In today's worlds of industry and academia, teamwork is becoming more and more prevalent and is becoming more and more desirable when addressing certain tasks. Intensified and growing competition in the global marketplace is forcing businesses to produce better products, thereby, requiring the input and expertise of various people with diverse backgrounds. Organizations have adopted a team approach in response to the technological advances that contribute to the complexity of many tasks in the workplace making it difficult for employees to work independently (Mathieu, Heffner, Goodwin, Salas, Cannon-Bowers, 2000). The purpose of this research is to investigate the communication patterns of disciplinarily heterogeneous student design teams at the university level. A quasi-experimental design, specifically a non-equivalent control group design was used for this study. This study has two research questions: 1) what is the process that leads to convergence of a team-based mental model among disciplinarily heterogeneous team members? and 2) what are the factors associated with convergence that lead to effective disciplinarily heterogeneous teams? The results will allow the formation of guidelines that will assist such students in improving their effectiveness by allowing the convergence of the team members onto the same mental model(s). It must be noted that data collection for the experimental teams continued after the tragic events that occurred at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007. The results for this study were variable. Through examination of the fluctuation of the reliability scores across the three times it was administered, as well as the Pearson-Product Moment comparison, the Group Behavior Inventory is not the best instrument to use in an academic setting for student teams. The disciplinarily homogeneous teams disagreed more and the disciplinarily heterogeneous teams agreed more in terms of body language, while disciplinarily heterogeneous disagreed more through verbal utterances of sighs and pauses; however none of these differences were statistically significant. Certain agreement and disagreement indicators were significantly negatively correlated. Therefore, the corroboration of the Group Behavior Inventory constructs can only be applied to a specific disagreement indicator. / Master of Science

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to create an understanding of what types of initial contacts exist within the service encounter and their functions for the interaction. Design/methodology/approach – To study the initial contact between the employee and the customer, we have used a qualitative approach where observations were the data collecting method. The observations have been conducted in Karlstad at 22 different locations, which generated a total of 83 observations. These observations were analyzed and generated concepts and categories, that were incorporated into themes. Findings – The research showed five types of initial contacts could be identified along with their functions. The types identified are the time effective, the improvised, the committed, the observant and the strategic positioning. Originality/value – By narrowing the interaction to the first moment, this paper contributes knowledge about the initial contact which will facilitate frontline employees work in the face-to-face interaction with customers. Research limitation/implications for future research – The study is conducted in Karlstad. Depending on which kind of industry examined and contextual factors, variations in the result may occur. The findings could differ if cultural perspectives were considered, which could be something to include in future research. Only the face-to-face interaction is examined. This creates opportunities for future research to extend this study by, for instance, investigate the initial contact over internet or phone.

Tyrimo problema – vaikų, sergančių autizmu, keliami sunkumai vis labiau įtakoja šeimos gyvenimą. Norėdami išsamiau pažinti autizmo sutrikimu pasižyminčių vaikų asmenybės ir veiklos ypatumus, turime išanalizuoti ir įvertinti šių vaikų funkcionavimą artimiausioje socialinėje aplinkoje, t.y. šeimoje. Todėl mūsų darbe analizuojami vaikų, turinčių autizmo sutrikimą socialinės sąveikos, verbalinės ir neverbalinės komunikacijos bei elgesio vertinimas tėvų požiūriu. Norint nustatyti ir išryškinti autizmo sutrikimu pasižymintiems vaikams būdingus specifinius ypatumus, šios grupės duomenis palyginsime su tėvų, auginančių vaikus, kuriems nediagnozuotas vaikystės autizmo sutrikimas atitinkamais tyrimo rezultatais. Svarbu pabrėžti, kad autizmo sutrikimo problemos veda prie vis didesnių sunkumų vyresniame amžiuje, tad kuo ilgiau į jas nekreipiamas pakankamas dėmesys, tuo sunkesnių pasekmių galime tikėtis. Tikslas – nustatyti sveik��� vaikų ir vaikų turinčių autizmo sutrikimą socialinės sąveikos, verbalinės ir neverbalinės komunikacijos bei elgesio ypatumus, tėvų požiūriu. Uždaviniai: 1. Išanalizuoti ir palyginti vaikų – sveikų ir turinčių autizmo sutrikimą socialinės sąveikos įvertinimus; analizuoti lyties ir amžiaus aspektu. 2. Įvertinti ir palyginti sveikų vaikų ir vaikų turinčių autizmo sutrikimą verbalinę ir neverbalinę komunikaciją; analizuoti lyties ir amžiaus aspektu. 3. Nustatyti ir palyginti elgesio ypatumų įvertinimus sveikų vaikų ir vaikų turinčių autizmo sutrikimą... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The problem of research: the difficulties caused by children with autism more and more influence their families. It is often admitted that the child's socialization depends on two trends of processes: the child is influenced by his/her parents and he/she himself/herself develops his/her parents behavior. It’s important the members of family to introduce with peculiarity of autism. Also, estimate the needs of families. That’s why in our job we analyze the autistic children social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, behavior peculiarity in the aspect of sex and age. It’s important point, that the problems of autism leading to bigger difficulties in elder age. So, as longer we will not pay enough attention to it as we can expect worse results. The aim: to determine the peculiarities of social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and behavior of healthy and autistic children from the point of view of their parents. The tasks: 1. To analyze and compare the evaluation of social interaction of children- healthy and autistic ones; to analyze in the aspect of sex and age. 2.Evaluate and compare verbal and nonverbal communication of healthy and autistic children; to analyze in the aspect of sex and age. 3.To determine and compare evaluation of the peculiarities of healthy and autistic children in their behavior; to analyze in the aspect of sex and age. Hypothesis: the indicators of social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and behavior of... [to full text]

Communication can be divied into two broad areas namely, the verbal and nonverbal levels. While attention has been paid to nonverbal communication in the literature, few studies address the nonverbal communication that takes place in the natural setting of a therapeutic session. The present study provides such a naturalistic study, where the verbal content of actual therapy sessions are integrated with the nonverbal content to yield a holistic view of the session. An ecosystemic epistemology is adopted in this study, and represents a move away from more traditional approaches to nonverbal behaviour which are largely confined to a positivistic framework of thought and design. Symlog Interaction Scoring is employed as a practical method of assisting observers in distinguishing nonverbal behaviours, which are usually perceived unconsciously, and lifting them into consciousness, allowing this infonnation to be integrated with the meanings and hypotheses generated during therapy. By deliberately including descriptions of nonverbal behaviour, the descriptions of therapy were broadened, thereby providing a more holistic approach to therapy. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

<p>AbstractAuthors: Åsa Höjer, Karl WijkmarkTitle: The intercultural communicator. A study of cultures’ influence on communication.Level: BA Thesis in Media and Communication StudiesLocation: University on KalmarLanguage: SwedishNumber of pages: 67Date of seminar: 2009-01-15Advisor: Jens CavallinKey words: Intercultural communication, culture, Hofstede´s cultural dimensions, anxiety and uncertainty, self-confidence, high and low context, verbal and nonverbal communication, Telenor, Pakistan, Scandinavia.Case company: TelenorPurpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate what cultural differences, regarding communication, that are present between Scandinavia and Pakistan. Furthermore the purpose is to illustrate which factors that are important for personnel working for Telenor, that are about to work in a foreign culture, in order to create effective intercultural communication.Methodology: The following study is a case study that has used a qualitative methodology with interviews conducted via e-mail. To be able to interpret and understand human experiences and situations a hermeneutical approach has been taken. Since we have had existing theories which has enabled us to look and test the “real world” a deductive approach has been used.Theoretical perspectives: As a basis for this study lies a cultural theory with focus on Hofstede´s study of specific cultures within nations. Furthermore, theories within the intercultural communication´s area such as stereotypes, high and low context communication, verbal and nonverbal communication have been used. Finally a theory regarding anxiety and uncertainty was applied.Conclusions: By studying the Pakistani culture that is characterized by collectivism, a large power distance and high context communication where the messages are implicit, this study has established that communication is carried out in a rather different way than in Scandinavia. Besides having basic knowledge about the foreign culture, and thereby be able to manage and avoid misunderstandings in the communication, this study has established thatan individual´s personality has a big influence on the effectiveness of the intercultural communication. The person´s cultural background together with his/her individual traits and values creates a personal communication-pattern that is more or less suitable in the intercultural communication encounter.</p>

AbstractAuthors: Åsa Höjer, Karl WijkmarkTitle: The intercultural communicator. A study of cultures’ influence on communication.Level: BA Thesis in Media and Communication StudiesLocation: University on KalmarLanguage: SwedishNumber of pages: 67Date of seminar: 2009-01-15Advisor: Jens CavallinKey words: Intercultural communication, culture, Hofstede´s cultural dimensions, anxiety and uncertainty, self-confidence, high and low context, verbal and nonverbal communication, Telenor, Pakistan, Scandinavia.Case company: TelenorPurpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate what cultural differences, regarding communication, that are present between Scandinavia and Pakistan. Furthermore the purpose is to illustrate which factors that are important for personnel working for Telenor, that are about to work in a foreign culture, in order to create effective intercultural communication.Methodology: The following study is a case study that has used a qualitative methodology with interviews conducted via e-mail. To be able to interpret and understand human experiences and situations a hermeneutical approach has been taken. Since we have had existing theories which has enabled us to look and test the “real world” a deductive approach has been used.Theoretical perspectives: As a basis for this study lies a cultural theory with focus on Hofstede´s study of specific cultures within nations. Furthermore, theories within the intercultural communication´s area such as stereotypes, high and low context communication, verbal and nonverbal communication have been used. Finally a theory regarding anxiety and uncertainty was applied.Conclusions: By studying the Pakistani culture that is characterized by collectivism, a large power distance and high context communication where the messages are implicit, this study has established that communication is carried out in a rather different way than in Scandinavia. Besides having basic knowledge about the foreign culture, and thereby be able to manage and avoid misunderstandings in the communication, this study has established thatan individual´s personality has a big influence on the effectiveness of the intercultural communication. The person´s cultural background together with his/her individual traits and values creates a personal communication-pattern that is more or less suitable in the intercultural communication encounter.

Communication can be divied into two broad areas namely, the verbal and nonverbal levels. While attention has been paid to nonverbal communication in the literature, few studies address the nonverbal communication that takes place in the natural setting of a therapeutic session. The present study provides such a naturalistic study, where the verbal content of actual therapy sessions are integrated with the nonverbal content to yield a holistic view of the session. An ecosystemic epistemology is adopted in this study, and represents a move away from more traditional approaches to nonverbal behaviour which are largely confined to a positivistic framework of thought and design. Symlog Interaction Scoring is employed as a practical method of assisting observers in distinguishing nonverbal behaviours, which are usually perceived unconsciously, and lifting them into consciousness, allowing this infonnation to be integrated with the meanings and hypotheses generated during therapy. By deliberately including descriptions of nonverbal behaviour, the descriptions of therapy were broadened, thereby providing a more holistic approach to therapy. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)