Hofstede’s cultured negotiating agents

Tese de mestrado, Ciência Cognitiva, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Psicologia, Faculdade de Ciências, Faculdade de Letras, Faculdade de Medicina, 2011Hofstede and colleagues cultured negotiating agents simulation produced realistic behavior by incorporating Hofstede's dimensional model of culture in the agent's negotiation protocol and overall behavior. Given such a promising model to generate actual human-like behavior in artificial agents, and the lack of sound and well accepted replication methodologies, we tried to remake the original simulation and highlight the roadblocks encountered during the process. Along the way, we present the Hofstede‟s dimensional model of culture and its integration in the cultured agents social simulation. Some suggestions are made in order to avoid such obstacles. New results showed a relational equivalence.A simulação de Hofstede e colegas de agents culturais que negoceiam entre si produziu comportamentos realistas através da incorporação do modelo dimensional da cultura de Hofstede no protocolo de negociação dos agentes, e no seu comportamento em geral. Dado o potencial que tal modelo apresenta para gerar comportamentos humanos verdadeiros em agentes artificiais, assim como a falta de metodologias de replicação padrão e sólidas, tentámos replicar a simulação original e ilustrámos as dificuldades com que nos deparámos durante o processo. Apresentamos também o modelo dimensional da cultura de Hofstede e a sua integração numa simulação social de agentes culturais. Hofstede e colaboradores (2010a) definem cultura como um fenómeno que é específico de um grupo e não de um indivíduo; sistemas partilhados de valores, transmitidos desde tenra idade através da educação e do exemplo; estável ao longo de várias gerações apesar de alterações substantivas no ambiente e na tecnologia. Este modelo dimensional da cultura tem-se revelado fiável a nível de replicações e validações ao longo do tempo. Fazemos também algumas sugestões no sentido de evitar tais dificuldades na re-engenharia necessária à replicação do trabalho de Hostede, tais como usar práticas de Engenharia de Software e publicar resultados das simulações detalhados e de fácil acesso. Os novos resultados, da replicação, mostram uma equivalência relacional (qualitativa) em relação aos resultados originais e fornecem um bom pronúncio quanto ao potencial deste modelo cultural ser aplicado em vários cenários que não apenas o de comércio

The effects of culture on manufacturing organisation in Zimbabwe

Less Industrialised Countries (LICs) are faced with globalisation of Manufacturing and business organisations, a reorganisation that requires use of new manufacturing systems and business organisation concepts like Agile corporation, Virtual organisation, Networks of Business Structures, Holonic and Bionic manufacturing organisation, just to name a few, all taking advantage of developments in electronic communication systems, computers and transportation networks which have reduced the distance between the customer, supplier and the manufacturer. LICs are likely to remain the candidates of further underdevelopment if manufacturing and business organisations ignore these necessary changes. It is therefore the aim and objective of this research to investigate the influence of culture on manufacturing and business organisation and propose ways and procedures where possible for the LICs to take advantage of these modem manufacturing systems and technologies, which seem to offer their advantages at lower capital costs as compared to what AMTs used to offer. [Continues.

Perceptions of Teaching Pre-verbal Pupils with Autism and Severe Learning Difficulties: Factors Influencing the Application of Intensive Interaction in the Thai Culture

The educational provision for pupils with autism and severe learning difficulties (SLD) in Thailand has struggled. Families and institutions have attempted to seek an alternative pedagogy to improve children’s quality of life. This thesis introduces Intensive Interaction, developed by Nind and Hewett (1994, 2005) in the UK and from the western culture, as a new pedagogy to foster the fundamental communication of Thai pupils with autism and SLD. There is a lack of understanding regarding the application of knowledge of how the western intervention would be perceived by practitioners in different cultures. The deep understanding of practitioners’ perceptions has facilitated a rethink of educational curriculum development and action to expand the work of Intensive Interaction within the East’s pedagogy. This research explored the perceptions of teaching pre-verbal pupils with autism and SLD, focusing on factors influencing the application of Intensive Interaction in Thai culture. The research addressed the question of how Thai teachers perceive Intensive Interaction as an approach to working with pupils with autism and SLD in the Thai context. In addition, it addressed which key factors in Thai culture influence the adoption of the Intensive Interaction. A two-day Intensive Interaction training course was carried out in Thailand to recruit the participants, and follow-up workshops were arranged for teachers’ practice development. Eleven participating teachers (ten women and one man) were drawn from two special education settings and one mainstream school in the northeast region of Thailand. A hermeneutic phenomenological perspective informed by the philosophical tenets of Heidegger (1962) was used to explore the Intensive Interaction experiences of teachers. Qualitative data were gathered in the form of four in-depth semi-structured interviews from each teacher: the first − before the use of Intensive Interaction with pupils, and the second to fourth − during the Intensive Interaction implementation. Two focus groups of teacher participants were conducted after the end of the Intensive Interaction teaching programme with pupils. Both interviews were in Thai and later transcribed, with some parts being translated into English. Active participant observation was recorded in a field note and research diary throughout the period of data collection to contribute to interpretation and analysis. Thematic analysis methods were developed from the hermeneutic and phenomenological philosophy of Gadamer (1989) and the analysis process was adapted from Titchen and colleagues (1993; 2003) as practical guidance. The analysis of the teachers’ perceptions captured the significance of the Intensive Interaction implementation in a new cultural context, their perceptions of the benefit and challenging aspects of the new pedagogy and the importance of cultural values to the new teaching practice. Key themes from analysis of the interviews revealed that all teachers perceived Intensive Interaction as a worthwhile approach not only for a positive outcome for pupils, but also for an increased sense of professionalism and confidence for teachers. The data also revealed challenges to its implementation in the Thai culture. These included the role of the Thai teacher, the traditional Thai rigour of controlled-based teaching methods which derive from behavioural principles, the components of Thai culture characterised by a hierarchical structure for interaction and the role of the teacher as a second mother. These fundamentals have made the implementation of a child-focused approach more challenging for Thais. The implications for practice include rethinking education for future pre-verbal pupils with autism and SLD, in which social-communicative abilities are included as a priority in their educational curriculum. Policies for skills training and knowledge development in the areas of child-centred education are required. The policy maker has to formally address the fundamental philosophy and beliefs about the nature of knowledge and how children learn that are embedded in the preparation course for pre-service special education teachers. This needs to provide them with the appreciation of other educational philosophies and to reposition Thai cultural challenges to a child-focused approach. These approaches are urgently required to enable teacher educators to effectively provide a teacher-training course that shifts practice in line with the education reform intended by the current Thai government

An empirical investigation of the cultural impact on consumer perception and attitude towards advertising

This study examines the cultural impact on consumer perception and attitudes towards advertising in Kuwait. A questionnaire was distributed to 520 consumers from three different nationalities; Kuwaiti and Arabic, East Asian and Indian, Western consumers from Europe, The United States of America (USA) and Canada. Representing three different cultures; the Kuwaiti will signify a conservative and social culture, the Eastern countries will represent a less conservative and social culture, and the Western element will stand for a less conservative and individual culture. Moreover, the questionnaire is aimed at answering three main questions. Firstly, what are the consumers’ attitudes towards advertising in Kuwait and whether the personal characteristics have an affect on consumers’ attitudes towards advertising? The second question is, whether the culture will be affected by advertising and whether advertising threatens the local culture? The third question tries to evaluate whether people from different cultural backgrounds will have different attitudes towards advertising? The results have illustrated that consumers in Kuwait, in general, have negative attitudes towards advertising. Kuwaiti and Western groups have negative attitudes whilst the Eastern contingent has a more positive attitude. In addition, the culture has a significant affect in shaping consumers’ attitudes towards advertising. This indicates that consumers, even though they received the same advertising in the same environment (Kuwait), still tend to perceive it differently based on their cultural background. Consumers from less conservative cultures (liberal cultures) hold the belief that advertising will not affect the local culture, while consumers from more conservative cultures have a negative attitude towards advertising as they trust that it will affect the local culture. The study indicate that attitude towards advertising cannot be generlaised to a different demographic group. It is suggested that education has the least effect on attitudes to advertising; however the number of children in the family and the monthly income have the strongest effect. Marital status did not occur related to any aspects of attitude. Furthermore, the study also indicates that negative attitudes seem to be associated with personal characteristics such as being female, under forty-five years of age, having more than one child, with limited education (diploma or intermediate), and an income greater than 400 Kuwaiti dinar per month.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Female leadership in Hong Kong

This thesis investigates how the Chinese version of paternalistic leadership theory, a male-biased theory of leadership, influences the expectations surrounding the traditional role of women in Chinese cultural settings. A critical review of the literature concerning Chinese leadership highlights the failure of the hegemonic conceptualisation of paternalistic leadership to take into account women in managerial positions. Addressing this omission, this thesis focuses on how ethnically Chinese female leaders lead in Hong Kong and how they execute their leadership role. This focus is achieved by addressing the gap in current knowledge regarding ethnically Chinese female leaders in Hong Kong and how they experience their leadership role from a feminist postcolonial perspective. The research takes the form of a case study, focusing on a Hong Kong based trading organisation, utilising a qualitative methodology including interviews, document analysis and Government policies. Yet, to achieve a holistic view of the current case, the case study takes a multilevel approach to its analysis including several actors, such as the Hong Kong Government, interest groups, the organisation, managers and their subordinates. This research project examines how these managers negotiate postcolonial issues such as Othering, mimicry and hybridity to fulfil their social roles as women in a Chinese cultural society in addition to their leadership responsibilities, which quite often contradict each other. The thesis presents a new understanding of how women lead, negotiate demands and prioritise both their professional and personal lives, ultimately presenting a conceptualisation that takes paternalistic leadership as a starting point, but incorporates the singularities of being an ethnic Chinese woman in Hong Kong

Insight into Animal Cloning and the Food Chain: a Qualitative Examination of Key Opinion Leaders and a Cross Section of the Irish Public.

The ability to clone elite breeding animals, aimed at addressing the needs of modern food production, had been earmarked as a possibility for the agricultural sector since the birth of Dolly the sheep in 1996. A ruling by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in 2008 that permits under-license, the commercial cloning of agricultural animals has seen this possibility realised. No such ruling exists here in Europe, but the FDA policy not to label cloned-derived products, and a history of wariness to food biotechnology in Europe may expedite this debate. With the plethora of issues that cloning of animals presents (animal welfare, religious issues, trade issues etc.), the policy debate in Europe looks set to incorporate ethical, legal and social issues from a complex set of state and civil stakeholders. Against the backdrop of ambitious targets for the Irish beef and dairy sectors and with biotechnology identified as a driver of growth, this study is an attempt to generate insight in an Irish context. The aim of this research is to canvass the views of Irish key opinion leaders with respect to the use of animal cloning for food production purposes, as well as those of the Irish public. Specifically, this research aims to gauge the current levels of awareness among specific groups and examine their likely acceptance. In accomplishing the research aim, the development of the methodology took a qualitative approach. A series of in-depth interviews was carried out with Irish key opinion leaders (n=19) spanning regulatory organisations, scientific institutions, consumer interest groups, industry representatives, retail and other non-government organisations. The methodological challenge of engaging with the public on a complex technology was overcome with a novel methodology called Food-Bio QUIS (Food-Biotechnology Qualitative InsightS). Food-Bio QUIS uses established methodology from the area of citizen engagement to develop dialogue and established methodology from qualitative research (specifically focus groups) in the selection of individuals and in analysis of the data. In total 6 Food-Bio QUIS groups were carried out with a cross section of the Irish public (n=35). The results indicate that formal discussion on the use and implications of animal cloning in food production had not occurred within key opinion leader organisations. While receptivity to agri-food cloning varied among interviewees, the near-term prospects for this technology were largely viewed with scepticism. Among the Irish public, key findings on the receptivity to cloning included animal welfare aspects, varying interpretations on modern agriculture and the influence of science-fiction on the receptivity to new technologie