BUU33802 Intercultural Management II

(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 and 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.

Workload

This course carries 5 ECTS credits.

We apply the EU convention of university workload: http://ec.europa.eu/education/ects/users-guide/key-features_en.htm#ectsTop

Each credit corresponds to circa 10-15 hours of work, amounting to about 150-200 hours in total workload. This includes the time spent attending lectures, reading the course texts in preparation for exams, working in groups for the assignment, and presentations.

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 Case Study Assignment 65% - You are required to analyse and write up a case study report (2,000 words excluding appendices) on the documentary film “American Factory”. Further assignment information will be presented on blackboard. You are required to submit your paper via blackboard and Turnitin in week 8 of term. Exact date will be confirmed in class.   

Group project report 35% – Each group selects an Irish based company that is domestic. You are required to design and develop a report for the board of directors of that company assessing the likelihood for success if set up a subsidiary abroad. Once you decide on the company, the lecturer will give you a country to enter. Your report will pay particular attention to the cultural differences of the country you are entering. All lecture sessions that we cover will feed directly into this project. Once your group decides on a company you must run it by the lecturer to ensure it is an appropriate choice. Once it has been approved, you will be given a country that your company will look at entering. Your job as a group is to research and evaluate the cultural issues that you may have to overcome while trying to enter the country. At the end of the report, and based on the information you provided, you will recommend whether or not the company should open in the country. You will be assessed on the information you provide to support your decision and not the decision itself. So, for example, if is it clear that the company would fail in the chosen country then you need to address why, and you will be graded on your justification as opposed to the point that it would fail.

Company selection is on a first come first serve basis. I will post a list of groups and companies as they come in on Blackboard for you. I will also include the Country that I have allocated for each group. Your group must check this information on a regular basis when deciding on your company to ensure it has not been taken already. Additional information along with grading rubrics can be found on Blackboard.

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.