Project Management Across Cultures

It is said that Henry Gantt (1861–1919) was the “father” of planning and control techniques. Most of us have used a Gantt Chart to plot tasks and time in a program or project. A project is “a prearranged effort to meet predetermined objectives given the constraint of resources — people, expertise, time, money, materials, and energy” (Strauss, 2007). There are three simple…

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Data Collection Techniques

In social research there are multiple data collection techniques that ethnographers use in the process of inquiry. Below is a list of many of them, especially useful in qualitative research, followed by pertinent questions: Survey Questionnaire Observation of Cultural Events: Direct, Indirect/Passive, and Participant Interview: Unstructured, Semi-Structured, and Structured Focus Groups Text Analysis Narrative Inquiry Projective Techniques…

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Social Research: Quantitative and Qualitative

The social sciences include branches such as: anthropology, economics, history, political science, psychology, and sociology. Social research is inquiry into human exchange and is carried out empirically, that is, through observation in the field. In fact, it is the length of time one spends in the field that enhanced the validity of research (Kirk &…

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Social Research

What is social research? Consider these summarized elements: Social research investigates the learned, shared patterns of perception and behavior among a people group. These patterns are story-based and are often differentiated into four basic cultural arrangements. Social research includes: (a) observing human behavior, (b) determining the function of socio/cultural institutions, (c) identifying shared values, and (d) examining core worldview assumptions. It is always empirical, generally in…

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Instructional Design and Delivery

Instructional design and delivery involve the transfer of understanding and skills with a style and in a setting that is effective, easy, and enjoyable. This blog integrates the principles, processes, and practices of the design and delivery of intentional and integral training. Any intervention of training assumes there is a need. Accordingly, the starting point…

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Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

DMIS is the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, introduced by Milton Bennett in 1986 and later revised in 1993. It describes six stages of cross-cultural experience, especially the management of differences across culture. In the outline that follows, there are stages of “ethnocentrism” where an individual may be focused more on himself. Following are stages of…

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Worldviews

James E. Brock of St. Augustine, Florida, a retired U.S. Navy veteran and deacon at the Ancient City Baptist Church, owned the local Monson Motor Lodge. In June 1964, after five young black men jumped into the “whites-only” swimming pool, Brock poured hydrochloric acid into the pool in order to get them out. A defender…

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Cultural Competency Begins with Self-Awareness

How important is self-awareness? It is enormously important in the cross-cultural setting. The single greatest hindrance to effective intercultural communication is the assumption that others see the world as I do. They do not! The grid through which I “see” is shaped by: (a) core worldview assumptions about is and is not real and (b) embraced values about…

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Triple Bottom Line of Sustainability – An Intercultural View

Typically, in business, strategists have referred to a triple bottom line of sustainability, that is, people, planet, and profit. The figure below represents the triple bottom line of sustainability from an intercultural perspective – people, progress, and process. It includes social relationships, progress in the host society, and locally familiar forms and functions. Progress in the host society does not negate profit. However, the…

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Evaluating Training Across Cultures

Only one time in my professional career did I hear a business executive say he did not believe in training. He told me that he felt people were either born with the skills or were not. We were discussing leadership. Whether he realized it or not, his view was based on “Trait Theory,” an assumption…

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