Today Russia plays an important role in global economic development and attracts a lot of multinational companies, who establish their subsidiaries there. Many foreign investors send their representatives, business expatriates, to develop their businesses in Russia. The knowledge of cultural and communication specifics in Russia is very important for the success of those business personnel. This study has presented an in-depth picture of Danish business expatriates’ experience in Russia. Qualitative interviews with eight Danish business expatriates were conducted to examine and compare cultural and communication norms in Denmark and Russia. The results were analyzed using the cross-cultural theories of Hofstede (2011) and Hofstede, Hofstede and Minkov (2010). The findings revealed that communication norms in Russia differ significantly from those in Denmark on two cross-cultural dimensions: Power Distance and Indulgence versus Restraint. / Department of Communication Studies

The purpose of this study was to investigate and report on the impact and effectiveness of a Small Business Development Center consulting program. The consulting program consisted of two individualized, self-paced, interactive computer courseware sets which were designed to deliver information about business computer systems to small business owners. The study was descriptive and exploratory in nature, utilizing a pre- and post-experience application of an attitudinal instrument. The participants were small business owners in Indiana.The primary research question related to the impact that the Indiana Small Business Development Center computer assistance consulting program had upon the attitudes of small business owners toward computers in their firms. The attitude of the participants toward computers was positive prior to the experience and remained so after the experience. Other major findings regarding small business owners' perceptions of the consulting program were as follows:1. Nearly 90 percent of the participants indicated that an individualized, self-paced, interactive computer courseware set was a useful way to obtain instruction about business computer systems, and 96.2 percent indicated that they would recommend the program under investigation to other small business owners.2. Although the majority of the participants had not used an integrated software package that contains word processing, spreadsheet, and database applications under one software umbrella prior to this study, following their interaction with the courseware sets almost 74 percent indicated that an integrated package would be practical for their businesses.3. Almost all (96.2 percent) of the participants found a graphical user interface to be useful in helping them understand the computer software.4. Participants preferred to use business associates and seminars or courses as sources of information for learning about computers for their firms, but lack of time prevents them from learning as much as they would like.Results of this study indicate that as adult learners, small business owners are a fragmented population, and therefore difficult to reach via traditional adult education programs. More emphasis by government and educational institutions on providing small business owners with training and education regarding computers and more research conducted in developing programs are suggested. / Department of Educational Leadership

Thesis (M.A.)--Marshall University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Includes abstract. Document formatted into pages: contains 59 p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 39-42).

Thesis (doctoral)--Université de Paris V, 1978. / Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, p. [1005]-1036) and index.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, 1958. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [362]-371).

Unique individuals are fascinating as we all want to be successful. There is thus a need to understand, unpack and share the psychological development and traits that allow some people to become sui generis, and to learn from them. Psychobiographical research is a qualitative approach that can be utilised to uncover the story of such an individual life, resulting in greater understanding of the psychological concepts underpinning the person. This form of study is invaluable, and involves applying psychological theory to lives completed or unfinished, enabling the development and testing of developmental theories. Richard Branson (1950-present), an entrepreneur, adventurer, philanthropist and family man is the single psychological subject chosen in this study. Branson was selected based on interest value, his uniqueness and the lack of a specifically academic and psychologically focused case study on his life. The primary aim was to explore and describe Branson’s personality development across his life, to date. This was achieved by applying both Maslow’s (1954, 1970) theory of optimal development and Adler’s (1929, 1956) Individual Psychology theory to provide a comprehensive idiographic interpretation of the development of Branson. To achieve this, the case study utilised the systematic and consistent collection, analysis and interpretation of life history materials, highlighting three areas of development, namely Childhood, Adolescence and Adulthood. The theoretical frameworks were used to discern, transform and reconstruct his life into a coherent and illuminating narrative of his psychological movement through life. Alexander’s (1988; 1990) model of identifying salient themes was used to analyse data for analytical generalisation (Yin, 2009). The conceptual framework derived from the theoretical perspective was constructed to organize, integrate data, and guide the presentation and discussion of findings of the study in an integrative and comprehensive manner. The findings suggest both Maslow’s and Adler’s theories considered the biopsychosocial context in Branson’s personality development and, at least to some extent, supported concepts indicative of progression toward optimality through having met the needs of the ego actualisation of his self, toward transcending selfishness and attaining altruism and social interest. The study of Branson’s personality development has provided a positive demonstration of the value of Maslow’s (1970a) and Adler’s (1929, 1956) theories to understand the process of development. It has further highlighted the unique trajectory of an individual’s life, contextualized, as well as the possibility of being agents in our own lives and despite challenges, able to become our own idiosyncratic best. The study also highlights the need, at a macro level, for governments to assist those unable to satisfy basic needs such as food, shelter and safety, to set an imperative, to aid those who struggle if a country and its people are to be uplifted. In terms of Adlerian theory, the study highlights the importance of family and early experiences in supporting the earliest years of children to assist them to develop an identity that is healthy and socially useful. Finally, recommendations were made for future research utilising a psychobiographical research design to uncover, illuminate and reconstruct the lives of outstanding and interesting individuals.

This work encompasses an inquiry into the role of the entrepreneur in economic development, and a report of interviews with eighty African businessmen in the Transkei, Ciskei and some urban locations. South Africa provides a particularly interesting field for the study of African enterprise insofar as it is possible to examine the evolution of entrepreneurship in two fundamentally different environments - namely rural reserves and large urban areas. Furthermore, there has been a substantial increase in the number of African entrepreneurs during this century. The study achieves added significance in view of the wide racial income differentials which are an endemic feature of South African socio-economic existence; moreover, there is a great deal of evidence to suggest that, despite the high real growth rates during recent years, the racial income gap is widening. A corollary to this is the worsening of the relative - though not necessarily the absolute - economic position of the Black population. Hence : "the fundamental question for South Africa's economic future revolves around the income relationship between the Whites and the African segment of the non- White group." At present a great deal of pressure is being exerted on White employers to adopt more racially equitable systems of remuneration, and on the Government to relax the industrial colour bar. Although such measures would probably have a positive influence in preventing the gap from widening still further, there is reason to believe that their effectiveness would be limited. The justifications for this assertion are twofold: a) As Allister Sparks has pointed out, "as long as (Blacks) are limited to being hirelings of (Whites), their progress will necessarily remain stunted. Because of race prejudice they will not be promoted as readily as Whites of equal ability. There will not be Black managers and company directors. They will be held down by a vicious circle of disadvantages: prejudice will deprive them of promotion, which will deprive them of experience, which will provide the pretext for not promoting them. b) There is much convincing evidence to show that property ownership rather than wages is the basic factor determining income distribution. Information indicative of the extreme racial inequality of property ownership in South Africa is given by Spandau, who has shown that in 1960 'other income' (i. e. rent, interest and profits) formed 119% of work income of Whites, and only 19% of the work income of Africans. 2 In the absence of cataclysmic social change, the development of African entrepreneurial talent emerges as a possible means of escaping from this apparent impasse. This does not of course imply that even a fairly large increase in the number of African entrepreneurs would automatically result in raising the living standards of a substantial portion of the Black population. Nevertheless, it would represent a positive move towards redressing the inequalities in property ownership and facilitate the acquisition of organizational skills, which in turn implies a better utilization of human resources than exists at present.

In this task I performed the analysis of status of consumer electronics market in the Czech Republic after 1989 year when a phase of planned economy was finished and market relations also entered into this field. I hypothesize that also in nowadays when competitive environment dominates and most of the trade is occupied by strong transnational companies it is possible to realize the idea of independent business. I describe this state and follow new development trends. At the same time I do survey of present-day situation and division of market among the biggest sellers. I pay attention also to internet trading that goes through the dynamic development. But despite of this fact a businessmen keep on searching the way how to operate both of he sell types (classical and internet one) together. At the end of this task I introduce the biggest traders of the market and I confirm the hypothesis that also independent trader can find his place at consumer electronics market and became successful.

The symphonic relationship between the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), a mission conceived as entrusted by God to coordinate their contributions to the society, provides the Russian state with a moral framework and the ROC with the possibility to confirm her spiritual role for the establishment of a Russian Orthodox world. This vision of a new Russian world helps the ROC expand her canonical borders to amend for the fragmentation of the pastoral community after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The category of Orthodox businessmen represents a precious support for creating an influential network of activities of (apparently) cultural and religious content well outside of the post-Soviet territory. This also applies to Greece, given the two countries` historical and religious boundaries. This study will show how political messages can be successfully transferred through images depicting the religious soft power activities of Russian-Greek businessman Ivan Savvidis by analyzing the data through the methods of Visual Grammar. This study found that, by exploiting his Pontic identity and certain cultural values extrapolated through the Visual Grammar to attract the Russian-Greek diaspora in Northern Greece, Ivan Savvidis manages to convey the image of Russia as savior and protector of the Orthodox world, therefore showing the great potential of visuality in Russian religious soft power activities.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the performance of advisory boards serving schools of business. This evaluation is based upon perceptions held by business school deans, department heads, and advisory board members concerning the most significant objectives established for advisory boards and the extent to which they have been attained.