RIEB, Kobe University - RIEB Seminar (January 19, 2017)

RIEB Seminar

Date&Time	Tuesday, March 7, 2017, 2:00pm-5:00pm
Place	Seminar Room at RIEB (Kanematsu Memorial Hall, 1st Floor)
Intended Audience	Faculties, Graduate Students, Undergraduates, and People with Equivalent Knowledge
Language	English
Note	Copies of the paper will be available at Office of Promoting Research Collaboration.

Speaker	Markus PUDELKO
Affiliation	Department of International Business, Tuebingen University
Topic	The Development of Trust in Chinese-German Subordinate-Supervisor Relations
Abstract	Enriching interpersonal cross-cultural trust literature with acculturation theory, our explorative, qualitative study reveals why, how and under which circumstances (collectivist) Chinese subordinates either succeed or fail in forming and developing trust to their (individualist) German supervisors. Our analysis is based on 95 semi-structured interviews with Chinese subordinates of German supervisors and German supervisors of Chinese subordinates both in China and in Germany. Our study uncovers a three phase process model (comprising the contact, disillusion and acculturation phase), ultimately resulting in either establishment or erosion of trust. Our findings disclose that central propositions of seminal (Western) trust concepts are turned upside down, once the focus moves from an exclusively Western cultural setting to one that also includes East Asian contexts. As such, our study exposes important boundary conditions of influential trust concepts and contributes to research on the juxtaposition of Western and Eastern management concepts.

Speaker/Affiliation	Tomoki SEKIGUCHI / Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University
Speaker/Affiliation	Azusa EBISUYA / Graduate School of Economics, Osaka University
Topic	Interplay of Team Mental Models, Project Process Models, and Language in International Software-Development Teams
Abstract	This article investigates how team mental models (TMMs), project process models (PPMs), and language are interrelated in international software-development teams. We conducted an in-depth case study of two software-development teams in which Sri Lankan and Japanese employees collaborating with each other encountered communication problems because they did not share TMMs. Our analysis indicates that the adopted PPM is a key antecedent in developing a well-shaped TMM, and it is vital for some team member(s) to bridge between members who have different mental models through the effective use of the common language.