a new theory of cultural archetypes: capturing global unity and local diversity

This book overcomes the limitations of existing models of national culture by presenting a novel archetypal methodology that captures heterogeneity within and between nations in a simple manner. The authors incorporate this methodology into a new, empirically derived theory of nations as composites of diverse culture configurations (or archetypes). The theory, which is illustrated through data on secular and emancipative values obtained from the European and World Value Surveys, shows the unity and diversity of these values across 117 nations, and identifies trends in global culture over four decades.

Based on the authors’ research, the book argues that universal archetypes capture the unity and diversity of the global cultural mosaic with precision and fidelity. By reflecting the reality of changing culture around the world with greater clarity, the book’s novel approach provides a comprehensive lens for international business scholars, practitioners, and policy makers to view, understand and explain culture-related phenomena.

David Midgley is Emeritus Professor of Marketing at INSEAD. His previous appointments include the University of New South Wales, the University of California, the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University. He has over 120 highly cited publications in the areas of innovation, strategy and international business.

Sunil Venaik is Associate Professor at University of Queensland Business School, where his research focuses on international business for small and large firms. He is one of the leading business researchers worldwide, based on his extensive research publications and silver medal from the Journal of International Business Studies.

Demetris Christopoulos completed his PhD studies in 2017 at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He has worked as a maths tutor, market researcher, multimedia producer, and his research field is noisy numerical analysis. His work at ResearchGate sets him at the upper 4% of all members.