How to Address Your Instructor: An Analysis of Classroom Discourse at Saudi Arabian Universities

Hofstede’s (1986) concept of national culture includes the key dimension of how power distance affects interactions between interlocutors on all levels and settings of a society, including that of the university. An examination of such interactions, including the expected linguistic behaviors of instructors and students, is quite useful, because cultural values and the archetypal roles of instructors and their students tend to shed light on the relationships and general atmosphere of not just the higher education setting, but also of the society as a whole. In the large power distance culture of Saudi Arabia, this concept is examined through an analysis of the different address terms students use in classroom discourse to address their instructors. Since the use of titles is related to classroom interaction, it is affected by power distance. This study investigates and analyzes the discourse of the classroom in Saudi universities to identify titles and address terms used in student-instructor communications. The research found that the terms students employ with instructors include social and academic terms; whereas first and last names were usually avoided. Effects of potential factors are explained in terms of Hofstede’s (1986) concept of power distance.

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NATIONAL CULTURE AND TRANSPARENCY: EVIDENCE FROM ISLAMIC BANKS

Journal on Innovation and Sustainability RISUS ISSN 2179-3565 ◽

10.24212/2179-3565.2019v10i1p101-109 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 101-109

Author(s):

Rochania Ayu Yunanda ◽

Mohammad Ali Tareq ◽

Akbariah Binti Mahdzir ◽

Faried Kurnia Rahman

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

National Culture ◽

Power Distance ◽

Uncertainty Avoidance ◽

Cultural Dimensions ◽

The Other ◽

Islamic Banks ◽

National Cultures ◽

Business Operations ◽

Other Hand

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of predominant cultural values on banking disclosure. On one hand, Islamic banks have practiced Islamic principles which are universal for all countries. Islamic banks are expected to provide transparent information especially in terms of social and Shariah(Islamic) compliant information as Islamic banks claim themselves to have social objectives as the prime consideration. Islamic banks also have Shariah supervisory body to ensure that the banking activities and business operations are in line with Islamic requirements. On the other hand, Hofstede‘s cultural dimensions and Gray‘s hypotheses have rendered remarkable contributions in financial and accounting practices among different nations. Examining 45 Islamic banks in 11 Moslem majority countries, this paper focuses on four particular cultural dimensions namely individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance and whether these dimensions have an impact on transparency. This study found that two out of four national cultures still have significant effect on the transparency level in Moslem majority countries.

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Cultural values and students’ intentions of choosing accounting career

Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting ◽

10.1108/jfra-09-2016-0072 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 179-196 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

İlhan Dalci ◽

Hasan Özyapici

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

Eastern Mediterranean ◽

Power Distance ◽

East African ◽

Accounting Firms ◽

Large Power ◽

Content Type ◽

North Cyprus ◽

Cost Of Education ◽

Bright Students

Purpose This paper aims to explore whether cultural values identified by Hofstede (1980) are relevant with respect to the relationship between career drivers and students’ intentions of pursuing a career in accounting. Design/methodology/approach A total of 266 Turkish, East African, West African, Iranian and Arabic business-related students studying at Eastern Mediterranean University in North Cyprus have participated in this study. To test the hypotheses, a t-statistic at the univariate level and a discriminant analysis at the multivariate level have been performed. Findings The results reveal that collectivism and/or large power distance are associated with the statistically significant relationship between parental and peers’ influence and students’ intentions of choosing an accounting career. The results further demonstrate that collectivism and/or strong uncertainty avoidance is/are relevant to insignificant relationship between beliefs factors and students’ career aspirations into accounting profession. Research limitations/implications The main implication derived from this study states that the accounting educators and professional accounting firms should mostly target parents and convince them of the positive aspects of accounting study and profession to attract more students from cultures characterized by collectivism and large power distance. Parallel to this, the results suggest that universities and professional accounting firms should use their current students to attract more students into their accounting-related programs. Practical implications Given evidence that cost of education is an important issue for the students opting to pursue a career in accounting, educators could attract more students into their accounting programs by providing scholarships to bright students intending to study accounting. They could also increase attractiveness by offering reductions in tuition fees to the students for obtaining good grades in accounting courses. Originality/value This study is unique in the sense that it takes a new step to investigate the influence of career-choice factors by using multiple dimensions of cultural values. In addition, this could be the first study exploring the factors that may influence decision of the students studying in North Cyprus in choosing accounting career.

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Factors and Dimensions of National Innovative Capacity

Innovation in Business and Enterprise ◽

10.4018/978-1-61520-643-8.ch007 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 92-104

Author(s):

Maria Manuela Santos Natário ◽

João Pedro Almeida Couto ◽

Maria Teresa Borges Tiago ◽

Ascensão Maria Martins Braga

Keyword(s):

Research And Development ◽

Cultural Values ◽

National Culture ◽

Tertiary Education ◽

Power Distance ◽

National Economic ◽

Institutional Efficiency ◽

Innovative Capacity ◽

Economic Capacity

A country’s national economic capacity depends on that country’s institutional efficiency, its national culture, and its Innovation framework. This chapter reflects upon the factors that influence national innovative capacity, based on the European Innovation Scoreboard database. By using clusters analysis to verify how different countries are positioned in terms of patent registration indicators, we determine which factors distinguish their innovative capacity. The results point to the existence of four groups of countries, and the factors identified point to aspects related to the institutional efficiency, the societies’ cultural values associated with the level of hierarchy or “power distance” and with aspects such as the level of population with tertiary education and the percentages of expenses with research and development applied by the companies.

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National Culture and Corporate Rating Migrations

Risks ◽

10.3390/risks6040130 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 130 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Huong Dieu Dang

Keyword(s):

National Culture ◽

Predictive Models ◽

Power Distance ◽

Analysis Framework ◽

Managerial Decision ◽

Large Power ◽

Corporate Credit ◽

Rating Transitions ◽

Rating Changes

The informal constraints that arise from the national culture in which a firm resides have a pervasive impact on managerial decision making and corporate credit risk, which in turn impacts on corporate ratings and rating changes. In some cultures, firms are naturally predisposed to rating changes in a particular direction (downgrade or upgrade) while, in other cultures, firms are more likely to migrate from the current rating in either direction. This study employs a survival analysis framework to examine the effect of national culture on the probability of rating transitions of 5360 firms across 50 countries over the period 1985–2010. Firms located in long-term oriented cultures are less likely to be downgraded and, in some cases, more likely to be upgraded. Downgrades occur more often in strong uncertainty-avoiding countries and less often in large power distance (hierarchy) and embeddedness countries. There is some evidence that masculinity predisposes firms to more rating transitions. Studying culture helps enrich our understanding of corporate rating migrations, and helps develop predictive models of corporate rating changes across countries.

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How Can Cultural Values and Entrepreneurship Lead to the Consideration of Innovation-Oriented or Non-Innovation-Oriented Countries?

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084257 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 4257

Author(s):

M. Ángeles López-Cabarcos ◽

Juan Piñeiro-Chousa ◽

Lara Quiñoá-Piñeiro ◽

Helena Santos-Rodrigues

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

Power Distance ◽

National Level ◽

Cultural Dimensions ◽

The Other ◽

Entrepreneurial Activity ◽

Technology Research ◽

Research And Innovation ◽

Shed Light

This study provides an analysis of the existing relationship between culture, entrepreneurship, and orientation towards innovation at the national level. Drawing on the creation of an Artificial Neural Network, and using a sample of 37 countries, this paper aims to catalogue each country as innovation-oriented or non-innovation-oriented considering the six cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede’s model and the country´s entrepreneurial activity. The results achieved suggest that three of the cultural dimensions—long-term orientation, individualism, and indulgence—are positively associated with the consideration of a country as innovation-oriented, but one of them—uncertainty avoidance—is associated with the consideration of a country as non-innovation-oriented. On the other hand, while power distance and masculinity do not seem to be significant variables in this analysis, the entrepreneurial activity rate is associated with countries classified as non-innovation-oriented. This study aims to shed light on the relationships between cultural values, entrepreneurship, and orientation towards innovation, providing valuable information for stakeholders, mainly those belonging to private sector and governments, when designing strategies aimed at creating favourable environments for the development of a country’s technology, research, and innovation.

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Beyond cultural and geographical proximity: delving into the factors that influence the dynamics of academic relationships between students in higher education

Higher Education ◽

10.1007/s10734-021-00734-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

José-Vicente Tomás-Miquel ◽

Jordi Capó-Vicedo

Keyword(s):

University Students ◽

Academic Research ◽

Past Research ◽

Academic Networks ◽

Level Data ◽

Wide Range ◽

Specific Stage ◽

The University ◽

Proximity Dimensions ◽

Shed Light

AbstractScholars have widely recognised the importance of academic relationships between students at the university. While much of the past research has focused on studying their influence on different aspects such as the students’ academic performance or their emotional stability, less is known about their dynamics and the factors that influence the formation and dissolution of linkages between university students in academic networks. In this paper, we try to shed light on this issue by exploring through stochastic actor-oriented models and student-level data the influence that a set of proximity factors may have on formation of these relationships over the entire period in which students are enrolled at the university. Our findings confirm that the establishment of academic relationships is derived, in part, from a wide range of proximity dimensions of a social, personal, geographical, cultural and academic nature. Furthermore, and unlike previous studies, this research also empirically confirms that the specific stage in which the student is at the university determines the influence of these proximity factors on the dynamics of academic relationships. In this regard, beyond cultural and geographic proximities that only influence the first years at the university, students shape their relationships as they progress in their studies from similarities in more strategic aspects such as academic and personal closeness. These results may have significant implications for both academic research and university policies.

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Education for Social Change: The Case of Teacher Education in Wales

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158574 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8574

Author(s):

Rebecca Weicht ◽

Svanborg R. Jónsdóttir

Keyword(s):

Teacher Education ◽

Social Change ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Entrepreneurial Education ◽

Constructive Learning ◽

Study Approach ◽

The University ◽

Action Competence ◽

Shed Light

Entrepreneurial education offers valuable opportunities for teachers to foster and enhance creativity and action competence, which are also important for sustainability education. The University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) is a leader in the development of entrepreneurial education in teacher education both in Wales and internationally. The objective of this article is to shed light on how an entrepreneurial education approach can help foster social change. The aim of this study is to learn from teacher educators at UWTSD about how they support creativity, innovation, and an enterprising mindset in their learners. A case study approach is applied. By analysing documentary evidence such as module and assignment handbooks, we explore how teacher educators at UWTSD deliver entrepreneurial education for social change. Our findings indicate that UWTSD’s development of entrepreneurial education in teacher training has enabled constructive learning, cultivating creativity and action competence. We provide examples that display how the intentions of the Curriculum for Wales and entrepreneurial education approaches of the UWTSD emerge in practice. These examples show outcomes of the entrepreneurial projects that evince the enactment of social change. The findings also show that the educational policy of Wales supports entrepreneurial education throughout all levels of the educational system.

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The Need for Uniqueness among Gulf Cooperation Council Countries’ Consumers: A Cross-Culture Study

International Journal of Marketing Studies ◽

10.5539/ijms.v9n4p29 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 29

Author(s):

Sarah G. Alzahrani ◽

Lauren Copeland

Keyword(s):

National Culture ◽

United Arab Emirates ◽

Power Distance ◽

Negative Relationship ◽

Gulf Cooperation Council ◽

Cross Culture ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Need For Uniqueness ◽

Middle East Countries ◽

Culture Dimensions

Understanding differences among consumers across varying cultures is of great importance to the success of international retailers. Ignoring the influence of culture and centralized marketing has led to a decline in profits for some international companies. Studying the culture of Middle East countries, particularly the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCCC), Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman, is essential before marketing in these countries. Additionally, the GCCC is one of the top 10 luxury markets in the world. Hofstede model of national culture is crucial for GCCC due to the fact culture norms regarding dress and appearance are nationally adopted. A sample of 170 participants from the GCCC was collected using an online questionnaire of 45 items measuring national culture dimensions and need for uniqueness when shopping for luxury goods. It was found that power distance in all GCCC countries was a significant predictor of having a need for uniqueness, as well as indulgence. Power distance had a positive relationship with the need for uniqueness while indulgence had a negative relationship with the need for uniqueness. For other dimensions, findings indicated that long term vs short term orientation, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and individualism were not significant predictors leading to uniqueness. Additionally, the important construct for uniqueness among GCCC consumers is unpopular choice followed by avoiding similarity. Creative choice is less important among the three constructs of uniqueness for GCCC participants.

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Dimensions of national cultures and organisational behaviour

Kultura ◽

10.5937/kultura2068323d ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 323-345

Author(s):

Gordana Đuretić ◽

Nevena Krasulja

Keyword(s):

Organizational Climate ◽

National Culture ◽

Power Distance ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

National Cultures ◽

Entrepreneurial Behaviour ◽

Huge Impact ◽

Organisational Behaviour ◽

Main Support ◽

Very High

The main goal of this paper is to point out that the dimensions of national cultures have a huge impact on different aspects of organisational behaviour. The main support in the work is Hofstede's five-dimensional cultural model. The authors pay special attention to the dimensions of power distance and uncertainty avoidance. When both of indexes are high at the level of national culture, organizational climate will have some special features such as high hierarchical pyramids, centralised decision making, and autocratic behaviour of managers, negative attitudes towards work, stress and lack of entrepreneurial behaviour. Also, special interest in this topic results from the fact that both of these dimensions in Serbia are very high.

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On “Nationology”: The Gravitational Field of National Culture

Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology ◽

10.1177/00220221211044780 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 002202212110447

Author(s):

Plamen Akaliyski ◽

Christian Welzel ◽

Michael Harris Bond ◽

Michael Minkov

Keyword(s):

Gravitational Field ◽

Cultural Values ◽

National Culture ◽

Random Noise ◽

Religious Groups ◽

Individual Values ◽

Individual Level ◽

Collective Phenomenon ◽

Using Data ◽

The Individual

Nations have been questioned as meaningful units for analyzing culture due to their allegedly limited variance-capturing power and large internal heterogeneity. Against this skepticism, we argue that culture is by definition a collective phenomenon and focusing on individual differences contradicts the very concept of culture. Through the “miracle of aggregation,” we can eliminate random noise and arbitrary variation at the individual level in order to distill the central cultural tendencies of nations. Accordingly, we depict national culture as a gravitational field that socializes individuals into the orbit of a nation’s central cultural tendency. Even though individuals are also exposed to other gravitational forces, subcultures in turn gravitate within the limited orbit of their national culture. Using data from the World Values Survey, we show that individual values cluster in concentric circles around their nation’s cultural gravity center. We reveal the miracle of aggregation by demonstrating that nations capture the bulk of the variation in the individuals’ cultural values once they are aggregated into lower-level territorial units such as towns and sub-national regions. We visualize the gravitational force of national cultures by plotting various intra-national groups from five large countries that form distinct national clusters. Contrary to many scholars’ intuitions, alternative social aggregates, such as ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups, as well as diverse socio-demographic categories, add negligible explained variance to that already captured by nations.

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