Analyzing National Differences in IT Adoption Between Culturally Close Countries - A Conceptual Model

Cross-cultural research in IT adoption has so far most often concentrated on disparities in IT adoption between countries with highly different culture profiles. Instead, we argue that there are also differences between cultural closely related countries (which, e.g., are geographically close and share the same language) which need to be understood. The question raises whether the dimensions of culture applied in prior literature to analyze IT adoption in highly distinct cultures are sufficient for explaining the differences in a close culture context as well or whether a more differentiated model of cultural dimensions has to be drawn. Based on indicative results from a three-country comparison within Central Europe, we find substantial differences in adoption drivers (Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use) which seem to be impacted by “microcultural” disparities. As a consequence, we develop a conceptual model based on human values and cross-national differences in IT adoption which will allow us to analyze and explain these differences in future research

Cultural Values and Cross-cultural Video Consumption on YouTube

Video-sharing social media like YouTube provide access to diverse cultural products from all over the world, making it possible to test theories that the Web facilitates global cultural convergence. Drawing on a daily listing of YouTube's most popular videos across 58 countries, we investigate the consumption of popular videos in countries that differ in cultural values, language, gross domestic product, and Internet penetration rate. Although online social media facilitate global access to cultural products, we find this technological capability does not result in universal cultural convergence. Instead, consumption of popular videos in culturally different countries appears to be constrained by cultural values. Cross-cultural convergence is more advanced in cosmopolitan countries with cultural values that favor individualism and power inequality

Testing for linear and quadratic effects between price adaptation and export performance: The impact of values and perceptions

Managerial perceptions are essential in explaining strategic decisions. It is, therefore, surprising that despite the number of studies that have examined the impact of managerial characteristics in exporting, little research has been reported in the export literature that investigates the importance of managers' perceptions on strategic decisions and resultant performance outcomes. To address this gap in the literature, the authors examine the key determinants of managers' psychic distance as well as its influence on international pricing decisions, and this in turn, on the export performance of SMEs. We also examine the quadratic effects of price adaptation on export performance. This is particularly relevant since price adaptation and export performance have been assumed in the literature to have a linear relationship. The results show that managers' perceptions have a significant impact on pricing decisions and resultant performance outcomes. Our findings also indicate that price adaptation has an inverted U-shaped relationship with export performance

Ethics and taxation : a cross-national comparison of UK and Turkish firms

This paper investigates responses to tax related ethical issues facing busines

Family education and support for families at psychosocial risk in Europe: Evidence from a survey of international experts

First published online: 11 October 2018There is overwhelming consensus among policy makers, academics, and professionals about the need to support families in their childrearing tasks. Consequently, European countries have been encouraged to develop family support interventions aimed at guaranteeing children's rights, targeting particularly those children in situations of psychosocial risk. While a certain amount of evidence exists regarding how family support is generally delivered in certain European countries, with a particular focus on parenting initiatives, this paper aims to take existing evidence one step further by providing an updated review focusing on two core components of the Council of Europe's Recommendation on Positive Parenting: families at psychosocial risk as the target population, and family education and support initiatives as the delivery format. The scope of the study was therefore broad, in both geographical and conceptual terms. An online survey was conducted with experts from 19 European countries to gather information regarding how they perceive family education and support initiatives for families at psychosocial risk. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analysed by computing frequencies/percentages and by following a thematic synthesis method, respectively. The results revealed both similarities and disparities as regards provider profiles, intervention characteristics, and quality standards. Practical implications are discussed, such as the need to diversify initiatives for at‐risk families in accordance with the tenets of progressive universalism, the ongoing need for an evidence‐based, pluralistic approach to programmes, and the skills and qualifications required in the family support workforce. This study constitutes a first step towards building a common family support framework at a European level, which would encompass family support and parenting policies aimed at families at psychosocial risk.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad de España EDU2013‐41441‐

Settlement process of Afghan immigrant women based on cultural perspective in Finland

The study examined the settlement issues of Afghan immigrant women from a cultural perspective in Finland. The study explores the process of Afghan women settlement and focus on the cultural causes, aspects and the issues which make the settlement challenging and difficult for them. It also considers how these women face with these challenges during their settlement. The theoretical frameworks of this study are Frames for understanding settlement process and immigrant settlement experiences. The immigrant’s settlement experiences explain immigrant’s cultural challenges and the coping strategies which they use to deal with the cultural challenges. It also studies the services which immigrants receive during the process of their settlement such as social work services and migrations services during their settlement process which can make the process easier for immigrant women. This study is qualitative research where data was analyzed using content and thematic analysis. The data was collected from interview with six respondents. Participants in the study included six adult Afghans immigrant women who have resided in Finland more than 3 years .They were interviewed separately with open –ended in-depth interviews. The thesis explains the main cultural aspects which bring issues for Afghan women settlement (religion, language, discrimination, family…) and the cultural aspects which immigrants use in order to overcome their challenges (Religion, individual attributes, social support). The analysis of the interviews resulted in three core themes (1) cultural challenges (2) Personal coping strategies (3) Satisfaction level from receiving social services. The central argument of this study is about immigrants who face different challenges as soon as they left their countries. Beside self-awareness and having positive attitudes, immigrants need different kind of support in order to overcome these challenges and reach to a balance in their new lives. There is lack of knowledge about immigrants in between the people of countries which immigrants migrate and even between the service providers. There is a need for more comprehensive and multicultural knowledge about immigrants. People and service providers need to be more educated about immigrants in order to ease the process of their settlement after migration

Localization of Crowdfunding Platforms : The Influencing Role of Culture, Institutions and Geography

Master's thesis Business Administration BE501 - University of Agder 2019This master thesis examines the role played by culture, geography and institutions onEuropean crowdfunding platform’s decision to localize their content towards international markets. The authors conducted a binary logistic regression analysis is based on 470 observations of platform-country dyads collected from 269 European crowdfunding platforms and supplemented by additional sources of macro level indicators. Of the eleven hypotheses, social trust, geographical distance, high-context culture, rule of law and the investment orientation on platform have an effect on the decision to localize the platforms. IT infrastructure and the cultural dimensions of individualism, uncertainty avoidance, as well as a compounded variable of cultural distance, did not impact the same decision. The study’s findings are limited contextually to European crowdfunding platforms offering lending, equity, donation and reward-based models. Other micro-factors or countries of operation may exhibit different patterns than what is presented in this thesis. The study is one of the first in the field of localization andcrowdfunding, opening up for new discussions and insights. The results constitute and challenge the pre-existing theory on website localization. This thesis’ findings suggest that the context of this research is of significant impact as cultural adaptation has been highlighted to be one of the key factors to succeed in foreign markets in other industries

Deaf epistemologies as a critique and alternative to the practice of science: an anthropological perspective

IN THE LAST DECADE, and responding to the criticism of orientalism, anthropology has engaged in a self-critical practice, working toward a postcolonial perspective on science and an epistemological stance of partial and situated knowledge (Pinxten, 2006; Pinxten & Note, 2005). In deaf studies, anthropological and sociological studies employing qualitative and ethnographic methods have introduced a paradigm shift. Concepts of deaf culture and deaf identity have been employed as political tools, contributing to the emancipation process of deaf people. However, recent anthropological studies in diverse local contexts indicate the cultural construction of these notions. From this viewpoint, deaf studies faces a challenge to reflect on the notions of culture, emancipation, and education from a nonexclusive, noncolonial perspective. Deaf studies research in a global context needs to deal with cultural and linguistic diversity in human beings and academia. This calls for epistemological reflection and new research methods

The Internationalization of B2B Digital Platform Providers: The Role of Cross-National Distance and Digital Characteristics

Digitalization offers new opportunities and changes how firms can explore and enter new markets. Current literature has deepened our understanding of the internationalization process of the digital-based firms, but it provides very little guidance on how the specific characteristics of digital artifacts enable and accelerate internationalization and how the cross-national distance and cultural difference may play a role. We use a longitudinal single case approach to explore how a Business-to-Business (B2B) platform provider internationalized its operations from the inception. The case study illustrates that the ongoing development of the digital service and the integration with new devices played an important role in the firm’s internationalization and expansion into new markets. We also observed that cross-cultural distance and cultural differences played an unexpected role. Last, we propose avenues for future research