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This essay delves into the importance of cross-cultural approaches in international sales management, which is becoming increasingly significant in the globalized business environment. This essay explores how cultural nuances significantly influence sales strategies in international markets through a comprehensive literature review, including seminal works by Hofstede (1980) and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1997). The study uses qualitative insights from industry experts and quantitative data from sales professionals, enriched by case studies of multinational corporations.The key findings of this study underscore the indispensability of cultural intelligence, as defined by Ang et al. (2006), in developing effective cross-cultural sales strategies. It highlights the common challenges in cross-cultural sales, such as communication barriers and cultural biases, and proposes strategies like cultural training and flexible business models to mitigate these issues. The analysis of practical cases, supported by Shankar et al. (2008) and Zhang & Waring (2017), illustrates the successful applications of these strategies.The discussion emphasizes the implications for practitioners in international sales management, advocating for continuous adaptation and learning in diverse cultural landscapes. While acknowledging the limitations of its scope, the essay concludes by suggesting areas for future research, particularly in emerging markets and digital sales platforms.Overall, this study contributes to the field by bridging theoretical frameworks with practical applications, offering valuable insights for academic and practical fields in international sales management.

Background. The paper presents the results of research into the features of volitional regulation among Tuvans living in rural areas and cities. Objectives. The study had its purpose to test the hypothesis about the relationship of volitional regulation with the characteristics of the lifestyle and semantic sphere of the respondents. Methods: “Action Control Scale”, “Questionnaire for identifying the severity of self-control in the emotional sphere, activity, and behavior”, PIL test, and the author's ad hoc questionnaire for studying the lifestyle characteristics. Sample. Tuvans living in Erzin (185 people), in Mugur-Aksy (265 people), in Kyzyl (172 people), and in Moscow (105 people) were compared. In total, the study involved 727 people aged 18 to 79 years, 466 women and 261 men. Results. It is shown that Tuvans living in rural vs urban areas assess their lifestyle differently. Rural residents are significantly more likely (p = 0.01) to assess their way of life as traditional whereas urban residents consider their lifestyle as modern (p = 0.01). MANOVA revealed the significant differences between the compared groups in all indicators of volitional regulation. Сovariance analysis showed that these differences are due to the lifestyle characteristics as well as the features of the respondents’ semantic sphere. The data processing obtained significant effects of the PIL test indicators and lifestyle characteristics for the Action Control Scale (p = 0.01 and p = 0.05, respectively), for emotional self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01), behavioral self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01), and social self-control (p = 0.01 and p = 0.01). Conclusion. The obtained results allow to assume that in the process of modernization/urbanization of Tuvan society, the role of traditions and group experience in the regulation of activity decreases whereas the role of volitional regulation increases.

The study aims to identify the hierarchy of value dominants in the axiosphere of the Karelian Arctic residents, which has developed under the influence of natural, social, economic, and cultural-historical factors. The methodology used is complex and includes sociological, economic questionnaires, focus groups, and in-depth interviews. The study’s cameral stage is based on an analysis of the empirical stage results conducted during a comprehensive scientific expedition of scientists of Petrozavodsk State University to two Arctic regions of Karelia in the summer of 2019. The most important in the study is the cross-cultural approach, based on comparing the results of a survey of respondents - the Karelian Arctic residents with the “general cultural profile” of S. Schwartz and identifying the level of validity of the applied psychological methodology. During the study, the author’s hypothesis about features in the axiological preferences of the inhabitants of the Arctic zone at the level of dominant indicators is confirmed. At the stage of analysis and synthesis of the empirical stage results, the relationship of preserving human capital in the Arctic regions of Karelia with the identified value dominants of residents’ health and safety is established. Special attention is paid to the influence of the current socio-cultural situation on the formation of the axiosphere of the inhabitants of the Arctic zone, and the conclusion is also made about the need for an integrated scientific approach in determining the prospects for the development of society in the Arctic regions.

Main goal of this study is to explore the entrepreneurial intentions of students in selected European post-communist states. The second purpose of the research is to learn about those determinants which, according to the respondents themselves, are essential for the emergence of entrepreneurial intentions. In short, the results of hierarchical multiple OLS regression indicated that the most important factor influencing the entrepreneurial intentions of the surveyed students was entrepreneurial self-efficacy. Moreover, based on estimates of the final regression model, it was identified that dummy variables concerning the respondents’ country significantly moderate the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and the dependent variable. It can be noted that the strength of the impact of the above-mentioned regressor is closely related to the values of Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture. The obtained results were fully confirmed using an alternative research method, i.e. the ordered logit model. In the second stage of the study, it was revealed that the desire to be independent is the most frequently cited factor motivating the respondents to start their own business. Moreover, using the multiple marginal independence (MMI) testing method, it was found that student responses differ significantly among the examined countries, except for two cases, i.e. Russia and Latvia, and the Czech Republic and Slovakia. First published online 30 November 2021

The paper analyses the ethnocultural factors of volitional regulation from the cultural-historical perspective. A hypothesis is put forward about the relationship between the specifics of volitional regulation and national self-consciousness of the individual. The aim of the work is to study the relationship between ethnic identity and features of volitional regulation among representatives of various ethnic groups (Russians, Komis, Tuvans, Kabardians, Mari, Koreans). A total of 600 people aged 18 to 30 years took part in the study (the samples were gender balanced). To evaluate the individual characteristics of volitional regulation in the respondents, the following techniques were used: the Action Control Scale by J. Kuhl; the "Questionnaire for revealing the expression of self-control in the emotional sphere, activity and behavior"; the technique for self-assessment of volitional qualities; the Purpose in Life Test. The features of ethnic identity were evaluated using the “Types of Ethnic Identity” technique (by S.V. Ryzhova, G.U. Soldatova). The study revealed significant positive correlations between the intensity of volitional self-control and the overall score of volitional self-esteem and positive ethnicity in groups where nationality occupies an important place in the structure of the subject's self-consciousness (Tuvans, Koreans, Kabardians).

The article is devoted to the study of the professional linguocultural type «head of the company» in the national corporate discourse of Russia, Spain, and the United States. The purpose of the article is to determine the value component of this type, as well as to describe the language means of its realization in the text of a corporate website. The intercultural approach to the study of this linguistic phenomenon is of particular interest. The research finds out that a company, while verbalizing the type «head of the company» as a socially responsible personality, declares its value priorities and defines its place in the society. In conclusion, the author speaks about the national specifics of the type «head of the company» verbalized in the corporate discourse of Russia, Spain, and the United States under the influence of basic national cultural values. The article is addressed to specialists in the field of intercultural communication and integrated communications and CEOs

An interesting trend that has emerged in the last decade or so concerns empirical turn in the study of argumentation. Empiricalization involves ensuring the connection of argumentation theory with argumentative reality by using different qualitative, quantitative, and mixed empirical methods. Nowadays there are many empirical approaches in the field of argumentation. This paper organizes three of them, namely the historical-textual, the meta-argumentation, and the cross-cultural approaches. In addition to organizing what is already known about empiricalization, this paper also serves the function of suggesting what empirical research is needed to fill in theoretical gaps of the recent treatment of argumentation. In this regard, the purpose of this paper is to provide up-to-date, relevant, and informative discussion about an empirical component in argumentation research.

The paper presents data of an empirical study of the relationship between aggressive manifestations and self-regulatory personality characteristics of teachers. It is assumed that the features of aggressive manifestations are determined by personal characteristics and the cultural context of the teachers' lives. The level of self-regulation development is also shaped by sociocultural conditions. The study involved 278 teachers aged 20—72 years from the Stavropol and Krasnodar territories and from the republics of North Ossetia-Alania, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, and Kabardino-Balkaria. The system of research methods was based on the integration of nomothetic and ideographic approaches and included observation and psychological testing. The study revealed certain differences in aggressive manifestations among the respondents from different regions of southern Russia. It was found that the level of conscious self-regulation development is not an invariant and has its cross-cultural specifics. Indicators of conscious self-regulation (planning, evaluation of results), racial tolerance and restraint in risk situations are significant predictors of aggression management.

The aim of this work is the study of the universal and specific characteristics of empathy of students from Russia and China.Methods. The methods involve the analysis and generalization of literature on the concept and structure of empathy, the influence of cultural factors on this phenomenon. The research is performed in line with the cross-cultural approach. Data are obtained using two methods: «Diagnostics of the level of poly-communications empathy» by I. M. Yusupov and «Diagnostics of the level of empathic abilities» by V. V. Boyko (in the modification of V. V. Boyko and O. A. Klitsenko).Results. The influence of cultural factor the formation of the components of empathy and the severity of the empathy towards various social objects are analyzed. Specific characteristics of empathy of students from Russia (generalization, association, high severity emotional component of empathy) and from China (differentiation and selective empathy) are detected. Two universal characteristics are founded: empathy to the parents to be stronger than for other social objects, and also equally expressed the cognitive component of empathy.Scientific novelty. The study has proved that it is not enough to examine only the level of development of empathy. It is necessary to study its emotional and cognitive components, as well as orientation towards various social objects.Practical significance. Recommendations for creation of more comfortable and safe educational environment in Russian Higher educational institutions for students from China are proposed.

The article focuses on problems of the students’ intellectual and personal qualities in the linguistic education process. The researcher emphasizes the importance of metacognitive knowledge role in the content of cross-cultural competence. Based on the main characteristics of metacognitive knowledge (awareness, intentionality, controllability) the author shows the didactic aspect of personal qualities and abilities regulation in cross-cultural communication. The article presents the methods of metacognitive regulation of empathy, tolerance, readiness for changing prospect, flexibility and self-reflection. The author makes a conclusion that metacognitive knowledge in the content of cross-cultural competence forms regulatory base for students’ self-development.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the validity of recent research into speech act theory by advocating the idea that with some of the traditional speech acts, their overt language manifestations that emerge from corpus data remind us of ritualised scenarios of speech-act-sets rather than single acts, with configurations of core and peripheral units reflecting the socio-cultural norms of the expectations and culture-bound values of a given language community. One of the prototypical manifestations of speech-act-sets, apologies, will be discussed to demonstrate a procedure which can be used to identify, analyse, describe and cross-culturally compare the validity of speech-act-set theory and provide evidence of its relevance for studying the English-Czech interface in this particular domain of human interaction.