Daniel as an Example of Exceptional Cross Cultural Leadership

This paper presents Daniel as a prototypical model of an excellent cross-cultural Christian leader. The GLOBE project research on cross-cultural leaders is consulted and five cross cultural leadership qualities are identified based on their acceptance in all cultures studied: integrity, performance oriented, visionary, inspirational, and team builder as found in Dorfman’s research originating from the GLOBE project.1 God’s intervention in Daniel’s leadership is also considered as a significant factor in Daniel’s cross-cultural success as a leader. Exegetical analysis of Daniel 1 and 2 verifies that Daniel meets the criteria of an excellent cross-cultural leader as proposed by Dorfman. Daniel presents a strong model of a cross-cultural Christian leader who keeps his identity while respecting and embracing the host culture, staying in a vital relationship with God, and practicing exemplary cross-cultural leadership qualities

THE APPLICABILITY OF WIDELY EMPLOYED FRAMEWORKS IN CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT RESEARCH

This article aims to analyze and assess the applicability of widely employed frameworks in cross-cultural management research. First, some criteria are conceptualized and then, eight cultural frameworks are examined and their relevance with respect to defined criteria is determined. At the end, all cultural frameworks are compared, their overall applicability is assessed, and suggestions for empirical research are presented. Results and discussion might be useful not only in applying cultural typologies, but also in improving existing frameworks.Culture, Cross Cultural Management, Cultural Dimension, Cultural Frameworks

Are Big Gods a big deal in the emergence of big groups?

In Big Gods, Norenzayan (2013) presents the most comprehensive treatment yet of the Big Gods question. The book is a commendable attempt to synthesize the rapidly growing body of survey and experimental research on prosocial effects of religious primes together with cross-cultural data on the distribution of Big Gods. There are, however, a number of problems with the current cross-cultural evidence that weaken support for a causal link between big societies and certain types of Big Gods. Here we attempt to clarify these problems and, in so doing, correct any potential misinterpretation of the cross-cultural findings, provide new insight into the processes generating the patterns observed, and flag directions for future research

Evolution and Culture

The goal of cross-cultural psychology to identify and explain similarities and differences in the behavior of individuals in different cultures requires linking human behavior to its context (Cole, Meshcheryakov & Ponomariov, 2011). In order to specify this relation, the focus is usually on the sociocultural environment and how it interacts with behavior. Since cross-cultural psychology also deals with the evolutionary and biological bases of behavior, this focus on culture has regularly led to an unbalanced view (Berry, Poortinga, Breugelmans, Chasiotis & Sam, 2011). Too often, biology and culture are seen as opposites: what is labeled as cultural is not biological and what is labeled as biological is not cultural (Chasiotis, 2010, 2011a). This article will first introduce the central concepts of natural and sexual selection, adaptation, and the epigenetic (open) genetic processes in evolutionary biology, and indicate their psychological implications. It will then argue that biology and culture are intricately related. Finally, empirical evidence from diverse psychological research areas will be presented to illustrate why the study of the evolutionary basis is as essential as the analysis of the sociocultural context for the understanding of behavior. Due to space restrictions, cultural transmission will be the only research area which is addressed in more detail (more examples of evolutionary approaches in intelligence, personality, and behavior genetics and their implications for cross-cultural research can be found on the website accompanying Berry et al., 2011; see also further readings section)

Cross-cultural impression management: a cultural knowledge audit model

Purpose – Many people moving into a new culture for work or study do so without prior cross-cultural training, yet successful cultural adaptation has important ramifications. The purpose of this paper is to focus on cross-cultural impression management as an element of cultural adaptation. Does cultural adaptation begin by paying strong attention to nonverbal cues in a host culture? How is that attention converted into knowledge, and how do people use such knowledge management during impression management within the new culture? Design/methodology/approach – The method was qualitative. In total, ten international students at an English university were recruited. All originated outside the European Union and each took part in a one-hour structured interview. The transcripts were analysed through thematic analysis. Findings – International students adopted cross-cultural impression management strategies in order to enhance successful adaptation to the new host culture. Students consciously processed knowledge about nonverbal behaviour norms through everyday interactions. They audited knowledge deficits by detecting differences between the host norms and their home culture's norms. The motives for this included desiring to maximise rewards from situations. Research limitations/implications – The findings imply that being in a new culture makes people “high self monitors”. They are more aware than usual about their own and others' nonverbal behaviours. The findings tell us about how cultural adaptation begins. Originality/value – This appears to be the first in-depth qualitative research examining cross-cultural impression management by international students and deducing implications for expatriates

An examination of the suitability of a UK PFI model within the Czech Republic, the Republic of Ireland, Palestine (Gaza-West Bank), Portugal and Turkey

Purpose – The objective of this research is to identify the cross-cultural similarities and differences of the implementation of the UK PFI procurement process in different contexts. Design/methodology/approach – The research methodology adopted was the SLEEPT approach. The identified features are examined from source material of various projects within the stated nations. A Delphic approach of confirmation by national collaborators from each country is utilised. Confirming and disaffirming features are examined utilising exogenous cultural drivers. Findings – The conclusion of this research identifies cross-cultural features of six different cultures presented as a “cultural compass” which will inform the development of future private finance initiative (PFI)/public private partnership (PPP) projects. The impact of this research will have implications for the appreciation of cultural similarities and differences of national “construction cultures” for effective project delivery of future PFI/PPP projects. Originality/value – This paper offers an approach that can be generalised for adoption by nations considering the introduction of PFI as a procurement process

WHY CAN HUNTER-GATHERER GROUPS BE ORGANIZED SIMLARLY FOR RESOURCE PROCUREMENT, BUT THEIR KINSHIP TERMINOLOGIES ARE STRIKINGLY DISSIMILAR: A CHALLENGE FOR FUTURE CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH

Cross-cultural research involves explanatory arguments framed at the meta-level of a cohort of societies, each with its own historical development as an internally structured and organized system. Historically, cross-cultural research on hunter-gatherer groups initially was in accord with the general anthropological interest in determining the ideational basis for differences in systems of social organization, but more recent work has shifted emphasis to the phenomenal level of factors affecting the mode of adaptation to an external environment. This has left a major lacuna in our understanding of the reasons for cross-cultural differences among ideational systems such as kinship terminologies in hunter-gatherer societies. I address this lacuna in this article through cross-cultural comparison of hunter-gatherer kinship terminologies at an ideational, qualitative level. The means for so doing is first worked out using the kinship terminology of the Hadza, an East African hunter-gather group. Next, comparison of the Hadza and their kinship terminology with two other hunter-gatherer groups prominent in the anthropological literature, along with their kinship terminologies, makes evident a major disjunction between, on the one hand, the similarity of hunter-gatherer societies at the phenomenal level of activities such as food procurement and, on the other hand, striking differences among the same groups at the ideational level of the structural organization of their kinship terminologies. The reason for the striking differences between the ideational and the phenomenal levels is not immediately evident and remains a topic to be addressed in future cross-cultural research

Developing communities of practice and research through research informed teaching and learning in cross-cultural groups.

This conceptual research aims to answer three questions: • What is the process for learning where teachers and learners research together? • How can this process be enriched and enhanced, specifically working within an international and cross-cultural student population? • How can a co-existence of a pedagogic research informed learning and teaching environment be embedded with staff and students? This research looks into the way staff research informs pedagogic practice, and how staff work as ’joint partners’ with students to deliver more ’iterative’ education learning models. The research is aimed at the development of inclusive scholarly knowledge-building communities of practice (see Brew, 2006). The research highlights how staff work with students in an iterative communal process through project-based research activity and collaborative teamwork within cross-cultural groups. It also describes the processes of working with students and how it has helped to directly reinforce the curricula and informed the author’s own learning and teaching strategies. Significantly, this type of open engagement with cultural groups has alerted the author to howtraditional linear ’Western’ forms of academic research within art and design can be influenced by Eastern models of research enquiry. The research describes a coexistence of practice where research and enquiry can be fluidly exchanged between teacher and student. Changes were made to curricula to develop a more social constructivist form of working (Gredler, 1997) where both the context in which learning occurs and the social contexts that learners bring to their learning environment were put centre stage. A short film entitled Event digestion, a pedagogic filmic picnic, where students came together to form a community event, highlighted this process. This process was also one of cross-disciplinary staff team-working within art and design where research work is enhanced through creating a more open social experiential learning environment. The research methodology is a predominantly qualitative one through problem solving and action research. It is also situated within a pedagogic research-informed teaching approach where teaching draws upon enquiry into the teaching and learning process itself (Jenkins & Healey, 2005). Methods incorporated have been cross-cultural international focus groups attended by students, ’unstructured’ interviews, student case studies and, importantly, practice-based work. The paper highlights how an active educational model can be developed through learning by doing (Gibbs, 1998) and thinking (Ramsden, 2003), however, coming from a perspective which addresses creativity across cultures (Lubart), is cross-disciplinary, and, importantly, by a practicebase collaborative international team project approach. The practical pedagogic findings will be of use to anyone working in design education wishing to develop cross-cultural curricula through practice-based learning and research