Specifying and assessing a formative measure for Hofstede’s cultural values: a Malaysian study

The growing interest on Hofstede’s cultural values has dominated the area of management and organizational research. However, the extant literature with disappointing psychometric results have provoked a pressing need to re-examine its measurement model specification. To fill this gap, this study attempts to specify the epistemic nature of Hofstede’s cultural values and its underlying dimensions, and to assess a proposed second-order reflective–formative model for Hofstede’s cultural values at individual level in the school organizational context. The stratified sample consisted of 1,154 teachers selected from 30 Malaysian primary schools. The analysis was conducted using Partial Least Square analysis with SmartPLS 2.0 software program. Findings revealed the absence of multicollinearity with the convergent, nomological and discriminant validity were affirmed. This study has confirmed Hofstede’s cultural values as formative second-order hierarchical latent construct which are commonly operationalized by means of reflective dimensions would be better captured using a formative measure perspective by providing rigorous empirical evidence. Limitations and thoughts to stimulate future studies are discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2014