Analyzing Existing and Targeted Culture Typologies in the Light of the Strategy Document in Foundation Universities: The Case of A Foundation University

Universities are multi-cultural, complicated, social education organizations. The presence of academic and administrative employees at these organizations might result in cultural differentiation, which is influenced by changing environmental conditions and social change dynamics. The purpose of this research is to determine the foundation university's dominant current and targeted cultural typologies using a foundation university as an example and to compare them to the university's target culture typology based on an analysis of the university strategy document. This comparison will aid in defining the perspectives of the organization's members through the concept of culture to achieve the university's strategic goals. Also, the examination of the strategy document, mission, the vision of the university and at the same time questioning the organization members’ opinions about this topic fills a hole in the literature in terms of observing two sides of the coin; “rulers” and “ruled”. In addition, we need to start to gain knowledge about foundation universities’ organizational culture because we already know that cultural awareness is crucial for an organization lifetime and this knowledge comes from the analyses of it. Among the different approaches used throughout the world to define organizational culture, Cameron and Quinn's "Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument in Competing Values Framework" was employed in the study. This research was conducted with a multi-modal methodological approach by using both quantitative and qualitative methods together with the questionnaire and document analysis. According to the findings, university organization members' current (market-competition) and targeted (clan-collaboration) organizational culture typology interpretations diverge from the university's strategy on the same subject.

Associative Diffusion and the Pitfalls of Structural Reductionism

In their insightful comment, DellaPosta and Davoodi argue that our finding (Goldberg and Stein 2018) that segmented networks inhibit cultural differentiation does not generalize to large networks. However, their demonstration rests on an incorrect implementation of the preference updating process in the associative diffusion model. We show that once this discrepancy is corrected, cultural differentiation is more pronounced in fully connected networks, irrespective of network size and even under extreme assumptions about cognitive decay. We use this as an opportunity to discuss the associative diffusion model’s assumptions and scope conditions, as well as to critically reassess prevailing contagion-based diffusion models.

Noricum Venetians as a Proto-Slavic Element

The article is devoted to the problem of finding the Proto-Slavic homeland. Based on data from historical sources, archeology, philology, anthropology, materials of genetic studies of various populations of Slavs, an attempt made to establish the area of formation of the Proto-Slavs. As one of the fundamental elements in the ethnogenesis of the Proto-Slavs, the bearer of the Pomeranian culture considered, presumably based on the substrate of the Western Balts and, possibly, the Venetes linguistically close to them. Based on a retrospective analysis, work done to summarize information about the Venetes as possible migrants from the Asia Minor peninsula, in connection with which an attempt made to establish the chronology of their resettlement across Europe. The area of formation of the Proto-Slavs considered in the context of the existing trade routes that connected the tribes living in the Vistula basin with the Mediterranean, the Eastern Baltic, the Dnieper basin, Germany and Gaul. It was shown that the expansion of the Velbar culture led to the division of the area of the Proto-Slavs, which resulted in their cultural differentiation. This approach allows us to explain the presence of Proto-Slavs in the polyethnic Przeworsk, Zarubinets and Chernyakhov cultures.

Globalization vs Localization: the Dialectics of Interaction in the Modern World

The intensification of interest in the local history and regionalism is happening all over the world as globalization processes undermine the specific development of individual countries and their parts. The weakening of the internal social structures of modern states is manifested in the destruction of old and the search for new sources of identification. In the context of methodological approaches to the "spatial paradigm" the article examines the impact of globalization processes on the dynamics and structure of regionalization and localization of modern societies. By expanding the scope of human contacts, globalization creates additional reserves for the socio-economic development of most countries. But at the same time it creates new risks and dangers, because it involves narrowing the possibility of choosing a special, specific path of development. The duality of the process of globalization is manifested in the fact that it unprecedentedly expands and at the same time narrows the space of human life. While the economy is destroying national borders, people, not wanting to lose the feeling of "home", are looking for local spaces with strong ties. Globalization and localization are becoming parallel processes, which is reflected in the new concept of "glocalization". It is proved that the general tendency of globalization to influence the world-system structure is to increase the potential for interconnectedness and interdependence. The boundaries between the internal and external spaces of states, and hence between domestic and foreign policy, are partially blurred. The counter-flows of innovation and inertia, standardization and cultural differentiation create a unique palette of intercivilizational exchanges and interactions – with a corresponding expansion of the "space of opportunities". In response to cultural unification and the pressure of the standard, more and more people are trying to defend their identity, demonstrating a commitment to traditional norms and values. Therefore, the universal tendency to globalization is opposed by the tendency to diversify, which is manifested in the cultivation of their own space of existence, advocating the priorities of cultural, ethnic, religious and other group identities

Multiculturalism and Educational Change. An Attempt at a Model Approach

The everyday life of the young generation is to a large extent determined by cultural differences of different origin. Hence the challenge for the education which in its traditional form is not capable of coping with multiculturalism with all its attributes. The need for changes stems from, inter alia, the cultural diversity of societies as a result of migration, in relation to which integration is highlighted as an important process in the construction of the intercultural space of a multicultural society. Therefore, the cultural differentiation of the society, integration and the search for socio-cultural synergy all create a need for education that would equip the young generation, having different cultural self-identifications, with the desired social, civic and intercultural competences. The paper proposes a model approach to education focussed on such issues.

Land-use and Land-cover Changes in Pastoral Drylands: Long-term Dynamics, Economic Change, and Shifting Socioecological Frontiers in Baringo, Kenya

The ongoing fragmentation of pastoral drylands is a matter of concern throughout Africa. Using the example of rangelands in northern Baringo County, Kenya, that were under uniform pastoral use until the late twentieth century, we trace land-use and land-cover changes (LULCCs) since the 1980s. Based on ethnographic, historical, and remote sensing data, we show how bush encroachment and dryland farming have led to the increasing modification and conversion of formerly open rangelands and the diversification of livelihoods. These LULCC dynamics are related to and driven not only by internal processes of socioeconomic change (e.g., sedentarization, changing rangeland management practices, growing markets for small stock, increasing stratification and cultural differentiation) but also by ecological processes such as wildlife defaunation and ecological invasions. Based on our findings, we suggest that a socioecological approach to Kopytoff’s notion of the internal African frontier can be helpful in framing these LULCC-related dynamics.

THE MODERN FORMS OF CULTURAL DIFFERENTIATION AND THEIR ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

The article is devoted to deepening the scientific and theoretical foundations of the study of the impact of cultural differences on the development of business relations in global conditions and substantiating the strategic priorities for the development of modern forms of international business. The article analyzes various approaches to defining the main features of economic behavior in the context of the implementation of varied forms of international business as a feature of an individual's activity, formed depending on his sociocultural norms, rules, traditions and determines the totality of various business models. The article describes the cultural features of the creation of integrated international business structures based on determining the degree of difference between the countries of the world in terms of socioeconomic and cultural indicators in the process of organizing international business. The presence of cultural differences, investigated in the article, on the main processes of international interaction made it possible to determine how intercultural factors affect various aspects of the activities of companies during their international cooperation, namely, on the formation of corporate culture, as well as on decision-making in international integrated business structures. The existence of cultural differences in the main processes of international interaction determined in the work allowed introducing of models of the functional dependence of economic behavior in the organization of various forms of international business from the influence of multicultural components. The study are based on the main approaches to measuring cultural variability in cross-cultural relations and differences in different countries of the world was also conducted, it shows which differences in national cultures are more significant than the impact of corporate culture. The theoretical principle of economic behavior’s analysis, which are formed under the influence of cultural factors, enables to describe the distance and differences in the economic activity of the state, taking into account the cultural factors that determine the values, principles and nature of the economical behavior in global markets, and to provide its effective adaptation to their exit.Keywords: international business, intercultural relations, cultural differentiation, cultural differences, business processes. Стаття присвячена поглибленню науково-теоретичних засад дослідження впливу культурних відмінностей на розвиток бізнес-відносин в глобальних умовах та обґрунтуванню стратегічних пріоритетів розвитку сучасних форм міжнародного бізнесу. В статті аналізуються різні підходи щодо визначення основних рис економічної поведінки в умовах реалізації різноманітних форм міжнародного бізнесу як особливості діяльності індивіда, яка формується залежно від соціально-культурних норм, правил, тра-дицій та обумовлює сукупність різноманітних бізнес-моделей. У роботі охарактеризовано культурологічні особливості створення інтегрованих міжнародних бізнес-структур на основі визначення ступеню розбіжності між країнами світу за соціально-економіч-ними та культурологічними показниками в процесі організації міжнародного бізнесу. Наявність культурних відмінностей, що до-сліджуються в статті, за основними процесами міжнародної взаємодії дозволила визначити, як міжкультурні фактори впливають на різні аспекти діяльності компаній під час їх міжнародної співпраці, а саме на формування корпоративної культури, а також на прийняття рішень у міжнародних інтегрованих бізнес-структурах.Ключові слова: міжнародний бізнес, міжкультурні відносини, культурна диференціація, культурні відмінності, бізнес-процеси.

Culture, Agriculture, and Politics of Rice in Java

This chapter addresses the cultural–ecological divide between swidden and wet-rice fields that has long dominated the Southeast Asian landscape. The difference between the two agricultural technologies — swidden and irrigation — in their legibility to the state underpinned a wider cultural differentiation between forested and open lands, upland and lowland, barbarism and civilization. Nonetheless, in some respects the Javanese saw the two as opposite poles in a single overarching cultural–ecological system. The lowland agrarian states saw clearly where their vested interests lay, however, which explains the long history of state deprecation of swiddens and forests and valorization of irrigated rice cultivation and, indeed, of rice itself. The colonial powers were also quick to identify the logic of these agro-ecological systems and insinuate themselves into favorable positions within them. Insight into these agro-ecological systems, whether by colonial or postcolonial authorities, serves political ends, which are cloaked in appeals to cultural values. Paradoxically, those with the most encompassing vision of the agricultural landscape also have engaged in the greatest obfuscation of its dynamics.