Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Psychology / Patrick A. Knight / The current study uses structural equation modeling to simultaneously test the relationships between cultural knowledge, rapport building, and counterpart receptiveness in a cross-cultural setting using military-advisors. Five-hundred-eighty-three Army soldiers and Marines deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan as advisors to host-national soldiers were asked to complete a questionnaire about their job-tasks. Results indicate that advisors who use cultural knowledge are more effective building relationships, and as a result have counterparts who are more receptive to their advice. Limitations and implications of the model are discussed, as well as potential directions for future research.

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The central theme of this doctoral research is organisational knowledge creation in the cross cultural context of the post-socialist transition of former Eastern European (EE) countries towards a more liberal market structure and methods of working. This transition was particularly important for those countries seeking European Union (EU) accession such as Romania, and impacted on those organisations having a major role in accession such as the Romanian Border Police (RBP). The need for organisations to expand their knowledge of strategic decision making for change and development resulted in a plethora of EU-funded training interventions to fill the gap. The literature suggests that as a result of the dominance of Western ideology of the transitional process, cognitive dissonance and a general disconnect with the outcomes of EU-funded projects was a product of such interventions. This research explores how a more collaborative co-inquiry methodology with partners can bring about knowledge creation as a more sustainable and significant approach for organisational change. Specifically, it investigates the reflective capabilities of a group of Romanian Border Police (RBP) managers to reveal how they can create knowledge for organisational change and development in preparation for EU accession. Simultaneously a framework for facilitation was developed as a result of using the original research of Geppert and Clark (2002) and Breiter and Scardamalia (2000), as a foundation for the operationalisation of the research and in the attempt to move away from traditional models of knowledge transfer to further develop the changing dimensions of training interventions in the EE as suggested by Michaelova and Hollinshead (2007). It is offered as a purposeful method for the sustainable organisation, in preference to western style knowledge transfer projects. The findings result in a complex model of knowledge creation for the RBP and a better understanding of how Western trainers can work with EE organisations to achieve the desired outcomes for developing organisations. Moreover recommendations are made on how the EU can best utilise this research as a basis for funding future knowledge transfer projects, to guarantee that funding is having an impact on developing organisations at a time of austerity.

This thesis explores the encounter between the Afghan-American community and the U.S. military-industrial complex in the production of cultural knowledge for counterinsurgency (COIN) operations in Afghanistan. It focuses on the narratives mobilized as 'expertise' by Afghan-American contractors from the major diaspora hubs in California and Virginia, who were employed as role-players, translators, and cultural advisors by the U.S. military and defense contractors. I discuss how such narratives gained currency and shaped the perceptions of Afghanistan in the U.S. foreign and security policy communities. The goal of the thesis is to demonstrate the extent to which COIN-centered cultural knowledge production both defined political strategies toward Afghanistan and also reconstituted the Afghan diaspora in America. The thesis contributes to emergent ethnographic studies on militarism by looking at its effect on American society in general and the Afghan diaspora in particular. The broader application of the thesis findings is to move beyond critiques of the troubled connection between anthropology and the military, and to analyze the relationship between citizens and the state in terms of national and biopolitical security.

Language teaching usually focuses on linguistic knowledge, such as vocabulary and grammar, but that is not the whole picture for language learning. To build effective intercultural communication networks, language and culture study is fundamental. Language is the medium of cultural messages. This paper explores Chinese learners’ culture learning through their language courses. Based on cultural information provided in the textbooks (Integrated Chinese Level I & Level II), I designed a cultural knowledge questionnaire to collect data and analyze learners’ culture competence and problems when learning culture. After multiple rounds of modifications, the questionnaire was distributed to different levels of Chinese language learners, Chinese native speakers, and other language speakers at a public university in western Massachusetts. The questionnaire was also distributed to intermediate level Chinese students at a public university in Virginia. The results show differences among different levels of students and different questions, but no difference in heritage students’ performance nor in different universities. The data analysis of the questionnaire also provides insights for textbooks editors, Chinese instructors and educators. Culture learning is a continuing process that requires enough accurate and up-to-date cultural knowledge in textbooks as well as effective and appropriate teaching by instructors.

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Thesis (MCurr)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The objective of this study was to explore the perceived need among nurses from different cultures in a private hospital in Saudi Arabia for a program to teach cultural sensitivity. The hypotheses for this study were:  Diverse bio- and demographical/cultural/educational backgrounds of nursing staff have an input on their cultural knowledge and sensitivity of care given in the hospital  The amount of occurrence reports generated due to cultural differences and clashes indicate the need for a program to teach cultural sensitivity. A descriptive quantitative study was done, using a self administrative questionnaire on a randomly selected sample 15.8% (n=200) of the population (N=1272) of registered nurses. The data was collected by structured questionnaires with sections requiring the following:  Biographical information (age, gender, nationality)  Amount of experience in nursing of patients with diverse cultures  Nursing education received about caring for patients of diverse cultures  Cultures of colleagues and patients in the hospital  Whether incidents occur because of cultural differences  Amounts of incident reports generated by each respondent per month The study is descriptive and made use of non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis, Mann- Whitney U and Chi-square computations to determine relationships between the answers of the different respondents to be able to come to a conclusion about the research question. The study reflects a youthful component of nurses from very diverse cultures working in the hospital, with a large variety of patients of equally diverse cultures. Only 1:5 of the nurses felt that they have enough knowledge about each others’ and their patients’ cultures. Recommendations for the implementation of a program for cultural sensitivity are the end result of this study. The ultimate goal for such a program is culturally sensitive nursing where the patients would experience that their culture has been considered in the planning and implementation of their nursing care. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doelwit van hierdie navorsing was om te bepaal of geregistreerde verpleegkundiges van verskillende kulture by ’n privaat hospitaal in Saudi Arabië die behoefte ervaar en herken vir die aanleer van kulturele sensitiwiteit. Die hipoteses van die navorsing was soos volg:  Diverse bio- en demografiese/kulturele/opvoedkundige agtergrond van verpleeglui sal hul kulturele kennis en dus kultuur sensitiewe verpleging in die hospitaal beinvloed.  Die aantal insidente wat voorkom oor kultuurverskille en botsings is ‘n aanduiding vir die nodigheid van ‘n program om kulturele sensitiwiteit aan te leer. ’n Beskrywende navorsingsontwerp met ‘n kwantitatiewe benadering is in die studie gevolg. ’n Vraelys wat deur die respondente self voltooi moes word, is ingevul deur die ewekansige verkose steekproef van 15.8% (n=200) van die bevolking van geregistreerde verpleegkundiges (N=1272).Die gestruktureerde vraelys het afdelings bevat wat die volgende inligting verlang het:  biografiese inligting (ouderdom, geslag, nasionaliteit),  hoeveelheid ondervinding van verpleging van ander kulture,  verpleegonderrig ontvang in die hantering van pasiёnte met diverse kulture,  kulture van kollegas en pasiёnte in die hospitaal,  of daar insidente voorkom weens kultuur verskille,  hoeveelheid insidentverslae wat elke deelnemer moet invul per maand. Die studie is beskrywend van aard en daar is gebruik gemaak van nie-parametriese Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U en Chi-kwadraat berekeninge om verhoudinge tussen die antwoorde van die verskillende respondente te bepaal en om tot ‘n gevolgtrekking te kom oor die navorsingsvraag. Die resultate van die navorsing toon dat daar ’n jonger komponent van geregistreerde verpleegkundiges van baie diverse kulture in die hospitaal werk met ‘n groot verskeidenheid van pasiente van ewe diverse kulture. Slegs 1:5 van die verpleegkundiges in die steekproef het gevoel dat hulle oor die nodige kennis beskik m.b.t. mekaar en hul pasiёnte se kulture. Aanbevelings vir die implementering van ’n program vir kulturele sensitiwiteit is die eindresultaat van hierdie navorsing. Die uiteindelike doel van so ‘n program is kultureel sensitiewe. verpleegsorg waar pasiёnte ervaar dat hul kultuur aangespreek word in die beplanning en implementering van sulke sorg

This study examines the effects of social tie strength, value fit and affect-based trust of overseas workers on their cultural knowledge acquisition in foreign countries. Based on the assumption that cultural knowledge is acquired through social interactions, the research model encompassed 3 social-related independent variables and tested empirically from 536 interpersonal relationships reported by 136 respondents. The results revealed that social tie strength and value fit have positive impacts on cultural knowledge acquisition not only directly but also indirectly, through the mediation role of affect-based trust. However, the mediation effect differs between relationships with local nationals and relationships with non-local nationals. Specifically, affect-based t rust is essential for the effect of social tie strength to local nationals instead of that to non-local nationals; moreover, the mediation effect is sufficient on value fitted non-local nationals but is incomplete on value fitted local nationals. The implications of the findings and the need for future research were also discussed.

Bakgrund: Mångkulturella samhällen blir alltmer vanliga i och med den ökande invandringen.De olika kulturerna medför andra värderingar, seder och levnadssätt än de som är vanliga hos majoritetsbefolkningen. Invandringen skapar även ett nytt sjukdomspanorama med krav på sjukvården som inte funnits tidigare. Enligt den svenska hälso- och sjukvårdslagen skall all vård ges på lika villkor för alla individer. Leiningers transkulturella omvårdnadsteori går ut på att en professionell, kulturellt anpassad omvårdnad kan garanteras om den genomsyras av ett individcentrerat förhållningssätt och med kulturell medvetenhet hos sjukvårdspersonal. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva kulturell medvetenhet hos vårdpersonal och hur detta påverkar vården. Metod: Studien gjordes som en litteratursammanställning av tio vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ ansats. Resultat: Resultatet kunde delas in i två teman med tre respektive två tillhörande kategorier. Det första temat; Den kulturellt särskilde patienten förde med sig kategorierna; Kulturellt specifika beteenden, anhörigas medverkan och kommunikation. Det andra temat; Kulturspecifikt bemötande i vården skildrades genom kategorierna; Kulturell medvetenhet och hantering av kulturella möten. Slutsats: De hinder och komplikationer som präglade den transkulturella vården var ofta kopplade till vårdpersonalens upplevda okunskap. De uttryckte ett stort behov av riktlinjer, stöd från arbetsledare och framför allt kunskap inom området. Detta skulle även göra det möjligt att bedriva en god transkulturell omvårdnad i linje med Leiningers transkulturella omvårdnadsteori. / Background: Multicultural communities have become more common because of the increasing immigration. The diverse cultures bring different values, cultural practices and ways of living than the ones that are common for the majority population. The immigration also leads to a new disease panorama with demands on health care that have not before existed. According to the Swedish Health care law, all care shall be given on the same conditions for all individuals. Leininger´s cultural care theory claims that a professional, culturally appropriate care can be guaranteed if it is based on an individual centered approach and given with a cultural knowledge. Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe the cultural knowledge with healthcare staff and how it influences the health care. Method: The study was made as a literature review of ten scientific articles with a qualitative approach. Result: The result was divided in two themes with three respectively two belonging categories. The first theme; The culturally particular patient, was divided in the categories; Culturally specific behaviors, the presence of relatives and communication. The second theme; Culturally specific treatment in health care was divided in the categories; Cultural knowledge and management of cultural meetings. Conclusion: The obstacles and complications that occurred in the transcultural health care wereoften related to the lack of knowledge that the health care staff experienced. They agreed that aneed for guidelines, support from supervisors and particularly knowledge within the areaexisted. This would also make it possible to accomplish a good transcultural care in the spirit ofLeininger´s care theory.

The global exchange of goods has in recent years made cultural intelligence an important success factor conducting business over cross-cultural boundaries. Due to lack of cultural competence, several mistakes in international business have been made. Previously studies of cultural intelligence have been carried out in controlled settings and not in day-to-day life. Further, authors for these studies point out that more empirical studies need to be carried out in the subject and in an uncontrolled environment.The purpose of this study is to find out what criteria are important and successful for Swedish professional sellers and buyers when they are conducting international negotiations. If possible, these criteria will then relate to the relevant capabilities of CQ to add validity to the concept. Furthermore, the study also aims to answer if the criteria mentioned by the professionals are applicable with Hofstede's dimensions (Hofstede, 2011) as well as the Context Culture model by Hall (1976). The participants for the study are five individuals from different companies located in Sweden. The participants have previous experience from conducting international business ranging from six to 35 years.The result of this study shows that cultural intelligence is beneficial when it comes to conducting international negotiation. This is presented in the form of important criteria from the respondents, these criteria are explained through the respondent’s own words and then reinterpreted by the authors using theoretical concepts, an example of this is Preparation. Further, the findings present validity to some of the conceptual benefits that previously lacked empirical validity such as collaboration and decision making.