China provides the rest of the world vast opportunities thanks to its low cost labour with ample manpower and gradually increasing expertise. It also has a huge potential in its size and market. With the increasing trade between China and Sweden at a rapid pace, the need for a research into intercultural communication, which helps to gener-ate an efficient and effective supply chain, is also growing at an accelerative speed.The purpose of this thesis is to look for possible problems and identify the frictions that may arise from the cause of cultural differences existing in the communication between Swedish and Chinese companies. This research is carried out from a Swedish perspective through the eyes of Swedish companies. However, the way they perceive the communica-tion between Sweden and China and the methods they have used to adjust to the cultural differences can be good examples to those who are interested in Chinese market.In the frame of references, a number of theories and literature related to intercultural communication were used to identify factors that influence communication between cul-tures, which formed the basis of the framework the authors used for the collection of pri-mary data. This thesis was conducted through an interpretive point of view and a qualita-tive method was used for the collection of empirical data. The primary data consisted of in-terviews and the secondary data was collected through literature reviews. Thus, the empiri-cal result was derived from the companies which have business relationship and experience of dealing with Chinese companies. Data was gathered from seven different Swedish com-panies located in Jonkoping County: Waggeryd Cell AB, Scandinavian Eyewear AB, Kapsch TraficCom AB, Kongsberg Automotive, Hestra-Handsken AB, Arlemark Glas AB and Falks Broker AB.The main conclusions of this study are namely that there are a number of cultural differ-ences existing in the communication between Swedish and Chinese companies. In most cases, Swedish companies initially tend to make the most effort to adapt to the situation and bridge these cultural differences by applying diverse solutions. Furthermore, two criti-cal key factors stand out as more important than the others in leading to successful com-munication between Swedish and Chinese companies: relationship and the concept of face. These two factors were shown to be present in all aspects of communication. Therefore, knowledge and successful incorporation of these two essential elements will be of greatest importance for Swedish companies who seek to communicate with Chinese companies.

The purpose of this study is to explore the barriers and opportunities that government-assisted refugee (GAR) women experience in settlement. Using a narrative inquiry approach, I elicited the stories of fourteen GAR women of diverse origins who have lived in Metro Vancouver for one to six years. Discourse analysis of the narratives shared within focus groups and individual sessions reveals a hierarchy of exclusory dimensions (barriers) and transformative dimensions (opportunities) of their adaptation process. The analysis also identifies settlement services and programs perceived as helpful by the women in overcoming identified barriers. The findings demonstrate how GAR women are active in their own cross-cultural adaptation and how this process is facilitated by intercultural communication competence and engagement in receiving communication activities. These findings provide insights for government and immigrant serving agencies concerned with tracking settlement outcomes for this population.

This study investigated the effects of an experimenter-designed cross-cultural training program on counsellor empathic response, attending behaviour and level of anxiety during interviews with a culturally dissimilar client. A review of the literature indicates that counsellor effectiveness and level of anxiety may be affected when a client is perceived as culturally dissimilar. Research documenting the success of cross-cultural training as a method of increasing counsellor effectiveness during live client interviews is meager. / Thirty-one white graduate students in counselling participated in this research. Counsellor trainees were randomly assigned to treatment/no-treatment conditions. Following the 11-hour treatment program, all 31 counsellors conducted videotaped interviews with one black and one white female coached client. Trained judges who maintained an interrater agreement of .87 rated excerpts of the counsellors' performance on the empathy and attending behaviour variables; a self-report measure of anxiety was employed. / The overall results of the multivariate analysis of variance indicated no significant difference between treatment and control groups when the three dependent variables were considered as a set. However, the univariate analysis was significant for levels of anxiety during interviews with the black client (p = .01114); counsellors in the treatment group experienced lower levels of anxiety than those in the control group. Modest gains in empathy resulted from crosscultural training. A significant correlation was found between empathy and attending behaviour (p = .0001). / Implications for the cross-cultural training of counsellors are discussed. The mixed findings of this study indicate the need for further research in this area.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the hypothesis that in order to provide equal educational access and outcomes for all students, an emphasis on teacher sensitivity and clarity of instruction is required in a multicultural classroom. This study offers an in-depth look at varying levels of narrowly defined dominant cultural capital between two different cultural groups within a grade 12 Economics classroom, during May and June of 1996. And if differences in the quantity of narrowly defined cultural capital do, in fact exist, can 'bridging' these knowledge gaps be achieved through clarity of instruction, so that all groups, after receiving the requisite cultural capital, can construct new knowledge effectively. Since the research was exploratory, a qualitative case study design drawing on ethnographic approaches was employed. Interviews were the primary tool chosen for data collection; the secondary tools were documents and the researcher's field notes. This study has revealed that the levels of narrowly defined cultural capital were different between cultures, and that the 'playing field' in a multicultural classroom may be levelled to a significant extent with minimal explanations of the necessary cultural capital. This research highlights the importance of teachers' ongoing assessment of their students knowledge in areas that are non-traditional, and where the knowledge is assumed by the teacher to already be in place. The study concludes with some suggestions for teacher practice and for future research in the field.

The author critiques various strands of liberal moral and political theory as they relate to Aboriginal rights. In particular, he rejects the formulation of liberal theory by philosopher Will Kymlicka, as failing to respond to the unique realities and perspectives of First Nations. He then draws on the insights of philosophers Charles Taylor and James Tully to argue for a new approach to Aboriginal rights, premised on principles of dialogue, recognition and the willingness to engage in an "intercultural journey" in which a middle ground of law, informed by Canadian and indigenous norms, is created. In chapters two through four, the author employs Wittgenstein's "perspicuous contrast" in order to reveal the dialogical basis of Gitksan and Wet'suwet'en legal and political structures, as well as to reveal the dominant role that "monologues" play in the Canadian law of Aboriginal rights. He identifies three monologues: discovery, sovereignty and the "authentic Indian," by which Canadian law marginalizes and subjugates First Nations and their legal systems. Such monologues depend for their coherence and success upon Aboriginal silence. In chapter five, the author argues that notwithstanding the persistence of monologues, Canadian law can be open to dialogue and to the broadening of understanding that is required for the construction of an intercultural legal middle ground. He issues a strong call for the legal system to turn to Aboriginal law as a major source for the middle ground, and argues that doing so will help preserve the ability of First Nations to participate in the intercultural dialogue in their own voices and ways of knowing, which is essential to the successful deployment of the approach argued for in chapter one. The author concludes that the middle ground will best be achieved through treaties, backed by an intercultural legal duty on all parties to negotiate in good faith. He also argues that a rethinking of sovereignty is necessary, in order to preserve the ability of First Nations to participate in intercultural dialogue secure in their autonomy and self-determination. To that end, he argues that courts can provide a useful "backdrop" to the intercultural middle ground, by continuously identifying intercultural legal norms which respect bedrock principles of each community's legal system in order to preserve the autonomy and self-determination of each.

Darbo aktualumas ir naujumas. Globalizacijos era kelia naujus iššūkius tradiciniams nacionaliniams identitetams, o į Lietuvą kasmet imigruojama vis didesniais srautais, dėl to kyla įvairios įtampos. Visuomenėje atlikti tyrimai atskleidė lietuvių tolerantiškumo stoką kitos kultūros atstovams. Darbe aptariamos tarpkultūrinės lietuvių ir libaniečių komunikacijos, žvelgiant iš kiekvienos perspektyvos atskirai bei atmetant visuomenėje naudojamus stereotipus bei žvelgiant į tolimesnę Lietuvos perspektyvą, kaip į naujų, pozityvių imigrantinių bei tarpkultūrinių ryšių kūrimosi vietą. Darbo problema. Kuriami transmigraciniai ryšiai, todėl kyla grėsmė tautinio identiteto puoselėjimui, susiduriama su stereotipų ir apibendrintų žinių vartojimu kalbant apie pavienius transimigrantus ar grupes, todėl sudėtingėja tarpkultūrinės komunikacijos procesas. Tyrimo tikslas – atskleisti sociokultūrinės libaniečių grupės tarpkultūrines komunikacijos problemas Lietuvoje. Tyrimo metodas – mokslinės literatūros analizė, kokybinis-etnografinis tyrimo metodas. Darbo struktūra. Pirmoje darbo dalyje analizuojami tarpkultūrių komunikacijų iššūkiai šiandienos globaliame pasaulyje. Aptariami imigracijos procesai, tarpkultūrinių komunikacijų iššūkiai nacionaliniam, tautiniam ir etniniam individo identitetui. Antrojoje darbo dalyje aptariamos nacionalinio ir etninio individo identiteto išsaugojimo perspektyvos, analizuojamos transimigrantų socialinės integracijos patirtys. Aptariamos tautinių mažumų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The topicality and novelty of master‘s final work. The era of globalization poses new challenges to traditional national identities, and every year in Lithuania immigration is increasing, that’s why various stresses comes up. The researches, that are already done, revealed the lack of tolerance of Lithuanian people to the other cultures. In master’s final work there is discussed the intercultural communication of Lebanese and Lithuanian people and analyzed from the each perspective and disposing stereotypes that are used in society and looking to the further perspective of Lithuania, as a new, positive location of establishment of imigrantional and intercultural bonds. The problem of master‘s final work. While transimigrantional relations are being created, the threat of fostering of national identity comes up. Also it is encountered with the usage of stereotypes and generalized knowledge use while talking about single transimigrants or groups. Therefore the process of intercultural communication is getting more complex. The aim of master‘s final work – to reveal the problems of intercultural communication of socio-cultural group of Lebanese in Lithuania. The methods of research – the Analysis of the Scientific Literature, Ethnographic Research Method, Semi-structured Qualitative Research Method. The structure of master‘s final work. In the thirst master’s final work it is being discussed the challenges of intercultural communication in today's globalized world. Also it is... [to full text]

<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>

Over the years, a number of studies have identified the failure of expatriates - the early termination of an international assignment - as a major problem for multinational enterprises (MNE). MNE's in, for example the USA, have reported expatriate failure rates as high as 40 percent for assignments to developed countries and 70 percent when assignments are in developing countries. These failures can cost the MNE three times the expatriates' annual salary plus the cost of the relocation. Even if an expatriate stays the full duration of an international assignment it has been determined that many, as much as 50 percent, operate at less than optimal levels of productivity. International studies have, however shown that if expatriates are properly prepared, supported and trained, the success of their assignment can be ensured. The presented study focuses on the effectiveness of the orientation process and crosscultural training (CCT) and its impact on cross-cultural adjustment for the expatriate. The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the orientation process for expatriates and to determine a need for a separate orientation and culture training. By improving the orientation process and identifying a need for culture specific training, the company can thus eliminate relocation and replacement costs. A further objective of this research is to design a guideline for the implementation of a culture specific orientation process for the expatriate. This will be done based on the recommendations made by the candidates questioned. In order to determine the preparation and training needs of expatriates this formal study was undertaken, consisting of a literature study as well as an empirical study. At first a literature study was conducted in order to determine what was happening internationally in respect to expatriation and expatriation preparation and training. The background of the study reviews what has been written and said in the areas of cross-cultural training, cross-cultural adjustment, the orientation process and the expatriate. The study highlights specific issues regarding cultural training, assignment failure and success, and the expatriate experience. The research is motivated by the need to reduce assignment failure and the subsequent costs associated with expatriation, and ensure smooth transition into a new culture. The research methodology utilized was qualitative, based on e-mailed questionnaires and personal interviews. The study attempts to recommend, based on the findings, a culture centred orientation process for the expatriate. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2006.

Die zum Fremdsprachenerwerb wesentliche Vermittlung interkultureller Kommunikationskompetenzen wird in den verfügbaren Lehrplänen in Manitoba für Deutsch als Fremdsprache vorausgesetzt. Eine Umfrage unter den Deutschlehrern sowie repräsentative Interviews zeigen, dass interkulturelle Kommunikationskompetenzen in der Praxis oft nicht ihrem Wichtigkeitsgrad entsprechend in den Unterricht integriert werden. Der Erfolg des DaF-Programms in Manitoba hängt dementsprechend von der Sensibilisierung der Lehrer sowie einer Reform und Modernisierung von erforderlichen Prüfungsmöglichkeiten und Qualitätssicherung der Vermittlungsinhalte ab.

In this paper I will critically reflect upon an intercultural experience connected with appearance, dress, and the different mutual perceptions of 'others' in public space in current Moscow and Vienna. I will construe this experience as fundamentally different attitudes towards informal behaviour, appearance and gender ambivalence. One of the main causes of this situation I have located in the 1960s, a period of anti-authoritarian subcultural upheaval in the Soviet Union as well as 'the West'. The very different social, economic and political contexts of their emergence and their further ('socialist' vs. capitalist) trajectories are, as I will argue, at the root of the perceptions and connotations of casual wear and behaviour in the public spaces of present-day Moscow and Vienna.(author´s abstract) / Series: WU Online Papers in International Business Communication / Series One: Intercultural Communication and Language Learning