published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

Several studies have suggested that the effect of cultural differences among Information Systems (IS) professionals from different nations on the development and implementation of IS could be important. However, IS research has generally not considered culture when investigating the process of systems development. This study examined the relationship between the cultural backgrounds of IS designers and their process-related values with a field survey in Singapore, Taiwan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Hofstede's (1980) value survey module (i.e., Power Distance (PDI), Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI), InDiVidualism (IDV) and MASculininity/femininity) and Kumar's (1984) process-related values (i.e., technical, economic, and socio-political) were utilized in the data collection. The hypotheses tested were: whether the IS professionals differed on (H.,) their cultural dimensions based on country of origin, (Hg) their process-related values based on country of origin, and (H3) whether a relationship between their cultural dimensions and their process-related values existed. The countries were significantly different on their PDI, UAI and MAS, but not on their IDV. They significantly differed on their technical and sociopolitical values but not on their economic values. IDV and MAS significantly correlated with the process-related values in Singapore, Taiwan and the United States. In the United Kingdom, UAI significantly correlated with socio-political values; and MAS significantly correlated with technical and socio-political values. In Taiwan, UAI significantly correlated with technical and economic values. PDI did not illustrate any significant correlation with the IS process-related values in all four countries. In Singapore and the United States, UAI did not significantly correlate with any of these values. The results provide evidence that IS professionals differ on most of their cultural dimensions and IS process-related values. While IDV and MAS could be useful for examining the relationship between culture and systems development, research involving PDI and UAI might be of questionable benefit.

published_or_final_version / Politics and Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

Univ., Diss.--Bochum, 2004.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p.33-34).

Since the dispensation of the democracy in 1994, the South African labour market has been inclusive to the race that previously was excluded in certain positions in the private sector. Black professionals, managers and senior managers have since increased in the market and they became in demand due to the introduction of the Equity laws by the government of South Africa. The purpose of this study was to investigate the reason why black professionals do not stay or develop loyalty with the private sector organisation that employ them within the Nelson Mandela Bay region. Factors that could affect the reason to stay or not with these private organisations were identified and researched. These factors are, Employment Equity, Career Development, Diversity Management, Trust, Transformation and Management Style. Literature review on the views of scholars about these factors was done. A questionnaire to investigate these factors was distributed to black professionals that still work for the private organisations in the Nelson Mandela Metro and to the ones that opted not to stay. Interviews were also conducted with the professionals that are specialists in the field of human resources. The following are the main findings of the study. Racial prejudice towards black professionals is evident in these organisations. There is lack of equity and affirmative action is not implemented properly, which assists in the decision not to stay with these organisations. Career development is determined by race, meaning those who are developed are chosen by their race. The lack of career development is also perpetuated by the lack of proper strategies and the respondents feel that these strategies need to be reviewed. The lack of career development also contributes to the decision whether to stay or not. Trust between the black professionals and their superiors is not a problem. The black professionals are happy with how their superiors support them and how they reward them. Racial discrimination plays a role in the superior’s ability to manage diversity and this also contributes in the decisions whether to stay or not with private organisations. The lack of the diversity management influenced by racial prejudice, gives enough reasons to the black professionals to leave the organisations. Lack of transformation is evident. It seems that black professionals are only given manager or senior manager positions only to comply with the laws of the country. The respondents seemed to be happy with the management style of their superiors.

M.A. (Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Professional interactions that are both functional and mutually beneficial are rare. The purpose of this study is to explore an application of a Third Culture Building (TCB) approach, a mutually constructed interpersonal process between two individuals, for Black American professionals (with advanced knowledge acquired from institutions of higher learning), to generate a new space in Predominantly White Institutions (PWis). These institutions include settings where the racial composition is becoming consistently more diverse (through past desegregation efforts). Although the U.S. has moved beyond integration and the monumental Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, racism and intercultural barriers that prevent functional cross-cultural communication still exist in these settings. This research is directed toward answering the question: How might Black American professionals generate a Third Culture space in PWis through cross-cultural social exchange? The research builds on my previous study where the TCB approach was found to be conducive for the intercultural barriers faced by Black Americans in PWis. The research emphasizes the perspective of Black Americans and de-emphasizes the perspective of White Americans, given the body of literature that points to their adaptation and intercultural interactions in the U.S. and in international contexts. A sample of six Black American professionals (ages 30 to 72; 4 men and 4 women) from my baseline study was invited to take part in this study. Respondents were chosen based on their backgrounds and similarity of race, to learn about their perspectives of the intercultural interactions in PWis. Participants live in the Midwest region of the U.S. Using interpretive, critical theory, and other qualitative approaches, the discussions from a focus group and interviews were transcribed and combined with the interviewer's notes. The participants' responses were organized around TCB frameworks and the interview questions, and then reduced to codes. Two evaluators reviewed the interview data, codes, and themes.

by Chan Chui-mi, Rebecca and Pong Hei-ming, David. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Bibliography: leaf 138. / TABLES OF CONTENTS --- p.ii / LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vi / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.vii / Chapter I. --- BACKGROUND AND PROBLEM STATEMENT --- p.1 / Background on the Yuppie Phenomenon --- p.1 / Baby-boomers and Yuppies --- p.1 / Yuppies in the U.S.A. --- p.1 / The Yuppie Phenomenon in Hong Kong --- p.3 / Statement of the Problem --- p.5 / Chapter II. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.6 / Yuppies : Origin and Definition --- p.8 / Yuppies : Their Inner World --- p.10 / Yuppies : An International Flavor --- p.13 / Yuppies in Hong Kong --- p.15 / Returnees --- p.16 / Working Educated Women --- p.16 / Yuppies : Life-style and Marketing Imp1ications --- p.17 / Yuppies : Fading Away --- p.17 / Conclusions --- p.22 / Chapter III. --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.23 / Hypotheses Development --- p.23 / Psychological Traits --- p.24 / Status Conscious --- p.24 / Quality Conscious --- p.24 / Motivation and Drive --- p.25 / Innovative and Adventurous --- p.25 / Health-conscious --- p.25 / Time-conscious --- p.26 / Concern for Children --- p.26 / Media Selection --- p.26 / Market/Consumption Behavior --- p.27 / Demographic Profile --- p.28 / Target Group Definition --- p.29 / Age --- p.30 / Personal Income --- p.30 / Education --- p.31 / Data Collection --- p.31 / Sampling Frame --- p.31 / Questionnaire Design --- p.32 / Psychological Traits --- p.32 / Market Behavior --- p.33 / Demographic Profile --- p.35 / Data Analysis --- p.35 / Summary --- p.36 / Chapter IV. --- DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS --- p.37 / Pilot Test --- p.37 / Data Collection in Practice --- p.38 / Sample Group --- p.38 / Post-coding of Part I Answers --- p.39 / Post-coding of Part II Answers --- p.39 / Descriptive Statistics --- p.46 / Frequency Statistics --- p.46 / Hypothesis Testing of Psychological --- p.46 / Traits By Two-Sample T-test / Analysis of Yuppies， Consumption By One-Sample Chi-Square --- p.48 / Cross Tabulation and Chi-Square --- p.51 / Statistic on Consumption of Yuppies / Vis-a-vis the Control Group / Demographic Characteristics of Yuppies --- p.54 / Cluster Analysis --- p.56 / Primary Cluster Analysis --- p.56 / Secondary Cluster Analysis --- p.58 / Demographic Characteristics Redefined --- p.62 / Chapter V. --- MARKETING IMPLICATIONS --- p.63 / Executive Summary --- p.63 / Marketing Implications --- p.64 / Marketing of Social Goods --- p.65 / Marketing of Non-social Goods --- p.66 / New Market Segments --- p.67 / New Product Attributes --- p.67 / New Distribution Channels --- p.68 / New Promotion Messages --- p.68 / Differentiated Pricing Strategies --- p.69 / Recommendations for Future Studies --- p.77 / APPENDIX --- p.71 / Chapter 1 --- Initial Questionnaire for Pilot Test --- p.71 / Chapter 2 --- Pilot Test and Spearman Coefficient for Internal Consistency Test --- p.89 / Chapter 3.1 --- Revised Questionnaire in English --- p.91 / Chapter 3.2 --- Revised Questionnaire in Chinese --- p.102 / Chapter 4 --- "Descriptive Statistics on Mean, Standard Deviation, Maximum and Minimum Values of Records" --- p.113 / Chapter 5 --- Hypothesis Testing of Psychological Traits by Two-sample T-test --- p.114 / Chapter 6 --- T-test Results on the Mean Difference for Each Group of Attitude Statements between the Yuppies and the Control Group --- p.116 / Chapter 7 --- One Sample Chi-square Test --- p.120 / Chapter 8 --- Results of One Sample Chi-square on Yuppies， Consumption --- p.121 / Chapter 9 --- Cross Tabulation of Chi-square Statistics on Consumption of Yuppies vis-a-vis the Control Group --- p.127 / Chapter 10 --- Frequency Statistics on Yuppie Demographics --- p.130 / Chapter 11 --- Cluster Analysis --- p.135 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.136

The research focused on constructing a psychosocial profile for the career development practices of professional women. The relationship dynamics between the individuals’ psychosocial attributes (emotional intelligence, career adaptability, psychosocial career preoccupations, self-efficacy, perceived organisational and social support) were investigated and whether the constructs significantly related to individuals’ experiences of career satisfaction when controlling for age, race, marital status, number of children, job level, total monthly income and education level. A cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted on a purposive sample of professional women (N = 606) from various South African organisations. Inferential statistics (multiple regressions, canonical correlation analysis, structural equation modelling, hierarchical moderated regression and tests for significant differences) revealed core elements of the empirically manifested psychosocial profile. Participants’ career preoccupations and perceptions of organisational support were significant predictors of career satisfaction, along with age, race and job level. Managing own emotions, career control and self-efficacy were highlighted as important psychological resources in strengthening career satisfaction. Perceived organisational support and social support functioned as significant mechanisms in buffering the negative effect of high career preoccupations on levels of career satisfaction, and strengthening the link between emotional intelligence, career adaptability, and self-efficacy and career satisfaction. Significant mean differences were observed for age, race and job level groups regarding career preoccupations, perceived organisational support and career satisfaction. In addition, significant mean differences were observed for marital status, total monthly income and education level groups regarding career preoccupations, perceived organisational support and career satisfaction. On a theoretical level, the study advanced career theory for the career development of professional women by identifying the relationships found between the hypothesised psychosocial profile elements and career satisfaction. On the empirical level the study contributed towards constructing a psychosocial profile that informs the career development and satisfaction of professional women. On apractical level, the study proposes guidelines for enhancing the career satisfaction and success of professional women. / Psychology / PhD. (Psychology)