Purpose of Assignment 1
This assignment is designed to prepare you for the module by getting you to think about what culture is in general and how it may be applied to understanding the business environment of a particular country / region in particular. This assignment may be done individually or by group.
The topics provide a broad context to the module and will provide students with insights into the importance of the relevant topic to the practise of Cross Cultural management. Cognitive competencies such as discussion, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation should be to the fore in anticipating and addressing the key module outcomes.
Assignment 1 Outcomes
The key outcomes of this Assignment 1 are to:
1. Begin to develop an understanding and appreciation of different international business environments with respect to cultural difference.
2. Begin to appreciate the importance of cultural intelligence as a success factor in international business.
3. Begin to develop reflective skills on other cultures and accordingly on one's own culture
Assignment Details
Students are expected to write an individual Assignment on culture in a particular region / country / society. You are required to explain the nature of its culture; you may select any aspect of culture, such as language, religion, cultural norms in the society, or any other cultural dimension you think is important.
So, in sum Assignment 1 requires that you:
- Select any country / region / society of your choice (for example, India, Hong Kong, China, Canada, USA, France, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, etc); Note: you must not choose a country that you are are from.
- Explain the nature of its culture; you may select any aspect of culture, such as language, religion, social structure, political / economic philosophy, education, cultural norms in the society, or any other cultural dimension you think is important.
- Think about your thoughts. Be objective in terms of your analysis and subjective with regard to your cognitive and reflective processes. Are you being stereotypical? What does this mean? What does it say about you?
You are required to write about 2,000 words for this pre-course assignment and hand it in to your programme administrator at the beginning of the module.
Assignment 2 - Team / Group Project
Purpose of assessment 2:
This assignment is a group project. Students should form groups of (optimally) five. The assignment will require students to showcase their understanding of the different dimensions of Cross Cultural Management. The key objective of this project is for groups to develop a deeper understanding of a specific cultural environment of a given country and its implications for managers based on the topics discussed in class, thus developing global management skills.
Group Project Outcomes
The key outcomes of this group project are:
- the demonstration of an ability to discuss and analyse the contents of this module;
- the exploration of the different dimensions of the global cultural environment;
- the identification of the main issues and challenges relating to culture and its impact on facing businesses today;
- the completion of a group project on cross cultural management, which is a comprehensive business report on the application of the course concepts within your own workplace or one with which you are familiar.
The expectation is that all individuals will contribute equally to this project. Each group needs to elect a group coordinator to allocate and manage tasks democratically. In the appendix of each project, the contribution of each group member must be highlighted.
Students should also complete the Team Agreement Form which can be found in the Orientation folder on the Programme Area on Blackboard and is also included in the appendices at the end of this study guide.
Students will form their own groups. Each group will accordingly choose a topic and country / countries that they are NOT familiar with. Perhaps it is better to choose from list of countries in the World Values Survey Report (https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org) and / or Hofstede Dimension countries (https://www.geert-hofstede.com/) as there is a lot of data available, but groups are free to choose outside those lists.
The key cross-cultural theoretical themes of the project are Country Values and Determinants, and Theoretical Dimensions by Hall, Hofstede, Globe, etc... However, I am open to suggestions from students as to potential areas of interest.
Projects should be no more than 30 pages for group of four. If there are seven people in the group, it should be 50 pages. This averages out at 7.5 pages per group member.
- Project Framework: Title Page, Executive Summary / Abstract, Table of Contents, Introduction, various chapters, Conclusion, Bibliography, Appendices (including appendix on contribution of each member).
- Project Guidelines
- Simple example: Argentina: A Cross-Cultural Perspective for the International Manager.
- Example: Different Leadership Styles - Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore compared.
- Example: Confucianism and Management in Korea.
- Example: Management of Cross Cultural Teams in Singapore
- Example: Uncertainty Avoidance and Foreign Managers in Singapore
This type of title is basic, but I'm sure that you will come up with more creative and insightful project. The following is a suggested format for the project:
- Discuss and analyse the determinants of culture in the country chosen: History, Religion, Social Structure, Political Philosophy, Economy, Language, and Education.
- Apply the cultural theories to the chosen culture.
Look at the Hofstede Dimensions and World Values Survey to find background info (see last slide). Other theoretical perspectives. Tropenaars, Globe Project, etc., should also be included. See appendix plus lecture notes for more details.
Please refer to The GLOBE Book of In-Depth Studies of 25 Societies, if it is available to you in library.
- Apply your cultural analysis above to the Global Management Skills topics discussed in class.
Given that the focus of the project is Cross Cultural Management, there are a number of chapters in the textbook specifically on Global Management Skills that can be used as a template for each section: Situation, Organisation, Communication, Negotiation, Leadership, Motivation, Teamwork, and HR. Your theoretical analysis should inform each one of these potential topics. Note: it is your decision to focus on the number of topics that interest you; you may analyse them all, or indeed you may choose to just analyse one topic or more and do so at a deep level.
- Conclusions must be an analytical synthesis of all of the above about the cultural environment for business in the given country/region.
ALL PROJECTS MUST BE ROBUST - IRRESPECTIVE OF SIZE.
Project Resources
- Text Book
- Hofstede Home Page: https://www.geert-hofstede.com/
- World Values Survey: https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org
- CIA World Fact Book: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world- factbook/index.html
- Many other comparable sources of background information: Country Statistical Organisations, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, The Economist, OECD, IMF, World Bank, United Nations.
- Use E-library and Google!
- See Background Readings and Supplementary Readings Folders in Blackboard
Assessment 3: Final Examination:
Final Exam Learning Outcomes
The key learning outcomes that need to be demonstrated in the final w ritten exam are as follows:
- A demonstration of an ability to reflect deeply on, and to discuss, analyse, synthesise the key pillars of Cross Cultural Management.
- A demonstration of critical engagement with the topic incorporating personal experience and observation.
- A demonstration of utilisation of background reading as well as the students ‘real world' experience in answering the questions.
There will be SIX questions - students must answer THREE. The questions will require essay-type answers. The exam is marked out of 300 so each question is allocated 100 marks. There may be sub-sections to the questions and the marks allocated for each sub-section will be clearly stated.
The structure of the final exam is important. Students should write in essay format with introduction, key paragraphs, and conclusion. There should be a strong level of analysis, demonstrating focused background reading on the chosen topic.
In terms of grading criteria see below as well as table 7:
- Students are expected to demonstrate that they have read, internalised and are able to discuss, analyse, synthesise and evaluate the key issues at the heart of the module topics.
- Moreover, students are expected to demonstrate background reading in terms of academic journals (Inter alia, Journal of International Business, Cross Cultural Management Journal)
- Students are expected to utilise examples and case studies liberally in answering each question. Each example / case study alluded to needs to be expanded on and presented in an analytical fashion.
- Students are expected to bring to bear their own ‘real world' experience in the answering of questions.
- Students are expected to demonstrate Cross cultural intelligence through Cognitive and reflective intelligence.
- Students are expected to write a structured answer with introduction, structured paragraphs with spaces between each paragraph, and conclusion.