The Role of Expatriation in the Context of Managing Diversity in International Organizations

Today’s international organizations are characterized by a high level of diversity. Work teams consist of people with a variety of experiences, abilities, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Expatriates enhance this range of diversity. The paper at hand examines which role expatriates and the management of expatriation play in terms of managing an organization’s diversity. For this purpose, a literature review has been conducted and the findings have been contrasted with the results of an exploratory survey in a multinational corporation.In the academic discourse, expatriation management and diversity management have been separated areas so far. There are a few studies on expatriation which examine diversity-related aspects. In managing diversity literature a few studies could be identified which mention expatriation. But no study examines the intentional usage of expatriation as an instrument to actively manage diversity. When aligning these results with the empirical findings of the above mentioned survey, it becomes apparent that expatriates and human resource practitioners do not see diversity and expatriation as an integrated concept, too.These results seem surprising since organizational learning, based on the variety of individual experiences, traits, and qualifications, is the basis of both expatriation and diversity management. The conceptualization of an integrated approach appears to be a promising task for further research

Interkulturelle Kompetenz für das Management im Gesundheitswesen

Daniel Scheible widmet sich dem Thema Employability aus Sicht einer bestimmten Branche, dem Gesundheitssektor. In seinem Artikel "Interkulturelle Kompetenz für das Management im Gesundheitswesen" weist er einerseits die steigende Bedeutung interkultureller Kommunikationsfähigkeiten in diesem Bereich, andererseits ihre mangelhafte Vermittlung in herkömmliche Bachelorstudiengängen im Gesundheitsmanagement nach. Am Beispiel der Europaschule Fresenius entwirft er ein Konzept zur Integration von kulturwissenschaftlichen Inhalten in Studiengänge des Gesundheitsmanagements.The demand for health services is growing in all industrialized countries. But resources are limited and call for professional management. In this article it is shown that managers in the area of health care need competences from the fields of management and health sciences as well as social competence. Intercultural competence is especially important if a manager wants to be successful in the culturally diverse health care sector. But intercultural competence is seldom provided as content of teaching in health care management bachelor programs in the German-speaking part, even though it would be easy to combine health management contents with intercultural modules of international business administration programs. This is exemplified through the bachelor program "Health Care Business Administration" in the Europa Fachhochschule Fresenius, Idstein (Germany). The result is an increased employability for graduates in institutions of health care. The integration of intercultural contents into the bachelor programs provide at the same time for short duration of study, because students do not have to enroll in an intercultural master program to get the target qualification. However, how to develop such modules that increase the employability of managers in health care is yet an open question

Interkulturelles Training für internationale Führungskräfte: Evaluation eines Trainingsprogramms bei einem Industrieunternehmen mit Stammsitz in Deutschland

Daniel H. Scheible geht auf Basis der empirischen Untersuchung eines Trainingsprogramms für Fach- und Führungskräfte der Frage nach, in wieweit interkulturelle Trainings tatsächlich in der Lage sind, interkulturelle Kompetenz bei den trainierten Mitarbeitern zu fördern.Intercultural training programs for specialists and executive staff have the goal to develop intercultural competence and thus to increase the efficiency of coordination processes over geographical and cultural distances. In an empirical study a training program of a globally organized industrial enterprise is examined with qualitative methods. A training program of several months clearly offers good conditions to obtain the desired effect. At the same time it becomes evident, that the process of intercultural learning requires intensive reflection and that the accompanying relatives of the trainees have to be included more than has been common practice up to now

Parametrisierte Layout-Module im analogen IC-Entwurf

Ein praktikables Mittel zur Erhöhung des Automatisierungsgrads im analogen IC-Entwurf ist die Verwendung parametrisierter Zellen. Diese sogenannten pCells werden eingesetzt, um determinierte Layouts automatisch zu erzeugen, und zwar in der Regel für einzelne Bauelemente wie Transistoren oder Dioden. Der vorliegende Beitrag zeigt die Potenziale eines erweiterten pCell-Konzepts, mit dem determinierte Layouts als auch Schaltpläne für ganze Schaltungsmodule automatisch generiert werden können. Als Beispiel wird eine solche Modul-pCell für analoge Stromspiegel beschrieben, die nicht nur die Dimensionierung der Einzeltransistoren, sondern auch verschiedene Transistortypen, beliebige Spiegelverhältnisse und sogar mehrere Topologien sowie weitere Freiheitsgrade implementiert. Das dadurch erzielte Maß an Flexibilität erlaubt es, die zahlreichen schaltungstechnischen Varianten im Analogbereich abzudecken, die ansonsten oftmals Hürden für Automatisierungsansätze darstellen

Nitrate regulates floral induction in Arabidopsis, acting independently of light, gibberellin and autonomous pathways

The transition from vegetative growth to reproduction is a major developmental event in plants. To maximise reproductive success, its timing is determined by complex interactions between environmental cues like the photoperiod, temperature and nutrient availability and internal genetic programs. While the photoperiod- and temperature- and gibberellic acid-signalling pathways have been subjected to extensive analysis, little is known about how nutrients regulate floral induction. This is partly because nutrient supply also has large effects on vegetative growth, making it difficult to distinguish primary and secondary influences on flowering. A growth system using glutamine supplementation was established to allow nitrate to be varied without a large effect on amino acid and protein levels, or the rate of growth. Under nitrate-limiting conditions, flowering was more rapid in neutral (12/12) or short (8/16) day conditions in C24, Col-0 and Laer. Low nitrate still accelerated flowering in late-flowering mutants impaired in the photoperiod, temperature, gibberellic acid and autonomous flowering pathways, in the fca co-2 ga1-3 triple mutant and in the ft-7 soc1-1 double mutant, showing that nitrate acts downstream of other known floral induction pathways. Several other abiotic stresses did not trigger flowering in fca co-2 ga1-3, suggesting that nitrate is not acting via general stress pathways. Low nitrate did not further accelerate flowering in long days (16/8) or in 35S::CO lines, and did override the late-flowering phenotype of 35S::FLC lines. We conclude that low nitrate induces flowering via a novel signalling pathway that acts downstream of, but interacts with, the known floral induction pathways

ICF components of corresponding outcome measures in flexor tendon rehabilitation – a systematic review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) delivers a holistic approach to health conditions. The objective of the present study is to provide an overview of flexor tendon rehabilitation outcome measures with respect to ICF components. Furthermore, it aims to investigate to which extent current assessments measure aspects of health according to these components primarily focussing on <it>activity </it>and <it>participation</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic literature review was conducted to identify all studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Studies were only included if they assessed more than <it>body function and body structure </it>and referred to the ICF components <it>activity </it>and <it>participation</it>. The outcome measures were analysed and their linkage to the ICF components were investigated to examine to which degree aspects of health outcome as defined by the ICF were considered.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As anticipated, the application of outcome measures after flexor tendon repair is non conform. In many studies the emphasis still lies on physical impairment neglecting activity limitations and participation restrictions.</p> <p>Aspects of health after flexor tendon repair could be assessed more adequately and cover patients' needs more sufficiently by choosing outcome measures which refer to all aspects of functioning.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The ICF can help to identify aspects of health which are not being considered. The ICF can help promote further development of adequate outcome measures including activity limitation and participation restrictions by targeting patient centred goals and respecting patients' needs.</p

Intercultural Competence for Health Care Management

Daniel Scheible widmet sich dem Thema Employability aus Sicht einer bestimmten Branche, dem Gesundheitssektor. In seinem Artikel "Interkulturelle Kompetenz für das Management im Gesundheitswesen” weist er einerseits die steigende Bedeutung interkultureller Kommunikationsfähigkeiten in diesem Bereich, andererseits ihre mangelhafte Vermittlung in herkömmliche Bachelorstudiengängen im Gesundheitsmanagement nach. Am Beispiel der Europaschule Fresenius entwirft er ein Konzept zur Integration von kulturwissenschaftlichen Inhalten in Studiengänge des Gesundheitsmanagements.The demand for health services is growing in all industrialized countries. But resources are limited and call for professional management. In this article it is shown that managers in the area of health care need competences from the fields of management and health sciences as well as social competence. Intercultural competence is especially important if a manager wants to be successful in the culturally diverse health care sector. But intercultural competence is seldom provided as content of teaching in health care management bachelor programs in the German-speaking part, even though it would be easy to combine health management contents with intercultural modules of international business administration programs. This is exemplified through the bachelor program "Health Care Business Administration" in the Europa Fachhochschule Fresenius, Idstein (Germany). The result is an increased employability for graduates in institutions of health care. The integration of intercultural contents into the bachelor programs provide at the same time for short duration of study, because students do not have to enroll in an intercultural master program to get the target qualification. However, how to develop such modules that increase the employability of managers in health care is yet an open question