Torsten Ringberg

One Individual, Two Identities: Frame Switching among Biculturals

Bicultural bilingual individuals have incorporated two cultures within themselves and speak the languages of those cultures. When cued by a particular language, these individuals activate distinct sets of culture-specific concepts, or mental frames, which include aspects of their identities. Three studies show that language-triggered frame switching (i.e., switching from one set of mental frames to another) occurs only with biculturals, not with bilinguals who are not bicultural. The studies uncover frame switching at the within-individual level, and they include both qualitative and experimental evidence. They also provide a methodology to identify the relative activation strength of specific mental frames in different languages. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Towards a Socio‐Cognitive Approach to Knowledge Transfer

Dominant research streams in the knowledge transfer field, such as the positivist and social constructionist approaches, largely assume that knowledge transfer is accomplished through instructions and/or socially constructed practices. Underlying these views is the belief that texts and practices carry with them the codes necessary for their own decoding and therefore enable an unproblematic knowledge transfer. In contrast, we argue that the decoding of information into meaningful knowledge is always mediated by peoples private and cultural models, which are created from the unique combination of their cognitive dispositions (i.e. acumen, memory, creativity, volitions, emotions) and socio-cultural interaction. The degree to which people apply these models reflectively and/or categorically (i.e. automatically) depends on the need for cognition as well as environmental demands and feedback. Therefore, knowledge transfer is always tentative, because it depends on the application of private and cultural models along the continuum that goes from reflective to categorical processing. We present first a critique of the positivist and social constructionist positions; then we introduce a socio-cognitive model that captures and explicates socio-cognitive processes involved in sense making during knowledge transfer. Finally, we explore future research streams and managerial implications.

The importance of understanding the symbolic world of customers in asymmetric business‐to‐business relationships

Researchers within the business‐to‐business relationship literature have argued that the loyalty concept is only partially understood, and, consequently, call for an increased attention to identify the interaction needs of the customers as well as customers’ perception of the relationship. Further investigates this empirically, through in‐depth interviews, the mental models of tradesmen, a defined segment within the small business sector, and identifies the presence of a unique sub‐cultural ethos among them. The ethos is based on unique values, morals, and way of life, and contrasts the purely utilitarian approach to understanding key criteria in emerging business‐to‐business relationships. Based on these findings suggests that current business‐to‐business relationship models are inadequate and need to include more of a consumer behavior, value‐driven focus. Suggests that this segment is located between and betwixt the business‐to‐business and the consumer markets as both utilitarian‐driven (brand trust) and symbolic/value‐driven (brand affect) criteria are necessary for establishing long‐term relationships. Suggests that investigating the role of brand affect may shed further light upon the presence or absence of loyalty within the business‐to business markets.

Communication assumptions in consumer research: An alternative socio‐cognitive approach

Although communication appears natural to most people, the successful act of transferring meaning relies on an alignment of intricate interpretive processes between the sender and receiver. Yet the full range of these intricate processes is often oversimplified, homogenized, and molded according to each paradigm’s narrow epistemological assumptions, leading to contradictory representations across paradigms. For example, within cognitivist and structuralist research the communicative act is portrayed as unproblematic as it engages objectified meaning structures embedded in the structures of texts, symbols, and social practices, which remain independent of (i.e., disembodied from) the interpreting mind. In contrast, in postmodernist research, communication is regarded as implausible as meaning is uniquely created by the receiver (regardless of what is intended by the sender). Although each major perspective provides some insights to the communicative act, the elegance of each camp’s reasoning is undone by it not addressing the full complexity of communication as it actually exists. To provide a more comprehensive and internally consistent understanding of meaning transfer (i.e., communication) we introduce a socio‐cognitive model that accounts for apparent objectivist and subjectivist outcomes. This framework situates meaning production within the mind, driven by the interaction between mental (private and/or cultural) models, cognitive (reflective and/or categorical) processing, and environmental feedback mechanisms.

Computer-Mediated Knowledge Systems in Consultancy Firms: Do they work?

Computer-mediated knowledge transfer has been at the forefront of consultancy research. The underlying idea is that individual knowledge can be externalized into disembodied symbols and codes, which can then be disseminated and accessed electronically within and across organizations. Although the process of externalization and transfer of knowledge has been investigated from various theoretical perspectives (positivism, social constructionism, pluralism), little research has addressed the role of cognition in computer-mediated knowledge transfer. Based on a case study within an international technical consulting firm, we argue that the success or failure of computer-mediated knowledge transfer is influenced to a large degree by embodied mental frames, social networks, and individuals’ creative and explanatory use of artifacts in real-world situations.

Bicultural-Bilinguals The Effect of Cultural Frame Switching on Translation Equivalence

Cross-cultural management research suggests that bicultural-bilinguals are ideal cultural mediators as they are able to access dual cultural frameworks and seamlessly switch back and forth between these. The assumption is that this switching between cultural frameworks ensures equivalency in meaning across cultures. Yet previous research has only shown this effect at a between-subject level during which cultural variables were not controlled for. Our research controls for such influences by relying on a within-subject approach, illustrating that language triggers frame switching among bicultural-bilinguals and that the process is largely tacit. Moreover, such frame switching may lead to unintended consequences for organizations seeking to control a meaning across cultures as the meaning in the original language is uprooted to a point where it may no longer be recognizable within a different language. We illustrate this drift in meaning across both concrete and abstract concepts and discuss its managerial implications. Biculturels — bilingues : l’effet du transfert du cadre culturel sur l’équivalence de la traduction (Torsten V. Ringberg, David Luna, Markus Reihlen and Laura A. Peracchio) La recherche en management interculturel suggère que les biculturels-bilingues sont des médiateurs culturels idéaux étant donné qu’ils peuvent accéder à un double cadre culturel et passer de l’un à l’autre de façon homogène. L’hypothèse est que ce transfert/passage entre cadres culturels est garant d’une équivalence de signification entre cultures. Et pourtant, la recherche passée n’a montré cet effet qu’à à un échelon intra-sujet au cours duquel les variables culturelles n’étaient pas contrôlées. Notre recherche contrôle ces influences en s’appuyant sur une approche intra-sujet, illustrant ainsi le fait que le langage déclenche un transfert de cadres chez les biculturels-bilingues et que ce processus est largement tacite. En outre, ce type de transfert de cadres a des conséquences imprévues pour les organisations cherchant à contrôler la signification interculturelle étant donné que la signification dans la langue d’origine se trouve déracinée à un tel point qu’elle n’est plus reconnaissable dans une autre langue. Nous illustrons ce glissement de sens avec ces concepts abstraits et concrets et en étudions les implications managériales.