Course Description
In this era of globalization, it is critical for business leaders to have an understanding of cultural differences and to be able to manage these cultural differences with other individuals, in teams, and in whole organizations. In this course students will develop a deep, theoretical understanding of the nature of societal and other cultures. They will gain the analytical skills to map cultural differences and similarities and to diagnose their implications. The course takes a culture-general perspective: students will not become experts in any particular culture; rather, they will have the opportunity to learn systematic frameworks, analytical approaches, self-awareness, and behaviors that are related to effective interaction across cultures and in multicultural settings.
The course will combine research and application. We will identify the leading edge of research in various aspects of cross-cultural management, discovering “how we know” about patterns of knowledge and the causes and consequences of different management actions. We’ll look at many different contexts for cross-cultural interaction, from basic communication to teams and global organizations. Students will conduct their own research around a topic of cross-cultural interaction, including reflecting on their own actions in a cross-cultural situation. They will also work with a diverse team to facilitate class learning to expand knowledge about a particular cross-cultural management topic.
Learning Outcomes
This course explores what culture is and then address several cross-cultural management challenges and opportunities. More specifically, students will have the opportunity to:
- Develop an in-depth understanding of the nature of societal culture and its multiple dimensions, and enhance their ability to analyze the influence of culture on behaviour, particularly with respect to management;
- Enhance their situational awareness and critical thinking through exposure to many examples of cross-cultural interaction in different cultures, organizations, and management situations;
- Increase their behavioral effectiveness in interactions with people from other cultures;
- Develop insights about the role of leadership to bridge across different cultures and create synergies; and,
- Deepen self-awareness as a continuously-learning individual in a multi-cultural global system.
Required