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

Simple models suffice for the single dot quantum shuttle

A quantum shuttle is an archetypical nanoelectromechanical device, where the mechanical degree of freedom is quantized. Using a full-scale numerical solution of the generalized master equation describing the shuttle, we have recently shown [Novotn\'{y} {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 92}, 248302 (2004)] that for certain limits of the shuttle parameters one can distinguish three distinct charge transport mechanisms: (i) an incoherent tunneling regime, (ii) a shuttling regime, where the charge transport is synchronous with the mechanical motion, and (iii) a coexistence regime, where the device switches between the tunneling and shuttling regimes. While a study of the cross-over between these three regimes requires the full numerics, we show here that by identifying the appropriate time-scales it is possible to derive vastly simpler equations for each of the three regimes. The simplified equations allow a clear physical interpretation, are easily solved, and are in good agreement with the full numerics in their respective domains of validity.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, invited paper for the Focus issue of the New Journal of Physics on Nano-electromechanical system

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

Coulomb Blockade in a Coupled Nanomechanical Electron Shuttle

We demonstrate single electron shuttling through two coupled nanomechanical pendula. The pendula are realized as nanopillars etched out of the semiconductor substrate. Coulomb blockade is found at room temperature, allowing metrological applications. By controlling the mechanical shuttling frequency we are able to validate the different regimes of electron shuttling

Electromechanical instability in suspended carbon nanotubes

We have theoretically investigated electromechanical properties of freely suspended carbon nanotubes when a current is injected into the tubes using a scanning tunneling microscope. We show that a shuttle-like electromechanical instability can occur if the bias voltage exceeds a dissipation-dependent threshold value. An instability results in large amplitude vibrations of the carbon nanotube bending mode, which modify the current-voltage characteristics of the system

Low frequency current noise of the single-electron shuttle

Coupling between electronic and mechanical degrees of freedom in a single electron shuttle system can cause a mechanical instability leading to shuttle transport of electrons between external leads. We predict that the resulting low frequency current noise can be enhanced due to amplitude fluctuations of the shuttle oscillations. Moreover, at the onset of mechanical instability a pronounced peak in the low frequency noise is expected.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Impact of van der Waals forces on the classical shuttle instability

The effects of including the van der Waals interaction in the modelling of the single electron shuttle have been investigated numerically. It is demonstrated that the relative strength of the vdW-forces and the elastic restoring forces determine the characteristics of the shuttle instability. In the case of weak elastic forces and low voltages the grain is trapped close to one lead, and this trapping can be overcome by Coulomb forces by applying a bias voltage $V$ larger than a threshold voltage $V_{\rm u}$. This allows for grain motion leading to an increase in current by several orders of magnitude above the transition voltage $V_{\rm u}$. Associated with the process is also hysteresis in the I-V characteristics.Comment: minor revisions, updated references, Article published in Phys. Rev. B 69, 035309 (2004