• Identify a well-founded research question containing a ‘puzzle’ or problem concerning culture and business in a European context
• Formulate a clear and coherent academic argument, both in writing and orally
• Account for, and critically reflect on, the strengths and weaknesses of the theories and concepts you use for analyzing the role of culture in business
• Apply the theories and concepts taught to empirical issues/cases in European business
• Account for your own cultural assumptions in addressing your topic
• Reflect on social responsibility issues that may arise in relation to culture in business activities in regard to your chosen topic
• Demonstrate awareness of the challenges and opportunities offered by group work, reflect critically on the learning process in your group work and on what you could do to improve it next time

The overall aim of the course is to introduce students to major ways in which culture can be conceptualized in relation to business, and to how cultural dynamics play out in different ways in a globalizing business world, specifically in a European context. The course aims to train students to see business as anchored in local, regional and global cultural contexts.

The course is organized in eight three-hour lectures introducing key areas in which culture is crucial in business. Students will be introduced to major theories and concepts relating to important cultural dimensions of business. Each lecture will include examples and/or cases to illustrate the theory and concepts pertaining to the session. Examples of topics include: culture and globalization, culture and leadership, organizational culture, culture and gender, and culture and business networks. Empirical examples will be mostly drawn from the European business context, or from cases of Danish businesses operating abroad.

Students are invited to reflect critically on the assumptions underpinning the theories presented, and to take these into account when considering business problems and challenges. The course further aims to train students' cultural sensitivity, and thereby their ability to act in 'culturally responsible' ways, by challenging their own cultural assumptions.

Students are also introduced to problem-oriented research  through workshops, group-based supervision and practice assignments: including how to draft a good research question and craft a literature review, as well as a basic introduction to methodology, data presentation and the application of theory to data.

The course integrates the HA EB values in the following way:

Mutual respect: Teachers and students show mutual respect by honouring the formal contracts that pertain to them (e.g. information sharing, deadlines, preparing classes and readings adequately, etc) as well as implicit contracts for appropriate conduct, such as arriving at classes on time and doing their part to maintain an atmosphere that supports learning.

Integrity: The course encourages self-reflection both in its academic goals (reflecting on own cultural assumptions) and in the groupwork input and exam format, where students learn to reflect on how to improve their own role in a collaborative process.

Engagement: Both teachers and students come to class willing to engage in dialogue with one another. Through this, our goal is to achieve a participatory and accessible culture of mutual learning.

Indicative literature:

Eagleton, T. (2016). Culture. Yale University Press.

Guthey, E., & Jackson, B. (2011). Cross-cultural leadership revisited. The SAGE handbook of leadership, 165-178.

We will be drawing on cases and research articles addressing cultural dimensions of international business