Guest learning and adaptation in the field: A Navajo case study

In many development projects, individuals from one organisation are assigned and relocated to another organisation. For these 'guests' to be effective in the provision of technical assistance, they need to learn about and adapt to the local milieu. Using a Navajo case study, this paper analyses how practices called acts allow guests to make effective contributions through learning and adaptation. It is shown that two categories of acts, calibrating and progressing, are crucial in this regard. Calibrating allows guests to assess the appropriateness of assumptions, and progressing allows them to elicit information and explanations to help develop an understanding of the context. These sets of acts contribute to cross-cultural communicative competence and, thereby, to the success of the development project.     

The new OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises: better but not enough

This viewpoint addresses the extent to which the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises adequately serve as a system of global governance for MNEs. We argue that, while a 2011 revision has strengthened the Guidelines, their somewhat limited scope, voluntary nature, and less than satisfactory implementation render their potential utility unrealised.     

Depressive symptoms among female college students experiencing gender-based violence in Awassa, Ethiopia

Little epidemiologic research has focused on the mental health effects of gender-based violence among sub-Saharan African women. The objective of this study was to assess risk of depression and depressive symptoms among 1,102 female undergraduate students who were victims of gender-based violence. Students who reported experience of any gender-based violence were nearly twice as likely to be classified as having moderate depression during the academic year (OR = 1.98, 95% CI = 1.39-2.82) as compared with nonabused students. Compared with nonabused students, those who had experienced both physical and sexual abuse were 4 times more likely to report either moderately severe (OR = 4.32, 95% CI = 2.00-9.31) or severe depressive symptoms (OR = 4.19, 95% CI = 1.01-17.43). Our findings, consistent with previous studies, support the thesis that women's mental health status is adversely affected by exposure to gender-based violence.