Business and Management

This article investigates how the leadership of Lenovo and IBM PC Division integrated their corporate cultures after Lenovo's acquisition of IBM PC Division. The study identified some post-acquisition cultural integration challenges between Lenovo and IBM PC Division such as: Language and communication differences, power distance, different leadership and managerial styles and difficulties in socializing Lenovo's corporate culture and IBN PC's corporate culture into a shared corporate culture. In view of this, the authors recommended that Lenovo and IBM PC Division should build structures, procedures and working environment which promote cultural synergy and adopt a cultural relativistic policy. The authors adopted personal interview data generated by earlier researchers. The data was analysed using a hermeneutic approach of data analysis.

The study focuses on culture and knowledge transfer abroad. Specifically, the paper explores how Vestas Control system transferred its organizational culture to its Chinese subsidiary. As boundaries within and between companies and countries break down due to competitive pressure of globalisation, business activities and organisations are becoming more and more multinational in their operations. This has resulted in many firms establishing subsidiaries outside their home base. In this regard, managers and employees may find themselves operating in different nations, belonging to many teams and among different cultures. Semi-structured interviews were used to obtain data, and analysed using a hermeneutic approach. The study discovered that, power distance, Vestas safety culture and Teamwork had influenced the transfer of Vestas organizational culture to China

A B S T R A C T This article examines effective communication in the midst of multi-varied cultures at Ibis West Africa adopting a qualitative approach of the constructivist's paradigm. Misinterpretations, misperceptions and misunderstandings of both verbal and non-verbal cues as well as differences in creating common meaning of messages encoded and decoded and the mindlessness of the communication environment characterised the interactions between the expatriate workers and the local staff of Ibis West Africa. The article recommended that Ibis West Africa could focus more on intercultural relationship and capacity building among their multicultural staff to enhance effective communication in this multinational organisation. Introduction We live in a world today where globalization has increasingly diminished the importance of borders. The consequence of this blurring of borders is resulting in mobility of labour, which has in turn led to the search for better economic, political and social wellness as against the status quo that might not guarantee improved conditions of life desired. In relation to this, Ting-Toomey (1999, p. 7) observed that " as we enter the 21st century, direct contacts with dissimilar others in our neighbourhood, schools and workplace are an inescapable part of life " and " acquiring the knowledge and skills of mindful intercultural communication is a necessary first step in becoming a global citizen of the 21st century " (p. 5). This development is more so as on the international scene is the irreversible emergence of a multicultural workforce in many organizations and societies. Recent organizations are characterized by people of wide differences in terms of nationality, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, education, social class or level of abilities (Guirdham, 2005). Constraining this new trajectory is the issue of effective communication across this diverse and multicultural workforce in today's workplace (Rijamampianina, 1995). Ideally, everyone will feel delighted if what he/she communicates is well understood the way he/she wants it to be comprehended. Often, this effective communication is not realized because of the existence of varying cultural norms, languages, values and protocols within an organization. The emergence of intercultural communication as a subject of great importance, which is also fundamentally a collaborative issue in business organizations goes beyond globalization. Domestic workforces also have become increasingly more diverse both ethnically and culturally (Goman, 2011). Adler (1991) observed that communicating effectively even within a culturally homogeneous workforce is challenging to managers worldwide. The communication challenge is more grievous when the workforce is heterogeneous with multiplicity of languages and cultural backgrounds. The realization that today's competition can be won by modern firms if they draw on the creativity, expertise and know-how of the kaleidoscopic workforce adds to the significance of interpersonal communication (Guirdham, 2005). MARK Given the importance and prominence given to intercultural communication and its relationship to business sustainability and competiveness, this study seeks to investigate the research question 'how does culture influence communication among expatriate workers and local staff in multinational Ibis West Africa?' The study of the influence of culture on communication in multination Ibis West Africa will have several benefits. First, the study would highlight the effects of cultural variables on information encoding and decoding among expatriates workers and local staff of Ibis West Africa. Second, this study seeks to contribute to enrich the literature on intercultural communication, based on the premise that today's workforces have been dramatically transformed and managers require the understanding, skills and competencies to communicate effectively in multicultural contexts these researchers envisage. Such a context is Ibis in West Africa. It does so by exploring the idiosyncrasies of the Ghanaian culture when it is exposed to a foreign culture in an interactive organisational set up.

The article explores the intersection of UK and Ghanaian volunteers' intercultural interactions in multicultural teamwork under international volunteerism context. Situating the study within the cultural dynamic framework and adopting a case study qualitative research design, the study revealed that culture is created by the actors based on the interactions and context. Furthermore, elements of cultural diversity such as diversity of thought and cross-cultural sensitivities were revealed to be enablers of effective cross-cultural communication and not as barriers or impediments to effective interactions. Misconceived sexual orientations and lack of cultural neutrality in decision-making process also characterised their cultural constructions. In view of this, the study recommends that open-mindedness and willingness to modify ethnocentric dispositions as well as exhibition of cultural sensitivities and moderation of opinions in international assignments will greatly enhance intercultural interactions among multicultural teams and foster successful work outcomes in international volunteering service.

This case study explores the grounded theory approach of cross-cultural communication in Ibis West Africa, a multinational organization. Adopting a qualitative approach of the constructivist paradigm, we employed semi-structured interviews, Skype interviews, constant comparison, and classical content analysis to illuminate the views of expatriate workers and local staff of Ibis West Africa on the effect of culture on communication in the day-to-day activities in Ibis West Africa. Through constant comparison and the hermeneutic approach of data interpretation, the study revealed misinterpretations, misperceptions, misunderstandings of both verbal and nonverbal cues as well as differences in creating common meanings of encoded and decoded messages. After reading this case, readers will be able to appreciate how the interactions between contextual factors such as values, norms, historic backgrounds, belief systems, and the study participants and researchers influence knowledge co-construction and re-construction in Ibis West Africa.

This study uses a qualitative approach to examine the role of radio in setting the agenda for the electorate and creating an atmosphere of aggression during elections in the Northern Region of Ghana. Fifteen research participants, made up of seven active listeners and eight reporters, editors, and radio presenters were engaged in conversation analysis and generated data for the study. The study revealed that radio plays a vital role in setting the agenda for the electorate before, during, and after elections in Ghana; this is done by using radio as a channel of communication to send messages of peace. The study also cast light on how radio uses music and entertainment to educate its audiences with messages of tolerance and free, fair and transparent elections. In view of these findings, the study strongly recommends that media practitioners and journalists be trained in media professionalism, focusing on what and how to report during election time in Ghana.

Using a constructivist epistemology, this paper explores the cross-cultural learning experiences of exchange students from Hochschule Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences in Germany and the University for Development Studies in Ghana. The findings reveal differences in the students' commitment to agreements, tasks and time; while the German students have a high commitment to time awareness-reporting to lectures and other meetings on time-their Ghanaian counterparts do not. We suggest that universities preparing students for educational exchange programs should actively embark on cross-cultural education and training, providing adequate information on the context and culture of the host country, targeting all stakeholders before, during and after the exchange program. This will enhance effective intercultural relations and social interaction, and minimize culture shock.

This study examines first-year students' (who mostly are opening/operating bank accounts for the first time on their own) bank selection and loyalty decisions. An extensive literature review was done to develop study instruments. An exploratory analysis of 320 usable questionnaires was done. The study found in order of importance that: bank service/convenience, service quality/bank image, staff attitude/recommendations, core service/communication and customer service were factors influencing their bank selection decisions in Ghana. Also, friendly operations/regulations, relationship management, service quality/ financial benefits, client satisfaction and bank image were identified in order of importance to be responsible for their loyalty to banks in Ghana. This study reiterates to bank management that factors including quality of service, bank image, recommendation (word of mouth), employee competence, bank knowledge, customer satisfaction, price of transactions, relationship marketing and bank regulation should be at the core of their strategy development and implementation. The study is original with insightful updates and new perspectives on young adults' bank selection and loyalty dimensions. This study is the first attempt to systematically combine bank selection and loyalty factors in a single comprehensive survey in Ghana. (JEL G21)

The proliferation of social media has served as an extension of the social life of people; information seeking, socialization, and many other social needs. The study uses a sequential mixed method (quantitative and qualitative design) to examine the effects of social media dependency on marital relationships in northern Ghana. Results revealed a high dependency on social media in Ghana with serious ramifications on romantic relationships. Thus, frequent online engagement has heightened partner monitoring, suspicion, jealousy, and mistrust between couples, affecting long-term relationships' well-being. Couples define standards/regulatory mechanisms to constrain their SNS engagement to minimize the associated effects of social media.