The curious case of culture in international business:an autoethnographic study

Abstract. The topic of this thesis is how culture and intercultural communication manifest themselves in today’s business environments. This thesis reflects on the relevancy and accuracy of the prominent intercultural communication theories of Edward T. Hall (1989) and Geert Hofstede (1986; 2010) in the light of the personal experiences of individuals who are currently working in international business environments. The theories of Hall and Hofstede are regarded by some as the key theories of intercultural communication, which is why these two were chosen as the specific theoretical focus for this thesis. The theories have since received some criticism for taking too many liberties in generalizing entire populations of people based on the perceived prominent aspects of different cultures (e.g. hierarchy of Japanese culture and individualism of American culture). The research method used in this thesis is analytic autoethnography. This choice of research method not only influences the language used in this thesis but also the structure of the paper. The data of this thesis consists of the personal experiences of myself and three interviewees. These personal experiences are examined in the light of the theories of Hall and Hofstede in an attempt to discover how well the theories reflect the real-life experiences of people working in the business world, and to offer the reader insights into how culture manifests itself in business environments. The data used in this thesis shows that while the theories can still be considered somewhat relevant in the intercultural business environments of today, the relevancy seems limited to very specific instances. Additionally, it seems that reliance on the theoretical framework for cultures which the theories provide may even hinder actual intercultural communication situations in the business world. The data also shows that other forms of culture — such as organization culture and profession culture — are perhaps more important than national culture in business contexts, something which the theories of Hall and Hofstede do not seem to address adequately. This thesis does not definitively answer how intercultural communication should be addressed now or in the future. However, this thesis aims to provide the reader with ideas and insights into intercultural communication in real business environments.Tiivistelmä. Tämän opinnäytteen aihe on, kuinka kulttuuri ja interkulttuurinen kommunikaatio ilmentyvät nykypäivän bisnesympäristöissä. Tässä opinnäytteessä tutkitaan, kuinka hyvin Edward T. Hallin (1989) ja Geert Hofsteden (1986; 2010) merkittävät teoriat interkulttuurisesta kommunikaatiosta vastaavat kansainvälisissä bisnesympäristöissä työskentelevien henkilöiden omia kokemuksia. Aikaisemmassa aiheeseen liittyvässä kirjallisuudessa Hallin ja Hofsteden teorioita interkulttuurisesta kommunikaatiosta pidetään merkittävinä, minkä takia nämä kaksi teoriaa valittiin tämän opinnäytteen fokukseksi. Näitä teorioita on kritisoitu muun muassa siitä, että ne yleistävät liian vapaasti kokonaisia väestöryhmiä näennäisesti erilaisten kulttuuripiirteiden perusteella (esimerkiksi hierarkkisuus Japanissa ja individualismisuus Amerikassa). Tässä opinnäytteessä käytetty tutkimusmetodi on analyyttinen autoetnografia. Tutkimusmetodin valinta on vaikuttanut tutkimuksessa sekä tutkimuksen kirjoitustyyliin että opinnäytteen rakenteeseen. Tutkimuksessa käytetty aineisto koostuu sekä tutkijan omista että kolmen haastateltavan henkilökohtaisista kokemuksista. Näitä henkilökohtaisia kokemuksia tarkastellaan Hallin ja Hofsteden teorioiden avulla. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, kuinka hyvin nämä teoriat vastaavat aineistossa ilmentyviä tosielämän henkilökohtaisia kokemuksia ja kuinka kulttuuri ilmentyy bisnesympäristöissä. Aineistosta ilmenee, että vaikka teorioissa esiintyykin yhtäläisyyksiä todellisten henkilökohtaisten kokemuksien kanssa, teorioiden hyödyt rajoittuvat kuitenkin vain tietynlaisiin tilanteisiin. Lisäksi aineistosta ilmenee, että liiallinen tukeutuminen teorioissa esitettyihin kulttuurisiin raameihin voi jopa osoittautua haitalliseksi todellisissa interkulttuurisissa kommunikaatiotilanteissa. Aineistosta käy myös ilmi, että bisneskonteksteissa kulttuurin muut muodot, kuten organisaatiokulttuuri ja ammattikulttuuri, ovat mahdollisesti olennaisempia kuin kansalliskulttuuri, mitä Hallin ja Hofsteden teoriat eivät käsittele tarpeeksi kattavasti. Tämä opinnäytetyö ei kykene vastaamaan siihen, kuinka interkulttuurista kommunikaatiota pitäisi käsitellä teoreettisesti nyt tai tulevaisuudessa. Työn tavoitteena on kuitenkin tarjota lukijalle ajatuksia ja näkemyksiä siitä, kuinka interkulttuurinen kommunikaatio toimii kansainvälisissä bisnesympäristöissä

Verification of genes differentially expressed in neuroblastoma tumours: a study of potential tumour suppressor genes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One of the most striking features of the childhood malignancy neuroblastoma (NB) is its clinical heterogeneity. Although there is a great need for better clinical and biological markers to distinguish between tumours with different severity and to improve treatment, no clear-cut prognostic factors have been found. Also, no major NB tumour suppressor genes have been identified.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study we performed expression analysis by quantitative real-time PCR (QPCR) on primary NB tumours divided into two groups, of favourable and unfavourable outcome respectively. Candidate genes were selected on basis of lower expression in unfavourable tumour types compared to favourables in our microarray expression analysis. Selected genes were studied in two steps: (1) using TaqMan Low Density Arrays (TLDA) targeting 89 genes on a set of 12 NB tumour samples, and (2) 12 genes were selected from the TLDA analysis for verification using individual TaqMan assays in a new set of 13 NB tumour samples.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>By TLDA analysis, 81 out of 87 genes were found to be significantly differentially expressed between groups, of which 14 have previously been reported as having an altered gene expression in NB. In the second verification round, seven out of 12 transcripts showed significantly lower expression in unfavourable NB tumours, <it>ATBF1</it>, <it>CACNA2D3</it>, <it>CNTNAP2</it>, <it>FUSIP1</it>, <it>GNB1</it>, <it>SLC35E2</it>, and <it>TFAP2B</it>. The gene that showed the highest fold change in the TLDA analysis, <it>POU4F2</it>, was investigated for epigenetic changes (CpG methylation) and mutations in order to explore the cause of the differential expression. Moreover, the fragile site gene <it>CNTNAP2 </it>that showed the largest fold change in verification group 2 was investigated for structural aberrations by copy number analysis. However, the analyses of <it>POU4F2 </it>and <it>CNTNAP2 </it>showed no genetic alterations that could explain a lower expression in unfavourable NB tumours.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Through two steps of verification, seven transcripts were found to significantly discriminate between favourable and unfavourable NB tumours. Four of the transcripts, <it>CACNA2D3</it>, <it>GNB1</it>, <it>SLC35E2</it>, and <it>TFAP2B</it>, have been observed in previous microarray studies, and are in this study independently verified. Our results suggest these transcripts to be markers of malignancy, which could have a potential usefulness in the clinic.</p

Genome-wide meta-analysis of 241,258 adults accounting for smoking behaviour identifies novel loci for obesity traits

Few genome-wide association studies (GWAS) account for environmental exposures, like smoking, potentially impacting the overall trait variance when investigating the genetic contribution to obesity-related traits. Here, we use GWAS data from 51,080 current smokers and 190,178 nonsmokers (87% European descent) to identify loci influencing BMI and central adiposity, measured as waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio both adjusted for BMI. We identify 23 novel genetic loci, and 9 loci with convincing evidence of gene-smoking interaction (GxSMK) on obesity-related traits. We show consistent direction of effect for all identified loci and significance for 18 novel and for 5 interaction loci in an independent study sample. These loci highlight novel biological functions, including response to oxidative stress, addictive behaviour, and regulatory functions emphasizing the importance of accounting for environment in genetic analyses. Our results suggest that tobacco smoking may alter the genetic susceptibility to overall adiposity and body fat distribution.Peer reviewe

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

A non-native speaker of English in the business world:a phenomenographic case study of IT engineers

This case study examines the personal experiences of IT engineers working in a multinational company. The aim of this study is to provide some insight into the experiences of non-native speakers of English, who are a part of the international business community. The data for this study was gathered from interviews and a written survey. A phenomenographic method was applied to the analysis of the data, based on the example of Loughland et al. (2002). This method of analysis allowed for the personal experiences of the participants of this study to be divided into four separate categories of description. The division suggests that more than half of the participants of this study have some issues with using English for work purposes.Tämä case study tutkii kansainvälisessä yrityksessä työskentelevien tietotekniikan insinöörien henkilökohtaisia kokemuksia. Tutkimuksen tavoittena on muodostaa käsitys englantia ei-äidinkielenään puhuvien kokemuksista kansainvälisessä business yhteisössä. Tutkimuksen data on kerätty haastatteluista ja kirjallisesta kyselystä. Fenomenografista metodia käytettiin datan analyysissä, joka perustui Loughland et al. (2002) esimerkkiin. Tämä metodi salli tutkimukseen osallistuneiden henkilöiden kokemukset jaettavaksi neljään eri merkityskategoriaan. Tämä jako antaa ymmärtää, että yli puolella tutkimukseen osallistuneista on jonkinlaisia haasteita englanninkielen käytössä työtarkoitukseen

Novel Boost PFC with low common mode EMI: modeling and design

Typical Boost PFC converter generate serious common mode interference that is dominant radiated EMI mechanism. A novel Boost converter with auxiliary anti-phase winding of Boost inductor exhibited extraordinary low common mode noise level is presented in this paper. The size and cost of common mode choke are reduced. Common mode model of proposed circuit is developed to analyze the effect of noise attenuation, design issues are discussed. Experimental results show this approach make significant contribution to reduce common mode noise level.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

The Influence of Age and Sex on Genetic Associations with Adult Body Size and Shape: A Large-Scale Genome-Wide Interaction Study.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 100 genetic variants contributing to BMI, a measure of body size, or waist-to-hip ratio (adjusted for BMI, WHRadjBMI), a measure of body shape. Body size and shape change as people grow older and these changes differ substantially between men and women. To systematically screen for age- and/or sex-specific effects of genetic variants on BMI and WHRadjBMI, we performed meta-analyses of 114 studies (up to 320,485 individuals of European descent) with genome-wide chip and/or Metabochip data by the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) Consortium. Each study tested the association of up to ~2.8M SNPs with BMI and WHRadjBMI in four strata (men ≤50y, men >50y, women ≤50y, women >50y) and summary statistics were combined in stratum-specific meta-analyses. We then screened for variants that showed age-specific effects (G x AGE), sex-specific effects (G x SEX) or age-specific effects that differed between men and women (G x AGE x SEX). For BMI, we identified 15 loci (11 previously established for main effects, four novel) that showed significant (FDR<5%) age-specific effects, of which 11 had larger effects in younger (<50y) than in older adults (≥50y). No sex-dependent effects were identified for BMI. For WHRadjBMI, we identified 44 loci (27 previously established for main effects, 17 novel) with sex-specific effects, of which 28 showed larger effects in women than in men, five showed larger effects in men than in women, and 11 showed opposite effects between sexes. No age-dependent effects were identified for WHRadjBMI. This is the first genome-wide interaction meta-analysis to report convincing evidence of age-dependent genetic effects on BMI. In addition, we confirm the sex-specificity of genetic effects on WHRadjBMI. These results may provide further insights into the biology that underlies weight change with age or the sexually dimorphism of body shape