Corporate Governance: Impulses from the Middle East

The sheer fact that the concept of Corporate Governance is not yet as widely spread in the countries of the Middle-East as in Western economies, may lead to our labelling, once again, this region as underdeveloped. The purpose of this article, however, is to lead the reader to let go of this Western perspective and to discover the distinctive impulses that the Arab-Muslim region has to offer for the further development of the human-social dimension of corporate governance, if not to ultimately transform it in such a “Middle-Eastern” light. We start then, in this article, by revealing some of the general limitations to corporate governance, before moving onto the specific impulses provided by the Muslim-Arab context. Islamic management is a new domain of knowledge that will be addressed in this paper to shed some light on how Islam can inform reform and transform the notion of corporate governance.      

Education in multicultural environment – teaching/learning support activities (on the example of Georgia)

The National Curricula of Georgia emphasises the importance of intercultural education only in a declarative way. This article investigates how specific activities can contribute to the development of intercultural competences in a diverse environment. We conclude that additional training resources are critical for the development of those competencies among students. Application of our proposed model can serve to improve the intercultural schooling and adaptation of students in diverse environments.     

Bursting With Laughter

Celio Ferreira. Palauan cosmology: dominance in a traditional Micronesian society (Gothenburg Studies in Social Anthropology 11). Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis. 1987. vi, 300 pp., figures, plates, glossary, references. SEK 200 (paper) ISBN 91 7346 183 0 ISSN 0348 4076.

Richard J. Parmentier. The sacred remains: myth, history and polity in Belau. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1987. xxiii, 309pp., figures, maps, photographs, tables, glossary, place names, references, index. ISBN 0 226 64695 5 (hardcover) ISBN 0 226 64696 3 (paper).     

‘Inching’ towards interculturalism: ambiguities and tensions in teachers’ ideologies and practices in the context of Cyprus

ABSTRACT

This research examines teachers’ conceptualisations of diversity and intercultural education. It also investigates the teaching approaches adopted by teachers within their culturally diverse classrooms. More specifically, the current project investigates the following research questions: how do teachers define and understand the concept of intercultural education; what practices do they adopt (or not) to promote intercultural education in their classrooms; what barriers do they perceive in their efforts to teach in more intercultural ways; what are their suggestions for implementing intercultural education in more successful ways? Observations and interviews took place with twenty teachers from ten schools in Cyprus. Our data shows that two ideological positions co-existed in teachers’ discourses, namely: the monocultural approach (cultural-deficiency perspective), and the multicultural approach (cultural-celebratory perspective). We also examined how the ambiguities and contradictions in teachers’ ideologies influenced their teaching and practices. In their daily routines, teachers seemed to adopt a teaching-as-usual approach, while occasionally engaging in ‘intercultural moments’, which included their rare attempts to differentiate or add cultural content to their teaching.     

Industry perceptions of intercultural competence in Singapore and Perth

This study investigates public relations practitioner perceptions of intercultural competence i.e. the skills required in an increasingly globalized world. The findings, drawn from analysis of interviews with seventeen practitioners in two cities in Australasia, reveal intercultural competence is perceived as integral to public relations practise, regardless of whether the public relations activity occurs across national borders. Although practitioners value personal attributes such as openness and adaptability, the findings suggests that practitioners require intercultural competence, as procedural knowledge i.e. of specific cultures and as conceptual knowledge i.e. a reflexive and dynamic understanding of culture. More research is needed to understand the relationship between culture and public relations, and industry expectations regarding intercultural competence in an era of globalization.     

文化视角中的时间取向简析

文化无处不在 ,包罗万象。作为非语言交际的一个重要方面 ,时间的信息传递也深受其影响。不同的文化塑造了人们不同的时间取向 ,所以如何对待时间及如何使用时间 ,在很大程度上影响了跨文化交际的效果。对中、西方在时间取向方面的文化差异 ,从四个方面加以分析。     

中国跨文化交际研究的现状、问题与建议

通过对1994年到2003年国内564种学术刊物上公开发表的1109篇有关跨文化交际研究的论文进行内容分析,讨论了我国跨文化交际研究的现状,指出了存在的问题,并对我国今后跨文化交际研究的主流方向提出了建议。我国跨文化交际研究存在的主要问题有理论研究贫乏,研究范围狭窄、“浅论”、“试论”、“略论”式的文章多,实证研究结果少。要解决这些问题我们必须提倡和鼓励用科学研究的方法进行跨文化交际研究。     

跨文化商务沟通中身势语的文化解读

交际分为语言交际和非语言交际,外语学习者历来比较重视语言交际而忽视非语言交际。身势语作为非语言交际的重要组成部分,在跨文化商务沟通中具有举足轻重的作用。通过分析身势语的文化差异,帮助我们正确理解跨文化商务沟通中的身势语。