scholarly journals Areas Of Cross-Cultural Difference In The Workplace

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-170
Author(s):  
Mario E. Castaneda ◽  
Justin Bateh ◽  
Wilton Heyliger

In the last 30 years, there has been a shift towards using multicultural management strategies. The constant shifts taking place in multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multinational workforces indicate that both administrators of these organizations and higher education practices must evolve to adapt to needs for changing skill sets. A multicultural workforce offers advantages in that businesses may reach out effectively to various stakeholders. Leaders do well to cultivate an organizational culture that incorporates flexibility, understanding, and acceptance of alternate values, especially when working in foreign locations or multi-national organizations. Understanding of differences in cultural values and customs may reduce conflict and increase collaboration. To meet these challenges, leaders must be trained and educated to develop flexibility, understanding, and acceptance of alternate values when working in foreign locations or multi-national organizations. This article points out important areas of difference for organizations to address.

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Mario E. Castaneda ◽  
Justin Bateh

In the last 30 years, there has been a shift towards using multicultural strategies. The constant shifts taking place in multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multinational workforces indicate that both administrators of these organizations and higher education practices must evolve to adapt to needs for changing skill sets. In the future, multicultural management practices will continue to impact the way that businesses reach out to various stakeholders. Multicultural management strategies can be effective in creating a unique work environment that embraces various attributes of the culture groups comprising the workforce. To meet these challenges, leaders must be trained and educated to develop flexibility, understanding, and acceptance of alternate values when working in foreign locations or multi-national organizations. Moreover, they should be open to new ideas. Trends indicate that multicultural management strategies will become more common based on a central language, technological enhancements of communication, and establishing new traditions based on a combination of cultural values designed to reduce conflict and increase collaboration.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-283
Author(s):  
Lan He ◽  
Ersi Liu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the influence of cultural differences on the design and management of two franchise programs and one joint degree program run by a Chinese university in partnership with a British university and a French university. The cross-cultural challenges and the differences in the strategies taken by the managers in both types of program to deal with such challenges are analyzed. The frameworks for such strategies are also proposed. Design/methodology/approach A case study approach was used for the analysis. Participatory observation and interview were adopted to collect information in combination with the written reports on the programs. The interviewees included managers, faculty members, and students. Thematic analysis was conducted to find out the common themes from the coded data. Findings For franchise programs, the British university takes a “collaborating” strategy focusing on globalization, which is combined with the “compromising” strategy of the Chinese partner university focusing on localization. Both parties keep their different styles of management and combine them into one new management mode. By contrast, in the joint degree program, the French management mode can be described as a “collaborating” strategy toward the management of the Chinese students and curriculum, while the Chinese managers are seeking to progressively “accommodate” the needs of the French students. Originality/value Few studies in the current literature are targeted at the cultural influences on the design and management of transnational higher education (TNHE) programs as well as the proper management strategies to deal with such cultural differences. The result of this study will provide useful advice for researchers and practitioners in cross-cultural management of TNHE programs.


Author(s):  
Autumn Tooms Cyprès

Maladministration is the performance of leadership relative to the considerable mismanagement of official functions centering on conduct described as incompetent, but not illegal. Understandings of maladministration in the literature are extended through portraits of everyday acts of maladministration within university schools and colleges of education. These are meant to complement the existing research on various psychologies of dysfunctional leadership through the specific lens of day-to-day leadership actions. In this article, an examination of organizational symptoms of maladministration is offered along with its overall impact on organizational culture. For purposes of this article, maladministration is defined as the performance of leaders relative to the considerable mismanagement of official functions that centers on conduct described as incompetent, but not illegal. Specific portraits intended to deconstruct maladministrators in their everyday efforts are described. Then, concluding thoughts outline a set of diagnostic tools and advice for those looking to navigate their careers around and even transcend leaders who are guilty of maladminstrative practice. Like the disciplines of medicine and the law, leadership is a professional endeavor built on translating bodies of research, professional skill sets, and dispositions into daily practice. As with other professions, the struggle to define the difference between appropriate practice and substandard work is challenging. Arguably, more attention in the literature has been given to examining the hallmarks of skilled leadership rather than the contours of malpractice. A term used in various global contexts to reference the failed execution of leadership responsibilities is maladministration. For purposes of this discussion, maladministration is defined as the performance of leaders relative to the considerable mismanagement of official functions that centers on conduct described as incompetent, but not illegal. This article extends understandings of maladministration by presenting portraits of everyday maladministration within university schools and colleges of education. Understandings of maladministration in the literature are extended through portraits of everyday acts of maladministration within university schools and colleges of education. These are meant to complement the existing research on various psychologies of dysfunctional leadership through the specific lens of day-to-day leadership actions. This article begins with an examination of organizational symptoms of maladministration along with its overall impact on organizational culture. Next, specific portraits intended to deconstruct maladministrators in their everyday efforts are outlined. The concluding discussion outlines a set of diagnostic tools and advice for those looking to navigate their careers around and even transcend leaders who are guilty of maladminstrative practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-786 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Waldeyer ◽  
Jens Fleischer ◽  
Joachim Wirth ◽  
Detlev Leutner

Abstract. There is substantial evidence that students in higher education who have sophisticated resource-management skills are more successful in their studies. Nevertheless, research shows that students are often not adequately prepared to use resource-management strategies effectively. It is thus crucial to screen and identify students who are at risk of poor resource management (and consequently, reduced academic achievement) to provide them with appropriate support. For this purpose, we extend the validation of a situational-judgment-based instrument called Resource-Management Inventory (ReMI), which assesses resource-management competency (including knowledge of resource-management strategies and the self-reported ability to use this knowledge in learning situations). We evaluated the ReMI regarding factor structure, measurement invariance, and its impact on academic achievement in different study domains in a sample of German first-year students ( N = 380). The results confirm the five-factor structure that has been found in a previous study and indicate strong measurement invariance. Furthermore, taking cognitive covariates into account, the results confirm that the ReMI can predict students’ grades incrementally. Finally, a multi-group analysis shows that the findings can be generalized across different study domains. Overall, we provide evidence for a valid and efficient instrument for the assessment of resource-management competency in higher education.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-101
Author(s):  
Jaime Rodrigo Moreno Vallejo ◽  
Fajardo Romo ◽  
Gabriel Frank

Abstract Aiming to promote the social mission of higher education and their integration in Latin American countries, this research has a qualitative focus and it has the objective to study the normative context and the main theoretical references for the assurance of the quality of higher education for Colombia and Ecuador, examines how the continuous improvement of higher education contributes to regional development; and proposes methodological strategies that contribute to the purpose for the regional development, in a systemic, objective, measurable and achievable in time way, like are the process management and the balanced score card for University Management Strategies and to built a public policy for Latin American Universities.


2020 ◽  
pp. 027243162097767
Author(s):  
Yan Li ◽  
Michelle F. Wright ◽  
Danae Rollet

This study compares 477 Chinese and 342 American adolescents’ responses to open-ended questions regarding attribution and outcome expectancies of relational aggression, and investigates how cultural values were related to these social cognitive processes. Results revealed cross-cultural similarities and differences. In particular, American adolescents attributed romantic relationship competition, which was absent in Chinese adolescents’ responses. Furthermore, American adolescents demonstrated a stronger instrumental orientation in their social cognition (e.g., gain status), whereas Chinese adolescents tended to hold the blaming the victim attribution, and the socially harm the victim outcome expectancy. Finally, this study revealed that in both cultural groups, higher collectivism was linked to the blaming the aggressor attribution, as well as escalated peer conflict and aggression as outcome expectancies, whereas individualism was linked to the blaming the victim attribution. Findings of this study enriched our knowledge about the cultural construal of adolescents’ attribution and outcome expectancy regarding relational aggression.


Author(s):  
Mina Jeon ◽  
Dagmara Dimitriou ◽  
Elizabeth J. Halstead

Recent studies have shown that sleep is influenced and shaped by cultural factors, including cultural values, beliefs and practices. However, a systematic understanding of how cultural factors in countries may influence sleep duration and sleep disturbances is still lacking. Therefore, we focused on a comparison of sleep duration and disturbances in young populations between countries. We report cross-cultural differences between the child, parent and environmental factors, and their association with sleep duration and disturbances. The review is based on literature searches of seven databases published until December 2020. Studies were included if they investigated sleep duration and disturbances of individuals up to 18 years across at least two or more countries. The results of this review have shown that sleep duration and disturbances vary between countries and regions and certain factors (e.g., bedtime routines, sleeping arrangement, physical activity and psychological functioning) have been associated with sleep duration or disturbances. This review also demonstrates that certain factors which were associated with sleep duration or disturbances in one country, were not shown in other countries, suggesting a need for recommendations for age-related sleep duration and sleep interventions to consider cultural differences that influence sleep duration or disturbances in individual countries or regions.


2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhuo Jing-Schmidt

Contrastive analysis of Chinese and American maternal affective speech acts revealed significant differences in the quantity of child-directed positive and negative speech acts. There were also important qualitative differences in specific types of maternal affective input. Results are consistent with available knowledge of cross-cultural differences in parenting approaches, and have implications for cross-cultural emotion and pragmatic development. Differential cultural values were addressed to account for the observed linguistic behaviors.


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