Presenter(s):  Rosita Albert, Celine Godet, Grace Coggio

Presentation Description:  The present study explored learning about another culture via on line interactions, and assessed the effect of this learning on attitudes towards the other culture. It took place during a period when attitudes towards the other country were the least positive of recent years. French and American university students interacted with each other in order to learn about daily life and customs in the other culture.
Participants interacted with each other in English (French participants were studying business English) either via instant messaging, or via online forum, during five weeks.
Before and after the interaction period, participants completed a semantic differential attitude measure, a modified ethnocentrism measure, and a short questionnaire designed to find out their prior experience with members of the other culture.
A repeated measures MANOVA showed a significant change in attitudes in a positive direction towards members of the other culture AFTER online interaction. There were also significant differences between the French and Americans in the modified ethnocentrism scores. Pre-to-post interaction changes in the modified ethnocentrism score for the French approached significance.  Specific results and implications of the study for improving intercultural communication will be discussed.

Rosita Albert, Ph.D., a native of Brazil, is  Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota, USA.   A Founding Fellow of the International Academy for Intercultural Research, she prepares individuals to live abroad and to work in diverse cultural settings.  She consults for major companies and non-profit organizations.

Celine Godet is a Ph.D.candidate in Education at the Université de Nantes, France. She has been working on online programs to foster intercultural understanding and foreign culture learning in the EFL classroom.  She has been working with Rosita Albert on this project since 2004.

Grace Coggio.is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Writing Studies, at the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, USA.  She has been working with Rosita Albert on this project since 2006.

Presenter(s):  Perihan Ügeöz

Presentation Description: constitutional amendment with the goal to endorse the headscarf at universities led to a violent political and social controversy in Turkey. The connection of the headscarf with religious and cultural patterns complicates the discussion: The headscarf is interpreted concurrently as a symbol for freedom and liberty as well as for oppression. Even if at first glance the discussion may seem, as if it could be reduced to adaptation problems of Muslims to the challenges of modernity, it gains not least its tension from social reactions to the process of globalization.          Without doubt the clash over the scarf not only concerns the head coverage of women. The conflict nurtures itself from identifications and anxieties. In any case the high amount of emotionality of the dispute over the head cloth both among supporters and opponents not least explains itself from the symbol character of the scarf: for integration and confinement; progress and conservatism.
The aim of the presentation is to reflect over different contexts of a highly explosive social conflict and to exchange information on recent religious and social developments within the Turkish society.

Dr. Perihan Ügeöz studied Adult Education and Intercultural Communication at the Free University Berlin. After some years teaching at university level she now works as a consultant and trainer in the area of intercultural communication and management, adult education and organizational development. She is the author of numerous international publications dealing with comparative education policies.

Presenter(s): Christine Baldy Ngayo

Presentation Description: The literature on national cultures (Adler, 2002, Harris, 2004,Hosfstede,2001, Iribarne, 1988) warns professionals about applying the same rules and tools in different countries and ask for taking into account national cultures while managing people and organizations.  Nevertheless, “best practices” in management are often used by management consultants in a lot of different countries within the leading Fortune 100 companies. This dilemma drives us to raise the question about the extent to which organizational change management best practices are universal of their cultural context or context specific and meaningless of their cultural context.  We have investigated this question in using a meta-case study of the roll out of a new marketing plan at one of the leading company in the pharmaceutical industry in three European countries. The results are counter-intuitive and show that organizational change management best practices are more dependant of the internal and external context of the firm than of the national culture in which the change is taking place. From this presentation, academic will develop their theoretical background about the study of organizational change within a global context and will benefit from the analysis of an original piece of empirical evidence. Managers and intercultural professionals will gain practical knowledge about how to facilitate diagnoses for global organizational change management practices and in getting insight on which ones to use according to the context.

Christine Baldy Ngayo, Lecturer and PhD candidate at HEC Paris School of Management, has a 9 year experience in management consulting as well as multiple experiences in teaching at graduate and executive level.  She holds Masters in Management at EM Lyon Graduate School of Management and La Sorbonne Paris.

Presenter(s): Roger Baumgarte

Presentation Description: With the ever increasing prevalence of world travel, the internet and immigration, people frequently develop close friendships with those of other cultures. These friendships can broaden one’s social life in enjoyable and rewarding ways. But they can also present unique challenges which are often difficult to interpret even for experienced interculturalists. This presentation represents a synthesis of current research on cultural variations in the patterns of close friendships. The classic view holds that people in collectivist societies have fewer friends and these friendships are closer and more stable compared to those in individualist societies. This presentation attempts to correct some aspects of this view and refine others to form four cultural dimensions of close friendships derived from the more global individualism-collectivism dimension. Each dimension is described in terms of polar opposites: 1) Interveners versus Independents, 2) Includers versus Excluders, 3) Idealists versus Realists, 4) Justifiers versus Amenders. Participants should come away with refined notions about the individualism-collectivism dimension, especially as it applies to close friendships. Participants will gain insights and ideas useful to them as trainers and therapists working with clients having difficulty adapting socially to their host cultures.

Roger Baumgarte earned his doctorate in experimental psychology in 1973. Motivated by personal experiences he had with close friendships while on year-long sabbaticals in France and South Korea, he has conducted international studies exploring cultural variations in the nature of close friendships.

Presenter(s): Verena Behrnd

Presentation Description: The presentation will consist of a description of an evaluation study of intercultural training and a discussion about the study and its results as well as of a guided discussion about the advantages and disadvantages of experiential and didactic intercultural training methods and the necessity of the inclusion of intercultural training at university.
The intercultural competence of German university students, who are participants in an additional study program for Latin America receiving language classes and didactic courses about specific themes of Latin American culture, has been measured and compared to a control group. Experiential intercultural training has been conducted and evaluated measuring the value of the sub-domains before and after the training with a culture assimilator-like instrument. The outcome is a value for strategic, social and individual intercultural competence and for the use of problem solving strategies that proved to be successful for expatriates. Participants will reflect about this recent model of intercultural competence and the derived measurement tool. The research results showed that experiential intercultural training developed individual and social intercultural competence among all groups. Didactic intercultural training seemed to work in a more indirect manner enhancing the effectiveness of a following experiential training session especially considering problem solving.

Verena Behrnd, Verena Behrnd is psychologist and PhD student at Dresden University of Technology. She also qualified as intercultural trainer and works as a freelancer giving intercultural courses at university, in business and administration. She is especially interested in Latin American Culture and speaks English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Presenter(s): Charlene Blockinger

Presentation Description: This study explores untapped dimensions of “lived experiences” to tease out the basic components of what is known as intercultural competence. Using the phenomenological method provided a way to gain insight into the prevailing mindset of 17 workplace educators (consultants, corporate coaches, human resource professionals, professional development managers, trainers and recruiters). The goal was to provide a platform for them to reflect on the elements of intercultural competence as they live it.
The research was designed around a creative exercise and in-depth follow-up interviews during which the fundamental elements of intercultural competence surfaced. After analysis, five interrelated and cross-influencing themes emerged: knowledge of the self, understanding cultural context, emotional interaction, observable behavior in context, and elements of skill.

Charlene Blockinger (Ed.D.) is a member of the adjunct faculty at DePaul University and Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.  She teaches undergraduate courses in Intercultural Communication and Global Leadership.

Presenter(s): Florence Bourdon

Presentation Description: This presentation introduces and tests a new instance of the classical scapegoat theory of prejudice based on the frustration-aggression hypothesis (Berkowitz’s work).  I expect that tensions generated by conflicting relationships between dominant groups generate a displacement of hostility toward minority groups taken as scapegoats.  The difference with the classical theory is that frustration does not originate in economic hardships but in conflicting relationships with another ethnic group. The setting of the study is the republics of the Russian Federation.  I hypothesize that conflicting relationships between Russians and the indigenous population leads to a displacement of hostility toward Jews, Chechens, and Tatars.
Results show that displacement of hostility on scapegoats occurs but contrary to what was expected, this displacement is generally blind.  In other words, scapegoats are not chosen for specific characteristics they are assumed to possess, beside their minority status, but because people are generally hostile against any outgroup.  In some instances there is an exception for Jews however who tend to be scapegoated more often than any other minority.
We explain the results by a history of tense relations and configuration of general suspicion and relate them to nowadays ethnic conflicts.

Florence Bourdon, M.Sc. in Migration, Ethnic Relations and Multiculturalism (MERM) from Utrecht University, the Netherlands, I teach intercultural communication and make propositions for the development of intercultural education at Lille Catholic University, France. I am interested in intercultural learning, deep culture, and how to transform cultural antagonism to peaceful relations.

Presenter(s): Malii Brown, Monica Marcel

Presentation Description: A recent Diversity Inc. article stirred controversy by claiming that “most diversity training efforts are ineffective,” yet the authors remind us that programs can lack significant effect without proper strategy.  Measuring business impact helps create strategy, and is increasingly important in building a strong business case for cross-cultural competence programs aimed at strengthening your client’s brand name and bottom line.  Such measurement further serves the intercultural field by enhancing the integrity of our work.
Between 2007-08, Language & Culture Worldwide, LLC (LCW) engaged in an in-depth business impact measurement project with one multi-national corporate client.  A cross-cultural learning program was launched in which 80 associates from the U.S. and India were partnered for 9 months.  Each month, the cross-border partners were assigned work-relevant readings, and met virtually in real time to discuss target learning questions.
Analysis of the program’s business impact was made through a blend of pre and post-program Intercultural Development Inventory assessments, participant focus groups, interviews with key leadership, and an on-line survey.  Improved performance through adjustment in work process was gauged in the areas of performance appraisals, risk assessment, and length of project time.  The project culminated in a summary of findings.

Malii Brown, Consultant for Intercultural Programs with LCW, has lived and worked for extended periods in Asian and Latin American cultures.  Her range of work experiences include work in refugee and immigrant resettlement, international humanitarian aid, and foreign language education.  Malii earned her B.A. in International Relations from Occidental College.

Monica Francois Marcel is partner/co-founder of Language & Culture Worldwide. Monica regularly designs curriculum for corporate clients trying to build intercultural competence in their global organizations. A recovering civil engineer—her specialty is research and programming for global mindsets. Monica is also a SIETAR-USA board member.

Presenter(s): Carrie Cameron

Presentation Description: Academic science has globalized quietly but dramatically over the last 20 years. According to National Science Foundation statistics, the number of foreign faculty and postdoctoral researchers in U.S. academia alone has more than doubled since 1988, while growth in the publication of internationally co-authored articles rose over 100% in the US, EU-15 and Japan. In one institution alone (University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center), 70% of the postdoctoral population is international. Most scientists and academic leadership consider the field to be a "culture-free zone", and the scientific field lags behind business or educational fields in awareness of cultural challenges. This session will describe some of the more salient touchpoints of intercultural differences in science, including how researchers communicate science and get published (the key to their career advancement); ethical issues, especially the question of 'plagiarism' and how it is perceived in different regions of the world; laboratory politics; and individual and family adjustment of expatriate scientists. Participants will learn about the current state of intercultural knowledge & skills in science, comparisons between science and other fields, and report on the efforts of a major U.S. scientific institution to increase intercultural understanding.

Carrie Cameron is a consultant and educator with more than twenty years' experience in global skills development. Currently working with international faculty and postdoctoral researchers at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, she has consulted with leading companies in energy, health care, airlines, aerospace, universities, and government institutions.

Presenter(s): Ida Castiglioni

Presentation Description: The session will present research conducted in the province of Milano, Italy between 2006 and 2008. This territory is the most densely populated area in Europe and therefore serves as a model of many changes being experienced throughout Europe: notably, geriatric services, in a country with the lowest level of birth rate in Europe and the highest in aging population, are provided almost entirely by non-Italian caregivers, and hospital patients themselves are increasingly non-Italians. This presentation will report on research that investigates what kind of “competence” would be useful for social workers and health care providers and how it might be measured. The research used the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) and its measurement, the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) to look at the underlying worldview of intercultural competence. The research team, coordinated by the presenter, assessed about 300 people (with about 60 interviews), including nurses, medical doctors, executives, managers, social workers and politicians of a city hospital, a geriatric rehabiltation hospital in the province, a townhall service of the province, two different coordinated groups of townships (with differentiated services), and the executive administration of the province of Milano. The research findings support the effectiveness of DMIS-directed training and the relevance of intercultural competence to modern European social services.

Dott. Ida Castiglioni is a professor of intercultural communication in the graduate program of social service management and public policies in the faculty of sociology, University of Milano-Bicocca. She is also a psychosomatic counselor and an consultant to global corporations and non-profit organizations in Italy and abroad.

Presenter(s): Richard Cook

Presentation Description: Participants will explore the phenomena of intercultural coaching within a business training and development context. The objective is to establish how traditional coaching and intercultural coaching differ and at the same time share core objectives, practices, key competencies and tools in order to begin a personal development plan for their own professional development in the area of intercultural coaching.  Key questions participants will consider in the workshop are:  What are the differences and similarities between traditional coaching and intercultural coaching?  Which traditional coaching models & tools transfer easily into an intercultural coaching usage and which do not?  How do you develop your professional skills set to move from traditional coaching to intercultural coaching and vice versa?   Approach  This workshop will be run on a facilitated process basis using the participants’ own knowledge and experiences to draw out the key themes and objectives. The session will be highly interactive, moving between a group process through to individual learning action plans to explore key themes.   Participants  Participants will need to have a grounding in intercultural training and coaching including a familiarity with the basic intercultural models and tools and readings in the intercultural field.

Richard Cook is the founder of Global Excellence, a UK based global provider of intercultural training and consultancy services for corporate clients. Richard has worked with international clients for the last twenty-two years and has lived in North and South America, Japan, Africa, the Middle East and Europe on international assignments.

Presenter(s): Tricia Coverdale-Jones

Presentation Description: This paper looks at the effects on individual students of the increasing number of partnerships between Higher Education institutions globally. This was the theme for the 2008 conference at the University of Portsmouth Promoting partnerships: Responding to the Needs of the East Asian Learner in Higher Education  The intercultural experience of a year abroad can be seen in the context of East Asian students studying in the UK. Students studying abroad undergo a stressful but often life-changing experience. This research project considered how these students can benefit from intercultural learning within the course as well as the more generalized life experience which a year abroad brings. Student perceptions about their own intercultural learning and the perceived benefits of a course in Intercultural Communication are presented.
There was evidence that students contributed to a more positive understanding of the  other  culture or cultures. By the end of the academic year the majority of students felt that they had acculturated and were in a stable state. This would enable a positive outcome in both academic and personal terms from their  year abroad.  The article argues for the inclusion of intercultural learning as a course component during study periods abroad.

Tricia Coverdale-Jones, Principal Lecturer with responsibility for the coordination of the BA International Trade and English programme offered by the School of Languages and Area Studies, and also Faculty E-learning Coordinator. She is co-editor with Paul Rastall of a forthcoming book "Internationalizing the University: the Chinese Context" (in press, Palgrave MacMillan, 2008).

Presenter(s): Henri de Jongste

Presentation Description: In the past there have been three classical theories: the superiority theory, which claims that the teller and the audience are made to feel superior over the victim of a joke; the tension-relief theory, which goes back to Freud and claims that humor is a way for the psyche to manage excessive energies, and the incongruity theory, which claims humor centers on a play between expectations and surprising outcomes. Although especially the incongruity theory seems to shed some interesting light on the workings of jokes, none of the three theories per se offers a satisfactory explanation why humor should be more problematic in an inter-cultural context than in an intra-cultural one.
I would like to explore the nature of humor in business contexts, its link with culture as well as the expectations with which it plays. I will make use of literature and of the contributions of the participants of a forum on humor and culture which I facilitated between 2001 and 2006 for the website of the Delta Intercultural Academy, an internet community of researchers, trainers and practitioners in the inter-cultural field (www.dialogin.com).

Henri de Jongste, Born in the Netherlands, 1958; Expatriate in Germany since 1993; Senior Lecturer in Business English, Business Dutch and Intercultural Communication (BA/MA) at FH Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Germany; Vice-dean for International Relations, Course leader of International Business program, 2005-8; Facilitator of "Culture and Humour” forum, www.dialogin.com.

Presenter(s): Darla Deardorff, Duane Deardorff

Presentation Description: Defining and assessing intercultural competence is challenging, but doing so is vital for determining the effectiveness of training and development programs.  This presentation will discuss the first study that documents consensus among leading intercultural experts on a definition of intercultural competence.  The resulting model is the first step in the assessment process.  Given the 80+ tools for assessing intercultural competence, the question becomes, how does one compare results from different sources?  In this presentation, we will describe a new strategy to combine results from various assessments that can be used to examine changes over time, strengthen curricula, or make comparisons between individuals or groups.
Learning goals include:  1) Participants will explore a new model of intercultural competence.  2) Participants will gain knowledge on key assessment principles of intercultural competence.  3) Participants will gain awareness of a new strategy to synthesize assessment results.  Methodologies:  This presentation will utilize a combination of lecture (60%), interactive exercises (20%) and discussion and feedback (20%).

Dr. Darla K. Deardorff is Executive Director of the Association of International Education Administrators, a professional organization based at Duke University, where she teaches courses on cross-cultural communication.  She has published widely on the topic of intercultural competence and assessment and is editor of the forthcoming Handbook of Intercultural Competence (Sage, 2009).

 Dr. Duane Deardorff is a faculty member at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an expert in assessment and measurement uncertainty.  He has presented talks at educational conferences throughout the United States for the past 10 years and is a published author in the areas of measurement uncertainty, performance assessment, and student learning.

Presenter(s): Maura Di Mauro

Presentation Description: Globalisation and multiculturalism processes have changed the concept of “time”, which is ever more connected with the idea of quality of everyday life, because it is considered a precious resource.
In Italy, in Lombardia Region, has been realized the Equal Demetra project. Its purpose has been to provide concrete solutions and to advise the municipal administrations with a set of actions to improve the culture of gender differences and peer opportunities, concerning time and quality of life. Demetra project has included several kind of social actors in processes of design and implementation of time management in urban policies, in particular of  Time and operation Hour Plan. The aim of this public tool is to improve citizens’ everyday life, by promoting the balance of family times with working and collective times, by means of a better organization of city schedules and use of the territory.
In the lecture I will present the observation I studied: I will explain processes and tools used in Lombardia Region to diffuse a new culture of time, considering gender differences in times needs and habits, and the elements of success and unsuccess in order to transfer best practices on this issue.

Maura Di Mauro is a social and work psychologist. She works as freelance trainer, consultant and researcher. In the last two years, collaborating with the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Milano Bicocca, she worked on time and urban policies.

Presenter(s): Nigel Ewington, Bimla Ojelay-Surtees

Presentation Description: Research indicates that trust between international and local staff members is one of the most important factors in a humanitarian agency’s ability to launch a timely and effective emergency response. Despite a community of humanitarian values and the need to save lives, trust remains difficult to build and easy to lose. This session will describe a recent project funded by the Gates foundation aimed at understanding and responding to the challenge posed by trust in culturally diverse emergency response teams. This project was managed by a working group drawn from a consortium of five of the biggest English-speaking charities (Oxfam GB, CARE International, Mercy Corps, Save the Children and World Vision International) and drew on the support of consultants working in the field of trust-building and cultural diversity. In this session delegates will learn about why trust matters and how it is experienced in culturally diverse emergency response teams. It will look at how consultants with expertise in cross-cultural work in the for-profit sector worked closely with managers, field workers and country directors in the humanitarian sector to research and respond to the need for greater levels of trust.

Nigel Ewington is a founding director of both TCO International Diversity Management and WorldWork Ltd. He specialises in helping organisations to optimise the success factors of working across cultures, and  has led executive education and consulting projects with over 100 organisations both in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.

Bimla Ojelay-Surtees works as Global Diversity Manager for Oxfam GB. She has worked for nearly 20 years in the fields of equality, diversity and multiculturalism in local government and non-profit sectors within the UK, and globally over the last 10 years with one of the largest International Non-Governmental Organisations, Oxfam.

Presenter(s): Klára Falk-Bánó

Presentation Description: The session intends to present and invite to a discussion on a new type project entitled  Swim the Language Challenge , an International Socrates programme, running between October 2006 and September 2008. The project aims to promote lesser known cultures and languages in Europe in the world of sports in general and through swimming in particular. The main objective is to promote an interest in getting acquainted with some European cultures and languages, namely Finnish, Hungarian, Italian and Slovenian, through the development of a language e-learning contest.
The on-line language race consists of four modules in the following areas: visiting, socializing, swimming and learning about cultures. Each of the four modules is divided into three sections, the sections are divided into situations and exercises presenting a communicative event. A  virtual coach gives feedback in English on the appropriate use of language. When ready, participants take part in the race, in one or two languages of their choice. The sum of the scores gained in the four module final tests may give access to the Finals of the Challenge in Malaga, Spain, at the European Waterpolo Swimming Championships in July, 2008.The final winner is awarded accreditation to the Final Swimming Competitions at the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008.

Klára Falk-Bánó, PhD, Budapest Business School, Professor, Head of the Department of Applied Communication. Research: Intercultural Communication and Management issues. Delivering intercultural trainings for multinational companies, on behalf of Global Excellence Ltd., also Communicaid. Member of SIETAR Europa since 1998, SIETAR Europa Board Member (2000-2004), since 2004 Chair of the Membership Committee.

Presenter(s): Richard Fay, Milena Katsarska, Magdalena De Stefani

Presentation Description: In this paper, we present a collaborative, intercultural curriculum development involving educational institutions in the UK, Bulgaria, and Uruguay. As enacted through parallel Computer-Mediated Intercultural Communication (CMIC) courses in each institution, and as contributing towards the academic preparation for technologised aspects of global citizenship, students are invited to develop their awareness of the complexities of CMIC. Central to the course is student participation in and diary-based reflection on the experience of a semester-long, English-medium CMIC project in which they interact online with one or more e-partners in the other institutions. Afterwards, based in part on their diarised reflections and their analysis of their CMIC logs, they individually write an English-medium assignment about what they have learned from their CMIC project experience. These assignments involve a significant narrative element. Although each pair of students take part in the same CMIC project, we have noted that their separately-crafted assignments narratively-construct different versions of that shared experience. With examples of student work, we consider how such differences may, in part, reflect differences in the students’ self- and other-positioning vis-à-vis the challenge of English-medium CMIC, and also provide insights into how they see themselves in relation to the global citizenship agenda.

Dr. Richard Fay, Lecturer TESOL and Intercultural Communication at the University of Manchester (UK), has designed and taught on various under- and post-graduate intercultural courses and been the consultant for several intercultural education projects primarily in the Balkans on which he has published articles and chapters.

Milena Katsarska, Principal lecturer in American Studies at the Department of British and American Studies at the University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, teaches various courses in American Studies as well as being involved in intercultural projects such as The Helpdesk for Intercultural Evaluation of Learning Materials (www.helpdeskbg.org).

Magdalena De Stefani, PhD student at the University of Manchester and Language Teacher Educator at Instituto Cultural Anglo-Uruguayo, Uruguay, is the Uruguayan co-ordinator and tutor for the computer-mediated intercultural communication course discussed i

Presenter(s): Peter Franklin, Petra Greiner

Presentation Description: In this presentation we will examine the nature of intercultural competence and its relationship to intercultural management competence. We derive some principles for developing competence in intercultural management and show how these principles were put into practice in a professional development programme for managers at a multinational company involved in a complex post-merger integration process. An evaluation of the programme conducted some months after its conclusion shows how in particular those aspects of the intervention which deviate from common practice were associated with competence development by those taking part.
Participants in this session can expect to hear: 1) a summary of various conceptualisations of intercultural competence and how they relate to effectiveness in international management interaction; 2) conclusions for the effective design and delivery of development interventions; 3) a case-study of how these conclusions were put into practice in an authentic development intervention; 4) the results of an evaluation of the intervention; 5) discussion of the implications for intercultural management development and intercultural training.
Methodologies used: two-thirds Powerpoint-supported lecture, one-third discussion.

Peter Franklin teaches and researches at HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences, Germany. He is co-founder of the Konstanz Institute for Intercultural Management, Values and Communication and is director of dialogin The Delta Intercultural Academy, an Internet-based knowledge and learning community devoted to culture and communication in international business.

Petra Greiner, project manager at Dataforce GmbH and an MBA student at Steinbeis University Berlin, completed her studies of International Business and Communication in Asia / Indonesian at HTWG Konstanz University of Applied Sciences, Germany in 2006. As part of her studies she gained experience in intercultural communication and training.

Presenter(s): Carlota Francisco, Kate Alyzon Ramil

Presentation Description: The research is an exploration of social network sites (SNSs), in particular of Facebook as a virtual global village. Using virtual ethnography, the researchers examined the applications and memberships on Facebook and found dating and relationships, advocacy and interest groups, virtual giving, advertising/marketing, infotainment, interfaith dialogues and blogging as not just features but its very essence. Virtual as it seem, these are but demonstrations of SNS's capacity to penetrate the personal as well as the social dimensions of life.
A closer investigation of MySpace shows:

• The diversity and plurality in culture
• The promise of intercultural and multicultural exchanges
• The blurring of boundaries (geographical, social, cultural, etc.)
• The surfacing of several identities and emerging contained spaces
• That personal interest can move to a social or global interest
• The commodification of everyday life
• The rise of other cyber crimes

The technology of SNS demonstrates how globalization can move at an unimagined rate and scope and of people's capacity to traverse traditional boundaries of both space and time given they have access to the internet.

Carlota Francisco teaches at the Ateneo de Manila University. She earned her MPhil in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Wales-Bangor (UK) through the Ford Foundation International Fellowship Program.

Kate Alyzon Ramil teaches at De La Salle University where she earned her BA in Literature. She also works with I/NGOs as trainer and researcher.

Presenter(s): Stephanie Frei

Presentation Description: Intercultural competence has not been much studied in relation to diplomacy, let alone the specific matter of intercultural competence development – least of all for Indonesian diplomats.
In a globalising world, McLuhan’s “global village” is becoming more and more of a reality. Diplomats face the challenge of increased communication, cooperation, and interdependence between nations and cultures. Therefore, pure knowledge in the field of diplomacy and international relations might not suffice for a diplomat to perform his or her duties competently, but needs to be supplemented with intercultural competence. Approaches to intercultural competence development in Foreign Ministries in different countries vary widely, and sometimes are non-existent.
By introducing the audience to background, methodology, and outcome of a needs analysis on intercultural competence development for Indonesian diplomats carried out by the presenter, participants are provided with an overview of the specific intercultural competences that are needed in the field of diplomacy. Furthermore, a set of ideas are presented on how to approach the preparation of an intercultural competence development programme for diplomats.

Stephanie Frei holds a B.A. in Asian Studies and Management from HTWG Konstanz University. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry provided her with the opportunity to carry out a needs analysis regarding intercultural competence development for diplomats. Currently, Stephanie works as Assistant to CEO at Wolfsberg, the UBS Training Center, in Switzerland.

Presenter(s): Heather Gilvary-Hamad

Presentation Description: Presenter will discuss study scope and participants. Reported results to include how the women manage in these cross-cultural relationships.  Ideas include: Raising children, politics, holiday celebrations and women and work.  How do women navigate through American society's view that these marriages are dangerous to the status quo? How do the women help their children come to understand their cross-cultural identity? How do the women handle racism towards themselves, their children and their husbands? How do they cope with her family and his family? Will mainly focus on lecture format (probably 80%) with plenty of time for discussion.  Goals/ Why is this content important?Raising awareness of successful cross-cultural marriages (contrary to media/societal biases against these marriages).

Heather Gilvary-Hamad is Director, International Multicultural Program, Marian University.  Her Master's thesis on cross-cultural marriages between American women and Middle Eastern men addresses stereotypes that these marriages were doomed to fail. Her husband, Mohammad Hamad, is from Gaza. They have two children, Fridarose and Obadah Hamad.

Presenter(s): Evelyne Glaser,  Lawrence Gales

Presentation Description: Businesses today look for graduates with excellent social and intercultural competences to help cope with challenges of cultural diversity and geographical dispersion among workers. Hence, working in multicultural virtual teams has become particularly important and challenging. Virtual teams work across different time zones, national and organizational cultures, languages and functions. Although virtual teams have potential to save time and cut costs while combining available talent, they often fall short of expectations. This paper looks at factors either conducive or detrimental to virtual teamwork and concentrates on influences of culture, identity and language on communication, power and trust in virtual teams.
Developing the ability to co-operate successfully with people from diverse cultural and social backgrounds must be started before entering professional life, as it requires practice and progresses slowly. The authors present European and USA Business Administration students with an experiential multicultural virtual teams course that mirrors situations they will likely face in their professional career. Students work together on projects that allow them to experience phases of uncertainty, miscommunication, time pressure, different time zones, challenging technology and the like.
Qualitative and quantitative data obtained from university students from over 20 different countries participating working in multicultural virtual teams are presented.

Evelyne Glaser (PhD, Literature and teaching degree in English and French) is head of the Department of Business Languages and Intercultural Communication at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. She coordinates the department exchange programmes with 55 partner universities. Her teaching experience (languages and applied business languages) extends over 30 years and six countries.

Lawrence Gales is Associate Professor of Management and Academic Director for International Programs, University of Cincinnati, College of Business, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.  He received a Management Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

Presenter(s): Martin Goerlich

Presentation Description: Multinational teams (MNTs) are a common occurrence within and across many national and international companies, particularly as organisational and global boundaries continue to blur. There is some evidence that MNTs have the potential for superior performance compared to mono-cultural teams but, conversely, research also suggests that many MNTs fail to perform due to a range of problems rooted in cultural differences amongst their membership. Cross-cultural training (CCT) for MNTs has a critical role to play here, and in this paper, the Model of Freedom (MoF) is introduced as an alternative approach to the more conventional ways of understanding and delivering such training. The MoF is a reconciliation of Hofstedes and Trompenaars original research. This paper reports about the outcomes of participant observations, in depth semi - structured interviews with the original author of the MoF, MoF Associates and participants of the CCT. The observations have taken place in Tokyo, Amsterdam, Glasgow and Paris with participants from a broad range of countries. The outcome of this exploratory research could be of interest for trainers, team leaders and human resource managers alike, and has the potential to better understand the complex nuances of CCT for MNTs.
Keywords: Cultural diversity; multinational teams; cross-cultural training; model of freedom.

Martin Goerlich, MA IBA, BA (Hones).  At present Martin is undertaking research for his Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) at Newcastle Business School (NBS). He is also a lecturer at NBS. He worked in China, Taiwan, Spain, Switzerland and Germany and field studies in France, Holland and Japan.

Presenter(s): Bettina Hansel

Presentation Description: Dr. Bettina Hansel will present findings from new research involving over 2400 adults in 15 countries, with a particular focus on the findings related to assessing their levels of comfort, safety, and confidence around other cultures and their assessed intercultural sensitivity as measured by the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) created by Mitchell R. Hammer and Milton J. Bennett. The research compares several childhood influences, current attitudes and life choices of over 1900 adults who had participated in an AFS secondary-school exchange program between 1980 and 1986 with those of over 500 of their nominated peers who did not participate in a similar exchange program. Research methods and design considerations and challenges will be discussed along with the presentation of the major findings.  The presentation will be followed by a 20-minute discussion time with the audience in both English and Spanish.

Bettina Hansel (Ph.D., Geography) has worked with AFS Intercultural Programs since 1980, currently as Director of Intercultural Education and Research. Her book, The Exchange Student Survival Kit is now it its second edition. She writes frequently on intercultural topics, travels extensively with AFS, and speaks English, French, and Spanish.

Presenter(s): Darren Kamphuis

Presentation Description: Are Arabs the victims of linguistic and cultural imperialism, or are they willing and active participants in the phenomenon of globalization? The research presented in this session investigates the perspectives of Arabs in the Arabian Gulf on the issues of globalization and linguistic and cultural imperialism.  Some of the questions investigated are:  1.  How do Arabs perceive themselves within the phenomenon of globalization? Are they victims or willing participants?  2.  Do Arabs fear the effects of globalization on their society? Do they equate globalization with linguistic and cultural imperialism?  3.  Is it possible for Arabs to join as active participants of globalization without having their own language and culture diluted, corrupted or lost?
Based on what we understand from their perspectives, we will consider as a possible alternative to cultural and linguistic imperialism the ability to co-create new cultural and linguistic spaces, which benefit and respect all parties involved. Lastly, we will reflect on the role of those who are in a position to shape their environments, either as educators or as leaders in the corporate or humanitarian fields.

Darren Kamphuis is a Canadian who has spent more than 10 years in the Middle East. He is fluent in Arabic and excels in cross-cultural communication. He is the Managing Director of KnowledgeWorkx Kuwait, conducting corporate coaching, consulting and training. KnowledgeWorkx specializes in using intercultural intelligence to provide business solutions.

Presenter(s): Adam Komisarof

Presentation Description: In order to promote positive relations between Japanese and Americans, it is prudent to examine which factors have contributed to creating a smooth or difficult acculturation process for foreign workers in Japan. With this aim, research will be described which assessed how the compatibility of acculturation strategies between Japanese and American coworkers affects their quality of intercultural relations.
Bourhis and colleagues' Interactive Acculturation Model (“IAM”) was used to predict which acculturation strategy combinations (i.e., Consensual, Problematic, and Conflictual “IAM types”) were most likely to produce positive intercultural relationships between Japanese and American coworkers (sample = 194 participants at 72 organizations). Statistical analyses revealed that Conflictual IAM types consistently demonstrated lower scores on the dependent measures than Consensual or Problematic IAM types—as predicted by the IAM.  However, Consensual IAM types did not score significantly higher than Problematic ones on any of the dependent variables, which contradicted one of the IAM’s fundamental premises.  Consequently, the IAM was expanded from the original three types into six subtypes.  In addition to describing these findings, recommendations will be made for how group boundaries can be redrawn to better integrate disenfranchised Americans and Japanese into their work organizations.

Adam Komisarof, PhD, is a tenured associate professor in the International School of Economics and Business Administration at Reitaku University near Tokyo.  As an intercultural trainer, he has performed scores of corporate workshops in both Japanese and English in the United States, Japan, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Presenter(s): Margit Krause-Ono

Presentation Description: Since September 2007 materials have been gathered to compare the understanding of the basic concepts underlying the teaching of ICC at colleges/universities in three countries: Germany, Japan and the U.S.
This research was prompted by the detection of several problems in the teaching of ICC in Japan: the subject is rarely fully integrated into a faculty, stereotypes are often reinforced instead of being reduced, the necessity of knowing one’s own culture is often neglected, and insufficient debate concerning the definitions of ‘culture’ and ‘communication’.
In an attempt to clarify which concepts are lacking or different in Japan's ICC education, it was decided to compare the teaching of ICC with that in Germany and the U.S.
For this purpose 10-15 educational institutions from each country were selected randomly and asked for cooperation. The following data has been or will be gathered: - Syllabi of colleges/universities in the three countries.  - Questionnaires answered by both lecturers and their students.  - Narrative interviews with the lecturers, in which they were asked to explain their ideas of: ‘communication’, ‘culture’, and ‘intercultural’.  Preliminary findings will be presented, which compare the analyzed results, detect the differences and similarities, and suggest the rationale behind them.

Margit Krause-Ono is Associate Professor of German, European Culture, and Intercultural Communication at Muroran Institute of Technology, Japan. Born in Germany, she has been a translator/interpreter/lecturer in northern Japan since 1980. She holds degrees from France and Australia, and a Certificate as Intercultural trainer/coach from Friedrich Schiller University, Germany.

Presenter(s): Mayumi Kubota, Yoko Matsuda

Presentation Description: Based on our field study conducted from 2004 to 2007 in Kobe, Japan, we will present how the experience of working as volunteer staff at the NPO and the interaction with immigrant children helped the Japanese university students develop their intercultural communication competency.  In this study, we confine ‘a person with intercultural communication competency for the global society’ to ‘a person who cares about all the people on the earth regardless of their cultural background and has a strong desire to communicate to understand them’.  In order to examine the interaction between the volunteers and the children in more depth we conducted PAC (Personal Attitude Construct) Analysis of three volunteers, and Image Map analysis of eight children.  From this analysis, it is clear that the volunteers have learned three key competencies which are critical in intercultural communication through the experience of interaction with the children: to have empathy for the person, to assure dialogue on an equal footage, and to identify individual characteristics eliminating cultural stereotypes. Based on these findings, we concluded that the experiences of volunteer students at the NPO nurture some aspects of intercultural communication competence to support immigrant children.

Mayumi Kubota is a professor at Kansai University.  She earned her Ph.D. from the Speech Communication Department of Indiana University. Currently, she is a Chairperson of the Kansai Chapter of SIETAR-JAPAN.  She was a keynote speaker at the 2003 SIETAR-JAPAN Conference. She has joined the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers.

Yoko Matsuda is Professor at University of Hyogo in Japan. She held a chair of SIETAR-JAPAN Kansai Chapter from 2000 to 2002, and currently vice president of Japan Society for Multicultural Relations. She earned MA in Japanese Studies at Osaka University, and MA in Linguistics in the University of Rochester.

Presenter(s): Thierry Michaux

Presentation Description: Behavioral Economics and Bounded Rationality are two essential tools for economists to model cultures. This paper explores how economic theories shape and modify cultures.

First we compare the three main approaches of Behavioral Economics and Bounded Rationality and explore their impact on Cultures:

• Winner takes all Economy (Pareto);
• Self Organized Economy (Hayek, Friedman);
• Knowledge Economy (Solow, Rohmer, Aghion, Jones).

We show how these theories decrease the knowledge and cultural capital of nations.

The second part presents Herbert Simon’s alternative model for which he received a Nobel Prize in 1978. His approach on Processes, Systems, Cognitive models, Functional Complexity, constitutes the theoretical framework of a potential Knowledge Theory. We show how cultural functional behaviors can play a central part in Behavioral Economics and Bounded Rationality.

Finally, we introduce the Prolegomenon of a Theory of Knowledge Economics based on Herbert Simon’s Bounded Rationality premises. We explore:

• The cultural agent’s human capital;
• The cultural learning system and its learning and knowledge capital;      
• The structure of the culture and its social, institutional, cultural capital.

We demonstrate that the cognitive modeling of the cultural nature of human development is primordial to a theory of Behavioral Economics.

Thierry Michaux is a Strategy Manager with E-B-E Executive Business English.  He has been a corporate manager with two major international consulting groups.  He has taught and lead researches in Knowledge Theory, Cognitive Sciences and Artificial Intelligence in several European universities. He speaks four languages.

Presenter(s): Catherine Michaux, Thierry Michaux

Presentation Description: The aim of this paper is to show the existence of a cognitive cultural functional grammar as the root of Business Non Verbal Communication.
First, we review the different theories explaining Non Verbal Communication (NVC) in its cultural and business dimensions.           
NVC is genetically programmed: (Ekman).
NVC expresses emotions: (Russel).
NVC translates physically internal states:  (Freud, Jung, etc. Ting-Toomey, Fussel).
NVC is a proto-language: (Krauss).
NVC is a language. 
In the second part, we use our previous work (SIETAR 2005), which explains the cognitive basis for cultural acquisition and development to show how a cognitive cultural functional grammar is created as the result of behavioral adaptive learning processes: 

• The learning of cultural cognitive elements (Simon).
• The satisfaction of a set of cultural needs (Maslow).
• The building of a cognitive cocoon or implicit theory (Wegner).

This cognitive architecture and grammar is constructed through the adaptive learning process of identity building, which is culture dependent and based on a self-efficacy mechanism (Bandura).  Finally, we present our behavioral cognitive model of Business Non Verbal Communication. We emphasize the practical evidence of the use of implicit cultural functional behavioral grammar in Business Non Verbal Communication.

Catherine Michaux is a director with E-B-E Executive Business English. She leads a consultancy practice specialized in Business English and Cross Cultural Business coaching for executives from International Corporations.

Thierry Michaux is a strategy Manager with E-B-E Executive Business English.  He has been a corporate manager with two major international consulting groups. He has taught and lead researches in Knowledge Theory, Cognitive Sciences and Artificial Intelligence in several European universities. He speaks four languages.

Presenter(s): Daniela Molzbichler

Presentation Description: More and more often, cultural differences are declared responsible for crises, conflicts and wars. This fuels the distrust towards all things foreign, and produces fear, anger and feelings of powerlessness globally.
In order to, on one hand, grasp cultural diversity as a chance and not a risk, and, on the other hand, to thwart feelings of powerlessness, some various definitions and theories of conflict and culture are shown in this presentation. Multi-faceted perspectives allow a view into the incongruent definitions and theories of cultures, and point out that their designers are themselves formed by their own cultural values and represent a corresponding perspective of culture or conflict.
This implies the furtherance of multidimensional approaches and of reflective thinking, and always goes hand in hand with an interdisciplinary approach and pluralism of methodologies.
Some selected projects show what these perspectives could mean in practice.  They highlight how to deal with intercultural misunderstandings and what can be done so people with diverse culture-based values may work - and live -together constructively and as peacefully as possible.
Learning goals for the participants: How to deal with intercultural conflicts and how to use Glasl´s nine-stage model of conflict escalation in practice. 

Daniela Molzbichler, born 1975, studied Political Science and Communication Science. She has been working at the Afro-Asian Institute in Salzburg (Austria) since 2000 (International Student Support & Intercultural Management). Furthermore she is working as a consultant for political parties and NGOs.

Presenter(s): Nancy O’Brien

Presentation Description: As the study and work of intercultural relations (IR) moves solidly into the 21^st century, there is dearth of information documenting the contributions of women and the roles they have played in the development of the field. In contrast, women have been consistently over-representing in areas such as training, international education, and communication studies for years. In fact, the U.S. chapter of the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research (SIETAR-USA) defined as “a professional membership organization for those who are concerned with the challenges and rewards of intercultural relations” (SIETAR-USA, 2007) show 72%  (n = 275) of their current membership is female (SIETAR-USA, 2006, p. 1). The welcome page on the organizational website states, “our members work within many environments and professions – business and industry, consulting, training, K-12 and higher education, counseling, all aspects of the media and arts, to name a few” (SIETAR-USA, 2007, p. 1).  Within this context, women have been shaping knowledge in IR for years. This presentation introduces the conceptual framework and preliminary findings from my study on women’s contributions to the interdisciplinary field of intercultural relations.

References
SIETAR-USA. (2006). SIETAR Membership Roster, Report from SIETAR-USA
SIETAR-USA. (2007). Welcome.   Retrieved March 10, 2007, from http://www.sietarusa.org/message.html

Nancy O’Brien is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota. She works in graduate studies at the Intercultural Communication Institute in Portland, Oregon and is returning intern faculty with the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication. Nancy teaches intercultural communication at Metropolitan State University in Minnesota.

Presenter(s): Jennifer Plaister-Ten

Presentation Description: Coaching is increasingly being sought as a route to cross-cultural effectiveness. Multi-cultural workplaces have been brought about by the effects of globalisation; such as the ongoing sophistication of technology and greater migration.  Cross-cultural coaching has the potential to facilitate the acclimatisation to new cross-cultural teams, during International mergers and acquisitions or expatriate postings.
Key Content:  My research study considers the role and impact of a cross-cultural coach and seeks to answer the following research question:   How necessary is it for a coach to have an understanding of the worldview of a client from a different cultural background?   A worldview definition:  A basic set of beliefs that guide action, Guba (1990).
This is a phenomenological study investigating the essence of the experience of coaching in an executive or business cross-cultural context.  The role of the coach in the cross-cultural relationship is examined, identifying key factors that are said to contribute to greater cross-cultural awareness, adaptability and effectiveness.
Learning goals for the participants:  Participants can expect to gain insight into the current state of cross-cultural coaching from the results of a research study conducted in 2008 by an MA student.  Following completion of the study in September 2008, SIETAR conference participants will be the first to learn of the findings.

Jennifer Plaister, is an MA Coaching & Mentoring student with Oxford Brookes University and director of 10 Consulting Ltd, a coaching and consulting practice.    During my international career (USA, Asia & Europe), I have held senior roles for multinationals: Fujitsu/ICL and HP/Compaq and also founded High-Tech Associates Pte Ltd., Singapore.

Presenter(s): Alan Richter

Presentation Description: The research (about to be published) explores whether there is sufficient congruence among national constitutional norms to develop and sustain an international legal framework beyond that which presently operates in international law. The empirical study, across 15 nations, aims to examine the depth of these similarities, in particular the extent to which those foundational values of different societies might be global. The study also examines the different prioritizations among "global" values and the gaps between these values and the facts "on the ground". The presentation will be 50%, with discussion 50% of the allotted time.

Alan Richter is the president of QED Consulting, a 19-year-old company based in New York. He has consulted to corporations and organizations for many years in multiple capacities, primarily in the areas of leadership, values, culture and change. He has provided strategic consulting and facilitation and program delivery for varied organizations globally, and has been involved in innovative instructional product development.

Presenter(s): Iskender Sarigoz, Cemal Cakir

Presentation Description: General English, Business English and Intercultural Awareness are the three domains of the Ld V  Type B Project entitled “All Dimensional Foreign Language Instruction: A Constructivist ESP Perspective (ADCOESP)”. It aims to synthesize the up-to-date developments in foreign language teaching, and in general education to nurture a sophisticated teaching and learning environment. The ultimate aim of this methodological integration is to improve the quality of foreign language teaching in order to develop foreign language skills and competencies of business people and the prospective business people. It is a 16-week text comprising activities to help the target group develop skills in the three domains above. To raise intercultural awareness in the target group and to enable them to use it in their business communication in English, various activities are designed to help them construct intercultural communication knowledge and skills. The topics covered are national culture, company culture, employment contracting in different countries, taboo questions in different cultures, nonverbal communication worldwide, punctuality, dress code, gift-giving, and corporate social responsibility across countries. Although the target group will consist of learners involved in business, the results can also be transferred and adapted to other vocational and professional groups.  Further information can be obtained at www.constructivistesp.gazi.edu.tr

Iskender Hakki Sarigoz has been working in Gazi University for 24 years as a teacher trainer. He has published articles and presented papers in Turkey and Europe. He is interested in Foreign Language Teaching, ESP, NLP, TQM, and Constructivism. He lectured in Europe within Erasmus. He has supported schools on advisory basis

Cemal Cakir got his BA in English Language Teaching (1989) from Gazi University, MA (1990) from Bilkent University, and PhD in ELT (1997) from Gazi University. He worked as an English instructor in various institutions. He lectured in Europe within Erasmus. He is interested in applied semantics, applied pragmatics, and interlanguage studies

Presenter(s): Christopher Schmidt

Presentation Description:During recent years the internet has become a central role for building brand communication strategies. However, organizations face the problem that they have to build up so-called strong brands in order to be perceived as different from their competitors, but at the same time the target groups of corporate communication come from diverse backgrounds of national cultures. Being a cognitive issue, this challenge for corporate communication can be solved by ‘fictional realities’ linked to a brand holistically.
On the basis of the cognitive theory of metaphor (Johnson 1987, Schmidt 2006, 2005) results will be presented on how cognitive linguistics can answer needs in brand management. The paper is part of the result of a finished interdisciplinary study on how to grasp the cultural dimension both on corporate and national level by looking into the possibilities that cognitive use of language brings about, and it especially enables to solve the interrelationship between corporate and national dimension of culture in the area of corporate communication. The results will be demonstrated using an example from today’s global corporate world.

Learning Outcome: Brand communication strategies in new and old media; bridging the differences between corporate and national cultures.

Christopher M. Schmidt (asst. prof.) is a teacher and researcher on university level in the interdisciplinary field of language, business and culture and has developed a special curriculum in the area of intercultural business communication. In 2001 he has inaugurated the research cooperation “European Cultures in Business and Corporate Communication” (www.wirtschaftkommunikation.net).

Presenter(s): Marcella Simon

Presentation Description: From call centers to car makers, corporate universities play an important role as strategic educational tools in global learning organizations. Increasingly, learning objectives include the development and strengthening of global skills and competencies for managers and employees who interface with culturally and geographically diverse colleagues, clients, and other partners and stakeholders. This presentation will summarize the initial stages of a research study (literature review and interviews with corporate university leaders, presenters, and participants)into the role of corporate university  programs and services in furthering transference of interculturally based knowledge and skills.
The presentation will contribute to discussion of the following questions, among others:

1. What are global competencies and how do organizations support their development through formal and informal means?
2. What is the role of corporate universities in global knowledge management and transference?
3. How do universities, consultants, and other practitioners most effectly interface with corporate universities in the delivery of programs and services that enhance global competencies?

The presentation will be a lecture (30 minutes) and facilitated discussion (20 minutes) with participants sharing their experiences as practitioners, academics, and employees of global firms.
This is a timely topic due to the growth of corporate universities globally and the impact of globalization on human resource development practices worldwide.

Marcella Peralta Simon has taught cross cultural and international management at the undergraduate and graduate level at universities in the USA, Singapore, and Australia and has worked in the private sector as a human resource development consultant. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Curtin University in Australia.

Presenter(s): Robert Spenser

Presentation Description: In the international business world “time is money” and intercultural communication training sessions are limited, sometimes to pre-departure culture shock awareness and lists of do’s and don’t’s. Then sojourners arrive and in the stress of everyday interaction can often barely recall, much less practice, what they were taught. So they struggle, and too often fail communicate successfully with their foreign colleagues, even after months of effort.
The presenter has had the advantage of often training clients some weeks after they have arrived in Japan, but still with limited training time available.  So the question arises ‘What do foreign ex-pats and Japanese need to know about each other’s cultural practices to begin to understand how to improve their communication and working relationships?’ and “What turns on the light bulb in those who have already had a bit of experience in the new environment?” After training hundreds of Japanese to go overseas and ex-pats from everywhere to function in Japan, the presenter has come to some practical conclusions.
This paper offers them together with some training techniques that have resulted over and over in “ “Oh, that’s why nothing happened!” ; “So I can see I need to learn how to ….”; “I got it!” responses among trainees, Japanese and non-Japanese alike.
While very little may be truly new or startling to experienced practitioners, the focus is on the powerful practical understanding that both Japanese and foreigners have gained from rethinking their initial experiences in light of new perspectives and found most useful to take back to the office.

Robert Spenser has been living in Tokyo since 1990 where he is currently an Intercultural communication trainer and coach, as well as Professor of Sociology at Ryutsu Keizai University. He has also taught and worked as a journalist in the U.S., and as a video & film producer-director and international Internet software business manager in Japan.

Presenter(s): Bettina Strewe

Presentation Description:

1. Understanding of work in different cultures.
2. As globalization is very much linked to business and cooperation between various countries and cultures, the contribution is dedicated to the different cultural understanding of work, especially to the subject area of work in slavic regions.  What does work mean in slavic regions and how is it expressed by lingual terms? The linguistic field of the slavic expressions around work are various and show very well, how work in slavic regions is understood and how it is associated. Along the word field of -work and its several meanings similarities can be found and shown to cultural standards which are ascribed to slavic cultures.
3. Participants who cooperate with people from different cultures, will get a deeper insight of the differences of problems of every-day cross cultural cooperation and get a clearer picture about the cultural specific behind.

Bettina Strewe, Studies of Roman and Slavic languages in Germany, Bulgaria and Former Soviet Union, studies of adult/education. Years of work and stay in CEE, mainly Russia, and Former Yugoslavia. Further practical work experience in Bulgaria and nearly each Eastern European country. Main topics of interest: CEE, intercultural management, learning and teaching methods in different cultures, slavic languages.

Presenter(s): Betina Szkudlarek

Presentation Description: This research brings forward an analysis of a cross-cultural reentry training phenomenon. The data include 31 cases (in-depth interviews with reentry trainers, reentry session outlines and other relevant training materials) collected in cooperation with intercultural training and coaching providers, supplying services for international businesses all over the world. To achieve a thorough understanding of the reentry training and coaching phenomenon, this study looks at reentry services of both: top leading intercultural training providers as well as smaller intercultural training and coaching businesses and is a first empirical attempt to explore the reentry training industry and its programs. Additionally, this paper investigates the connection between reentry theories and reentry training practices.

The following issues will be discussed: 

• Optimal timing of the reentry session;
• Optimal duration of the reentry session;
• Group composition; * Variety of topics covered during a training session;
• Alternatives to traditional training and coaching sessions.

Betina Szkudlarek is a Ph.D. candidate at the Rotterdam School of Management Erasmus University. She is an intercultural trainer specialized in the NGO sector. In 2005/6 she held a position of a Training Director on the board of Young SIETAR and was a manager of the YS Training of Intercultural Trainers.

Presenter(s): Daniela Talmelli

Presentation Description: The demand for global leadership exceeds the supply. Authors report that between 56 and 85 percent of executives, senior managers, and human resources managers of Fortune 500 organizations affirmed that there is lack of candidates who qualify for global leadership (Gregernsen, Morrison, & Black, 1998; Javidan et. al., 2006). Global mindset is the feature that distinguishes global leadership from domestic leadership. What does characterize global mindset? How does it develop? How does it impact decision making? How does it differentiate from other constructs? The session will present the research hypothesis of a doctoral dissertation geared toward understanding the nature of global mindset. Understanding the nature of global mindset is important to create educational framework that allows for developing global leadership on a greater scale.

Daniela Talmelli is a Business Psychology Psy.D. candidate 2009. She received her M.A. in  Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and her B.A. in Education. Daniela is the HR Diversity Associate at UBS Global Asset Management and collaborates developing, executing, and managing the diversity strategy for the firm.

Presenter(s): Maud Tixier

Presentation Description: In a context of certain globalisation, one too easily forgets that sustainable development is an all-encompassing concept: it embraces a large number of parameters and players and this in numerous countries. The French term for sustainable development, “développement durable”, a poor amputated translation from the English, does not fully do justice to the richness of the concept. Yet it refers to principals of transversality, multi-disciplinarity, convergence, reconciliation, coherence, globality, integration, balance, and harmony. It implies the use of two other groups of key words: a group which encompasses the notions of arbitration, choice, compromise on the one hand; and on the other hand progress, commitment, process, progression, method.
Within the variety of geographic contexts in which it applies, reading material or case studies on sustainable development do not truly render an account of the solutions that might make it operational worldwide. Its lack of both theoretical and empirical foundations anchored in universal principals is obvious; this implies a genuine problem in having it approved and implemented throughout the world. The globalisation of free market economies that we are witnessing today has resulted in a real debate over the delicate balance, which exists between stakeholders, corporate and national cultures.

Maud Tixier  taught in the USA, Canada, Great Britain and Australia.  Visiting Professor at Manchester Business School, UK - HEC Montreal, Canada - Melbourne Business School and at Griffith University - Australia.  At ESSEC since 1972, Chair Professor in Communication and Management. Special Interests: corporate communication, executive eurosearch and mobility, cross-cultural communication, advertisement copy-writing, sustainable development, sustainable tourism.

Presenter(s): Marine Tunyan

Presentation Description: The fundamental changes in the competitive market environment such as rapid technological change, increased risk, search for flexibility, greater emphasis on core corporate competencies, outsourcing are continuing to happen nowadays and even faster. These all changes bring more globalization to our life. The main purpose of this work is based on identifying the Culture, Knowledge, Changes and Communication aspects in Multicultural Global Organisations to show them via the developed ' 3C and K' Model.
The important role of Communication within (across) three main concepts such as Culture, Change Management and Knowledge Transfer specifically in culturally diversified organizations is investigated in the presented Model. In order to understand better and deeper how and why communication importance increase in multicultural companies it is necessary first to find out how communication directly relate to and influence on knowledge, culture and change management. In this paper, first of all, interaction of 'Knowledge', 'Culture' and 'Change' concepts are described and evaluated. Then, the importance of Communication role is explained and highlighted specifically for Global Organizations.   ' 3C and K' Model is developed and presented in this paper through a combination of lecture and interaction with the participants.

Marine Tunyan, currently a business analyst, Soft Skills Trainer in Infosys (Indian Company) branch in Czech Republic for more than 3 years.  Current Research: PhD program topic: Culture, Knowledge and Changes in Multicultural organizations. University of Jyvaskyla, Finland

Presenter(s): E.S. Wibbeke

Presentation Description: This presentation will highlight the publication of the new book, Global Business Leadership (2008, Elsevier) by examining the dynamic role of leadership from an intercultural perspective. Learning about how other cultures both define and exert leadership is crucial in gaining and maintaining market share. Intercultural knowledge in this sense denotes how other cultures approach concepts such as ambiguity and change  the means to the unspoken side of business. Such intangible concepts can only be grasped through stepping back and examining the cultural underpinnings of another's background and development. This new book concentrates on the Geoleadership Model which highlights the seven variables necessary for US business leaders to succeed in global operations. The seven  Cs  of geoleadership include culture, care, communication, consciousness, contrasts, context, and change. A panel of intercultural experts participated in the first ever Web-based Delphi study convened to determine these business leadership competencies from an intercultural perspective.

Dr. E. S. Wibbeke spent twenty years in management for Fortune 500 firms such as Xerox, Novell, and Siebel Systems, mainly in Silicon Valley. Dr. Wibbeke teaches global leadership courses for several leading schools, including the University of Liverpool and Southern New Hampshire University.

Presenter(s): Cheryl Williams

Presentation Description: A detailed review of an intensive and comprehensive, cross-cultural training program.  This is an overview on how a program was developed and delivered to over 2000 employees in over 20 countries covering a 5 year period (still on-going).  It combines quantitative and qualitative research methods covering 5 years of collected data. 60% lecture, 40% discussion.  The global program includes:  the use of the Cultural Orientation Indication™ tool for measuring cultural self awareness, in-house employee surveys, “Leading the World Through People” (in-house developed, foundation training program, a pre-requisite for all other cross-cultural programs), “Collaboration Through Facilitation Across Cultures” (in-house developed program), and senior level management support, to name a few.
This is not a presentation about post program/training assessment. This information exists but it is outside the parameters of this presentation.  It is a presentation about how a cross-cultural training program was developed in a major organization and how the use of a psychometric instrument (COI™) was used in the design of program.  Examples and illustrations are used throughout the presentation with ample time for discussion and comment built in.

Cheryl E. Williams, Ph.D., Dean, Office of Global Programs, Vice President - International and Cultural Relations, Concordia University Irvine, California. She is an experienced organizational development and human resources professional.  She has worked in over 35 countries.  Graduate of Purdue University (B.A., M.S.), Florida State University (Ph.D.). Lives in Costa Mesa, California.

Presenter(s): Kyoko Yashiro, Tomoko Yoshida, Yuka Suzuki

Presentation Description: Globalization has increased face-to-face communication between people with diverse cultural backgrounds within Japanese companies.  To examine how this has influenced the way Japanese businesspeople perceive intercultural communication, its reality, context, and competence, as well as how it should be trained in the companies, we conducted five focus group interviews during October to December of 2006.
One of the most interesting findings was that change seemed to be an important theme that influenced all the other themes including the shift from a more international definition of intercultural communication to a more domestic one.  In the past, intercultural communication textbooks and training have focused mainly on international examples while many of our respondents  stories were about the diversity within Japan.
Another interesting finding was that the results of the interviews seemed to fall under the following categories: Awareness, Knowledge, Emotions, Attitude, and Skills. This both confirmed and extended the framework proposed by Brislin and Yoshida (2004), which suggested that intercultural communication training can be organized under the framework of: Awareness, Knowledge, Emotions, and Skills.

Kyoko Yashiro, Professor, Reitaku University, former president of SIETAR Japan, has taught Intercultural Communication for over 25 years.  Her major publications are  Ibunka Training (1994),  Ibunka Communication Workbook (2001),  Tabunkashakai no Ningenkankeiryoku (2006),  Beyond Boundaries (2008).

Tomoko Yoshida is an Associate Professor at Keio University in Japan.  She has been teaching Intercultural Communication for over ten years.  Prior to that she served as Training Director for the Sheraton Hotels in Hawaii and Project Fellow at the East West Center. Her major publications include  Intercultural Communication Training: An Introduction  (1994),  Improving Intercultural Interactions  (1994).

Yuka Suzuki is an instructor and facilitator, specializing in the areas of conflict management, intercultural communication, diversity training and leadership. She has conducted training for many leading corporations in Japan such as Hitachi, Toyota Industries.