Thesis (D. Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-169).

Thesis (M.A.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 192-200).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-115).

Building upon Granovetters well-known study of the job search behaviors of white males, this research extended the degree to which his findings apply across cultures to Chinese minorities, and across time to the Internet age. Using quantitative and qualitative data collected through systematic observation, questionnaire surveys, and in-depth interviews, this research investigated the impact of culture, Internet usage, gender and age on the communication patterns of foreign-born Chinese jobseekers in the U.S. It is found that jobseekers adopt either one or a combination of traditional (printed publications and direct application), institutional (the Internet, job fairs, and employment agencies), and personal (personal network) approaches. Within the institutional approach, the Internet job search strategy is a rsing preference among younger jobseekers. Through the personal approach, jobseekers enjoy four benefits of personal networks: information, trust building, position creation, and job market expansion. Across culture, guanxi, the Chinese version of the personal network is compared and contrasted with its American counterpart. Further, Granovetters argument about the strength of weak ties holds true in todays Internet age. Job-leading weak ties are usually those infrequently contacted professional and social connections working in targeted organizations at the time of a job search. Meanwhile, Chinese jobseekers mainly encounter six obstacles in the U.S.: racial discrimination, cultural obstacle, linguistic obstacle, insufficient network, immigration background, and an intercultural communication gap.

In this dissertation, I tell the story of the ethnographic fieldwork I conducted between 1997 and 2005 in which I focused on a group of expatriates sent by one of China's largest multinational corporations to work in the U.S. for extended years. My initial interest was to investigate how this Chinese state-owned multinational company operated its overseas subsidiaries in the U.S. However, as my fieldwork progressed, I became increasingly interested in how the expatriates' and their family members' careers and lives were impacted by globalization, how these Chinese expatriates and family members adjusted, adapted, understood, and tolerated cultural differences inside and outside the workplace, where they and their American coworkers gave meanings to their day-to-day work and life. The question for my research became: What does it mean to be a Chinese person but not to be working and living in China? And what does it mean to be living in the United States but not be American? After their long-term assignments were over, many of my participants were repatriated back to China, though some stayed in the U.S. where they had to reorient their career paths. At this point I was struck by how their sense of "displacement" was related to mine when I was a full-time graduate student in the U.S. and then became a senior manager in a U.S.-based multinational company. My informants' silent struggle to define their shifted identities is similar to my experiences of figuring out where I belong -- to academia or a corporation. Thus this dissertation is not only my journey of growing from "an outsider" to be "an insider" with my research informants, but also an exploration of the reflexive relationship between researcher and the researched.

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Using one subsidiary of one international consumer goods company as an example, the author shows the main challenges of HR Management and their consequences for business activities in Russia. This empirical study details HR practices at the Russian subsidiary of one international consumer goods manufacturer with headquarters in Western Europe (hereafter referred to as ABC Russia for confidentiality). The author spent a few weeks in Moscow with the task of 1) reviewing the recruitment market and establishing trends with regard to the availability of candidates, salary movements and turnover of employees; and 2) making recommendations on how ABC Russia should proceed based on the findings. It was a great opportunity to observe ABC Russia employees and partly participate in their daily business; have access to some internal information, especially to HR procedures and rules; talk to some employees and get their impressions on what it means for a well-known international company doing business in Russia. (author´s abstract) / Series: WU Online Papers in International Business Communication / Series One: Intercultural Communication and Language Learning

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), doing business while keeping the environment and society in mind, has grown in importance to businesses. Companies, and especially multinationals, are communicating their CSR efforts in the hopes to get a positive commercial effect. The way in which audiences perceive these communications is crucial. There is a connection between culture and communication; communication and CSR; and CSR and culture. This thesis studies the influence of culture on the specific type of communication: CSR communication. Two culturally diverse countries, Sweden and Spain, are compared in this exploratory study. Using cross-national comparative surveys and in-depth interviews with people from both countries and placing this into context using cultural background, the relation between culture and CSR communication has been explored. The results support the assumption that the perception of CSR and CSR communication is different between the two groups of respondents. This suggests that the effectiveness of CSR communication can be increased by tailoring it to the specific audience. While the statements cannot be made for the entire ‘next generation of working professionals’, the exploratory study is valuable in making strong indications and suggestions for further research.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education