International Projects and Cross-Cultural Adjustment of British Expatriates in Middle East: A Qualitative Investigation of Influencing Factors

Increased globalisation within the British AEC (Architectural, Engineering and Construction) sector has increased the need for companies to transfer staff to manage their overseas operations. To be able to perform abroad, expatriates must harmonise themselves to the conditions prevailing in the host country. These include getting accustomed to living, working and interacting with the host country nationals. The process is commonly referred to as 'cross-cultural adjustment'. Various factors influence the process of adjustment. In order to identify these issues, a qualitative study was undertaken, which mainly comprised of comprehensive literature review, individual interviews and focus group discussion with British expatriates working on international AEC assignments in Middle Eastern countries. Through interpretative approach, the current study aims to understand the concept of cross-cultural adjustment of British Expatriates based in Middle East and their influencing factors.

The findings suggest that success of expatriation does not entirely rest on an expatriate's ability but also on organisational support and assistance that expatriates receive prior to and during the assignment. Organisational factors such as selection mechanisms, job design, training, logistical and social support, mentoring, etc., influence various facets of expatriate adjustment. Striking cultural contrasts between British and Arab culture both in work and non work situations also dictate the level of support required by the expatriate, suggesting that relocation to less developed, remote or politically unstable regions, demands additional support and consideration by the parent company. This study is relevant to the AEC companies employing British expatriates, who need to be cognisant of the issues highlighted above to make rational and informed decisions when handling international assignments in the Middle East.

Cross-Cultural Intelligence (CQ): its impact on British Expatriates Adjustment in International Construction Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the facets of cultural intelligence (CQ) (cognitive, meta-cognitive, motivational and behavioural) and the dimensions of cross-cultural adjustment (interaction, general and work adjustment).

Design/methodology/approach: Interviews and questionnaire survey were carried out with British expatriates from the architectural, engineering and construction sector. A total of 191 respondents, with experience from 29 different countries, actively participated in this research. Structural equation model was subsequently developed to investigate the relationship between elements of CQ and cross-cultural adjustment.

Findings: Results of structural equation modelling revealed that collectively all the four aspects of CQ have significant influence on general, interaction and work adjustment, particularly motivational and cognitive CQ. Cognitive CQ which empowers the expatriates with in-depth knowledge about different cultures was a significant predictor of interaction and work adjustment, whereas, motivational CQ is a significant predictor for general and work adjustment. However, no support was gathered for meta-cognitive and behavioural aspects of CQ.

Practical implications: Globally, construction companies and projects are entering an era of increased internationalisation which has prompted the migration/promotion of British construction professionals to different parts of the world for their specialised capabilities and skills. Thus, it is of utmost importance that these professionals adjust to their new world of varied culture and still be productive in their work.

Originality/value: An understanding of these essential factors can actually help British construction organisations to select and mentor individuals and to provide necessary training for successful international assignments.

Constructing the 'gay gene' in the news:Optimism and skepticism in the US and British press

In the 1990s the discovery of a 'gay gene' was widely reported in the news media, often as front-page stories. Focusing on the print media presentation of Dean Hamer's 1993 and 1995 scientific papers reporting finding a genetic marker for homosexuality, we examine how these studies were framed in a selected sample of US and British newspapers and news magazines. We found disparate constructions of the 'gay gene' in each press culture. The US press reported Hamer's study as good science and treated it with 'cautious optimism' while the British press reported the research as 'the perils of the gay gene.' We discuss how these studies received such widespread attention and the sources and implications of the variant images of the 'gay gene' in the news.

Epidemiology of giant retinal tears in the United Kingdom: The British giant retinal tear epidemiology eye study (BGEES)

To determine the incidence of giant retinal tear (GRT) in the United Kingdom and to provide epidemiologic data, clinical characteristics, treatment methods, and short-term outcomes in affected and fellow eyes. METHODS. Patients with a newly developed GRT (90° or greater in circumferential extent associated with posterior vitreous detachment) were identified prospectively over a 13-month period (January 2007-January 2008, inclusive) by active surveillance through the British Ophthalmic Surveillance Unit. Questionnaire-based data were obtained from reporting ophthalmologists at baseline and 12 months. RESULTS. Sixty patients (62 eyes) developed a new GRT, giving a U.K. annual incidence of 0.094 (95% CI 0.072-0.120) cases or 0.091 (95% CI 0.069-0.117) patients per 100,000. The GRTs were mostly idiopathic (54.8%), affected middle-aged (mean, 42.2 years), white British (93.3%) males (71.7%), with presenting vision worse than 20/40 in 59.7%, foveal detachment in 45.2%, and proliferative vitreoretinopathy of grade C (PVR-C) or worse in 11.3%. Treatment in most was managed by pars plana vitrectomy (93.5%) with laser retinopexy (52.5%) and silicone oil endotamponade (75.8%). Prophylactic 360° laser or cryotherapy was applied to 39.0% of the fellow eyes. At mean follow-up of 11.3 months, eventual retinal reattachment was attained in 94.7%, although only 42.1% achieved vision of =20/40. Neither GRT nor RD developed in any of the 19 nontraumatic, noniatrogenic, prophylactically treated fellow eyes. CONCLUSIONS. This study is the first population-based prospective effort to evaluate the epidemiology of GRT. Although onlya minority presented with PVR-C and high retinal reattachment rates were achieved, fewer than half had vision sufficient for driving in the GRT eye.

An analysis of ABCR mutations in British patients with recessive retinal dystrophies

PURPOSE. Several reports have shown that mutations in the ABCR gene can lead to Stargardt disease (STGD)/fundus flavimaculatus (FFM), autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (arRP), and autosomal recessive cone-rod dystrophy (arCRD). To assess the involvement of ABCR in these retinal dystrophies, the gene was screened in a panel of 70 patients of British origin. METHODS. Fifty-six patients exhibiting the STGD/FFM phenotype, 6 with arRP, and 8 with arCRD, were screened for mutations in the 50 exons of the ABCR gene by heteroduplex analysis and direct sequencing. Microsatellite marker haplotyping was used to determine ancestry. RESULTS. In the 70 patients analyzed, 31 sequence changes were identified, of which 20 were considered to be novel mutations, in a variety of phenotypes. An identical haplotype was associated with the same pair of in-cis alterations in 5 seemingly unrelated patients and their affected siblings with STGD/FFM. Four of the aforementioned patients were found to carry three alterations in the coding sequence of the ABCR gene, with two of them being in-cis. CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that ABCR is a relatively polymorphic gene. Because putative mutations have been identified thus far only in 25 of 70 patients, of whom only 8 are compound heterozygotes, a large number of mutations have yet to be ascertained. The disease haplotype seen in the 5 patients carrying the same 'complex' allele is consistent with the presence of a common ancestor.

Changing attitudes to gender roles: A longitudinal analysis of ordinal response data from the British household panel study

This article examines changes in attitudes to gender roles in contemporary Britain by using a first-order Markov process in which cumulative transition probabilities are logistic functions of a set of personal and socioeconomic characteristics of respondents. The data are taken from the British Household Panel Study (BHPS). The attitudinal responses examined take the form of ordinal responses concerning gender roles in 1991 and 2003. The likelihood function is partitioned to make possible the use of existing software for estimating model parameters. For the BHPS data, it was found that, depending on the value of the response in 1991, a variety of factors were important determinants of attitudes to gender roles by 2003.

British population and society in 2025:Some conjectures

The paper examines three aspects of demographic change and conjectures about their wider impact on British society. Two features of fertility behaviour are highlighted. The first deals with ethnic variations and the likely continuation of high fertility rates amongst women of South Asian origin. The second involves the continued bifurcation between career women and those for whom motherhood remains a central life project. International migration is also assessed and the contradictions within the 'Fortress Britain' strategy exposed. Britain will continue to receive migrants from overseas and British society will become increasingly multi-ethnic. The paper also examines the tensions between an increasingly ageing population and the development of increased ethnic and cultural diversity. The paper concludes with some implications of these changes for the discipline of sociology itself.

‘The “English Disease” is to Look for a “Solution of the Irish Problem”’: British Constitutional Policy in Northern Ireland after Sunningdale 1974–1976

This article reconstructs British constitutional policy in Northern Ireland after power-sharing collapsed in May 1974. Over the following two years, the British government publicly emphasised that Northern Ireland would decide its own future, but ministers secretly considered a range of options including withdrawal, integration and Dominion status. These discussions have been fundamentally misunderstood by previous authors, and this article shows that Harold Wilson did not seriously advocate withdrawal nor was policy as inconsistent as argued elsewhere. An historical approach, drawing from recently released archival material, shows that consociationalists such as Brendan O'Leary and Michael Kerr have neglected the proper context of government policy because of their commitment to a particular form of government, failing to recognise the constraints under which ministers operated. The British government remained committed to an internal devolved settlement including both communities but was unable to impose one.