Scale Characteristics of Intercultural Competence Measures and the Effects of Intercultural Competence on Prejudice

Due to proceeding globalization processes, involving a rise in mobility and international interdependencies, the frequency and relevance of intercultural contact situations increases. Consequently, the ability to deal effectively with intercultural situations is gaining in importance. However, the majority of studies on measures of intercultural competence focuses on Western Europe and the United States or cultures of the Far East. For the present study, previously understudied Eastern European (former communist) cultures were included, by sampling in Hungary, Serbia, and the Czech Republic, in addition to (the Central or Western European country) Germany. Thus, this study enabled comparisons of scale characteristics of the cultural intelligence scale (CQS), the multicultural personality questionnaire (MPQ), as well as the blatant and subtle prejudice scales, across samples from different cultures. It was also examined how the CQS and MPQ dimensions are associated with prejudice. To analyse scale characteristics, the factor structures and measurement invariances of the used instruments were analyzed. There were violations of configural measurement invariance observed for all of these scales, indicating that the comparability across samples is limited. Therefore, each of the samples was analyzed separately when examining how the CQS and MPQ dimensions are related to prejudice. It was revealed that, in particular, the motivational aspect of the CQS was statistically predicting lower prejudice. Less consistently, the MPQ dimensions of open-mindedness and flexibility were statistically predicting lower prejudice in some of the analyses. However, the violations of measurement invariance indicate differences in the constructs' meanings across the samples from different cultures. It is consequently argued that cross-cultural equivalence should not be taken for granted when comparing Eastern and Western European cultures.

Religion in a Secular Society: Impediment or Benefit?

The author investigates from the perspective of a Western European country, in his case Germany, if and how religion(s) can be appreciated in a secular society. With historic reviews he demonstrates that we should revise our accustomed perceptions; how (in the “West”) Islam is perceived, how religions are perceived from outside, but also how the religious sometimes misrepresent the non-religious. Instead, he advocates to adjust our categories of “us” and “the others”, and join forces with those who are committed to living together against those who campaign and agitate against it, notwithstanding who believes in what. His considerations are shaped by the situation in Germany, but they lead to conclusions of universal value.

THE HISTORICAL ROLE OF SPAIN IN THE THOUGHT OF CARL SCHMITT

Carl Schmitt's personal history was notoriously closely linked to Spain, a nation with which he also shared religious faith and therefore partly a culture of origin. But Schmitt's thought was linked to Spain for many other reasons, which made this country, for the German thinker, a very particular point of view on the destiny of the world. From the political predictions of Donoso Cortés, to the decline of Eurocentrism, to the elemental struggle between land and sea, to guerrilla warfare, the role of this Western European country remained pre-eminent for Schmitt in the history of civilization.

Board Interlocks as a Diffusion of Strategic Information – Does it Work? A Polish Case

Several theories point to the influence of board interlocks on the diffusion of important resources, mainly information. Empirical confirmation of the information functionality of the interlocking directorates network was obtained in the case of network research under the Anglo-Saxon model of corporate governance as well as the continental model in developed countries. Since the early 1990s another model of corporate governance in CEE countries has been developed. The specific determinants of the development of this model do not allow us to unequivocally state similar causes and consequences of interlocking directorates in relation to the most frequently studied western corporate governance models. The aim of this study is to determine the importance managers attach to these relationships within a corporate network as a source of strategic information that is important to the company’s strategic decision-making process, in the context of the Polish governance model. The research employs the case-study method and presents the results of five case studies of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The research, on the one hand, suggests that the network embeddedness of Polish listed companies is of minor significance; on the other hand, it pointed to the existence of two main types of corporate networks: one inwardly directed and focused on supervisory board members’ controlling function performed with a view to protecting the shareholders’ equity ownership, and the other orientated towards external relationships, often distant from the original industry, in order to obtain information that supports new initiatives. What seems to most determine the behaviour of company managers is the corporate culture resulting from the presence of a foreign owner from a Western European country. In general, the findings confirm the importance of the network of interlocking directorates more as an instrument of control than diffusion of strategic information.

Completeness of TB notification in Portugal, 2015: an inventory and capture-recapture study

BACKGROUND: Despite the steady decline in the last few decades, Portugal remains the Western European country with the highest TB notification rates. The aim of this study was to estimate the completeness of notification to the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) Surveillance System (SVIG-TB) in 2015.METHODS: We implemented an inventory study and a three-source log-linear capture-recapture analysis using two additional data sources that were deterministic and probabilistically linked: the national notifiable diseases surveillance system (Sistema Nacional de Vigilância Epidemiológica SINAVE) and the national hospital discharge database (Grupos de Diagnósticos Homogéneos GDH).RESULTS: We identified 2328 unique probable/confirmed TB cases across the three data sources. We found a positive dependency between SVIG-TB and SINAVE (incidence rate ratio IRR 8.9, 95%CI 6.6–12.0) and between GDH and SINAVE (IRR 2.6, 95%CI 2.0–3.4). After adjusting for these dependencies, we estimated that 266 cases (95%CI 198–358) were not reported, indicating a notification (to SVIG-TB) completeness rate of 77.0%.CONCLUSION: True incidence rate of TB in Portugal in 2015 could have been as high as 26.1 per 100 000. This could be an overestimation because of false-positive cases recorded in both SINAVE and GDH or on a smaller scale, false non-matches. Studies aimed at validating potentially false-positive cases should be implemented to address these limitations.

Completeness of TB notification in Portugal, 2015: an inventory and capture-recapture study

BACKGROUND: Despite the steady decline in the last few decades, Portugal remains the Western European country with the highest TB notification rates. The aim of this study was to estimate the completeness of notification to the National Tuberculosis Programme (NTP) Surveillance System (SVIG-TB) in 2015.METHODS: We implemented an inventory study and a three-source log-linear capture-recapture analysis using two additional data sources that were deterministic and probabilistically linked: the national notifiable diseases surveillance system (Sistema Nacional de Vigilância Epidemiológica SINAVE) and the national hospital discharge database (Grupos de Diagnósticos Homogéneos GDH).RESULTS: We identified 2328 unique probable/confirmed TB cases across the three data sources. We found a positive dependency between SVIG-TB and SINAVE (incidence rate ratio IRR 8.9, 95%CI 6.6–12.0) and between GDH and SINAVE (IRR 2.6, 95%CI 2.0–3.4). After adjusting for these dependencies, we estimated that 266 cases (95%CI 198–358) were not reported, indicating a notification (to SVIG-TB) completeness rate of 77.0%.CONCLUSION: True incidence rate of TB in Portugal in 2015 could have been as high as 26.1 per 100 000. This could be an overestimation because of false-positive cases recorded in both SINAVE and GDH or on a smaller scale, false non-matches. Studies aimed at validating potentially false-positive cases should be implemented to address these limitations.

The Wind from the North

No Western European country experienced liberation at such a slow pace as Italy. The Allied landing on Sicily occurred twenty months before the final liberation of Northern Italy in late April 1945. As a result, the evolution of antifascist resistance activism underwent a contradictory development unique in Western Europe. The official Roman government administering liberated Italy and Rome-based coordinating bodies of the resistance operating in the North performed the role of a break on the radical dynamic of antifascist activism in Italy’s North. In parts of Central and Northern Italy, the social power and political clout of Liberation Committees became all-important counterpowers to traditional political authorities, far exceeding the radical dynamics which had propelled French Liberation Committees into the limelight of their day. Virtually all of Northern Italy was liberated by antifascist activists in advance of the arrival of Allied troops moving north.

The realization of fertility intentions in the context of childbearing postponement: comparison of transitional and post-transitional populations

Childbearing postponement is a key demographic change that has been experienced by most European countries. It leads to a late-fertility pattern, with women realizing their reproductive plans preferentially after the age of 30. This may result in a lower fertility level. Since the ideal family size has not changed in most European countries, it has been argued that the end of the postponement transition further depends on the extent to which the lower fertility of younger women is compensated for by an increase in that of older women. Thus, the completion of the transition depends not only on the formation of a late childbearing pattern, but also on the capability of women to realize their reproductive plans if they commence childbearing later in their lives. This study employed a new approach to assess postponement transition based on analysis of the realization of the fertility intentions of women at later childbearing ages using survey panel data. A method that enables the differentiation between transitional and post-transitional cohorts was applied. The investigation was based on a comparison of the postponement transition in Czechia and France, the former being a post-communist and the latter a Western European country. It was found that despite having a similar pattern of fertility timing, Czechia and France underwent differing phases of postponement transition. The Czech population was identified as being transitional since only the ‘transition’ cohorts had completed their fertility during the period under study. These cohorts did not show a significant increase in realization of fertility intentions in later age. In contrast, the post-transitional French population is characterized by higher completed cohort fertility rates amongst women who entered motherhood at the age of 30 and over and by the significantly higher realization of fertility intentions for women aged 30–34 years.

Spiritual skepticism? Heterogeneous science skepticism in the Netherlands

Recent work points to the heterogeneous nature of science skepticism. However, most research on science skepticism has been conducted in the United States. The current work addresses the generalizability of the knowledge acquired so far by investigating individuals from a Western European country (The Netherlands). Results indicate that various previously reported findings hold up: Mirroring North American patterns, climate change skepticism is associated with political conservatism (but only modestly), and scientific literacy does not contribute to skepticism, except about genetic modification (Study 1 only) and vaccine skepticism (Study 2 only). Results also reveal a crucial difference: Religiosity does not consistently contribute to science skepticism, except about evolution. Instead, spirituality is found to most consistently predict vaccine skepticism and low general faith in science—which in turn predicts willingness to support science. Concerns about societal impact play an additional role. These findings speak to the generalizability of previous findings, improving our understanding of science skepticism.

Implementing self-service technologies: not without competition!

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation of self-service technologies (SST) in two competitors and unravel the process of change in two related setups, offering a comparison as well as an association of cases. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on two extensive case studies of SST adoption by leading retailers in a Western European country. The analysis is based on a material-discursive approach using Greimas actantial model to identify actors’ roles in the implementation process. Findings Results highlight the key role of technology and organizational identity as legitimizers of the change process. The findings also emphasize the role of competition in justifying change. Research limitations/implications Due to the specific situation of the market in the country of study (both retailers share 70 percent of the grocery market), this research offers a textbook example of the role of competition in technological change. This helps to understand the role of competition in technological change. Originality/value This study explores the implementation of SST in two competitors and unravels the process of change in two related setups, offering a comparison as well as an association of cases.