This thesis explores whether a social game shows indications of being more effective to raise awareness of cultural differences than an open discussion exercise. Within the field of Serious Games there are studies exploring the area. Among them some studies aim to train the cultural understanding of military personnel or are business relationship oriented, while others try to motivate immigrant to interact with local population or convey situation which may lead to culture shock.To conduct the experiment critical incidents were developed using a model where individualistic and collectivistic cultures are compared in social and work related situations. Participants, students from Swedish for immigrants, were divided into two groups. One group was playing the game and the other was having an open discussion exercise. Results show after the session and three weeks later indications of the game being more effective raising awareness of cultural differences.

In response to the dearth of research on culture awareness instruction prior to foreign language instruction, the objective of this study was to explore the effects of culture awareness lessons on learner attitudes and beliefs in second-semester university students of French. As a treatment, the experimental group received lessons on culture awareness prior to traditional French classroom instruction; the control group did not. Culture awareness lessons addressed terms such as perspective, culture, interpretation, and stereotypes. Lessons also included worksheets consisting of open-ended questions designed to capture students' responses to the aforementioned topics of discussion. Data collection methods consisted of pre- and post-surveys that included Likert-scale questions and reflections that incorporated open-ended questions designed to capture student attitudes and beliefs. Reflections included general questions on attitudes toward the French as well as cultural practice-specific questions. Qualitative analysis revealed that students from the experimental group showed greater appreciation for culture as an important component of foreign language instruction as well as higher response rates vis-à -vis intercultural understanding. Statistical analysis of the Likert-scale questions also showed significance among questions addressing greater understanding of cultural differences and increased perceived similarity between American and French cultures among the experimental group. However, the experimental group also showed a decrease in student predilection for studying and talking about culture. In general, the study reveals that the explicit teaching of culture awareness prior to traditional foreign language instruction, in conjunction with the opportunity students had to reflect and express their thoughts, has a positive effect on student attitudes.

In internationalisation, entering new markets is a challenging and risky process.  There are various factors to consider when planning a strategic approach to meet the demand and preferences of customers in a foreign market. To meet this challenge, knowledge of the new market plays a major role in the outcome of internationalization. Differences in consumer tastes, preferences and needs, as well as national cultures, economic and technical levels, market structures, business practices, political stability, government policies, laws and regulations should be taken into consideration. Problems in each of these factors can make a company's international marketing strategy ineffective and counterproductive in the foreign market.  When it comes to strategy, the marketing mix is one of the focus areas in international market research and one of the most important factors to emphasize is the decision to standardize or adapt the elements in the marketing mix (4P - Product, Price, Place and Promotion).  In reality, almost no marketing mix is customized-only or standardized-only; the strategy is more about finding the balance between a standardized (extension) approach to the marketing mix and a localisation (adaptation) method that is sensitive to countries or regional differences so that the company's identity does not disappear. By comparing IKEA's marketing strategies when they entered the Japanese market in 1974 and 2006, this dissertation shows that cultural awareness of the new market has an impact on the success of internationalisation and the benefits of adapting the marketing mix. The results of this thesis also shows that IKEA's choice of strategy was largely influenced by its vision, resources and capacity, as well as the company's ability to learn from experience and be proactive in turning obstacles into opportunities.

Thesis (Master of Research and Development Management)-Air Force Institute of Technology, 2008. / Title from title page of PDF document (viewed on: Dec 28, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Recent surveys of international business professionals indicate that foreign language abilities and cultural sensitivity are important competitive advantages in today's globalized economy. The current study interviewed 71 practicing global professionals currently working in cross border transactions in diverse fields. Biographic, demographic and second language data were collected, including information on experiences and opinions on the use and importance of foreign language and cultural awareness abilities in the professional world. Research questions include: (1) Who are the global professionals applying L2 abilities at work? (2) How do they apply these abilities? (3) What are the profiles of advanced and non-advanced proficiency users? (4) How important are linguistic abilities and how much of a competitive advantage do they represent? (5) What language strategies and communication strategies are used? (6) What are the most common beliefs on the role of foreign languages and culture awareness in business? (7) How well do intercultural communication models explain the culture views and experiences reported by working professionals? Results indicate that learners with self-reported advanced proficiency regularly apply the four language abilities (listening, reading, speaking and writing) at work, albeit in varying degrees, depending on the level of complexity of the task (phone, email, face-to-face meeting, etc.). For the majority of informants, foreign language and culture abilities are considered important for professional effectiveness. For those who reported advanced foreign language abilities, they also exhibited a greater appreciation for increased exposure to foreign language learning, had received more foreign language instruction, and had more experience working and living abroad. Those advanced in foreign language abilities were also more likely to be non-native speakers of English, have earned a university degree while using an L2, had family or community connections to the target language, have emigrated, or have a spouse with a different L1. The study also ranks and identifies the informants' strategies used to deal with language and culture issues. Participants' anecdotes were analyzed in light of current cultural analysis models applied in International Business Communications. Suggestions are presented for curricula changes to improve foreign language proficiency in professional settings. / text