Cultures within culture: Unity and diversity of two generations of employees in state-owned enterprises

This study adopts integration and differentiation perspectives to examine why unity and diversity of organizational cultures emerged as a function of economic reform, and how subcultural differences were reflected in employees' perceptions of cultural practices. Data were gathered from in-depth interviews and a large-scale survey in two large, state-owned enterprises in north-east China. Results indicated that, although all employees were oriented towards a common set of cultural themes, the two generations of employees did not exemplify the themes in the same way. Specifically, unity was illustrated by employees' desire to maintain Harmony and to reduce Inequality. Diversity was revealed by first-generation employees' higher ratings on Loyalty, Security and even Bureaucracy. The findings are discussed in the light of traditional Chinese cultural values, political ideology and the social context. Implications are drawn for organizational cultural theory and research.

Social identity and diversity in organizations

In this paper, a social identity perspective on the management of diversity in organizations is outlined. The perspective is well-placed to offer considerable insight in this area, given that it explicates the processes through which group memberships impact on people's attitudes and behaviour both within and between groups that are operative in the workplace. According to this perspective, relative group status and the perceived permeability of intergroup boundaries are key factors that need to be considered in any efforts to understand intergroup relations in the workplace. After a brief overview of the social identity perspective, the paper discusses: i) the role that group status and perceived permeability play in determining the nature of intergroup relations in the workplace, and 2) the type of interventions that can be derived from a social identity perspective in an effort to improve intergroup relations in the workplace.

Origin and diversity of the Sox transcription factor gene family: genome-wide analysis in Fugu rubripes

The SOX family of transcription factors are found throughout the animal kingdom and are important in a variety of developmental contexts. Genome analysis has identified 20 Sox genes in human and mouse, which can be subdivided into 8 groups, based on sequence comparison and intron-exon structure. Most of the SOX groups identified in mammals are represented by a single SOX sequence in invertebrate model organisms, suggesting a duplication and divergence mechanism has operated during vertebrate evolution. We have now analysed the Sox gene complement in the pufferfish, Fugu rubripes, in order to shed further light on the diversity and origins of the Sox gene family. Major differences were found between the Sox family in Fugu and those in humans and mice. In particular, Fugu does not have orthologues of Sry, Sox,15 and Sox30, which appear to be specific to mammals, while Sox19, found in Fugu and zebrafish but absent in mammals, seems to be specific to fishes. Six mammalian Sox genes are represented by two copies each in Fugu, indicating a large-scale gene duplication in the fish lineage. These findings point to recent Sox gene loss, duplication and divergence occurring during the evolution of tetrapod and teleost lineages, and provide further evidence for large-scale segmental or a whole-genome duplication occurring early in the radiation of teleosts. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Long-term dynamic patterns and diversity of phytoplankton communities in a large eutrophic river (the case of River Danube, Hungary)

In this paper we present the composition, seasonal dynamics and fluctuations in diversity of the phytoplankton in the Danube River over 24 years. Weekly samplings were conducted at one section of the river at Göd, in the 1669 river kilometer segment. The change in the phytoplankton community structure was analyzed in relation of water temperature and discharge means. Our findings support the opinion that the Danube is very rich in species, although many of the species are rare and could be described only as coloring species. Results indicate trends in the phytoplankton abundance, which are only detectable in long-term studies. By the help of diversity indices we have observed an increase in the phytoplankton community diversity. With the relevant information, an explanation of the significant changes in diversity and richness was formed. Our goals were a construction of a solid database of the phytoplankton, examining the seasonal dynamics of the phytoplankton through a 24 year long study and to see the most important changing factors of the community. The results of this study are to assist and help future model developments to predict the phytoplankton seasonal dynamic patterns.