Reviewing culture–innovation relationships: Trends and themes from selected management journals

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article provides a systematic review of the extant literature aimed at linking culture and innovation in order to investigate the general themes addressing the culture–innovation relationship. We examined 142 articles published in 29 international journals and identified nine main research themes (that is, Innovation Type, Innovation Practices, Technology Issues, Entrepreneurial Aspects, International Strategy, Intercultural Factors, Internal Organizational Mechanisms, External Relationships Governance, and National Systems). The identification of the main themes derived from this study can help cross-cultural and innovation scholars focus their attention on both the main themes, as well as understudied elements of this relationship. In addition, we outline some promising avenues for the application of cross-cultural perspective to innovation studies, such as examining the relationship between national culture and innovation at the individual level of analysis, including a broader set of cultural variables, and investigating the impact of national culture at the different stages of the innovation process.