Over a period of decades, a substantial body of knowledge has accumulated that correlates national culture and socially and economically important behaviour, including innovation practice. National culture is an interconnected web of mental models that is shared by national groups and transcends the individual. It is highly influential in moderating the cognition and behaviour of groups and individuals. Different resources, including cognition and behaviour, are required at the different stages of the innovation process, and the context, including national culture (within which innovation is practiced), is an important consideration in designing strategy. Because innovation is a psychological and social process, understanding how national culture moderates that cognition and behaviour within the different stages of the innovation process and how the wider innovation ecosystem impacts innovation practice is central to understanding, strategizing and managing the innovation process. However, there has been limited application of this knowledge by practitioners. Therefore, this article examines the importance of national culture from a practitioner perspective, distilling the managerial implications and providing a list of questions that serve as a checklist to enable practitioners to analyze the implications of their own national and organizational context.
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