scholarly journals Commemorating Geert Hofstede, a pioneer in the study of culture and institutions

Author(s):  
Esther-Mirjam Sent ◽  
Annelie L. J. Kroese

Abstract This contribution commemorates Geert Hofstede, who recently passed away, as a pioneer in the study of culture and institutions. It does so by touching on some of the details of his personal life and connecting these with his professional career. The latter was devoted to developing the paradigm of national cultures based on empirical analysis, and to relate it to organisational behaviour. Closer scrutiny reveals that four distinct phases may be identified. Hofstede first started as an ‘undercover’ engineer and next moved to social psychology. During the second phase, he developed the first four dimensions of natural culture. During the third, Hofstede connected these national dimensions to organisational ones. During the last, he added two new cultural dimensions and developed additional practical applications. Finally, the article considers the reception, criticism, and further elaborations of Hofstede's contributions.

Author(s):  
Esther-Mirjam Sent ◽  
Annelie L. J. Kroese

Abstract This contribution commemorates Oliver Williamson, who recently passed away, as one of the founding fathers of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE). It does so by touching on some of the details of his personal life and connecting these with his professional career. The latter was devoted to putting the study of institutions on the economic agenda. Closer scrutiny reveals that three phases may be identified. Williamson first developed an interest in analysing vertical integration. During the second phase, he elaborated this interest in TCE, and during the third, he positioned his contributions within the area of institutional economics. Furthermore, the article considers the various influences of institutional and organizational economists on Williamson. Finally, the article considers the reception, criticism, and further elaborations of Williamson's contributions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-173
Author(s):  
André Luiz Mendes Athayde ◽  
Mateus Pereira Santos

A cultura funciona como um mecanismo que traz coesão a um grupo e, no contexto organizacional, quanto mais convergentes se mostram os seus colaboradores entre si, mais forte é a sua cultura e menos conflitos e desgastes se espera encontrar em suas práticas laborais. A presente pesquisa, através de um estudo multicaso, objetivou verificar se existem diferenças entre as culturas organizacionais instaladas em duas empresas regionais de uma organização do terceiro setor, significativas a ponto de caracterizarem duas distintas subculturas. Realizou-se um diagnóstico cultural, baseando-se em quatro dimensões internacionalmente conhecidas e difundidas por Geert Hofstede, a saber: Índice de Distância Hierárquica, Índice de Individualismo, Índice de Masculinidade e Índice de Controle da Incerteza. Para tanto, desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa quantitativa-descritiva, utilizando-se uma escala de dimensões culturais já validada em estudos relevantes prévios. Os resultados encontrados jogaram luz na hipótese de que, mesmo que uma organização se esforce no sentido de disseminar seus valores culturais, objetivando que seus colaboradores assumam pensamentos uníssonos e consoantes com os objetivos institucionais, a existência de subculturas dentro de uma organização pode fazer, por exemplo, com que empresas filiais de uma organização matriz apresentem particularidades que desviem, em maior ou menor grau, dos valores desta. Isso, em última análise, pode prejudicar o alcance dos objetivos organizacionais. Uma das principais reflexões e contribuições levantadas por este trabalho diz respeito ao fato de que as peculiaridades de cada cultura organizacional precisam ser levadas em consideração quando do estabelecimento de objetivos e métricas de controle.Palavras-Chave: Cultura Organizacional. Dimensões Culturais. Terceiro Setor. ANALYSIS OF SUBCULTURES IN A THIRD-SECTOR ORGANIZATIONAbstract: Culture works as a mechanism that brings cohesion to a group and, in the organizational context, the more convergent the employees are, the stronger their culture and the fewer conflicts and wastes they are expected to find in their work practices. The present research, through a multicase study, aimed to verify if there are differences between the organizational cultures installed in two regional companies of a third sector organization, significant to the point of characterizing two different subcultures. A cultural diagnosis was made, based on four dimensions internationally known and diffused by Geert Hofstede, namely Hierarchical Distance Index, Individualism Index, Masculinity Index and Uncertainty Control Index. For that, a quantitative-descriptive research was developed, using a scale of cultural dimensions already validated in previous relevant studies. The results found have shed light on the hypothesis that, even if an organization strives to disseminate its cultural values, aiming its collaborators to assume unified and consonant thoughts with institutional objectives, the existence of subcultures within an organization can, for example, subsidiaries of a headquarters organization have particularities which deviate, to a greater or lesser extent, from the values of the latter. This can ultimately undermine the achievement of organizational goals. One of the main reflections and contributions raised by this work concerns the fact that the peculiarities of each organizational culture need to be taken into account when establishing control objectives and metrics.Keywords: Organizational Culture. Cultural Dimensions. Third Sector.


Author(s):  
Beatriz Schorro Gianini ◽  
Leda Márcia Araújo Bento ◽  
Luciana Paes de Andrade

Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar a percepção dos acadêmicos, do terceiro e quarto semestres, do Curso de Medicina da Universidade Anhanguera-Uniderp de Campo Grande- MS, sobre a metodologia ativa de ensino e aprendizagem, suas correlações com as bases neurológicas e seus pontos diferenciais com relação à metodologia tradicional. O estudo foi realizado no período de agosto de 2017 a julho de 2018, contemplando 110 estudantes, que responderam, por meio de questionário, 14 perguntas referentes ao tema proposto. Os resultados foram positivos para a metodologia ativa, tendo como destaque os conceitos da autoaprendizagem, consolidação dos estudos e competência para resolução de problemas por meio desse método. Além disso, houve uma forte correlação entre o entendimento do funcionamento do PBL (Problem Based Learning – metodologia ativa) e o estudo das bases neurológicas, o que reforça a importância deste na grade curricular do Curso de Medicina. Conclui-se que a metodologia ativa vem sendo reconhecida, positivamente, pelos acadêmicos de medicina e que o profissional formado (egresso) nesse modelo apresenta características, que se traduzem em diversas qualidades, as quais poderão auxiliar a sua carreira profissional. Entretanto, são necessários mais estudos que explicitem as implicações de tal metodologia na vida pessoal de cada acadêmico.Palavras-chave: PBL. Metodologias de Ensino. Medicina. Abstract This study aimed to verify the perception of the third and fourth semesters of the course of Medicine of  Anhanguera-Uniderp University of Campo Grande-MS, on the active teaching and learning methodology, their correlations with the neurological bases and their points with traditional methodology. The study was carried out from August 2017 to July 2018, with 110 students, who answered, through a questionnaire, 14 questions related to the proposed theme. The results were positive for the active methodology, highlighting the concepts of self-learning, consolidation of studies and competence to solve problems through this method. In addition, there was a strong correlation between the understanding of the functioning of PBL (Problem Based Learning) and the study of the neurological bases, which reinforces the importance of the same in the curricular curriculum of the Medicine Course. It is concluded that the active methodology has been positively recognized by medical academics and that the trained professional (alumnus) in this model has characteristics, which translate into several qualities, which may help their professional career. However, further studies are needed to explain the implications of such methodology in the personal life of each academic.Keywords: PBL. Teaching Methodologies. Medicine.


2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
David R. Borker

Gray (Gray, 1988) proposed a link between Geert Hofstedes (Hofstede, 1980) popular national culture dimensions used in comparative management analysis and his own comparative concepts for accounting. In the past twenty-four years, Grays work has been cited by over 650 scholars. His article presented a hypothetical set of complex correspondences between Hofstedes original four dimensions of Power-distance, Individualism, Masculinity, and Uncertainty Avoidance and Grays accounting values of Professionalism versus Statutory control, Uniformity versus Flexibility, Conservatism versus Optimism, and Secrecy versus Transparency. Grays accounting dimensions were intended to capture underlying cultural values that would tend, in the absence of external influences or other factors, to influence a culture toward the development of certain types of accounting systems. The purpose of this paper is to identify which Gray values and which corresponding Hofstede cultural dimensions would be most supportive of the establishment of accounting standards like the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), currently being adopted by nations throughout the world. A specific set or profile of Gray values most conducive to IFRS is identified and termed the IFRS-favorable profile. In arriving at this profile, the paper also addresses two newer Hofstede cultural dimensions, long-term orientation and Restraint versus Indulgence, and extends Grays model by proposing how these two new Hofstede dimensions correspond to Grays four accounting dimensions. The IFRS-favorable profile and the expansion of Grays link to Hofstede are discussed as practical applications to facilitate successful IFRS implementation in individual countries.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Ibrahim Sirkeci

Transnational Marketing Journal is dedicated to disseminate scholarship on cross-border phenomena in marketing by acknowledging the importance of local and global or in other words, underlining the transnational practices marked by national and local characteristics in a fluid fashion spreading over more than one national territory. The first article by Paulette Schuster looks into “falafel” and “shwarma” in Mexico and discusses the perception of Israeli food in Mexico. The second article is a case study illustrating a critical account of cultural dimensions formulated by Schwarz using the value surveys data. The third article in the issue is a qualitative study of the negative attitudes of millennials torwards mobile marketing. 


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-77
Author(s):  
Peter Mercer-Taylor

The notion that there might be autobiographical, or personally confessional, registers at work in Mendelssohn’s 1846 Elijah has long been established, with three interpretive approaches prevailing: the first, famously advanced by Prince Albert, compares Mendelssohn’s own artistic achievements with Elijah’s prophetic ones; the second, in Eric Werner’s dramatic formulation, discerns in the aria “It is enough” a confession of Mendelssohn’s own “weakening will to live”; the third portrays Elijah as a testimonial on Mendelssohn’s relationship to the Judaism of his birth and/or to the Christianity of his youth and adulthood. This article explores a fourth, essentially untested, interpretive approach: the possibility that Mendelssohn crafts from Elijah’s story a heartfelt affirmation of domesticity, an expression of his growing fascination with retiring to a quiet existence in the bosom of his family. The argument unfolds in three phases. In the first, the focus is on that climactic passage in Elijah’s Second Part in which God is revealed to the prophet in the “still small voice.” The turn from divine absence to divine presence is articulated through two clear and powerful recollections of music that Elijah had sung in the oratorio’s First Part, a move that has the potential to reconfigure our evaluation of his role in the public and private spheres in those earlier passages. The second phase turns to Elijah’s own brief sojourn into the domestic realm, the widow’s scene, paying particular attention to the motivations that may have underlain the substantial revisions to the scene that took place between the Birmingham premiere and the London premiere the following year. The final phase explores the possibility that the widow and her son, the “surrogate family” in the oratorio, do not disappear after the widow’s scene, but linger on as “para-characters” with crucial roles in the unfolding drama.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdul Hasan Saragih

This classroom research was conducted on the autocad instructions to the first grade of mechinary class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat aiming at : (1) improving the student’ archievementon autocad instructional to the student of mechinary architecture class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat, (2) applying Quantum Learning Model to the students of mechinary class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat, arising the positive response to autocad subject by applying Quantum Learning Model of the students of mechinary class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat. The result shows that (1) by applying quantum learning model, the students’ achievement improves significantly. The improvement ofthe achievement of the 34 students is very satisfactory; on the first phase, 27 students passed (70.59%), 10 students failed (29.41%). On the second phase 27 students (79.41%) passed and 7 students (20.59%) failed. On the third phase 30 students (88.24%) passed and 4 students (11.76%) failed. The application of quantum learning model in SMK Negeri 1 Stabat proved satisfying. This was visible from the activeness of the students from phase 1 to 3. The activeness average of the students was 74.31% on phase 1,81.35% on phase 2, and 83.63% on phase 3. (3) The application of the quantum learning model on teaching autocad was very positively welcome by the students of mechinary class of SMK Negeri 1 Stabat. On phase 1 the improvement was 81.53% . It improved to 86.15% on phase 3. Therefore, The improvement ofstudent’ response can be categorized good.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Klein ◽  
Roseli de Deus Lopes ◽  
Rodrigo Suigh

BACKGROUND EasySeating is a mobile health (mHealth) app that supports the prescription of wheelchair and postural support devices (WPSD). It can be used by occupational therapists (OT) and physiotherapists (PT) who prescribe WPSD. The app offers a standardization of the prescription procedure, showing images, metrics and details that guide the prescriber to decide on the best equipment. It was developed with an iterative mixed-methods evaluation approach. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the processes involved in the prescription of WPSD and to propose, develop and evaluate a mHealth to support OT and PT prescribers. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the processes involved in the prescription of WPSD and to propose, develop and evaluate a mHealth to support OT and PT prescribers. METHODS This study was divided into three phases and was carried out as an iterative process composed of user consulting/testing (using a mixed-methods evaluation approach), system (re)design and software development. The first phase consisted of the collection of qualitative and quantitative data to map and understand the users requirements and of the development of the first prototype (v1) of the app. This data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews with 14 OT and PT prescribers, 5 specialized technicians and 5 WPSD users. The second phase aimed at improving the overall functionality of the app and consisted in the development, test and evaluation of the prototypes v1, v2, v3 and v4. A total of 59 prescribers tested and evaluated these prototypes by means of open interviews, semi-structured questionnaires and focus groups. The third phase focused in the usability aspects of the app. It consisted in the development and test of the prototype v5. Eight technology specialists assessed its usability through heuristics evaluation. RESULTS Data collected in phase one indicated there is a lack of standardization on the prescription of postural support devices (PSD). A divergent nomenclature for the PSDs was also found and classified in eight categories. These information guided the development of the first prototype of the EasySeating app. Phase two results pointed that the prescribers value the insertion of the app into their clinical practice, as it accelerates and increases the quality of the evaluation process and improves the organization of the prescription information. Significant suggestions for the improvement of the app were given during the users tests, including the use of images to represent the PSDs. The usability tests from the third phase revealed two strong issues that must be solved: the need of greater feedback and failures in the persistence of the input data. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated that there is a lack of systematization of the WPSD prescription process. The evaluation of the developed EasySeating app demonstrated that there is a potential to standardize, integrate and organize the WPSD prescription information, supporting and facilitating the decision making process of the prescribers. CLINICALTRIAL This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the Universidade de São Paulo (registered protocol n°53929516.6.0000.0065) URL - http://plataformabrasil.saude.gov.br/login.jsf


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-125

Three phases in Foucault’s examination of authorship and free speech were essential to him throughout his life. They can be linked to such texts as the three lectures “What is an Author?” (first phase), “What is Critique?,” and “What is Revolution?” (second phase), and the two lecture courses, “Fearless Speech,” and “The Courage of Truth” (third phase). Initially, Foucault merely describes the founders of discursivity (hence, “superauthors”), among whom he reckoned only Marx and Freud, as the sole alternative to his own conceptualization of the author function, which is exhibited en masse in contemporary society. He then modifies his views on superauthorship by making Kant the paradigm and by linking his own concept of free speech to a Kan-tian critical attitude. However, Foucault claims only the half of Kant’s philosophical legacy that is related to the study of the ontology of the self.The article advances the hypothesis that the sovereign power of speech, which can be found in Marx and Heidegger and in generally in the concept of “superauthorship,” becomes unacceptable for Foucault. During the third phase, the danger of a tyrannical use of free speech compels Foucault to make a number of fruitful but questionable choices in his work. He focuses on a single aspect of free speech in which a speaker is in a weaker position and therefore has to overcome his fear in order to tell the truth. Foucault associates this kind of free speech with the ancient Greek notion of parrhesia, which according to his interpretation means “fearless speech”; however, this reading is not always supported by the ancient Greek sources. Foucault’s deliberations bring him to the radical conclusion that free speech transforms into performative “aesthetics of existence.” Foucault’s main motivation for pursuing this line of thought all through his life was to investigate his own abilities and powers as an author


2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Villani ◽  
Luana Coltella ◽  
Stefania Ranno ◽  
Federico Bianchi di Castelbianco ◽  
Paola Maria Murru ◽  
...  

Abstract Background During the first SARS-CoV-2 pandemic phase, the sudden closure of schools was one of the main measures to minimize the spread of the virus. In the second phase, several safety procedures were implemented to avoid school closure. To evaluate if the school is a safe place, students and staff of two school complexes of Rome were monitored to evaluate the efficacy of prevention measures inside the school buildings. Methods Oral secretions specimens were collected from 1262 subjects for a total of 3431 samples, collected over a 3 months period. Detection of Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 was performed by real-time PCR. Target genes were represented by E gene, RdRP/S gene and N gene. Results Among the 3431 samples analyzed, just 16 sample resulted as positive or low positive: 1 sample in the first month, 12 samples in the second month and 3 in the third month. In each period of evaluation, all positive children attended different classes. Conclusions Even if the school has the potential for spreading viruses, our preliminary results show the efficacy of the implementations undertaken in this setting to minimize virus diffusion. Our evidence suggests that school does not act as an amplifier for transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and can be really considered a safe place for students.


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