Role of Culture in Communication Process and Atmosphere of Business Negotiation: A comparative Analysis of Business Negotiations in CEE and ASEAN Countries from Finnish Firms' Perspective

In the research area of cross-cultural business negotiations there are few studies on factors that impact the atmosphere and the communication process of business negotiations. Hence, the interest of this study lies in investigating specifically what are the cultural and strategic factors and to what extent they determine the nature of the atmosphere and communication in particular business negotiations. The targeted negotiations are of Czechs and Malaysians, considered from the Finnish firms’ perspective. Furthermore, none of such academic research has ever been made. Thus, this study aims to answer the research question, which is to identify and compare similarities and differences in the communication process and the atmosphere in Czech and Malaysian business negotiations. The theoretical framework of this study consists of specific cultural and strategic factors that determine the final nature of the atmosphere and the communication process. This study applies a qualitative research method with a multiple-case study research strategy. Two Finnish firms were chosen as case companies, and the empirical data was collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with Finnish high-level managers who were involved in Czech or Malaysian business negotiations. The findings of this study demonstrate there are in fact more similarities between Czech and Malaysian negotiators than proposed in the theory. The nature of the atmosphere and the communication are affected by particular cultural and strategic factors relevant for each of the countries. On the side of Czech negotiators, a corporate culture and mix of two cultures play a role of major determinants. Malaysian negotiations were observed more heterogeneous, mainly due to existence of various ethnic and religious groups, a change in a Malaysian society towards Western values, and other factors that appeared to be culturally or strategically related.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

A brief synopsis in the use of ICT and ICPM in the construction industry

The Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation (CRCCI) research project 2001-008-C: 'Project Team Integration: Communication, Coordination and Decision Support', is supported by a number of Australian industry, government and university based project partners including: Queensland University of Technology (QUT); Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), University of Newcastle; Queensland Department of Public Works (QDPW); and the Queensland Department of Main Roads (QDMR). Supporting the project’s research aims and objectives, and as the first major deliverable for the project, this report provides an overall 'snapshot' of current public and private Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry sector statistics, practices, cultures and research directions towards the implementation and application of ICPM and ICT tools and systems

Influence of Aging Temperature on Mechanical Properties and Structure of M300 Maraging Steel Produced by Selective Laser Melting

This paper deals with the study of high-strength M300 maraging steel produced using the selective laser melting method. Heat treatment consists of solution annealing and subsequent aging; the influence of the selected aging temperatures on the final mechanical properties—microhardness and compressive yield strength—and the structure of the maraging steel are described in detail. The microstructure of the samples is examined using optical and electron microscopy. The compressive test results show that the compressive yield strength increased after heat treatment up to a treatment temperature of 480 °C and then gradually decreased. The sample aged at 480 °C also exhibited the highest observed microhardness of 562 HV. The structure of this sample changed from the original melt pools to a relatively fine-grained structure with a high fraction of high-angle grain boundaries (72%)