A Cross-Cultural Model of Western-Chinese Business Relationships

Author(s):  
M Elaine Rodrigo ◽  
T. Felix Mavondo
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lux Ratnamohan ◽  
Sarah Mares ◽  
Derrick Silove

Objective: To build an account of how bereaved Tamil refugee and asylum seeker children, resettled in Australia, had processed the loss of their dead or missing fathers. Method: Phenomenological and discourse analysis was applied to attachment narratives of nine children (aged 11–17 years) and their surviving mothers in families that lost fathers in war-related circumstances. The narratives were analysed through the lens of Crittenden’s Dynamic-Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM) and Klass’ cross-cultural model of grief. Results: Two divergent pathways — ‘burying the past’ and ‘reifying the past’ — emerged, encompassing the children’s contrasting patterns of information processing regarding loss and trauma (dismissing or preoccupying) and representation of the past (distant-buried or rich-reconstructed). Each pathway reflected a strategic compromise between the constraints and resources presented to the child by the circumstances of the loss (ambiguous or confirmed), the response of their surviving parent (stricken or stoic) and the collective narrative surrounding the loss (silenced or valorised). Conclusion: The DMM’s conceptualisation of attachment as self-protective strategies for navigating danger was helpful in explaining the contrasting adaptations of refugee children to loss and trauma. However, to understand the multivalent meanings of these adaptations, there was a need to situate child–parent attachment relationships within the wider sociocultural reconfigurations arising from contexts of political violence.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 506-507
Author(s):  
Rebecca Kay

In the introduction, Valerie Sperling notes that "Russia's transition from communism toward capitalism and a more democratic political arrangement has been both good and bad for women, presenting both obstacles and opportunities for organizing" (p. 7). She goes on to produce an engaging and thought-provoking analysis aimed at broadening the scope and explanatory power of social movement theory, which, she argues, has been developed by scholars who focus primarily on social movements in the "contemporary core democracies" (pp. 52-3). In contrast Sperling develops "a cross-cultural model of social movement organizing and development that explores five interrelated opportunity structures: socio-cultural or attitudinal, political, economic, political-historical, and international" (p. 53). In each subse- quent chapter she tackles one of these opportunity structures and offers a number of fascinating insights into the world of post-Soviet social movements, based on the experience of her sample of women's organizations.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 837-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gøril Voldnes ◽  
Kjell Grønhaug

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how buyers and sellers in cross-cultural business relationships manage cultural differences to ensure functional, successful business relationships. Failure to consider specific cultural issues may lead to the failure of business ventures crossing national borders. To succeed in today’s global business market, it is critically important to understand and manage cultural differences. Adapting to each other’s cultures is one way of managing cultural differences between business actors. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative, explorative approach examining both sides of the exchange dyad was adopted to obtain insight into adaptation as perceived by both buyer and seller. Findings – The results of this study indicate that mainly Norwegian sellers adapt to the Russian culture and way of conducting business. This is explained by power asymmetry between partners, as well as cultural barriers and lack of cultural sensitivity from the Norwegian partners. Still, the business relationships function well. Practical implications – Knowledge of and applying strategies for managing cultural differences should be helpful for business managers engaged or planning to engage in business ventures with Russia and Norway – especially those doing so for the first time. Originality/value – The study provides new and important information about West-East business relationships and how to manage cultural differences in cross-cultural business relationships. The study shows that business relationships can function well in spite of the absence of some factors previously found to have detrimental effects on these relationships. In addition, the study investigates both sides of the buyer-seller dyad, which is a limitation in previous studies of adaptation.


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