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Book part
Publication date: 11 August 2014

Kwok Leung

A defining feature of international business is the necessity for people from diverse cultural backgrounds to interact and collaborate but intercultural interaction is difficult…

Abstract

A defining feature of international business is the necessity for people from diverse cultural backgrounds to interact and collaborate but intercultural interaction is difficult and may give rise to disagreement and conflict. I have been working on the dynamics that promote positive intercultural interaction in the international business context, and two streams of my research, one empirical and the other conceptual, are reviewed here. The first stream is concerned with fairness issues surrounding the pay disparity between locals and expatriates in multinational enterprises operating in China, which has implications for MNC operations in other emerging economies. My research has shown that the pay disparity is associated with negative reactions from local employees but some management practices associated with the relationship between locals and expatriates, attributions made by locals, and salient norms about the pay disparity can buffer such negative reactions. In this research program, the focus is not on the actual interaction between locals and expatriates. To address this gap, a conceptual framework is presented, which provides insight about the factors that contribute to positive interaction between locals and expatriates. This paper ends with implications for future research on intercultural interaction in the MNC context.

Details

Multidisciplinary Insights from New AIB Fellows
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-038-4

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 23 February 2016

Julie B. Wiest

The study seeks to introduce a new media model that (1) clearly illustrates the role of mass media in the transmission of cultural messages, and (2) helps to explain variations in…

Abstract

Purpose

The study seeks to introduce a new media model that (1) clearly illustrates the role of mass media in the transmission of cultural messages, and (2) helps to explain variations in the reception and employment of cultural messages by members of the same culture.

Methodology/approach

Drawing on decades of theorizing in cultural sociology and communication studies, as well as data from two qualitative content analyses, a new model was developed, explained, and then applied to a specific cultural phenomenon.

Findings

Mass media are significant transmitters of cultural messages and play an influential role in shaping culture, yet the process is complex. There is great variety in what messages are accepted by different consumers, how they are interpreted, and how they ultimately are employed (or not). Further, cultures that include contradictory messages are more likely to inadvertently promote deviant paths to culturally valued goals.

Research limitations/implications

First, the model only addresses one dimension of the relationship between mass media and culture; it does not explain cultural influences on mass media. Second, the model does not specifically address recent changes in the media landscape, though an accommodation is suggested. Finally, the model needs additional testing before its utility can be reasonably determined.

Originality/value

First, a new model is introduced that clearly illustrates the complex process by which cultural messages are transmitted to receivers via mass media. Second, the model introduces the concept of “cultural capacity” to complement existing concepts and advance understanding of the operation of culture.

Details

Communication and Information Technologies Annual
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-785-1

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 July 2009

Satyabhusan Dash, Ed Bruning and Manaswini Acharya

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between Canadian and Indian consumers' national cultural orientations and banking service quality expectations. Using…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between Canadian and Indian consumers' national cultural orientations and banking service quality expectations. Using two of Hofstede's five cultural dimensions operationalized at the individual level, and five dimensions of service quality from Parasuraman et al.'s SERVQUAL scale, the aim is to develop and test hypotheses relating national culture values to service quality expectations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study is quantitative in nature, using surveys (online and written) from respondents in Canada and India. Data were analyzed using dummy variable regression and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The results show that the importance of various SERVQUAL dimensions is related to Hofstede's power distance and individualism cultural dimensions both at the individual and national levels. More specifically, consumers low on power distance expect highly responsive and reliable service. High power distance customers attach higher importance to tangible service attributes. Consumers high on individualism expect lower empathy and assurance from service providers. Furthermore, Indian consumers attach higher importance to tangible attributes, whereas Canadian consumers find service reliability more important. However, differences in overall service quality expectations are not significantly different across the two countries.

Practical implications

The results suggest that managers must be aware of the cultural values of the buyer/client in order to fully understand the most effective means of establishing and nurturing the service delivery process and, consequently, establishing service quality expectations. Banks will be more successful when service delivery is in tune with cultural imperatives, particularly sub‐group cultural imperatives.

Originality/value

The study provides an original insight into the manner in which national culture impacts on service quality expectations. Furthermore, the study identifies individual sub‐cultural influences that shape service quality expectations.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

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Article
Publication date: 15 February 2024

Anil D’souza

The paper draws extensively from Aristotle’s Poetics, a classical work on the aesthetics of drama. Drawing from symbolic and thematic elements from folklore and mythology, this…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper draws extensively from Aristotle’s Poetics, a classical work on the aesthetics of drama. Drawing from symbolic and thematic elements from folklore and mythology, this paper aims to illustrate how the Poetics can be referenced as an allegorical device in the design of culture-building strategies and interventions.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory paper examines Aristotle’s “Poetics” and the range of creative expression this literature provides as a conceptual design framework for the development of a culture map in creating a distinctive organisational mythology. The Poetics articulates an Aristotelian perspective on theatre which infuses itself as a new language in offering structural and archetypical plot devices in the development of an organisational narrative.

Findings

Findings from this explorative study can provide a creative roadmap to culture practitioners and leaders, to be used as a determining reference point in developing culture maps and change management interventions.

Practical implications

Poetics has its detractors, notably Bertolt Brecht and Augusto Boal. Boal examines how Poetics promotes a narrative that suppresses free thinking and encourages a cult of feudal personality, therefore encouraging industrial and cultural oppression, which he rebelled against through the development of his “Theatre of the Oppressed”. This new kind of theatre discarded the Aristotelian model of thinking. Ideas proposed in the Poetics may also lend verisimilitude to the propagation of obsessive consumerism through the definitive symbolism it offers in the development of institutionalised personality cults.

Originality/value

The Poetics as a creatively driven reflexive study provides a forward movement in the study of culture design templates. Its definitive allegorical devices and metaphors act as action principles through which an enterprise culture and its value system can be examined and developed.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

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Article
Publication date: 6 July 2021

Demetris Vrontis and Gianpaolo Basile

The paper aims to highlight the role of Web 2.0 in international marketing, shedding light on the relationships existing between the country of origin effect and consumer behavior.

Abstract

Purpose

The paper aims to highlight the role of Web 2.0 in international marketing, shedding light on the relationships existing between the country of origin effect and consumer behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study, drawn on the country of the origin (COO)W literature and Web 2.0 diffusion data, investigates the relationships between country of origin – seen as an idiosyncratic entrepreneurial offer – and the consumer, within an international marketing framework. Specifically, the paper focuses on the increasing role of Web 2.0 and social media as tools enabling enterprises to create and maintain adaptive and networking capabilities and to implement international marketing strategies.

Findings

The findings presented here reveal that international marketing is becoming increasingly similar to domestic marketing because of social media development. In other words, it is becoming more and more difficult for international products to contain themselves within single markets as local issues seldom remain local.

Originality/value

This paper fills a gap in the international marketing literature focusing on how social media, particularly in a pandemic era, can improve and enhance relationships between the product of origin and consumer behavior both in the assessment and in the actual purchase of products.

Details

International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, vol. 28 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-2554

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 1998

Clive Nancarrow, Len Tiu Wright and Chris Woolston

Focuses on the pre‐testing of a global press advertising campaign for Seagram’s Chivas Regal whisky and contrasts the contributions of qualitative and quantitative applications…

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Abstract

Focuses on the pre‐testing of a global press advertising campaign for Seagram’s Chivas Regal whisky and contrasts the contributions of qualitative and quantitative applications. Examines how an informed decision could be made on the most appropriate research approach ‐ in particular the value of the concept of validity; and the strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and quantitative pre‐testing given the emotional nature of the product category, importance of branding and nature of advertising. These questions are addressed in this paper through focusing on the research needs for the “global campaign” as well as the need in Japan to evaluate the global campaign and an independently developed local campaign. In the case of Japan, Seagram’s management elected to examine two different research approaches ‐ qualitative and quantitative ‐ to address the question “how to effectively pre‐test international press advertising”. This exercise demonstrated that the two approaches produced seemingly contradictory findings. Reasons for this are discussed.

Details

Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-2752

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 11 August 2014

Abstract

Details

Multidisciplinary Insights from New AIB Fellows
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-038-4

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2008

Asta Salmi and Elmira Sharafutdinova

This paper aims to focus on interactions between old and new cultural influences, investigating consumer preferences for a new type of product – the mobile phone – by looking at…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to focus on interactions between old and new cultural influences, investigating consumer preferences for a new type of product – the mobile phone – by looking at the cultural and socio‐economic factors that affect these preferences.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 22 Russian experts in design and marketing were interviewed in the spring of 2005. The paper takes the viewpoint of Western firms interested in Russian (mobile phone) markets.

Findings

The study shows that the general features (high power distance, femininity, high uncertainty avoidance) characterizing Russian culture affect preferred mobile phone design. Long‐term values are seen, for example, in family orientation, which affects the use of mobile phones. Changing cultural and socio‐economic features are seen in the strict division of consumers into distinct segments. Current aspects of society, such as high level of street crime, are apparent in the desired features of products. The emerging Russian markets seem to consist of very different consumer groups and simultaneously represent both old and new cultural features and norms. Design has become a central tool for affecting product marketing, and an influential community of designers and a design industry are emerging.

Practical implications

Cooperation with the local designers can provide an important competitive edge and support when promoting both industrial and consumer goods in Russia's emerging markets.

Originality/value

Design was earlier neglected and it has only recently started to play a more significant role in production and marketing of products in Russia. Designers can now act as important intermediaries between Russian markets and Western marketers.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 23 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 November 2016

Gina Wisker and Gillian Robinson

This research aims to explore the professional identity of supervisors and their perceptions of stress in doctoral learning supervision. The research determines ways of developing…

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to explore the professional identity of supervisors and their perceptions of stress in doctoral learning supervision. The research determines ways of developing strategies of resilience and well-being to overcome stress, leading to positive outcomes for supervisors and students.

Design/methodology/approach

Research is in two parts: first, rescrutinising previous work, and second, new interviews with international and UK supervisors gathering evidence of doctoral supervisor stress, in relation to professional identity, and discovering resilience and well-being strategies.

Findings

Supervisor professional identity and well-being are aligned with research progress, and effective supervision. Stress and well-being/resilience strategies emerged across three dimensions, namely, personal, learning and institutional, related to emotional, professional and intellectual issues, affecting identity and well-being. Problematic relationships, change in supervision arrangements, loss of students and lack of student progress cause stress. Balances between responsibility and autonomy; uncomfortable conflicts arising from personality clashes; and the nature of the research work, burnout and lack of time for their own work, all cause supervisor stress. Developing community support, handling guilt and a sense of underachievement and self-management practices help maintain well-being.

Research limitations/implications

Only experienced supervisors (each with four doctoral students completed) were interviewed. The research relies on interview responses.

Practical implications

Sharing information can lead to informed, positive action minimising stress and isolation; development of personal coping strategies and institutional support enhance the supervisory experience for supervisors and students.

Originality/value

The research contributes new knowledge concerning doctoral supervisor experience, identity and well-being, offering research-based information and ideas on a hitherto under-researched focus: supervisor stress, well-being and resilience impacting on supervisors’ professional identity.

Details

International Journal for Researcher Development, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2048-8696

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Article
Publication date: 6 February 2009

Satyabhusan Dash, Ed Bruning and Kalyan Ku Guin

The purpose of this paper is to describe a cross‐cultural study which examined individualism's moderating effect on the relationship between bonding and commitment between banks…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe a cross‐cultural study which examined individualism's moderating effect on the relationship between bonding and commitment between banks and their corporate clients.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through surveys completed by corporate customers from 126 Canadian companies and 156 Indian companies. Multiple regression analysis was used to calculate relative effects of structural and social bond on commitment across the two samples. Hierarchical moderated regression analysis was used to examine individualism's moderating effect on the bonding‐commitment relationship.

Findings

The paper's findings indicate that social and structural bonding are both antecedent to commitment, but that social bonding is given higher importance in the low individualism Indian society, while structural bonding is more important in the high individualism Canadian society. Individualism moderates the relationship between both social and structural bonding and commitment.

Practical implications

Bank relationships are dependent upon specific cultural contexts in which buyers and sellers interact. The type of bonding relationship (e.g. social or structural) determines the strength of commitment. Bank managers must understand the proper emphasis to place on developing social connections versus business transactional relationships with clients in individualistic versus collective cultures.

Originality/value

This paper dramatizes the importance of understanding ways in which bonding relates to commitment, particularly when societal values vary and thus alter the relative importance of forms of bonding that generate commitment. Through empirical analyses, the paper demonstrates the moderating effect of individualism on the social bonding‐commitment and structural bonding‐commitment linkages in the context of an important service sector. To date, these relationships have not been explored in either the Indian or Canadian context.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 27 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

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