Cultural Immersion Trip to Southeast Asia: A Study of Cross-Cultural Intelligence

ABSTRACT

The primary purpose of this article is to demonstrate the execution of a successful short- term study trip to Southeast Asia and its influence on a student’s cultural intelligence. This article discusses an academic component of an international study trip that was developed for sophomores at a private university in the New England region of the United States. In an attempt to internationalize, the university led students on a 2-week international trip to Malaysia and Singapore known as the Sophomore International Experience. The authors have developed a model that combines an academically rigorous curriculum that juxtaposes domestic events/experiences with those of the foreign country and propose that the trip gives students first- hand international experience that prepares them to develop a global perception. The article evaluates the validity of the proposed theory with the help of the Cultural Intelligence Scale that measures significance improvements in cultural intelligence after taking the trip.     

The bioeconomics of homogeneous middleman groups as adaptive units: Theory and empirical evidence viewed from a group selection framework

The paper presents a bioeconomics theory of homogeneous middleman groups (HMGs) as adaptive units as well as empirical evidence in the form of a number of historical case studies of HMGs functioning as adaptive units in less-developed economies lacking infrastructure. The evidence presented is not new: most of the case studies have been published [Landa (in Jenkins (Ed.) The informal sector: Including the excluded, 1988)]. What is new, however, is analyzing the phenomena of HMGs in a new way—as adaptive units viewed from a group selection perspective. In doing so, the case studies in this paper present empirical evidence of the existence and importance of group selection in human society. Target paper.     

收入导向型商品、价格导向型商品和文化消费——由"大、小蛋糕现象"切入的分析

经济学中的收入导向型商品和价格导向型商品的关系是:收入导向型商品未必是价格导向型商品,但价格导向型商品一定是收入导向型商品.当收入导向型商品中的正常商品被成功地赋予了可广泛接受的文化价值内涵时,它便具有了价格导向型商品的必需品性质,此时,商品的需求对价格水平不敏感,商品的需求量在高价格水平上会呈现出显著增大的趋势.这一规律的经济含义是,企业要维持高价格条件下商品的旺盛需求,必须要善于挖掘和创新那些与商品自身特点相关联的文化价值内涵.     

Uncertainty avoidance and the rate of business ownership across 21 OECD countries, 1976–2004

Persistent differences in the level of business ownership across countries have attracted the attention of scientific as well as political debate. Cultural as well as economic influences are assumed to play a role. This paper deals with the influence of cultural attitudes towards uncertainty on the rate of business ownership across 21 OECD countries. First, the concepts of uncertainty and risk are elaborated, as well as their relevance for entrepreneurship. An occupational choice model is introduced to underpin our reasoning at the macro-level. Second, regression analysis using pooled macro data for 1976, 1990 and 2004 and controlling for several economic variables, yields evidence that uncertainty avoidance is positively correlated with the prevalence of business ownership. According to our model, a restrictive climate of large organizations in high uncertainty avoidance countries pushes individuals striving for autonomy towards self-employment. Regressions for these 3 years separately show that in 2004, this positive correlation is no longer found, indicating that a compensating pull of entrepreneurship in countries with low uncertainty avoidance may have gained momentum in recent years. Third, an interaction term between uncertainty avoidance and GDP per capita in the pooled panel regressions shows that the historical negative relationship between GDP per capita and the level of business ownership is substantially weaker for countries with lower uncertainty avoidance. This suggests that rising opportunity costs of self-employment play a less important role in this cultural environment, or are being compensated by increasing entrepreneurial opportunities.

Clustering of cultural industries in Chinese cities

This study is the first empirical research on understanding the determinants of the concentration of cultural industries (CIs) in cities in China. What factors of the urban environment are important for attracting the location of CIs? How is the development of CIs in a city influenced by its neighbouring cities and its early development? To answer these questions, three types of spatial panel models – the spatial lag model, the spatial error model and the spatial dynamic panel model – are employed using the urban statistics for China from 2003 to 2009. Human capital, diversified industrial structure and transportation and communication infrastructure are significant factors contributing to the development of CIs. The empirical findings reveal the presence of positive spatial spillovers among cities, which suggests that promoting CIs in one city benefits other cities. Also, the evidence suggests the presence of temporal spillovers, implying that the early concentration of CIs in a city tends to attract more CIs in that city.     

旅游英语翻译浅谈

中英文的差异是不言而喻的,其中的文化差异在旅游英语翻译中体现在历史、审美、宗教、风俗习惯诸方面,故旅游英语翻译的方法包括解释、类比、增加、删减等。只有这样才能将原文的主要内容正确地呈现在读者面前。     

Human capacity development in Indonesia: leadership and managerial ideology in Javanese organizations

Abstract

In this paper, leadership is viewed as a driver for change, showing directions towards a society with high adaptive capacity. This study, in particular, investigates whether the eight ancient principles of Javanese statesmanship (Asta Brata) can be employed as change agents for analysing managerial leadership excellence in Javanese organizations. Factor analysis, regression modelling and structural modelling are used to explain what constitutes leadership excellence in Javanese organizations. These findings based on the perceptions of 312 Javanese managers suggest they favour a paternalistic leadership style that is nurturing but not authoritative. This then calls for institutions that stimulate progressive leadership and entrepreneurial leadership as necessary but not sufficient until tempered with personal quality factors such as trustworthiness, dependable and discerning behaviours, patience and decisive action and acknowledgement of environmental influence.     

民族间文化认同的调查分析———基于新疆三地州的样本数据

近年来频发的暴力恐怖案件引发了人们对文化认同的关注。本文主要借助新疆三地州样本数据,从风俗习惯认同、语言文字认同、宗教信仰认同、民族身份认同四个维度对新疆民族间文化认同水平进行分析。调查数据显示：少数民族被调查者对汉族文化认同的整体水平不高,汉族被调查者对少数民族的风俗习惯认同程度不高,教育没有充分体现出对民族间文化认同的促进作用。为此,本文认为应创建新疆本土教育模式;强化双语教育的文化内涵;以现代文化为引领,打造新疆和谐社会的基础。     

Cultural Differences among Young Adult Consumers in Hong Kong,Japan, and Korea

This study examines Northeast Asian consumer cultural dimensions and their differences by using Hong Kong, Japanese, and Korean college students as initial data points. While the cultural dimensions of Northeast Asia cannot be represented fully by this limited analysis, these data points provide preliminary insights toward more thoroughly mapping Northeast Asian culture. Common cultural dimensions of normativeness, communitarianism, conservatism, personality expression, and connectedness were identified in this study. Statistically significant differences were found in communitarianism (p < .01), conservatism (p < .001), and connectedness (p < .001). Specifically, Korea is higher than Japan in communitarianism, and Korea and Hong Kong are higher than Japan in conservatism. For connectedness, Japan and Hong Kong are higher than Korea. Also, differences in consumer culture are found. Japan is lower than Korea and Hong Kong in perceptions of promotion and additional values. Korea is higher than Hong Kong and Japan in emotional advertising.     

A closer look at the determinants of international migration: decomposing cultural distance

Using a modified gravity model and three measures of cultural distance, we employ the zero-inflated negative binomial estimation technique to examine the impact of cultural distance on international migration flows. We confirm the finding of prior studies that there exists a negative relationship between composite measures of cultural distance and immigrant flows. Extending the literature, we decompose our composite cultural distance measures into their component dimensions to examine potential variability in the influences of individual dimensions on international migration. We find the cultural dimensions that reflect individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and perceived gender roles are typically more influential in determining immigrant flows than are other cultural dimensions.