Confucianism, Discipline, and Competitiveness

Confucianism, Discipline, and Competitiveness

Author: Chris Baumann

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1351062204

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The importance of competitiveness has increased rapidly in recent years, where a fresh look at the different forms in which competitiveness manifests is needed. Though the exceptional growth of East Asian economies has been hypothesised previously from a socio-cultural perspective, links have often been vague with little empirical evidence to support them. This book proposes that a unique paradigm of competitiveness has developed in the East as a result of the cultural traditions and social values influenced by Confucianism, and extends this hypothesis by exploring a critical missing link: the role of discipline. Based on data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and World Economic Forum (WEF), this book sheds light on important insights, through empirical evidence, that culture and discipline play an important role toward a country’s academic performance, and ultimately, competitiveness. In comparing six geographical clusters, this book analyses data by applying the "Inter-ocular Test" – visualisation of data distributions – to supplement traditional statistical mean comparisons. The findings advance the discourse on culture and performance, by drawing attention to the significant impact that improving discipline can have for a nation’s productivity–not only those of Confucian East Asia. Written with the evolving global economy in mind, this book highlights the relevance of discipline for shaping individual productivity for the future workforce, and offers new perspectives on how this can be achieved for all societies through three key contributions: Taxonomy of Discipline dimensions, "Parent-Engagement-School-Discipline Taxonomy" (PESD), and Wheel of Competitiveness. Building on the authors’ prior works, this book offers a comprehensive look at three interrelated concepts: Confucianism, Discipline, and Competitiveness, and how they relate to performance in East Asia. Written in an accessible style, this book will be a valuable guide for students, educators, practitioners, and policy-makers who seek to further understand the valuable role of discipline in shaping the success of societies, present and future.


Chinese Organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa

Chinese Organizations in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author: Terence Jackson

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-11-09

Total Pages: 215

ISBN-13: 1315532077

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Trade between China and Africa is increasing year on year, while the West increasingly debates the nature and implications of China’s presence. Yet little research exists at the organizational and community levels. While western press reporting is overwhelmingly negative, African governments mostly welcome the Chinese presence. But what happens at the management level? How are Chinese organizations run? What are they bringing to communities? What is their impact on the local job market? How do they manage staff? How are they working with local firms? This book seeks to provide a theoretical framework for understanding Chinese organizations and management in Africa and to explore how their interventions are playing out at the organizational and community levels in sub-Saharan Africa. Based on rigorous empirical research exploring emerging themes in specific African countries, this book develops implications for management knowledge, education and training provision, and policy formulation. Importantly it seeks to inform future scholarship on China’s management impact in the world generally, on Africa’s future development, and on international and cross-cultural management scholarship. Primarily aimed at scholars of international management, with an interest in China and/or in China in Africa, this important book will also be of great interest to those working in the area of development studies, international politics, and international relations.


Exploring Meaningful and Sustainable Intentional Learning Communities for P-20 Educators

Exploring Meaningful and Sustainable Intentional Learning Communities for P-20 Educators

Author: Adams, Susan R.

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2023-11-13

Total Pages: 362

ISBN-13: 1668472716

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Academic scholars in the field of education face a pressing dilemma – the need for meaningful, transformative adult learning that can lead to equitable access and outcomes for all learners in P-20 classrooms. Despite over two decades of experience, the educational community still grapples with the challenge of creating an environment that fosters professional development with a lasting impact. This issue undermines the very foundation of our educational system, hindering both educators and students from reaching their full potential. Exploring Meaningful and Sustainable Intentional Learning Communities for P-20 Educators is a groundbreaking edited book that provides answers to this critical problem by offering an innovative approach to learning from more than 20 years of wisdom from P-20 educators. It presents a comprehensive exploration of intentional learning communities, demonstrating their historical significance, defining their principles, and outlining the incredible benefits they bring to the world of education.


The Oil Business and the State

The Oil Business and the State

Author: Øystein Noreng

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-10-18

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1000467155

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National oil companies are big business with about 80 percent of the world’s proven oil reserves, and they are crucial to the world’s energy supplies. They are giants, some of the world’s largest companies, measured by market capitalisation, cash flow and investment. Little is known about their modus operandi, how they make decisions about investment and production or about relations with their government-owners. However, it is known that they conduct business with a political mandate, often with multiple long-term objectives, broadly defined and hard to quantify. Unclear mandates give national oil companies leeway to pursue their own distinctive interests, apart from those of the government-owner. As investors, governments are less zealous than private investors. They generally observe multiple objectives, not only return on capital. Therefore, the senior management of national oil companies enjoy more discretionary power and consider longer time horizons than their counterparts in the private sector. The Oil Business and the State explains the practice of state ownership in a capital-intensive industry with high risks and high return, and how these companies act in a market with imperfect competition. This book looks to give readers more insight into the oil industry, into the background of oil exporting countries as well as the economic and political challenges confronting them, including problems of state ownership. The book discusses wider consequences of China replacing the United States as the world’s leading oil importer. It will be of interest to researchers, academics and students in the fields of international business, management history, corporate governance, political economy and economic development of oil-rich countries.


Essentials of Research Methods in Education

Essentials of Research Methods in Education

Author: Scott Buckler

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2023-03-16

Total Pages: 566

ISBN-13: 1529618185

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This book provides a comprehensive overview of research methods, supported by examples from a range of educational fields, along with pragmatic advice and guidance on how to undertake educational research. Using the concept of research as a ‘quest’, this book takes you on a journey from planning stages, through data collection to analysis, to writing up your findings, at each stage exploring the principles and practice that can support your own educational research projects. Academic understanding is combined with practical commentary to show how conceptual ideas are used in practice. Case studies throughout the book highlight the power of educational research to shine a light on important social issues. This is essential reading for students on all education courses that include a research methods module or project. Scott Buckler PhD is an independent academic, Chartered Teacher and Chartered Psychologist. Harriett Moore is a school-based practitioner with a broad background in research.


Self-Initiated Expatriates in Context

Self-Initiated Expatriates in Context

Author: Maike Andresen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-10-01

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 1000196577

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This edited volume builds on the previously published Self-Initiated Expatriation: Individual, Organizational, and National Perspectives, which served to give in-depth insights into the concept and the processes of self-initiated expatriation and presented different groups undertaking self-initiated foreign career moves. While more than a hundred articles on self-initiated expatriation (SIE) have been published in the meanwhile, an examination of the research questions and samples of SIEs in published SIE research shows that the role of context and its impact on SIEs’ career-related decisions and behaviors has not been explored sufficiently. This raises the question in how far existing research results are comparable. The aim of this follow-up volume is to deepen the understanding of SIEs’ careers, focusing on the contextual influences of space, time, and institutions on the heterogeneous SIE population. More specifically, the editors aim to shed light on spatial conditions in terms of the home and host country conditions on the self-initiated expatriation experience and examine developments over time in terms of temporality of conditions and SIEs’ life-course. Moreover, the influence of the institutional context in terms of occupational, organisational, and societal specificities will be analysed. All chapters are based on strong theoretical foundations that serve to conceptualise "context" and are written by both established and emerging global academics and researchers. Self-Initiated Expatriates in Context contributes to conceptual clarity in the burgeoning field of SIE research by drawing attention to the importance of exploring context and, thus, boundary conditions to careers. It offers specific guidance for an improvement of future SIE-related research in order to enhance the validity of future empirical studies as well as for an improvement of managerial practice. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students in the fields of international business, human resource management, organisational studies, and strategic management. Chapters 1, 4, and 12 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.


Cases in Critical Cross-Cultural Management

Cases in Critical Cross-Cultural Management

Author: Jasmin Mahadevan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-11-07

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 1351121049

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This book is a collection of 16 empirical cases in critical Cross-Cultural Management (CCM). All cases approach culture in CCM beyond national cultures, and all examine power as an integrative part of any cross-cultural situation. The cases also consider diversity in the sense of culturally or historically learned categorizations of difference (such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion and class), and acknowledge how diversity categories might differ across cultures. Furthermore, each case suggests a specific method or concept for improving upon the situation. Out of this approach, novel insights emerge: we can see how culture, power and diversity categories are inseparable, and we can understand how exactly this is the case. The uses and benefits of this book are thus both conceptual and methodological; they emerge at the intersections of Critical CCM and diversity studies. All cases also discuss implications for practitioners and are suitable for teaching. Mainstream CCM often limits itself to comparative models or cultural dimensions. This approach is widely critiqued for its simplicity but is equally used for the exact same reason. Often, academics teach this approach whilst cautioning students against implementing it, and this might be simply due to a lack of alternatives. Through means of rich empirical cases, this book offers such an alternative. Considering the intersections of culture, diversity and power enables students, researchers and practitioners alike to see ‘more’ or ‘different’ things in the situation, and then come up with novel approaches and solutions that do justice to the realities of culture and diversity in today’s (and the future's) management and organizations. The chapters of this book thus offer concepts and methods to approach cross-cultural situations: the conceptual gain lies in bringing together CCM and (critical) diversity studies in an easily accessible manner. As a methodological contribution, the cases in this book offer the concise tools and methods for implementing an intersectional approach to culture.


Managing Multilingual Workplaces

Managing Multilingual Workplaces

Author: Sierk Horn

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-06-11

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 0429775032

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This book sets new trajectories for language-sensitive business and management research and pedagogy. The existence of language plurality characterises these. Empirical studies have been established as important and relevant for contemporary research. It has shifted language-sensitive research from the periphery to the centre of international management research. However, this field is rapidly changing, and new thematic approaches have begun to emerge. By addressing this, the book offers genuine and more nuanced insights into existing themes and comes with applications of emergent conceptual developments in different settings. The second part of the book covers methodologies and gives examples and cutting-edge insights into the role of translation in the execution of empirical research and theorising arising from it. Finally, the book draws together innovative ways of how to address the challenges of a multilingual teaching classroom and how to innovate in order to incorporate such diversity through pedagogic practice. This book provides a source that unites insights from multilingual empirical research, methodological considerations and pedagogic practice in order to advance knowledge and debate. It will be a ‘handy source’ of information that offers direct access to the latest guidance on language-sensitive management challenges. It will, therefore, appeal to an internationally-minded and mobile audience, including scholars, students and decision-makers.