26728 - CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

Learning outcomes

This course focuses on managing work teams in ways that consider the differences in cultures, practices and preferences in a global or international business context. While international business dealings go back hundreds of years, intercultural interactions have increased in importance with more firms having access to wider markets. After completing this course, students are able to describe cultural dimensions, enact cultural intelligence, develop strategies to serve as a bridge-builder and conduct cross-cultural negotiations. The course is part of the integrated course “Business English and Cultural Management” aiming to enable students to effectively work in teams by leveraging on enhanced linguistic competences (acquired in the course “Business English)” and cross-cultural ones ( acquired in the course “Cross Cultural Management”).

Course contents

The goals of this course are:

• to stir students’ cultural awareness through insights and thought-provoking material to help them succeed in culturally diverse settings;
• to develop a deeper understanding of the role of culture in human and business relationships;
• to raise students’ awareness concerning what may support or hinder effective cross-cultural communication;
• to acquire a critical perspective to the effects of cultural differences on leadership, group effectiveness and negotiations.

Students will focus on:

• definitions of culture and its main components
• methods and approaches to analyse differences across cultures
• ways to develop intercultural competence and cultural intelligence
• diversity and inclusion and their implications.

It is paramount for students to attend both the Business English course and the CCM course, since language and culture are strictly intertwined.

Readings/Bibliography

Material available on Virtuale (Mandatory).

Further recommended readings:

1. Jasmin Mahadevan, A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about Cross-Cultural Management, Sage Publications, 2017
2. Erin Meyer, The Culture Map - Decoding how people think, lead, and get things done across cultures, Publicaffairs, 2015
3. Geert Hofstede, Gert Jan Hofstede, Michael Minkov, Cultures and Organizations - Software of the Mind - Interncultural Cooperation and Its Importance for Survival, McGraw-Hill, 2010
4. David C. Thomas, Readings and Cases in International Management - A Cross-Cultural Perspective, Sage Publications, 2010

Teaching methods

Classes will be extremely interactive and based on students’ active participation, they will include:

• Traditional lectures
• Videos: comprehension, analysis and discussion
• Debate simulation

Assessment methods

The final grade will be calculated as follows:

• Active participation in the class activities (10%)
• Debate simulation (25%)
• Final written exam (65%) made of:

• 1 quiz with 40 multiple-choice questions (1 point per correct answer; 0 points per wrong answer or unanswered question);
• 3 open questions.

Office hours

See the website of Paola Scalzotto