The Outcomes of Cross-Cultural Adjustment: A Case of British Expatriates Working on International Architectural, Engineering and Construction Assignments

The main aim of this study is to investigate the consequences of cross-cultural adjustment in an under researched sample of British expatriates working on International Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) assignments. Adjustment is the primary outcome of an expatriate assignment. According to Bhaskar-Srinivas et al., (2005), Harrison et al., (2004) it is viewed to affect other work related outcomes which could eventually predict expatriate success. To address the scarcity of literature on expatriate management in the AEC sector, an exploratory design was adopted. Phase one is characterised by extensive review of extant literature, whereas phase two was qualitative exploration from British expatriates’ perspective; here seven unstructured interviews were carried out. Further, cognitive mapping analysis through Banaxia decision explorer software was conducted to develop a theoretical framework and propose various hypotheses. The findings imply that British AEC firms could sustain their already established competitive advantage in the global marketplace by acknowledging the complexity of international assignments, prioritising expatriate management and offering a well-rounded support to facilitate expatriate adjustment and ultimately achieve critical outcomes like performance, assignment completion and job satisfaction.

The outcomes of cross-cultural adjustment: A case of British expatriates working on international architectural, engineering and construction assignments

The main aim of this study is to investigate the consequences of cross-cultural adjustment in an under researched sample of British expatriates working on International Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) assignments. Adjustment is the primary outcome of an expatriate assignment. According to Bhaskar-Srinivas et al., (2005), Harrison et al., (2004) it is viewed to affect other work related outcomes which could eventually predict expatriate success. To address the scarcity of literature on expatriate management in the AEC sector, an exploratory design was adopted. Phase one is characterised by extensive review of extant literature, whereas phase two was qualitative exploration from British expatriatesÕ perspective; here seven unstructured interviews were carried out. Further, cognitive mapping analysis through Banaxia decision explorer software was conducted to develop a theoretical framework and propose various hypotheses. The findings imply that British AEC firms could sustain their already established competitive advantage in the global marketplace by acknowledging the complexity of international assignments, prioritising expatriate management and offering a well-rounded support to facilitate expatriate adjustment and ultimately achieve critical outcomes like performance, assignment completion and job satisfaction.

Gender, religion, and sociopolitical issues in cross-cultural online education

Cross-cultural education is thought to develop critical consciousness of how unequal distributions of power and privilege affect people’s health. Learners in different sociopolitical settings can join together in developing critical consciousness – awareness of power and privilege dynamics in society – by means of communication technology. The aim of this research was to define strengths and limitations of existing cross-cultural discussions in generating critical consciousness. The setting was the FAIMER international fellowship program for mid-career interdisciplinary health faculty, whose goal is to foster global advancement of health professions education. Fellows take part in participant-led, online, written, task-focused discussions on topics like professionalism, community health, and leadership. We reflexively identified text that brought sociopolitical topics into the online environment during the years 2011 and 2012 and used a discourse analysis toolset to make our content analysis relevant to critical consciousness. While references to participants’ cultures and backgrounds were infrequent, narratives of political-, gender-, religion-, and other culture-related topics did emerge. When participants gave accounts of their experiences and exchanged cross-cultural stories, they were more likely to develop ad hoc networks to support one another in facing those issues than explore issues relating to the development of critical consciousness. We suggest that cross-cultural discussions need to be facilitated actively to transform learners’ frames of reference, create critical consciousness, and develop cultural competence. Further research is needed into how to provide a safe environment for such learning and provide faculty development for the skills needed to facilitate these exchanges.

Queering the Cross-Cultural Imagination: (Trans)Subjectivity and Wilson Harris's The Palace of the Peacock

Ce mémoire comprend deux volets : une étude théorique et un texte de création littéraire. Dans un premier temps, il s’agir d’étudier le rôle du désir dans la démarche thématique et philosophique employée par l’écrivain Wilson Harris dans son roman The Palace of the Peacock. Ainsi démonterons-nous dans le premier chapitre que Harris se sert – de façon paradoxale – du désir empirique pour faire valoir les limites mêmes de celui-ci. Nous aborderons dans le deuxième chapitre le rapport problématique qu’entretient, chez Harris, la subjectivité féminine avec la subjectivité masculine. En particulier, nous examinerons la représentation de ce rapport sous la forme de métaphores ayant trait à l’environnement et à l’anatomie. Nous avancerons que le caractère problématique que revêt le rapport entre subjectivités féminine et masculine dans le roman est en quelque sorte nécessitée par l’écriture même de Harris. Dans le troisième chapitre, nous prendrons part aux débats sur la poétique qui animent la littérature contemporaine afin de situer notre propre élan vers la création littéraire. En même temps, nous entreprendrons une tentative de récupération de certains des concepts théoriques formulés par Harris, en lien avec notre propre poétique. S’ensuivra notre projet de création littéraire, intitulé HEROISM/EULOGIES, qui constitue le quatrième et dernier chapitre du mémoire. Ce texte, extrait d’un projet d’écriture créative plus vaste, trace les mouvements d’un certain nombre de sujets à travers une Amérique imaginée.

Communicative competence in Spanish-English cross-cultural language education : some pedagogic strategies drawn from the national arts.

Resumen tomado de la publicación

Adult ESOL learners in Britain : a cross-cultural study.

Se describen los principales temas, perspectivas y debates en la enseñanza del inglés para hablantes de otros idiomas (English for Speakers of Other Languages) en Gran Bretaña. Al combinar el análisis histórico, sociolingüístico e intercultural sobre las necesidades lingüísticas de los inmigrantes adultos en este país, el debate se ocupa de cuestiones relacionadas con el aprendizaje y la enseñanza del inglés para hablantes de otros idiomas.

Perceived stress, coping resources, and life satisfaction among U.S. and mexican college students : a cross-cultural study. 'Estrés percibido, recursos de afrontamiento y satisfacción con la vida entre estudiantes universitarios de México y Estados Unidos : un estudio trans-cultural'.

Este artículo pertenece a una sección de la revista dedicada a psicología social. - Resumen tomado parcialmente de la revista

Measurement of mother-infant interactions and the home environment in a European setting: preliminary results from a cross-cultural study

Background Infant development is adversely affected in the context of postnatal depression. This relationship may be mediated by both the nature of early mother-infant interactions and the quality of the home environment. Aim To establish the usefulness of the Global Ratings Scales of Mother-Infant Interaction and the Infant-Toddler version of the Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment (IT-HOME), and to test expected associations of the measures with characteristics of the social context and with major or minor depression. Method Both assessments were administered postnatally in four European centres; 144 mothers were assessed with the Global Ratings Scales and 114 with the IT-HOME. Affective disorder was assessed by means of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Disorders. Results Analyses of mother-infant interaction indicated no main effect for depression but maternal sensitivity to infant behaviour was associated with better infant communication, especially for women who were not depressed. Poor overall emotional support also reduced sensitivity scores. Poor support was also related to poorer IT-HOME scores, but there was no effect of depression. Conclusions The Global Ratings Scales were effectively applied but there was less evidence of the usefulness of the IT-HOME. Declaration of interest None.