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Article
Publication date: 1 October 2019

Cathryn H. Clayton

In the past 20 years, Macao has experienced phenomenal economic growth driven by the liberalization of its casino sector. This growth has been enabled by massive influxes of…

Abstract

Purpose

In the past 20 years, Macao has experienced phenomenal economic growth driven by the liberalization of its casino sector. This growth has been enabled by massive influxes of foreign capital and migrant labor that have dramatically altered the city’s ethnic landscape. In this paper, the author examines the demographic changes Macao has experienced as a result of the casino boom, and situates the city’s current economic growth and ethnic diversification within its long history as a multi-ethnic city.

Design/methodology/approach

Building on Nancy Foner’s notion of “contexts of settlement,” the study draws on census materials, policy statements, newspaper articles and ethnographic materials to examine how changing ideologies of globalization help shape the categories through which ethnic diversity itself is conceptualized.

Findings

The paper has three main findings. First, despite the Macao government’s multicultural rhetoric, its labor and residency policies that prevent migrant workers from settling in Macao may paradoxically serve to maintain the ethnic status quo ante. Second, the new contexts of settlement engendered by Macao’s casino globalization may be amplifying fissures within the ethnic category “Chinese.” And third, discourses of globalization, regulations on immigration, and classificatory systems governing ethnic diversity that were instituted under Portuguese rule have both helped shape these new contexts and been reworked in the process.

Originality/value

As the processes of urbanization, economic integration and transnational migration continue to accelerate throughout East Asia, the goal of creating inclusive, equitable multi-ethnic urban societies will require closer examination of the relationship between particular modes and ideologies of “global” engagement, patterns of and policies toward migration and the concepts and categories through which diversity is measured. This approach to understanding multi-ethnic Macao may serve as an example.

Details

Social Transformations in Chinese Societies, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1871-2673

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 September 2017

Nurul Hudani Md. Nawi, Puteri Hayati Megat Ahmad, Dahlan A. Malek, Getrude Cosmas, Habibie Ibrahim, Peter Voo and Norazah Mohd Suki

The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural relationship between the emotional and social support provided for individuals with caring responsibilities for elderly…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the structural relationship between the emotional and social support provided for individuals with caring responsibilities for elderly relatives, and the quality of care actually delivered. In addition, the moderating role of gender is explored.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative research design was utilised in which 200 usable questionnaires were collected from 250 respondents comprised of young adults who adopt a caregiving roles in respect of elderly parents or other close elderly relatives. The structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was selected for data analysis, and the Analysis of moment structure software version 21 was used.

Findings

The SEM results revealed that emotional support for caregivers was the most important predictor affecting the intergenerational care of multi-ethnic elderly people. Additionally, a moderation analysis revealed that the relative influence in this connection was more pronounced among female caregivers. An increase in the emotional support received by the recipient was found to enhance the level of the relationship, and to result in closer intergenerational ties in the care of the multi-ethnic elderly. Furthermore, the receipt of social support positively influences the judgement of an individual, and expands that person’s social network, which can subsequently have a favourable impact on the way in which one fulfils their caring role. The significant effect of social support provided for intergenerational caregivers in the context of the multi-ethnic elderly was higher in the group of male caregivers than in the group of female caregivers.

Practical implications

This study sends a strong message to policy-makers in developing countries about the need to consider within their National Policy for the Elderly, improvements in the national action plan for a holistic and integrated approach to ensure the well-being of caregivers and the elderly.

Originality/value

The results of the study help young adults to understand the importance of emotional and social support in boosting their relationships with parents and families and motivating intergenerational efforts in the care of the multi-ethnic elderly. Harmony within families is an important ideal in any circumstance, but in the scenario of ageing family members it may be even more essential to try to achieve it.

Details

Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, vol. 18 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1471-7794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2015

David Sarpong and Mairi Maclean

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the multi-ethnic marketplace as the site of the emergence of service nepotism: the practice where employees bestow relational benefits…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the multi-ethnic marketplace as the site of the emergence of service nepotism: the practice where employees bestow relational benefits and/or gifts on customers on the basis that they share a perceived common socio-collective identity. The authors draw on the contemporary turn to practice in social theory to explore why ethnic employees may engage in service nepotism even when they are aware that it contravenes organizational policy.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the paucity of empirical research which investigates the multi-ethnic marketplace as a locus for the emergence of service nepotism, the authors adopted an exploratory qualitative research approach to advance insight into service nepotism. The study benefits from its empirical focus on West African migrants in the UK who represent a distinct minority group living in urban areas of the developed world. Data for the study were collected over a six-month period, utilizing semi-structured interviews as the primary method of data collection.

Findings

The research highlights the occurrence and complexities of service nepotism in the multi-ethnic marketplace, and identifies four distinct activities (marginal revolution, reciprocal altruism, pandering for recognition, and horizontal comradeship), that motivate ethnic employees to engage in service nepotism, despite their awareness that this conflicts with organizational policy.

Research limitations/implications

By virtue of the chosen theoretical lens, the authors were unable to demonstrate how service nepotism could be observed outside spoken language. Also, care should be taken in generalizing the findings from this study given the particularities of the sub-group involved. For example, since the study is based on a small sample of first generation migrants, the findings may not hold true for their offspring, whose socialization and marketplace experiences may be qualitatively different from those of their parents.

Practical implications

Service nepotism challenges fundamental western egalitarian ideals in the multi-ethnic marketplace. Organizations may wish to develop strategies to placate observers’ concerns of creeping favouritism in a supposedly equitable marketplace. The research could also serve as a starting point for managers objectively to assess the likely impact of service nepotism on the organizing value systems and competitiveness. In particular, the authors suggest that international marketing managers would do well to look beneath the surface to see what is really going on in international marketplaces, since ostensible experiences of marketplace consumption may not always reflect underlying reality.

Originality/value

By using service nepotism as an analytical category to explore the marketplace experiences of ethnic service employees living and working in industrialized societies, the research shows that the practice of service nepotism, whilst taken for granted, can have far-reaching impact on individuals, observers, and service organizations in an increasingly highly differentiated multi-ethnic society.

Details

International Marketing Review, vol. 32 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-1335

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 May 2021

Logamurthie Athiemoolam and Annaline Vermaak

The purpose of this paper is to examine teaching approaches adopted by teachers in ex-Model C English medium secondary schools (former mono-ethnic White Schools) currently in Port…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine teaching approaches adopted by teachers in ex-Model C English medium secondary schools (former mono-ethnic White Schools) currently in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, after schools became desegregated in 1994 and changed from being mono-ethnic to multi-ethnic.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted through a qualitative research approach against the backdrop of a phenomenological design according to the interpretivist paradigm. Data were elicited through in-depth semi-structured interviews with 16 teachers from four ex-Model C English medium secondary schools (former White schools) who had experiences of teaching both pre-1994, when schools were mono-ethnic, and post-1994 when the schools were multi-ethnic. The interviews were transcribed, and the data were analysed and categorised into themes and sub-themes.

Findings

The findings indicated that although the teachers were positive towards teaching in multi-ethnic contexts, the majority of them tended to adopt approaches that militated against multicultural education in their classes; such as assimilationist, colour blind and business-as-usual approaches, while a minority incorporated various aspects of multicultural education in their teaching to a limited degree.

Originality/value

The study is original in the sense that it focused on the application of Castagno’s framework of typologies to teachers’ approaches to teaching in multi-ethnic classes. Research of this nature, which explored teachers’ approaches to diversity within their multi-ethnic contexts according to Castagno’s framework, has not been previously undertaken in South Africa.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 April 2019

Hassan Abu Bakar and Stacey L. Connaughton

The purpose of this paper is to assess statistically the shared cultural values scale that incorporates Malaysia’s multi-ethnic cultural values.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess statistically the shared cultural values scale that incorporates Malaysia’s multi-ethnic cultural values.

Design/methodology/approach

This study involved three phase statistical testing. In the first phase, the authors evaluated the 152 items for the affiliation, community embeddedness, respecting elders, harmony, faith, brotherhood, morality, future orientation, conformity and survival cultural dimensions with a sample of 270 employees from three organizations. In the second phase, 355 employees from two organizations completed a survey test-retest reliability and a factor analysis consisting of community embeddedness, focus on respect, conformity and future orientation as a four-factors solution with 22 items. Confirmatory factor analysis based on data from 310 employees in two organizations verified that the four dimensions correlated with affective commitment.

Findings

The results suggest that shared cultural characteristics is a multidimensional construct and at the individual level makes a unique contribution in explaining employees’ affective commitment. Managers from multinational corporations operating in this emerging market will benefit from this new scale because they can use it to identify specific individual cultural characteristics within their organization and develop a strategy to target employees’ affective commitment.

Originality/value

The new shared cultural characteristics scale for Malaysia’s multi-ethnic society demonstrates adequate reliability, validity and across-organization generalizability for this specific cross-cultural communication setting.

Details

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, vol. 26 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5794

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 October 2019

Elena V. Susimenko, Galina V. Shevtsova, Svetlana V. Rozhdestvenskaya, Elena B. Narochnaya and Anastasia A. Popova

The specific character of language policy is considered in multi-ethnic Russian regions in this paper. The relevance of this paper is because of the fact that language is one of…

Abstract

Purpose

The specific character of language policy is considered in multi-ethnic Russian regions in this paper. The relevance of this paper is because of the fact that language is one of the most important indicators of ethnic identity, and it fulfills a crucial role in the self-preservation of the ethnic community. The purpose of this paper is to determine the status and trends of language policy in multi-ethnic regions as a part of national education.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analyze the historical aspect of language policy with the help of problem and comparative analysis and study the problem of bilingualism in the modern Russian society.

Findings

The threat of loss or the ban on land national (mother) language, as well as its infringement form an intolerant consciousness and attitudes in the mass consciousness and behavior of people. It is one of the factors of the deterioration of interethnic interaction and increase of ethnocentric attitudes to counter assimilation and acculturation. Language has communicative, integration, political functions in modern society. It is very important for the preservation of ethnic education. The analysis shows the inconsistency in the language policy whose roots lie in the historical past.

Originality/value

It is substantiated that the existence of a variety of peoples, ethnic groups with their own independent languages challenge state government bodies to solve a number of problems associated with ensuring the optimal functioning of Russian and national (mother) languages. It is concerned with the quality of education in the education system and the advisability of using languages in official events and the volume of television and radio programs in national languages, and so on.

Details

On the Horizon , vol. 27 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1074-8121

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2020

Noradilah Abdul Hadi and Mohd Rizal Muwazir

The purpose of this paper is to examine selection factors among multi-ethnic customers in Malaysian Islamic banking industry. The information is important to reinforce the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine selection factors among multi-ethnic customers in Malaysian Islamic banking industry. The information is important to reinforce the argument that ethnicity could become significant factor in determining customer behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses quantitative approach by using questionnaire (Likert scale) to measure respondents ranking of 25 selection factors. A total of 272 valid responses were generated from 450 questionnaires distributed, with 60.4% response rate. The methods of analysis used are descriptive analysis, factor analysis and Kruskal–Wallis test.

Findings

The findings revealed five selection factors (religious and ethical, services and convenience, service quality and benefit, external and operational and charges), with religious and ethical factor as the most important criteria for Malay customers. As for Chinese and Indian customers, they chose services and convenience factor.

Originality/value

This study is conducted to gain new insights on the perception of multi-ethnic banking customers in Malaysia towards Islamic banks and how cultural differences might affect their decisions. The findings are important for further development of the Islamic banking industry in Malaysia considering ethnicity has a major impact on the society. The acknowledgement of similarities and differences between the ethnic groups could strengthen the relationship with the Islamic banking customers. Furthermore, incorporation of ethnicity factor in bank’s marketing strategies is important to secure competitive advantage particularly in dual banking system such as in Malaysia.

Details

Journal of Islamic Marketing, vol. 12 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0833

Keywords

Abstract

Details

Making Critical Sense of Immigrant Experience
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78743-662-6

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2008

Irena Vida, Tanja Dmitrović and Claude Obadia

In view of the increasingly dynamic ethnic composition of nation states in Europe and elsewhere, this paper aims to examine the effects of ethnic affiliation on ethnocentrism and…

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Abstract

Purpose

In view of the increasingly dynamic ethnic composition of nation states in Europe and elsewhere, this paper aims to examine the effects of ethnic affiliation on ethnocentrism and domestic purchase bias, and to test a model of consumer ethnocentrism antecedents and outcomes in a multi‐ethnic transitional economy.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data were collected via personal interviews from 580 urban consumers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was, in the aftermath of violent ethnic conflicts in the Balkans, divided into two major sub‐regions inhabited by three clearly identifiable ethnic groups. A structural model with five first‐order reflective constructs was evaluated to test the hypothesized relationships.

Findings

The findings confirm that both national identity and nationalism are significant predictors of consumer ethnocentrism, and that ethnic affiliation has a direct effect on both consumer ethnocentrism and on domestic purchase bias. However, the antecedent nature of cultural openness in relation to consumer ethnocentrism was not confirmed.

Practical implications

While it has been suggested previously that, when consumers have dual allegiances, the construct of national identity may be of a lesser explanatory power, the results attest to the value of both nation‐state level constructs in the model as reliable predictors of consumer ethnocentrism. The findings also suggest that a differentiated marketing strategy may be warranted on entering multi‐ethnic markets.

Originality/value

Unlike most prior studies that tested ethnocentrism models across different countries with citizens of each country being addressed as a culturally/ethnically uniform group, this study does not limit in‐groups to a nation state, but examines groups based on ethnic affiliation.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 42 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 October 2007

Howard P. Stevenson

This paper explores how school leaders seek to promote social justice agendas within the context of multi‐ethnic schools in England.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper explores how school leaders seek to promote social justice agendas within the context of multi‐ethnic schools in England.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on data from five case‐study secondary schools in England. Qualitative data was derived from interviewing principals in each institution together with interviews with staff, students and members of the wider community.

Findings

Effective principals in multi‐ethnic schools had strong values commitments to social justice and were able to articulate these values across and through the policies and practices in their schools. However, in some cases value commitments to equity and inclusivity could be challenged by the consequences of policies promoting school choice and the development of a quasi‐market for school education. This could present school leaders with complex moral dilemmas that counter posed inclusion aspirations against performance in the local market.

Originality/value

School leadership committed to promoting social justice can be both supported and undermined by the context created by national policy initiatives. This paper highlights the need to ensure education policy is fully aligned with social justice objectives if it is facilitate, not hinder, efforts in school to challenge inequalities.

Details

Journal of Educational Administration, vol. 45 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-8234

Keywords

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