Chinese Guanxi and Anglo-American Networking: A Comparative Investigation of Cross-Cultural Interpersonal Business Relationships

Both Chinese and Anglo-American cultures highlight the importance of interpersonal relationships for successful business. In Chinese and Anglo-American culture respectively, guanxi and networking are linguistic equivalents. However, cross-culturally there are emic differences, particularly of Chinese guanxi, which are not captured by these linguistic equivalencies. As such, Chinese guanxi remain somewhat mysterious to a non-Chinese audience. This study explores the differences between Chinese guanxi and Anglo-American networking through a process of semi-structured interviews with n=10 individuals familiar with both cultural contexts. The data indicate three major themes for Chinese guanxi: a heavy emphasis on reciprocity, a long-term orientation, and culture specific etiquette for building guanxi. Each theme is also furthered characterized by important sub-themes that further our understanding of Chinese guanxi. Implications for enhanced cross-cultural relationships are discussed. Keywords:guanxi, networking, China, American, cross-cultura

Professorial Reflection and Practical Pedagogical Suggestions for Increasing Guided Reflection for Students in a Service-Learning Class

Service-learning is an experiential pedagogy that encourages students to understand academic content through performing direct service at a community organization. While research supports the benefits of service-learning pedagogy for students, there are fewer articles to guidance to faculty on how to teach service-learning, especially to faculty who have no prior experience. As guided reflection is a central component to service-learning pedagogy, this article shares both professorial reflection on the author’s learning trajectory as well as reflections ideas from the author’s service-learning class geared towards incorporating a more reflection oriented methodology for students. Even in a class that is not service-learning based, these exercises might be incorporated into a class for the purposes of enhancing student learning

Professorial Reflection and Practical Pedagogical Suggestions for Increasing Guided Reflection for Students in a Service-Learning Class

Service-learning is an experiential pedagogy that encourages students to understand academic content through performing direct service at a community organization. While research supports the benefits of service-learning pedagogy for students, there are fewer articles or guidance to faculty on how to teach service-learning, especially to faculty who have no prior experience. As guided reflection is a central component to service-learning pedagogy, this article shares both professorial reflection on the author’s learning trajectory as well as reflections ideas from the author’s service-learning class geared towards incorporating a more reflection oriented methodology for students. Even in a class that is not service-learning based, these exercises might be incorporated into a class for the purposes of enhancing student learning

Exploring the Cultural Origins of Differences in Time Orientation between European New Zealanders and Māori

Previous research suggests that time orientation differs as a function of national culture. National cultures often cluster together by region, thus regional generalizations can provide insights on how cultures in a given cluster perceive time. We consider the unique case of bi-cultural New Zealand with two cultures, the European New Zealanders (Pākehā) and the indigenous Māori from historically contrasting temporal clusters: Anglo-American and South Pacific. To demonstrate the ways in which Pākehā and Māori differ in their perspectives on time orientation we take our analysis beyond the basic generalizations based on regional clusters and consider the cultural roots of Māori time perceptions. Specifically we consider differences between these two cultures along the theoretical dimensions of clock vs. event time, punctuality, and past/present/future orientations. With respect to Māori culture, we argue that sociocentricity, including different conceptualizations of self, and a unique historical perspective form the basis for the discernible differences between Pākehā and Māori in terms of time perspectives. The endurance of these different perceptions of time, despite over 160 years of Māori and Pākehā social and cultural integration, testify to the centrality of time orientation as a fundamental cultural value. Managerial implications of understanding these cross-cultural differences in time orientation for both domestic and international business are discussed

Refining Thoughts on Culture: Insights Derived from Australia and New Zealand

Culture and cross-cultural differences are increasingly important in international business and management. However, the existing models of national culture may not accurately reflect intra-cultural and intra-regional variation. We examine Australia and New Zealand as examples of the national model of culture falling short with respect to both cultural clustering and intracultural variation. Given that both of these countries are attaining greater prominence in international business, we highlight the need to consider their uniqueness and what we can learn for both management research and practice. As we call attention to the important distinctions tha

Stock assessment and management recommendations for Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax) in 1997

The primary goal of sardine management as directed by the California Fish and Game Code is rehabilitation of the resource with an added objective of maximizing sustained harvest. Accordingly, the Code states that the annual sardine quota can be set at an amount greater than 1,000 tons, providing that the level of take allows for continued increase in the spawning population. We estimated the sardine population size to have been 464,000 short tons on July 1, 1997. Our estimate was based on output from a modified version of the integrated stock assessment model called CANSAR (Deriso et al. 1996). CANSAR is a forward-casting, age-structured analysis using fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data to obtain annual estimates of sardine abundance, year-class strength and age-specific fishing mortality for 1983 through the first semester of 1997. Non-linear least-squares criteria are used to find the best fit between model estimates and input data. Questions about stock structure and range extent remain major sources of uncertainty in assessing current sardine population biomass. Recent survey results and anecdotal evidence suggest increased sardine abundance in the Pacific Northwest and areas offshore from central and southern California. It is difficult to determine if those fish were part of the stock available to the California fishery. In an attempt to address this problem, the original CANSAR model was reconfigured into a Two-Area Migration Model (CANSAR-TAM) which accounted for sardine lost to the areas of the fishery and abundance surveys due to population expansion and net emigration. While the model includes guesses and major assumptions about net emigration and recruitment, it provides an estimate which is likely closer to biological reality than past assessments. The original CANSAR model was also used and estimates are provided for comparison. Based on the 1997 estimate of total biomass and the harvest formula used last year, we recommend a 1998 sardine harvest quota of 48,000 tons for the California fishery. The 1998 quota is a decrease of 11% from the final 1997 sardine harvest quota for California of 54,000 tons. (55pp.

Assessing the Applicability of Hofstede\u27s Cultural Dimensions for Global 500 Corporations\u27 Facebook Profiles and Content

This research examines how Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions are reflected on the official corporate Facebook pages from 259 organizations on Fortune magazine’s Global 500 list. This research is grounded in original indices to measure the six dimensions across Facebook’s “About Us” section, the textual updates provided by the companies, as well as the media that they share (photographs and videos). This is the first attempt to create a conceptualization of Hofstede’s dimensions for organizational social media use. The results paint a mixed picture indicating that the global nature of these corporations is echoed in a somewhat similar overall presence on Facebook; but when the individual elements (About Us, updates, and media) are examined, statistical differences emerge in relation to the reflection of the cultural dimensions. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed

A randomized trial of a lab-embedded discourse intervention to improve research ethics.

We report a randomized trial of a research ethics training intervention designed to enhance ethics communication in university science and engineering laboratories, focusing specifically on authorship and data management. The intervention is a project-based research ethics curriculum that was designed to enhance the ability of science and engineering research laboratory members to engage in reason giving and interpersonal communication necessary for ethical practice. The randomized trial was fielded in active faculty-led laboratories at two US research-intensive institutions. Here, we show that laboratory members perceived improvements in the quality of discourse on research ethics within their laboratories and enhanced awareness of the relevance and reasons for that discourse for their work as measured by a survey administered over 4 mo after the intervention. This training represents a paradigm shift compared with more typical module-based or classroom ethics instruction that is divorced from the everyday workflow and practices within laboratories and is designed to cultivate a campus culture of ethical science and engineering research in the very work settings where laboratory members interact

Spatio-temporal patterns and landscape-associated risk of Buruli ulcer in Akonolinga, Cameroon

Background: Buruli ulcer (BU) is an extensively damaging skin infection caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans, whose transmission mode is still unknown. The focal distribution of BU and the absence of interpersonal transmission suggest a major role of environmental factors, which remain unidentified. This study provides the first description of the spatio-temporal variations of BU in an endemic African region, in Akonolinga, Cameroon. We quantify landscape-associated risk of BU, and reveal local patterns of endemicity. Methodology/Principal Findings: From January 2002 to May 2012, 787 new BU cases were recorded in 154 villages of the district of Akonolinga. Incidence per village ranged from 0 (n = 59 villages) to 10.4 cases/1000 person. years (py); median incidence was 0.4 cases/1,000py. Villages neighbouring the Nyong River flood plain near Akonolinga town were identified as the highest risk zone using the SPODT algorithm. We found a decreasing risk with increasing distance to the Nyong and identified 4 time phases with changes in spatial distribution. We classified the villages into 8 groups according to landscape characteristics using principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering. We estimated the incidence ratio (IR) associated with each landscape using a generalised linear model. BU risk was highest in landscapes with abundant wetlands, especially cultivated ones (IR = 15.7, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 15.7[4.2-59.2]), and lowest in reference landscape where primary and secondary forest cover was abundant. In intermediate-risk landscapes, risk decreased with agriculture pressure (from IR[95% CI] = 7.9[2.2-28.8] to 2.0[0.6-6.6]). We identified landscapes where endemicity was stable and landscapes where incidence increased with time. Conclusion/Significance: Our study on the largest series of BU cases recorded in a single endemic region illustrates the local evolution of BU and identifies the Nyong River as the major driver of BU incidence. Local differences along the river are explained by wetland abundance and human modification of the environment