Cultural barriers to the international transfer of information

Menou, Michel J.

doi:10.1016/0306-4573(83)90065-1

Cited by 42 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…At the most granular level, a good place for further research to begin would be to understand better how fundamental assumptions about the processing of information differ from one culture to another-a nontrivial matter when global, culturally heterogeneous groups are using the same technology to collaborate. Menou (1983), for example, argues that information is culture specific and "consequently, is largely uncommunicable unless it has been 'acculturated'" (p. 121). He noted that, in some cultures, it is inappropriate to separate information from people and relationships, quoting the Bedouin saying, How can you trust what somebody you don't know has written in a book?…”

Section: Collaboration Technologies In Global Workmentioning

confidence: 97%

Putting the Global in Global Work: An Intercultural Lens on the Practice of Cross-National Collaboration

Hinds¹,

Liu

Lyon

2011

The Academy of Management Annals

134

112

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Collaboration across national boundaries has become increasingly prevalent over the last decade, yet the management literature remains remarkably unhelpful in answering questions about what happens when people across nations and cultures work closely together. We review the management literature that reports empirical studies of global work and conclude that few of these studies, despite their explicit focus on globally distributed work, meaningfully examine the intercultural aspects of these collaborations. We assume an intercultural lens to understand what gets lost by not examining the global in global work and conclude that the very process by which workers who reside in different countries confront, explore, and resolve cultural differences begs for more clarity. Further, we conclude that a more contextual and dynamic view of culture is necessary to shed light on these processes. We use two examples-social networks and technology use-to illustrate how cultural differences might generate different patterns of behavior, and consider the effect of these potential incompatibilities on global work and workers as they collaborate across national boundaries.

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Section: Collaboration Technologies In Global Workmentioning

confidence: 97%

Putting the Global in Global Work: An Intercultural Lens on the Practice of Cross-National Collaboration

Hinds¹,

Liu

Lyon

2011

The Academy of Management Annals

134

112

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“…In addition to geographical distance, Menou ( 1983) also noted that cultural distance is another factor which makes it difficult for developing countries to access information.…”

Section: Cognitive Accessibilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Citation theories in the framework of international flow of information: New evidence with translation analysis

Liu

1997

J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci.

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Citation is a worldwide phenomenon. It needs to be considered in the international context. This study examines four common modalities (physical accessibility, cognitive accessibility, perceived quality, and perceived importance) underlying the complex citation practice by translation analysis. In an analysis of the Chinese literature in library and information science, it was found that there is a very strong correlation between languages cited and languages translated (r = 0.978). The overall national citation pattern of foreign publications is highly correlated with its translation pattern (r = 0.897). There is approximately 57% overlap between the group of the 60 most heavily cited authors and the group of the 60 most frequently translated authors. Highly cited publications are more likely to be translated (54.5 vs. 13.8%).

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“…Menou [29] observed that many human groups have a lot in common, but, internationally, they have at least as many differences to the extent that information may be incommunicable Odoul, Oluka and Nyamwaya [20] found the Luo made similar health-care choices, depending on the perceived cause of the illness. Drugs are seen as important in relieving symptoms but, just as De Zoysa [5] found in Zimbabwe, social and spiritual relationships are held to influence the onset and course of disease.…”

Section: Information and Equitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Principia informatica: conversations with R.T. Bottle

Pickering¹

1996

Journal of Information Science

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Introductory remarksThe conversations took place during the course of research into pharmacetical information exchange with developing countries. They wandered into the territory of the principles of information science (IS) because it was difficult to determine boundaries.Where did IS begin? Where did other disciplines end? The chats proved to be fruitful because, firstly, pharmaceutical information is a well-worked area offering plenty of examples and, secondly, information issues in the developing world are not masked by sophistication. This is not to say that the developed countries are beyond the basics -far from it -but they have been content, by and large, to apply IS as a successful and lucrative technology. Had the discipline evolved in the direction of pure rather than an applied science, the emergent philosophy and research methodology may well have taken a very different form. The resultant exploration of these ideas could be significant and is certainly worth recording. Underlying preceptsThere are few, if any, laws pertaining to IS; one or two postulates in bibliometrics maybe, but not much else. The reason is not hard to see -with its roots on *The author is retired, but associated with 171 477 8584 the one hand in librarianship and on the other in the service of science and technology, the fundamental nature of IS has tended to be overlooked. It is, in fact, the study of the knowledge system; the nature of knowledge and the way in which it is acquired and imparted. it is about the contact between one mind and another, and the interrelationships between information and human attitudes and behaviour -which are profound. In view of the self-evident importance of all of these attributes, it is astonishing that practising information scientists have committed such little effort to formalising the principles involved. Admittedly, the issues are complicated by a certain looseness of terminology, since most IS terms are also in ordinary everyday use. For instance, knowledge, information, intelligence and communication have overlapping meanings in common parlance. It would become essential, therefore, to establish term definitions and specify meanings more precisely if it were desired to introduce greater rigour into the subject discipline.In what follows, the idea that information and action are inextricably linked is a major theme; knowledge for knowledge's sake has no place in this interpretation, except perhaps in the most esoteric of human activities. We generally impart knowledge (i.e. we inform) in order to influence the current or future actions of others, and we ourselves acquire knowledge (i.e. are informed) in order to form attitudes and act.

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Cultural barriers to the international transfer of information

Cited by 42 publications

References 3 publications

Putting the Global in Global Work: An Intercultural Lens on the Practice of Cross-National Collaboration

Putting the Global in Global Work: An Intercultural Lens on the Practice of Cross-National Collaboration

Citation theories in the framework of international flow of information: New evidence with translation analysis

Principia informatica: conversations with R.T. Bottle

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