Cross-cultural Management

Course leader: Dr. Satish C Ailawadi

Home Institution: Nath School of Business & Technology, Aurangabad, Maharashtra State, India

Course Overview

This course is designed for graduate students with focus on managing teams across cultures. In a globalized world characterized by the integration of business and markets, the increasing flow of people and capital around the world, the ability to work, manage and to communicate in culturally diverse settings has become a key pre-requisite for college graduates of all majors and fields of personal and professional interests. This course provides an intellectual and experiential forum for developing the interpersonal-intercultural communication and interaction skills necessary for international managers and travellers.

The objectives of this course are as under:

  1. To provide an intellectual and experiential forum for developing the interpersonal-intercultural communication and interaction skills necessary for international managers.
  2. To help students to identify cultural aspects of verbal and non-verbal behavior of persons from different cultures and themselves and recognize cultural differences that can cause difficulties in management situations.
  3. To facilitate acquiring detailed expertise in dealing with a variety of cultural situations, challenges and paradigms, thus learning practical skills that will be useful for their own personal and professional development on an international level.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course the students should be able to:

  1. Understand the implications of the globalization of business for effective management.
  2. Exhibit a high degree of cultural intelligence and cross-cultural communication skills applicable to the real world of business and travel.
  3. Acquire a sharper understanding of their own culture and how it impacts their behavior in a multicultural setting.
  4. Interpret behavior, attitudes and communication styles of people from different cultures correctly.
  5. Become familiarized with the key cultural characteristics of the main countries in different continents.
  6. Use a repertoire of behavioral skills appropriate for different intercultural situations.
  7. Deal with ambiguity in an ever changing and unpredictable context that results from the globalization of business and people.
  8. Exhibit a high degree of effectiveness when working in culturally diverse groups.

Course Content

Module 1

  • Introduction to cross-cultural management • The globalization of business and people in the 21st century • Understanding culture and cultural differences around the globe • A look at cross-border business agreements • Components of cultural intelligence • Key cultural values and concepts • How culture affects behavior • Cultural values, beliefs and contexts. Examining our cultures, norms and behaviors • Cultural differences between various countries

Module 2

  • Developing cultural intelligence: Stages, process and supporting activities • National and global cultures explored • Decision-making models across cultures • Goals, motivation and ethics in decision-making • Cross-cultural communication failures • The cross-cultural communication process • Verbal language, codes and conventions • Non-verbal communication • Negotiating styles in Europe, Latin America and Asia

Module 3

  • Leadership across cultures: styles, expectations and management examples • Raising your cultural intelligence: knowledge, mindfulness and behavior • Culturally intelligent leadership in a globalized business world • Working in multi-cultural teams: concepts, processes and performance • Culturally intelligent team management: skills and strategies

Module 4

  • Creating cultural competence: the international experience • Negotiations and team management training • Toolbox for understanding and solving ethical dilemmas of international executives • Managing international careers: challenges and opportunities for the 21st century • Putting it all together: knowledge, mindfulness and behavioral skills • Case study: becoming a global manager •

Module 5.

Regional differences – North, East, South and West; Immigration internal and reverse immigration trends; Cultural aspects of Asians, Europeans, North Americans, Latin Americans, Australians and Africans in general - music, traditions, dance, culture, Language, History, Religion, media, Technology, Race, Crime, Security, Inequality, Poverty, etc

Instructional Method

Teaching methods used in this course would include lectures through power point presentation, individual assignments, seminars and case analyses. The emphasis will be on the interaction among the faculty and the students as well as among the students.

Required Course Materials

The text provided by the instructor in general and cases in particular, will be key mechanism for facilitating learning from other team members. Notwithstanding the above, the following reference books are recommended:

  • Shobhana Madhvan- Cross-Cultural Management –Concepts and Cases, 2nd Edition, Oxford University Press
  • David C. Thomas, Cross-Cultural Management-Essential Concepts, SAGE publications
  • Dipak Kumar Bhattacharyya, Cross Cultural Management-Text and Cases, PHI
  • HBR’s 10 Must Reads-On Managing Across Cultures, HBR Press

Assessment: As the students will be evaluated continuously the following components of evaluation would be used with respective weightages.

  1. Quiz: 10%
  2. Individual Assignment: 10%
  3. Group Seminar: 20%
  4. Case Study-I: 15%
  5. Case Study-II: 15%
  6. End-term exam: 30%