A point of view: can a narrative imagination approach to the business curriculum contribute to global citizenship and sustainability?

The impact of technology and globalisation, sustainability, and global citizenship now feature as dominant motifs within the global business narrative. This represents a broadening of the corporate..

Business communication needs: A multicultural perspective

How should we teach international business communication? What role can multiculturalism play in the business communication classroom? Can we identify a set of business communication requirements that are valid across different cultures? This article enters this discussion by presenting a small empirical study of the business communication needs expressed by postgraduate students in a North Cyprus university and comparing it to similar studies conducted in the United States and Singapore. The findings reveal some interesting correspondences between the needs expressed by students in these different countries. In addition, the multicultural environment of the North Cyprus university studied suggests that multicultural interaction increases students\u27 sensitivity to the need for a nonethnocentric approach to international communication. The findings also indicate that respondents in multicultural settings may be more inclined to engage in groupthink because of their heightened awareness of cultural differences and their wish to avoid conflict. © 2007 Sage Publications

Legitimising Emirati women’s expanding economic agency via narratives of the past

Purpose The aim of this study is to investigate the highly dynamic cultural landscape relating to economically active Emirati women who are supported by government policy but may be exposed to some societal disapprobation. Design/methodology/approach Narrative methodology is used to explore how women respond to the perceived discord between their economic agency and enduring traditional norms associated with women. Findings Results indicate that a prevailing discursive mode within participants’ narratives is that the working woman is not at all a new phenomenon in their society but has always been a feature of Emirati history. Originality/value This study’s contribution to theory building is its demonstration of how traditional Arab Islamic values and modern state policy are being combined in a way that blurs the apparent dichotomy between tradition and modernity