Mgt 216-10
CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

DESCRIPTION

            This course focuses on the variety of issues and opportunities that arise when we take action (i.e., leading, managing, being a member, following) outside our own culture.  Our credibility and effectiveness are always to some extent "culture-bound."  Outside our native culture, our attitudes and actions do not necessarily mean the same thing that they do inside our native culture.  Emphasis in this course will be on personal experiences and interpretations.  However, we shall also discuss the culture of organizations and academic disciplines.  Extensive use will be made of student experiences and research.

OBJECTIVES

1.   To consider the nature of intercultural communication

2.   To learn to think across cultural differences

3.   To experiment with different ways of acting in cross-cultural situations

4.   To reflect on the cultural foundations of economic systems and of organizational practices

 INSTRUCTOR

Stuart A. Umpleby, Professor of Management and Director of the Research Program in Social and Organizational Learning (www.gwu.edu/~rpsol), 2033 K Street (entrance on 21st Street), Suite 230 C (enter through Suite 240), tel: 202/994-1642, fax: 994-5284, email:  umpleby@gwu.edu, http://www.gwu.edu/~umpleby. 

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

            The principal requirements for the course are three individual papers, a group project, and class participation. 

1. The individual papers will be about three double-spaced type-written pages and will be turned in during the early and middle part of the semester.  The papers can be on any topic related to cross-cultural management.  Each paper should contain your name, the course number, the date, and a title for the paper.  Papers should make use of your personal experiences, should refer to the text or other reference material, and should discuss several levels of analysis (not just observations, but also explanations, and basic assumptions).  Each paper is 10 percent of the grade.  A good structure for the papers is problem-solving.  That is, identify a cultural problem such as miscommunication or misunderstanding.  Find the source of the problem in different conceptions, values, or assumptions.  Speculate on the origin of the different conceptions in history, religion, geography, etc.  Indicate how misunderstanding was or could be overcome or diminished.   

Here are two examples of possible paper topics:

            1.   An anecdote from your personal experience involving increased cultural awareness.  If you are from another country, what were your impressions upon arriving in the U.S.?  Have you had an experience of miscommunication with a person from another country?  Describe how an activity is performed differently in two countries or corporations.  How would people explain why they do what they do?

            2.   A cultural conflict or a cultural change in a corporation or agency.  How did different groups perceive the change and/or act to sustain their view of what is appropriate?  Describe a problem of advertising in a foreign country, of managing in a foreign country, or of change in your work place.

B.   Groups of three or four students will agree on a project, one that will improve the functioning of some organization.  At the end of the semester the group will submit a final report consisting of two parts -- one part describing what was done and one part describing cultural differences that were encountered during the process of working on the project.  The cultural differences may be observed within the client group, between the client group and the student group, within the student group, or some or all of these.  The group will describe both parts of the project to the class at the end of the semester.  Both a written report and an evaluation form will be submitted to the client.  The project is 50 percent of the grade.

C.   Class participation is encouraged.  Participating in class discussions will raise your grade but not lower it.  The instructor understands that some students are hesitant to talk in class, sometimes because they feel that their English is not good enough.  However, "management" is among other things the ability to express oneself, and "cross-cultural management" often involves expressing oneself under conditions where one feels very unsure of one's ability to communicate effectively. 

In teams of two, students will lead a discussion of the readings for that week during part of the class.  These presentations offer students an opportunity to lead a discussion of cross-cultural issues related to management.  Presentations are 10 percent of the grade.

REQUIRED TEXTS

Trompenaars, Fonz and C. H. Turner. Riding the Waves of Culture. McGraw-Hill, 1998.

Harrison, Lawrence E. The Central Liberal Truth: How Politics Can Change a Culture and Save It from Itself. Oxford University Press, 2006.
 

RECOMMENDED TEXTS

Harrison, Lawrence E. and Samuel P. Huntington (eds.). Culture Matters:  How Values Shape Human Progress. Basic Books, 2000.

Hofstede, Gert, Cultures and Organizations.  McGraw-Hill, 2005.

Tannen, Deborah.  You Just Don't Understand.  Ballantine, 1986.

Class notes are available at www.gwu.edu/~umpleby/mgt216

ASSIGNMENTS

1.          Introduction and course overview
What is culture and why is it important?  How do people react to cultural differences?

2.         Trompenaars, Ch. 1-3
            Umpleby, "Comparing Conceptual Systems"
            The historical origins of beliefs and values
            How to describe cultural differences
            First paper due, a personal cross-cultural experience
            Come to class with a project ideas

3.         Trompenaars, Ch. 4-6
            Umpleby,  "Policy Implications of Lefebvre’s Two Systems of Ethical Cognition”
            Umpleby, "The Language of Negotiating:  East and West"         
            Action chains
            Form into groups

4.         Trompenaars, Ch. 7-9
            Woodward and Lord, "Moral Education:  Kohlberg's Theory"
            Measuring cultural development
            Second paper due, an example of cultural differences

1. Trompenaars, Ch. 10-12

One page description of group project is due

1. Trompenaars, Ch. 13-15 and Appendices

            Kohlberg, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King Jr.
            Are some societies better than others?
            Relativism vs. development
            Respect cultural differences vs. stages of development
           
7.         Tannen, whole book
            Gender differences
            The possibility of an international subculture
           

1.  Harrison, Preface, Introduction, Ch. 1

      The culture of poverty
Umpleby and Oyler, “A Global Strategy for Human Development:  The Work of the  Institute of Cultural Affairs”
Participatory Strategic Planning and the Technology of Participation
           
9.         Harrison, Ch. 2 & 3
            Federal Quality Institute, "Essentials of Total Quality Management"
            Change in corporate culture:  the example of quality improvement
            Third paper due

10.       Harrison, Ch. 4 & 5
            Umpleby, "The Scientific Revolution in Demography"
            Reconciling differences among academic subcultures
            Interim oral reports of group projects

1. Harrison, Ch. 6 & 7

      Measuring cultural differences:  the Associated Group Analysis Method
      Measuring cultural convergence
           
12.       Harrison, Ch. 8
            The future of industrial civilization, achieving sustainable economic growth
            Meadows, Randers, Meadows, The Limits to Growth:  The 30 Year Update
           
13.       Harrison, Ch. 9
            Two strategies for social change:  Europe and the US
When to challenge perceived error and when not to
            Why some cultures challenge more than others
            Belief systems as regulators of society – the Catholic Church and the Communist Party

14.       Student project reports