My main question in this essay has been: why does the preschool advocate being outdoors? How should we respond to parents who have a different view on this? Children's right to participation and influence is also a question that I raise. How should we preschool teachers do when we stand between the child's desire to be out and the parents wish that their child should be indoors? By reading what is written in the preschool curriculum on children's influence, I have come to the conclusion that we preschool teachers must listen to what the children express that they wish to do, otherwise we go against our policy documents. My dilemma is about how to respond to parents who have a different opinion on being outdoors than we have. Many parents express an aversionagainst their children having to be outdoors. Us preschool teachers have to explain to them why it is important to be outdoors. Through literature, I have come to the conclusion that the only way for the children to get an understanding about natural science, is to be outdoors. In order to acquire knowledge of nature and the environment, you have to experience it with your senses. Cultural clashes between preschool teachers and parents can occur because many of the parents come from different cultures than we do. You must therefore have an interest in learning about other cultures and also have an open approach towards the cultural differences that may arise between the teachers and the parents. What I have learned by writing this essay is, that it is important to have the ability to understand what other people think and also show an interest in their culture, norms and values. By taking the time to listen to the parent’s feelings and explain to them why we believe it is important to be outdoors, I think that the parents can get a better understanding of why it is good to be outdoors. By explaining to them that it is about giving their child a natural science learning, which is useful in their future life, I believe that they can see this from a different point of view. I also discuss, from a historical perspective, how the idea of the “competent child” has developed in Sweden.

Like most ethnic and multicultural narratives, Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club revolves around the development of an identity in which immigrant experience and all the questions of ethno- cultural identity that attend to it play central roles. The aim of this essay is to investigate the process of identity formation of the second-generation Chinese immigrant daughters who encounter Chinese culture at home while having the immediate experience of living in America, with a focus on the cultural, language and generational gaps that exist between the Chinese mothers and their American- born daughters. This study is guided by a theoretical framework that combines postcolonial theory and a number of established theories of identity construction including the concept of hybrid identity in order to analyze and explore the American-born daughters’ identity creation. Based on this analysis, this paper presents evidence that an identity formation process that involves cultural hybridization has occurred and the outcome of this identity formation is that of a hybrid identity.

<p><p>Can the lack of functional cross-cultural communication among individuals within an international organization be the reason for cultural clashes to occur, and lead to conflict between two cultures within the same organization?</p><p>Our aim is to try to create a potential model of how cross-cultural problems can be studied, in order to contribute to the solution of the problem. And to examine whether the theories, which form the basis of our model can be applied in reality.</p><p>The research have assumed from the hermeneutical approach for a holistic view of the problem area. The deductive approach has been used in order to distinguish whether the theories can be applied to reality, and qualitative research method for collecting data.</p><p>The focus lies within cross-cultural communications, which defines the various cultural factors that can affect organizational culture. Hofstede dimensions and the social structure are mentioned and cultural factors as language and religion. The piece includes the national and organizational culture theory and the establishment strategies. Subsequently the culture clashes, the international business relations and conflict resolution.</p><p>Our conclusion is that culture clashes occur and the further away from our own values, attitudes and norms, we get, the more tolerant we relate to other cultures. We note that organizational culture is influenced by individuals which constitutes in it and the theory and reality may not always correspond. That culture is a complexity to study, where tolerance, acceptance and understanding are the most important tools for cross-cultural communication.</p></p>

Cross-national merger and acquisition (M&amp;A) activity is common and is argued to be a strategic tool for the growth of multinational corporations. Yet, M&amp;A activity has a high failure rate which theorists have explained being due to cultural clashes. Previous research has explained these clashes being due to cultural distance. Other studies have focused on the extent to which the firms are culturally integrated and its relation to cultural clashes. In this study we investigate the relation between cultural distance and the extent to which the firms are culturally integrated as we believe that this relation in turn influences how cultural clashes are perceived by managers. As the human side of M&amp;A has become of great interest within research we stress the importance of understanding what happens with managers in the organization during the post-acquisition process. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to investigate the managers’ perception of cultural clashes, in relation to the perceived extent of cultural integration and perceived cultural distance, in cross-national mergers and acquisitions. In order to achieve an in-depth understanding of a series of cross-national M&amp;As and to answer the purpose of this thesis, a qualitative case study design was used. Semistandardized interviews were made with ten managers from a Swedish firm that has gone through a series of cross-national M&amp;As involving Swiss, French and German managements. The findings show that managers’ perception of cultural clashes differs depending on to what extent two firms are culturally integrated and in relation to the cultural distance between the two firms. No matter if high or low cultural distance managers perceive few cul-tural clashes if the extent to which the firms are integrated is low. If the cultural integration, on the other hand, is high and the cultural distance is high, the cultural clashes are perceived as many. Our findings indicate that cultural clashes are perceived differently depend-ing on how they affect the managerial role and the organizational behaviour. We refer to these clashes as implicit agreements and explicit statements. Clashes in implicit agreements are evolved from behaviour deeply rooted in national culture and corporate culture. These clashes have minor effects on the managerial role and the organizational behaviour. Never-theless, managers need to be aware of the differences and adapt to the preferred behaviour when interacting with the acquiring firm’s management. Explicit statements, on the other hand, affect the managerial role and organizational behaviour and lead to cultural clashes that conduce to frustration, lack of motivation and inefficiency. These clashes are more ap-parent when the extent of culturally integration is high. Therefore, the acquiring firm should not attempt to assimilate its target company in cross-national M&amp;As.

Can the lack of functional cross-cultural communication among individuals within an international organization be the reason for cultural clashes to occur, and lead to conflict between two cultures within the same organization? Our aim is to try to create a potential model of how cross-cultural problems can be studied, in order to contribute to the solution of the problem. And to examine whether the theories, which form the basis of our model can be applied in reality. The research have assumed from the hermeneutical approach for a holistic view of the problem area. The deductive approach has been used in order to distinguish whether the theories can be applied to reality, and qualitative research method for collecting data. The focus lies within cross-cultural communications, which defines the various cultural factors that can affect organizational culture. Hofstede dimensions and the social structure are mentioned and cultural factors as language and religion. The piece includes the national and organizational culture theory and the establishment strategies. Subsequently the culture clashes, the international business relations and conflict resolution. Our conclusion is that culture clashes occur and the further away from our own values, attitudes and norms, we get, the more tolerant we relate to other cultures. We note that organizational culture is influenced by individuals which constitutes in it and the theory and reality may not always correspond. That culture is a complexity to study, where tolerance, acceptance and understanding are the most important tools for cross-cultural communication.

<p>Cross-national merger and acquisition (M&A) activity is common and is argued to be a strategic tool for the growth of multinational corporations. Yet, M&A activity has a high failure rate which theorists have explained being due to cultural clashes. Previous research has explained these clashes being due to cultural distance. Other studies have focused on the extent to which the firms are culturally integrated and its relation to cultural clashes. In this study we investigate the relation between cultural distance and the extent to which the firms are culturally integrated as we believe that this relation in turn influences how cultural clashes are perceived by managers.</p><p>As the human side of M&A has become of great interest within research we stress the importance of understanding what happens with managers in the organization during the post-acquisition process. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to investigate the managers’ perception of cultural clashes, in relation to the perceived extent of cultural integration and perceived cultural distance, in cross-national mergers and acquisitions.</p><p>In order to achieve an in-depth understanding of a series of cross-national M&As and to answer the purpose of this thesis, a qualitative case study design was used. Semistandardized interviews were made with ten managers from a Swedish firm that has gone through a series of cross-national M&As involving Swiss, French and German managements.</p><p>The findings show that managers’ perception of cultural clashes differs depending on to what extent two firms are culturally integrated and in relation to the cultural distance between the two firms. No matter if high or low cultural distance managers perceive few cul-tural clashes if the extent to which the firms are integrated is low. If the cultural integration, on the other hand, is high and the cultural distance is high, the cultural clashes are perceived as many. Our findings indicate that cultural clashes are perceived differently depend-ing on how they affect the managerial role and the organizational behaviour. We refer to these clashes as implicit agreements and explicit statements. Clashes in implicit agreements are evolved from behaviour deeply rooted in national culture and corporate culture. These clashes have minor effects on the managerial role and the organizational behaviour. Never-theless, managers need to be aware of the differences and adapt to the preferred behaviour when interacting with the acquiring firm’s management. Explicit statements, on the other hand, affect the managerial role and organizational behaviour and lead to cultural clashes that conduce to frustration, lack of motivation and inefficiency. These clashes are more ap-parent when the extent of culturally integration is high. Therefore, the acquiring firm should not attempt to assimilate its target company in cross-national M&As.</p>

The globalization of economies and the technology development have both increased opportunities to businesses as well as challenges. Multicultural workforces and other values in the market compared with the home market lead to complexity in the management control when a business establishes abroad. Individuals’ nationalities impact their behaviors and values and it is the management’s task to coordinate the members’ activities in a way that is beneficial for the company. The banking industry is a knowledge-intensive industry, meaning the employee’s knowledge is the bank’s biggest resource. To create organizational knowledge, it is important that the knowledge is shared within the company. Effective knowledge sharing is hard to accomplish in a multicultural company since it is depending on communication between the employees which can be aggravated by cultural differences. The more distant the involved national cultures are, the harder it will be to achieve intercultural communication. The Swedish culture is very different from the Chinese culture. China’s economy has developed fast since it opened up to the world market in the 70’s. Today, several Swedish companies are established in China. The purpose with this study is to examine how the Chinese culture impacts Swedish knowledge-intensive companies established in China and to increase the understanding on how to overcome the cultural barriers that are affecting the managing of knowledge sharing. Cultural clashes can imply risk to a company if they affect the efficiency of the internal processes and must therefore be avoided. This field study was conducted in Shanghai, China at Swedish banks to see how they worked with the cultural differences. Interviews were made with staff of both Chinese and Nordic heritages to see how the cultural differences impacted their operations. The results showed that there are several cultural clashes that affect effective knowledge sharing processes within the companies. The management tries to implement the Swedish way of working in the branches, but the Chinese culture has a strong impact on the communication channels and it creates confusions and misunderstanding between the Nordic and Chinese employees. Cultural understanding and adjustment to the cultural conditions have been shown from earlier researches to reduce cultural clashes. This study supports those arguments by showing that a higher level of intercultural communication leads to increasing cultural understanding and a quicker adjustment to the organization’s way of working. The study also showed that the national culture’s impact on individual behavior was stronger to individuals that have had less foreign exchanges. The study contributes with suggestions of enlightening cultural differences more by formal meetings to increase the cultural understanding within the companies, as well as intercultural team works over department units should be implemented. / Globaliseringen och den tekniska utvecklingen på världsmarknaden har lett till ökade möjligheter för företag likväl som nya utmaningar. Styrningen av företag som expanderat till nya marknader har blivit mer komplex då arbetsstyrkan består av en mängd olika nationaliteter och omgivningen utgår från andra värderingar än hemmarknaden. Individers nationalitet påverkar deras beteenden och värderingar och det är ledningens uppgift att få de anställda att koordinera sina aktiviteter på ett sätt som bäst gynnar företaget. Banksektorn är en kunskapsintensiv industri, vars främsta resurs är de anställdas kunskap. För att skapa en hög kunskapsbas inom företaget är det viktigt att de anställda delar sin kunskap med andra. I ett multikulturellt företag är effektiv kunskapsöverföring svårare att uppnå eftersom kommunikationen mellan anställda påverkas av deras kulturella beteenden och värderingar. Uppdraget blir svårare ju mer de anställdas värderingar skiljer sig från varandra. Den svenska kulturen skiljer sig markant från den kinesiska. Kina är ett land vars ekonomi har fått ett uppsving efter att de öppnade upp gränserna för världsmarknaden på 70-talet. Idag finns det en mängd svenska företag etablerade i Kina. Syftet med examensarbetet är att förklara och öka kunskapen om hur den kinesiska kulturen påverkar svenska företag i Kina som har kunskap som främsta resurs. Kulturella skillnader kan innebära risker för ett företag ifall de påverkar effektiviteten av deras interna processer och kulturella konflikter måste därför undvikas. Examensarbetet utfördes således genom en fältstudie inom svenska banker etablerade i Shanghai, Kina. Intervjuer med personal av både nordiskt och kinesiskt ursprung gjordes för att ta reda på hur kulturella skillnader påverkade och hanterades inom företagen. Resultatet visade att det fanns flera skillnader som utgjorde barriärer för effektiv kunskapsöverföring inom företagen. Ledningen försöker implementera det svenska sättet att arbeta på inom bankerna, men den kinesiska kulturen har ett starkt grepp om hur kommunikationen genomförs och det skapar följaktligen missförstånd mellan nordiska och kinesiska kollegor. Kulturell förståelse och anpassning till kulturella villkor har av tidigare studier visats vara viktigt för att minimera kulturella konflikter. Det här examensarbetet stödjer de argumenten genom att påvisa att en högre mängd av interkulturell kommunikation leder till ökad förståelse för andra kulturers värderingar, vilket i sin tur leder till att de anställda har lättare att anpassa sig till organisationens sätt att arbeta. Studien visade även att påverkan av den kinesiska kulturen var starkare hos individer som hade haft mindre utbyte med nordiska kollegor. Examensarbetet förslår därför att kommunikationen av kulturella skillnader ska synliggöras mer genom formella möten samt att fler interkulturella grupparbeten över divisionsgränserna behöver implementeras för att ge de anställda insikt av kulturella effekter.

<p>Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera och analysera lärare och studenter med olika kulturella bakgrunder på Högskolan i Gävle för att undersöka om kulturkrockar uppstår studenter emellan samt mellan studenter och lärare. En ytterligare aspekt var även att utröna lärarnas ledarstilar.</p><p>Metod: Vi har valt att genomföra en kvalitativ fallstudie, där det empiriska materialet baseras på nio intervjuer med lärare och studenter på Högskolan i Gävle, samt två egna observationer. Sekundärdata har insamlats genom relevant litteratur och artiklar inom ämnesområdet som ligger till grund för den teoretiska referensramen.</p><p>Resultat och slutsats: Vi har kommit fram till att högskolans lärare är medvetna om att kulturella skillnader råder, men att de trots detta inte gör något för att lösa eventuella problem som uppstår. Då det råder en saknad av mer auktoritär ledarstil ges vissa studenter möjlighet att utnyttja högskolans system. Vidare har vi kunnat dra den slutsats att färre studenter i framtiden kan komma att välja Högskolan i Gävle som sitt lärosäte om högskoleledningen inte åtgärdar de problem som finns.</p><p>Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vi tycker att det vore intressant om denna studie utfördes på en annan högskola i Sverige för att se vilket resultat som skulle utrönas där. Vidare anser vi att fördjupning inom ett av de problemområden som vi kommit fram till i denna studie, skulle vara intressant att djupare utforska.</p><p>Uppsatsens bidrag: Med denna uppsats vill vi framhäva vilka kulturella skillnader som kan finnas på en mångkulturell högskola och hur eventuella problem tas om hand. Studien riktar sig till högskolestudenter, samt högskolelärare som möter olika kulturer dagligen.</p><p>Nyckelord: Kultur, kulturella skillnader, kulturkrockar, ledarskap, ledarstilar, Högskolan i Gävle.</p> / <p>Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to observe and analyze students and teachers with different cultural backgrounds at the University of Gävle, to determine if there are cultural clashes between students, as well as students and teachers. A further aspect was to explore the teachers leadership styles.</p><p>Method: We have chosen to perform a qualitative case study, where the empirical material is based on nine interviews with teachers and students at the University of Gävle, and two observations. Secondary data, such as literature and articles have been collected and reviewed within the subject areas in order to gather the facts needed for the theoretical references.</p><p>Result and conclusion: We have come to the conclusion that the university teachers are aware of the cultural differences, but despite the fact they don’t actually aim to solve the problems that arise. Due to the lack of a more authoritative leadership, the students are given the opportunity of taking advantage of the university system. We have further concluded that future students might not choose University of Gävle as their core of education if the board of education does not address the existing issues.</p><p>Suggestion for future research: We think that it would be interesting if this study was concluded at a different university in Sweden in order to see what the results would be there. Furthermore, we believe that analyzing one of the problem areas in more depth would be a more efficient and interesting approach.</p><p>Contribution of the thesis: Our goal with this study has been to highlight the cultural differences at a multicultural university and how the arising problems are solved. Our main target are the university students as well as the teachers that come across cultural differences on a daily bases.</p><p>Keywords: Culture, cultural differences, cultural clashes, leadership, leadership styles, University of Gävle.</p>

Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att studera och analysera lärare och studenter med olika kulturella bakgrunder på Högskolan i Gävle för att undersöka om kulturkrockar uppstår studenter emellan samt mellan studenter och lärare. En ytterligare aspekt var även att utröna lärarnas ledarstilar. Metod: Vi har valt att genomföra en kvalitativ fallstudie, där det empiriska materialet baseras på nio intervjuer med lärare och studenter på Högskolan i Gävle, samt två egna observationer. Sekundärdata har insamlats genom relevant litteratur och artiklar inom ämnesområdet som ligger till grund för den teoretiska referensramen. Resultat och slutsats: Vi har kommit fram till att högskolans lärare är medvetna om att kulturella skillnader råder, men att de trots detta inte gör något för att lösa eventuella problem som uppstår. Då det råder en saknad av mer auktoritär ledarstil ges vissa studenter möjlighet att utnyttja högskolans system. Vidare har vi kunnat dra den slutsats att färre studenter i framtiden kan komma att välja Högskolan i Gävle som sitt lärosäte om högskoleledningen inte åtgärdar de problem som finns. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vi tycker att det vore intressant om denna studie utfördes på en annan högskola i Sverige för att se vilket resultat som skulle utrönas där. Vidare anser vi att fördjupning inom ett av de problemområden som vi kommit fram till i denna studie, skulle vara intressant att djupare utforska. Uppsatsens bidrag: Med denna uppsats vill vi framhäva vilka kulturella skillnader som kan finnas på en mångkulturell högskola och hur eventuella problem tas om hand. Studien riktar sig till högskolestudenter, samt högskolelärare som möter olika kulturer dagligen. Nyckelord: Kultur, kulturella skillnader, kulturkrockar, ledarskap, ledarstilar, Högskolan i Gävle. / Aim: The purpose of this thesis is to observe and analyze students and teachers with different cultural backgrounds at the University of Gävle, to determine if there are cultural clashes between students, as well as students and teachers. A further aspect was to explore the teachers leadership styles. Method: We have chosen to perform a qualitative case study, where the empirical material is based on nine interviews with teachers and students at the University of Gävle, and two observations. Secondary data, such as literature and articles have been collected and reviewed within the subject areas in order to gather the facts needed for the theoretical references. Result and conclusion: We have come to the conclusion that the university teachers are aware of the cultural differences, but despite the fact they don’t actually aim to solve the problems that arise. Due to the lack of a more authoritative leadership, the students are given the opportunity of taking advantage of the university system. We have further concluded that future students might not choose University of Gävle as their core of education if the board of education does not address the existing issues. Suggestion for future research: We think that it would be interesting if this study was concluded at a different university in Sweden in order to see what the results would be there. Furthermore, we believe that analyzing one of the problem areas in more depth would be a more efficient and interesting approach. Contribution of the thesis: Our goal with this study has been to highlight the cultural differences at a multicultural university and how the arising problems are solved. Our main target are the university students as well as the teachers that come across cultural differences on a daily bases. Keywords: Culture, cultural differences, cultural clashes, leadership, leadership styles, University of Gävle.

The study’s purpose is to find out how important cultural competence is for the guidance of people with multicultural backgrounds. I also want to illustrate that what is seen as normal in one culture may mean something different in another culture. The study will also in some extent explore culture clashes and its problems in the guidance context. The method used in the study is qualitative and the five respondents were all practicing Muslims. The theoretical point in the study is the constructivist. The thesis shows that the individuals compromise with their religious beliefs in order to meet their daily needs. A conclusion is that cultural competence is necessary, but also that the counselors approach proved to be of significant importance. / Undersökningens syfte var att ta reda på hur viktig kulturell kompetens är i vägledning av personer med multikulturell bakgrund. Jag vill även belysa att vad som ses som normalt i en kultur kan betyda något helt annat i en annan. Undersökningen går även in på kulturkrockar och dess problematik i samband med vägledning. Metoden som använts i undersökningen är kvalitativ, och de fem respondenter som intervjuades var alla praktiserande muslimer. Den teoretiska utgångspunkten i undersökningen är den konstruktivistiska. Undersökningen visar att individerna på olika sätt kompromissar för att få deras vardag att gå ihop med sin religiösa trosuppfattning. En slutsats som drogs är att kulturell kompetens till viss del är nödvändig, dock är det vägledarens förhållningssätt som är avgörande för om det blir ett lyckat möte.