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1 – 10 of over 8000Malgorzata Rozkwitalska, Michal Chmielecki, Sylwia Przytula, Lukasz Sulkowski and Beata Aleksandra Basinska
The purpose of this paper is to show how individuals perceive the quality of intercultural interactions at work in multinational subsidiaries and to address the question of what…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show how individuals perceive the quality of intercultural interactions at work in multinational subsidiaries and to address the question of what actually prevails in their accounts, i.e., “the dark side” or “the bright side.”
Design/methodology/approach
The authors report the findings from five subsidiaries located in Poland and interviews with 68 employees of these companies.
Findings
The “bright side” dominated the interviewees’ accounts. The phenomenon of high social identity complexity or common in-group identity can help explain the findings. The results also shed some new light on the associations between the context of subsidiaries and the perception of the quality of intercultural interactions.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the literature on cultural diversity and intercultural interactions in multinational subsidiaries. As the “bright side” of interactions was emphasized in the interviews, it particularly supports positive cross-cultural scholarship studies. Yet the explorative research does not allow for a broader generalization of the results.
Practical implications
Managers of multinational corporations (MNCs) should do the following: shape the context of MNCs to influence the dynamics of intercultural interactions and the way they are seen by their employees; emphasize common in-group identity to help their employees to adopt more favorable attitudes toward intercultural interactions; look for individuals with multicultural identity who display more positive approaches to intercultural contacts; place emphasis on recruiting individuals fluent in the MNC’s functional language; offer language training for the staff; and recruit employees with significant needs for development who will perceive more opportunities in intercultural contacts.
Social implications
The research demonstrates that the multicultural workplace of MNCs may be recognized by employees as activating the positive potential of the individuals and organizations that make up a society.
Originality/value
The accounts of intercultural interactions are analyzed to illuminate some significant foundations of how individuals perceive such interactions. The study provides a qualitative lens and highlights the positive approach to intercultural interactions. It may redress the imbalance in prior research and satisfy the need for positive cross-cultural scholarship.
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This article aims to suggest implementing an integrated approach – named intercultural engineering – at university level. Engineering today often takes place across cultures…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to suggest implementing an integrated approach – named intercultural engineering – at university level. Engineering today often takes place across cultures, locations and organizations. As a result, many companies have included cross-cultural training activities into their internal human resource development program. However, current practice neglects the engineering context and might enable sophisticated stereotyping.
Design/methodology/approach
This article presents the case of a German bachelor study program in International Industrial Engineering and the theoretical foundations of its design.
Findings
Engineering education needs to move beyond simplistic comparative cross-cultural management theory. It needs to acknowledge cultural complexity in engineering through an integrated development of competencies for utilizing the benefits of cultural diversity.
Originality/value
The contribution of this article lies in providing a practical example of how to develop integrated competencies for cultural diversity in engineering, as based on latest theory.
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Most intercultural frameworks assess intercultural competencies, but global businesses lack instruments to support the feedback loop, that is help project managers answer the…
Abstract
Purpose
Most intercultural frameworks assess intercultural competencies, but global businesses lack instruments to support the feedback loop, that is help project managers answer the question if an effective global team has been formed. The purpose of this paper is to develop and assess a new indicator for measuring the actual effectiveness of intercultural communication and collaboration at the individual and team level, the Mysore InterCultural Effectiveness (MICE) indicator.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a needs analysis in global businesses, international projects, and review of existing literature, a low-touch self-report indicator was developed. A test run in several international companies with live data obtained from 154 employees helped to validate the indicator using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis.
Findings
The MICE indicator is based on two scales: first, the effectiveness in interacting and collaborating with foreign counterparts by providing an answer to the question “how I think I am with them;” and second, the satisfaction with appropriateness of communication received from foreign interlocutors and the outcome of the collaboration by answering the question “how I think they are with me.”
Originality/value
Empirical results indicate that the two scale/six factor model provides a good fit to the data. Using the MICE Indicator, it is now possible for project managers to effectively address shortcomings of intercultural communication skills in their international teams with the right type of intercultural training.
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Asma Abdullah is a corporate trainer and specialist in interculturalmanagement, training and education in Esso Production Malaysia Inc.,Kuala Lumpur. She designs and conducts…
Abstract
Asma Abdullah is a corporate trainer and specialist in intercultural management, training and education in Esso Production Malaysia Inc., Kuala Lumpur. She designs and conducts training courses in the human resource area for both national and expatriate employees. She is also a popular trainer and guest speaker on various aspects of intercultural management training in Malaysia and elsewhere. The purpose of this interview is to explore further Asma′s experiences and perspectives which have shaped her career in intercultural management training. The interview is organized into five parts dealing with Asma as a corporate trainer; her intellectual roots; the Malaysian culture; the influence of the American multinational; and cultural challenges for the intercultural management trainer.
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Andrea Graf and Marion Mertesacker
The purpose of this paper is to develop recommendations for measures assessing intercultural training needs for international human resource management. Based on scientific as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop recommendations for measures assessing intercultural training needs for international human resource management. Based on scientific as well as application‐oriented criteria the aim is to select six measures assessing general intercultural competencies and with the help of behaviour ratings in interactive intercultural exercises to evaluate the psychometric quality and practicability of the questionnaires for training purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
Psychometric quality including prognostic power of ICSI, FLCS, NVCCS, ISAS, TIHK, and SIB was tested by correlating subjects' questionnaires results with observations of their actual behaviour in intercultural exercises.
Findings
Satisfying psychometric quality and prognostic validity of almost all measures was found. Especially TIHK, ICSI, and FLCS score well for assessing training needs whereas the results for SIB were problematic.
Research limitations/implications
The study observed student participants of the same culture. Replication studies should examine large samples of different cultural backgrounds and manager populations.
Practical implications
Human resource managers may benefit from gaining knowledge about which measures to use for identifying employee's weaknesses in intercultural competence in order to create tailor‐made training interventions.
Originality/value
The study is the first providing information about the psychometric quality, including predictive power, of six measures, that assess intercultural skills to detect intercultural training needs.
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Chen‐ya Wang and Anna S. Mattila
This study seeks to shed light on service providers' experiences and challenges during intercultural service encounters.
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to shed light on service providers' experiences and challenges during intercultural service encounters.
Design/methodology/approach
A grounded theory approach was used to explore a broad range of management issues regarding intercultural service encounters. A conceptual model was developed through interviews with current service providers.
Findings
The findings indicate that intercultural service encounters can serve as potential stressors for service providers and consequently induce negative emotions. While some service providers employ various coping techniques to address this situation, others tend to avoid international customers.
Originality/value
The intercultural service encounter has received little research attention despite its prevalence in daily life. The value of this paper contributes to the understanding of intercultural service encounters, particularly the challenges and stress employees could face.
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This chapter is focused on the specification and integration of intercultural variables for human machine systems and the description of content analysis for these variables…
Abstract
This chapter is focused on the specification and integration of intercultural variables for human machine systems and the description of content analysis for these variables. Starting with basics of culture-oriented design, these are followed by an approach to machine localization issues and a cost model, then basics of the intercultural design and human machine system engineering process, a definition and specification of intercultural variables, a systematic treatment for their integration into the process, and a description of how to use these variables in the process. Finally, an example of an intercultural variables approach to “information coding” in a human-machine system is presented for China and Germany.
Eileen Sepúlveda-Valenzuela, Marcelo Careaga Butter and María Graciela Badilla-Quintana
To apply effective teaching and learning strategies, it is essential to understand the complexity of human groups, especially in educational contexts. To look for the relationship…
Abstract
To apply effective teaching and learning strategies, it is essential to understand the complexity of human groups, especially in educational contexts. To look for the relationship between the contributions that people make, it is critical to understand the singularities of cultures when developing innovations and to foster leadership in education. This chapter presents an experience developed in Higher Education in Chile focused on the ability of preservice teachers to enhance the development of individual talents as an active teaching and learning strategy to create a society made up of integrally developed people in educational contexts. In addition, we use virtual learning environments as a vehicle to connect students between physical and virtual boundaries. This strategy is based on the Talent Management Model which was implemented in intercultural primary schools by professors and preservice teachers from the south of Chile. The virtuality dimension promoted the detection of individual traits of students and contributed to the development of a cultural identity. Additionally, it offered theoretical and practical knowledge that implied an innovation in the training of future teachers.
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