title: The business of the other: representing the non-west in management and media

authors: Munshi, Debashish

abstract: This thesis explores current facets of the business of the other in western management and business media discourses. It identifies the shaping of these facets through continuities between imperial colonisation and contemporary neocolonialism in ways that mainstream management discourses marginalise or ignore. In establishing marginalisation and neglect, and opening up some of the consequences, the thesis draws on conceptual frameworks from indigenous, feminist, postcolonial, and subaltern studies. In addition, it argues that this ongoing incorporation of colonial concepts and practices into contemporary neocolonialism not only needs to be acknowledged but needs to be challenged by the reconceptualisation of current approaches to the other across a number of business fields.

After analysing the process of othering in the mainstream media through a study of the New Zealand press, the thesis focuses its four main lines of inquiry on the fields of business journalism, public relations, diversity management, and intercultural communication. In particular, it looks at aspects of western control involved in the ‘globalisation’ campaigns of the western media; the theoretical formulation of ‘requisite variety’ in public relations; the rhetoric of ‘managing diversity’ in organisations; and the formulation of ‘intercultural communication’ in education.

For the first line of inquiry, the thesis analyses how western business journalism texts exercise control over the other by updating Orientalist or Eurocentric ideologies as a discursive underpinning of, and accompaniment to, neocolonial economic expansion. Its second inquiry leads to a critique of the outwardly egalitarian concept of requisite variety in public relations literature. The thesis finds that, although this concept has allowed public relations to take note of the cultural other, it has, in a largely ethnocentric field, done little to shift the balance of power away from dominant western elites. Instead, it shows how the field operates to support those who already hold privileged positions and keep those on the margin marginalised.

In the third and fourth lines of inquiry, into discourses of diversity management and intercultural communication, similar consolidations of western neocolonial power are evident. While acknowledging attempts by these fields to incorporate the other into the larger organisational frame, the thesis tracks a systematic tendency to avoid or sideline issues of socio-political power in representations of diversity. It further contends that these benign-looking discourses of diversity align with the neocolonial west’s strategies to retain power in a world where major demographic shifts are reducing western populations to a numerical minority. 

The thesis also attempts, by introducing my lived experience as an other, to synthesise subjective observations with academic analysis. This integration of lived experience with the legitimacy of theory has been crucial to the project of the thesis as a whole. That project aims to resist sites of control entrenched in western worldviews and, in the face of persistent denials that they exist, to acknowledge racism and other potent discursive and material traces of imperialism.

text: The business of the other: representing the non-west in management and media This thesis explores current facets of the business of the other in western management and business media discourses. It identifies the shaping of these facets through continuities between imperial colonisation and contemporary neocolonialism in ways that mainstream management discourses marginalise or ignore. In establishing marginalisation and neglect, and opening up some of the consequences, the thesis draws on conceptual frameworks from indigenous, feminist, postcolonial, and subaltern studies. In addition, it argues that this ongoing incorporation of colonial concepts and practices into contemporary neocolonialism not only needs to be acknowledged but needs to be challenged by the reconceptualisation of current approaches to the other across a number of business fields.

After analysing the process of othering in the mainstream media through a study of the New Zealand press, the thesis focuses its four main lines of inquiry on the fields of business journalism, public relations, diversity management, and intercultural communication. In particular, it looks at aspects of western control involved in the ‘globalisation’ campaigns of the western media; the theoretical formulation of ‘requisite variety’ in public relations; the rhetoric of ‘managing diversity’ in organisations; and the formulation of ‘intercultural communication’ in education.

For the first line of inquiry, the thesis analyses how western business journalism texts exercise control over the other by updating Orientalist or Eurocentric ideologies as a discursive underpinning of, and accompaniment to, neocolonial economic expansion. Its second inquiry leads to a critique of the outwardly egalitarian concept of requisite variety in public relations literature. The thesis finds that, although this concept has allowed public relations to take note of the cultural other, it has, in a largely ethnocentric field, done little to shift the balance of power away from dominant western elites. Instead, it shows how the field operates to support those who already hold privileged positions and keep those on the margin marginalised.

In the third and fourth lines of inquiry, into discourses of diversity management and intercultural communication, similar consolidations of western neocolonial power are evident. While acknowledging attempts by these fields to incorporate the other into the larger organisational frame, the thesis tracks a systematic tendency to avoid or sideline issues of socio-political power in representations of diversity. It further contends that these benign-looking discourses of diversity align with the neocolonial west’s strategies to retain power in a world where major demographic shifts are reducing western populations to a numerical minority. 

The thesis also attempts, by introducing my lived experience as an other, to synthesise subjective observations with academic analysis. This integration of lived experience with the legitimacy of theory has been crucial to the project of the thesis as a whole. That project aims to resist sites of control entrenched in western worldviews and, in the face of persistent denials that they exist, to acknowledge racism and other potent discursive and material traces of imperialism.

year: 1999

title: E-learning for CPD for medical physicists

authors: Round, W. Howell

abstract: The internet is increasingly being used for as a platform for providing learning opportunities to meet medical physicists’ continuing professional development (CPD) needs. But as a profession we do not take full advantage of its capabilities with only a few medical physicists’ professional organisations (MPPOs) providing educational on-line material suitable for CPD. METHODS: An on-line search was carried out of all the web site of MPPOs in the International Organization of Medical Physics. Those sites that were not in English were translated with Google Translator. Those MPPOs that had educational material that was made available only to its members, or who made it generally available for payment of a fee were approached for permission to access the material. The surveyed material was collated and reviewed. Also all open-access medical physics journals were surveyed. RESULTS: Apart from the well-known Emerald and EMIT sites, there was surprisingly little e-learning material to be found. The AAPM provides excellent resources to its members and to non-members who wish to pay for access. The ACPSEM contribution to e-learning is also notable and is developing strongly. The Biomedical Imaging and Interventional Journal site also contains a lot of materials. But the lack of material to be found elsewhere was quite disappointing and that which is available is quite hard to find. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS: As a profession we have not taken full advantage of the possibilities that it provides for giving access to our members for CPD. The material can be hard to find or has restricted access. There is no one central site where the material can be found and accessed easily and without cost. The establishment of such a site would require significant sponsorship for its establishment and maintenance. However, such a site would be a global asset and could coordinate the production of medical physics e-learning materials for CPD.

text: E-learning for CPD for medical physicists The internet is increasingly being used for as a platform for providing learning opportunities to meet medical physicists’ continuing professional development (CPD) needs. But as a profession we do not take full advantage of its capabilities with only a few medical physicists’ professional organisations (MPPOs) providing educational on-line material suitable for CPD. METHODS: An on-line search was carried out of all the web site of MPPOs in the International Organization of Medical Physics. Those sites that were not in English were translated with Google Translator. Those MPPOs that had educational material that was made available only to its members, or who made it generally available for payment of a fee were approached for permission to access the material. The surveyed material was collated and reviewed. Also all open-access medical physics journals were surveyed. RESULTS: Apart from the well-known Emerald and EMIT sites, there was surprisingly little e-learning material to be found. The AAPM provides excellent resources to its members and to non-members who wish to pay for access. The ACPSEM contribution to e-learning is also notable and is developing strongly. The Biomedical Imaging and Interventional Journal site also contains a lot of materials. But the lack of material to be found elsewhere was quite disappointing and that which is available is quite hard to find. DISCUSSION & CONCLUSIONS: As a profession we have not taken full advantage of the possibilities that it provides for giving access to our members for CPD. The material can be hard to find or has restricted access. There is no one central site where the material can be found and accessed easily and without cost. The establishment of such a site would require significant sponsorship for its establishment and maintenance. However, such a site would be a global asset and could coordinate the production of medical physics e-learning materials for CPD.

year: 2013

title: Engaging and working with Maori? Effective practice for psychologists in education

authors: Glynn, Ted

subjects: New Zealand

abstract: I believe this whakatauki captures the reflective processes I am now engaged in, as I assess where I have come from and where I am going, as a second-generation pakeha of Irish descent, who completed postgraduate degrees in Psychology and Education in New Zealand and Canada, and who has been engaging and working with Māori in the field of education for many years.

text: Engaging and working with Maori? Effective practice for psychologists in education I believe this whakatauki captures the reflective processes I am now engaged in, as I assess where I have come from and where I am going, as a second-generation pakeha of Irish descent, who completed postgraduate degrees in Psychology and Education in New Zealand and Canada, and who has been engaging and working with Māori in the field of education for many years.

year: 2008