New publication, Oct 2018

Title

Language as heteroglot: The bridging qualities of Swedish-English (SweE) and Singapore Colloquial English (SCE) in cross-cultural working environments

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to reframe the role and function of perceived “bad English” in an international business (IB) context to illustrate that “bad English” could in fact facilitate cross-cultural communication in individuals who do not have English as first language.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses the Bakhtinian concept of heteroglossia as a theoretical framework. For the method of analysis, applied linguistics is used in particular through the lens of systemic functional linguistics (SFL) as discourse analysis method to analyze transcribed interview texts. Data collection is via long interviews with 33 top level managers in Swedish managed organizations in Singapore offices.

Findings

The study illustrates, through respondent interviews and discourse analysis, that perceived “bad English” could help facilitate communication across cultures in a cross-cultural working context. The study also shows how different individuals, depending on personal experience and cultural background, employ different means to navigate and manage language differences at work. Continue reading ”New publication, Oct 2018”

New publication, April 2018


Title

Which User of technology? Perspectivising the UTAUT model by application of the SFL language Pronoun System towards a systems perspective of technology acceptance and use

Abstract

This study applies systemic functional linguistics (SFL) as complementary framework of analysis of technology acceptance models (TAMs). The purpose is to bridge research methodology language in international business (IB) studies and engineering management science. Currently TAMs and its consolidated version, the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) provides for a typology of one user in one context scenario. The need for the UTAUT model to account for multiple users in multiple work contexts in a single framework of analysis was foregrounded in the study of the workflow processes of a remote services business model of a European founded multinational business enterprise (MBE) with regards to its (i) intra-firm improvements in managing remote services cases, and its (ii) extra-firm selling of life cycle management remote services contracts. The Enterprise has global operations in over 100 countries, of which this study focused on its European operations of improving the quality of remote services for the marine industry. Through an application of SFL unto UTAUT, this study illustrates how multiple users in multiple contexts can be analysed simultaneously, and whose behaviours can be accounted for in a single framework of analysis. The combined SFL UTAUT model addresses the initial statisticity of the UTAUT model, whilst at the same time, expands upon current theoretical perspectives of technology use and acceptance that can be applied in practice.

Keywords

Research methodology, Unified theory of acceptance and use of Technology (UTAUT), Systemic functional linguistics (SFL), International business, Technology management, Remote service

Reference
Cordeiro, C. M. (2018). Which User of technology? Perspectivising the UTAUT model by application of the SFL language Pronoun System towards a systems perspective of technology acceptance and use, ASTESJ Advances in Science, Technology and Engineering Systems Journal, 3(2): 309-318. DOI: 10.25046/aj030234

Article open access at:

Which User of technology? Perspectivising the UTAUT model by application of the SFL language Pronoun System towards a systems perspective of technology acceptance and use

New publication, March 2018

Title

Using systemic functional linguistics as method in identifying semogenic strategies in intercultural communication: A study of the collocation of “time” and “different” by Swedish managers with international management experiences

Abstract

Theoretical foundations to intercultural communication (ICC) are integrative and interdisciplinary but few have studied ICC from a systemic linguistics perspective. Viewing communication as a dialogic process, this study takes a systemic functional linguistics (SFL) view of language as a socialsemiotic where semogenesis (meaning making) is both construed and construed by context of situation which in turn is construed by culture. Using interview data collected from Swedish managers who have extensive international management experiences, this study aims to illustrate how SFL can be used as an adaptive theory and framework of discourse analysis in uncovering semogenic strategies in ICC processes.

Keywords

systemic functional linguistics; social semiotics; intercultural communication; cross-culture communication; semogenesis; semogenic strategies; adaptive linguistic theory

Reference
Cordeiro, C. M. (2018). Using systemic functional linguistics as method in identifying semogenic strategies in intercultural communication: A study of the collocation of “time” and “different” by Swedish managers with international management experiences, Journal of Intercultural Communication Research, DOI: 10.1080/17475759.2018.1455601

Article open access at:
https://doi.org/10.1080/17475759.2018.1455601

New e-book publication, March 2018

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My new e-book, Gothenburg in Asia, Asia in Gothenburg can be found at
https://www.books2read.com/b/kgot2021
https://www.books2read.com/kgot2021
206 pages [epub version]
ISBN 9781386553748

Abstract:

Gothenburg is located on Sweden’s west coast. The sea and an international orientation beckoned for this city, where it was harbour port and home to the Swedish East India Company during the 1700s. This book is part of a city initiative called Kunskap Göteborg 2021, in celebration of Gothenburg’s 400-years jubilee that takes place in 2021. This book is a collection of narratives and insights of those who had helped build the international orientation of Gothenburg from the early 1980s, focusing specifically on Gothenburg’s past, present and future ties with Asia, vice versa. The foundational research for this book in was made possible by a stipendium from the Foundation Anna Ahrenberg, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Book Reference:
Cordeiro, C. M. (2018). Gothenburg in Asia, Asia in Gothenburg [e-book]. Oklahoma City: Draft2Digital, USA. Available at https://www.books2read.com/kgot2021. Accessed 28 March 2018. ISBN 9781386553748.

Passion för Mat 2018, Food for Progress, Oumph!

At the Oumph! (oumph.se) food stand with Fredrik Kämpenberg, company chef at Food for Progress (FFP) at Passion för Mat 2018, 2 to 4 March, Erikbergshallen, Gothenburg.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2018

Global food demand is expected to rise by 35% by 2030 [1]. The demand in increased food supplies will need to come in the form of increased crop yields and/or a reduction in food waste. In view of keeping ecological balance with global nutrition needs in the upcoming deacades, there’s a general agreement that a transition from animal to plant-based protein supply is desirable [2-4], even if there is acknowledgement that the efficiency of the global food production system should not only be assessed as a function of the area of cultivated land but also in accordance to the amount of nutrients withdrawn and replaced from the soil [5].

Continue reading ”Passion för Mat 2018, Food for Progress, Oumph!”

The theory of Autopoiesis.
Reflections on New Year’s eve of 2018

Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2017

In the days leading up to the New Year’s eve of 2017, I found myself revisiting what I wrote about the concepts of complexity and autopoiesis a few years ago.

The concept of autopoiesis, organisms as self-generating, was developed by Maturana and Varela [1,2] in the field of biology, primarily as a construct that enabled a distinction to be made between living and nonliving systems. Niklas Luhmann, in his turn adapted this concept from biological systems theory and generalized it for building a new social system theory.

Continue reading ”The theory of Autopoiesis.
Reflections on New Year’s eve of 2018″

4-5 Jul. GEM&L International Workshop on Management & Language, Copenhagen, Denmark

Cheryl Marie Cordeiro with Philippe Lecompte at the GEM&L International Workshop on Management & Language, 4-5 Jul., Copenhagen, Denmark. The theme this year was ”Revisiting multilingualism at work: New perspectives in language-sensitive research in international business”.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2017

The 11th international workshop of the Groupe d’Études Management & Langage (GEM&L) was held on 4 to 5 July 2017 at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Copenhagen, Denmark. 34 papers were presented at the workshop that ran in three parallel sessions. About 50 participants attended the conference with international representation from Australia, Canada, Colombia, India, Europe, Singapore, South Korea and the USA. The theme addressed this year was Revisiting multilingualism at work: New perspectives in language-sensitive research in international business. Pursuing a continued and parallel interest on research methodology from EURAM 2017 that took place just over a week ago in Glasgow, Scotland, to GEM&L 2017, I followed papers presented that addressed new directions in research in international business (IB) studies at this international workshop.

Continue reading ”4-5 Jul. GEM&L International Workshop on Management & Language, Copenhagen, Denmark”

21-24 Jun. EURAM 2017 Conference, Glasgow, Scotland

21-24 Jun. EURAM 2017 Conference, Glasgow, Scotland, UK.
“Managing Knowledge: Making Knowledge Work” was the overarching conference theme for 2017.

Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2017

The conferences organized by the European Academy of Management (EURAM) are generally well anticipated and draw a large number of international submissions for presentations. This year’s 21.24 Jun. EURAM 2017 conference held at the University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, was no exception. The key to navigating EURAM conferences in general is strategy in following focused individual research specific interests or complementary topics that might help broaden the perspective to one’s own research interests. EURAM 2017 had 13 strategic interest groups (SIG) of which this year, I chose to focus attention on SIG 12, on Research Methods and Research Practice (RM&RP).

Continue reading ”21-24 Jun. EURAM 2017 Conference, Glasgow, Scotland”

15-17 Jun. China Goes Global (CGG) 2017 conference, Kristiansand, Norway

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The 11th China Goes Global 2017 conference, Kristiansand, Norway
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2017

The 11th annual China Goes Global conference (CGG 2017) took place between 15-17 June at the University of Agder, in Kristiansand, Norway. I was last at this conference in 2014 [1, 2] in Shanghai, where this year’s gathering in Kristiansand, Norway, provides yet another splendid opportunity and platform for networking and the exchange of ideas on internationalisation processes related to China and the Chinese context.

Continue reading ”15-17 Jun. China Goes Global (CGG) 2017 conference, Kristiansand, Norway”

Collaborative Robot Test Center (CRTC) official opening in progressive city Västerås, Sweden

Anders Teljebäck, Chairman of the Municipal Council, Västerås, Sweden, was guest of honour at the CRTC opening ceremony.
Text & Photo © JE Nilsson, CM Cordeiro 2017

The opening ceremony of the Collaborative Robot Test Center (CRTC) at Robotdalen, Expectrum, in Västerås, Sweden, took place on 4 May 2017. CRTC is located within the creative learning hub of Expectrum, Västerås city’s meeting place for technology entrepreneurs, thought leaders and innovators. In terms of providing pioneering robotics solutions, CRTC, a joint project between ABB, Robotdalen and Mälardalen högskolan, will offer pre-studies to SME automation processes in use of collaborative robot, YuMi (Bergman, 2017; Löfvenberg, 2017).

Urban landscapes increasingly leverage advancing technologies to co-create socio-economic infrastructures and processes (Wakeford, 2004). In that aspect, CRTC’s lab location and its evolution as a robotics solution unit now officially open, could be seen as marking in contribution towards a larger global movement in the democratising of technology.

Continue reading ”Collaborative Robot Test Center (CRTC) official opening in progressive city Västerås, Sweden”