Doing International Business: From Cultural Perspectives

The remarkable growth of the global economy over the past 50 years has been shaped by the dynamic interplay of various driving and restraining forces. From business and HRD (Human Resource Development) aspects, an understanding of globalization as it applies to the field of training and educational programs enables organizations to develop competencies and skills to respond to these emerging challenges faced by globalization. In recent reports (Yager, 2001; O’Regan, 2001), employers are increasingly having trouble finding workers who have excellent (1) soft skills, (2) business etiquette, (3) interpersonal communication skills, and (4) intercultural communication skills. An international business organization cannot succeed if cultural factors are ignored, and the same is true for educational programs. The central goal of this study was to explore the aspects needed for cultural understanding in formal course offerings such as language courses, as well as possible activities/subjects that could improve culture understanding. Significant differences regarding how students’ academic profiles affected their attitudes toward culturally related issues were discovered in this study. Recommendations were made for changes in language courses taught to Hospitality majors

Study of customers' perceptions toward informative service setting items in U.S. hotel industry

Scope and Method of Study: The purpose of this study was to uncover how the hotel ISSI (informative service setting items) were being perceived by hotel customers, and how these perceptions affect customers' satisfaction and their hotel-selection decision. Thus, the research design for this study was a cross-sectional descriptive research that investigated customers' perceptions of ISSI. An online survey was conducted. Data analysis in this study included the following techniques: frequency, compared-means, independent t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA), Factor analysis, and Multiple Regression Analysis.Findings and Conclusions: Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was employed to compare the overall perceived ISSI Hospitality educators and hotel customers differed in their importance rating of ISSI attributes (t = -2.012, df =254, p<0.05) and also in their performance rating (t = -1.65, df =254, p<0.05). Western customers and Asian customers also differed in both importance rating (t = -3.462, df =254, p<0.01) and performance rating (t = -3.665, df =254, p<0.01) of ISSI attributes. Also, this study identified six underlying ISSI factors that have influence on customers' satisfaction level, their future recommendation, and their hotel-selection decision. The regression model in this study revealed that the six factors appeared as significant independent variables to three major dependent variables

Nanoscale Nucleation and Growth of Non-Stoichiometric V-Shaped InP Defect in Heterogeneous InGaAsP/InP Array

Nanotechnology is a broad field that involves the manipulation of atoms and molecules. For nanophotonics, defect formation in nanostructured compound semiconductor system is of great technological interest. In this paper, we study the nanoscale nucleation and growth of V-shaped defect in the heterogeneous InGaAsP/InP array. We have observed that the nucleation originated from the phosphorus-deficient disordering that was likely induced by reactive ion etching. During the nucleation, the phosphorus-deficient In1+xP1-x compound was developed at the trench. The triangular nano-precipitates of In1+xP1-x with sizes of 20-30nm were formed. The ratio of In to P in the non-stoichiometric compound was higher in the upper portion of the V-defect, likely due to antisite defect mechanism. During the defect growth process, the phosphorus-deficient nucleation site expanded to form open, inverted pyramid with sidewalls following the crystallographic planes

Randomized controlled trial of a coordinated care intervention to improve risk factor control after stroke or transient ischemic attack in the safety net: Secondary stroke prevention by Uniting Community and Chronic care model teams Early to End Disparities (SUCCEED)

BACKGROUND: Recurrent strokes are preventable through awareness and control of risk factors such as hypertension, and through lifestyle changes such as healthier diets, greater physical activity, and smoking cessation. However, vascular risk factor control is frequently poor among stroke survivors, particularly among socio-economically disadvantaged blacks, Latinos and other people of color. The Chronic Care Model (CCM) is an effective framework for multi-component interventions aimed at improving care processes and outcomes for individuals with chronic disease. In addition, community health workers (CHWs) have played an integral role in reducing health disparities; however, their effectiveness in reducing vascular risk among stroke survivors remains unknown. Our objectives are to develop, test, and assess the economic value of a CCM-based intervention using an Advanced Practice Clinician (APC)-CHW team to improve risk factor control after stroke in an under-resourced, racially/ethnically diverse population. METHODS/DESIGN: In this single-blind randomized controlled trial, 516 adults (≥40 years) with an ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack or intracerebral hemorrhage within the prior 90 days are being enrolled at five sites within the Los Angeles County safety-net setting and randomized 1:1 to intervention vs usual care. Participants are excluded if they do not speak English, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, or Korean or if they are unable to consent. The intervention includes a minimum of three clinic visits in the healthcare setting, three home visits, and Chronic Disease Self-Management Program group workshops in community venues. The primary outcome is blood pressure (BP) control (systolic BP <130 mmHg) at 1 year. Secondary outcomes include: (1) mean change in systolic BP; (2) control of other vascular risk factors including lipids and hemoglobin A1c, (3) inflammation (C reactive protein [CRP]), (4) medication adherence, (5) lifestyle factors (smoking, diet, and physical activity), (6) estimated relative reduction in risk for recurrent stroke or myocardial infarction (MI), and (7) cost-effectiveness of the intervention versus usual care. DISCUSSION: If this multi-component interdisciplinary intervention is shown to be effective in improving risk factor control after stroke, it may serve as a model that can be used internationally to reduce race/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in stroke in resource-constrained settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01763203

Social Contingency and Advising Accountability

The issue of teaching and learning accountability has been discussed for years. This study focuses specifically on advising accountability of management education to explore how faculty advisors communicate with their student advisees using instant messaging (IM) to enhance advising presence primarily based on Tetlock’s social contingency model. The dependent relationships between advisor and advisee are considered a cohort, and their collaboration as a community of practice. Of the 254 graduate students in the college of management, the result reveals that their perception of advising accountability has been casually explained by the antecedents, that is, self-efficacy, advising presence, epistemic engagement, advisor credibility, and their flow experience toward using IM to communicate with their thesis advisors. The research finding validates intervening factors between students’ perception of IM self-efficacy and advising accountability of thesis advisors. The findings, regardless of the limited generalization, provide prescriptive implications that educational practitioners can use to evaluate related issues of advising accountability

Doing International Business: From Cultural Perspectives

The remarkable growth of the global economy over the past 50 years has been shaped by the dynamic interplay of various driving and restraining forces. From business and HRD (Human Resource Development) aspects, an understanding of globalization as it applies to the field of training and educational programs enables organizations to develop competencies and skills to respond to these emerging challenges faced by globalization. In recent reports (Yager, 2001; O’Regan, 2001), employers are increasingly having trouble finding workers who have excellent (1) soft skills, (2) business etiquette, (3) interpersonal communication skills, and (4) intercultural communication skills. An international business organization cannot succeed if cultural factors are ignored, and the same is true for educational programs. The central goal of this study was to explore the aspects needed for cultural understanding in formal course offerings such as language courses, as well as possible activities/subjects that could improve culture understanding. Significant differences regarding how students’ academic profiles affected their attitudes toward culturally related issues were discovered in this study. Recommendations were made for changes in language courses taught to Hospitality majors

Validating innovating practice and perceptions of course management system solutions using structural equation modeling

[[abstract]]As adopting information and communications technology to deliver instruction and facilitate learning, course management systems (CMSs) offer an alternative capability to enhance management practices. Based on innovation diffusion theory, this study explores CMS effectiveness (EF) and reliability (RL), and considers both perceived innovative attributes (IA) and demographic characteristics. This study also exams the moderating effect of complexity (CX) and mediating effect of function evaluation (FE) on the causal relationship between IA and outcome variables (i.e., EF, RL). Analysis also includes the differential effects of three types of CMSs and gender differences. Participants were 238 undergraduates, majored in business or management, who volunteered to complete an online survey. Results show that perceived IA affect RL and EF, but not FE. CX moderates the effect of perceived IA on RL, but does not moderate the effects of perceived IA on FE and EF. EF, but not FE, appears to mediate the effects of perceived IA on RL. There is no significant difference in model fit between genders, but there is among the type of CMS solution group. Conclusions and implications are offered regarding the future research for program leaders and practitioners

Measuring College Campus Well-Being with Multidimensional Indices: Sustainability of Higher Education in Taiwan

Understanding students&rsquo; subjective perceptions of universities is one of the main issues that needs to be addressed in order to improve aspects such as student retention and achieve sustainable development. Considering subjective well-being as an alternative term for happiness and satisfaction in higher education for sustainability, this study is to develop a measure conceptually and operationally for college campus well-being (CWB) with multiple dimensions, including a psychological, physical, financial, and social dimension of well-being. Subjected to factorial validity and composite reliability, the CWB scale validated by 2793 undergraduate students in central Taiwan was administered. The research demonstrates the appropriate construct validity and suitable-fit indices of the CWB multidimensional scale when used for measuring university-oriented happiness and sustainability in this research context. Differential effects were found among the colleges and between genders. The implications and future research lines are discussed

Measuring College Campus Well-Being with Multidimensional Indices: Sustainability of Higher Education in Taiwan

Understanding students’ subjective perceptions of universities is one of the main issues that needs to be addressed in order to improve aspects such as student retention and achieve sustainable development. Considering subjective well-being as an alternative term for happiness and satisfaction in higher education for sustainability, this study is to develop a measure conceptually and operationally for college campus well-being (CWB) with multiple dimensions, including a psychological, physical, financial, and social dimension of well-being. Subjected to factorial validity and composite reliability, the CWB scale validated by 2793 undergraduate students in central Taiwan was administered. The research demonstrates the appropriate construct validity and suitable-fit indices of the CWB multidimensional scale when used for measuring university-oriented happiness and sustainability in this research context. Differential effects were found among the colleges and between genders. The implications and future research lines are discussed