Internationalization of emerging Indian multinationals:linkage, leverage and learning (LLL) perspective

The multi-polar world in which we now live and work demands re-examination and refinement of the traditional understanding of the internationalization strategies and competitive advantages of multinational firms by incorporating the characteristics of firms from emerging economies. Based on interviews in four Indian multinationals in different industry segments, we present the "voices" of Indian corporate leaders to provide preliminary evidence on the primary motives behind the internationalization process of emerging multinationals from the perspective of linkage, leverage and learning (LLL). We show how the case study organizations have evolved themselves to become credible global players by leveraging on their learning through targeted acquisitions in developed markets to acquire intangible assets and/or following global clients in search of new markets and competitive advantages.

Making a difference:critical linguistic analysis in a legal context

One of the major problems for Critical Discourse Analysts is how to move on from their insightful critical analyses to successfully 'acting on the world in order to transform it'. This paper discusses, with detailed exemplification, some of the areas where linguists have moved beyond description to acting on and changing the world. Examples from three murder trials show how essential it is, in order to protect the rights of witnesses and defendants, to have audio records of significant interviews with police officers. The article moves on to discuss the potentially serious consequences of the many communicative problems inherent in legal/lay interaction and illustrates a few of the linguist-led improvements to important texts. Finally, the article turns to the problems of using linguistic data to try to determine the geographical origin of asylum seekers. The intention of the article is to act as a call to arms to linguists; it concludes with the observation that 'innumerable mountains remain for those with a critical linguistic perspective who would like to try to move one'. © 2011 John Benjamins Publishing Company.

"I'm a better manager":A biographic narrative study of the impact of personal trauma on the professional lives of managers in the UK

This doctoral study aims to understand how experiences of critical illness or bereavement affect the way managers view and approach their work and their relationships at work. This is an interpretative phenomenological study examining the subjective meanings of personal experience and is underpinned by biographic narratives from four participants and interviews with their nominated workplace witnesses (i.e. colleagues who worked alongside the individual at the time of their trauma). As a consequence of the findings that have emerged across this study, three contributions to theory are presented. All four participants described their traumas as a professional growth experience for themselves as managers, which resulted in self-reported and observed behaviour change at work. Consequently, the first area of theoretical contribution is a suggested extension to the post-traumatic growth (PTG) framework (Calhoun & Tedeschi, 2006) with the addition of a new behavioural dimension called ‘managerial growth’, when applied to the context of ‘ordinary’ organizations. The second area of theoretical contribution arose through the reflexive process that was created during data collection where participants and their witnesses remembered episodes of compassion interaction at work. The second area of contribution thus seeks to extend the existing model of compassion at work (Dutton, Worline, Frost and Lilius, 2006), by conceptualising compassion as a dyadic process between a compassion ‘giver’ and a compassion ‘receiver’ in which the compassion receiver ‘trusts or ‘mistrusts’; ‘discloses’ or ‘withholds’; ‘connects’ or ‘disconnects’ with the compassion giver. The third area of contribution is a new conceptualisation of reflexivity, ‘three-dimensional reflexivity’ (3DR) (Armstrong, Butler and Shaw, 2013). 3DR brings together three of the elements that have been missing from critically reflexive management research; by working with multiple variants of reflexivity in the same study; surfacing different reflexive voices to guard against the researcher’s (potentially) solipsistic own; and remaining sensitive to the concept of reflexive time. In doing so, 3DR not only provides a deeper understanding of individual lived experience; it is also a vehicle in which self-insight is gained. Furthermore, by engaging in its practice, those involved in this study have developed both personally and professionally as a result.

Challenging masculinity in CSR disclosures:silencing of women’s voices in Tanzania’s mining industry

This paper presents a feminist analysis of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in a male-dominated industry within a developing country context. It seeks to raise awareness of the silencing of women’s voices in CSR reports produced by mining companies in Tanzania. Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in Africa, and women are often marginalised in employment and social policy considerations. Drawing on work by Hélène Cixous, a post-structuralist/radical feminist scholar, the paper challenges the masculinity of CSR discourses that have repeatedly masked the voices and concerns of ‘other’ marginalised social groups, notably women. Using interpretative ethnographic case studies, the paper provides much-needed empirical evidence to show how gender imbalances remain prevalent in the Tanzanian mining sector. This evidence draws attention to the dynamics faced by many women working in or living around mining areas in Tanzania. The paper argues that CSR, a discourse enmeshed with the patriarchal logic of the contemporary capitalist system, is entangled with tensions, class conflicts and struggles which need to be unpacked and acknowledged. The paper considers the possibility of policy reforms in order to promote gender balance in the Tanzanian mining sector and create a platform for women’s concerns to be voiced.

'The prime minister said...': voices in translated political texts

A variety of texts are translated to fulfil functions for political communication across languages, cultures, and ideologies. For example, newspapers regularly provide quotes of statements by foreign politicians, without explicitly indicating that these politicians were actually speaking in their own languages. Politicians react to statements by other politicians as they were presented to them in translation. Political scientists and other experts often debate the potential political consequences of (the translation of) a statement. This chapter addresses the (in)visibility of translation in political communication and the link between textual profiles of translations and the socio-political contexts in which they are produced. The analyses are conducted from the perspective of Translation Studies. The focus is on institutionalised forms of political discourse, i.e. texts that originate in political or media institutions. The link between translation profiles and the social, institutional, ideological conditions of text production is illustrated with reference to authentic political texts (interviews, speeches by politicians, press conferences), mainly involving English, French and German as source and target languages.

Interviewing adult witnesses and victims

In this chapter, we discuss the interviewing of adult witnesses and victims with reference to how the extant psychological and linguistic literature has contributed to understanding and informing interview practice over the past 20 years and how it continues to support practical and procedural improvements. We have only scratched the surface of this important and complex topic, but throughout this chapter we have directed readers to many in-depth reviews and some of the most contemporary research literature currently available in this domain. We have introduced the PEACE model and described the Cognitive Interview procedure and its development. We have also discussed rapport building, question types and communication style, all with reference to witness memory and practical interviewing. Finally, we highlight areas that would benefit from research, for example conducting interviews with interpreters, and how new training initiatives are seeking to improve interview procedures and interviewer practice.

The question of question types in police interviews:a review of the literature from a psychological and linguistic perspective

The past two decades has seen a plethora of papers and academic research conducted on investigative interviews with victims, witnesses and suspected offenders, with a particular focus on questioning techniques and typologies. However, despite this research, there still remain significant discrepancies amongst academic researchers and practitioners over how best to describe types of questions. This article considers the available literature relating to interviews with children and adults from both a psychological and linguistic perspective. In particular, we examine how different types of questions are described, and explore the discrepancies between competing definitions. © 2010, equinox publishing.

Risks and benefits of selective (re)presentation of interviewees' talk:some insights from discourse analysis

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the quality of evidence collected during interview. Current UK national guidance on the interviewing of victims and witnesses recommends a phased approach, allowing the interviewee to deliver their free report before any questioning takes place, and stipulating that during this free report the interviewee should not be interrupted. Interviewers, therefore, often find it necessary during questioning to reactivate parts of the interviewee's free report for further elaboration. Design/methodology/approach: The first section of this paper draws on a collection of police interviews with women reporting rape, and discusses one method by which this is achieved - the indirect quotation of the interviewee by the interviewer - exploring the potential implications for the quality of evidence collected during this type of interview. The second section of the paper draws on the same data set and concerns itself with a particular method by which information provided by an interviewee has its meaning "fixed" by the interviewer. Findings: It is found that "formulating" is a recurrent practice arising from the need to clarify elements of the account for the benefit of what is termed the "overhearing audience" - in this context, the police scribe, CPS, and potentially the Court. Since the means by which this "fixing" is achieved necessarily involves the foregrounding of elements of the account deemed to be particularly salient at the expense of other elements which may be entirely deleted, formulations are rarely entirely neutral. Their production, therefore, has the potential to exert undue interviewer influence over the negotiated "final version" of interviewees' accounts. Originality/value: The paper highlights the fact that accurate re-presentations of interviewees' accounts are a crucial tool in ensuring smooth progression of interviews and that re-stated speech and formulation often have implications for the quality of evidence collected during significant witness interviews. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Students' perceptions of computer assisted learning:an empirical study

Research indicates that although students are the ultimate 'beneficiaries of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based' higher education learning their voices have been neglected in its development. This paper attempts to redress this imbalance by illuminating students' perceptions of the use of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) in an undergraduate accounting module. The findings suggest that students are in favour of using EQL in a supportive role only. Interviewees rejected the idea of replacing human tutors with machine tutors and they believed that most of their learning occurs in tutorials and ranked these as the most important component of the module.

Perspectives of carers on medication management in dementia:lessons from collaboratively developing a research proposal

Background: The need for carers to manage medication-related problems for people with dementia living in the community raises dilemmas, which can be identified by carers and people with dementia as key issues for developing carer-relevant research projects.A research planning Public Patient Involvement (PPI) workshop using adapted focus group methodology was held at the Alzheimer's Society's national office, involving carers of people with dementia who were current members of the Alzheimer's Society Research Network (ASRN) in dialogue with health professionals aimed to identify key issues in relation to medication management in dementia from the carer viewpoint. The group was facilitated by a specialist mental health pharmacist, using a topic guide developed systematically with carers, health professionals and researchers. Audio-recordings and field notes were made at the time and were transcribed and analysed thematically. The participants included nine carers in addition to academics, clinicians, and staff from DeNDRoN (Dementias and Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Network) and the Alzheimer's Society. Findings. Significant themes, for carers, which emerged from the workshop were related to: (1) medication usage and administration practicalities, (2) communication barriers and facilitators, (3) bearing and sharing responsibility and (4) weighing up medication risks and benefits. These can form the basis for more in-depth qualitative research involving a broader, more diverse sample. Discussion. The supported discussion enabled carer voices and perspectives to be expressed and to be linked to the process of identifying problems in medications management as directly experienced by carers. This was used to inform an agenda for research proposals which would be meaningful for carers and people with dementia. © 2014 Poland et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

From the medicalisation of dementia to the politics of memory and identity in three Spanish documentary films:Bicicleta, cullera, poma, Las voces de la memoria and Bucarest: la memòria perduda

This paper explores how the concept of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is constructed through Spanish media and documentary films and how it is represented. The article analyses three documentary films and the cultural and social contexts in and from which they emerged: Solé´s Bucarest: la memòria perduda [Bucharest: Memory Lost] (2007), Bosch´s Bicicleta, cullera, poma [Bicycle, Spoon, Apple] (2010) , and Frabra’s Las voces de la memoria [Memory´s Voices] (2011). The three documentary films approach AD from different perspectives, creating well-structured discourses of what AD represents for contemporary Spanish society, from medicalisation of AD to issues of personhood and citizenship. These three films are studied from an interdisciplinary perspective, in an effort to strengthen the links between ageing and dementia studies and cultural studies. Examining documentary film representations of AD from these perspectives enables semiotic analyses beyond the aesthetic perspectives of film studies, and the exploration of the articulation of knowledge and power in discourses about AD in contemporary Spain

Remembering remotely:would video-mediation impair witnesses' memory reports?

Witnesses often experience lengthy delays prior to being interviewed, during which their memories inevitably decay. Video-communication technology - favored by intergovernmental organizations for playing larger roles in judicial processes - might circumvent some of the resourcing problems that can exacerbate such delays. However, whereas video-mediation might facilitate expeditious interviewing, it might also harm rapport-building, make witnesses uncomfortable, and thereby undermine the quality and detail of their reports. Participants viewed a crime film and were interviewed either one day later via video-link, one day later face-to-face, or 1-2 weeks later face-to-face. Video-mediation neither influenced the detail or the accuracy of participants' reports, nor their ratings of the quality of the interviews. However, participants who underwent video-mediated interviews after a short delay gave more accurate, detailed reports than participants who waited longer to be interviewed face-to-face. This study provides initial empirical evidence that video-mediated communication (VMC) could facilitate the expeditious conduct of high-quality investigative interviews. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

Lexico-grammatical portraits of vulnerable women in war:the 1641 depositions

The 1641 Depositions are testimonies collected from (mainly Protestant) witnesses documenting their experiences of the Irish uprising that began in October 1641. As news spread across Europe of the events unfolding in Ireland, reports of violence against women became central to the ideological construction of the barbarism of the Catholic rebels. Against a backdrop of women's subordination and firmly defined gender roles, this article investigates the representation of women in the Depositions, creating what we have termed "lexico-grammatical portraits" of particular categories of woman. In line with other research dealing with discursive constructions in seventeenth-century texts, a corpus-assisted discourse analytical approach is taken. Adopting the assumptions of Critical Discourse Analysis, the discussion is extended to what the findings reveal about representations of the roles of women, both in the reported events and in relation to the dehumanisation of the enemy in atrocity propaganda more generally. © John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Infant voices: embryonic and neonatal personhood in two recent French Catholic novels

There are almost no literary or artistic representations that take the unborn or neonatal infants as their subject. Two exceptions to this as Claire Daudin’s Le Sourire and Antoine Beauquier’s Pavillon 7: la révolte des embryons. What these novels share is the ambition to frame such subjects as full and complete persons. Thus in their distinct ways both novels engage with the familial, social and biological problems that arise when personhood is attributed to embryos or neo-natal infants. Their creation of an embryonic or infant ‘voice’ associates the dignity of such subjects with divine origins.