Using Repertory Grids to Conduct Cross-Cultural Information Systems Research

As more business is being conducted internationally and corporations establishthemselves globally, the impact of cross-cultural aspects becomes an important research issue. The need to conduct cross-cultural research is perhaps even more important in the relatively newly emerging and quickly changing information systems (IS)field. This article presents issues relating to qualitative research, emic versus etic approaches, and describes a structured, yet flexible, qualitative research interviewing technique, which decreases the potential for bias on the part of the researcher. The grounded theory technique presented in this article is based on Kelly's Repertory Grid (RepGrid), which concentrates on “laddering,” or the further elaboration of elicited constructs, to obtain detailed researchparticipant comments about an aspect within the domain of discourse. The technique provides structure to a “one-to-one” interview. But, at the same time, RepGrids allow sufficient flexibility for the research participants to be able to express their own interpretation about a particular topic. This article includes a brief outline of a series of research projects that employed the RepGrid technique to examine similarities and differences in the way in which “excellent” systems analysts are viewed in two different cultures. Also included is a discussion of the technique's applicability for qualitative researchin general and cross-cultural studies specifically. The article concludes by suggesting ways in which the RepGrid technique addresses some of the major methodological issues in cross-cultural research.