The other Chinese: identity work and self-orientalization of Chinese host country nationals in multinational corporations

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on an in-depth case study of narrative identity work to explore heuristically the role of host country nationals in the reproduction of orientalist discourses in multinational corporations (MNCs). Based on this analysis, it presents an identity strategy termed the other Chinese. The other Chinese claims to be in-between the West, that is constructed as superior modern and rational, and China, that is constructed as backwards and chaotic. This in-betweenness allows the other Chinese to take the role of a mediator between locals and expatriates, and at the same time claim superiority towards normal Chinese. Thus, this identity construction is a creative act of hybridization and localization, but it is not subversive to existing power structures in the MNCs. However, as we show, the construction of the other Chinese is not inextricably bound to the field of the MNCs, but is based on a hybrid and creative entanglement of various sources such as class positions and public discourse in China, in which the MNCs only occupy an insignificant role. It is, therefore, to be understood as an aspect of identity construction in China relevant for MNC identity, rather than an aspect of the transnational field of the MNCs.     

Much Ado About Nothing? Macro-Prudential Ideas and the Post-Crisis Regulation of Shadow Banking

Post-crisis, macro-prudential ideas have challenged the epistemic authority of private risk management technologies, declaring them to be pro-cyclical contributors to systemic risk. This discursive challenge has been most critical of the shadow banking system, where private risk management instruments are central. This challenge, however, has not been translated into regulatory tools which reflect these convictions. This paper studies this process of discursive challenge to (failed) regulatory intervention for the case of the repo-market, the heart of the current shadow banking system. It traces regulatory efforts on the global and EU level from regulatory statements to (lack of) action, documenting both the persistent articulation of macro-prudential ideas challenging private risk-management systems and timid to no regulatory intervention. It links this hiatus to international coordination problems, the need for macro-prudential action to span regulatory communities, involving banking and financial market authorities and disagreements between micro- and macro-prudentially oriented regulators. The lack of evidence and the difficulty to generate it are identified as major impediments for regulatory consensus, further aggravated by ambiguities about the goals of anti-cyclical regulation. Beyond governance problems and the persistent appeal of private risk-management systems, the paper thus points to difficulties operationalizing macro-prudential ideas as a major explanatory factor.     

Der Personalverantwortliche als strategischer Partner

Since Ulrich (Human resource champions: the next agenda for adding value and delivering results, Boston, Harvard Business School Press, 1997) shaped the strategic role of HR managers, his concept of an HR business partner has been controversially discussed by researchers and practitioners. Explanations about when and how HR managers act as strategic business partners have found limited attention in the literature. Based on the theory of reasoned action developed by Ajzen und Fishbein (Understanding attitudes and predicting social behavior, Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall, 1980; J Pers Soc Psychol 27(1):41?C57, 1973), we hypothesize a positive relation between personal attitudes as well as subjective norm and the behaviour of HR managers to act as a strategic business partner. Results of the German Cranet survey in 2009 show that expected positive consequences influence the personal attitude, whereas the acceptance of the human resources as well as the existence of an HR strategy within the organisation is positively related with subjective norm. Hence, both attitude and subjective norm positively influence the behaviour of HR managers to act as a strategic business partner.     

Die Arbeitsbeziehung im Coaching �C ein Stiefkind der Forschung

This study examines the relevance of the coaching relationship. 30 semi-structured interviews with coaching officers in swiss large-scale enterprises are analyzed in the frame of a qualitative content analysis. The half of the polled experts believes that a good coaching relationship is the crucial impact factor of coaching. One third considers a well-working relationship as an important condition to achieve a successful coaching process. The most mentioned attributes and capacities of a coach in order to contribute to a functioning relationship are the ability to listen, empathy, appreciation, trustability, interest and openness. The discussion explains the relevance of these findings for prospective efforts in the field of coaching research.     

Effective Enthusiasm of Danish Folk Education

Contextualization, the act of placing events in a proper context, allows teachers to weave a rich, dynamic portrait of a historical period for their students. As teachers strive to identify enduring themes and patterns, they must teach students to appreciate the particular policies, institutions, worldviews, and circumstances that shape a given moment in time. However, contextualized historical thinking runs counter to the narratives and frameworks that many students bring to class. Not only have many young people internalized timeless, psychologized notions of why people behaved as they did in the past, but they have also absorbed powerful stories through popular culture. Challenging long-standing historical frameworks takes time, and educators must give students multiple opportunities to practice and apply their new knowledge and skills. In this article, the authors describe three activities that help students think contextually as they read historical documents: (1) providing background knowledge, (2) asking guiding questions, and (3) explicitly modeling contextualized thinking.     

The coexistence of Fox (Sciurus niger) and gray (S. caroliniensis) squirrels in the Chicago metropolitan area

Two species of tree squirrel inhabit the Chicago region, the fox (Sciurus niger) and gray (S. caroliniensis) squirrel. Chicago residents submitted squirrel observations and associated landscape variables via a Website, allowing us to map squirrel distributions. Data were analyzed for patterns of correlation. At a smaller scale, we did a foot survey of fox and gray squirrels in the suburb of Oak Park, replicating an earlier study and comparing results. Gray squirrels were associated with densely populated areas, parks and campuses, fox squirrels with suburban areas. Compared to gray squirrels, fox squirrels were more likely to be observed in areas of high cat density. In the suburb of Oak Park, the current trend seems to be an extension of gray squirrel distribution and a decrease in fox squirrel distribution. Our study provides support for the idea that fox and gray squirrel coexistence is facilitated by a trade-off between managing the cost of predation and foraging efficiency, gray squirrels out-competing fox squirrels in areas of high food and low predator (or pet) density.     

Optimal cutpoints for random observations

For the discretisation of a continuous random variable into different categories the choice of cutpoints is essential. A popular application is the contingent valuation method. In a parametric approach, the choice of cutpoints directly effects the quality of the estimates. Therefore, optimal cutpoints are desirable in order to estimate the parameters most accurately. We consider an arbitrary number of cutpoints and determine optimal cutpoints for the exponential and Gumbel distribution and prove that the c-optimal cutpoints for the location parameter of the logistic distribution have corresponding equal category probabilities. Furthermore, we show that in the limiting case for infinitely many cutpoints there is no loss of information.     

Cloud shade by dynamic logistic modeling

During the daytime, the sun is shining or not at ground level depending on clouds motion. Two binary variables may be used to quantify this process: the sunshine number (SSN) and the sunshine stability number (SSSN). The sequential features of SSN are treated in this paper by using Markovian Logistic Regression models, which avoid usual weaknesses of autoregressive integrated moving average modeling. The theory is illustrated with results obtained by using measurements performed in 2010 at Timisoara (southern Europe). Simple modeling taking into account internal dynamics with one lag history brings substantial reduction of misclassification compared with the persistence approach (to less than 57%). When longer history is considered, all the lags up to at least 8 are important. The seasonal changes are rather concentrated to low lags. Better performance is associated with a more stable radiative regime. More involved models add external influences (such as sun elevation angle or astronomic declination as well as taking into account morning and afternoon effects separately). Models including sun elevation effects are significantly better than those ignoring them. Clearly, during the winter months, the effect of declination is much more pronounced compared with the rest of the year. SSSN is important in long-term considerations and it also plays a role in retrospective assessment of the SSN. However, it is not easy to use SSSN for predicting future SSN. Using more complicated past beam clearness models does not necessarily provide better results than more simple models with SSN past.     

On U-statistics and von Mises statistics for a special class of Markov chains

We derive the Berry-Esséen theorem with optimal convergence rate for U-statistics and von Mises statistics associated with a special class of Markov chains occuring in the theory of dependence with complete connections.     

When do leaders sacrifice?: The effects of sense of power and belongingness on leader self-sacrifice

Past research on leader self-sacrifice has focused entirely on the effects of this leader behavior on followers and its implications for organizations. The present research focused on antecedents of leader self-sacrifice. We argued that self-sacrifice is positively influenced by leaders' sense of belongingness to the group they supervise. Furthermore, leaders' subjectively sensed power can serve as a moderator of this effect. We expected this because a high sense of power is known to facilitate goal pursuit. Given that organizational goals often prescribe serving the interests of the organization, leaders' sense of belongingness should promote self-sacrifice particularly among leaders low in subjective power; leaders high in subjective power should display self-sacrifice regardless of their sense of belongingness. Two field studies supported these predictions. A final experiment supported a critical assumption underlying our argument in showing that the sense of power × sense of belongingness interaction is restricted to situations that prescribe cooperative goals. When situations prescribe competitive goals, this interaction was absent.