KVVS9011 Intercultural Management (3 cr)

After completing the course, students should be able to use the tools (models, frameworks) in order to analyse and appreciate critical incidents in multicultural business settings; be able to build bridges between people from different cultures in an international negotiation situation; describe a culture in terms of a multi-dimensional model and discuss the management implications of a given culture's location in the model; recognise the relationship between cultural values and communication styles as they affect inter-and-intra cultural communication of managers, personnel and clients of multinational and multicultural corporations and organizations; anticipate and manage the cultural issues that will likely arise when people from any two cultures do business; develop skills relevant to managers of multinational corporations, as well as those operating in other dimensions of business. The purpose of this seminar is to expose students to selected topics in the area of managing in a multicultural environment. "Intercultural Management" is the practice of applying management principles in a multicultural environment by describing organisational behaviour, analysing and comparing organizational behaviour in different countries. Students will learn about the challenges that managers of both domestic and international businesses face in managing across cultural boundaries. The seminar will focus on the impact of culture at the level of the individual, the team and the organisation. It will demonstrate how cultural factors influence behaviours in the workplace, and develop skills needed to manage effectively in cross-cultural situations. The following topics will be covered: fundamental dimensions of culture, how culture affects behaviour, cognition, motivation, and emotion in organisations, cross-cultural communication, negotiation and conflict resolution, management of a multi-cultural workforce and the impact of group heterogeneity/homogeneity on various group performance aspects.