This master thesis is focused on Czech-Arab cultural standards. The main aim of this work is to define Czech-Arab cultural standards and compare them with the theory. The teoretical part of the thesis concentrates on culture, intercultural communication and Hofstede's and Trompanaars's cultural dimensions and also Thomas's cultral standards. The practical part of thesis is focused on the United Arab Emirates, basic information about Emirates, history, arab culture and religion and in the practical part are identified arab cultural standards and they are compred with theory. At the end of the thesis are provided recommendations to Czech travelling to the United Arab Emirates. Key words: culture, culture dimensions, Geert Hofstede, Fons Trompenaars, cultural standards, Alexander Thomas, Czech republic, Czech people, the United Arab Emirates, Arab people.

Religion consists of humanity's beliefs, cultural systems, and worldviews of existence (Geertz, 1973). Its function is not merely a system of symbols that people act according to, but also the establishment of powerful, pervasive motivations in the society. This study intends to analyze the connection of religion and culture by using one of Hofstede's cultural dimensions, power distance (the extent of how power is accepted and expected to be distributed in the society). In this analysis, the researcher investigated the PDI (Power Distance Index) within the Utah Mormon culture. Researcher also compared the PDI scoring of Utah Mormon culture to the general US culture, as well as the PDI in Catholicism and Protestantism culture. The results showed that the unique Mormon cultural region in Utah has the lowest PDI in comparison to the US national culture and that of general Protestant and Catholic communities. This outcome is contrary to the general characterization of power in Utah Mormon culture. The result of this study raised more questions than answers. Although several factors and characteristics that contribute to the low PDI in Utah Mormon society, as well as its implications have been analyzed, the researcher found that this contradiction of the PDI scoring is related to Hofstede's original work. This study is challenging Hofstede's way in treating culture and its components as homogenous. Thus, each fragment of culture needs to be investigated as a separate entity. The study of power distance in Utah Mormon culture indicates how a society can understand its own characteristics and how it can communicate more effectively with other societies with different backgrounds or different PDI based on these characteristics. This study can educate people concerning how Mormons interact and perhaps might even, to a certain extent, at least, explain the conflicts in the society itself. Additionally, the results of this research can be a new contribution to the literature for this field and can further the research in verifying the characteristics of a given society.

The emergence of the Internet in business as a marketing tool and as a communication medium is one of the existing challenges for the banking industry. Because of this evolution, the banking industry has adopted Internet banking both for financial transactions and for the provision of information about products and services. Based on the ideas mentioned, this study aimed to examine the factors which may affect the intention to use Internet banking in the Kingdom of Bahrain with the following research objectives to be achieved: first, to identify the factors which affect the intention to use and adopt Internet banking in the Kingdom of Bahrain; second, to develop a model based on the identified factors that affect the intention to use Internet banking in the Kingdom of Bahrain; and third, to test the reliability and validity of the proposed model and find its implications on the intention to use and adopt Internet banking. In this study, five variables were initially chosen, namely, perceived privacy protection, perceived security protection, perceived trust, perceived information quality and perceived risks/benefits that may affect the intention to use Internet banking. Besides the five variables, two more variables were included: cultural dimension and biometric technology to measure a significant relationship with any of the five variables that might affect the intention of bank customers to use Internet banking in Bahrain. As a quantitative method of research, the study focused on assessing the co-variation among naturally occurring variables with the goal of identifying predictive relationships by using correlations or more sophisticated statistical techniques. In analysing the data, the descriptive statistics were used. In addition, construct reliability and discriminant validity tests were conducted and structural equation modelling were used to test the research model and verify the hypotheses. The cultural context has rarely been commented on in previous research, but as a result of taking this factor into account in addition to the more technical issues, a number of practical implications became evident for banking in Bahrain that may have applicability elsewhere in the Arab world. These include both a focus on relationship management as well as the need for additional levels of security through biometric fingerprinting to be implemented by banks wishing to increase the adoption of Internet banking amongst existing customers. These strategies also have potential to attract new market segments.

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Doctor of Philosophy / Apparel, Textiles, and Interior Design / Kim Hiller / This study examined the effects of knowledge of apparel and textile (AT) manufacturing’s impacts on the environment, environmental concern, attitudes toward environmentally sustainable apparel (ESA), and the cultural characteristics of adult, female Kuwaiti nationals on purchasing behaviors of ESA. This study was conducted because Kuwait is a large consumer market for apparel goods and there was a gap in the existing literature on sustainable apparel with regards to Kuwait. To measure the independent variables of knowledge related to the environmental impacts of AT manufacturing, environmental concern, attitudes towards ESA, and the cultural characteristics of Kuwaiti women on the dependent variable of ESA purchase behavior intentions, a mixed methods approach was used. This mixed method approach included a survey instrument featuring five different scales to acquire data through quantitative methods on a population of Kuwaitis acquired through snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were then utilized to acquire further data for a qualitative data analysis. The results were then analyzed through descriptive statistics, regressions, and coding. The data analysis of the quantitative survey responses of the female Kuwaiti nationals showed that their level of knowledge on the environmental impacts of the AT industry was low, their level of environmental concern was neutral, their ESA attitudes were neutral, and their ESA purchase intentions were slightly positive. Regression results found that environmental concern had no relationship with ESA attitudes, knowledge about AT related environmental issues positively influenced ESA attitudes, and both knowledge about AT related environmental issues and ESA attitudes had a positive influence on ESA purchase intentions. Additionally, the cultural dimensions of the surveyed population showed high power distance and collectivism, low long-term orientation and uncertainty avoidance, and intermediate levels of masculinity and indulgence. The qualitative interview revealed that Kuwaiti culture is strongly influenced by the Islamic religion, and the culture supports high levels of consumerism and ostentatious consumption. A majority of qualitative participants did not express any attitudes toward ESA, and none of the participants had purchased ESA products previously. This could be because female Kuwaiti nationals are limited in their knowledge related to AT environmental risks and are generally unaware of ESA and its purpose. The study’s data could be used to provide educators with information through which to tailor curricula towards the knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of Kuwaiti nationals. Additionally, this information could be essential for manufacturers and retailers of ESA products, so that they can produce and sell ESA affectively in Kuwait.

This research is undertaken in response to the need to offer fresh insights to the number of models of organisational bureaucracy. The main aim of this thesis is to explore the bureaucratic factors related to governmental organisations that may influence their performance. Through conceptual and empirical research, several key factors have been identified which link organisational performance to social responsibility, job satisfaction, motivation, and decision quality. To support this research, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions were used in connection with the performance dimensions and the bureaucratic factors. In this context, the case study design used multiple sources of evidence in a triangulation strategy to contribute to developing a perspective on bureaucracy and its impact to government organisations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Thus, a conceptual framework has been developed and proposed as part of the study. This research adopted a semi-structured interview research design in order to elicit the views of individuals and in-depth qualitative information. The findings in the context of this research confirmed that Bahrainis are highly rule-oriented, risk averse and do not readily accept change. In addition, they have a high preference for avoiding uncertainty thus they maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour. The results of the empirical investigation have therefore enriched the growing literature of bureaucracy and performance of government organisations not only in the Kingdom of Bahrain but also in the global setting it used the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. The result of this research may be of help to a range of human resource managers, public administrators, employees and other stakeholders in bureaucratic organisational context.

Organisational commitment, viewed as a measurable psychological state, is a core variable of interest in Organisational Behaviour research. It has been studied for more than four decades, largely focusing on the identification of its antecedents and consequences. One widely used conceptualisation is Meyer and Allen‘s (1991) three-component model of commitment, which considers commitment as having three forms: affective, continuance and normative (emotional attachment to an organisation, the perceived cost associated with leaving it and the perceived obligation to remain in it). This research contributes in three ways to improving our understanding of public-sector work behaviour, with particular reference to organisational commitment. Firstly, it examines the multi-dimensionality of organisational commitment. Secondly, it explores the relationships between Meyer and Allen‘s three components, modifying the concept of continuance commitment to include two sub-components, high personal sacrifice and low perceived alternatives, thus proposing a four-factor model, Antecedents and Consequences of Organisational Commitment Components (ACOCC). Thirdly, it considers antecedent variables, including Hofstede‘s (1980) four cultural dimensions (individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and masculinity/femininity), as well as selected consequences: in role behaviour, organisational citizen behaviour and employee intention to leave. These selected variables are deemed to be suitable for Saudi Arabian culture and have never been tested before in that context. The study investigates how the commitment components are associated with and mediate relationships with the set of possible work behaviours. Using a sample of 700 employees from different organisation levels (drawn from 16 Saudi ministries in two cities, Riyadh and Jeddah) the hypotheses were tested through structural equation modelling, which confirmed the fit of the proposed recursive ACOCC model. The regression paths were significant between the antecedents (opportunities for learning, impersonal bureaucratic arrangements and Hofstede‘s four cultural dimensions) and affective and normative commitment, as well as for continuance commitment for reasons of high personal sacrifice. Intention to leave and organisational citizen behaviour were fully mediated by the commitment components. Thus the findings reveal the level and form of organisational commitment among public-sector employees and of relationships between the antecedents and consequences of that commitment in a non-Western culture, specifically Saudi Arabia. In particular, they highlight the significant mediation role of organisational commitment. The findings also permit exploration of a number of issues pertaining to cultural dimensions impacting on organisational commitment. Noteworthy here, for example, is the high degree of uncertainty avoidance found among Saudi public-sector top-level managers. These different results have important implications for the nature and management of commitment among government employees in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries as a whole.

This diploma thesis is about intercultural communication and is focusing on communication between Czechs and Germans. Its aim is to discover potential cultural differences between Czech Republic and Germany and to analyse the extent to which they influence Czech-German communication and cooperation. While the first three chapters provide the theoretical background, the fourth chapter applies the theory to the particular context of Czech Republic and Germany. It focuses on Czech-German intercultural communication and examines communication between Czechs and Germans in transnational companies. Furthermore, it analyses Hofstede's indexes between Czech Republic and Germany and compares Czech and German cultural standards. Although the cultural differences are relatively small, their consequences should not be underestimated.

In the recent decades a new type of economic system based on collaborative consumption has increased in popularity. The new cost competitive model challenges the traditional business model that has fueled the hyper consumption, which the 20th century is known for. This research focuses on how national cultures impact the development of this new economic system, in order to understand how much people of different cultures are willing to share. A conceptual model was created to try to understand cultural influence on sharing. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions have been used to measure and compare the empirical data, that was collected through five focus groups representing four different countries: Sweden, France, China and United States. Out of the six cultural dimensions, it was found that the indulgence dimension together with power distance might influence people’s willingness to share. Indulgence was also found to explain socialization as a motivational factor together with power distance and long-term orientation. In conclusion, four different sharing sectors were analyzed, and it was found that transportation and clothing was considered shareable, disregarding national culture. Accommodation might be dependent on national culture since the focus groups that were supposed to be indulgent showed resistance to share, while the restraint groups showed a greater willingness. Technology was not considered shareable by any group. Furthermore, three motivational factors, that might be depend on national culture, was identified. These are environment, socialization and technology. An additional four motivational factors were identified, but these might be independent of national culture. These four are personal, economical, trust/safety and convenience. Lastly, additional findings showed that similar genders have similar willingness to share across cultures which makes it a topic of interest for future research.

Background and problem: There are strong incentives for Swedish retail companies to establish their business in Japan. With its 128 million inhabitants the country accounts for 40 percent of the total world consumption of luxury goods and is the world’s largest importer of foreign fashion. Moreover, Japan is the second largest retail market in the world. However, as a company in a foreign market there are many obstacles to overcome. A Swedish retail company aiming to enter the Japanese market does not have the same insight and knowledge into the formal and informal institutions in the country as a domestic company might have. Furthermore, Japan is experiencing complaints from both business organisations and foreign politicians regarding the trade practices in the country arguing that the Japanese market is not receptive enough to Western products. A company that moreover aims to enter markets where both the cultural and actual distance is far away from the business’ home country shall preferably realize the complexity of such a decision and be as prepared as possible. Purpose: The purpose of the study is that “through a literary study identify and provide a deeper understanding of the major entry barriers a Swedish retail company may encounter when entering the Japanese market”. The following research questions were developed in order to reach the purpose: “What are the main industry and institution-based barriers a Swedish retail company may encounter when establishing its business in Japan?” and “What are the main cultural barriers a Swedish retail company may encounter when establishing its business in Japan?”Methodology: When conducting the study, a descriptive research approach has been used. The study is of a qualitative nature and the design of the study is a descriptive literary study. Performing a literary study involves the collection of data from already published scientific articles, journals and dissertations. The data used for this study consist of eight scientific articles and journals and one dissertation. Conclusions: The analysis was based on the theories, which explains a company’s decisions of where, when and how to enter a foreign market as well as theories that explains a nation’s cultural impact on an organisation. Based on the findings the results were divided into two sections. The study reached the conclusion that among the industry and institution-based barriers the high level of rivalry among firms, the high level of bargaining power of suppliers, the high standards regarding quality and service, regulatory risks, trade barriers and institutional norms were the most important barriers to market entry for foreign companies in Japan. The most important cultural barriers to market entry in Japan were the high level of collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity in the country. / Program: Master in Fashion Management with specialisation in Fashion Marketing and Retailing