Navigating Inter-Cultural Experiences (NICE)

NICE aims to discuss and highlight the challenges and opportunities faced by the Australian service sector within the context of growing numbers of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) customers and employees as Australian society becomes more multicultural.

We engage with multicultural communities and organisations to explore and understand the capabilities and level of readiness of service ecosystems to engage with persons from CaLD backgrounds and navigate through intercultural experiences in a more effective manner.

Our activities include seminars, workshops, special sessions, publications and special issues, social media campaigns, industry and community engagement, student internships, research projects, and curricula development, among others.

Navigating Intercultural Experiences [NICE] Symposium

This symposium was held on the Curtin Bentley campus on 29 November, 2023 to outline the challenges faced by service businesses in Western Australia in serving their Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) communities, with growing cultural diversity among their key stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers etc. Delegates from industry, academia and multicultural community groups were in attendance to discuss and better understand the various issues related to providing services to multi-cultural communities in Western Australia.

The event commenced with a welcome address by Professor Julia Richardson, Head – School of Management and Marketing in the Faculty of Business and Law at Curtin University, followed by a keynote address by Dr Rateb Jneid, President of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) who highlighted the challenges in serving the CaLD Islamic Communities in Australia. This was followed by presentations and discussion by our industry partners representing a broad spectrum of community-based organisations and academic community.

• Welcome address by Professor Julia Richardson, Head – School of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Law, Curtin University
• Challenges in serving the CaLD Islamic Communities, Keynote address by Dr Rateb Jneid (President, Australian Federation of Islam Councils: AFIC).
• Professor Jaya Dantas, Faculty of Health Science, Curtin University
• Availability and Access to CaLD Focused (Mental) Health Services, Emma Assadi and Betel Tamerat, Richmond Wellbeing, Perth, WA.
• Employment and WHS obligations to CaLD workers, Dr Sandra Martain, School of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Law, Curtin University
• Equal Funding, Unequal Needs: The Dilemma of CaLD Care Services, Henrietta Podgorska, Umbrella Multicultural Community Care Inc., Perth, WA.
• Closing address and recap by John Curtin Distinguished Professor Piyush Sharma, School of Management and Marketing, Faculty of Business and Law, Curtin University

Major Publications

1. Chan, R. Y. K., P. Sharma, A. Alqahtani, T. Y. Leung, and A. Malik (2024), “Mediating role of cultural values in the impact of ethical ideologies on consumers’ ethical judgments“, Journal of Business Ethics (Forthcoming).
2. Nguyen, M., P. Sharma, R. Kingshott, and A. Malik (2024), “Culturally diverse teams and inter-organizational knowledge sharing behavior: The role of perceived morality and relationship orientation”, Industrial Marketing Management, 116, 120-129.
3. Malik, A., P. Sharma, R. Kingshott, and B. Laker (2022), “Leveraging cultural and relational capabilities for business model innovation: The case of a digital media EMMNE”, Journal of Business Research, 149(October), 270-282.
4. Sharma, P., R. Y. K. Chan, N. Davcik, and A. Ueno (2022), “Cultural Differences in Deliberate Counterfeit Purchase Behavior”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 40(1), 121-137.
5. Lee, Liane W.Y., Sharma, P. & Barnes, B.R. (2022), “Adopting big data to create an “outside-in” global perspective of guanxi”, Journal of Business Research. 139(February), 614-628.
6. Kingshott, R.P.J., Chung, H., Putranta, M.P., Sharma, P., & Sima, H. (2021). Religiousity and psychological contracts in Asian B2B service relationships. Industrial Marketing Management. 98(October), 138-148.
7. Kingshott, R.P.J., Sharma, P., Sima, H., & Wong, D. (2020). The impact of psychological contract breaches within East-West buyer-supplier relationships. Industrial Marketing Management. 89(August), 220-231.
8. Sharma, P., Leung, Y.K., Kingshott, R.P.J., Davcik, N. & Cardinali, S. (2020). Managing uncertainty during a global pandemic: An international business perspective. Journal of Business Research. 116(August), 188-192.
9. Ho, M.H.W., Chung, H. Kingshott, R.P.J. & Chiu, C.C. (2020). Customer engagement, consumption and firm performance in a multi-actor service ecosystem: The moderating role of network coordination. Journal of Business Research. 121 (December), 557-566.
10. Gaur, S., Kingshott, R.P.J., & Sharma, P., (2019). Managing customer relationships in emerging markets: Focal roles of relationship comfort and relationship proneness. Journal of Service Theory & Practice. 29(5/5), 592-609.
11. Kingshott, R.P.J., Sharma, P., Hosie, P. & Davcik, N. (2019). Interactive impact of ethnic distance and cultural familiarity on the perceived effects of free trade agreements. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 36(1), 1‐49.

Research Grants

1. Kingshott, Russel P.J., Sharma, Piyush, Tian, Amy and Martain, Sandra (2024), Optimising cost-effective services to the aged CaLD community, Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant in association with Umbrella Multicultural Community Care Services Inc. [$105,665 cash]
2. Sharma, P., Kingshott, R., Tian, A., & Backmann, J. (2024). Optimizing Benefits of Cultural Diversity in Australian Healthcare Sector. Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project. [$434,425 cash].
3. Kingshott, R. (2022/2023). The Role Successful Australian Islamic Women Play in Helping Shape Broader Community Attitudes Towards the Islamic Community. Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) Grant. [$12,960 cash].
4. Kingshott, R., Dantas, R.J., Sharma, P., Nau, Z.S., & Loh, C. (2023). Profiling well-being services available to CaLD students in Western Australia. FBL Collaborative Start-up Grant, Curtin University. [$5,000 cash].
5. Kingshott, R., Sharma, P. & Tian, A. (2023). Identifying and Costing Effective Services to Elderly CaLD Customers. HAAS Scheme, Curtin University. [$5,000 cash].
6. Kingshott, R. & Sharma, P. (2021). Navigating Inter-Cultural Encounters [NICE] in the Provision of Professional Services in the Not-for-Profit [NFP] Sector in WA, HAAS Grant Funding, Curtin University. [$5,000 cash].
7. Daneshfar, Z., Kingshott, R. & Sharma, P. (2020). Contextualising Multicultural Readiness Instruments for the Royal Life Saving WA (RLSWA). ROC HDR Internship Grant, Curtin University]. In conjunction with Royal Life Saving Western Australia (RLSWA) [$3,000]. HDR placement.
8. Jones, K., Kingshott, R. & Sharma, P. (2020). Understanding How to Navigate Intercultural Experiences to Improve Community Based Services, ROC HDR Internship Grant, Curtin University]. In conjunction with Richmond Wellbeing [$3,000]. HDR placement.

Research Students [Current]

1. [PhD]: Brillyanes Sanawiri. Exploring The impact of business continuity capabilities and business model innovation on smes performance in a turbulent external environment. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Kingshott, Russel P.J.].
2. [PhD]: Manal Jneid. The Impact of Pastoral Care on CaLD University Student Well-being and Retention Rates. [Supervisors: Kingshott, Russel P.J. & Shabnam, Saadia]
3. [PhD]: Fotios Phillip Lambou. The Impact of Workplace Leadership Development Programs in Delivering Services to CaLD Persons. [Supervisors: Kingshott, Russel P.J. & Sharma, Piyush]
4. [PhD]: Apoorva Goel. Contemporary work characteristics, employee work continuity and wellbeing. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Dayaram, Kantha].
5. [DBA]: Fabian Agnelo Redden. Demystifying the impact of service climate and internal service quality on managerial outcomes: Interactive effects of role stressors and management levels. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Kingshott, Russel P.J.].
6. [DBA]: Dmytro Pichugin. The Role of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Customers’ Experiences in Multi-Cultural Service Encounters (MCSE). [Supervisors: Kingshott, Russel P.J. & Sharma, Piyush].
7. [DBA]: Kelly Smith. Challenges and opportunities faced by Indigenous students in Study Abroad programs. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & McKenna, Stephen].
8. [DBA]: Rick Ross. Distributed Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) for the big end of Town: Transforming traditional organisations in a Digital World. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Potdar, Vidy].
9. [DBA]: Nigel de Silva. Critical success factors for international higher education partnerships: A study of collaborations among universities in Australia and India. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush, McKenna, Stephen & Kingshott, Russel P.J.].
10. [DBA]: Benny Hutahayan. Impacts of business obstacles, regional characteristics, and top management gender diversity on corrupt business practices in emerging economies: Indonesian example. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush, Cao, June & Leung, Tak Yan].
11. [DBA]: Kent Matla. Emergence of Chinese Private Companies as Global Innovation Leaders in the Technology Sector : Towards a Holistic Innovation Conceptual Model. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Ananthram, Subra].
12. [DBA]: Letcer Valencia. How to reposition a capital-intensive global business with an uncertain future? A study of oil and gas industry. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Inchauspe, Julian].
13. [DBA]: Dianoush Abdolrazagh. SME resilience: Towards a comprehensive conceptual definition and operationalization. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Potdar, Vidy].

Research Students [Past]

14. [PhD]: Dr. Abdulaziz Salem M Alqahtani. Interactive Impact of Message Characteristics and Format on EWOM Evaluation and Online Brand Engagement: Towards an Integrative Framework. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Kingshott, Russel P.J.] – Assistant Professor, Jazan University, Saudi Arabia.
15. [PhD]: Dr. Hariharan Thangatur Sukumar. Counter Intuitive Results and their impacts in Decision Making. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Potdar, Vidy] – Assistant Professor, Bharathidasan Institute of Management, India.
16. [PhD]: Dr. Rofia Ramesh. Enhancing Individual Decision Making Through Mindfulness Training. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Ananthram, Subra]. – Management Consulting Analyst, Accenture India.
17. [PhD]: Dr. Zahra Daneshfar. Multicultural Readiness Index (MRI): Conceptualisation and Validation. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Kingshott, Russel P.J.] – Insights analyst, Demant Denmark
18. [MPhil]: Katheryn Jane Jones. Marketing’s Footprint in the Boardroom: Antecedents and Outcomes. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Kingshott, Russel P.J.] – Enrolled in PhD program with Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Australia.
19. [PhD]: Dr. Claire Loh. The Focal role of Emotional well-being in Student-University Interactions: A relationship marketing approach. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Shanka, Tekle] – Project Coordinator, Faculty of Humanities, Curtin University, Australia.
20. [PhD]: Dr. Faranita Masduki. The consumers’ value on luxury brand equity and purchase intention: case of the middle class woman in Indonesia. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush, Alexander, Paul & Hynes, Niki] – Lecturer, Binus University, Indonesia.
21. [PhD]: Dr. Aswathy Asokan Ajitha. Mediating role of customer well-being in the influence of customer participation on service outcomes. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Kingshott, Russel P.J.] – Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Management Amritsar, India.
22. [MPhil]: Ms. Yoyinsola Onasanya. Does Social Media User Engagement Impact Brand Preference? Exploring the Interactive Roles of Self-Brand Congruence and Perceived Social Approval. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Rabbanee, Fazlul].
23. [PhD]: Dr. Fayrene Chieng. The tie that binds: The impact of self-congruity and brand experience on brand attachment. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Kingshott, Russel P.J.] – Discipline Lead (Marketing), Curtin Malaysia.
24. [PhD]: Dr. Mary Anthony Philomena (2016). Women and leadership in a policing context. [Supervisors: Sharma, Piyush & Soontiens, Werner] – Senior Lecturer, The University of Notre Dame, Freemantle, Australia. 

Research Students [External]

25. [PhD]: Dr. Subhojit Sengupta (2022). Political Communication at the Base of Pyramid. IIT Kharagpur. [External Advisors: Sharma, Piyush & Wolff, Katharina] – Assistant Professor, IMT Ghaziabad, India.
26. [PhD]: Dr. Subhalakshmi Bezbaruah (2022). Integrating Digital Advertising with Branded Content for Generation Y: An Indian Perspective. MICA, Ahmedabad, India. [External Advisor: Sharma, Piyush]
27. [PhD]: Dr. Arusa Khalid (2021). That extra mile is too crowded: An empirical investigation of the antecedents and the effects of perceived crowding on marketing outcomes. University of Faisalabad, Pakistan. [External Advisor: Sharma, Piyush] – Assistant Professor, SZABIST University, Faisalabad.
28. [PhD]: Dr. Kalpak Kulkarni (2020). The Interactive Effects of Tie strength and Self?construal on Intention to Share Viral Material on Social Media. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India. [External Advisor: Sharma, Piyush] – Assistant Professor, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, India.
29. [PhD]: Dr. Loh Huey Shee (2019). Connecting with the brand to combat loneliness. Sunway University, Malaysia. [External Advisor: Sharma, Piyush] – Lecturer of marketing, Sunway University, Malaysia.
30. [PhD]: Dr. Kuldeep Brahmbhatt (2018). Role of consumers’ brand association on brand personality of regional brands. MICA, Ahmedabad, India. [External Advisor: Sharma, Piyush] – Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Media And Communication, Pune.