Abstract:

Although the spatial concentration of companies and thus, externalities have been occurred as geographic proximity was confirmed to be an essential criterion in relationship forming and maintaining and information and/or knowledge sharing procedures; some other factors also play a relevant role in inter-organizational relations. These factors can be described by the soft dimensions of proximity. The study will present the dimension of cultural proximity and also define the different elements e.g. trust, formal and informal interpersonal relations. Moreover, findings of two pieces of empirical survey research will be introduced in order to identify the impact of cultural proximity elements on international inter-organizational ties.