2008 Intercultural Dialogue and Management 9th International Conference Organised by the University of Primorska, Faculty of Management Koper, Slovenia, University Centre for Euro-Mediterranean Studies, Slovenia, and the European Institute of the Mediterranean, Spain 26–29 November 2008 Barcelona, Spain University of Primorska Faculty of Management Koper 2008 Intercultural Dialogue and Management International Conference Proceedings 26–29 November 2008 Barcelona, Spain ISBN 978-961-6573-99-3 2 1 3 -4 4 5 18 N SS · I M ce an ren age onfe ment International C Conference Chair: Dr. Egon imond General Chair: Dr. Binshan Lin Programme Chair: Dr. Janez Šušteršiè Programme Co-Chair: Dr. Enric Olivé Serret Conference Director: Dr. Nada Trunk Širca Programme Chair Assistants: Dr. Rune Ellemose Gulev, Bojan Nastav, Suzana Sedmak Conference Director Assistant: Marijana Pregarac Table of Contents 4 Welcome Address by the Conference Officers 5 Welcome Address by the Rector of the University of Primorska 7 Welcome Address by the Dean of the Faculty of Management Koper 8 Welcome Address by the President of the Provisional Senate of EMUNI University and by the Director of Center EMUNI 9 Welcome Address by the General Director of the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), Barcelona 10 The Role of Universities as a Challenge and Opportunity for Intercultural Dialogue in Today’s World Dr. Rami Hamdallah 11 The Importance and Ambitions of the Barcelona Process and the Role That Higher Education and Research Cooperation Has to Play in It H.E. Juan Prat y Coll 12 Global Leadership Development Opportunities Through Technology, Diversity and Entrepreneurship Dr. Jeretta Horn Nord 13 Managing Global Transitions and Intercultural Dialogue in Higher Education Presidents’/Rectors’ Forum 14 Managing Accountability and Responsibility in Higher Education Deans’ Panel 15 Insights from Journal Editors Editors’ Panel 16 Programme Committee 17 Conference Programme 19 Sections Timetable 20 Papers 60 Index 67 Conference Sponsors 3 Welcome Address by the Conference Officers It is a great pleasure and honour for us to welcome you at the Management International Conference (MIC) 2008 in Barcelona, Spain. The MIC 2008 is our 9th consecutive international conference and we are proud that, for the first time, it is taking place outside Slovenia. In the next years, to make the conference even more appealing, we will continue to organize it in different countries in the region, always with help of our local academic partners. The event features 3 keynote addresses, one university Presidents’/Rectors’ Forum (with 11 presidents), one Deans’ Panel (with 18 deans), and one Edi- tors’ Panel (with 18 editors). We would like to thank all the participants and presenters for their contribu- tion and participation. This year, we received 226 submissions. We tried to keep the conference open to everyone wishing to present their work, whereas for the Proceedings we conducted a thorough double-blind review process and selected only the best 169 full papers, yielding a highly competitive 74.78% acceptance rate. We also thank all reviewers for doing such a great job and for having devoted their precious time to the Conference. A warm welcome to Barcelona goes also to our keynote speakers: H.E. Juan Prat y Coll, Ambassador of Spain to the Netherlands and Permanent Rep- resentative to the OPCW, Dr. Jeretta Horn Nord, Professor of Management Science and Information System in the Spears School of Business at Okla- homa State University, USA, and Dr. Rami Hamdallah, president of An-Najah National University, Palestine. We also welcome the State Secretary of the Government of Spain, who will address the participants. Special thanks go to all sponsors for their help in making this Conference a success. Last but not least, we extend our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in the organization of the MIC 2008. We wish each and every one of you a very successful Conference and a pleas- ant stay in Barcelona. Dr. Egon Žižmond, Conference Chair Dr. Binshan Lin, General Chair Dr. Janez Šušteršiˇc, Programme Chair Dr. Enric Olivé Serret, Programme Co-Chair Dr. Nada Trunk Širca, Conference Director 4 Welcome Address by the Rector of the University of Primorska On behalf of the University of Primorska, I am delighted to extend greetings and a warm welcome to all participants at the 9th Management International Conference (MIC 2008), for this particular occasion in Barcelona, Spain. I’m especially pleased that this year’s dialogue focuses on such an important and delicate theme as ‘Intercultural dialogue as the consequence of increas- ing multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious societies’. Since the arrival of the new millennium, a number of developments have given intercultural dialogue, cultural diversity and social cohesion a more prominent place on political agendas such as: migration flows that have sig- nificantly changed the population diversity of some European countries; EU enlargement; globalization and geopolitical changes; new means of communi- cation and a related expansion of media content; an increase in controversies and debates on value systems, etc. In view of these new social challenges, the universities must reflect on their position within the global transformation our society is undergoing. This goal was already settled by ‘The Lisbon Declaration’, which underlines the impor- tant role that Europe’s universities play in promoting social equity in building an inclusive society, with their different traditions, missions and strengths. The universities have to understand their role as a cultural nodal point within which new cultural linkage or network is being created. The formal process of the EHEA will, in the long run, have repercussive consequences on university as an institution, particularly on its traditional image. The student mobility and accompanying academic recognition are assumed to be necessary pre- requisites for an open and dynamic European educational area that will aid European integration and labor market mobility. However, for students to be mobile they need to have access to higher education and financial resources to enable them to study abroad. Thus the increasing needs of the market, such as flexibility of a working timetable, incessant migration of population, will force the universities to adopt new strategies to conform to these new en- vironments. In view of its geopolitical position, the University of Primorska lies in the mid- dle of a cultural intersection. At the University of Primorska we are aware – and this also forms the university essence – that as a relatively young institu- tion we stand between demands posed to us by our local environment, while also being subject to global transition. This reality demands from us continu- ous reconciliation in formulating the appropriate solutions at the level 5 of internal organization and academic and professional discourse. Our aim is to develop into an open and innovative university and to become a laboratory for collaboration, exchange and partnership in the common European area. We have found that events such as these provide crucial meeting points in developing foundations for an inclusive dialogue on what will be the EHEA tomorrow. Let me take this opportunity to thank everybody who has contributed to the organization of this important event. We wish you a successful Conference and a pleasant stay in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Rado Bohinc, Rector 6 Welcome Address by the Dean of the Faculty of Management Koper On behalf of Faculty of Management Koper, I am honoured to welcome you to the 9th Management International Conference (MIC 2008). The Faculty of Management Koper, a member of the University of Primorska, Slovenia, is a higher-education and research institution in the field of social sciences, business and administration studies, with the emphasis on manage- ment, which in an interdisciplinary way connects various economic, business, legal, organisational, and behavioural sciences. Building on research in this field and the Faculty’s own research achieve- ments, we provide internationally comparable undergraduate and postgradu- ate study programmes as well as advanced professional training programmes in management, heeding also the principle of lifelong learning. Currently, we have 2000 graduate and 1000 postgraduate students enrolled in 12 study programmes, which range from Bachelor’s to Master’s and Doctoral studies. Over the last decade, more than 2500 students have graduated here and the numbers are expected to increase. Once again, we did our best to organize this Conference in order to present a wealth of new discoveries in the field of management. So, at this point, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to General Chair Dr. Binshan Lin for his great contribution to this grand event. Special thanks go to Programme Chair Dr. Janez Šušteršiˇc and Conference Director Dr. Nada Trunk Širca. As in the past years, this year again some social events have been planned that will give you an opportunity to explore at least a small part of this city. I am very pleased that you are all here, and again, wish you a successful con- ference. Since our 10th MIC Conference has already been announced for next Novem- ber in Sousse, Tunisia, I look forward to meeting all of you again next year. Dr. Egon Žižmond, Dean 7 Welcome Address by the President of the Provisional Senate of EMUNI University and by the Director of Center EMUNI This year, 2008, has been a year of firsts in European and Euro Mediter- ranean Relations. It has been the year in which a new member state of the Union, Slovenia, has presided over its workings, it has been the year in which the Union for the Mediterranean has been formally been set up to inject a new impetus in the Barcelona Process, and it is the Year of EMUNI. On the 9th of June in the presence of the President of the Commission, Mr. Barroso, four EU Commissioners, the President of the European Parliament, Mr.