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 concept of positioning was first highlighted by Trout and Ries in an article published in 1971 and has since then been a well-studied subject. However, little study has been made regarding the way the positioning strategy changes depending on which country the company is about to enter. The purpose of this master dissertation is thus to investigate culture’s role as a driving force in international positioning. The theoretical framework consists of the foundations of the positioning process and international marketing literature about cross-cultural theories. These theories are put together in an analytical model where a connection between the two theories is illustrated that will be used as a foundation in gathering and analysing the empirical data. In a qualitative approach, the empirical data was gathered through semi-structured telephone interviews with the Marketing Directors or a corresponding title of five different Swedish international companies. These findings were also complemented with secondary data such as web pages and annual reports of the companies. The findings of the study showed that cultural differences are considered to some extent and have resulted to an entirely new positioning strategy for one of the researched companies and to changes in the strategic tools made for consolidating the position in two additional companies. In the two remaining companies, culture has not been a driving force and the companies have thus not considered this in their positioning in international markets.

There is a growing library of literature on the relationship between self and culture. Most studies (Cousins, 1989; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Sampson, 1989) in this area are quantitative and approach culture as a concept that is "intemally homogenous and externally distinctive" (Hennans & Kempen, 1998, p.1113). Such studies have found cross-cultural differences in how people define their sense of self. This has led to a classificatory approach to self and culture such that the western and non-western self have been defined as distinct from one another. This thesis explores the appropriateness of such cultural dichotomies from a novel, dialogical perspective of self (Hennans, Rijks & Kempen, 1993) which allows for the special investigation of self and culture A qualitative methodology was adopted for this investigation, within the narrative paradigm. Narrative interviews were conducted with a sample of twelve women between the ages of 35 and 50 years and these women were varied by ethnicity as one measure of culture. A voicecentred relational method (Mauthner & Doucet, 1998) was used to analyse the interviews. Both investigative and methodological aims were forn1Ulated during the analysis. Investigative aims explore the appropriateness of the dichotomisation of the self as western and non-western. The results of the analysis question such cultural dichotomies criticised by Spiro (1993) and yet so prevalent in self and cultural studies (Cousins, 1989; Markus & Kitayama, 1991; Sampson, 1989). Frequently in the narratives there is an interweaving of individualistic and collectivist characteristics. Such a co-existence of traits is accommodated by the dialogical view of self, which provides a large enough framework to account for both interdependent and independent characteristics in the same self. The methodological aims directed the researcher to investigate the appropriateness of the measurements of self and culture adopted by traditional approaches (Cousins, 1989; Markus & Kitayama, 1991 ; Sampson, 1989). The results of the thesis suggest that as intercultural connections are becoming increasingly common, culture needs to be recognised as a complex concept that is no longer homogenous. Cross-cultural approaches to this area are questioned by this investigation because of their tendency to simplify and categorise the self and culture. It is proposed that future research should approach this area of self and culture as an intersection or interface of complex factors that are not easily homogenised or dichotomised. The findings point to the value of qualitative research, and in particular the framework of the dialogical self, for exploring this interface. / Thesis (M.A.)- University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

In training programs designed to help immigrant women adapt to Canada, drop-out rates are frequently high and attendance is often low. Investigating some reasons behind this observation was the motivation for this thesis. A literature review revealed that curricula used in existing programs are often developed from experts' understanding of immigrants' needs; research on immigrant women's curricular needs as perceived by themselves is virtually nonexistent. An objective of this thesis was to address this knowledge gap. This study inquired into what curricular needs immigrant women have, how these needs differ, and what relationship exists between the women's backgrounds and their curricular needs. A questionnaire was developed and validated by an expert panel, and then administered to graduates from an orientational training program. Post-survey interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), factor analysis, and linear discriminant analysis. It was found that the program, although well received, did not reflect the curricular needs perceived by the immigrant women themselves. Life skills instruction was unwanted by many students while English and computer lessons were in demand. A desire to regain higherquality jobs partially explained the women's curricular needs.

The present study investigated what helped and what hindered multicultural supervision. The participants consisted of 19 females, and 6 males, including Asian-Canadians, Indo- Canadians, First Nations, Latin-Canadian and Afro-Canadian. They were individually interviewed, following an expanded version of Flanagan's (1954) Critical Incident Technique. There were 340 relevant meaning units related to positive incidents and 386 meaning units related to negative incidents. Forty-two meaning units were associated with coping efforts, and 87 meaning units were on recommendations. Categories extracted from these meaning units were grouped as follows: (a) 20 positive categories, (b) 15 negative categories, (c) 15 coping categories, and (d) 33 recommendations. The reliability of classifying meaning units according to these categories was satisfactory, based on inter-judge agreement (80% and higher). The validity of content analysis was established by (a) confirmation by participants, (b) crossvalidation by other participants, (c) cross-validation by an independent judge, and (d) cross-validation by other researchers. The most frequently cited positive categories were subsumed under five key areas: (a) personal attributes of the supervisor, (b) supervision competencies, (c) mentoring, (d) relationship, and (e) multicultural supervision competencies. The most frequently reported negative categories were associated with the following five areas: (a) personal difficulties as a visible minority, (b) negative personal attributes of the supervisor, (c) lack of a safe and trusting relationship, (d) lack of multicultural supervision competencies, and (e) lack of supervision competencies. The coping efforts employed were grouped into four areas: (a) help seeking, (b) existential coping, (c) active coping, and (d) emotional coping. Finally, recommendations were also grouped into four broad areas: (a) needs to improve the quality of supervision, (b) needs to improve multicultural supervision competencies, (c) needs for educational institutions to make changes, and (d) needs for minority students to make changes. The study provided a comprehensive picture of what works and what does not work in multicultural supervision. The results support a mentoring model, which posits that supervision is effective to the extent that the supervisor takes on the role of a mentor. The practical implications of the study include the need for cross-cultural supervision competencies and mentoring graduate students.

Globalization has drawn Canadian design firms to projects in many parts of the world and cross-cultural design projects are now a significant part of landscape architecture practice. However, currently there are few studies that discuss the issues and challenges associated with these projects. Through exploring the relationship between professional values and the design process, this research intended to identify issues and provide resolutions associated with cross-cultural design projects. A literature review and interviews of experienced design professionals show that professional values affect the design process. In a cross-cultural design project, different value systems from multiple cultures interact and influence each other, creating issues and challenges, but also inspiring new design ideas. The research suggests that understanding values and the professional value system could help landscape architects identify issues and improve both the processes and the products of cross-cultural design projects.

No description available.

No description available.

South Africa is currently revitalising the role of Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) in the country's healthcare provision. This undertaking is guided by Chinese Traditional Medicine which is said to be one of the most highly developed traditional healthcare systems in the world. Programmes developed by the National Department of Health and other stake holders in the development of indigenous medicine often need to be accommodated architecturally. Collaboration with biomedicine is one of the main programmes aimed at empowering Traditional Health Practitioners of the country. Accordingly, this dissertation is divided into two sections, both based on the current undertakings of collaboration between biomedicine and indigenous medicine in South Africa. Due to the fact that traditional healing systems are less commonly described than biomedicine, the main focus of this study is indigenous medicine and how architecture could be influenced by alternative healthcare practices. The first section (A) is theoretical. It investigates and compares the current architecture that accommodates THPs in rural and urban areas of KwaZulu-Natal. This unveils social, cultural, economic and political factors affecting this architectural genre. The aim thereof is to establish architectural elements to be considered when designing a health care facility for THPs. Section A also explores the current state of healthcare architecture in the country and abroad so as to establish the latest challenges to be addressed by the proposed collaborative healthcare model. Design principles for collaborative architecture accommodating THPs and biomedical practitioners in an urban context of South Africa are then be put forward. Section B incorporates the theories derived from section A, towards the design of a joint indigenous and biomedical healthcare centre for Durban. It gives specific spatial requirements for a collaboration between biomedical practitioners and izinyanga. / Thesis (M.Arch.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

No description available.