Razlike med narodnimi kulturami so pomembne

Aims: Global business today usually requires organizations to be present locally in countries where their customers are. To do this successfully, good cooperation with local people is needed. Therefore, this paper focuses on the integration of cultures in the business world. The insights from this study are expected to benefit Slovenian expatriates to foreign companies in South Korea, as well as national culture researchers. The main goals of this research include a comparison of Hofstede’s IBM survey results with the researched working environment, and identifying the benefits of merging two national cultures for the working environment. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to purposive samples within the researched working environments and the collected data analysed used SPSS, where the hypotheses were tested using a chi-square test and t-test for independent samples. Results: The results revealed significant differences between the two national cultures in the working environment, e.g.: fear of expressing disagreement towards superiors, commitment to work, preference of challenges, tendency to avoid conflicts and innovations - all differed according to nationality. Conclusion: Working together with people from different cultures requires a certain amount of adaptation (learning about another culture, expecting situations that are not usual). If this adaptation is successful, then cooperation between the different cultures can also be successful, leading to a potential output that is even better than cooperation between people from the same culture.Cilji: Globalni posel danes po navadi od organizacij terja, da so prisotne lokalno v državah, kjer so njihovi kupci. Za uspeh tega je potrebno dobro sodelovanje z domačini, zato se ta članek osredotoča na integracijo različnih narodnih kultur v poslovnem svetu. Doprinos članka je pričakovan za slovenske delavce v tujih podjetjih v Južni Koreji, kot tudi za ostale raziskovalce narodnih kultur. Glavni cilji te raziskave vključujejo primerjavo rezultatov Hofstedejeve IBM raziskave z raziskovanim delovnim okoljem, kot tudi ugotavljanje prednosti za delovno okolje pri združitvah dveh narodnih kultur. Metode: Ciljnim skupinam znotraj raziskovanega delovnega okolja je bil razdeljen vprašalnik, zbrani podatki pa analizirani s pomočjo SPSS, pri čemer so bile hipoteze testirane s hi-kvadrat testi in t-testi za neodvisne vzorce. Rezultati: Rezultati so pokazali značilne razlike med dvema narodnima kulturama znotraj delovnega okolja. Razlike glede na narodnost so tako pristone npr. pri strahu ped izražanjem nestrinjanja z nadrejenim, predanosti delu, obravnavanju izzivov, nagnjenosti k izogibanju konfliktom in inovacijam. Zaključek: Delo z ljudmi iz drugih narodnih kultur zahteva določeno mero prilagodljivosti (učenje o drugi kulturi, pričakovanje neobičajnih situacij). Če je ta prilagoditev uspešna, potem je lahko upsešno tudi sodelovanje med različnimi kulturami, kar lahko pripelje do rezultatov, ki so lahko še boljši kot rezultati kadar delajo skupaj ljudje iz iste narodne kulture

Interactions between national cultures - The case of Slovenian-Korean working environment

Današnji svet, predvsem poslovni, zahteva vedno več globalizacije. Koncern Kolektor je ravno tako globalno podjetje, ki je z lastnim znanjem, tehnologijo in proizvodnjo prisotno tudi v Južni Koreji, in kot tako na enem mestu zaposluje delavce dveh različnih kultur, slovenske in južnokorejske. Uspešna komunikacija in interakcija med temi ljudmi je ključnega pomena za uspeh in obstoj proizvodne lokacije. Kulture znajo namreč biti zelo različne, in kar v eni kulturi pomeni nekaj, ima lahko v drugi povsem nasprotni pomen. Niti večletno sodelovanje med pripadniki različnih kultur ni zagotovilo za uspeh, saj so razlike vedno prisotne. Zato je treba drugo kulturo razumeti in se prilagoditi. V nalogi raziskujemo različne vidike kultur in njihovo dojemanje posameznih situacij. Očitno je, da narodna kultura močno vpliva tudi na organizacijsko kulturo in da je tako podjetje uspešno voditi med medkulturnimi pastmi vse prej kot lahko, nikakor pa ne nemogoče. Negativne lastnosti je mogoče nevtralizirati, pozitivne lastnosti je mogoče združiti, inovativnost je mogoče nadgraditi. Le pristop mora biti pravi.Today’s world, especially business world, requires more and more globalisation. Koncern Kolektor is also a global company, present in South Korea with its own knowledge, technology and production and employs as such workers from 2 different cultures, Slovenian and South Korean. Successful communication between these people is essential for success and existence of production location. Cultures can be very different, and what has one meaning in one culture, can have totally opposite meaning in another. Not even several years of cooperation between people from different culture can be a guarantee of success because the differences are always there. That is why other cultures need to be understood and adapted to. The research pursues different cultural dimensions and their comprehension of certain situations. It is obvious, that national culture affects organizational culture and that it is not easy to manage such company between intercultural traps, but not impossible. Negative characteristics can be neutralized, positive characteristics can be merged, innovation can be upgraded. Only the approach must be the right one

Contracs of sale for wine from medieval communes along the Adriatic coast

Vino je v srednjeveški družbi 13. in 14. stoletja predstavljalo eno izmed ključnih živil. To še posebej velja za komune jadranske obale, ki je izredno bogata z vinsko trto. Vplivi rimske tradicije, krščanstva ter geografska lega so pripomogli k razvoju trgovine z vinom. Za trgovanje z vinom, tudi zaradi njegove pomembnosti in vrednosti, pa so ključne kupoprodajne pogodbe, ki so bile tema mojega diplomskega dela. O pomembnosti vina pričajo že omembe v statutih srednjeveških komun. Vino se pogosto omenja v Statutu Grada i Otoka Korčule, Statutu grada Dubrovnika ter v Statutu Piranskega Komuna. Vino se pogosto omenja tudi v ohranjenih notarskih zapisih, tako iz Pirana, kot tudi iz Dubrovnika, kar še dodatno priča o njegovi pomembnosti. V komunah so mestne oblasti želele ščititi notranji trg, tako da so omejevale uvoz ter spodbujale izvoz, ko je bilo domačega vina preveč. Večina transakcij za vino je potekala v krčmah. Pri večjih nakupih vina so se kupci zadolžili tudi z vsem imetjem. Za raziskovanje in pregled kupoprodajnih pogodb za vino sem se odločil zaradi zanimanja za srednji vek ter pravno zgodovino. Pri delu so mi največ težav povzročali tuji jeziki, saj mnogi teksti in zapisi, s katerimi sem se ukvarjal, niso prevedeni v slovenščino ali angleščino. Tako sta mi latinščina in hrvaščina dodobra otežili delo, ki pa mi je kljub težavam predstavljalo izziv.Wine was one of the key foodstuffs in medieval society in the 13th and 14th centuries. This was particularly true in the communes of the Adriatic coast, which is extremely rich in vines. The influences of Roman tradition, Christianity and the geographical location contributed to the development of the wine trade. The wine trade, not least because of its importance and value, is characterized by contracts of sale and purchase, which were the subject of my thesis. The importance of wine is already attested to by references in the statutes of medieval communes. Wine is frequently mentioned in the Statute of Korcula, the Statute of the City of Dubrovnik and the Statute of the Piran Commune. Wine is also frequently mentioned in the surviving notarial records of both Piran and Dubrovnik, which further testifies to its importance. In the communes, the city authorities sought to protect the internal market by restricting imports and encouraging exports when there was a surplus of domestic wine. Most wine transactions took place in taverns. In the case of larger wine sales, the buyers even went into debt with all their possessions. I decided to research and review wine purchase contracts because of my interest in the Middle Ages and legal history. The most difficult part of my work was the foreign languages, as many of the texts and records I was working with were not translated into Slovene or English. Thus, Latin and Croatian made my work quite difficult, but I enjoyed it, despite the frequent difficulties

Differences between National Cultures Matter – Case of Slovenian-Korean Working Environment

Aims: Global business today usually requires organizations to be present locally in countries where their customers are. To do this successfully, good cooperation with local people is needed. Therefore, this paper focuses on the integration of cultures in the business world. The insights from this study are expected to benefit Slovenian expatriates to foreign companies in South Korea, as well as national culture researchers. The main goals of this research include a comparison of Hofstede’s IBM survey results with the researched working environment, and identifying the benefits of merging two national cultures for the working environment

Razlike med narodnimi kulturami so pomembne – primer slovensko-korejskega delovnega okolja

Aims: Global business today usually requires organizations to be present locally in countries where their customers are. To do this successfully, good cooperation with local people is needed. Therefore, this paper focuses on the integration of cultures in the business world. The insights from this study are expected to benefit Slovenian expatriates to foreign companies in South Korea, as well as national culture researchers. The main goals of this research include a comparison of Hofstede’s IBM survey results with the researched working environment, and identifying the benefits of merging two national cultures for the working environment. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to purposive samples within the researched working environments and the collected data analysed used SPSS, where the hypotheses were tested using a chi-square test and t-test for independent samples. Results: The results revealed significant differences between the two national cultures in the working environment, e.g.: fear of expressing disagreement towards superiors, commitment to work, preference of challenges, tendency to avoid conflicts and innovations – all differed according to nationality. Conclusion: Working together with people from different cultures requires a certain amount of adaptation (learning about another culture, expecting situations that are not usual). If this adaptation is successful, then cooperation between the different cultures can also be successful, leading to a potential output that is even better than cooperation between people from the same culture.Cilji: Globalni posel danes po navadi od organizacij terja, da so prisotne lokalno v državah, kjer so njihovi kupci. Za uspeh tega je potrebno dobro sodelovanje z domačini, zato se ta članek osredotoča na integracijo različnih narodnih kultur v poslovnem svetu. Doprinos članka je pričakovan za slovenske delavce v tujih podjetjih v Južni Koreji, kot tudi za ostale raziskovalce narodnih kultur. Glavni cilji te raziskave vključujejo primerjavo rezultatov Hofstedejeve IBM raziskave z raziskovanim delovnim okoljem, kot tudi ugotavljanje prednosti za delovno okolje pri združitvah dveh narodnih kultur. Metode: Ciljnim skupinam znotraj raziskovanega delovnega okolja je bil razdeljen vprašalnik, zbrani podatki pa analizirani s pomočjo SPSS, pri čemer so bile hipoteze testirane s hi-kvadrat testi in t-testi za neodvisne vzorce. Rezultati: Rezultati so pokazali značilne razlike med dvema narodnima kulturama znotraj delovnega okolja. Razlike glede na narodnost so tako pristone npr. pri strahu ped izražanjem nestrinjanja z nadrejenim, predanosti delu, obravnavanju izzivov, nagnjenosti k izogibanju konfliktom in inovacijam. Zaključek: Delo z ljudmi iz drugih narodnih kultur zahteva določeno mero prilagodljivosti (učenje o drugi kulturi, pričakovanje neobičajnih situacij). Če je ta prilagoditev uspešna, potem je lahko upsešno tudi sodelovanje med različnimi kulturami, kar lahko pripelje do rezultatov, ki so lahko še boljši kot rezultati kadar delajo skupaj ljudje iz iste narodne kulture

Proteomic data and structure analysis combined reveal interplay of structural rigidity and flexibility on selectivity of cysteine cathepsins

Abstract Addressing the elusive specificity of cysteine cathepsins, which in contrast to caspases and trypsin-like proteases lack strict specificity determining P1 pocket, calls for innovative approaches. Proteomic analysis of cell lysates with human cathepsins K, V, B, L, S, and F identified 30,000 cleavage sites, which we analyzed by software platform SAPS-ESI (Statistical Approach to Peptidyl Substrate-Enzyme Specific Interactions). SAPS-ESI is used to generate clusters and training sets for support vector machine learning. Cleavage site predictions on the SARS-CoV-2 S protein, confirmed experimentally, expose the most probable first cut under physiological conditions and suggested furin-like behavior of cathepsins. Crystal structure analysis of representative peptides in complex with cathepsin V reveals rigid and flexible sites consistent with analysis of proteomics data by SAPS-ESI that correspond to positions with heterogeneous and homogeneous distribution of residues. Thereby support for design of selective cleavable linkers of drug conjugates and drug discovery studies is provided