Wal-Mart: An Analysis of the Glocalization of the Cathedral of Consumption in China

This paper examines the methods adopted by Wal-Mart to cater to local cultures in China. This analysis draws on glocalization, a concept that refers to the interaction of the global and the local, or the incorporation of local elements into global products and/or services. This paper is important for two reasons. First, glocalization, in and of itself, has the capacity to enhance scholarly understanding of globalization with reference to global agency and cultural differentiation. Second, not only is China a nation where Wal-Mart had to glocalize the most; China is also the fastest growing market in the world. So, this analysis can bring fresh insights into today's reality of globalization processes. One of the consequences of Wal-Mart's strategy of glocalization is that it contributes to its status of ‘cathedral of consumption’ even more. A cathedral of consumption refers to an incomparable magnitude of global success (achieved by a major corporation) that gives birth to a consumer religion and a display of abundance and excess.

Este artículo examina los métodos adoptados por Wal-Mart para satisfacer a las culturas locales en China. Este análisis se basa en la glocalización, un concepto que se refiere a la interacción entre lo global y lo local, o a la incorporación de elementos locales dentro de los productos o servicios globales. Este artículo es importante por dos razones. Primero, la glocalización en sí, tiene la capacidad de mejorar la noción académica de la globalización, con referencia a la agencia global y a la diferenciación cultural. Segundo, China no sólo es una nación donde Wal-Mart tuvo que glocalizarse en mayor grado; sino que además es el mercado de mayor crecimiento en el mundo. Así, este análisis puede traer un conocimiento fresco a la realidad actual de los procesos de globalización. Una de las consecuencias de la estrategia de glocalización de Wal-Mart es que contribuye más aún a su estado de “catedral de consumo”. Una catedral de consumo se refiere a una magnitud incomparable de éxito global (lograda por una corporación mayor) que da vida a una religión de consumidor y a un despliegue de abundancia y exceso.

     

Information Technology,Adaptation and Innovation in Nonprofit Human Service Organizations

This report examines how two measures of performance—adaptation and innovation—can be predicted by the use of digital communication. It suggests that information technology in nonprofits offers strong leverage for adaptation but not for innovation. This suggests that (a) the two measures are dissimilar in both their nature and their relevance to organizational performance in nonprofit settings, (b) that service organizations are more likely to use information technology for adapting to change, and (c) it is probable that large and well-founded organizations will use IT for establishing innovations.     

The Attitudes of Social Work Students and Practicing Psychiatric Social Workers Toward the Inclusion in the Community of People with Mental Illness

Abstract

This study measured and compared the attitudes of social work students and practicing psychiatric social workers to the inclusion in the community of people with mental illness. The Community Living Attitude Scale Mental Illness (comprising the four subscales of Empowerment, Exclusion, Sheltering, and Similarity) was administered to a random sample of 68 Israeli BA social work students (first year: n = 35; third year: n = 33) and 28 practicing psychiatric social workers. Overall, the participants endorsed Empowerment and perceived the Similarity of persons with mental illness to themselves more than they agreed with the Exclusion attitude of segregating those persons from community life. First-year students rated Empowerment and Similarity significantly lower than did the third-year students and rated Sheltering significantly higher than did psychiatric social workers. Psychiatric social workers did not differ from third-year students and did not have stronger attitudinal commitment to the inclusion paradigm. They differed from first-year students only in the sheltering attitude; they showed lower support for sheltering people with mental illness.     

A Temporal Multifaceted Adaptation Approach to the Experiences of Employed Mothers

Scholars have been examining multiple facets of the experiences of employed mothers for decades. However, much of this scholarship has focused on the examination of specific variables that may have an influence on their lives. In this article I seek to review much of this research and explore it through the framework of a temporal multifaceted adaptation approach. This framework addresses the specific phases that comprise the professional or semiprofessional employed mother's adaptation to her home and work environments. Thus, this approach organizes employed mothers’ experiences in terms of the antecedent, process, and outcome phases of their adaptation to their lives as employed mothers. Organizing and examining the research in this way enables a more comprehensive understanding of how the experience of employed mothers evolves over time, as well as the factors that both hinder and help them as they adjust to challenges associated with their role.     

Jewish Hatzolah and the barriers to equivalent Aboriginal Australian cultural adaptation

Insofar as they perceive secularisation as loss of attachment to tradition and community, Orthodox Jews face difficulties somewhat similar to those facing Aboriginal Australians. Both fear that engagement with the wider society equates to loss of cultural particularity. Orthodox Australian Jews have responded to this fear by countering the trend to secularisation and adapting traditional cultural beliefs and practices so that they may be retained while also allowing engagement in modern secular life. Hatzolah is one adaptation that reconciles dissonances between cultural heritage, secular life and good health. My interest in Hatzolah is as a metaphor that may help in exploring the possibility of equivalent Aboriginal responses, whereby Aborigines may negotiate the discourse that, for them, pits culture against health, education and socio-economic status. In this case, powerful discourse makes structured adaptation like Hatzolah less likely than it might otherwise be. Yet in their everyday, Aborigines do negotiate the tensions of being modern, much as Orthodox Jews. I argue that the discursive oppositions are the product of public policy and identity politics that are both invested in a solidary culture, unitary identity and binary difference. I also argue that the emergence of Hatzolah-like adaptations depends on the recognition and full consideration in policy of Aborigines' contemporary lived realities of interculturality, subjective multiplicity and ambiguity.     

培养依法行医素养增强未来职业能力

现代医学教育理念、新型医患关系和医疗风险都要求医学人才具有依法行医的素养。但当前医学教育对学生依法行医素养的培养存在着课程设置不完善、课外获取法律知识途径有限、医学生处理法律问题欠缺等诸多不足,不利于医学人才职业能力的提高。应通过法律基础课与卫生法学课相结合、课外与课内结合、法学教师言传与临床教师身教相结合等有效途径,更好地培养医学人才依法行医的素养,提高其职业能力。     

Alienation Among Vietnamese Refugees in the United States

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a causal model of alienation among a probability sample of Vietnamese refugees. Path analysis was used to test the causal model. The findings indicated that marital status, social support, social interaction anxiety, self-identity, and length of time in the United States directly predict feelings of alienation. The social support variable, however, was the most important predictor. An interesting finding was that background variables, for the most part, had no notable direct effects on alienation.     

西部乡土史诗与地域文化的影像呈现——论电影《白鹿原》的改编艺术

面对《白鹿原》这部人物众多、情节复杂、思想厚重的"大书",电影采取浓缩式的改编方法,对人物、情节进行最大限度的精减,运用极富创造性和表现力的影像语言,尽可能地呈现了原著的复杂主题,并有意识地展示了具有浓郁人文色彩的陕西地域文化。影片深沉的历史文化感和注重艺术追求的品质给人强烈的震撼。     

Improving homeless persons' utilisation of primary care: lessons to be learned from an outreach programme in The Netherlands

Elissen AMJ, Van Raak AJA, Derckx EWCC, Vrijhoef HJM. Improving homeless persons' utilisation of primary care: lessons to be learned from an outreach programme in The Netherlands Faced with rising homelessness, countries around the world are in need of innovative approaches to caring for those without shelter, who, more often than not, suffer from severe health problems. We conducted a case study of an innovative Dutch Primary Care for the Homeless (PCH) programme to gain insight into clients' demographic characteristics, health problems and service use, and to develop an explanation for its success in increasing the latter. Our analyses are based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. The results of the study suggest that the success of the PCH programme can be explained by the providers' pragmatism and will to adapt their mode of care provision to the behavioural patterns and needs of their homeless clients.     

新生导师制的实践与思考——以盐城工学院优集学院为例

新生导师制是一项能够将教书与育人密切结合且行之有效的新措施。盐城工学院优集学院初步探索出一套适合校情的新生导师制模式,并以新生导师应该履行的职责和管理、考核等方面具体实施以及建立健全新生导师长效机制方面予以保证。