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Abstract Title: To adapt, or not to adapt, that is the question – How Swedish companies view cultural differences in Asia and adapt if necessary Authors: Felix Norgren and Markus Bodbacka Supervisor: Selcen Öztürkcan Examiner: Susanne Sandberg Course: 19VT-2FE51E Business Administration III ­ Degree Project with specialization in International Business Problem discussion: The problem regarding this research-subject is that there is not as much recent research as one might think regarding this specific area. The problem is access to recent research made on how Swedish companies adapt to Asian business cultures. Research Question: How do Swedish companies view cultural differences in Asia and adapt if necessary? Purpose:  The main purpose of this study is to identify how companies view cultural differences and adapt if necessary. The purpose is also to provide such good material that companies could benefit from reading it in order to prepare themselves to work in different Asian cultures. Methodology: This is a qualitative study, which is using interviews as the source to collect primary data. The study is done with an inductive approach and based on a case study design. Conclusion: The conclusion is that before having meetings with other cultures, it is always favourable to read and learn as much about the customers culture as possible and if necessary, take a course on how to interact with other cultures. However, interacting with individuals from other cultures face to face is always the best way to learn and it is favourable to travel as much as possible to other cultures in order to learn about them.     Key Words: Culture, relationship, code of conduct, cross-cultural learning.

Local and federal governments, public school boards, and higher education institutions have been promoting online courses in their commitment to accommodating public needs, widening access to materials, sharing intellectual resources, and reducing costs. However, researchers of education needs to consider the often ignored yet important issue of equity since disregarding the issue of inequity in online education may create suboptimal consequences for students. This dissertation work, therefore, investigates the issues of social justice and equity in online education. I argue that equity is situated between the tensions of various social structures in a broader cultural context and can be thought of as a fair distribution of opportunities to participate. This understanding is built upon the idea that individuals have different values, goals, and interests; nevertheless, the online learning context may not provide fair opportunities for individuals to follow their own learning trajectories. Particularly, online learning environments can reproduce inequitable learning conditions when the context requires certain individuals to assimilate mainstream beliefs and values at the expense of their own identities. Since identifications have certain social and political consequences by enabling or constraining individuals’ access to educational resources, individuals may try to be identified in line with culturally-hegemonic perspectives in order to gain or secure their access to educational resources or to legitimize their learning experiences. In this interview study, I conceptualize online courses within their broader socio-historical context and analyze how macro-level social structures, namely the concept of whiteness, can reproduce inequity in micro-level online learning practices. By questioning who has control over the conditions for the production of knowledge, values, and identification, I investigate how socially accepted bodies of thoughts, beliefs, values, and feelings that give meaning to individuals’ daily-practices may create inequitable learning conditions in day-to-day online learning practices. In specific, I analyze how those who are identified as non-White experience “double-bind” with respect to stereotypification on one hand, anonymity on the other. Building on this analysis, I illustrate how those who are identified as non-White have to constantly negotiate their legitimacy and right to be in the online environment.

Local and federal governments, public school boards, and higher education institutions have been promoting online courses in their commitment to accommodating public needs, widening access to materials, sharing intellectual resources, and reducing costs. However, researchers of education needs to consider the often ignored yet important issue of equity since disregarding the issue of inequity in online education may create suboptimal consequences for students. This dissertation work, therefore, investigates the issues of social justice and equity in online education. I argue that equity is situated between the tensions of various social structures in a broader cultural context and can be thought of as a fair distribution of opportunities to participate. This understanding is built upon the idea that individuals have different values, goals, and interests; nevertheless, the online learning context may not provide fair opportunities for individuals to follow their own learning trajectories. Particularly, online learning environments can reproduce inequitable learning conditions when the context requires certain individuals to assimilate mainstream beliefs and values at the expense of their own identities. Since identifications have certain social and political consequences by enabling or constraining individuals’ access to educational resources, individuals may try to be identified in line with culturally-hegemonic perspectives in order to gain or secure their access to educational resources or to legitimize their learning experiences. In this interview study, I conceptualize online courses within their broader socio-historical context and analyze how macro-level social structures, namely the concept of whiteness, can reproduce inequity in micro-level online learning practices. By questioning who has control over the conditions for the production of knowledge, values, and identification, I investigate how socially accepted bodies of thoughts, beliefs, values, and feelings that give meaning to individuals’ daily-practices may create inequitable learning conditions in day-to-day online learning practices. In specific, I analyze how those who are identified as non-White experience “double-bind” with respect to stereotypification on one hand, anonymity on the other. Building on this analysis, I illustrate how those who are identified as non-White have to constantly negotiate their legitimacy and right to be in the online environment.

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<p>”Det är så bra att läsa” är ett uttryck som vi alla har hört. Som en formel uttalas dessa ord om skönlitterär läsning. Med den här uppsatsen hoppas jag inspirera till att fler människor engagerar sig i hur skönlitteratur kan användas i utbildningen.</p><p>För de som har tagit ställning till att skönlitteraturen har en viktig roll att spela i skolan, är det intressant att diskutera hur skönlitterära läsare utvecklas. Jag genomförde ett undervisningsförsök i syfte att se om eleverna i en årskurs 8 utvecklas som skönlitterära läsare när de får använda det narratologiska verktyget berättarperspektiv.</p><p>Före respektive efter denna undervisning skrev eleverna ner sina spontana intryck av ett avsnitt ur Janne, min vän av Peter Pohl. Studien baseras på textanalyserna av dessa texter.</p><p>Undersökningen förankras med Kathleen McCormicks och Judith Langers teorier. Utifrån deras receptionsteorier analyserar jag hur eleverna förhåller sig till texten, om detta förhållande förändras efter att de har använt det narratologiska verktyget och vad denna förändring innebär.</p><p>Resultatet visar att antalet elever som för en dialog med texten ökar med mitt undervisningsförsök. Fler elever använder ett sociokulturellt förhållningssätt, och fler elever bygger en föreställningsvärld.</p> / <p>”It is so good to read” is an expression that we all have heard. These words are pronounced as a formula about the reading of fiction. With this essay I hope to inspire more people to engage in how fiction can be used in education.</p><p>For those who have decided that the reading of fiction in school is important, it is interesting to discuss how readers of fiction develop. I carried out a teaching experiment with the purpose to examine if the students in a class 8 develop as readers of fiction when they use the narrative tool narrator´s perspective.</p><p>Prior to and after this education the students wrote down their spontaneous impressions of a passage in Janne, min vän by Peter Pohl. The study is based on the textanalyzes of these texts.</p><p>The theoretical standpoint is based on the theories of Kathleen McCormick and Judith Langer. From their theories of reception I analyze how the students approach the text, if this approach changes after using the narrative tool and what this change implies.</p><p>The result shows that the number of students who communicate with the text have increased. More students approach the text in a social-cultural way and more students build envisionments.</p>

”Det är så bra att läsa” är ett uttryck som vi alla har hört. Som en formel uttalas dessa ord om skönlitterär läsning. Med den här uppsatsen hoppas jag inspirera till att fler människor engagerar sig i hur skönlitteratur kan användas i utbildningen. För de som har tagit ställning till att skönlitteraturen har en viktig roll att spela i skolan, är det intressant att diskutera hur skönlitterära läsare utvecklas. Jag genomförde ett undervisningsförsök i syfte att se om eleverna i en årskurs 8 utvecklas som skönlitterära läsare när de får använda det narratologiska verktyget berättarperspektiv. Före respektive efter denna undervisning skrev eleverna ner sina spontana intryck av ett avsnitt ur Janne, min vän av Peter Pohl. Studien baseras på textanalyserna av dessa texter. Undersökningen förankras med Kathleen McCormicks och Judith Langers teorier. Utifrån deras receptionsteorier analyserar jag hur eleverna förhåller sig till texten, om detta förhållande förändras efter att de har använt det narratologiska verktyget och vad denna förändring innebär. Resultatet visar att antalet elever som för en dialog med texten ökar med mitt undervisningsförsök. Fler elever använder ett sociokulturellt förhållningssätt, och fler elever bygger en föreställningsvärld. / ”It is so good to read” is an expression that we all have heard. These words are pronounced as a formula about the reading of fiction. With this essay I hope to inspire more people to engage in how fiction can be used in education. For those who have decided that the reading of fiction in school is important, it is interesting to discuss how readers of fiction develop. I carried out a teaching experiment with the purpose to examine if the students in a class 8 develop as readers of fiction when they use the narrative tool narrator´s perspective. Prior to and after this education the students wrote down their spontaneous impressions of a passage in Janne, min vän by Peter Pohl. The study is based on the textanalyzes of these texts. The theoretical standpoint is based on the theories of Kathleen McCormick and Judith Langer. From their theories of reception I analyze how the students approach the text, if this approach changes after using the narrative tool and what this change implies. The result shows that the number of students who communicate with the text have increased. More students approach the text in a social-cultural way and more students build envisionments.

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In this essay, I have examined what has been studied and presented in the theory of ICT in schools. I have based my theory on Arne Trageton’s book Att skriva sig till läsning – IKT i förskoleklass och skola (2005) and theories on children’s reading and writing development. The purpose of this study is to determine how teachers and children experience teaching with Trageton’s ICT-based model Att skriva sig till läsning and whether the model is beneficial for children's first reading and writing. Through qualitative interviews with two pedagogues from the same school and some children from first grade, I have received answers to my two questions: How do pedagogues and children experience ICT-based teaching in the context of children's first reading and writing? How do pedagogues experience the reading and writing development in first- and second-language students when using ICT-based teaching? The results showed that both pedagogues and children were positive about the model in which the computer was used as a writing tool in learning to read and write. The teachers felt that the model was suitable for all children according to their conditions. The children saw the writing as very enjoyable. For the ICT-based teaching to work properly, the technology has great significance. The usage of computers is not a problem for neither the pedagogues nor the children. Access to computers is perceived as the reason why there are only two scheduled ICT-based lessons a week