How To Critique A Journal Article Sponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS So your assignment is to critique a journal article. This handout will give you a few guidelines to follow as you go. But wait, what kind of a journal article is it: an empirical/research article, or a review of literature? Some of the guidelines offered here will apply to critiques of all kinds of articles, but each type of article may provoke questions that are especially pertinent to that type and no other. Read on. First of all, for any type of journal article your critique should include some basic information: 1. Name(s) of the author(s) 2. Title of article 3. Title of journal, volume number, date, month and page numbers 4. Statement of the problem or issue discussed 5. The author’s purpose, approach or methods, hypothesis, and major conclusions. The bulk of your critique, however, should consist of your qualified opinion of the article. Read the article you are to critique once to get an overview. Then read it again, critically. At this point you may want to make some notes to yourself on your copy (not the library’s copy, please). The following are some questions you may want to address in your critique no matter what type of article you are critiquing. (Use your discretion. These points don’t have to be discussed in this order, and some may not be pertinent to your particular article.) 1. Is the title of the article appropriate and clear? 2. Is the abstract specific, representative of the article, and in the correct form? 3. Is the purpose of the article made clear in the introduction? 4. Do you find errors of fact and interpretation? (This is a good one! You won’t believe how often authors misinterpret or misrepresent the work of others. You can check on this by looking up for yourself the references the author cites.) 5. Is all of the discussion relevant? 6. Has the author cited the pertinent, and only the pertinent, literature? If the author has included inconsequential references, or references that are not pertinent, suggest deleting them. 7. Have any ideas been overemphasized or underemphasized? Suggest specific revisions. 8. Should some sections of the manuscript be expanded, condensed or omitted? 9. Are the author’s statements clear? Challenge ambiguous statements. Suggest by examples how clarity can be achieved, but do not merely substitute your style for the author’s. 10. What underlying assumptions does the author have? 11. Has the author been objective in his or her discussion of the topic? In addition, here are some questions that are more specific to empirical/research articles. (Again, use your discretion.) 1. Is the objective of the experiment or of the observations important for the field? 2. Are the experimental methods described adequately? 3. Are the study design and methods appropriate for the purposes of the study? 4. Have the procedures been presented in enough detail to enable a reader to duplicate them? (Another good one! You’d be surprised at the respectable researchers who cut corners in their writing on this point.) Last Edited 4/9/2009 Page 1 of 2 How To Critique A Journal Article Sponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS 5. Scan and spot-check calculations. Are the statistical methods appropriate? 6. Do you find any content repeated or duplicated? A common fault is repetition in the text of data in tables or figures. Suggest that tabular data be interpreted of summarized, nor merely repeated, in the text. A word about your style: let your presentation be well reasoned and objective. If you passionately disagree (or agree) with the author, let your passion inspire you to new heights of thorough research and reasoned argument. Last Edited 4/9/2009 Page 2 of 2 Asian Business & Management, 2006, 5, (333–356) r 2006 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 1472-4782/06 $30.00 www.palgrave-journals.com/abm The Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication: Nordic Subsidiaries in Japan Vesa Peltokorpi National Center of Sciences, 2-1-2 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8439, Japan. E-mail: vpeltokorpi@ics.hit-u.ac.jp This study examines how readily detected attributes (age, gender, and racioethnicity) and underlying attributes (tenure, education, and work values) affect interpersonal communication in Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. The impact of diversity is tested through a regression analysis with 110 employees. The results indicate that diversity in gender, racio-ethnicity and work values have a negative impact on interpersonal communication. In contrast to the original hypothesis, tenure diversity has a positive impact on communication. The linkage can be explained by the impact of socio-cultural context on the relational demographics. Some practical implications are made. Asian Business & Management (2006) 5, 333–356. doi:10.1057/palgrave.abm.9200189 Keywords: interpersonal communication; diversity; nordic subsidiaries; Japan Introduction Interpersonal communication in work interaction has a tremendous influence on psychological outcomes and performance (e.g., Roberts and O’Reilly, 1979; Milliken and Martins, 1996; Williams and O’Reilly, 1998). Research, utilizing social identity (Tajfel and Turner, 1986) and self-categorization (Turner, 1987) theories, indicate that visible differences (readily detected diversity) decrease interpersonal communication as a result of in-group and out-group categorization (cf. Milliken and Martins, 1996). Although this stream of research provides important information, it tends to overlook the influence of the context and non-visible, underlying aspects of diversity. In contrast, communication theories focus on the impact of values on communication (e.g. Hall, 1976), but do not extend their investigations to the visible dimensions of diversity. As both forms of diversity are present in every organization, it is important to examine the impact of both types of diversity on interpersonal communication. Received 2 April 2004; revised 26 February 2005; accepted 9 April 2005 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 334 This paper examines the influence of the readily detected and underlying diversity on interpersonal communication in Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. The research question is ‘what types of diversity influence interpersonal communication in a Japanese socio-cultural context?’ Drawing from various streams of research, the socio-cultural context can be assumed to increase the salience of some types of diversity and to hinder communication among foreign and local employees. In addition to language problems, the source of perplexity can dwell, for example, in differentiated communication rules and role expectations. The combination of communication rules as well as the socio-cultural context influences how the readily detectable and underlying differences are perceived and influence employee interaction. The impact of diversity is tested with 110 employees in Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. This paper is divided into five sections: relevant social psychological and communication theories; hypotheses; methodology, results, implications, limitations and discussion; and conclusions. Theoretical Framework Interpersonal communication refers here to the ‘acquisition and/or offering of information through interpersonal channels’ (Jackson et al., 1993: 59). It involves producing, transmitting and interpreting symbols through verbal and non-verbal channels, directly and indirectly, passively and proactively (Miller and Jablin, 1991). It is claimed to be an important part of culture: ‘Culture is communication and communication is culture’ (Hall, 1959: 191). It also has tremendous impact on psychological outcomes and performance; research indicates that interpersonal communication impacts positively on job satisfaction, commitment (Rodwell et al., 1998), organizational effectiveness (Pincus, 1986; Bush and Frohman, 1991) and idea generation (Katz, 1982; Milliken and Martins, 1996). Diversity, defined as ‘the presence of differences among members of a social unit’ (Jackson et al., 1995: 217), is an umbrella term for the extent to which people are dissimilar with respect to individual-level characteristics. As the focus here is on the impact of diversity on interpersonal communication, this study draws from social identity and self-categorization theories, and the communication-rules approach. Social identity and self-categorization theories involve concepts of categorization, identification and comparison, maintaining that people categorize objects in order to understand them and reduce uncertainty. People initially seek to categorize themselves and others primarily on readily detected attributes rather than psychological abstracts. Some ascendants to categorization are cultural stereotypes and prejudice (Thatcher and Jehn, 1999). While streamlining judgements, categorization can block a person from noticing individuating characteristics of the perceived person Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 335 (Larkey, 1996). Categorization leads to identification, manifesting itself in interpersonal situations (personal identity) and group situations (social identity). Social identity is derived primarily from group memberships, which people strive to achieve in order to maintain a positive social identity. Positive identity derives largely from comparisons between in-groups and out-groups. In slight contrast to the social identity theory, the social-categorization theory acknowledges the possibility of several levels of identity or abstraction. The central role in the abstraction are prototypes — fuzzy sets of attributes that capture context-dependent features of group membership, in the form of representations of exemplary members or ideal types (Hogg and Terry, 2000). For example, an elder female employee in a company of predominately young female workers may find the organization attractive as regards gender, but unattractive as regards age. The extent to which a categorization is applied at a particular level is referred to as its salience, and relates not only to the general relevance of a group membership but also to a selective change in self-perception, whereby people actually define themselves as unique individuals or as members of groups. The communication-rules approach explains why diversity in underlying attributes can become salient and influence interpersonal communication (Schall, 1983). Communication rules, which can be understood as tacit knowledge about appropriate ways to interact in given roles and situations, indicate that values play an important role in communicative interaction. For example, communication in a Japanese socio-cultural context is found to emphasize vertical status differences in comparison to communication in the Nordic socio-cultural context (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1995; Gudykunst and Nishida, 2001). The presence of a shared language and/or coding scheme decreases anxiety in communicative interaction. Alternatively, dissimilar experiences, backgrounds, beliefs and values are indicated as causing difficulties in communication and diminishing social integration (Gudykunst and Nishida, 2001). In summary, diversity in both readily detected and underlying attributes have an impact on interpersonal communication. Researchers should therefore take into account the full impact of an individual’s demographic profile rather than only one or two demographic characteristics (Tsui and O’Reilly, 1989). Owing to the potential multidimensional impact of diversity, the following hypotheses take into account both the visible and non-visible dimensions of diversity. Hypotheses Diversity in readily detected attributes (age, gender, and racio-ethnicity) and underlying attributes (tenure, education, and work-values) is examined based Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 336 on a categorization by Harrison et al. (1998). Although some of these attributes can be linked, there are contextual and individual differences in how they influence interpersonal communication. For example, race is an important source of social identity for individuals in the United States (Milliken and Martins, 1996). In contrast, group membership is proposed as the primary source of self-identification in Japan (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1995). As a consequence, the salience of a given category, specific socio-cultural context, level of diversity and an individual’s prejudices and stereotypes can impact on the diversity-interpersonal communication linkage. Readily detected attributes Readily detected attributes are often subject to instant biases, prejudices and stereotypes, due to their visibility. Literature reviews indicate that diversity in tenure, gender and racio-ethnicity decrease affective processes (Milliken and Martins, 1996; Williams and O’Reilly, 1998). Cross-cultural research shows that categorization based on perceptual cues is subject to cultural variation (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1995). Age. The cohort concept asserts that employees who are homogeneous in age, regardless of their expertise, status or tenure, are likely to have common nonwork-related experiences (Zenger and Lawrence, 1989). Similarity in experience increases shared understanding of language rules, and tends to impact positively on non-work-related communication. In organizations, the effect of age similarity can be detected by the creation of a shared language concerning a wide spectrum of issues influencing employees’ attitudes, interests and beliefs (e.g., Rhodes, 1983; Wiersema and Bird, 1993). The impact of age in interpersonal communication is subject to sociocultural differences. For example, collective cultures place more emphasis on hierarchical categorization than individualistic cultures (Triandis, 1995). In Japan, status among employees in similar positions is still largely determined by age, and employees tend to accept this categorization as a high/low (ue/ shita) relationship (Triandis, 1990). Further, due to the distinction between private (honne) and public (tatemae) communication, young employees are likely to be hesitant in vocalizing ideas even when they would be beneficial in decision-making (cf. Gudykunst and Nishida, 2001). Entry-level recruitment, seniority-based promotion and low labour mobility intensify the impact of age cohort identity. However, the socio-cultural context may create an environment in which dissimilarities rather than similarities initiate communication. According to Farh et al. (1998), it would be consistent in Eastern cultures for individuals Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 337 holding high-level positions to be older and more highly educated than subordinates. Hence, when subordinates are older than their supervisors, subordinates will perceive a lower level of support and consideration from supervisors. In turn, supervisors will perceive a lower level of loyalty from subordinates, and both will engage in communicative interaction with each other. Although part of this interaction may be attributed to socio-cultural differences in power, empirical studies indicate that age diversity decreases interpersonal communication (Zenger and Lawrence, 1989). Thus, the first hypothesis is formulated as: Hypothesis 1 Relative age diversity decreases the frequency of interpersonal communication. Gender. The impact of gender on communication has been the focus of several theoretical frameworks (Ardener, 1975; Kanter, 1977). While some researchers explain the low level of interpersonal communication by the visibility of minority members (Kanter, 1977; Ely, 1995), others see the phenomenon through the linkage of gender with values and power (Ardener, 1975). The muted group theory, for example, explains the gender lines in communication through the concepts of experience and power based on three assumptions (Ardener, 1975). The first assumption is that men and women perceive the world differently due to differentiated experiences. Second, men suppress women’s ideas and language due to their acquired power. Finally, women need to convert their ideas, experiences and meanings in organizations in order to be heard. Even though the world has changed since the introduction of the muted group theory, diversity studies, in general, show that women are isolated from communication networks and subject to stereotyped work roles in a maledominated environment (Ibarra, 1992; Ely, 1995). Exaggerated gender categorization takes place especially in male-dominated organizations and occupations, because gender is a more important social category for men (Kanter, 1977; Stephan and Stephan, 1985; Wood, 1987; Tsui et al., 1992). In general, when demographic arrangements reinforce status differences between men and women, the categories for ‘male’ and ‘female’ become salient, and their perception of psychological and behavioural differences between men and women will be exaggerated in a manner consistent with sex-role stereotypes. Research shows that gender is an important antecedent for communication in Japanese organizations. Some important reasons for the limited role of women in the Japanese workplace are selective recruitment, a two-track employment system, and clear distinctions between male and female professions (Ogasawara, 1991; Whitehill, 1991; Usui et al., 2003). Women in Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 338 Japan are perceived to be over-embedded in networks based on the traditional division of gender roles (Usui et al., 2003). Owing to institutional and psychological barriers, women occupied only 6% of first-level managerial positions and less than 1% of top management positions in large Japanese companies in 1995 (Wong, 1997). The low representation of female managers reflects Kanter’s (1977) study of the token effect, suggesting that male managers in a male-dominated hierarchy are likely to act in ways that preserve male privileges and advantages. Thus, the second hypothesis is formulated as Hypothesis 2 Relative gender diversity has a negative impact on interpersonal communication. Racio-ethnicity. Racio-ethnicity can consist of both readily detected attributes (race/ethnicity) and underlying attributes (cultural values), depending on the interaction context. Owing to cultural value and racial differences between Nordic expatriates and Japanese employees, the concept of racio-ethnicity in this paper measures both cultural value as well as racial diversity. Although potentially multiple factors, such as age, gender and organizational position, influence interpersonal communication, a literature review indicates that racio-ethnic diversity initiates negative affective outcomes (Milliken and Martins, 1996). Communication rules are linked to cultural values because they provide meanings of appropriate ways to interact with others (Schall, 1983). It is possible to detect differences, especially in terms of face-giving/saving and verticality, in Nordic and Japanese interpersonal communication. Face, defined as an ‘image of self delineated in terms of approved social attributes’ (Goffman, 1955: 213), is linked to one’s positional power. Scholars propose that vertical inferiors have a high propensity to comply and superiors lead and take responsibility in Japan (Hofstede, 1980). Owing to the verticality, Japanese are identified as having two faces: one reflecting the authentic self (honne), the other the public self (tatemae) (Doi, 1986). The former is linked to personal feelings, intentions, attitudes, and so on, and the latter to readily detected attributes. Depending on the interaction context, Japanese also emphasize social obligations (giri) and human feelings (ninjo). Owing to different communication rules, Nordic expatriates interpret the interaction context through dissimilar schemata, increasing chances for miscommunication. Cross-cultural research suggests some value differences between Nordic and Japanese people if they are treated a priori as representative of aggregate cultural tendencies. Based on Hofstede’s 100-point scale (1980), Japanese culture is characterized by moderate power distance (54) and collectivism (46), Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 339 and strong uncertainty avoidance (94) and masculinity (95) (see Appendix for definitions). The Nordic culture(s) are characterized by low power distance (28), moderate individualism (69), and weak uncertainty avoidance (40) and femininity (16) (the scores for the Nordic countries are based on self-calculated averages). In consistence with these, cross-cultural communication studies provide evidence that the level of anxiety in intercultural interactions is higher in Japan than Western countries (Gudykunst and Nishida, 2001; Kowner, 2002). Cultural stereotypes and prejudice, at least initially, thus influence the frequency of cross-cultural communication (Triandis, 1995; Thatcher and Jehn, 1999; Gudykunst and Nishida, 2001). In contrast to most intercultural psychology and communication theories, cultural values can be seen only as part of racio-ethnic diversity. The other dimension — race — is visible and subject to automatic categorization. Indeed, in-group preferences and out-group discrimination between subgroups based on nationality is noted to persist despite convergence of shared work norms (Salk and Brannen, 2000). The minority members in this study (Nordic expatriates) differ from their Japanese colleagues in terms of organizational rank and power. Owing to their minority status, foreign employees may seek to assimilate to the dominant group; however, organizational position may enable foreign employees to maintain a positive self-image despite their minority status. Because of the combined detrimental impact of cultural value differences, communication rules and racial differences, the third hypothesis is formulated as: Hypothesis 3 Relative racio-ethnic diversity has a negative impact on interpersonal communication. Underlying attributes While there is abundant evidence that diversity in readily detected attributes has a negative impact on affective outcomes, relatively little is known about the impact of underlying attributes on interpersonal communication. This is because readily detected attributes are frequently used as indicators for underlying values (e.g., Tsui et al., 1992). Although this is true in some cases, readily detected and underlying attributes are not always related (Dose and Klimoski, 1999). Tenure. The cohort concept indicates that tenure homogeneity promotes communication due to a shared understanding of organizational policies and procedures, and the consequent shared language. Employees who enter a company at the same time go through similar experiences and have more opportunity and motivation to exchange ideas than employees who are diverse Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 340 in terms of tenure (Katz, 1982). Differences in tenure, therefore, decrease interpersonal communication between senior and junior employees (Zenger and Lawrence, 1989). The impact of tenure, however, is often more complex, due to the impact of socio-cultural context (Farh et al., 1998). In Japan, the impact of tenure diversity is influenced by the cultural attributes of verticality and social interdependence. Research on Japanese culture indicates that responsibilities and communicative behaviour are subject to vertical role categorization (Nakane, 1972). Differentiated roles may promote information exchange due to differing levels of knowledge/skills between junior (kohai) and senior (sempai) employees. Unfortunately, this assessment has not been assessed empirically. However, recruitment practices and age-based categorization make friendly interpersonal communication in most organizations subject to tenure homogeneity. Since friendship communication tends to be more frequent than work-related communication, it can be proposed that: Hypothesis 4 Relative tenure diversity has a negative impact on interpersonal communication. Education. Almost every organization is subject to education diversity. However, little research links it with interpersonal communication in groups and organizations because of the assumed close relation between education and values (Kimberly and Evanisko, 1981; Hambrick and Mason, 1984). Social identity and self-categorization theories explain decreased interpersonal communication by people’s identification with similar others (Tajfel and Turner, 1986; Turner, 1987). This concentration of interaction along educational background is reflected in research, indicating that superiors are most positive to subordinates with similar educational levels (Tsui and O’Reilly, 1989). Moreover, researchers have found that educational diversity increases Japanese top-management team turnover (Wiersema and Bird, 1993). Selective recruitment and emphasis on entrants with a bachelor degree shows an emphasis on educational attainment and similarity of educational levels in Japan. Firms usually conduct entry-level recruitment and selection on a yearly basis and tend to hire a cohort of fresh school graduates annually in April rather than recruit as vacancies arise. This phenomenon reflects the importance of harmony (wa), since people from the same school find it easier to develop smooth interpersonal relationships due to their common educational background. Thus: Hypothesis 5 Relative education diversity has a negative impact on interpersonal communication. Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 341 Work values. The cultural values discussed above are only one dimension of overall values. Because researchers do not often take into account value heterogeneity in a given nation, the usage of the culture-general (etic) approach to study culture-specific (emic) phenomena may produce misleading results. One should, therefore, be cautious when using national cultural level concepts to interpret individual behaviour in a specific context. Indeed, research shows that 40% of variance in values is genetic, whereas the other 60% is environmentally based (Keller et al., 1992). Hence, values can be both an individual and social phenomenon, as they are developed partly over time through the multiple and long-term influences of culture, society and experience, and are partly derived from genetics. Values are interpreted and evaluated through behaviour because people cannot evaluate each other’s cognition. A clear connection is indicated between values and behaviour, as value similarity means that individuals share a general philosophy of how work should be executed and the expected task results (Connor and Becker, 1975; Dose and Klimoski, 1999). In terms of salience, values are less subject to initial categorization due to their non-visibility. However, employees can detect value differences through interpersonal communication, decision-making, etc. As an informal guide for collective accepted behaviour, anything that promotes value salience can elicit selfcategorization (Dose and Klimoski, 1999). Value homogeneity is an important antecedent of organizational communication in collective cultures. The Japanese style of collectivism involves a high degree of collectively coerced conformism. As one of the most important Japanese cultural norms is to achieve and foster harmonious interdependence among in-group members, employees are expected to display a high level of value congruence (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1995; Thatcher and Jehn, 1999). Japanese firms emphasize value congruence by long socialization processes through modelling, instruction and correction. Thus, the final hypothesis is formulated as: Hypothesis 6 Relative work value diversity has a negative impact on interpersonal communication. Methods Data The data were obtained from nine Nordic subsidiaries in Japan in 2002. The Nordic expatriates in these subsidiaries were analysed together, consistent with findings in research on work-related values (Hofstede, 1980). When selecting potential companies, I chose small subsidiaries engaged in sales activities to Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 342 decrease size and industry variation. The average subsidiary employs 12 employees. The questionnaires were given to expatriates, who ensured that most employees responded and that questionnaires returned on time. The final quantitative sample consisted of 110 employees. Reflecting the selection criteria, about 60% of the respondents are working in marketing and sales-related positions. The average age of employees is 36 years (s.d. ¼ 10 years, range ¼ 23–61 years). Most are male (68.5%). Most women (73%) are under 35 years old. The male percentage for the same age category is 51%. About 35% of respondents are in managerial positions; further cross-tabulation indicates that only three of these are women. The average subsidiary had operated for about 10 years (s.d. ¼ 7.5 years). The large variance has an influence on tenure, as most employees (42%) have worked for their companies less than 2 years. Most are working for recently established subsidiaries. The second highest frequency (32.1%) for tenure was from 2 to 5 years. Reflecting some subsidiaries’ long presence in Japan, the third highest frequency (16.1%) was over 10 years. About 68% of the respondents have a bachelor’s degree or higher-level academic education. Tenure is not related to educational level. In terms of nationality, the subsidiaries are rather homogeneous; only about 10% of employees are foreigners. All foreigners have a university education and most of them (83%) work in managerial positions. Most foreigners have worked in the subsidiaries less than 5 years. In addition, I interviewed nine Finnish, Danish and Swedish expatriate managers, all Caucasian males. The interviews, covering various issues about organizational interaction, lasted 45–90 min. During the interviews, I followed the interviewee’s lead, controlling only to keep the focus on the area of interest. Some questions addressed in interviews were: Describe communicative interaction among males and females? What challenges arise when interacting with Japanese employees? Interviews with Danish and Swedish expatriates were conducted in English. I interviewed Finnish expatriates in Finnish, and translated the interviews into English to ease data comparison. Interviews were analysed in line with the recommendations by Miles and Huberman (1984). Control variables In order to decrease possible extraneous influence, five control variables were used consistent to theoretical assumptions (e.g., Schall, 1983; Turner, 1987), and previous research (e.g., Roberts and O’Reilly, 1979; Tushman, 1979; Jehn et al., 1999). First, research indicates that job level influences interpersonal communication through the impact of formal hierarchy on status and interaction channels (Hage et al., 1971; Roberts and O’Reilly, 1979). Employees higher in the Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 343 organizational hierarchy engage more frequently in work-related communication. Employees are reluctant to share information that may be interpreted as negative or threatening to superiors in an organizational hierarchy (e.g., Roberts and O’Reilly, 1979). Network research further indicates differences by the larger amount of instrumental ties in the upper echelons (Ibarra, 1992). Second, the contact hypothesis posits (Allport, 1954), and empirical research confirms, that interdependence increases interpersonal communication, cooperation and information sharing (Wageman, 1995). High task interdependence increases interaction, which, in turn, reduces anxiety and uncertainty in interpersonal communication. Furthermore, Hofstede et al. (1990) found that even when cultural differences in values persist, organizational and workgroup practices tend to dominate, creating a unified culture and sense of equality and belonging to all members. Third, company (subsidiary) age was controlled due to the tendency for communication patterns to stabilize over time (March and Simon, 1958). The stability enables employees in the same communication network to develop a form of compatible language unique to them. This is why underlying attributes are asserted to predict ‘who communicates with whom’ over time, because the negative impact of readily detected attributes tends to mature over time (Jehn et al., 1999; Peltokorpi, 2004). Fourth, research indicates that functional or work areas have an impact on communicative interaction (Tushman, 1979). Moreover, recent developments in social identity theory suggest that people derive part of their identity and sense of self from workgroups to which they belong (Hogg and Terry, 2000). In addition to social identification to work groups, researchers explain the negative impact of the work area through physical distance and formalized communication (Tushman, 1979; Zenger and Lawrence, 1989). Unit size, physical propinquity, and external communication were not controlled, for three reasons. First, all the units are relatively and uniformly small. Second, all subsidiaries have Japanese-style organizational plans, where most employees work in a large room without partitions. Finally, external communication was not included due to its non-relation with the demographics and the need to include various forms of communication media (e.g. telephone and electronic communication). Measures The study consists of one dependent, six independent, and four control variables. A five-point Likert response format, ranging from ‘1 ¼ to no extent’ to ‘5 ¼ to a great extent’, was used to measure interpersonal communication, value diversity and interdependence. The other measures are based on the categorical data. The questionnaires were distributed in English and Japanese. Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 344 The Japanese questionnaires were translated and back-translated from English to Japanese and double-checked by two bilingual Japanese. The interpersonal communication scale measures the frequency and depth of interpersonal communication. The subjects were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the following statements: (1) ‘People talk with one another openly and freely in my work unit’ (2) ‘We really listen and try to understand the feelings and points of view of each other’ (3) ‘People in my work unit communicate mostly directly and personally with each other’ (4) ‘We freely express our feelings and ideas in meetings’ (5) ‘There is frequent communication in my work unit’ (a ¼ 0.76). The scale was developed by items from a knowledge survey used at Hitotsubashi University and Peltokorpi (2004). Value diversity, which indicates the perceptual differences in work values, was used due to its relative accuracy (cf. Meglino and Ravlin, 1998). As researchers frequently link values with observable dimensions of communication/behaviour (Connor and Becker, 1975; Dose and Klimoski, 1999), perceptual differences can be equated with behavioural differences. The subjects were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the following three statements: (1) ‘People in my work unit share similar values’ (2) ‘People in my work unit have similar goals’ (3) ‘Members in my work unit agree what is important for our performance’ The scale was reversed in order to assess value diversity (a ¼ 0.82). Relational demography refers to comparative characteristics and represents the difference between an individual and other individuals in a given social unit. The measure was used for three reasons. First, due to the theory-measure congruence (cf. Klein et al., 1994); the relational demography concept is based on the Euclidean distance measure in the self-categorization theory (Turner, 1987). Second, relational demography is postulated to account for variance above and beyond that which is accounted for in simple demographics (Tsui and O’Reilly, 1989). Third, findings in relational demographic studies are more consistent by comparison to those in organizational demographic studies (Lau and Murnighan, 1998). Following ChatmanP et al. (1998), relational demography was measured using the equation [1/n (Xi – Xj)2]1/2; where Xi ¼ focal unit employees’ score on the dimension; Xj ¼ each other unit employee’s score on that dimension; and n ¼ number of employees in the work unit. The formula was used for all categorical diversity (age, gender, education, job level, nationality, tenure and work area). Age was measured by categories (1 ¼ less than 25 years, 2 ¼ 26–35, 3 ¼ 36–45, 4 ¼ 46–55, 5 ¼ more than 56 years). Gender was coded with ‘1’ designating male and ‘2’ designating female. Education was measured by categories (1 ¼ high school, 2 ¼ vocational school, 3 ¼ junior college, 4 ¼ bachelor’s degree, 5 ¼ master’s degree). Two levels, ‘1’ designating nonAsian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 345 managers and ‘2’ designating managers, were used to measure job level due to a relatively large number of employees working in managerial positions. Racio-ethnicity was coded: 1 ¼ Japanese and 2 ¼ non-Japanese. These two categories captured all racial categories. Tenure was measured by categories (1 ¼ less than 2 years, 2 ¼ 2–5, 3 ¼ 6–10, 4 ¼ more than 10 years). Work area was designated: 1 ¼ R&D, 2 ¼ production, 3 ¼ marketing and sales, 4 ¼ human resources, 5 ¼ finance, 6 ¼ information systems, 7 ¼ other administrative. Interdependence was developed for this study and measured by asking the subject to indicate the extent to which they agreed with the following statements: (1) ‘Other members of my work unit depend on my performance to do their jobs’ (2) ‘How other members do their job has an impact on my performance’ (3) ‘Members in my work unit frequently co-operate to get work done’ (4) ‘People in my work unit help and support each other as best as they can’ (a ¼ 0.60). The company age was asked in interviews and reconfirmed by company brochures. The mean age (mean ¼ 9.8 years, s.d. ¼ 7 years) was used to create a dummy variable by which the companies were divided into two categories (1 ¼ less than 9.8 years, 2 ¼ more than 9.8 years). Results Table 1 presents the means, standard deviations and correlations among the variables. Some correlations are worth mentioning. First, that between relative age and tenure diversity (r ¼ 0.594, P40.01) indicates that tenure differs with age. As the correlation is well below 1, there is no good justification to confound age and tenure in research. Second, the negative correlation among gender, and tenure diversity (r ¼ 0.205, P40.05) indicates that women tend to leave companies earlier than male colleagues. Third, the statistically insignificant relation between perceived values and racio-ethnic diversity is in some contrast with cross-cultural value research (Hofstede, 1980). Multiple regression analysis was used to estimate the effects of relational diversity on interpersonal communication (Table 2). The first block (left side) tests the relationship between the dependent and control variables. In the second block (right side), controlling for interdependence, company age, job-level and work area, all independent variables were regressed against interpersonal communication. The change in adjusted R2 shows that the readily detected and underlying attributes account for significant variation (more than 50%) in the second model. In the first regression model, interdependence (b ¼ 0.534, Po0.01) accounted for the only statistically significant variance. In the second regression Asian Business & Management 2006 5 346 Variable Mean s.d. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 3.510 0.7051 0.5699 0.3577 0.7417 0.7042 1.897 3.268 1.545 0.5781 0.6797 0.7859 0.1924 0.1962 0.2372 0.1605 0.1775 0.9776 0.7284 0.5002 0.2289 0.1976 Communication Age Gender Racio-ethnicity Education Tenure Work-value d. Interdependence Company age Job level Work area 1 2 0.093 0.174 0.170 0.092 0.245** 0.141 0.002 0.182 0.594** 0.582** 0.113 0.593** 0.167 0.244* 0.230* 0.309** 0.272** 0.131 0.007 **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed). *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (two-tailed). 3 0.036 0.032 0.205* 0.055 0.012 0.368** 0.094 0.235* 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0.154 0.145 0.031 0.017 0.013 0.073 0.149 0.147 0.115 0.542** 0.015 0.274** 0.288** 0.147 0.254** 0.078 0.181 0.280** 0.352** 0.326** 0.228* 0.037 0.190* 0.161 0.026 0.139 0.270* 0.305* Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Table 1 Means, standard deviations and correlations (N ¼ 110) Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 347 Table 2 Regression analyses (N ¼ 110) Variables Interdependence Company age Job level Work area Adjusted R2 F b 0.534** 0.082 0.116 0.002 0.348** 15.564 b Variables Interdependence Company age Job level Work area Age diversity Gender diversity Racio-ethnic diversity Education diversity Tenure diversity Work-value diversity 0.373** 0.236** 0.052 0.064 0.055 0.242** 0.178* 0.027 0.196* 0.348** Adjusted R2 Adjusted DR2 F 0.514** 0.166 12.511 Po0.01**, Po0.05*. model, relative gender diversity is negatively related to the dependent variable (b ¼ 0.242, Po0.01), providing support for hypothesis 2. As relative diversity in nationality and values indicate statistically significant relations to the predicted direction (b ¼ 0.178, Po0.05 and b ¼ 0.348, Po0.01, respectively), hypotheses 3 and 6 were supported. Contrary to hypothesis 4, relative tenure diversity (b ¼ 0.196, Po0.05) was positively related to interpersonal communication. Hypotheses 1 and 5 were not statistically significant. The results for the control variables were largely consistent with theoretical assumptions (Schall, 1983; Tajfel and Turner, 1986; Turner, 1987), as well as previous research (Allport, 1954; Wageman, 1995; Jehn et al., 1999). The results show (b ¼ 0.373, Po0.01), parallel to the contact hypothesis and previous research, that interdependent work practices increase communicative interaction (Allport, 1954; Wageman, 1995). The results further indicate (b ¼ 0.236, Po0.01) that communication level tends to be lower in older subsidiaries. In slight contrast to previous research (Hage et al., 1971; Roberts and O’Reilly, 1979), organizational position and work area did not have a significant impact on communication. Discussion This study examines the impact of readily detected and underlying attributes on interpersonal communication in Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. The guiding Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 348 theoretical frameworks assert that diversity, mainly in readily detected attributes, decreases communicative interaction because employees tend to interact with those perceived to be similar. It was further expected that values have a significant impact on communicative interaction in the Japanese socio-cultural context. Parallel to the original hypotheses, heterogeneity in gender, racio-ethnicity and work values have a negative influence on communication. The positive linkage between relative tenure diversity and interpersonal communication can be attributed to social status norms, which intensify communication between junior (kohai) and senior (sempai) employees. Given that people generally prefer homogeneity, it was not surprising to find that communication frequency declines when gender composition departs from homogeneity (b ¼ 0.242, Po0.01). The variance of the relative gender heterogeneity implies that the male-dominated environment (68.5%) can intensify the linkage between this type of diversity and interpersonal communication. Therefore, the reduced social interaction is, at least partly, initiated by differentiated occupational roles, related role expectations, and social categorization. The data further indicate that women might be excluded from work-related communication networks because men hold managerial or other traditionally male-dominated positions. In contrast, most women work in administrative or supportive positions. The limited communication can be linked to motivation because women are less attached to their working places, as exemplified by the younger age. The lack of motivation can be partly accounted for by gender roles and partly by the limited possibilities for career advancement. It can be assumed that part of the decreased communication lies in the nature of social life in Japan. Women are traditionally expected to take a submissive role in the workplace and leave work on marriage (Usui et al., 2003). Hence, women who comply with role expectations that they are not interested in building a career may seek to identify with female colleagues, which decreases cross-gender communication. A Nordic manager explains the differentiated work roles as follows: There have not been any problems between genders. Women are still making coffee, which I think is not a good thing. This is part of Japanese office culture. Women come here first in the morning to pick up the newspapers and so on. Women feel that this is normal and have done it from the beginning. Alternatively, interviews indicate that the lack of motivation can be attributed partly to a male resistance to the promotion of female managers and equal organizational status and work roles. Foreign subsidiaries, in Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 349 principle, offer more chances to women, but are frequently subject to unequal gender distribution and tokenism, which restrict chances for women to be regarded as equal. As a Nordic subsidiary president remarked: Even though women here are the smartest of our employees, men do not let them develop to the same level. Even though they would get the title, they are not able to get the responsibility. Parallel to hypothesis 3, relative heterogeneity in racio-ethnicity has a negative impact on interpersonal communication (b ¼ 0.178, Po0.05). Because of the racial differences, expatriate employees capture larger shares of awareness that can trigger automatic categorization. As the categorization process elicits stereotypes, interaction processes, at least initially, are made to confirm the preconceived mental images. The stereotypical mental images are based partly on cultural knowledge transferred through the usual socialization channels (e.g. books and the media) and partly on personal experience. Since categorization is validated through social interaction, language proficiency and cultural understanding are likely to influence categorization, because they can be perceived as signs of competence. While the results in terms of the negative linkage between racio-ethnicity and communication indicate that the mental images of foreign employees tend to be negative, it is also important to consider the connections of race to communication and behavioural rules in the form of cultural values. Based on cross-cultural research (Hofstede, 1980; Triandis, 1995), it is possible to point out differences between Japanese and Nordic employees in what is the ‘right’ way to conduct organizational interaction. For example, one expatriate president commented: It is sometimes frustrating to work with Japanese because you do not get feedback. That is why I need to ask many questions [y] Communication is the biggest problem with Japanese. While Japanese subordinates expect to be told what to do, Nordic managers wish subordinates to express opinions openly, without vertical role distinction. Interviews indicate that Japanese employees pay careful attention to contextual cues in communication in terms of insider/outsider (uchi/soto), and superior/ inferior (ue/shita). Interviews further show that honne (true motives and sentiments) is suppressed by tatemae (proper and conventional display) in interpersonal communication. In contrast, Nordic expatriates tend to conceptualize social relations more openly in terms of universalistic social categories and values, as well as emphasize individual autonomy in managing relationships. Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 350 Interviews indicate that the differences in communication rules increase miscommunication and can lead to reduced cross-cultural interaction. In some cases this may lead to isolation of expatriate employees, as indicated by a Nordic subsidiary manager: They accept me as a subsidiary president, but they want to have someone on the side that is my parallel. I do not like this, but this is the kind of dual structure that exists in many companies. They have the oldest manager as their representative. He is the one to go to when they have problems. As part of the problem can be created by incompatible communication rules, frequent rotation of expatriate employees may increase in-group and out-group division. In addition to similar communicative behaviour, senior Japanese managers might hold more social capital and therefore be desired sources for advice. In contrast, newly assigned expatriate managers may have little understanding of the business environment and employee relations. In contrast to the hypothesis, relative tenure heterogeneity is positively related with interpersonal communication (b ¼ 0.196, Po0.05). This indicates that the surrounding socio-cultural context can mean that dissimilarities rather than similarities initiate social interaction. In the Japanese sociocultural context, social status norms promote verticality, which can be attributed to the subtle differences in social interaction between senior and junior employees. The social norms support senior–junior (sempai–kohai) relationships, where the more experienced are in a position to control and provide assistance and the less experienced obey. Although these vertical relationships may not always be smooth and without disagreements, the practices are rooted in social norms, and in most cases all parties find comfort in these symbiotic relationships. The large, negative impact of perceived values on interpersonal communication (b ¼ 0.348, Po0.01) indicates that underlying attributes may be the main determinant of individuals’ social interaction patterns over time. Values as guides of social status norms are subject to variation according to the sociocultural context. In Japanese workplace behaviour, values provide clear frames for social interaction patterns. Behavioural deviation may lead to exaggeration of differences and to isolation from the social and work activities of the majority. A Nordic expatriate explains this tendency for isolation by reduced communication: If there is somebody who does not really fit into his role or to the organization, then my observation is that they isolate the person without really isolating the person. But, in reality the person was not part of the group. Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 351 The isolated person in this case was a Japanese male with long overseas experience, who probably did not comply with the pressures of behavioural uniformity. Hence, similarity in readily detected attributes does not guarantee group acceptance, which in a Japanese context requires the ability to read context and entails great sacrifices. Parallel to this case, studies indicate that Japanese with long overseas experience have problems in assimilating with school friends and/or colleagues due to behavioural differences (Lewin, 1987). This process is particularly difficult for females who have lived in countries with more liberal gender attitudes. Practical implications The findings have several implications. First, in terms of staffing, communicative behaviour can be facilitated either by a balanced representation of minorities or by creating a homogeneous environment (cf. Kanter, 1977; Wood, 1987). Whereas the latter seems to manifest in a current trend for laying off female workers first and reducing the amount of foreign employees, a cognitive variety created by diversity is beneficial in terms of creative and innovative performance (Milliken and Martins, 1996). Therefore, at a time of globalization and equal employment, the practical suggestion is to seek to create a work environment with more equal representation of minorities in all organizational echelons. However, since year-to-year hiring and turnover patterns largely determine the demographic distribution, compositional alternations, particularly in the short-run, are problematic. Second, the results indicate that interdependence (control variable) increases interpersonal communication. The logic behind this is that the increased interaction facilitates communication and helps individuals assess the differences in underlying attributes rather than by using surface-level demographic data as information proxies. Empirical research supports this contention by demonstrating that beneficial consequences of contact among members of overtly dissimilar social entities are likely under conditions of equal status and cooperative contact (Sigelman and Welch, 1993). The interdependence can also initiate other organizational processes, such as the socialization of new employees and the feeling of commonality among organizational actors. Third, group-based work practices may further alleviate the negative impact of company age on interpersonal communication. Managers could, for example, create temporary groups in which members are rotated periodically to tackle specific organizational issues. Internal employee rotation can also lead to more heterogeneous communication networks. In order to find additional ways to manage diversity in subsidiaries, Nordic expatriates and Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 352 local managers could share their experiences, for example, in periodical workshops in Japan. Limitations This study has limitations. First, this analysis is limited to sales subsidiaries in Japan, and caution should be exercised when applying the results in different organizational and socio-cultural contexts. Second, this study does not link relative diversity and interpersonal communication with performance because the small sample size does not allow for firm-level analysis. It can further be assumed that a small number of expatriates can influence the racio-ethnic diversity–interpersonal communication linkage. In addition, similarity between interviewer and interviewees in terms of gender, nationality and race can influence the qualitative assessment of interpersonal communication (cf. Tajfel and Turner, 1986; Turner, 1987). Third, organizational culture can impact on the linkage between diversity and communication. The organizational culture variable was not included in the final statistical model due to the claimed direct interaction between organizational culture and communicative interaction (Schall, 1983) and statistical problems. I included an organizational culture measure in a preliminary research model. However, due to almost perfect correlation with interpersonal communication and consequent multi-collinearity problems, it was omitted as a redundant variable. Conclusion This study examines the impact of readily detected and underlying attributes on interpersonal communication in Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. The results show that diversity has a negative impact on communication. An exception is relative tenure diversity, where positive influence is explained by socio-cultural norms. As underlying attributes, in the form of work values, explain the greatest variance in interpersonal communication, the linkage between diversity and communication may penetrate beyond the readily observable attributes. As most studies have not examined the combined impact of the attributes on communication in workplaces, the results help to understand some inconsistencies in earlier research. The combination of previous research and the variables used suggests that interpersonal communication can be increased by creating more interdependent work processes and/or creating more balanced workplaces. However, there is still much research needed to understand diversity in foreign subsidiaries. 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(1987) ‘Meta-analytic review of sex differences in group performance’, Psychological Bulletin 102: 53–71. Zenger, T.R. and Lawrence, B.R. (1989) ‘Organisational demography: the differential effects of age and tenure distributions of technical communication’, Academy of Management Journal 32(2): 353–376. Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 356 Appendix Definitions of Hofstede’s Taxonomy Power distance refers to the extent to which power inequalities are accepted in society. Uncertainty avoidance refers to the extent to which uncertainty is perceived as threatening, and avoided by having formal rules and punishment for deviant behaviour. Individualism-collectivism are two polar opposites of a single dimension; individualist societies focus on their own individual interests, while collective societies are characterized by tight social frameworks and strong in-group loyalties, which encourage people to place the welfare of the group over that of the individual. Masculine cultures are more materialistic, and have strong role stereotypes, while feminine cultures value the quality of life of all members (Hofstede, 1980). Asian Business & Management 2006 5 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.   Article  Reviewed:     Pesch,  Udo,  “Administrators  and  Accountability:  The  Plurality  of  Value  Systems  in  the  Public   Domain”,  Public  Integrity,  Fall,  2008,  Vol.  10,  No.  4,  pp.  335-­‐343.       The  article,  “Administrators  and  Accountability:  The  Plurality  of  Value  Systems  in  the   Public  Domain”,  by  Udo  Pesch  seeks  to  address  how  accountability  and  value  systems  interact   in  the  decisions  made  by  public  administrators.  The  research  problem  being  addressed  is   whether  public  administrators  are  free  from  accountability  for  their  decisions  and  what  are  the   different  influences  that  can  affect  their  decisions.     It  is  clear  from  the  abstract  of  the  article  that  this  is  no  simple  issue.  In  fact  the  article  if   fairly  confusing  for  the  first  couple  paragraphs.  The  author  starts  by  saying  that  explicit  ethics   codes  of  reference  systems  make  it  easier  to  hold  individuals  accountable  for  their  actions,   however  a  conflict  emerges  when  an  individual’s  moral  values  are  different  from  such   accountability  policies.  What  can  make  accountability  more  complicated  are  the  motivations  of   the  administrator  and  also  the  individual’s  inability  to  perceive  future  consequences  of  their   decisions.     Another  influence,  outside  of  individual  morals  and  ethical  guidelines,  is  the  existence  of   social  context.  These  different  domains  generally  “lay  down  their  own  standards  of  good  and   bad  behavior”  (p.  336).  This  social  surrounding  can  help  an  individual  determine  a  good   decision  from  a  bad  one,  but  at  the  same  time  complicates  the  idea  of  accountability.  The   organization  that  a  public  administrator  is  a  part  of  may  also  complicate  accountability  and  may   provide  another  outlet  for  blame  if  the  public  sees  a  decision  as  immoral.  The  author  also   acknowledges  the  tendency  to  blame  the  highest  level  of  a  hierarchy  or  elected  official  for   questionable  decision  making  on  a  lower  level.  Udo  Pesch  sees  this  as  “undesirable”  and  writes   that  by  carrying  out  the  policies  the  public  administrator  is  at  least  somewhat  responsible.  To   support  this  claim  the  author  uses  the  example  of  viewing  the  public  administrator  as  a  citizen,   and  as  such  they  have  “an  active  role  in  the  safeguarding  [community]  values  and  interests”.   (p.339)     To  such  a  complicated  issue  the  author  sums  the  research  up  well  by  saying  that  there   are  times  when  a  public  administrator  has  to  violate  their  own  moral  codes  because  there  are   no  universal  moral  rules  that  “allow  a  civil  servant  to  live  up  to  integrity  standards.”(p.341)  A   public  administrator  can  hide  behind  laws  and  organizational  procedures,  but  ultimately  this  is   no  reason  to  disregard  accountability  and  there  are  ways  that  these  individuals  can  act  morally.   Pesch  writes,  “It  would  be  more  sensible  to  design  accountability  arrangements  that   acknowledge  that  civil  servants  are  actively  responsible  for  their  actions,  and  that  try  to  provide   them  the  opportunity  to  consciously  address  the  potential  difference  between  authorized  rules   and  communal  principles  and  values.”  (p.341)  And,  while  this  is  excellently  laid  out  as  a  theory,   the  author  ultimately  admits  that  there  is  no  single  best  design  for  an  accountability  agreement   on  a  tangible  level.             This  is  good  concept  for  how  the  problem  of  multiple  value  systems  and  accountability   should  be  handled.  However,  there  doesn’t  appear  to  be  any  concrete  guidelines  for  carrying   this  out.  In  other  words  this  sounds  great  on  paper  but  it  doesn’t  translate  as  easily  to  everyday   life.  There  isn’t  research  in  the  traditional  sense  for  this  article,  but  the  author  does  include   many  examples  of  work  written  by  those  who  have  written  on  this  subject  in  the  past.  Pesch   cites  people  like  Locke,  Montesquieu,  and  Machiavelli.  These  are  good,  well-­‐known  examples   and  authors  and  I  think  it  adds  a  great  deal  credibility  to  the  piece  as  a  whole.     Overall  this  article  isn’t  very  straightforward  in  the  beginning  and  it’s  not  until  the   second  page  that  you  realize  where  the  article  is  headed.  In  order  to  have  more  people  be   engaged  and  read  the  whole  article  it  needs  a  new,  more  concise  introduction.  Once  the  reader   gets  to  the  really  good  examples  that  are  relevant  to  the  everyday  life  of  a  public  administrator,   a  good  portion  of  the  article  has  already  past.  Overall  it  is  a  good,  well-­‐written  article  with  an   important  message  for  public  administrators  and  organizations.  The  piece,  when  taken  as  a   whole,  is  relevant  and  very  convincing  in  theory  but  starts  slow  and  never  lays  out  a  concrete   way  of  approaching  this  complex  problem.         Article  Reviewed:     Pesch,  Udo,  “Administrators  and  Accountability:  The  Plurality  of  Value  Systems  in  the  Public   Domain”,  Public  Integrity,  Fall,  2008,  Vol.  10,  No.  4,  pp.  335-­‐343.       The  article,  “Administrators  and  Accountability:  The  Plurality  of  Value  Systems  in  the   Public  Domain”,  by  Udo  Pesch  seeks  to  address  how  accountability  and  value  systems  interact   in  the  decisions  made  by  public  administrators.  The  research  problem  being  addressed  is   whether  public  administrators  are  free  from  accountability  for  their  decisions  and  what  are  the   different  influences  that  can  affect  their  decisions.     It  is  clear  from  the  abstract  of  the  article  that  this  is  no  simple  issue.  In  fact  the  article  if   fairly  confusing  for  the  first  couple  paragraphs.  The  author  starts  by  saying  that  explicit  ethics   codes  of  reference  systems  make  it  easier  to  hold  individuals  accountable  for  their  actions,   however  a  conflict  emerges  when  an  individual’s  moral  values  are  different  from  such   accountability  policies.  What  can  make  accountability  more  complicated  are  the  motivations  of   the  administrator  and  also  the  individual’s  inability  to  perceive  future  consequences  of  their   decisions.     Another  influence,  outside  of  individual  morals  and  ethical  guidelines,  is  the  existence  of   social  context.  These  different  domains  generally  “lay  down  their  own  standards  of  good  and   bad  behavior”  (p.  336).  This  social  surrounding  can  help  an  individual  determine  a  good   decision  from  a  bad  one,  but  at  the  same  time  complicates  the  idea  of  accountability.  The   organization  that  a  public  administrator  is  a  part  of  may  also  complicate  accountability  and  may   provide  another  outlet  for  blame  if  the  public  sees  a  decision  as  immoral.  The  author  also   acknowledges  the  tendency  to  blame  the  highest  level  of  a  hierarchy  or  elected  official  for   questionable  decision  making  on  a  lower  level.  Udo  Pesch  sees  this  as  “undesirable”  and  writes   that  by  carrying  out  the  policies  the  public  administrator  is  at  least  somewhat  responsible.  To   support  this  claim  the  author  uses  the  example  of  viewing  the  public  administrator  as  a  citizen,   and  as  such  they  have  “an  active  role  in  the  safeguarding  [community]  values  and  interests”.   (p.339)     To  such  a  complicated  issue  the  author  sums  the  research  up  well  by  saying  that  there   are  times  when  a  public  administrator  has  to  violate  their  own  moral  codes  because  there  are   no  universal  moral  rules  that  “allow  a  civil  servant  to  live  up  to  integrity  standards.”(p.341)  A   public  administrator  can  hide  behind  laws  and  organizational  procedures,  but  ultimately  this  is   no  reason  to  disregard  accountability  and  there  are  ways  that  these  individuals  can  act  morally.   Pesch  writes,  “It  would  be  more  sensible  to  design  accountability  arrangements  that   acknowledge  that  civil  servants  are  actively  responsible  for  their  actions,  and  that  try  to  provide   them  the  opportunity  to  consciously  address  the  potential  difference  between  authorized  rules   and  communal  principles  and  values.”  (p.341)  And,  while  this  is  excellently  laid  out  as  a  theory,   the  author  ultimately  admits  that  there  is  no  single  best  design  for  an  accountability  agreement   on  a  tangible  level.             This  is  good  concept  for  how  the  problem  of  multiple  value  systems  and  accountability   should  be  handled.  However,  there  doesn’t  appear  to  be  any  concrete  guidelines  for  carrying   this  out.  In  other  words  this  sounds  great  on  paper  but  it  doesn’t  translate  as  easily  to  everyday   life.  There  isn’t  research  in  the  traditional  sense  for  this  article,  but  the  author  does  include   many  examples  of  work  written  by  those  who  have  written  on  this  subject  in  the  past.  Pesch   cites  people  like  Locke,  Montesquieu,  and  Machiavelli.  These  are  good,  well-­‐known  examples   and  authors  and  I  think  it  adds  a  great  deal  credibility  to  the  piece  as  a  whole.     Overall  this  article  isn’t  very  straightforward  in  the  beginning  and  it’s  not  until  the   second  page  that  you  realize  where  the  article  is  headed.  In  order  to  have  more  people  be   engaged  and  read  the  whole  article  it  needs  a  new,  more  concise  introduction.  Once  the  reader   gets  to  the  really  good  examples  that  are  relevant  to  the  everyday  life  of  a  public  administrator,   a  good  portion  of  the  article  has  already  past.  Overall  it  is  a  good,  well-­‐written  article  with  an   important  message  for  public  administrators  and  organizations.  The  piece,  when  taken  as  a   whole,  is  relevant  and  very  convincing  in  theory  but  starts  slow  and  never  lays  out  a  concrete   way  of  approaching  this  complex  problem.         Article  Reviewed:     Pesch,  Udo,  “Administrators  and  Accountability:  The  Plurality  of  Value  Systems  in  the  Public   Domain”,  Public  Integrity,  Fall,  2008,  Vol.  10,  No.  4,  pp.  335-­‐343.       The  article,  “Administrators  and  Accountability:  The  Plurality  of  Value  Systems  in  the   Public  Domain”,  by  Udo  Pesch  seeks  to  address  how  accountability  and  value  systems  interact   in  the  decisions  made  by  public  administrators.  The  research  problem  being  addressed  is   whether  public  administrators  are  free  from  accountability  for  their  decisions  and  what  are  the   different  influences  that  can  affect  their  decisions.     It  is  clear  from  the  abstract  of  the  article  that  this  is  no  simple  issue.  In  fact  the  article  if   fairly  confusing  for  the  first  couple  paragraphs.  The  author  starts  by  saying  that  explicit  ethics   codes  of  reference  systems  make  it  easier  to  hold  individuals  accountable  for  their  actions,   however  a  conflict  emerges  when  an  individual’s  moral  values  are  different  from  such   accountability  policies.  What  can  make  accountability  more  complicated  are  the  motivations  of   the  administrator  and  also  the  individual’s  inability  to  perceive  future  consequences  of  their   decisions.     Another  influence,  outside  of  individual  morals  and  ethical  guidelines,  is  the  existence  of   social  context.  These  different  domains  generally  “lay  down  their  own  standards  of  good  and   bad  behavior”  (p.  336).  This  social  surrounding  can  help  an  individual  determine  a  good   decision  from  a  bad  one,  but  at  the  same  time  complicates  the  idea  of  accountability.  The   organization  that  a  public  administrator  is  a  part  of  may  also  complicate  accountability  and  may   provide  another  outlet  for  blame  if  the  public  sees  a  decision  as  immoral.  The  author  also   acknowledges  the  tendency  to  blame  the  highest  level  of  a  hierarchy  or  elected  official  for   questionable  decision  making  on  a  lower  level.  Udo  Pesch  sees  this  as  “undesirable”  and  writes   that  by  carrying  out  the  policies  the  public  administrator  is  at  least  somewhat  responsible.  To   support  this  claim  the  author  uses  the  example  of  viewing  the  public  administrator  as  a  citizen,   and  as  such  they  have  “an  active  role  in  the  safeguarding  [community]  values  and  interests”.   (p.339)     To  such  a  complicated  issue  the  author  sums  the  research  up  well  by  saying  that  there   are  times  when  a  public  administrator  has  to  violate  their  own  moral  codes  because  there  are   no  universal  moral  rules  that  “allow  a  civil  servant  to  live  up  to  integrity  standards.”(p.341)  A   public  administrator  can  hide  behind  laws  and  organizational  procedures,  but  ultimately  this  is   no  reason  to  disregard  accountability  and  there  are  ways  that  these  individuals  can  act  morally.   Pesch  writes,  “It  would  be  more  sensible  to  design  accountability  arrangements  that   acknowledge  that  civil  servants  are  actively  responsible  for  their  actions,  and  that  try  to  provide   them  the  opportunity  to  consciously  address  the  potential  difference  between  authorized  rules   and  communal  principles  and  values.”  (p.341)  And,  while  this  is  excellently  laid  out  as  a  theory,   the  author  ultimately  admits  that  there  is  no  single  best  design  for  an  accountability  agreement   on  a  tangible  level.             This  is  good  concept  for  how  the  problem  of  multiple  value  systems  and  accountability   should  be  handled.  However,  there  doesn’t  appear  to  be  any  concrete  guidelines  for  carrying   this  out.  In  other  words  this  sounds  great  on  paper  but  it  doesn’t  translate  as  easily  to  everyday   life.  There  isn’t  research  in  the  traditional  sense  for  this  article,  but  the  author  does  include   many  examples  of  work  written  by  those  who  have  written  on  this  subject  in  the  past.  Pesch   cites  people  like  Locke,  Montesquieu,  and  Machiavelli.  These  are  good,  well-­‐known  examples   and  authors  and  I  think  it  adds  a  great  deal  credibility  to  the  piece  as  a  whole.     Overall  this  article  isn’t  very  straightforward  in  the  beginning  and  it’s  not  until  the   second  page  that  you  realize  where  the  article  is  headed.  In  order  to  have  more  people  be   engaged  and  read  the  whole  article  it  needs  a  new,  more  concise  introduction.  Once  the  reader   gets  to  the  really  good  examples  that  are  relevant  to  the  everyday  life  of  a  public  administrator,   a  good  portion  of  the  article  has  already  past.  Overall  it  is  a  good,  well-­‐written  article  with  an   important  message  for  public  administrators  and  organizations.  The  piece,  when  taken  as  a   whole,  is  relevant  and  very  convincing  in  theory  but  starts  slow  and  never  lays  out  a  concrete   way  of  approaching  this  complex  problem.       How To Critique A Journal Article Sponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS So your assignment is to critique a journal article. This handout will give you a few guidelines to follow as you go. But wait, what kind of a journal article is it: an empirical/research article, or a review of literature? Some of the guidelines offered here will apply to critiques of all kinds of articles, but each type of article may provoke questions that are especially pertinent to that type and no other. Read on. First of all, for any type of journal article your critique should include some basic information: 1. Name(s) of the author(s) 2. Title of article 3. Title of journal, volume number, date, month and page numbers 4. Statement of the problem or issue discussed 5. The author’s purpose, approach or methods, hypothesis, and major conclusions. The bulk of your critique, however, should consist of your qualified opinion of the article. Read the article you are to critique once to get an overview. Then read it again, critically. At this point you may want to make some notes to yourself on your copy (not the library’s copy, please). The following are some questions you may want to address in your critique no matter what type of article you are critiquing. (Use your discretion. These points don’t have to be discussed in this order, and some may not be pertinent to your particular article.) 1. Is the title of the article appropriate and clear? 2. Is the abstract specific, representative of the article, and in the correct form? 3. Is the purpose of the article made clear in the introduction? 4. Do you find errors of fact and interpretation? (This is a good one! You won’t believe how often authors misinterpret or misrepresent the work of others. You can check on this by looking up for yourself the references the author cites.) 5. Is all of the discussion relevant? 6. Has the author cited the pertinent, and only the pertinent, literature? If the author has included inconsequential references, or references that are not pertinent, suggest deleting them. 7. Have any ideas been overemphasized or underemphasized? Suggest specific revisions. 8. Should some sections of the manuscript be expanded, condensed or omitted? 9. Are the author’s statements clear? Challenge ambiguous statements. Suggest by examples how clarity can be achieved, but do not merely substitute your style for the author’s. 10. What underlying assumptions does the author have? 11. Has the author been objective in his or her discussion of the topic? In addition, here are some questions that are more specific to empirical/research articles. (Again, use your discretion.) 1. Is the objective of the experiment or of the observations important for the field? 2. Are the experimental methods described adequately? 3. Are the study design and methods appropriate for the purposes of the study? 4. Have the procedures been presented in enough detail to enable a reader to duplicate them? (Another good one! You’d be surprised at the respectable researchers who cut corners in their writing on this point.) Last Edited 4/9/2009 Page 1 of 2 How To Critique A Journal Article Sponsored by The Center for Teaching and Learning at UIS 5. Scan and spot-check calculations. Are the statistical methods appropriate? 6. Do you find any content repeated or duplicated? A common fault is repetition in the text of data in tables or figures. Suggest that tabular data be interpreted of summarized, nor merely repeated, in the text. A word about your style: let your presentation be well reasoned and objective. If you passionately disagree (or agree) with the author, let your passion inspire you to new heights of thorough research and reasoned argument. Last Edited 4/9/2009 Page 2 of 2 Asian Business & Management, 2006, 5, (333–356) r 2006 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 1472-4782/06 $30.00 www.palgrave-journals.com/abm The Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication: Nordic Subsidiaries in Japan Vesa Peltokorpi National Center of Sciences, 2-1-2 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8439, Japan. E-mail: vpeltokorpi@ics.hit-u.ac.jp This study examines how readily detected attributes (age, gender, and racioethnicity) and underlying attributes (tenure, education, and work values) affect interpersonal communication in Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. The impact of diversity is tested through a regression analysis with 110 employees. The results indicate that diversity in gender, racio-ethnicity and work values have a negative impact on interpersonal communication. In contrast to the original hypothesis, tenure diversity has a positive impact on communication. The linkage can be explained by the impact of socio-cultural context on the relational demographics. Some practical implications are made. Asian Business & Management (2006) 5, 333–356. doi:10.1057/palgrave.abm.9200189 Keywords: interpersonal communication; diversity; nordic subsidiaries; Japan Introduction Interpersonal communication in work interaction has a tremendous influence on psychological outcomes and performance (e.g., Roberts and O’Reilly, 1979; Milliken and Martins, 1996; Williams and O’Reilly, 1998). Research, utilizing social identity (Tajfel and Turner, 1986) and self-categorization (Turner, 1987) theories, indicate that visible differences (readily detected diversity) decrease interpersonal communication as a result of in-group and out-group categorization (cf. Milliken and Martins, 1996). Although this stream of research provides important information, it tends to overlook the influence of the context and non-visible, underlying aspects of diversity. In contrast, communication theories focus on the impact of values on communication (e.g. Hall, 1976), but do not extend their investigations to the visible dimensions of diversity. As both forms of diversity are present in every organization, it is important to examine the impact of both types of diversity on interpersonal communication. Received 2 April 2004; revised 26 February 2005; accepted 9 April 2005 Vesa Peltokorpi Impact of Relational Diversity and Socio-cultural Context on Interpersonal Communication 334 This paper examines the influence of the readily detected and underlying diversity on interpersonal communication in Nordic subsidiaries in Japan. The research question is ‘what types of diversity influence interpersonal communication in a Japanese socio-cultural context?’ Drawing from various streams of research, the socio-cultural context can be assumed to increase the salience of some types of diversity and to hinder communication among foreign and local employees. In addition to language problems, the source of perplexity can dwell, for example, in differentiated communication rules and role expectations. The combination of communication rules as well as the socio-cultural context influences how the readily detectable and underlying differences are perceived and influence employee interaction. The impact of diversity is tested with 110 employees in Nordic subsidiaries in Japa...
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