\u3ci\u3eCultural Values and Anticipations of Female Leadership Styles A Study of Rotary Clubs in Taiwan and the United States\u3c/i\u3e

Although the status of women in general has gradually improved in education, employment and leadership over the years, the big picture for women is still disheartening, and female leadership in higher positions is disproportionately represented. To address this issue for more satisfactory gender equality, this study undertakes a comparative quantitative and qualitative study of female leadership in non-profit organizations in the East and the West by exploring the relationships between the Rotary Club members¿ cultural values and their anticipated female leadership styles in Taiwan and the United States. Specifically, this study will provide more academic perspectives on female leadership in cross-cultural studies, strive to overcome conceptual and methodological biases in current leadership research, contribute to research on leadership behaviors in non-profit organizations, apply academic knowledge to female leadership practices, and raise individual consciousness of the benefit of female leadership.https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/facultybooks/1175/thumbnail.jp

Climbing the Himalayas: A cross-cultural analysis of female leadership and glass ceiling effects in non-profit organizations

Purpose – The present study aims at contributing to the knowledge of organizational communication and cross-cultural leadership by examining the relationship between cultural values and expected female leadership styles in non-profit organizations in Taiwan and the US. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 307 Rotarians in Taiwan and the US completed a survey meant to reveal their cultural values and expected female leadership styles. In addition, the method of semi-structured interviews was used to raise the participants’ consciousness of and critical reflections upon social practices regarding female leadership. Findings – The research results are threefold. First, among the three major leadership styles, Rotarians in both countries expect female leaders to display transformational leadership. Second, laissez-faire leadership style can be better explained by the variables of cultural values and country than transformational and transactional leadership styles. Finally, to successfully confront gender discrimination, female leaders need to oftentimes behave much more progressively and actively and sometimes make necessary compromises of their female qualities to overcome the barriers just like climbing over the Himalayas. Practical implications – The research findings imply that national culture is not the only factor to account for the expected female leadership styles. Future studies of leadership concepts and styles should include more variables such as organizational culture, political system, language, and feminine or masculine characteristics. Based on the results, the so-called “glass-ceiling effects” have been broken bit by bit; yet, female leaders still need to “climb over the Himalayas” and pass through a tortuous, demanding, and exhausting path in order to move upward. Originality/value – As the first study of its kind, this study has filled the gap by expanding leadership studies to cross-cultural contexts, thus contributing to the body of human knowledge of cross-cultural leadership in non-profit organizations of Rotary Clubs

Strategies under pressure: USA-China copyright dispute

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the Chinese and American efforts in keeping the balance of innovation and copyright protection, with an emphasis on China’s strategies under Western, especially American pressure. The research findings are expected to enhance mutual efforts from the two countries to protect copyright and boost innovation and facilitate genuine communication between both sides in their decade-long intellectual property right (IPR) disputes. Design/methodology/approach – For data collection, this study adopted in-depth interviews of 45 participants who were either copyright holders as publishers and authors, or ordinary consumers in China. Under the theoretical guidance of strategies and tactics, thematic analysis was used to reveal the emerging themes in the transcripts concerning Chinese cultural perceptions of copyright in general and the relationship between innovation incentives and copyright protection in particular. Findings – First, both countries used strategies for the calculation and manipulation of power in the enactment and implementation of their copyright laws. Second, in order to defend their own interests and obtain national advantages, both countries made full use of various tactics. It is promising for the large developing countries like China to implement and enforce their copyright law and other IPR regulations more effectively under global bargaining and collaborating. Originality/value – Since little research has been done on the hidden agenda in the USA-China copyright disputes, this paper attempts to fill this void by exploring the genuine intentions of both the USA and China in the enactment and implementation of their respective copyright laws and the strategies taken for their communication with the relevant parties at different stages of their own IPR development

Foreigners\u27 archive: contemporary China in the blogs of American expatriates

This study scrutinized blogs written by American expatriates in twenty-firstcentury China. The primary objectives were to explore how China is represented in such blogs and to understand the discursive processes through which the American bloggers utilize the blogging technology to narrate their perceptions of the Chinese realities. Drawing on the postcolonial and discursive perspectives, we have determined that the blogs examined here consist of a distinct discursive space of cultural representation and contestation. They were also interpreted as a digital extension of conventional Euro-American travel writing as they share with the genre a set of rhetorical conventions and face the same set of problems of representing the cultural Other. These assumptions guided the discourse analyses of the blogs, written by three American individuals. The study revealed that the bloggers used three prominent metaphors to convey their perceptions of contemporary China, which echo the conventional Western knowledge of the country. During the process, the bloggers were concerned with the Chinese censorship of the internet and they faced challenges from the nationalistic Chinese readers

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Disputes in Cyberspace: U.S. Hegemony and Chinese Resistance

This paper aims at explicating the hegemonic pressure from the U.S. side and the constant resistance from the Chinese side during the U.S.-China IPR disputes in the cyberspace. The theory of hegemony and extended literature review reveal that during the U.S.-China IPR disputes in cyberspace, the dominant U.S. power has shaped the IPR world order so effectively for its own interests that China as a disadvantaged country has been included, albeit with reservations, in the broad consent of the U.S. hegemonic sphere of influence. This study has also demonstrated significant theoretical and practical implications

Testing news trustworthiness in an online public sphere: a case study of The Economist\u27s news report covering the riots in Xinjiang, China

This paper explores the news trustworthiness and media credibility of The Economist’s news report on 9 July 2009, and the communicative roles of 846 readers’ responses. Theoretically guided by news translation and cultural resistance and the online public sphere, we applied online field observation and discourse analysis and achieved two main findings: First, although the news report covered the Xinjiang riots with comprehensive and attractive details, it violated the core journalism value of media credibility and journalistic objectivity by providing misleading pictures and significant unreliable and biased coverage. Second, the major communicative roles of the online readers’ responses generally match Dahlberg’s six conditions of an ideal online public sphere, which is still challenging but promising to realize

Disputes over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands: Communication Tactics and Grand Strategies

This study explores the communication tactics and grand strategies of each of the involved parties in the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands disputes. Under the theoretical balance between liberal optimists and realist pessimists and through the hermeneutic analysis of the primary data of relevant remarks of governmental officials, official statements, letters and memoranda, declassified CIA reports, interview transcripts of scholars and experts, relevant media reports and readers’ online responses from the LexisNexis news database and Google News website as well as secondary data of relevant study results of scholars and researchers, we found that the Japanese have been secretive and opportunistic, the Americans calculated and one-sided, the Taiwanese cooperative and compromising, and the Chinese assertive and ambitious. As grand strategies, Japan plans to become a normal state with a normal army for regional and global leadership. The US makes sure that it has no rivals in all aspects regardless of its close ally Japan or trade-partner China so as to maintain hegemonic supremacy in the world. Taiwan adopts a grand strategy of accommodation and compromise to raise the confidence level in its political identity and economic integration. China pursues its peaceful development by accelerating economic growth, building up defensive military forces, and creating a favorable international environment. The findings provide valuable understanding of the international nature of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Island disputes and insight into a long list of similar territorial and bordering issues in the East and South China Seas

Keep Relationships Positive or Do Things Right: Bridging Women Leaders’ Conflict Management Strategies in Non-profit Organizations in Taiwan and the US

Purpose – The present study aims at contributing to the knowledge of organizational communication and cross-cultural female leadership by examining the conflict management strategies between Taiwanese female presidents and their American counterparts in Rotary Clubs. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through field observations and 25 in-depth interviews with 14 Taiwanese female presidents and 11 American female presidents in Rotary Clubs. Theme analysis of the interpretive method was used in this research. Findings – This study revealed that the female presidents in both cultures applied obliging and integrating strategies to handle management conflicts. Yet, due to the interference of past presidents, the Taiwanese women leaders are more likely to follow the traditional norms whereas women leaders in the United States tend to employ new approaches and adopt new conflict management strategies in different situations. Research limitations – This study has focused on exploring the conflict management strategies of only the female presidents in the Rotary Clubs in Taiwan and the United States. Thus, readers may not see the whole picture of the gender differences. Practical implications – The application of conflict management strategies may be determined by the factors of face, in-group relationships, and roles of the invited third party for Taiwanese subjects whereas American subjects usually adopt appropriate strategies according to the nature of the conflicts. That is, the Taiwanese female leaders would endeavor to keep relationships positive or/and keep positive relationships with their members while the American female leaders would strive do things right or/and do the right things for their conflict strategy application. Originality/value – As the first study of its kind, this study has filled the gap by expanding female conflict management studies to cross-cultural contexts, thus contributing to the body of human knowledge of cross-cultural leadership in non-profit organizations

Online copyright protection and innovation International experiences and implications to China

Purpose – This study aims to explore the policy-making mechanism of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on innovation and the US practice in identifying policies on online copyright protection and innovation. The research findings provide valuable implications for emerging economies like China. Design/methodology/approach – For data collection, this study adopted field observation of online interactions. Guided by the democratic paradigm of the civil society, state, and market and the theory of the government’s roles as a broker, advocator, and facilitator, thematic analysis was applied to analyze the 150 purposively selected comments of US internet stakeholders for emerging themes and implications. Findings – While the USA exemplified the OECD guidance by reaching out to all internet stakeholders, most of whom call for a neutral internet and reduce innovation barriers through technological and market solutions, the US online copyright protection policies are expected to bring incentives fairly to all internet stakeholders rather than the historically weighted copyright holders and content industries. Originality/value– This study is the first academic effort in exploring the US practice of the OECD innovation guidelines by identifying online copyright and innovation policies. The implications of this study are valuable to not only the internet policy-makers of the OECD member countries but also emerging economies, especially like China which desires long-term innovation but keeps censoring the internet with its growing firewall

The Communication Model and the Nature of Change in Terms of Deforestation in China Since 1949

This article explores the communication model and nature of change in terms of deforestation in China since 1949. Through Lasswell’s communication model and the theory of change and via historical analysis and extended literature review, we have discovered: First, Mao’s government adopted an effective one-way top-down communication model with Chinese characteristics during 1949 and 1978, which facilitated deforestation in China leading to massive economic dislocation and immense waste of resources. Second, the Chinese government’s change to practical ideology brought about new administrative practices of enacting forest protection laws and reorientating the relevant workforces to use available technologies for the production of exported furniture with imported timber. Finally, the paradigmatic shift in the Chinese forest management has partially relocated deforestation from China to other countries, which calls for urgent international attention