The Impact of Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance on Real Options Exercise: Potential for Suboptimal Time Delays and Value Destruction

Real options (RO) valuation has been promoted as a way to evaluate investment opportunities and make investment decisions that takes into account the value of managerial flexibility in the face of uncertainty. Although RO enjoys a substantial body of literature considering its application and suitability in different situations, the impact of national culture on the application of RO has received little attention. Values embedded in national culture affect the behavior of managers. In particular, these values play a role in how managers frame information, communicate, and make decisions, directly and indirectly affecting behavior through cultural layers such as organizational culture. National culture, therefore, can systematically affect the application of RO, potentially leading to suboptimal outcomes. In this article, we hypothesize how 2 particularly relevant dimensions of culture, power distance and uncertainty avoidance, affect RO exercise, and estimate the magnitude suboptimality of these effects using a model we develop for the case of a put option. Our estimates suggest RO may not always be a superior valuation approach to net present value for national cultures with certain characteristics.     

The cross‐cultural study of LMX and individual employee voice: The moderating role of conflict avoidance

This article examines the role of national culture, measured by conflict avoidance, on the relationship between leader–member exchange (LMX) and individual employee voice. Using data collected from automotive industry employees in the United States and Korea, the findings show that conflict avoidance is negatively related to employee voice and also moderates the relationship between LMX and employee voice in the Korean sample. In particular, the relationship between LMX and voice becomes less positive when conflict avoidance is high. On the other hand, conflict avoidance does not have a direct effect on employee voice as well as an interactive effect with LMX on employee voice in the U.S. sample. This study, therefore, highlights the importance of the national culture in the comparative study of employee voice.     

The uneasy alliance of organisational culture and equal opportunities for ethnic minority groups: A British example

Recent statistics suggest that there is a continuing disparity in labour market outcomes between ethnic minority (EM) groups and their White counterparts. However, although there is now an abundance of statistical and anecdotal evidence that speaks to the disadvantage of EM groups, there is less understanding of the intraorganisational dynamics that give rise to the outcomes that are reported. Drawing on postcolonial, cultural capital, and social capital theories, this article argues that the dominant approach through which organisational culture is conceptualised and the ways in which it is commonly managed may encourage labour market inequality and disadvantage for EM groups (defined as access to employment and having opportunities for promotion while in employment). The article explores three intraorganisational interventions that are common in culture management initiatives (leadership, selective recruitment, and internal promotion) to illustrate the arguments. The article concludes by discussing a series of implications and highlighting the pivotal role of the HR academy and practitioners in generating deeper insights and attention into the potential sources of EM disadvantage that are linked to culture and culture management.     

跨文化交际与外语教学

外语教学中重语言教学、轻文化教学这一现象有其产生的原因，同时也凸显了外语教学中跨文化交际技能培养的重要性。     

谈体育教学改革发展趋势

体育教学“以人为本”观念形成的社会环境是现代化发展的必然结果。我们教育改革思路提出“健康第一”的指导思想，同样验证了“以人为本”的现代体育观念的社会环境背景。学生对体育课的要求和看法将对体育教学改革提供“主体”依据，体育教学改革要“以人为本”。     

偏远地区高校图书馆构建和谐文化作用初探

偏远地区的高等学校图书馆是该地区重要的科技、文化信息源，构建和谐文化，应该充分发挥这些图书馆的信息辐射作用。高等学校和地方政府应共同努力，把图书馆建成当地的科技、文化信息中心，以促进我国和谐文化的早日建成。     

论当前我国可持续消费文化的建构

可持续消费是可持续发展研究的一个重要内容，也是实现可持续发展的重要机制之一。可持续消费文化本质上就是要强调人与社会、人与人、人与自然、人与文化协调一致发展。文章基于社会问题本质上是一种社会建构产物的观点，从消费社会学视角探讨了转型期我国建构可持续消费文化的基本条件及其社会文化机制问题。     

美国会计目标研究的历史考察及其对我们的启示

会计目标不仅是一个重要的理论问题,亦是一个重要的实际问题。美国是世界上研究会计目标最早、取得研究成果最丰富的国家之一。从美国会计学会1966年发表基本会计理论研究公告算起,美国从事会计目标研究已有30余年的历史。美国会计学会、会计原则委员会、特鲁布罗德委员会、财务会计准则委员会都对会计目标的研究作出过重要贡献,形成了像基本会计理论公告、APB第4号报告、特鲁布罗德报告和企业财务报告的目标等一系列研究成果。通过对美国会计目标研究历史的分析,我们从中可以得到如下三点启示: 第一,会计目标的研究与对会计本质的认识密不可分; 第二,会计目标研究应密切联系一定的社会经济环境; 第三,会计目标研究应采取理论分析与实证研究相结合的方法。     

关于健全独立董事制度的若干思考

入世给我国中小企业的发展带来了机遇与挑战。培育核心竞争力是其抓住机遇 ,应对挑战 ,走向成功的关键所在。文章在分析了我国中小企业面临困境的基础上 ,提出了培育我国中小企业核心竞争力 ,促进我国中小企业发展的方法和措施。     

社会主义核心价值体系的文化内涵分析

在社会体制与社会结构深刻变动、思想观念深刻变化的新形势下，在思想大活跃、观念大碰撞、文化大交融的时代背景下，建设社会主义核心价值体系，具有极强的现实针对性。准确地把握社会主义核心价值体系的科学内涵及其精神实质，是建设社会主义核心价值体系的前提。对于倡导和谐理念，培育和谐精神，打牢全党全国各族人民团结奋斗的思想道德基础，具有极为重要而又深远的理论意义和实践意义。社会主义核心价值体系可以从文化内涵方面展开发掘，具体包括政治文化、思想文化、精神文化和道德文化四个层面以及与和谐文化构建的关系方面，这是研究社会主义核心价值体系的一个新视角。