26728 - Cross Cultural Management

Learning outcomes

The integrated course aims to provide students with the linguistic and intercultural competences necessary to operate effectively in international business contexts. Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: - use English accurately and fluently in professional and academic settings; - comprehend and produce oral and written texts on business, economic, and managerial topics, including technical and abstract subjects; - communicate effectively in meetings, negotiations, and presentations, providing clear and coherent arguments; - identify and interpret key cultural dimensions influencing organizational behavior and international business relations; - apply principles of cultural intelligence and cross-cultural management to enhance cooperation and negotiation across diverse cultural contexts; - integrate linguistic proficiency and intercultural awareness to work successfully in multicultural teams. The course prepares students to communicate professionally in English and to manage cultural diversity competently within global business environments.

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. The teaching activities of the two integrated courses will be delivered in a fully integrated manner. Accordingly, topics from one subject may be taught during time slots formally allocated to the other. Due to technical constraints, the official timetable cannot fully reflect this integration and therefore lists the two components separately. Likewise, the assessment will be conducted in an integrated format, and students will take a single examination covering both subjects.

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 (ONLY for attending students)

Assessment methods

The assessment includes:

• Debate simulation ONLY for attending students, OR oral exam (30%)
• Written integrated exam (70%): 2 mid-term exams or 1 Total exam both made of two COMPULSORY sections:

1. a multiple-choice question test (1 point per correct answer; 0 points for wrong answers or unanswered questions) concerning all of the material available on Virtuale (for both courses);
2. a section with open questions, as follows:
   1. 1^st mid-term exam: a business email + 1 CCM question;
   2. 2^nd mid-term exam: a graph description + 1 CCM question;
   3. Total exam: a business email and a graph description + 2 CCM questions.

• Bonus provided for attendance.

Teaching tools

Resources uploaded on Virtuale

Office hours

See the website of Paola Scalzotto