A goal-opportunity model of acculturation, according to which sojourner’s goals align with the opportunities of the host culture (goal-opportunity cultural fit), can evaluate adaptation to a new sociocultural environment as functional, predictable, and meaningful. Although this new model of person-culture alignment builds on a previous construct of cultural fit (Ward & Chang, 1997), it aims to redefine the construct. Determining the right components of the person-culture alignment as the core of adaptation is nonetheless challenging, as there are different constructs that can be considered. Previous adaptation models have promoted person-culture alignment either as the mitigation of the sociocultural gap (cultural gap) between the native and host cultures (Church, 1982), or as the match (cultural fit) between specific personality traits (e.g., openness) and host culture norms (Ward & Chang, 1997). However, those models disregard valuable cognitive factors, such as autonomy, problem-solving ability, decision-making skills, achievement need, goal setting, motivation, participation, and effort. This thesis introduces goal-opportunity cultural fit as a contextual measurement of cultural adaptation in international students, as a group of sojourners with high achievement needs. Using exploratory analysis to refine a newly developed measurement instrument˗˗the Cultural Fit Questionnaire˗˗the current study attempts to show that this new person-culture alignment can be measured, predicted, and interpreted. It is expected that this proposed model of acculturation based on reinterpreting cultural fit as a goal-opportunity alignment will offer a better understanding of cultural adaptation in goal-driven sojourners with a need for achievement and autonomy, such as it is the case with international students. / Graduate

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(人間・環境学) / 甲第24916号 / 人博第1090号 / 新制||人||255(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院人間・環境学研究科共生人間学専攻 / (主査)教授 内田 由紀子, 教授 船曳 康子, 教授 月浦 崇, 教授 宮本 百合 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Human and Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DGAM

abstract: Grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994, 2000), the current study examines environmental and person-cognitive variables as predictors of academic performance among a sample of 194 Mexican American undergraduate students. Specifically, this study used multiple regression analysis to test the associations between college self-efficacy (course self-efficacy and social self-efficacy), proximal contextual influences (campus climate and cultural fit), and gender on the academic performance (self reported grade point average, GPA). Results indicated that course self-efficacy was a significant predictor of academic performance for Mexican American undergraduate students. In addition, social self-efficacy, positive perceptions of the campus climate, and cultural fit were associated with high self-efficacy. This study contributes to our knowledge of college student development in general, and academic attainment among Mexican Americans specifically. Practice and research recommendations are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Counseling Psychology 2017

This thesis’ original contribution to knowledge is creating the awareness that facilities management (FM) departments and organisations do not consciously socialise external service provider staff into the client workplace and the development of a framework that can successfully achieve this integration. To provide a solid theoretical background for this framework, it reviews current literature on FM, outsourcing, organisational culture, and organisational socialisation. The aim of this study was achieved with the development of the ‘Cultural Fit’ framework which should go a long way in solving the research problem and answering the proposed question. The study was conducted as a qualitative multi-method design. This was selected because there were obvious gaps in socialisation especially in the FM industry. Qualitative methods are believed to provide richer data and this was adopted to begin closing those gaps through the provision of literary data. The research was conducted using the ethnographic approach because of the focus on culture and to maximise the qualitative approach. Interviews and focus groups are the qualitative methods used to collect this data. Reliability and validity are not always easy to verify but researchers have proposed several methods to improve them. This study employs the triangulation of more than one method of data collection, peer debriefing with colleagues, member checks by confirming the initial results during subsequent data collection and a rich, thick description. The major findings of this study are that organisational socialisation can be successful in socialising external service provider staff into the client workplace despite a current unawareness of its use. This study has developed a framework and guide that can be used to achieve this integration if client organisations and service providers work together to socialise external service provider staff.

In this study of intercultural communication, I investigate the multi-faceted meaning of the expression " cultural fit " in the sense that it is used by recruiters when shortlisting Indian information technologists to fill skills shortages for the Y2K project in Australia. The data is in the form of ten videotaped interviews in Bangalore and the recruiter commentary on those tapes in Melbourne. A crucial decision to be made by recruiters in any shortlisting process is " How will the candidate fit into the workplace?" This question becomes more problematical when applied to overseas-trained professionals. I take a critical approach, drawing principally on the research traditions of linguistics where studies of intercultural communication and workplace interaction intersect, employing chiefly the tools of Critical Discourse Analysis and Interactional Sociolinguistics and the more abstract notions of Bourdieu. A bridge between these different discourse approaches is provided by Sarangi & Roberts < 1999 < who show the connection between the larger institutional order and interactional routines, through an elaboration of frontstage talk and backstage talk following Goffman < 1959 < . An analysis of the interviews < frontstage talk < reveals "cultural fit" to involve a knowledge of institutional talk, in particular, directness. The recruiter commentary < backstage talk < draws attention to issues of intelligibility, body language, technical expertise and workplace values. the study shows that Indian Information Technologists have "partial fit" in that they possess technical fit but do not demonstrate, or lack the opportunity to demonstrate in the interview, Australian workplace values such as small talk, humour and informality. The recruiter judgments were fleeting and apart from checking for intelligibility, were made on the basis of candidates' body language thus highlighting its importance and its relative absence from the discourse approaches mentioned above. This study shows clearly that there is room for more communicative flexibility on the part of all the stakeholders.

21世紀「知識」成為各國經濟發展之主要驅動力，企業更多採專案型組織運作以靈活應變，如何有效管理知識工作者也使企業文化愈受重視。專案型組織因知識工作者增加、多角化跨入新業務型態而有文化轉型需求。本研究欲探討專案型組織於傳統營建工程、知識密集服務、複雜產品系統三種業務類型下之配適文化與轉型模式。藉由蒐集個案公司Kyowa Exeo和IBM官方資料與高階主管談論文化之內容進行文化元素篩選，經競值架構特質表檢驗後，得出應變型文化、家族型文化、市場型文化、階層型文化四種文化類型之佔比，依此繪製舊文化暨新文化之文化剖面圖以進行文化配適與轉型討論。本研究貢獻為專案型組織分類、專案型組織文化情境配適表與文化轉型模式，並確認「家族型文化」於三類專案型組織配適文化中皆為重要元素。後續研究可繼續完善專案型組織文化情境配適表，驗證家族型文化在知識經濟時代對於專案型組織之重要性。 / In the 21st century, “Knowledge” becomes the driving force of economic development all over the world. More and more enterprises choose to change their structure to project-based organization in order to achieve flexibility. Corporate culture is getting more important for enterprises to manage knowledge workers. The demand of culture transformation in project-based organization is derived from the phenomenon of booming knowledge worker population and the strategy of diversification into new business. This study aims to explore the most suitable kinds of organizational culture for three different types of project-based organization, including traditional construction, knowledge-intensive business service, and complex product and system, and discuss the process of the culture transformation. The initial data bank of cultural elements is selected from official information, culture-related comment from senior managers (Kyowa Exeo and IBM). These elements are sorted into four kinds of organization cultures by the characteristic table of Competing Values Framework: Adhocracy culture, Clan culture, Market culture and Hierarchy culture. Two cases are studied in details by grouping their cultural elements in accordance to the four cultural categories. The percentage of each culture of Competing Values Framework is calculated and the culture profile of initial culture and new culture are drawn for in–depth discussion of cultural fit and culture transformation. The contributions of this research are the classification of project-based organization, and their most suitable cultures and culture transformation model. Besides, “Clan culture” is a critical element towards all three types of project-based organization. Follow-up research can improve the effectiveness of cultural fit table of project-based organization and verify the significance of Clan culture for project-based organization in the era of knowledge economy.

Made available in DSpace on 2010-04-20T20:19:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 149579.pdf: 361390 bytes, checksum: f860b8126d13bda55756bb2230697f5a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-05-15T00:00:00Z / Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) are an example of those organizational changes that can significantly affect the generation of value in any one form of business. In these (people) movements, integration plays an outstanding role. During this process, all actions involved in the management of available resources need to be carefully monitored and treated, for they can be of straight influence on the results of transactions performed. In Brazil, and especially after the second half of the nineties, one could record a large number of company mergers, particularly among banking organizations. People with clearly distinct cultures, values, and beliefs were pooled into the same organizational bowl, and, in a few cases, were integrated in a hurried and disorderly manner, thereby resulting in clear dismantling of values. The results of local and international research work suggest that a significant portion of the critical success factors in any M&A process refer to the carefull integration of work teams, and adequate consideration to the characteristics of the involved individuals. During the period ranging from 1995 through 2004, Unibanco acquired and absorbed various companies, thereby setting up a very important study background in this field of knowledge. This work presents some of the cases illustrating the path adopted by Unibanco in the acquisition and integration of companies, by means of a Multiple Case Study, further subdivided into four main movements: 1 – “Banco Nacional”, 2 – “Banco Bandeirantes”, 3 – “Credibanco” and 4 – “Retail Companies”. In these cases, some strategic, operational, and – in a little more detail – people management aspects are highlighted and analysed, relating to the processes of post-acquisition integration employed by Unibanco during the research period. According to those analyses, it comes to perception that Unibanco performed a clear evolution in the organization or its postacquisition integration process, when viewed from the standpoint of the theoretical fundamental grounds set forth herein. Such evolution could be noticed in various aspects of the integration process, but mainly in three factors: organization of the transition team, communication, and focus on people during the whole process. / Fusões e Aquisições, 'F&As', são exemplos de transformações organizacionais que podem afetar significativamente a geração de valor de um negócio. Nesses movimentos, o processo de integração tem destacada importância. Durante esse processo, os aspectos que envolvem a gestão dos recursos disponíveis necessitam ser cuidadosamente observados e tratados, pois podem influenciar diretamente os resultados das transações. No Brasil, especialmente após a segunda metade da década de noventa, pode-se observar uma grande quantidade de fusões entre empresas, especialmente entre bancos. Pessoas com culturas, valores e crenças distintas foram combinadas sob a mesma esfera organizacional e, em alguns casos, integradas, apressada e desordenadamente, resultando em uma destruição de valor. Pesquisas locais e internacionais sugerem que uma parte significativa dos fatores críticos de sucesso em um processo de F&A refere-se à condução cuidadosa da integração e ao tratamento adequado às pessoas envolvidas. Durante o período 1995-2004, o Unibanco adquiriu e integrou diversas empresas, constituindo um histórico importante para o aprendizado neste campo de conhecimento. Neste trabalho são apresentados alguns dos casos que ilustram a forma adotada pelo Unibanco para adquirir e integrar empresas, através de um Estudo Múltiplo de Casos, dividido em 4 (quatro) macro-movimentos: 1 - caso 'Banco Nacional', 2 - caso 'Banco Bandeirantes', 3 - caso 'Credibanco' e 4 - caso 'Empresas de Varejo'. Nestes casos foram apontados e analisados aspectos estratégicos, operacionais e - de uma forma mais detalhada - os aspectos da gestão de pessoas nos processos de integração pós-aquisição adotados pelo Unibanco no período da pesquisa. De acordo com as análises, percebeu-se que o Unibanco estabeleceu uma evolução na organização de seu processo de integração pós-aquisição baseada nos pontos relevantes da fundamentação teórica aqui apresentada. Esta evolução foi observada em vários aspectos da integração, mas de modo marcante em três fatores: organização da equipe de transição, comunicação e foco dado às pessoas durante o processo.