Ambicultural blending between Eastern and Western paradigms: Fresh perspectives for international management research

Abstract

East and Southeast Asian worldviews are distinctly different from those of the West. Westerners and Asians construct their environments differently, not least because they construct the notion of ‘self’ very differently. This paper describes and exemplifies distinctions in cognitive and linguistic styles between the East and the West and outlines the implications of these styles for environmental perspectives and research paradigms. Examples from Thailand illustrate the philosophical roots and practical implications of an indigenous Eastern perspective for local business interactions. We explore the privilege afforded in Western, Cartesian paradigms in (Asian) management research and stimulate debate on the benefits of promoting alternative Asian indigenous perspectives for both management research and management practice. We support the idea that Asian management discourse needs more self-confidence and deserves a more prominent place in international research, not least because international management research will greatly benefit from freshly ‘blended’ perspectives that incorporate Eastern and Western perspectives.

Keywords:

• East
• West
• language
• thought
• ecologies
• Thailand