Dissimilar Culture Research Articles

Concurrent enhancement of CO2 fixation and productivities of omega-3 fatty acids and astaxanthin in Haematococcus pluvialis culture via calcium-mediated homeoviscous adaptation and biomineralization

Haematococcus pluvialis has attracted interest as a bio-platform for producing omega-3 fatty acids (ω-3 FA) and astaxanthin that have a great potential as anti-inflammatory drugs. This study aimed to concurrently enhance the CO2 fixation and the productivities of ω-3 FA and astaxanthin, which have been difficult to achieve because of the dissimilar culture methods for each goal, via calcium-mediated homeoviscous adaptation and biomineralization. As a result of 3 mM of Ca2+ addition, ω-3 FA content was improved by 31% due to Ca2+-induced homeoviscous adaptation. Biomineralization was promoted by the extracellular carbonic anhydrase, which resulted in 46.3% improvement in CO2 fixation. CaCO3 from the biomineralization was beneficially re-used in the H. pluvialis culture and triggered 178- and 522-fold increased biomass productivity and astaxanthin content, respectively, thanks to its anisotropic nature. The Ca2+-based productivity enhancement strategy was applied to large-scale culture which resulted improvement in overall bioprocess performance.

Open-mindedness and adaptive business style

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of relational competences, such as open-mindedness and the ability to adapt business style, in developing trustworthy relationships through communication in the export markets in different cultural contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is performed on survey-based data from a sample consisting of 39.9 percent of the total population of Norwegian seafood companies involved in exporting, including 108 business relationships.FindingsThe findings reveal that adaptive business style and communication mediate the overall effect of open-mindedness on trust building between partners in the export markets. The adaptive business style fully explains the effect of open-mindedness on communication. Open-minded persons are better prepared to achieve communication on a high level because they are more likely to adapt to a new business style. Performing adaptive business style improves communication, particularly when the importer belongs to a dissimilar culture. For trust building, communication is equally important, irrespective of cultural differences.Practical implicationsExporter should aim at recruiting open-minded people because they have the advantage that they are capable of performing a variety of negotiation styles and business approaches, depending on the situation.Originality/valueThis paper develops a model that integrates key constructs from the relational paradigm with constructs rooted in different research streams, extending our knowledge regarding salespeople competences that are important in order to develop business relationships in export markets.

Promoting Cross-Culturalism in the EFL Context: A Teacher’s Perspective

Promoting cross-culturalism in the EFL context is imperative in today’s global society. EFL teachers should be prepared not only to raise cultural awareness and promote cross-cultural learning, but also to develop tools that evaluate cross-cultural competency and analyze student attitudes toward cross-culturalism. Due to a lack of interaction and exposure to diversified cultures within the EFL context, cross-cultural learning is explained as a major component that must be facilitated by Native English Teachers (NETs). NETs are noted as key sources to promoting cross-cultural learning and helping students gain cultural awareness through cross-cultural interaction. Cross-cultural competency is mentioned as a learning process that can be attained through consistent exposure and interaction with a dissimilar culture. It is suggested that NETs incorporate interactive lessons aimed to incite cultural awareness, promote cross-cultural learning, and enhance cross-cultural competency, as a means of fostering growth and helping students quickly adapt to environments that are culturally differentiated. The implementation of assessing student cross-cultural competency levels based upon interactions with NETs is highly recommended. Cross-cultural assessments that are created based upon interactions between the student and NETs are highlighted as an essential element to solidifying cross-cultural competency. Cross-cultural assessments are also noted as a consequential component that is often overlooked or disregarded as trivial within the EFL context. The implications for teaching cross-culturalism in the EFL classroom are essentialized, along with the ramifications of cross-cultural assessments.

A mathematical approach to simulate spatio-temporal patterns of an insect-pest, the corn rootworm Diabrotica speciosa (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) in intercropping systems

We report on the use of a spatially explicit model and clustering analysis in order to investigate habitat manipulation as a strategy to regulate natural population densities of the insect-pest Diabrotica speciosa. Habitat manipulation involved four major agricultural plants used as hosts by this herbivore to compose intercropping landscapes. Available biological parameters for D. speciosa on bean, soybean, potato and corn obtained under laboratory conditions were used to group the homogeneous landscapes, composed by each host plant, by a similarity measure of host suitability either for larval survival and development, and adult survival and fecundity. The results pointed corn as the most dissimilar culture. Therefore, intercropping corn with any other crop system tested could reduce insect spread through landscape. This was proved using a cellular automata model which simulate the physiological and behavioural traits of this insect, and also different spatial configurations of the intercropping. Spatio-temporal patterns obtained by simulations demonstrated that the availability of corn bordering the field edge, which are areas more likely to invasion, is key for insect population control.

Cultural differences, MNE learning abilities, and the effect of experience on subsidiary mortality in a dissimilar culture: Evidence from Korean MNEs

In a departure from prior studies presuming a beneficial experience effect in foreign direct investment (FDI), the present paper examines the conditions under which FDI experience may actually harm subsequent subsidiaries. We argue that multinational enterprises (MNEs) may draw erroneous inferences and learn incorrectly from their early expansions when new to a dissimilar culture, because their learning abilities are eroded by cultural differences. We posit that the characteristics of an MNE's international expansion, including scope, pace, rhythm, and entry mode, moderate this negative experience effect by influencing the MNE's learning ability in foreign cultures. Using a data set of FDIs by South Korean MNEs between 1990 and 2006, we find a positive relationship between subsidiary mortality and experience when an MNE has a low level of experience in a dissimilar culture. This relationship is weaker if the MNE's prior FDI has been dispersed across different cultures, is stronger if it expanded internationally at a fast pace, and becomes negative once the MNE has accumulated a high level of experience in the host culture. We conclude that, when expanding into dissimilar cultures, MNEs must establish mechanisms to mitigate incorrect learning and reexamine the correctness of inferences drawn from past experience before applying them.

Which Educational Programs Promote the Success of International Medical Graduates in Psychiatry Training?

The exceptional importance of international medical graduates (IMGs) in academic psychiatry (1, 2) is underscored in this special theme issue of our journal. As noted by Boulet et al. in this collection, about 31% of the psychiatry workforce in the United States are IMGs, and about 32% are psychiatry residents (3). In clinical psychiatric practice, IMGs disproportionately serve poor patients and the most severely ill patient populations (4). IMGs also contribute substantially to the U.S. health system in research, leadership, and education (5). International medical graduates face the considerable challenges of emigrating to a dissimilar culture and healthcare and educational system. These challenges include navigating dual learning curves as immigrants and residents (6). In the workplace, some report having been treated insensitively (6), and wider discrimination very possibly exists (7, 8). Educational challenges include communicating in specialized ways (9), as well as rectifying any knowledge deficiencies related to the management of sexual health problems (10), and the management of illnesses and healthcare problems more commonly encountered in the U.S., as compared with other countries. This issue, consisting of nine special articles (3, 11–18), serves to contribute to our understanding of these challenges by presenting an array of ideas and formal recommendations for ameliorating them. Sockalingamet al., in a surveyof IMGs training in Canada, reported that more training preparatory to residency and targeted to need would be helpful (11), and Sacks et al. developed guidelines for observerships preparatory to residency (12). Jain et al. provide information on how training is conducted in various international settings, so as to help educators assist IMGs adapt to training in the United States (13). Two articles (14, 15), concern the practice of psychotherapy. Weerasekera recommended guidelines for teaching psychotherapy to IMGs (14), and Rao emphasizes the potential role of individual psychotherapy in facilitating a successful acculturation experience (15). Rao et al. also surveyed IMGs taking the Clinical Skills Verification Examination to learn how a better experience and better performance could be achieved (16). Broquet and Punwani provide recommendations for helping foreign-born IMGs utilize behavioral-based feedback as a cornerstone of their educational experiences (17). One additional report describes anobservership for international child mental health professionals, whowere required to take what they had learned home (18). Participants were screened carefully in order to minimize the possibility that they would stay or return to practice in the United States. This model is especially valuable in the context of an international migration of doctors and other healthcare professionals from lowand middle-income, resource-poor countries to rich countries, when this migration may severely compromise healthcare in the resource-poor countries (19–23). Training specialists for the role of strengthening themental health services in resource-poor countries represents a creative policy approach to this problem. Such creative policy approaches warrant development and further evaluation. Our primary goal for this editorial, however, is to describe published programs that support and promote IMGs, including those programs that assist in the acculturation process to clinical practice and training in North American settings. There are several reasons for adopting this focus. Received and accepted May 17, 2012. From the Dept of Psychiatry– Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX; the University Psychiatric Center, Detroit, MI; and the Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Send correspondence to acadpsych@gmail.com Copyright © 2012 Academic Psychiatry

International Sport Event Participation: Prior Sport Involvement; Destination Image; and Travel Motives

Research into sport event participation from an international perspective remains underdeveloped. This study utilized the attraction process within the Psychological Continuum Model (PCM) to develop and examine five hypothesis related to motives of international participants (N=239) who registered for a hallmark Australian running event. Structural equation modelling revealed registration in the event is motivated by prior running involvement; desire to participate in organized running events, favourable beliefs and feelings toward the host destination and perceived travel benefits of escape, social interaction, prestige, relaxation, culture experience, cultural learning and knowledge exploration. Subsequent MANOVA analyses reveal participants from dissimilar cultures are more likely to perceive travel benefits of relaxation and cultural learning while gender differences emerge as females perceived opportunities of socialization, relaxation cultural experience, knowledge exploration and cultural learning. Results indicated that four broad categories of participants emerged: males of ‘similar culture’; females of ‘similar culture’; males of ‘dissimilar culture’; females of ‘dissimilar culture’. Marketing and event experiences need to cater for each of these variations in order to motivate participants’ registration and then provide the best active sport tourism experience based around the event.

Which Is Easier, Adjusting to a Similar or to a Dissimilar Culture?

The intuitively paradoxical research proposition that it could be as difficult for business expatriates to adjust to a similar as to a dissimilar host culture is tested in this exploratory study. Based on data from a mail survey, a comparison of American business expatriates in Canada and Germany respectively did not reveal any difference in their extent of adjustment. Besides a significant between-group difference in cultural distance, confirming that the American expatriates perceived Canada as more culturally similar to America than Germany, no significant intergroup differences were detected for general adjustment, interaction adjustment, work adjustment and psychological adjustment. Neither was there a difference in the time-related variable; time to proficiency. Although highly tentative, the suggestion that the degree of cultural similarity/dissimilarity may be irrelevant as to how easily expatriates adjust is fundamental. Implications for theory, practice and future research of these findings are discussed in detail.

Cultural novelty and adjustment: Western business expatriates in China

Although seldom formally tested, the traditional assumption in the literature on expatriate management is that the greater the cultural novelty of the host country, the more difficult it would be for the expatriate to adjust. To be able to test this proposition, a mail survey was directed towards Western business expatriates in China. Three sociocultural adjustment variables were examined: general, interaction and work adjustment. Although a negative relationship was hypothesized between cultural novelty and the three adjustment variables, results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that there was no significant association between them. Although highly tentative, the suggestion that it is as difficult for business expatriates to adjust to a very similar culture as to a very dissimilar culture is fundamental. Implications of this potentially crucial finding are discussed in detail.

SMEs and International Marketing

International marketing research has usually built upon the supposition that small firms are less competitive than larger firms, primarily due to scarce resources. However, empirical investigations of the direct relation between firm size and export performance have yielded conflicting results. This paper presents the hypothesis that small firms develop an export strategy aimed at reducing their size disadvantages. Using a sample of 335 Norwegian industrial firms together with structural equations modeling, we identified a direct linkage between firm size and export performance, in which small firms are less successful than larger firms. We found that these small firms tend to follow a niche focus strategy and that this strategy is further linked to product quality and high attention to personal selling. Both product quality and personal selling as well as distribution efficiency render a positive impact on export performance. Accordingly, these small firms seem to have developed an export strategy that reduces their size disadvantages. This study demonstrates that an export strategy measurement instrument developed in the United States can be translated and used in another country with a dissimilar language and culture. Second, the study uses an analytic approach that makes it possible to examine both direct and indirect effects. Third, the investigation contributes new insight regarding how small firms develop export strategies aimed at reducing their size disadvantages.

Nature, culture and social psychology

AbstractIt is proposed that ideas about ‘nature’ and ‘culture’, key concepts in structural anthropology, have an important bearing on assumptions underlying rival theoretical approaches in social psychology. Experimental social psychologists tend to make the tacit assumption that they are dealing only with nature, while ethogenists like Harré explicitly concentrate on culture and treat nature as irrelevant. Others like Tajfel and Moscovici occupy a middle ground, being concerned with both aspects. Perhaps the most radical critic is Gergen, whose rejection of nature and culture is discussed in detail and shown to be largely based on western cultural beliefs. It is further suggested that mainstream experimental social psychology, epitomized by Aronson's The Social Animal, is equally culture‐bound, although masquerading as the study of nature. This contention is supported by an account of predominant failure of replication in a not greatly dissimilar culture. It is concluded, with Doise and Berry, that we need ‘multiple social psychologies’, and with Tajfel and Pepitone that social psychological research must consider the wider system within which social behaviour takes place.

The Basic Needs of American Archeology

1) Field operations should be conducted by trained field men with academic as well as field experience; this should insure the keeping of accurate records, and include clear comprehension of the problem under attack. 2) Supplies such as surveying instruments, cameras, tools, and storage and transportation facilities be available. The staff be given to experiment, cross-check records, and to do other such work. 3) Laboratory units should be conducted by trained technicians and pertinent allied sciences be brought to bear in order to insure the most complete and accurate analyses of material. 4) Accurate mapping of sites and environment, of vertical and horizontal records, and planned site nomenclature, are indispensable. 5) Methods of excavation must be conducted in a manner which promises to disclose all available evidence on formation and structure, and to preserve all data on stratigraphy, age, succession, cultural and historical activities and cultural processes. 6) All of the foregoing activities are nullified unless followed by prompt publication. Certainly every archaeologist will agree that all these are basic needs and indispensable to the serious attack of any problem in American prehistory, and that Dr Guthe has stated them clearly. However, upon reading the article I was struck by the fact that there is another basic need for which there is not as yet any solution. This is suggested by Dr Guthe in the sentence about the satisfactory applications of laboratory methods . . . to facilitate definition of types, cultural synthesis, and broad cultural comparisons. It may be of moment to elaborate upon this point. Is it possible for American archaeology ever to solve any broad problems in time succession, cultural and historical activities and cultural processes until it develops a common trait terminology, a common language concerning artifact types and the criteria by which they may be determined? Can cultural synthesis and broad cultural comparisons be achieved unless there is a general system by which the many workers in this field can be sure whether or not they are dealing with similar or dissimilar culture traits? Considering the time, energy, and money continually expended in excavating, in gathering greater and greater masses of specimens and more field data of every sort, it is a source of wonder that so little attention has been