Foreign cultures and level of comfort – a three countries empirical investigation in multinational firms

Level of comfort with foreign cultures (CFC) is one of the critical variables in the ease of working in multicultural work teams. In an increasingly multi-cultural working environment in corporations, the observed and latent behavior influences the working relationship amongst employees and has great weight on individual and team performance. This paper investigates level of comfort among employees, which is influenced by the observed and latent behavior at multinational work places in three countries. A framework has been developed and implemented in Italy, Portugal and India, with a controlled sample design to ensure the cultural diversity. Paper analyses that there is a significant ‘country’ effect on many CFC scales. The Mean score differences based on each of the comfort with foreign culture variables among Portugal, Italy and India are also significant, indicating level of comfort of local cultures with foreign cultures differs from country to country. Key Words: Inter-cultural comfort; Cross cultural teams; Multicultural work places; Cultural identit

Nature, variations and preferences in ‘level of comfort’ among employees with different national background

Purpose and hypothesis Cultural ethos and preferences varies a lot not only among continents but also among countries. This brings us to the concept of „national culture‟ (Hofstede, 1980, 1983, 1984). National culture has to do with differences among national cultural background of individuals in their societal or business environment. The concept has also to do with the way those manifested differences may influence business decisions at the international level. National culture can be interpreted as “a common frame of reference or logic by which members of a society view organizations, the environment, and their relations to one another.” (Geletkanycz 1997, p. 617). According to most authors of cultural studies, these differences emerges from several factors such as ethnical differences, ethical differences, geographical differences, moral differences, historical differences, political differences, linguistic differences and religious differences. (Matondo, JPM, 2012). In business environment, during communication between persons of different national cultural backgrounds, such differences can play an important role which may manifest into certain degree of friction, discomfort and inability to appreciate „these differences and different ways of thinking of persons of foreign cultures‟ (Shenkar and Zeira, 1992, p. 55-75), potentially affecting the performance of the project teams (Shenkar, 2001, p. 519). This phenomenon leads us to the concept of „level of comfort with foreign cultures‟. Prime purpose of this study is to investigate the possible differences in „level of comfort‟ among people coming from different national backgrounds in multinational workplaces in terms of national cultural preferences of individual employees. In other words this paper studies the differences in „level of comfort‟ among different cultural pairs working together at multinational enterprises in India or abroad.info:eu-repo/semantics/draf

Empirical analysis of ‘level of comfort’ among international workers at multinational firms

The research is grounded in responses of multicultural team members at multinational workplaces from 14 different countries that provided their preferences or choice of nationalities of members that they would like to hire/work with. Results show clear differences in ‘levels of comfort’ displayed by managers and members having particular national cultural background in what concerns their preferences and choices of colleagues with origins from other national cultures. These variations results into designation of rankings to the destination regions based on preference by the respondents from the source countries. Results also show a somewhat common pattern of preferences irrespective of their national origins that has been described

(Z)-1-(2,5-Dichloro-3-thien­yl)ethanone semicarbazone

The title mol­ecule, C7H7Cl2N3OS, is approximately planar [maximum deviation = 0.062 (1) Å]. Short inter­molecular distances between the centroids of the five-membered rings [3.5340 (8) Å] indicate the existence of π–π inter­actions. An inter­esting feature of the crystal structure is the presence of short intra­molecular Cl⋯N inter­actions [3.0015 (11) Å]. Mol­ecules are linked via pairs of inter­molecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, generating R 2 2(8) ring motifs. Furthermore, N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds form R 2 1(7) ring motifs with C—H⋯O contacts, further consolidating the crystal structure. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by these inter­molecular inter­actions, forming chains along [001]

Conservation Agriculture Benefits Indian Farmers, but Technology Targeting Needed for Greater Impacts

Rice and wheat production in the intensive, irrigated farming systems of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) is associated with significant negative environmental and health externalities. Conservation Agriculture (CA) has the potential to curb some of these externalities while enhancing farm income. However, farmer adoption of CA remains modest in the Indian IGP. The present study focuses on the constraints to adopting the major CA component, zero tillage (ZT). We examine whether ZT wheat is feasible for smallholders and the potential of technology targeting to realize faster and wider diffusion. Econometric models and machine learning algorithms were used to analyze remote sensing data and farm household data collected from the Indian states of Punjab and Bihar, two contrasting agrarian economies of the IGP. While farmer adoption was low among smallholders (owning <2 ha of land), the on-farm effects of ZT on variable cost reduction and yield and profit enhancement for smallholders are comparable to large farmers. We estimate the economic potential of technology targeting using an equilibrium displacement model. In the relatively developed state of Punjab, technology targeting based on landholding size does not appear to add substantive economic benefits. In Bihar, a less prosperous state with a dominance of smallholders in the population, technology targeting could markedly enhance economic surplus and reduce rural poverty

Empirical analysis of ‘level of comfort’ among international workers at multinational firms

The research is grounded in responses of multicultural team members at multinational workplaces from 14 different countries that provided their preferences or choice of nationalities of members that they would like to hire/work with. Results show clear differences in ‘levels of comfort’ displayed by managers and members having particular national cultural background in what concerns their preferences and choices of colleagues with origins from other national cultures. These variations results into designation of rankings to the destination regions based on preference by the respondents from the source countries. Results also show a somewhat common pattern of preferences irrespective of their national origins that has been described

Novel Mutations causing Hyperimmunoglobulin D and Periodic Fever Syndrome

Hyperimmunoglobulin D and periodic fever syndrome (RIDS) is a rare, hereditary autoinflammatory condition characterized by recurrent inflammatory episodes. We report a 9-year-old boy, diagnosed with RIDS due to two novel mutations, c.62C>T (p.Ala21Val) and c.372-6T>C (probable splicing defect), in the mevalonate kinase (MVK) gene. The pathogenicity of these mutations was confirmed by measurement of low MVK enzyme activity in cultured primary skin fibroblasts of the patient. The symptoms have been refractory to therapy with steroids and non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs. This report expands the genetic and ethnic spectrum of RID

PRO-Fit: Exercise with friends

The advancements in wearable technology, where embedded accelerometers, gyroscopes and other sensors enable the users to actively monitor their activity have made it easier for individuals to pursue a healthy lifestyle. However, most of the existing applications expect continuous commitment from the end users, who need to proactively interact with the application in order to connect with friends and attain their goals. These applications fail to engage and motivate users who have busy schedules, or are not as committed and self-motivated. In this work, we present PRO-Fit, a personalized fitness assistant application that employs machine learning and recommendation algorithms in order to smartly track and identify user\u27s activity, synchronizes with the user\u27s calendar, recommends personalized workout sessions based on the user\u27s preferences, fitness goals, and availability. Moreover, PRO-Fit integrates with the user\u27s social network and recommends “fitness buddies” with similar preferences and availability

Social Recommendations for Personalized Fitness Assistance

Wearable technology allows users to monitor their activity and pursue a healthy lifestyle through the use of embedded sensors. Such wearables usually connect to a mobile application that allows them to set their profile and keep track of their goals. However, due to the relatively “high maintenance” of such applications, where a significant amount of user feedback is expected, users who are very busy, or not as self-motivated, stop using them after a while. It has been shown that accountability improves commitment to an exercise routine. In this work, we present the PRO-Fit framework, a personalized fitness assistant aiming at engaging users in fitness activities, incorporating a social element. The PRO-Fit architecture collects information from activity tracking devices and automatically classifies their activity type. Moreover, the framework incorporates a social recommender system. Using collaborative filtering on user profile and activity data, PRO-Fit generates personalized fitness schedules based on their availability and wellbeing goals. We also incorporate the social network community of the application’s users and identify different tie strengths based on the user’s connections and location. The output of the recommendation process is twofold, as both new activities, as well as fitness buddies, are being recommended to each user