Download MANAGING CULTURE

BA 4216
Cross-cultural Studies
in Organizations
Introduction and Culture
Course syllabus available at
http://old.ba.metu.edu.tr/user/ctopal
Instructor: Çağrı Topal
1
Why take this course
Culture as shaping managerial and
organizational practices
 Cultural diversity based on differences in
education, occupation, hometown, social class,
and gender

2
Objective
Developing a critical understanding of the
implications of different national cultures for
business and management practice in
domestic and international markets
 Improving teamwork and presentation skills

3
Outcomes
Understanding the global context of crosscultural management, influence of different
cultural and religious characteristics on
management, role of cross-cultural
communication in business, leadership,
motivation, negotiation, conflict management,
and human resource management across
cultures, ethical issues in cross-cultural
settings, and ethnocentric business practices
 Improving teamwork and presentation skills

4
Readings
Mixed readings from relevant textbooks
 Textbooks on cross-cultural management
available from the library
 Long cases from Martin J. Gannon,
“Understanding Global Cultures”, 3rd and 4th
editions
 Short cases to be distributed in class

5
Assessment-1
Midterm 1
 Midterm 2
 Case quizzes
 Case presentation and report
 Group participation
 Individual participation
 Total

20%
20%
30%
15%
10%
10%
105%
6
Assessment-2: IMPORTANT
Grades and notes are final and not
subject to change.
 No individual request for additional
study for raising a grade will be
accepted.
 No non-academic criteria such as that
you are working outside, that this is
your last semester, and that this is your
only course will be considered in
grading.

7
Lecture and participation
Key points and examples by the instructor
 Discussion in the groups of two or three or
four students
 General class discussion
 Students’ questions and critiques
 Do not write the name of an absent student
on the group/case participation sheet and
lose all participation points

8
Midterms
Two conceptual exams (November 4 and 25)
 Closed-book and closed-notes
 Multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, true-false,
short- and long-answer questions
 Make-up exam only if applied within one
week after the exam with documentation
 No make-up for group or individual
participation studies in the class
 No final exam and thus no resit exam

9
Case presentation
Ten cases
 Quiz for each case
 Each presented by a group of three or four
students
 35-40 minutes for the presentation and 15-20
minutes for the discussion

10
Case report
Report only on the case presented-3 pages
 Typed in appropriate format (see the syllabus)
 Not the analysis of the case
 Explanation of the group preparation process
 Group grade
 One point penalty for each day of late
submission
 Form your groups and select a case

11
Civility
Be in class on time
 Turn your cellular phones off
 Turn your laptops off
 Avoid engaging in side conversations
 Use an impersonal professional language
 See the instructor if you need special
arrangements

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Grading
Percentage
 90-100
 85-89
 80-84
 75-79
 70-74
 65-69
 60-64
 50-59
 49 and below

Course Grade
AA
BA
BB
CB
CC
DC
DD
FD
FF
Coefficient
4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
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Code of ethics and regulations

Make yourself familiar with the university’s
code of ethics and regulations
14
Questions
Questions
 Concerns

15
Culture

Kluckhohn (1962): ‘culture consists of
patterned ways of thinking, feeling and
reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by
symbols, constituting the distinctive
achievement of human groups, including their
embodiments in artefacts; the essential core
of culture consists of traditional (i.e.,
historically derived and selected) ideas and
especially their attached values’
16
Culture

Triandis (1972): the subjective perception of
the human-made part of the environment
including the categorization of social stimuli,
associations, beliefs, attitudes, roles, and values
that individuals share
17
Culture

Hofstede (1980): culture consists of shared
mental programs that control individuals’
response to their environment
• Human nature: Universal characteristics
• Groups: Culture
• Individuals: Personality
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Culture
Group phenomenon
 Shared
 Learned
 Enduring
 Powerful influence on behaviour
 Systematic and organized
 Largely invisible
 Normal

19
Culture
natural and correct vs. unnatural and
incorrect
 universal validity
 in-group vs. out-group

20
Culture
It’s like water surrounding the fish
 Culture does not necessarily result in the
same behaviour in all individual members but
signals the same meaning every time
 Similar values might exist in different cultures
with different priorities

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