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The Role of Culture in Responsible Business Practice: An Exploration of Finnish and Russian SMEs

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The Changing Strategies of International Business

Part of the book series: The Academy of International Business ((AIB))

Abstract

National culture has been studied extensively in the context of small- and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) internationalization processes. With the current focus on the greater integration of SMEs into both international trade and achievement of global sustainability, it is worth investigating the role that national culture plays in SMEs’ responsible business practices in the cross-border business relationship context. The qualitative approach used to study Finnish and Russian SMEs reveals that the cultural differences are reflected in SMEs’ responsible business practices only to some extent while they are more visible in their international business. This study thus contributes to the literature on both SME internationalization and small business responsibility by applying the lens of national culture to the phenomenon of small business responsibility in international business relationships.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lappeenranta University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland

    Maria Uzhegova & Lasse Torkkeli

  2. Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

    Maria Ivanova-Gongne

Authors
  1. Maria Uzhegova
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  2. Lasse Torkkeli
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  3. Maria Ivanova-Gongne
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Uzhegova .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Agnieszka Chidlow , Pervez N. Ghauri , Emma C. Gardner , Amir Qamar  & Emily Pickering , , ,  & 

  2. Management School, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Thomas Buckley

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Uzhegova, M., Torkkeli, L., Ivanova-Gongne, M. (2019). The Role of Culture in Responsible Business Practice: An Exploration of Finnish and Russian SMEs. In: Chidlow, A., Ghauri, P.N., Buckley, T., Gardner, E.C., Qamar, A., Pickering, E. (eds) The Changing Strategies of International Business. The Academy of International Business. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03931-8_9

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