Bolanle A. Olaniran

Exxon's decision-making flaws: The hypervigilant response to the Valdez grounding

Abstract The March 24, 1989 Exxon Valdez grounding caused one of the worst oil spills ever witnessed in the United States. While clean up crews were battling the spill, Exxons crisis management personnel were fighting an uphill battle against the unyielding press coverage and negative reactions from people across the country. At the heart of Exxons crisis management shortcomings were the flaws in decision making which were made at the beginning of the crisis. This article explores the difficulties of crisis decision making and reveals how Exxon employed the maladaptive crisis response pattern of hypervigilant decision making during its initial response to the spill. The article also offers procedural changes which would benefit crisis management personnel who might face a similar catastrophe in the future.

Globalization, educational hegemony, and higher education

Purpose – The paper aims to put into context globalization as educational, economic, and technological relations, with attention to dimensions of variability and other problems associated with domination of western and northern post‐industrial developed nations on the developing world.Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken in this paper is that of a discussion of the issues.Findings – Education in its broadest functional terms prepares populaces for interaction within the social, economical, political, and cultural domains of daily life. Global education in its encompassing reach toward the macrocosm prepares populations in many countries to co‐exist, particularly with information age technological innovations. Such an overstatement or broad sweep of the maximum view of international education overlooks in‐depth understanding of the exercise of power in the international realm.Originality/value – The paper discusses the issues surrounding globalization, the economic gap between technologically t...

Expanding the Crisis Planning Function: Introducing Elements of Risk Communication to Crisis Communication Practice

Abstract This study suggests the use of elements of risk communication for use by crisis communication practitioners who will face an increasing industrial reliance on new technology which might be associated with potential health and environmental harm. A case study of a small company crisis revealed that the elements of anticipation, public involvement, public trust, technological comparison, and media tolerance might be useful to public relations practitioners dealing with technological crises.

Applying synchronous computer‐mediated communication into course design: Some considerations and practical guides

Purpose – The increased pressure to incorporate communication technologies into learning environments has intensified the attention given to the role of computer‐mediated communication (CMC) in academic settings. However, the issue of how and why these technologies, especially synchronous CMC applications, has been given less attention in pedagogical literature. This paper aims to address this problem.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides issues for consideration in the deployment of synchronous CMC in educational settings.Findings – Shows that there are differences in asynchronous and synchronous CMC with related issues of productivity of student learning and control.Originality/value – This paper outlines advantages and disadvantages of using synchronous CMC in education while offering practical guides.

Social skills acquisition: A closer look at foreign students on college campuses and factors influencing their level of social difficulty in social situations

This study investigated the level of difficulty foreign students encountered in social situations when in a host culture. The roles of age, academic classification, cultural similarity, and network patterns on the level of social difficulty were investigated. Results indicated that graduate and undergraduate foreign students differed in the degree of social difficulty they experienced in host cultures. However, the two groups did not differ in their network composition of host people classified as best friend (i.e., intimate relationships). Some support was found for hypothesized relationships between masculinity‐femininity and power distance dimensions of cultural similarity and social difficulty. The nature of the relationship indicated that when foreign students are from cultures that are similar to the host culture, they experience lower levels of social difficulty. This effect was not true for the other two dimensions (i.e., individualistic‐collectivistic and uncertainty avoidance).

Culture, learning styles, and Web 2.0

This article explores Web 2.0 in interactive learning environments. Specifically, the article examines Web 2.0 as an interactive learning platform that holds potential, but is also limited by learning styles and cultural value preferences. The article explores the issue of control from both teacher and learner perspectives, and in particular the cultural challenges that impact learner control. From the control perspective, the issue of access to Web 2.0 technologies from both cost affordability and government censorship is also addressed. Finally, the article concludes with implications and recommendations for Web 2.0 learning environments.

International students’ network patterns and cultural stress: What really counts

The cultural adaptation literature indicates that direct contacts with host people and international students have positive effects on adaptation. However, it is not clear how the quantity of host people affects this relationship. Therefore, this study investigates the question by exploring the role of “quantity”; in terms of the numbers of host people in international students’ communication networks and cultural stress (CS). This effect was examined from close interpersonal communication ties and casual communicative contacts perspectives (i.e., quantity alone versus quantity‐with‐quality of relationship). One hundred and two international students were asked to complete a questionnaire from which their CS scores were determined. The scores were used to determine the effect of casual versus close contacts for the students. In general, the findings indicate that the quantity of host people in a network is an important determinant of CS (i.e., both casual contacts and close communication contacts). Howeve...

Intercultural willingness to communicate and communication anxiety in international teaching assistants

This study addressed patterns and correlates of communication apprehension, intercultural communication apprehension, and intercultural willingness to communicate in international teaching assistants. Results indicated an inverse relationship between communication apprehension of international TAs and their satisfaction with students, relationship with students, and perceptions of student ratings of instruction. Similar results were found for ITA state anxiety. Inverse relationships were also found between ITA intercultural communication apprehension and relationship with students and perceptions of student ratings of instruction. International teaching assistant CA and ICA were positively related with ITA state anxiety.

Communication apprehension and classroom apprehension in Nigerian classrooms

This study explored patterns and effects of communication apprehension and classroom apprehension in Nigerian classrooms. Significant correlation was found between student communication apprehension and student classroom apprehension. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences in classroom apprehension by class type, but no significant differences in communication apprehension by choice of occupation. Perceptions of academic performance were negatively associated with classroom apprehension scores.

Crisis communication in racial issues

On November 17, 1998, three individuals were detained by local police in Lubbock, Texas for attempting a pigeon drop scam in a Wal Mart parking lot. The three suspects were the head coach, an assistant coach, and the husband of the head coach from the visiting Hampton University womens basketball team. The three were eventually proven innocent and released, but not before a crisis involving racial overtones had been initiated. The case study explores the crisis management responses of Texas Tech University and Lubbock, Texas and the implications for the study of crises involving race.