific national environments, exploring the
often complex influences of different aspects of a country’s religious context.
The national-level data provided in this article may offer a starting point to
identify particularly interesting national contexts such as Poland and Turkey,
high on cognitive and normative religious dimensions, or the United States
and Ukraine, high on religious pluralism.
Second, future research should investigate possible non-linear effects
between religion and work obligations. It seems probable that, at a certain
level of religiosity, the relationships found in our analysis may diminish,
disappear, or change direction. As such, we strongly encourage further
scholarly inquiry into the link between religion and work obligations, rather
than the usual reliance on national culture dimensions in cross-national
management research.
Third, many countries have seen an emergence of new religious move-
ments (Davie, 2007). However, surveys like the World Values Survey cannot
capture the intricate relationships of these new religions with work obli-
gations. We therefore hope that more qualitative approaches (Davie, 2007)
will be used within countries to provide a more refined comparison of these
minority religions with more mainstream religions.
Finally, we also hope that future studies will shed more understanding
of the differences between the personal and institutional modes of religions
(Cornwall et al., 1986). As the results in this study demonstrate, the personal

dimensions had more consistent results with our hypothesizing. Future

studies should investigate whether these results are consistent with other
variables of interest.
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Associate Editor Paul Edwards and the two
anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments throughout the review process.
They also thank Scott Taylor for his very helpful comments on several drafts.
They also acknowledge the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social
Research (ICPSR) for making available a significant portion of the data used in
this study.
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K. Praveen Parboteeah is Associate Professor of International

Management at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater. His current
interests include cross-cultural management, ethics, ethical climates,
cross-national ethics, religion and work and technology and innovation
management. He has published over 25 articles in journals such as the
Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Inter-
national Business Studies, Decision Sciences and Journal of Business Ethics.
[E-mail: parbotek@uww.edu]
Martin Hoegl holds the Chair of Leadership and Human Resource

Management at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management (Vallen-
dar, Germany). His main research interests include leadership and
collaboration in organizations, management of R&D personnel, knowl-
edge creation in innovation processes, resource-constraint innovation,
the management of geographically dispersed and inter-organizational
collaboration, as well as the influence of cross-cultural differences on indi-
vidual and team behaviors in organizations. He has published in leading
international journals including the Academy of Management Journal,
Decision Sciences, Human Resource Management, Journal of Business Ethics,
Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Journal of
Management Studies, Journal of Product Innovation Management, MIT Sloan
Management Review, Organization Science, Research Policy and others.
[E-mail: hoegl@whu.edu]

John Cullen is Professor of Management at Washington State University

where he teaches courses on international management, business ethics,
organizational theory and strategic management. He received his PhD
from Columbia University. Professor Cullen is the author or co-author
of four books including Multinational management (Southwestern) and
over 60 journal publications. His research has appeared in journals such
as Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of International Business Studies,
Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Decision Sciences,
Journal of Management, Organizational Studies, Management International
Review, Journal of Vocational Behavior, American Journal of Sociology, Organiz-
ational Dynamics and the Journal of World Business. Professor Cullen’s major
research interests include the effects of social institutions and national
culture on ethical outcomes and work values, the management of entre-
preneurial firms in changing environments, trust, and commitment in
international strategic alliances, ethical climates in multinational organiz-
ations and the dynamics of organizational structure. Professor Cullen has
consulted with both private and public organization in the US and else-
where in the areas of organizational design, international management and
ethic management.
[E-mail: cullenj@wsu.edu]

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Human Relations http://hum.sagepub.

Religious dimensions and work obligation: A country institutional profile

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The Tavistock Institute

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Religious dimensions and work

A B S T R AC T The influence of religion as an important element of national

K E Y WO R D S comparative and cross-cultural management country

religion strategic and international management

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international management researchers have viewed the religion field with

Religion and work obligation: Contextual effects

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ordering of the Indian society based on occupational groups (Cullen &

Contextual effects of religion

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shared by the members of a society; in this case norms regarding work as an

Country institutional profile

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Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship between the cognitive

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‘prescriptive, evaluative, and obligatory dimensions into social life’ (Scott,

Hypothesis 2: There is a positive relationship between the normative

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Hypothesis 3: There is a negative relationship between the regulative

Moderating effects of pluralism

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Hypothesis 4: Religious pluralism moderates the relationship between

Hypothesis 5: Religious pluralism moderates the relationship between

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ever more sophisticated maps of correlations, about which many questions

Sample and measures

Religious component measures

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percentage of people who responded positively to these beliefs (1 – yes, 0 –

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Table 1 Countries and religious components

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To test our cross-level hypotheses, we used Hierarchical Linear Modeling

Table 2 shows a matrix of correlations and sample statistics of the

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components to individuals within that country and ran linear regressions.

Table 2 Correlations and descriptive statistics for level 2

1. Work obligation 3.63 0.35

Table 3 Hierarchical linear model results

Variable Model 1 Model 2

* p < .05; ** p < .01; *** p < .001.

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the moderation hypotheses. Separate models are necessary because the

Figure 1 Moderating effects of religious pluralism on the relationship between

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Figure 2 Moderating effects of religious pluralism on the relationship between

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The empirical analyses based on 62,218 individual respondents from 45

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* p < .05; p < .01; * p < .001.