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2013/2014  BA-HA_HU3E  Cross-cultural competencies

English Title
Cross-cultural competencies

Course information
Language English
Exam ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Elective
Level Bachelor
Duration Summer
Course period Summer
Please check www.cbs.dk/summer for the course schedule.
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Economics and Business Administration
Course coordinator
  • Course instructor - Kinga Konczey, Corvinus University of Budapest
    Patricia Plackett - Department of Operations Management (OM)
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalization, International Business, markets and studies
  • Communication
  • Management
  • Language and Intercultural Studies
Last updated on 22-07-2013
Learning objectives
At the end of the course students should be able to:
  • Understand the cross-cultural and international aspects of management based on direct cross cultural interaction experiences through in-class simulations;
  • Develop effective problem-solving and communication strategies in cross cultural settings.
  • understand the role of cultural differences in communication and management strategies;
  • identify and challenge country stereotypes and images;
  • define 'culture' from multiple conventional, alternative, and critical perspectives, and explain the differences between those perspectives;
  • explain the similarities and differences between national, ethnic, professional, and corporate cultures, and explain the academic and managerial debates over these similarities and differences and their significance;
  • have developed a set of tools - cross cultural models and dimensions - in order to analyse cross cultural interactions;
  • analyze the strengths and weaknesses of these different approaches to cross-cultural management;
  • understand what culture shock is and how it can be dealt with;
  • strengthen their intercultural communication skills and learn how to apply specific management tasks, like communication, leadership or negotiation in a foreign setting;
  • apply these concepts and perspectives to the analysis of cultural dynamics in a wide range of case studies and business activities in global contexts.
Course prerequisites
Students must be proficient in English. Some Management (Organisational Behaviour, Human Resource Management, Organisational Communication) background would be ideal, though not a direct precondition. Experience in working with people from different cultures is a plus.
Prerequisites for registering for the exam
Requirements about active class participation (assessed approved/not approved)
Mandatory Mid-term Assignment: Short group-based oral presentation on a case study analysis with a specific focus on a particular culture (example: Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, US, German, French, Finnish, Malaysian, Italian, etc.). The assignment is mandatory as a precondition for completing the final examination. Groups of 4-6 people will be formed for this work and each will be given a case study to be solved and prepared out of class. A brief (8-10 minutes long) in-class presentation will be required, in which the groups will present their case analysis work. The aim of this feedback assignment is to practice case study analysis, and gain constructive feedback from other class members and the instructor. Since a significant part of the final exam is going to be case-based, this assignment should be taken as an opportunity for exam preparation. Timing: we will schedule about 2 groups per class in the second half of the program (probably on classes: 6-7-8-9). Exact details in the beginning of the program in the final class syllabus.
Examination
4 hour written exam:
Examination form Written sit-in exam
Individual or group exam Individual
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer Term
Aids allowed to bring to the exam Limited aids, see the list below and the exam plan/guidelines for further information:
  • Allowed dictionaries
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
Course content and structure
The purpose of this course is to prepare students as global citizens with the intercultural tools necessary to work effectively in business, government, and nongovernmental organizations anywhere in the world. In this course we will explore how leaders, managers, and employees can mobilize organizational, national, and professional cultures as strategic resources in a variety of contexts.
The course aims to help students develop cross-cultural skills and competencies. Topics covered include coping with challenges in a multi-cultural environment; communicating and interacting across cultures; international decision-making and problem-solving skills; cross-cultural negotiations; conflict resolution; ethical dilemmas in cross-cultural environments.  Hence, the course is designed to provide students with an understanding of different cultures and the role of cultural differences and country images in everyday communication and in business settings. It also helps students appreciate the issues, problems, and challenges inherent in cultural differences.
Participants will examine readings and cases that focus on uses of culture, intercultural competence, cultural identity and cultural diversity as a strategic tool. At the same time, participants will explore the theory and practice of intercultural management, discuss the management of cultures and consider the ethical motivational and other practical issues from an intercultural perspective. 

Course content:
  • understanding and describing culture, the culture metaphors;
  • culture shock – how to deal with it;
  • verbal and nonverbal communication across cultures;
  • persuasion and audience analysis in different cultures;
  • time and space perception across cultures;
  • cross-cultural problem-solving, decision-making, ethical dilemmas;
  • negotiating across cultures;
  • dealing with HR situations across cultures;
  • business and social customs (humour, taboos, bribery, etc.);
  • features of selected business cultures (European, Latin American, Asian, etc.)

The course's development of personal competences:
The course will help students to develop personal competences through discussions, examples, and in-class exercises. 
Focus will be on the following:

  • increase awareness of students' own and others' culture;
  • develop decision-making and analytical skills through the use of real cases and exercises;
  • develop assertive communication methods, in order to become more persuasive in their
  • cross-cultural interactions;
  • consciously analyse the audience they interact with and apply a communication strategy that suits their level of interest / motivation / involvement / and cultural perspective; 
  • develop cultural understanding and tolerance in cross cultural problem solving and decision making;
  • develop skills and competencies in how to work effectively as part of a team, and build a cooperative atmosphere among team members of varied cultures;
  • develop critical thinking by consciously interpreting and employing findings of traditional and alternative cross-cultural and international studies.
Teaching methods
The subject has a strong application focus. There will be significant emphasis on experiential learning processes including small group discussions, problem solving exercises, games, case studies, role plays, along with assignments designed to apply concepts to work situations. Two complex simulations will help students directly experience cross cultural interactions in a focused conscious way. All of these elements of the course will emphasize both the translation of theory into managerial practice and the evaluation of practice from a variety of critical and theoretical perspectives. Students play an active part as they plan, simulate, negotiate, obtain feedback, and evaluate their own intercultural communication strategies.

Preliminary Assignment: To help students get maximum value from ISUP courses, instructors provide a reading or a small number of readings to be read before the start of classes with a related task or tasks in the first two classes in order to 'jump-start' the learning process.
Preliminary reading before the start of the course: Chapter 1
Self-graded quizzes in the end of the first third of the classes. This preliminary assignment will help to test whether the necessary understanding of the fundamental theories of cross cultural management has been achieved. The rest of the course will build upon understanding of those concepts.
Expected literature
Browaeys, MJ. and Price, R.  2011. Understanding cross-cultural management. 2nd edition, Prentice Hall

Compendium including recent research articles in the field, plus case studies for class work.  Compendium will be uploaded to LEARN.  Students are responsible for printing/downloading readings, and cases.

Classes and readings: 
Reading for classes will typically involve textbook material from ‘Browaeys/Price’ and possibly one article from the compendium, and for most classes the preparation of a case study.  The average reading load per class will be about 50 pages.

Preliminary reading before the start of the course: Chapter 1
  1. Describing culture; Models of cross-cultural comparison: Hofstede [Ch 2]
  2. Models of cross cultural comparison - Trompenaars, Hall, Schwartz, etc: [Chapter 5, Compendium: articles]
  3. How cultures work: fundamentals of cross cultural interactions [Ch. 6-7, 13-14, and case]
  4. cross cultural simulation [case]
  5. cross cultural dimensions of problem solving and decision making [textbook ch. 5, article]
  6. international operations and global alliances [Chs. 9-10, 12; case]
  7. multicultural work groups and teams [textbook chs 16-17., case study]
  8. leadership and mortivation across cultures [Chs. 8, case study]
  9. business cultures [Chapters 3-4, Compendium article, case]
  10. negotiation across cultures [Ch. 15, case study]– class simulation [article, preparation for case simulation]
  11. comprehensive review
Recommended readings:
Bartlett, C., Ghoshal, S., & Beamish, P. W. (2008). Transnational Management: Text, Cases & Readings in Cross-Border Management, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Beamish, P. W., Morrison, A. J., Inkpen, A. C., & Rosenzweig, P. M. (2003). International Management: Text and Cases, 5th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Brett, J. M.  2001.  Negotiating Globally: How to Negotiate Deals, Resolve Disputes, and Make Decisions across Cultures.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Deresky, H. (2011). International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures, 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Gannon, M. J.  2008.  Paradoxes of Culture and Globalization.  San Francisco, CA: Sage.
Ghauri, P. N., & Usinier, J.-C. (eds.).  2003.  International Business Negotiations, 2nd ed.  Boston, MA: Pergamon.
Hofstede, G.  1997.  Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill. 
Katz, L.  2007.  Negotiating International Business: The Negotiator's Reference Guide to 50 Countries around the World.  BookSurge Publishing.
Lewis, R. D. (2006). When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures, 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Nicholas Brealey.
Phatak, A. V., Bhagat, R. S., & Kashlak, R. J. (2005). International Management: Managing in a Diverse and Dynamic Global Environment. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Rudd, J. E., & Lawson, D. R.  2007.  Communicating in Global Business Negotiations: A Geocentric Approach.  San Francisco: Sage.
Salacuse, J. W.  2003.  The Global Negotiator: Making, Managing, and Mending Deals around the World in the Twenty-First Century.  New York: Palgrave MacMillan.
Schmidt, W. V., Conaway, R., Easton, S. S., & Wardrope, W. J.  2007.  Communicating Globally: Intercultural Communication and International Business.   San Francisco, CA: Sage.
Schneider, S. C., & Barsoux, J.-L. (2003). Managing across Cultures, 2nd ed. Harlow, UK: Pearson - Financial Times.
Thomas, D. C. (2008). Cross-Cultural Management: Essential Concepts, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C.  1997.  Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Diversity in Global Business, 2nd ed.  Boston: McGraw-Hil 
Walker, D., Walker, T., & Schmitz, J.  2003.  Doing Business Internationally: The Guide to Cross-Cultural Success, 2nd ed.  New York: McGraw-Hill.
Last updated on 22-07-2013