LITERATURE REVIEWS

Literature Reviews

Abstract

The growing recognition of the significance of global mindset has led to the proliferation of different and conflicting definitions and perspectives in the literature. Therefore, there is still confusion about what global mind-set is. In order to identify the properties of a specific type of mind-set such as a global mind-set, researchers often first outline the main dimensions of the environment that this specific mind-set confronts. In the case of global mind-set, the majority of writers consider global mind-set in relation to the global environment, particularly, in relation to two salient dimensions of this environment: strategic complexity and/or national and cultural diversity.

Authors have added to these criticisms by critiquing the tools' detachment from practical experience and their short-term, cost-reduction approach. The inference being that to ensure business sustainability one cannot rely on myopic decision making. Later debate on the subject has been concerned with the problem of “framing,” where the tool itself incorrectly generates a focus on some elements of a company's strategic environment at the expense of others.

Since the broader context of our lives is connected, there should be resonance among the various facets of our experience. And if globalization indeed means that boundaries are blurring, then the boundaries between employees and consumers, between the interiors and the exteriors of the firm, are blurring as well, and anthropologists who are interested in organizational behavior, ethnographically informed design, and consumer behavior, may gain insights by spending more time talking together and reading each other's work.

Literature Reviews

Introduction

The concept of a literature review is very much a plural rather than a singular one as there are many literatures a researcher must examine to produce a coherent literature review. For example, by doing qualitative research, the researcher is joining an ongoing debate in some shape or form. The originality of an idea, an approach, or a theoretical reinterpretation adds to existing literature. The objective of this entry is to describe the plurality of literature, to underline the difference between general and specific literatures, to highlight how to use theoretical literature as a tool to increase understanding of a subject area and test a research question or hypothesis, and to examine the methodology and data literatures that form important parts of the research process.

One of the most important considerations for the qualitative researcher is the pluarality inherent in the idea of a literature review: A number of reviews of different aspects of literature have to take place before a coherent research project can begin. In a subject like education, there are so many categories and therefore literatures that a review can look almost frightening. Within this notion, one could be looking for a context or a history of an education policy document. One might also seek a wider understanding by looking at the philosophy or sociology underlying the concept of management.

One will need to decide whether to use traditional sources; that is, books and journals, or edited sources from the World Wide Web—for example, records of governmental committees and ...