CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

The course intends to introduce students to the core issues related to cross-cultural management, providing them with the appropriate knowledge and understanding of the impact of cultures on management and organizational behaviour. The course’s specific learning objectives are: -Developing an in-depth understanding of the role of culture and the main theories and models to analyse cultural differences -Developing an in-depth understanding of cross-cultural issues and challenges that global organizations encounter -Understanding how cultural differences may impact the management of individuals, teams, and organizations -Understanding how intercultural communication and relationships can be affected by cultural differences -Developing the ability to critically analyse and deal (in organized settings) with intercultural diversity.

None, but the reading of Daft, R., Murphy, J., Willmott, H. “Organization Theory and Design: An International Perspective”, Cengage Learning EMEA is highly recommended. In particular, the following parts are suggested: - Introduction to Organizations - Organizational Culture and Ethical Values - Innovation and Change Conflict, Power, and Politics (Equivalent handbooks/chapters covering the same topics are also welcome in replacement of Daft)

Knowledge and understanding: The course will offer key conceptual frameworks to (1) understand and (2) analyse cultural differences in the workplace and how these impact individual organizational behaviors. Applying knowledge and understanding: Students will be able to: • apply knowledge of cultural differences (values, practices, schemas) to multi-national and international companies, as well as to national companies employing foreign nationals (e.g., self-expatriate employees, immigrants, refugees) • identify ways to maximize the benefits of cultural diversity, and minimize possible misunderstandings in work settings • diagnose the sources of possible divergencies or conflicts (interpersonal, group-based, or organizational ones) that may arise from a mis-management of cultural differences Making judgements: Students will be able to propose different solutions to managerial challenges that involve dealing with cultural diversity. They are expected to be able to critically discuss pros and cons of such solutions and evaluate their likely consequences. Communication Skills: This course will equip students with specialistic terminology in the broader field of Organizational Behavior and more specifically Cross-cultural Management, such that they will be able to effectively communicate their analyses, proposals, and critical reasoning in organizations. The Project Work will foster the acquisition of both effective public speaking as well as rigorous writing skills. Learning skills: This course will foster meta-learning by guiding students in the search and collection of information, as well as tools for analysing cultural differences. Via the extensive use of case studies and experiential activities students will be able to self-assess their knowledge, monitor their learning and hence possibly redirect efforts in their learning and studying process.

Nowadays organizations are increasingly acting within a global scenario, spreading their activities around the world and dealing with individuals (employees, customers, suppliers) from different cultural backgrounds. Effectively managing cultural diversity is a daily challenge for leaders and managers who are also asked to face new tasks related to cultural and intercultural issues. To be successful in their role they need to learn new skills and develop a global mindset. In this course students will be introduced, first, to the concept of culture, its facets and the levels at which it operates. Moreover, cultural dimensions in the business context will be analysed with a special focus on national culture using, as theoretical framework, models, theories and insights from the most important researches in the field of culture and management. The main part of the course is devoted to analysing the impact of culture on individuals’ behaviour in organizational settings, focusing on intercultural interactions and relationships. Main Course Contents: Global business environment and cross cultural management; definitions, features and functions of culture; cultural dimensions in the business context: researches and studies on cultural differences; fundamentals of cross- cultural interaction; motivation and leadership across cultures; developing intercultural competence; communicating in and between cultures; negotiating internationally; conflict resolution across cultures; multicultural work groups and teams.

Mandatory references: 1) A handbook, to choose between: - Thomas, D. C., & Peterson, M. F. (2017). Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts. 4th edition, Sage Publications. Ch: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8. And - French, R. (2015). Cross-cultural management in work organizations. 3rd Edition, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Chapters: 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9. 2) The following list of articles (all): - Bennett, M. J. (2001). Intercultural competence for global leadership. Oregon: The Intercultural Communication Institute. - Crede, M., et al., (2019). The generalizability of transformational leadership across cultures: A meta-analysis. J Man Psych, 34, 3, 139-155. - Fedrigo, L., et al., (2023). Refugees’ meaning of work: A qualitative investigation of work purposes and expectations. J Career Dev, 50(1), 52-68. - Gerhart, B. (2009). How much does national culture constrain organizational culture?. Man and Org Rev, 5(2), 241-259. - Kim, R., et al., (2022). Do you hear my accent? How nonnative English speakers experience conflictual conversations in the workplace. Int J Conflict Man, 33(1), 155-178. - Leung, K., & Morris, M. W. (2015). Values, schemas, and norms in the culture–behavior nexus: A situated dynamics framework. J of Int Bus Studies, 46, 1028-1050. - Shan, W., et al., (2019). Are men better negotiators everywhere? A meta‐analysis of how gender differences in negotiation performance vary across cultures. J Org Beh, 40, (6), 651-675. - Stahl, G. K., & Maznevski, M. L. (2021). Unraveling the effects of cultural diversity in teams: A retrospective of research on multicultural work groups and an agenda for future research. Journal of International Business Studies, 52(1), 4. - Van Der Zee, K. & Hofhuis, J. (2017). Conflict management styles across cultures. The international encyclopedia of intercultural communication, p. 1-9. Supplementary references (mandatory for non-compliant and exempted students): - Adair, W. L., & Brett, J. M. (2005). The negotiation dance: Time, culture, and behavioral sequences in negotiation. Org Science, 16(1), 33-51. - Adamovic, M., & Cooney‐O'Donoghue, D. (2025). Best management practices for integrating refugee employees. Hum Res Man J, 35(1), 91-115. - Diaz, A. B., et al., (2024). Linguistics of the heart and mind: Negotiating in one's native language is comfortable but not efficient. J Occ and Org Psych, 97(4), 1451-1474. - Cramton, C. D., et al. (2020). Using scripts to address cultural and institutional challenges of global project coordination. J of Int B Studies, 1-22. - Den Hartog, D. N., & De Hoogh, A. H. (2024). Cross-cultural leadership: What we know, what we need to know, and where we need to go. Ann Rev Org Psych and Org Beh, 11(1), 535-566. - Erez, M. (2008). Social-cultural influences on work motivation. In R. Kanfer, G. Chen & R. D. Pritchard (Eds.), Work motivation (pp. 501-530). Routledge. - Gelfand, M. J., et al. (2011). Differences between tight and loose cultures: A 33-nation study. Science, 332(6033), 1100-1104. - Gibson, C. B. (1996). Do you hear what I hear? A framework for reconciling intercultural communication difficulties arising from cognitive styles and cultural values. - Shrivastava, S. et al. (2022). Effective communication during organizational change: a cross-cultural perspective. Cross Cult & Strat Man, 29(3), 675-697. - Smale, A., et al. (2019). Proactive career behaviors and subjective career success: The moderating role of national culture. J Org Beh, 40(1), 105-122.

This course adopts interactive teaching methods, including participative lecturing and debates. In particular, classes will be based on a blend of theoretical and research-based content with practical cases and experiential activities.

This is a course with mandatory attendance and based on continuous evaluation. Attendance will be monitored via the School’s tools. The final grade will be based on: - Group project work that comprises both a written and an oral component weighting together 30% - Individual final exam, with a written component further deepened with an oral one, which together will weight 70%. Note: the final evaluation may not be a rigid average and rounding (both upward or downward) will be based on active participation. Active participation in class means intervening with constructive comments or questions and be involved in the different activities that will be proposed. Please note that attendance is a prerequisite for active participation, but will not explicitly contribute to any rounding, per se. Details on the evaluation rubrics for the group project work (together with detailed info on the task) will be provided during the course. Students who are non-compliant with the attendance rule, and those that are exempted from attending classes by the administration will have a final exam counting 100% of the grade. In this case, there will also be a written part and an oral part. However, the final exam for non compliant students (as well as exempted) will be longer and based on ALL the bibliography (that means both the “mandatory” and the “supplementary” readings).

The assignment of the Master Thesis is subject to the submission of a good-quality proposal, no minimum grade at the exam is required. The proposal (2-3 pp.) will contain: - A research question or practical problem statement that the student wants to address - Abstract of the main contents (theoretical framework, empirical aspects such as possible case study or ideas on how/where to collect empirical data, etc.) - List of selected academic references to start with.