Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the cultural barriers faced by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in entering Japanese market and to see how the successful companies have overcome the barriers. Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory case study with qualitative research through semi-structured interviews (telephonic and Skype) with foreign SMEs in Japan. 17 interviews could be conducted in 12 companies out of 76 companies contacted.  Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework encompasses barriers studied by Namiki (1998) for classification of the entry barriers and applied the same on SMEs. The cultural aspect has been deployed in accordance to theory of House et al. (2004), Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner (2012) and on the cultural dimensional framework of Hofstede et al. (2010). It further includes language in intercultural communication and barriers related to it.  Findings: The study identifies that the business culture perceived by foreign SMEs in Japan is almost similar to the national culture identified by Hofstede et al. (2010), but only three out of five cultural dimensions studied and the language have emerged as barriers for the foreign SMEs to do business in Japan. It was also found that to adapt to the Japanese business culture in general, engage in business relationship and to use senior bi-lingual Japanese staff, was keys to success for the foreign SMEs. Managerial implications: It is recommended that managers should study previous literature on cultural barriers as it most likely also applies to SMEs. It is also recommended to use Japanese bi-lingual staff and to establish relationships with Japanese companies as soon as possible. Limitations: The study was conducted with interviews of only twelve SMEs in Japan. The study was confined to qualitative method and a quantitative study with larger number of companies could have fetched more quantifiable results. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first to analyse the cultural barriers exclusively for the foreign SMEs in Japan with interviewing firms doing business in Japan. Keywords: Entry barriers, cultural barriers, SMEs, Japan market. Classification: Exploratory, qualitative study.

ABSTRACT In the United States, Hispanics have the same prevalence of mental illness as any other group however researchers have found that they are less likely to seek mental health services. This population’s lack of mental health utilization is due to various barriers hindering the population’s need for help, a substantial for social work practitioners. To better understand the factors that lead up to that, the current study explored and identified perceptions toward seeking and receiving mental health services among Hispanic members. Using a qualitative data collection, ten participants were interviewed to elicit their perceptions about mental health services ranging from what they believed addressed their lack of seeking services and what they thought about services. Data analysis revealed five core themes among the participants’ responses: Closeness to Family as a reason for people not seeking professional help. Another theme found was environment as a reason for Mental Illness making them feel that there is no need to seek services since they can simply remove the environmental stressor and the illness will seize to exist. Existing support systems were found such as involvement in church as a form of therapy, they talked about their faith providing them a form of support for stressors. Shared culture was a theme that was found to be a necessity for therapy, they felt they did not seek services because they felt mental health practitioners would not validate their culture. The final theme was access and that theme encompassed : not knowing mental health services existed in their community, to lack of Spanish speaking clinicians. The recognition of these themes could potentially guide social work practitioners’ when they are trying to engage the Hispanic community to receive mental health services. Social workers can be aware of the obstacles toward engaging this population into professional therapy, by having an understanding of what they believe about therapy and helping to alleviate or use some of those perceptions as a form of engagement and validating existing strengths that the population has causing them to feel professional services are not needed.

This Thesis discusses issues surrounding the conduct of business in a global environment. The focus of this paper involved a major manufacturer and its business model (Deutsches Auto AG) to supply vehicles to markets in New Zealand, South Korea, Nepal, and Mongolia. Analysis was made from previously collected survey data taken in each region focused on the dealership and end-user level. Not surprisingly, it was discovered that language and cultural barriers had a significant impact on each locations operations. Observations showed that language seemed to have created a problem in every day operations in regards to management and dealership tasks. English as the lingua franca – common language of trade, was often a second or third language of the individuals conducting day to day business. Not only did everybody have their own native language but also regional dialects that affected communication, but cultural perspectives also complicated communication. This paper does not address all issues surrounding global business, but focuses its attention to personal observations and data collected to identify break downs in communications across the regions of New Zealand, South Korea, Nepal, and Mongolia. This research identified and confirmed the problems to be a lack of English skills (comprehension and speech), which is expected to be the common language between all. With this expectation, there is little emphasis given to teaching English, nor the cultural contexts and hierarchical understandings that enhances effective communication.

Yes / This article considers the difficulties with using Gillon's model for health care ethics in the context of clinical practice. Everyday difficulties can arise when caring for people from different ethnic and cultural s, especially when they speak little or no English. A case is presented that establishes, owing to language and cultural barriers, that midwives may have difficulty in providing ethically appropriate care to women of Pakistani Muslim origin in the UK. The use of interpreters is discussed; however, there are limitations and counter arguments to their use. Training is identified as needed to prepare service providers and midwives for meeting the needs of a culturally diverse maternity population.

Research Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify the socio-cultural barriers that self-employed immigrant entrepreneur’s face and the overcoming factors that help them to survive. Research Questions: 1. What are the socio-cultural barriers that immigrant entrepreneurs face in the context of self- employment? 2. What are the factors that help immigrant entrepreneurs to overcome the socio-cultural barriers? Methodology: This study is followed by qualitative research and explorative approach. The data collection was done by semi-structured interviews. Ten immigrant entrepreneurs are the convenience sample of our study. Findings: Language, legislation and lack of trust are the most unfavorable socio-cultural barriers that self-employed immigrant entrepreneurs face in the host country. Result shows that knowing the right information is important for immigrant entrepreneurs. For technology, immigrant entrepreneurs are now learning more about it by themselves. Besides, technology helps them to learn the language faster as it is more convenient than in school. Their previous experience and transnational identity are their biggest strength that helped them to break the socio-cultural wall. Immigrant entrepreneurs are often influenced by the native people in a positive way and that influences drive them to learn new things to overcome those barriers. The co-ethnic networks do not always play a positive role rather this study found that these networks actually play a dual role. Research Limitations: All of our sample are collected from Sweden, but for language and laws, the result might vary from person to person from different corners of the wall. This study was concerned with the self-employed entrepreneurs; not with the large level of enterprises.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects more than 60% of Cambodian immigrants in the United States. However, researchers do not yet know why less than 5% of Cambodian immigrants are accessing mental health services. This qualitative study involved investigation of participants' perceptions of how PTSD is manifested in the Cambodian immigrant community to understand barriers to mental health services access. The social ecological theory provided a frame for understanding how traditions, values, culture, and beliefs affect Cambodian immigrants' perceptions of PTSD and the mental health system. Data was collected from semi structured interviews of 13 participants, 18 to 70 years of age, residing in Stockton, California, who shared their perceptions of PTSD. NVIVO was used to organize each data category for thematic analysis. The themes included: (a) hearing of PTSD, (b) meaning of PTSD, (c) contributing factors, (d) healing practices, (e) recognition of PTSD, (f) reactions, (g) reasons most often given, (h) encouraging family members, (i) healing practices, (j) ways of helping, (k) counseling, (l) medications, (m) mental health support, (n) mental health resources, and (o) want more information. The findings indicated that stigma continues to be one of the barriers in accessing mental health services, and that Cambodian immigrants have a strong desire to learn more about mental health and mental health services in San Joaquin County. Results from this study contribute to an area of mental health research that is limited, and they may be used by researchers and mental health practitioners to improve cultural understanding and awareness among diverse communities and help reduce the stigma regarding mental health issues.

<p>This study focuses on socio-cultural issues, which affect Kavango women&rsquo / s decision to participate in the PMTCT programme. It investigates the treatment methods used by HIV-positive pregnant women for themselves and their unborn babies, neonatally, during pregnancy and after delivery, particularly in relation to the prevention of transmission of HIV. The thesis further investigates whether women choose alternative services such as traditional healers for medical attention during pregnancy, birth and post-natally. The research aims to establish and describe the role of local notions and practices concerning anti-retrovirals on the aforementioned programme. Ethnographic and thus qualitative research methods were used to gather and analyze data. I spent three months working as a nurse in two health facilities that offer PMTCT in Rundu, Kavango. I also held semi-structured and open-ended interviews, formal and informal discussions, formal and informal focus groups with nurses, community counselors, pregnant women, women who had recently given birth in the health care facility and traditional health care practitioners. In the case of the latter, I utilized narratives of healing to understand their perception of HIV/AIDS, their beliefs and practices as well as their healing methods. Furthermore, I employed other informal conversations outside the formal research participants. The study shows that there is a paucity of partner involvement and in some cases women have to first seek permission from their partner before enrolling into the programme. My research findings further indicate that women utilized various traditional herbal medicines for themselves and their babies as part of their cultural beliefs and practices. It was evident that some of these, such as Likuki, affect women&rsquo / s participation in and adherence to the protocols of the PMTCT programme. </p>

Some authors have identified different cultural dimensions that could be used to classify people from different cultures in terms of values, believes, and behaviors which are defined by the environment where they are brought up. Among these dimensions, power distance is hi-lighted in this research in order to identify how the relationships of power among individuals would be a cause of cultural barriers that could ultimately prevent managers from the successful accomplishment of objectives. In the field of project management is during the project implementation when the interaction among stakeholders will reach its highest point of importance. This is due to the fact that all plans formulated in previous phases will be transformed into real actions. International project management required special skills and knowledge in order to achieve the right implementation of the strategy to accomplish a proper project completion. Therefore, this research is made in response to the need within the project management field for having a practical tool that could be applied to overcome cultural barriers. By gathering the point of view of managers from different backgrounds and ages, Chinese and non-Chinese, a list of practical guidelines is provided for foreigners to follow in order to avoid conflicts which could be initiated by cultural issues related to the way relationships of power are established in China. In order to develop these guidelines, a qualitative research method has been applied in this study by carrying out semi-structured interviews to a diversified group of people, Chinese and non-Chinese, in order to get the information from their experience to achieve the final objective of this research. After collecting the necessary information conveyed by interviewees, the suggested guidelines have been developed based on the findings which performed the factors of power and mechanism that describes how Face and Guanxi define the relationships of power among Chinese individuals.

<p>This study focuses on socio-cultural issues, which affect Kavango women&rsquo / s decision to participate in the PMTCT programme. It investigates the treatment methods used by HIV-positive pregnant women for themselves and their unborn babies, neonatally, during pregnancy and after delivery, particularly in relation to the prevention of transmission of HIV. The thesis further investigates whether women choose alternative services such as traditional healers for medical attention during pregnancy, birth and post-natally. The research aims to establish and describe the role of local notions and practices concerning anti-retrovirals on the aforementioned programme. Ethnographic and thus qualitative research methods were used to gather and analyze data. I spent three months working as a nurse in two health facilities that offer PMTCT in Rundu, Kavango. I also held semi-structured and open-ended interviews, formal and informal discussions, formal and informal focus groups with nurses, community counselors, pregnant women, women who had recently given birth in the health care facility and traditional health care practitioners. In the case of the latter, I utilized narratives of healing to understand their perception of HIV/AIDS, their beliefs and practices as well as their healing methods. Furthermore, I employed other informal conversations outside the formal research participants. The study shows that there is a paucity of partner involvement and in some cases women have to first seek permission from their partner before enrolling into the programme. My research findings further indicate that women utilized various traditional herbal medicines for themselves and their babies as part of their cultural beliefs and practices. It was evident that some of these, such as Likuki, affect women&rsquo / s participation in and adherence to the protocols of the PMTCT programme. </p>

Domestic violence is a global issue, and despite awareness of the issue increasing, the prevalence to which women are being physically and mentally abused is increasing. This study aimed to qualitatively investigate the impact of cultural barriers on the provision of aid to victims of abuse from the perspectives of social workers within a domestic violence care organisation in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Social workers within the organisation were interviewed to examine their personal experiences of working with clients from different cultural backgrounds and the results were analysed using the ecological model and the intersectional theory, as well as using earlier research conducted on the issue. The findings showed that the culture of a client can have an effect with regards to abused women seeking help, though the practices of the organisation were generally not impacted based on the cultural background of a client.