This report is conceptualized as a research proposal that aims to investigate culturally differentiated consumers' motivations to engage in electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication through one of the newest and most popular social networking sites: micro-blogging service in the U.S and China. Instead of actually collecting data, the report uses a social cognitive approach and tries to explain eWOM motives in outcome expectations by applying Bandura’s six outcome expectations and three additional dimensions to eWOM communication, some of which will be influenced by apparent cultural differences that exist between U.S and China. / text

Bibliography: leaves 73-77. / This study explored the influence of cultural difference in psychotherapy. This is an issue of particular relevance in South Africa where cross-cultural work is commonly practised. Yet there appears to be a silence surrounding the experiences of therapists who are working cross-culturally. The aim of the study was to explore, from the perspective of the therapist, how a psychoanalytic self psychology approach, allows us to engage and work with difference in the therapeutic space. The method used was a case study analysis of a psychotherapeutic relationship between the researcher, a white therapist-in-training, and a black client. The analysis drew on process notes written after the therapy sessions, and focused on the first year of the therapeutic relationship. The material was analysed using a hermeneutic-psychoanalytic theoretical framework.. Two aspects of the psychoanalytic self psychology approach were identified as potentially useful ways of working with difference: 1) the significance of the role of empathy in therapy and 2) the intersubjective stance which is inherent in self psychology. The case study analysis suggested that by paying attention to empathic processes, it becomes possible for us to track the way in which real and perceived differences between therapist and client can lead to empathic ruptures. The adoption of an intersubjective stance highlights how the therapist-client interaction constitutes the meeting of two subjective worlds which are socio-historically defined, multi-dimensional and fluid. The study suggests that in South Africa, where acknowledging racial difference runs the risk of creating divisions between people, there may be a tendency in therapy, to reframe racial difference as some other kind of difference which is less threatening such as language and/or gender difference. One of the fears behind naming and working with difference which was identified, was the fear of being part of a process that uses racial difference to oppress people. A second fear was that by naming difference, divisions would be created between therapist and client which could threaten a potential connection and jeopardise the therapeutic relationship. The study suggests that only after those unconscious threats and fears have been made conscious, does it become possible to authentically connect cross-culturally and thereafter, to begin to locate the similarities in our experiences.

It is well known that cultural difference could affect people’s attitude, behavior and cognitive processes. Previous studies have shown a cross-cultural difference on self-construal between Western Caucasian (WC) and East Asian (EA), as well as their culturally distinguished motivational strategies, cognitive and emotion regulation methods. “Cushion hypothesis” (Hsee & Weber 1999) has suggested that WC were more risk aversive than EA during economic decision, because of dissimilar familial-social economic supporting system between two cultures. The current study digs in depth to these differences in emotional experience associated with decision making and discovers how cultures effect people’s counterfactual emotions—the “what if” emotion—during economic decision making. There are two types of counterfactuals thoughts we are looking at: regret and relief. Regret is triggered if an alternative action would have led to a better outcome, while relief is triggered if an alternative action would lead to equal or worse outcome. WC are expected to be more self-reliance, therefore would be more conservative about financial decision, and greater vigilant at economic choices prompting WC to process prior decision that led to least undesirable economic outcome; while EA are easier to get financial help form their families, would hold a relatively more relax attitude, compare to WC, about risk-taking behavior on economic decision, and be more chilled after receive preferable outcome than WC. Current study will use electropherogram (EEG) to record different event-relative potential (P2, P3 and LPP) and both FC (frontal central lobe) and CP (central parietal lobe) regions to examined how cultural difference affects counterfactual emotions during economic decision making, at both initial spontaneous arousal stage, P2 and conscious effortful emotional appraisal stage, LPP. Additionally, self emotional rating was included in the present study to consolidate validity of the task. In our results, all subjects rated happier on Relief than Regret, and Certain than Gamble conditions, only in Relief condition WC rated happier than EA, and only WC rated happier on Certain condition than Gamble condition. The emotional effect showed at P2 in FC suggested that positive result in regret condition could lead a more intensive immediate emotion arousal. Coincidently, the main effect of emotion at LPP, in the opposite direction compared to P2, at FC, might suggest an overall convoluted counterfactual emotional processing. At P3, choices by culture interaction presented at both region, further, only EA, but not WC, had a greater arousal in gamble condition than certain. This suggested a difference in cognitive processing of choices was different between two cultures. Interestingly, a three-way interaction was found at CP during P3, indicate a complexity of culture discrepancy of emotional process. Finally, a co-relation test between LPP signal and self-emotional rating was conducted, for the coincident of result of main effect of choices plus a marginal choices by culture interaction between behavioral rating and LPP. As the result, only in EA, at both choices conditions, the rating is positively related to LPP amplitude. Overall, both at P3 and LPP we found cultural specialized results correlated with choices condition, which indicated a obscure cultural effect on cognitive process. Moreover, the marginal three-way interaction at P3, CP, may suggest a cultural effects on both economic decision-making related cognitive process and emotional response.

ABSTRACT Title: Cross-cultural management in international construction projects: Case study of China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc. Level: Final assignment for Master Degree in Business Administration Author: Yuan Liu, You Li Supervisor: Aihie Osarenkhoe Examinor: Maria Fregidon-Malama Date: 2014.04.18 Aim : This study presents the characteristic and current status of the international construction projects, and figure out which barriers caused by cross-cultural differences the multinational corporations and enterprise would face, as well as the solutions for these barriers. Method: This study was carried out by using a qualitative and quantitative research method. We gathered relevant information by conducting questionnaire to Chinese employees working in Congo, Rep and interviews which include four managers of China Machinery Industry Construction Group Inc (CMICGI). By comparing the literature review and finding, we find barriers caused by cross cultural differences and relevant solutions. Result & Conclusions : Through the literature review associating with the analysis of the questionnaire and interview, we find out that there are nine barriers in the project, the reason why they appeared and how them influence the projects. We also find solutions to solve the barriers. Suggestions for future research: This study restricted to geographical and time, it only included one company and one country. More cases can be concluded in future research. Contributions for the study: The study results show how barrier case of cross-cultural different impact in international construction project. We also - 3 - contribute the evaluation for each barrier. Cultural differences between multinational trading are frequently neglected by firms but have a significant impact. Our research can help more companies to find some problems which they usually ignored. KEYWORDS — Cross-cultural management, Barriers, Cross-cultural difference, International construction projects, Identification, Evaluation

The rapid development in global e-business has made the Internet an important and inevitable channel of trade and business communication, including e-negotiations, across countries. To have knowledge of how national culture may affect behavior, decision-making and negotiations is getting more important not only in conducting business but also in daily communications in the Internet age. The purpose of this study is to explore what will be different if people negotiate with counterparts who have different culture background. Will the negotiators behave differently when they negotiate with people who have different cultural background? In order to have more comprehensive understanding of the impact of culture on the actual negotiation behavior of negotiators in a negotiation process, we decided to apply content analysis methodology has been applied to the draft of negotiation interactions collected through the Inspire system which has collected countless records of negotiation activities since 1996.

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With the global liberalization of economic and trading development, the limitation of political and geographical enterprises across countries id getting less. A leader with cross-culture experience will lead his/her team member to achieve better performance. The Mainland carries out the policies of reforming and opening to the outside since 1970. Returned overseas Chinese also brings new management, technology, market, and concept knowledge for Mainland China from western countries. These returned overseas Chinese not only to be high level manager in China¡¦s company but also in Taiwan¡¦s, and this change becomes a huge impact to Taiwanese due to ¡§ Taiwanese always lead Chinese¡¨ in the past. Chinese high level managers should perform their leadership style with respect behavior break through cultural difference, to increase the degree of staffs¡¦ satisfaction in leadership and job. Thus, these managers may hit the company¡¦s goal with his/her team. The author found the five propositions as below after interviewing and analyzing interview data 1: To suggest Chinese high level managers performing their leadership style in participating and delegating when they work for international company; the leadership style will changed and effect by enterprise culture. 2: Chinese high level managers will gain more leadership satisfaction from their Taiwan subordinates when they overcome the interference of cultural difference. 3: Taiwan subordinates¡¦, who work for international company, main job satisfaction comes from the challenge of job and payroll two concepts. 4: Taiwan subordinates¡¦ job satisfaction will not affect by the frequency high level manager changed due to they recognize the company¡¦s cultural. 5: Taiwan subordinates will present happier behavior and with more passion in their job when Chinese high level manager present their leadership style in participating and delegating.

The task of attending to cultural difference amongst women while also ‘bridging’ these differences is deeply contested in feminism. This concern arose in response to criticisms that ‘hegemonic’ feminism is indeed part of the colonial project. These critiques demonstrated that the notion of feminism as a universal movement for all women is deeply problematic and founded on the exclusion of sex, race, and class differences. Subsequently, the aim to recuperate a notion of the universal that refuses these exclusions is of central concern to contemporary feminism. As feminism comes to grip with the impact of globalization on women in different parts of the world, this impetus to engender understanding and alliances across cultural difference is more salient than ever. This thesis explores one response to the dilemma which I term the ‘feminist decolonizing impulse’. Only recently emerging from the field of contemporary feminist theory, this impulse and the key authors which inform it has not be examined in any substantial way. This is where the original contribution of this thesis lies. My main focus is to explore the central aim of this emerging set of ideas and to identify their strengths and weaknesses. I argue that the central aim of the decolonizing impulse is to build feminist alliances and coalitions that are premised, first and foremost, on women’s heterogeneity. It thus purports to offer a re-constructed vision of the ‘universal’. This is a universalism where differences and particularities are privileged in advance of any announcement of the ‘universal’. To do this, I first establish how the ‘feminist decolonizing impulse’ emerged from different fields of scholarship, including postcolonial studies, indigenous political thought, Third World, postcolonial and poststructuralist feminisms. I then map the major features of the ‘feminist decolonizing impulse’ by examining the work of important authors who have given shape to this impulse. To discover the strengths and weaknesses of the decolonizing impulse, I engage with the work of two prominent contemporary feminist theorists, Chandra Talpade Mohanty and Martha C. Nussbaum. Both Mohanty and Nussbaum aim to advance a model of cross-cultural feminism, though go about this in vastly different ways.