The purpose of this study was to investigate non-music major college and university students’ self-efficacy beliefs and their perceptions of the four sources of self-efficacy as they related to their participation in active music making and creation in college (e.g., ensembles and musicals, group and private lessons, music theory classes). An online survey was used to collect students’ responses to statements that aligned with the four sources of self-efficacy: enactive mastery experiences, verbal persuasion, vicarious experiences, and physiological and affective states and demographic information about items such as gender identity, cultural background, and previous musical experiences. The participants included 111 students from 11 college and university campuses in Pennsylvania, of which 56 students identified as male and 55 students identified as female. No students listed any other gender identification. The participants also represented 14 unique cultural backgrounds which were categorized as either individualist or collectivist according to Hofstede et al.’s (2010) cultural dimensions. The source of self-efficacy with the highest collective mean score in this study was enactive mastery experience (M = 80.75). The source of self-efficacy with the second highest collective mean score in this study was physiological and affective states (M = 78.92). The only statistically significant difference found between genders was for enactive mastery experiences, with females having a higher mean score (M = 85.06) than males (M = 76.51). The number of previous musical experiences a student reported also impacted their perceptions of the sources of self-efficacy with statistically significant differences between students in the higher experience levels and students in the lower experience levels for the sources of enactive mastery experiences, physiological and affective states, and verbal persuasion. When gender and experience were investigated together, females in experience level 1 and 3 had statistically higher enactive mastery experiences scores than the males, and females in experience level 1 had significantly higher verbal persuasion scores as well. The findings of this study suggest that physiological and emotional states may have particular importance in developing musical self-efficacy. This result was consistent for students from all cultural backgrounds. Implications from this research suggest the importance of creating spaces where students can experience positive verbal persuasion and vicarious experiences, which may lead to positive enactive mastery experiences and physiological and affective states and further support the development of musical self-efficacy beliefs. Further research is needed to better understand the impact of cultural background on self-efficacy belief development and the sources of self-efficacy. This research could also be expanded to investigate socio-economic influences on musical self-efficacy beliefs.

<p>Date: May 29, 2009</p><p>Course: Master thesis, EFO705</p><p>Authors: Uliana Kovaleva, 830906, Karolina Turbak, 850710</p><p>Tutor: Tobias Eltebrandt</p><p>Title: The Influence of Culture and the Level of Acculturation on the Perceptions of Service Quality among the Customers with Swedish, Polish and Russian Backgrounds.</p><p>Strategic question: How important is the customers’ ethnic background, culture and level of acculturation when choosing a provider of financial services?</p><p>Research questions: If customers with Polish and Russian origin differ in their perceptions of the service quality attributes from Swedish customers, what kind of influence do culture and the level of acculturation have on their perceptions of service quality?</p><p>Method: Apart from secondary data, the questionnaire results were collected as a source of the primary data. The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The questionnaire results were analysed in SPSS by applying T-tests, and the answers for the open-ended questions were analysed additionally.</p><p>Theoretical Framework: The theories which were used include service quality dimensions, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the level of acculturation. The results of previous studies addressing the cultural influences on the service quality were applied extensively. The theories were chosen according to the purpose of the study and used in analysis in a comprehensive way.</p><p>Conclusions: According to the study culture and the level of acculturation have influence on the perceptions of service quality. The Polish and Russian customers with the low and medium levels of acculturation have lower overall service quality perceptions compared to the highly acculturated customers with foreign background and Swedish. In particular, the perceptions of assurance and empathy dimensions are significantly different between the studied groups.</p><p> </p> / “The impact of cultural recognition on service‐consumtions among customers in Sweden with foreign background.”

Title: The influence of culture on corporate sustainability Authors: Adriana Corral Alonso and Daphné Lapourré Supervisor: Jean-Charles Languilaire Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, Marketing Key words: Sustainability, sustainable development, corporate sustainability, Tetra Pak, culture, cultural influence, cultural dimensions, France, Spain, Sweden… Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore how and to what extent cultural aspects can influence the corporate sustainability of a given company. Method: It is a qualitative case study enhancing on one hand primary research and on the other hand secondary data. The primary data based on three interviews of Tetra Pak key employees in France, Spain and Sweden are completed by the secondary research based on facts about Tetra Pak and on key authors’ books. Theoretical framework: The framework consists of theories and models about sustainability and its extensions and about cultural dimensions theories. Conclusion: Culture has an influence on corporate sustainability. However the extents are not easy to measure and vary according to the culture and the country’s means.

Date: May 29, 2009 Course: Master thesis, EFO705 Authors: Uliana Kovaleva, 830906, Karolina Turbak, 850710 Tutor: Tobias Eltebrandt Title: The Influence of Culture and the Level of Acculturation on the Perceptions of Service Quality among the Customers with Swedish, Polish and Russian Backgrounds. Strategic question: How important is the customers’ ethnic background, culture and level of acculturation when choosing a provider of financial services? Research questions: If customers with Polish and Russian origin differ in their perceptions of the service quality attributes from Swedish customers, what kind of influence do culture and the level of acculturation have on their perceptions of service quality? Method: Apart from secondary data, the questionnaire results were collected as a source of the primary data. The study was conducted using both quantitative and qualitative methods. The questionnaire results were analysed in SPSS by applying T-tests, and the answers for the open-ended questions were analysed additionally. Theoretical Framework: The theories which were used include service quality dimensions, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the level of acculturation. The results of previous studies addressing the cultural influences on the service quality were applied extensively. The theories were chosen according to the purpose of the study and used in analysis in a comprehensive way. Conclusions: According to the study culture and the level of acculturation have influence on the perceptions of service quality. The Polish and Russian customers with the low and medium levels of acculturation have lower overall service quality perceptions compared to the highly acculturated customers with foreign background and Swedish. In particular, the perceptions of assurance and empathy dimensions are significantly different between the studied groups. / “The impact of cultural recognition on service‐consumtions among customers in Sweden with foreign background.”

Globalization and global markets are dominating in the today’s business arena. Companies are more often than not required to internationalize and operate in global markets instead of just competing within national borders. Due to the high level of globalization, psychic distance between nations and countries is argued to have decreased significantly. However, underlying national and business culture differences still very much exist and companies must be aware of and take the differences into account in their international operations. For decades cross-cultural science has been guided by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions model and it is widely used to research and describe national cultures and differences between different cultures. Psychic distance concept is one of the most applied constructs of multinational enterprises’ internationalization and it has deservedly attracted a lot of attention within the literature and research of international business. Psychic distance is recurrently utilized when presenting and evaluating differences between a company’s home and foreign market. The general underlying notion of psychic distance is that companies operating in psychically close countries will succeed in their international operations. However, there is an increasing amount of research and literature providing contradictory evidence, referred to as psychic distance paradox. According to the concept of psychic distance paradox, perceived similarities within countries may result in cultural overconfidence and inadequate preparation prior entering psychically close markets resulting in poor organizational performance. The aim of the dissertation is to contribute in the research of the psychic distance concept regarding the existence of the psychic distance paradox and how it appears in the international business. The main focus is on management’s perceptions of psychic distance and how they affect a company’s organizational performance in psychically close foreign market. From the research conducted it can be concluded that the management’s perceptions of psychic distance can essentially affect the company’s organizational performance in a foreign market. In case the management’s perceptions of psychic distance are not in accordance with reality and the differences are overlooked, the company can face difficulties and poor organizational performance even in a psychically close market. The findings of the research provide additional proof to the existence of the psychic distance paradox concept.

The discourse regarding cultural differences has mainly focused on dissimilarities between countries (inter-cultural variations). However, this thesis will suggest that intra-cultural variations also occur within national borders. Especially in developing countries, exposed and influenced by other cultures. The purpose with this thesis is therefore to reveal how culture is perceived on the eastern coast of China compared to the typical view of Chinese culture as a whole. The study has been made by conducting e-mail based surveys with the Swedish company Ericsson, Swedish Chamber of Commerce and the Swedish Trade Council. The result indicates a distinct difference in culture between east coast cities and inland China. Conclusively, intra-cultural variations appeared to be present in the studied country.

The purpose of this paper was to examine how cultural differences affect an MNC’s knowledge transfer of the concept employer branding, and what support subsidiaries need from headquarters for the MNC to become a global employer brand. The result is based on theoretical findings of employer branding, knowledge transfer and culture, applied to interview results at Scania. The knowledge transfer of the concept employer branding involves the implementation of a global employer branding communication platform. Findings show that Scania face challenges in employer branding awareness within the MNC, knowledge transfer internalization in subsidiaries, and balance of standardization and adaptation in connection to cultural dimensions of the markets. To overcome these challenges, Scania needs to further develop relational, social and organizational contexts for the MNC to become a global premium employer brand. The thesis has high originality since it gives implications to a specific MNC regarding the specific topic employer branding in a certain time of the implementation process.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and study how Swedish managers manage cross-cultural differences and how their management style is adapted to foreign cultures. This thesis could contribute to getting a deeper understanding of how Swedish management is adapted to foreign cultures. The empirical material in this study has been collected through qualitative interviews with four different Swedish managers with experience of managing abroad. The theoretical framework is based on the concepts cultural dimensions, management and cross-cultural adaptation which also are the three concepts in our conceptual framework. The conceptual framework is present in the interview template, the empirical chapter and the analysis to provide the thesis with a clear line of argument. The empirical chapter describes how the Swedish managers have dealt with the challenges of working in a foreign culture and how they have adapted their management to another culture.In the analysis the empirical material is analyzed with the help of the theoretical framework. In the analysis the effect of cultural dimensions is discussed in relations to Swedish management and which challenges a Swedish manager encounter when managing abroad. The conclusion indicates that Swedish managers seem to adapt their management style to the extent that they have to be more clear and strict in their management and they have to make a lot more decisions. It seems to be a linkage between to what extent Swedish mangers have to adapt their management style to the local culture and what kind of management position they have.

Prekės ženklo vertės vartotojui kūrimo procesas tarptautinėje terpėje yra sudėtingas, tačiau šiuo atveju svarbiausia įvertinti egzistuojančius kultūrinius skirtumus. Literatūroje pasigendama nuoseklaus teorinio kultūrinių veiksnių įtakos prekės ženklo vertės vartotojui kūrime, pagrindimo. Vartojimo kultūriniai ypatumai skatina ieškoti naujų metodų, skirtų vartotojų prioritetams tirti. Dėl to ne visuomet prekės ženklo vertė vartotojui suvokiama taip, kaip tikisi ją kuriantys marketingo specialsitai. Darbo tikslas – atlikus teorines prekės ženklo vertės vartotojui tarpkultūriniu aspektu studijas, parengti kultūros ir prekės ženklo vertės dimensijų sąsajų modelį bei patikrinti jį empiriškai. Darbo tikslui pasiekti keliami uždaviniai: 1.Išanalizuoti prekės ženklo vertės vartotojui tarpkultūriniu aspektu problematikos teorinį reikšmingumą. 2.Pateikti prekės ženklo vertės vartotojui sampratą ir jos dedamąsias. 3.Identifikuoti tarptautinio prekės ženklo vertę lemiančius veiksnius. 4.Aptarti šalių kultūrų svarbą prekės ženklo vertei vartotojui. 5.Sukurti kultūros ir prekės ženklo vertės dimensijų sąsajų modelį. 6.Atlikti empirinį tyrimą pagal teorinėje dalyje parengtą modelį. Darbo rezultatai: -Teoriniu požiūriu išanalizuota ir susisteminta mokslinė literatūra apie prekės ženklo vertę vartotojui ir jos dedamąsias, prekės ženklo vertės kūrimo ypatumus tarptautiniu mastu, kultūrinių veiksnių įtaką prekės ženklo vertei vartotojui, apibrėžiama šalių kultūrų bei kultūrinių vertybių svarba... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This master work examines consumer – based brand equity in cross – cultural aspect. Objective of master’s work is to execute theoretical studies of consumer – based brand equity in cross – cultural aspect and to check these studies empirically. The master work consist of three main parts. The first part of the master work includes theoretical analysis of a brand, consumer – based brand equity, the main factors of international branding and branding in different cultures, cultural differences and models of cultural dimensions. The second part of the master work includes theoretical approach of cross-cultural factors, which influence consumer - based brand equity and, according to empirical studies, conducted on consumer – based brand equity and cultural values, constructed theoretical brand value and culture chain based model. The third part of the master work consists of methodical rules and the empirical research, the purpose, task and the suggestions of the research; result analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data results; generalization of the research results, giving suggestions and recommendation. This master work presents theoretical and empirical researches results and recommendations. There are used 11 tables, 37 pictures and 5 additions in order to illustrate the theoretical and empirical results in master work. There are used 75 sources of scientific literature in Lithuanian and English in master work.

The emergence of the Internet in business as a marketing tool and as a communication medium is one of the existing challenges for the banking industry. Because of this evolution, the banking industry has adopted Internet banking both for financial transactions and for the provision of information about products and services. Based on the ideas mentioned, this study aimed to examine the factors which may affect the intention to use Internet banking in the Kingdom of Bahrain with the following research objectives to be achieved: first, to identify the factors which affect the intention to use and adopt Internet banking in the Kingdom of Bahrain; second, to develop a model based on the identified factors that affect the intention to use Internet banking in the Kingdom of Bahrain; and third, to test the reliability and validity of the proposed model and find its implications on the intention to use and adopt Internet banking. In this study, five variables were initially chosen, namely, perceived privacy protection, perceived security protection, perceived trust, perceived information quality and perceived risks/benefits that may affect the intention to use Internet banking. Besides the five variables, two more variables were included: cultural dimension and biometric technology to measure a significant relationship with any of the five variables that might affect the intention of bank customers to use Internet banking in Bahrain. As a quantitative method of research, the study focused on assessing the co-variation among naturally occurring variables with the goal of identifying predictive relationships by using correlations or more sophisticated statistical techniques. In analysing the data, the descriptive statistics were used. In addition, construct reliability and discriminant validity tests were conducted and structural equation modelling were used to test the research model and verify the hypotheses. The cultural context has rarely been commented on in previous research, but as a result of taking this factor into account in addition to the more technical issues, a number of practical implications became evident for banking in Bahrain that may have applicability elsewhere in the Arab world. These include both a focus on relationship management as well as the need for additional levels of security through biometric fingerprinting to be implemented by banks wishing to increase the adoption of Internet banking amongst existing customers. These strategies also have potential to attract new market segments.