The relationship between culture, earnings management and corporate governance has been studied in different ways, but the influence that culture has over the actual effectiveness of corporate governance to control earnings management has not, even though it should be a determinant factor to define successful governance schemes. Using Hofstede four organizational models as a framework, in this paper, we analyze a sample of companies listed in 16 different stock markets in terms of organizational culture, assessing their governance standards and performance in relation to earnings management, and measuring their actual effectiveness. The results confirm that earnings management is conditioned by organizational culture and that corporate governance acts as a brake on earnings management, regardless of the cultural field in which it is analyzed. However, its effectiveness depends on organizational culture, mostly on the uncertainty avoidance and the power distance. Therefore, modelling a country based on its organizational culture does limit the success of corporate governance policies and standards. This study brings in a new perspective for policy makers and practitioners to design and enforce their corporate governance policies targeting earnings management, according to the prevailing culture. The previous literature on the subject is complemented and enriched by this significant contribution, through which limitations in terms of the number of countries studied could be overcome by further studies addressing specific regions or sectors.