BUU33801 Intercultural Management I

(5 ECTS)

Lecturer:                 

Nick McIlroy                                                 

E-mail: mcilron@tcd.ie 
Office Hours: By appointment                                        

Module Description

This module explores how global management practices need to be modified and adjusted when working in a cross-cultural context. The focus of this module is on identifying cultural differences, understanding cultural biases, and appropriately adjusting management styles accordingly. The module demonstrates that a good level of cultural intelligence (CQ) is required to operate effectively around the globe. Learners gain the knowledge and understanding of various cultures in business to improve CQ.

Managers with cultural intelligence (CQ) ensure:

• Better communications among and between managers and teams.
• Drive better solutions for innovation.
• Facilitate high performance management in a global setting.

Learning & Teaching Approach

This class will be conducted face-to-face with some hybrid elements on Blackboard for you to complete. You are required to take accountability for your study and timely progress throughout the class. You are also responsible to check Blackboard at least twice a week to ensure that you stay informed on due dates or changes that may occur. The module maintains a strong applied approach to learning with the inclusion of a team-based cultural research project. This allows students to draw from the material presented throughout the sessions and use the content as the backbone for their project. There will also be an individual assignment to ensure that you understand and have the ability to critically analyse the key concepts delivered within course.

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module, the student should be able to:

• Perform systematic comparative research, allowing them to identify patterns and distinctions of management practices in various cultural settings, and the risks they present;
• Have a heightened awareness of how management practices both affect, and are affected by, the cultural environment in which the manager operates;
• Critically assess the leading theories and concepts of this field of study;
• Develop enhanced cultural awareness and the ability to self-reflect on one’s own cultural identity;
• Augment an understanding of certain specific cultural contexts, thereby allowing them to become less ethnocentric and more tolerant of other cultures;
• Identify cultural etiquette, gestures, and symbols across the globe which will equip them to manage and negotiate at an international level.

Relation to Degree

This module draws from several Programme-Level Learning Goals for the Global Business Programmes including: Identify, critically evaluate and synthesis the substantive theories, frameworks and models that are used in cultural management; Analyse and solve a variety of problems from a multi-disciplinary knowledge basis of theories, tools and techniques; Communicate effectively in oral and written modes in professional and academic settings; Apply knowledge and understanding of the social and ethical dimensions of management and research in both the public and private sectors of society and to apply this knowledge effectively in management and research contexts; Work effectively as an individual and in teams; and Demonstrate the ability to engage productively with a changing social, cultural and technological environment.

Textbooks and Required Resources

Required textbooks: Logan, Dave, King, John, Fischer-Wright, Halee (2011) Tribal Leadership Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization.

Recommended reading: Browaeys & Roger Price (2015) Understanding cross-cultural management 3rd ed.  Isbn: 978-12920- 15897 (or later edition).

Each week I will upload articles on Blackboard for you to read along with the course content. Please make sure that you read these as they will be of immense value to you when preparing your group project.

Assessment

There are two areas that you must pass in order to successfully complete the class 1. the group project report and 2. an individual assignment. Points cannot be carried over to make up for a lower grade in one section. Student assessment and due dates are found in the Table below. More specific information follows, and detailed instructions and grading rubrics are located on the Blackboard page for this module. Students have 7 calendar days from the release of feedback/grades for each assessment to arrange a meeting with the professor pertaining to further understanding the grade and feedback given. Any requests after this timeline will not be granted.

Individual Assignment 65% - Individually, you are required to write a reflective essay on your own cultural understanding journey. The paper should be no more than 2,000 words excluding references (Harvard Style). The essay should be structured around the elements of the “cultural intelligence index” test which will be administered in week 1, then subsequently after a period of several weeks. Further assignment information will be presented on blackboard. You are required to submit your paper via blackboard and Turnitin in week 9 of term. Exact date will be confirmed in class.  

Group Project Report 35% - As a group, you are required to interview five expatriates living in Ireland at various stages of the expatriation process. Ideally, you should interview someone who has just arrived in Ireland 0-3 months, someone who has been in Ireland between 4-6 months, someone who has been in Ireland 6-9 months, someone who has been in Ireland 9-12 months, and someone who has been living in Ireland between 1-3 years. The aim of this assignment is for you to understand and present the acculturation process of these expatriates. After all interviews are conducted, you are required to write a comprehensive paper on the experiences of the expatriates you have interviewed, while drawing from theory to explain their expatriation process. The paper should be no more than 3,000 words excluding references (Harvard Style) and transcripts (audio files of the interviews are also acceptable). It is a good idea to include some expatriate quotes from the interviews to support your statements and further enhance the reader’s knowledge of the expatriation process. Each interview should last around 20 minutes and should be transcribed and included at the end of your paper. You should not have a personal relationship with any of your interviewees prior to interviewing them, as doing so may cause various forms of bias. You can recruit students on campus (MSc etc) or outside of campus.  Recruitment can be done informally (through a friend), or formally (e.g. by using a college organization/club that supports international students). Your interviews should be semi-structured. We will go through outline questions in class prior to the launch of the assignment. Further assignment information will be presented on blackboard. You are required to submit your paper via blackboard and Turnitin in week 11 of term. Exact date will be confirmed in class.   

Biographical Note

Nick McIlroy is an Adjunct Teaching Fellow within the Trinity Business School. In addition to having several years lecturing experience as Visiting Professor at the triple-accredited ESSCA School of Management’s Shanghai campus, he has a broad range of management experience in both Public and Private sectors, practicing in a global business environment. Nick has lived and worked in East and Southeast Asia, Australia, Europe and the USA. His research and consulting interests focus on EU-Asia trade and investment relations, agribusiness, and migrant networks and entrepreneurship.  Nick is a graduate and scholar of Trinity College, and a fluent speaker of Mandarin.