international business review International Business Review 17 (2008) 217–234 Close neighbours and distant friends—perceptions of cultural distance Malcolm Chapman 1 , Hanna Gajewska-De Mattos à , Jeremy Clegg 2 , Peter Jennings Buckley 3 a Centre for International Business University of Leeds (CIBUL), Leeds University Business School (LUBS), Maurice Keyworth Buidling, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK Received 29 January 2007; received in revised form 1 August 2007, 11 December 2007; accepted 11 January 2008 Abstract In this paper we call for a better understanding of cultural distance and its importance to managers across borders. We report on the structuring and interpretation of cultural distance by managers from Germany, the UK and Poland. In particular we are interested in the German/Polish, and the UK/Polish contrast. We examine how managers living within these contrasts create and interpret frameworks within which they can understand one another, and also explain their failures of understanding. We argue that differences, which are understood, are differences that can be managed. The paper is based on empirical data collected during 63 face-to-face interviews with managers from Germany, the United Kingdom and Poland. The findings are the result of qualitative, interpretive analysis. We argue that cultural distance should be treated as relative and not absolute and that it should be treated on a bilateral basis. This approach contributes to a better understanding of when cultural distance matters, and when it does not, and it should be treated as complementary to the objective measures which have been predominant in cross-cultural management literature. r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Cultural distance and psychic distance; Managerial perceptions; Poland and Germany; Poland and the UK 1. Introduction The core argument in this paper is that simple and static measures of cultural distance, which have been predominant in the international business literature, are not sufficient to fully understand this complex concept. We propose that ’objective’ measures of culture need to be supplemented by careful and contextual studies of national cultural meetings at the managerial level. We argue that cultural distance should be ARTICLE IN PRESS www.elsevier.com/locate/ibusrev 0969-5931/$ - see front matter r 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ibusrev.2008.01.007 à Corresponding author. Tel.: +44 113 343 4668; fax: +44 113 343 4754. E-mail addresses: mkc@lubs.leeds.ac.uk (M. Chapman), hgdm@lubs.leeds.ac.uk (H. Gajewska-De Mattos), ljc@lubs.leeds.ac.uk (J. Clegg), pjb@lubs.leeds.ac.uk (P. Jennings Buckley). 1 Tel.: +44 113 343 4492; fax: +44 113 343 4754. 2 Tel.: +44 113 343 4592; fax: +44 113 343 4754. 3 Tel.: +44 113 343 4646; fax: +44 113 343 4754.