<p>Örebro University</p><p>Department of Humanities</p><p>Media and Communication Studies</p><p>Bachelor Thesis, Spring 2007</p><p>Title: Organisational Communication in Dutch Branches in Swedish Companies - A study of Securitas Systems, Volvo Trucks and Electrolux in the Netherlands</p><p>By: Patrik Edvardsson</p><p>Supervisor: Inger Larsson</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how top management in three Swedish companies view the communication within the company. Aspects that are investigated are organisational structure, how core values are used in this communication and what role different communication forms such as intranet, organisational newspaper and face-toface communication play in value creation.</p><p>Theories</p><p>Theories in communication theory, PR, Intercultural communication and organisational theory are used as theoretical framework for the study. Important concepts that are used are sensemaking in organisations, core values, mission and vision as well as organisational structure as well as different communication forms.</p><p>Method</p><p>The method used in this thesis is semi-structured qualitative interviews with five people in top management, working in the three companies in this study. The interviews were</p><p>conducted at each company and took between 30 min and one hour.</p><p>Results</p><p>The study shows that all companies have clear core values that are communicated within the companies. They are communicated though different channels such as intranet and</p><p>magazines but also though dialogue; Securitas even have a game that is used to promote understanding and discussion concerning core values.</p><p>The organisational structure, which encourages informal communication, is crucial in the process of sensemaking in all companies. The companies have weak hierarchical</p><p>structures, which promote empowerment. The management believe that it is important for them to be good examples and live up to the core values, as well as maintaining an</p><p>environment that encourage communication and sensemaking among the employees. face-to-face meeting are important to build lasting networks.</p><p>Keywords</p>

This study uses an anthropological perspective to discuss the cultural differences between Chinese and Americans in business contexts. Through an analysis of case studies related by businesspersons involved in Sino-US trade, and by an analysis of literature on the subject, it describes how cultural differences contribute to the problems and misunderstandings of business encounters, and eventually affect the outcome of business ventures. The data of this study are taken directly from interviews of twenty-two businesspersons from Chins and the United States, who are actively involved in Sino-US trade. This study identifies eleven sets of conflicting cultural characteristics in Sino-American business interaction. These characteristics are closely related to Professor Hsu's theory that Chinese are situation-centered. The theme of Chinese culture is mutual dependency. Americans are individual-centered. The theme of American culture is self-reliance. This study tries to answer the questions such as: Why are personal relationships so important when doing business with Chinese? Why are some Chinese not compelled to keep business contracts or time schedules? What does face mean to a Chinese? and What kind of restraint do Americans need to deal with Chinese? This study also intends to show how important it is for businesspersons to be aware of cultural differences, and to be able to identify them. When in a cross-cultural situation, businesspersons who can control the situation and adapt to a different cultural environment will be more successful. / Graduation date: 1994

In the United States, the past twenty years has witnessed a growing academic interest in understanding 'globalization,' i.e., a series of interconnected social, cultural, and political processes occurring under integrated economies. Management scholars have tried to understand globalization in terms of its potential consequences for companies conducting business in various countries and regions. However, globalization involves more than this, for as new relationships between people and places occur, new ideas about who they/ us are in those relationships also emerge. How can international management scholars thus understand these complex relationships occurring under globalization? How can they theorize and study such relationships?Although there are multiple ways to address these questions, the approach to globalization within U.S.-based international business and management research has been insufficient. First, meta-theoretical assumptions supporting U.S.-based management theories and practices have seldom been questioned in regards to their deployment in non-Western contexts. Second, the emphasis of this research on "cultural differences" implies "separation" and may conceal social and cultural formations established through global relationships. Thus, alternative approaches to understanding business practices in the context of globalization are needed.To this effect, I first develop the notion of identity formation , based on poststructuralist and postcolonial theories, as a conceptual framework, in contrast with the modernist views of identity informing the extant international management literature. I suggest this notion as an appropriate focus of analysis for understanding contemporary relationships between people in the world. To demonstrate these arguments, I conduct fieldwork focused on the international entrepreneur, specifically the Turkish entrepreneur. Relying on an extended case study design and a multi-method approach, I examine how Turkish entrepreneurs in high-technology sectors in the U.S. and in Turkey engage in identity formation processes.The identity formation framework allows me to demonstrate how globalization processes occur relationally through embedded discourses of hybridity, gender, subalternity, and nation articulated by international entrepreneurs. I further address how postcolonial lenses allow for conceptualizing encounters between West and non-West occurring under globalization as a series of interdependent events at the locus of identity formation. As such, my dissertation offers a theoretically distinct conceptualization for globalization research in international management.

Background: Having chosen to take a degree in international business, we have had many opportunities to meet people from different cultures. These encounters have, we believe, made our lives richer, but they have not always been problem-free. When different cultures come together, the differences inevitably become apparent. Being among friends, one can maybe laugh at these differences or it may be a good opportunity to get people to talk to each other, taking the time to explain why they do things a certain way. Being at work and experience these differences might not at all have the same ice-breaking effect - rather the opposite sometimes. Since organisations of today often choose to work in international projects we find it to be important to pay attention to conflicts that are based on cultural differences. Purpose: With this thesis we will investigate if a Swedish project manager has to adapt his/her management style depending on the diversity of the ethnical background of the project workers. If that is the case in what ways could this adaptation be realised. Delimitations: When it comes to the term multicultural group we define it, in this thesis, as a group of people of different nationalities. We do not include differences in religion, gender, educational background, sexual preference etc. in the definition. When we discuss culture, we refer to the national culture and do not include other aspects. Method: We have chosen to carry through a qualitative study where our empirical data collection was made through interviews. Five interviews were conducted with project managers from Skanska and Atlas Copco. To develop the analysis we applyed the empirical data on our frame of reference and the analysis finally led to our conclusions. Results: We can see that an adaptation is almost always necessary judging from our interviews. Different ethnical backgrounds of the people in the project group requires different adaptation. When working with people from countries that value formality, hierarchical order and authority it is necessary for the Swedish manager to become more authoritarian and formal to be able to obtain the respect and power needed to be an effective project leader. We would like to emphasise the importance of not generalising, each nationality has features different from another and when wanting to conduct studies that are cultural based it is important to bear this in mind. That is why it is difficult for us to answer the question "how" a Swedish manager needs to adapt, only that an adaptation is necessary. Different ways of adapting are discussed in the thesis more in depth.

<p>Intercultural communication (ICC) is one of the most relevant fields for investigation in post-colonial Africa and post-apartheid South Africa, given the movements between people from African countries and the wide range of attractions, both economic and social, that South Africa holds for people from other African countries. This study reports on intercultural communication in post-democratic South Africa in an era marked by what Appadurai (1990) calls &lsquo / flows&rsquo / . Greenmarket Square in the heart of Cape Town, well known as a hub for informal traders, local people and tourists, was chosen as the site for this study, because of the rich cultural diversity of the role-players. The principal aim of this research is to examine how people from different cultural backgrounds in this particular space of Greenmarket Square communicate with one another, and where the &lsquo / intercultural fault-lines&rsquo / (Olahan, 2000) occur, keeping in mind how ICC could be improved in such a space. My position as a trader in the market placed me in an ideal &lsquo / insider&rsquo / position to do the research. The theory of spatiality (Vigouroux, 2005 / Blommaert et al. 2005) was used to show how the space of Greenmarket Square affected intercultural communication. Discourse analysis was also applied to the data to show how the various roleplayers were socially constructed by others. Saville-Troike&rsquo / s (1989) ethnography of communicative events was also used to bring out other barriers that were not identified by spatiality and discourse analysis. Aspects like scene, key, message form and content, the observed rules for interaction and where these rules were broken and to what effect as well as the norms for interpretation were considered during the analysis of this qualitative data. The analysis showed that spatiality, social constructions of &lsquo / the other&rsquo / and other factors like nonverbal communication and differences between communicative styles in high and low context cultures (LCC/HCC), had a major impact on intercultural communication at Greenmarket Square, frequently leading to complete breakdowns in communication. Many of the traders interviewed acknowledged that they needed to improve their competence in intercultural communication. The study concludes with a number of recommendations on how people can become more &ldquo / interculturally competent&rdquo / (Katan, 2004) in a globalized world.</p>

Örebro University Department of Humanities Media and Communication Studies Bachelor Thesis, Spring 2007 Title: Organisational Communication in Dutch Branches in Swedish Companies - A study of Securitas Systems, Volvo Trucks and Electrolux in the Netherlands By: Patrik Edvardsson Supervisor: Inger Larsson Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to analyse how top management in three Swedish companies view the communication within the company. Aspects that are investigated are organisational structure, how core values are used in this communication and what role different communication forms such as intranet, organisational newspaper and face-toface communication play in value creation. Theories Theories in communication theory, PR, Intercultural communication and organisational theory are used as theoretical framework for the study. Important concepts that are used are sensemaking in organisations, core values, mission and vision as well as organisational structure as well as different communication forms. Method The method used in this thesis is semi-structured qualitative interviews with five people in top management, working in the three companies in this study. The interviews were conducted at each company and took between 30 min and one hour. Results The study shows that all companies have clear core values that are communicated within the companies. They are communicated though different channels such as intranet and magazines but also though dialogue; Securitas even have a game that is used to promote understanding and discussion concerning core values. The organisational structure, which encourages informal communication, is crucial in the process of sensemaking in all companies. The companies have weak hierarchical structures, which promote empowerment. The management believe that it is important for them to be good examples and live up to the core values, as well as maintaining an environment that encourage communication and sensemaking among the employees. face-to-face meeting are important to build lasting networks. Keywords

In the 21st century, the mobility of world population has posed greater challenges to healthcare practitioners, since they are facing an increasingly diverse patient population from all over the world. At the same time, patients also find it difficult to access and utilize quality health care services in a culturally diverse context. This study examines the role of culture in Chinese international students’ health-seeking behaviours in Canada. The study explores any barriers/perceived barriers that Chinese international students may confront when accessing health care which can prevent them from obtaining quality health care services in Canada. To this end, an intercultural health communication model was employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection tool. While contributing to existing literature on health communication and culture, this study also hopes to contribute to providing Canadian universities and institutions important information regarding Chinese international students’ access to and utilization of health care services with the hope of enhancing the quality of ethnic health care and promoting better health outcomes.

There are more Japanese people coming to the United States than ever before. Increasing numbers of problems and conflicts are occurring between the Americans (hosts) and Japanese (guests). Many scholars have stated that there is a distinct difference of communication patterns between Americans and Japanese. The Asia University American Program (AUAP) established between Oregon State University and Asia University in Japan is designed to give the students intensive English study and exposure to American culture. Using AU Japanese students and OSU American students for samples, this project sets out to determine to what extent their cultural and language barriers affect the intercultural and interpersonal communication between Americans and Japanese in their dormitory environment. Including an American-American paired control group, rates of satisfaction with roommates were compared between the Japanese students and experimental American students of the Japanese-American pairs, along with the control group of American pair students. The study also examines factors which affect satisfied and unsatisfied communication between Americans and Japanese, and investigates what efforts the students made to overcome cultural differences and language barriers. Questionnaire surveys and face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted to discover these elements. The results revealed that the rates of satisfaction are similar for the Japanese- American paired roommates, and the American-American control roommates. Therefore, ethnicity did not influence the level of roommate satisfaction for the three groups. Although cultural difference and cultural similarity did not influence the roommate relationship according to quantitative measurements, cultural differences that had qualitative and subjective effects on the relationship were found. The results of the analysis also show that English competence was not a predictor for satisfactory relationships. The key factors for successful relationships were the levels of the Japanese students' eagerness to talk to their American roommates and the American students' willingness to listen to their Japanese roommates. A combination of eagerness and willingness between the roommates reinforced the opportunity for success. Regarding sex, the data shows that the female students were more satisfied than the male students. The research literature also supports the observation that female students achieve more satisfactory relationships. The main traits that contributed to satisfactory relationships on the part of American roommates were the traits of "patience", "open-mindedness" and "willingness to make an effort". The traits of Japanese students which contributed to satisfactory relationships were "trying to talk" with their American roommates and "willingness to make an effort". The main factors for the unsatisfied relationship are just the opposite of those contributing to satisfactory relationships. Roommates who had unsatisfactory relationships typically had little communication with their roommates because they stayed away from their rooms. / Graduation date: 1993

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Communication

In the 21st century, the mobility of world population has posed greater challenges to healthcare practitioners, since they are facing an increasingly diverse patient population from all over the world. At the same time, patients also find it difficult to access and utilize quality health care services in a culturally diverse context. This study examines the role of culture in Chinese international students’ health-seeking behaviours in Canada. The study explores any barriers/perceived barriers that Chinese international students may confront when accessing health care which can prevent them from obtaining quality health care services in Canada. To this end, an intercultural health communication model was employed as a theoretical framework, and semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection tool. While contributing to existing literature on health communication and culture, this study also hopes to contribute to providing Canadian universities and institutions important information regarding Chinese international students’ access to and utilization of health care services with the hope of enhancing the quality of ethnic health care and promoting better health outcomes.