Effects of Cultural Diversity on In-Class Communication and Student Project Team Dynamics: Creating Synergy in the Diverse Classroom

Most colleges and universities around the world have experienced an increasing cultural diversification of their student body. Foreign student enrollment has been especially high in North American, West European and Australian institutions of higher education where in some classes the number of international students sometimes surpasses the number of locals. The benefits of diversity for international groups are great and undisputable, but if not managed properly cultural differences can have adverse effects on in-class discussions and student project team dynamics. This paper discusses the challenges that international student groups may experience, with the focus on the issues related to communication across cultures. The article offers guidelines for educators for creating synergy in the diverse classroom and in student project teams, and provides an important context for those managing internationalisation of universities at all levels from the classroom to the whole institution

A Process-Based Explanation of the Psychic Distance Paradox: Evidence from Global Virtual Teams

Previous research has found evidence of a counter-intuitive positive relationship between psychic distance and performance, which has been labeled the “psychic distance paradox”. However, there is a dearth of literature explaining the causal mechanisms that elucidates such a positive relationship. Studying the effect of team-level psychic distance on the performance of global virtual teams, we build on the input-process-outcome framework of team research, which allows the integration of process variables to provide new insights into the underlying coherences of the psychic distance paradox. These variables include the team members’ expectation of challenges as well as the level of team effort toward the task. The team members’ motivational cultural intelligence is introduced to the model as a moderating factor. The data support the hypothesized causal path. The findings start unveiling the psychic distance paradox through the integration of the literatures on psychic distance and global virtual teams

Global Social Tolerance Index and multi-method country rankings sensitivity

Social tolerance refers to the extent of recognition and acceptance of differences, willingness to grant equal rights, and refraining from openly intolerant attitudes. Utilizing World Value Survey (WVS) data (56 countries, 83,000 usable respondents), we develop a Global Social Tolerance Index (GSTI) that incorporates gender, minority, immigrant, and religion tolerance dimensions. We develop this index using a multi-step data-driven procedure involving five data standardizations, seven weighting approaches, and five aggregation methods. They generate 124 replications for each country’s index and rank, yielding a median overall position and several measures of rank sensitivity/robustness to different weighting, standardization, and aggregation approaches. It builds on prior social tolerance indexes in terms of scope and dimensionality, and avoids problems associated with equal or subjective weighting. The GSTI index/ rankings provide a tool for IB scholars to examine nations’ overall tolerance or tolerance regarding each dimension relative to other external criteria. Our procedure can be used to develop other indexes and rankings of nations or organizations within a country or region. In practice, any such non-participatory method should always serve as a starting point to facilitate deliberations of experts and/or decision-makers for policy recommendations

The Happy Culture: A Theoretical, Meta-Analytic, and Empirical Review of the Relationship Between Culture and Wealth and Subjective Well-Being

Do cultural values enhance financial and subjective well-being (SWB)? Taking a multidisciplinary approach, we meta-analytically reviewed the field, found it thinly covered, and focused on individualism. In counter, we collected a broad array of individuallevel data, specifically an Internet sample of 8,438 adult respondents. Individual SWB was most strongly associated with cultural values that foster relationships and social capital, which typically accounted for more unique variance in life satisfaction than an individual’s salary. At a national level, we used mean-based meta-analysis to construct a comprehensive cultural and SWB database. Results show some reversals from the individual level, particularly masculinity’s facet of achievement orientation. In all, the happy nation has low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance, but is high in femininity and individualism, and these effects are interrelated but still partially independent from political and economic institutions. In short, culture matters for individual and national well-being

Scale validation via quantifying item validity using the Dm index

While most validity indices are based on total test scores, this paper describes a method for quantifying the construct validity. The approach is based on the item selection technique originally described by Piazza (1980). However, Piazza’s P2 index suffers from some substantial limitations. The Dh coefficient provides an alternative that can be used for item selection and also to provide a validity index for a set of items. An example of how to use the technique is provided. This method may be especially useful when the sample of items and/or persons is small, rendering more traditional approaches such as factor analysis or item response theory inappropriate

X-Culture: an International Project in the Light of Experience Gained Over the Years (2010-2016)

The X-Culture project is an innovative modern form of experiential learning predominantly in International Management and International Business. Although experiential learning has some advantages, namely, developing cross-cultural competencies, cultural intelligence, intercultural communication and management skills, differences in personality or conditions also arise as a downside. X-Culture has been evolving throughout the years since 2010 when the original objective was to supplement the theoretical material and in-class teaching. Nowadays more than 4000 master, bachelor and MBA students, mostly of management and economics from more than 37 countries, take part in the project every semester. X-Culture is aimed at students of International Business college courses and training programs with the task of writing a business report or consulting propositions by offering business solutions for a hypothetical client. This paper outlines the theoretical background of the X-culture project. It describes the evolution and practical and theoretical experience of this project since 2010

Culture as a Consequence: A Multilevel Multivariate Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Individual and Country Characteristics on Work-Related Cultural Values

Culture as a consequence is a neglected topic. Addressing this, we explore what factors are related to and potentially shape culture, what explains cultural variations within countries, and what the relationship is between cultural values at the individual and national levels. To answer these questions, we use a multi-level multivariate meta-analysis of 508 studies. The findings indicate that national and individual cultural values may be determined by the micro characteristics of age, gender, education, and socio-economic status as well as the macro characteristics of wealth and freedom. This provides a basis for explaining cultural change, both at the individual and national levels. Also, up to 90% of the variance in cultural values is found to reside within countries, stressing that national averages poorly represent specific individuals

Negative practice–value correlations in the GLOBE data: Unexpected findings, questionnaire limitations and research directions.

The study of culture and cultural values continues to be hotly debated among cross-cultural researchers worldwide. Starting with the seminal work of Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck, and Hofstede, and continuing with more recent efforts, researchers have continued to develop and empirically examine cultural value frameworks in an attempt to understand how cultural differences affect work-related behaviors and attitudes. The purpose of this commentary is to briefly describe the interesting – and counterintuitive – findings from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) project, summarize the different interpretations of these findings offered by Maseland and van Hoorn, and by Brewer and Venaik, provide a critique of their arguments, and finally offer a list of possible alternative interpretations and explanations for the conflicting findings in the GLOBE study

Working Across Boundaries: Current and Future Perspectives on Global Virtual Teams

Global Virtual Teams (GVTs) are a commonplace in contemporary organizations, and an already established topic of research in international management. While we have a good understanding of advantages and challenges associated with this ubiquitous form of work groups, this special issue aims to contribute to theory development by focusing on key drivers that influence the success of GVTs, along with ways for mitigating their challenges. We briefly review current knowledge on GVTs and propose a structuring framework that can help with both organizing what we know about GVTs, and with guiding the conversation on where the research on this topic might focus next. We then introduce four special issue articles that illustrate avenues for generating new empirical evidence towards uncovering key characteristics and dynamics underlying GVTs complexities, providing useful insights for both theory development and managerial practice

Does Country Equate with Culture? Beyond Geography in the Search for Cultural Boundaries

Traditionally, cultures have been treated as though they reside exclusively within, or perfectly overlap with countries. Indeed, the terms ‘‘country’’ and ‘‘culture’’ are often used interchangeably. As evidence mounts for substantial within-country cultural variation, and often between-country similarities, the problem with equating country and culture becomes more apparent. To help resolve the country-culture conundrum, we evaluate the extent to which political boundaries are suitable for clustering cultures based on a meta-analysis of 558 studies that used Hofstede’s (Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values. Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, 1980) cultural values framework. The results reveal that approximately 80 % of variation in cultural values resides within countries, confirming that country is often a poor proxy for culture. We also evaluate the relative suitability of other demographic and environmental characteristics, such as occupation, socio-economic status, wealth, freedom, globalization, and instability. Our results suggest that it may be more appropriate to talk about cultures of professions, socio-economic classes, and free versus oppressed societies, than about cultures of countries