The purpose of this module is provide students with an understanding of the issues entailed in managing in diverse national cultural and institutional environments. Research on culture in organisations responds to a business environment which is characterised by globalization, increasing numbers of multinational companies, international negotiations and business activities.

The module borrows ideas from a range of disciplines such as anthropology, cultural studies and psychology to explore and evaluate the role culture plays in organisations. We will cover ideas that understand culture as something that lies inside people and influences everything we do. This means looking at different countries as containers of culture and searching for explanations of the British, French, Chinese or Brazilian etc. ways of managing. We will then move on to look at culture as something that is dynamic and is created through interactions. This allows us an understanding of how different people interact and perform in a multicultural organisation. The course therefore moves from managing cultural difference to benefiting from cultural diversity as a competitive advantage.

A. Knowledge and Understanding:

A1 Demonstrate a systematic understanding of different models of culture, their impact on management and organizations in an era of globalization as well as their limitations.

A2 Show a comprehensive understanding of the different ways in which culture is revealed, e.g. through language, symbols, practices, embodied gestures, institutions.

B. Intellectual Skills: Analysis/Synthesis/Evaluation

Intended Outcomes: Upon completion of the programme a typical student will be able to:

• B1 Critically evaluate the influence of culturally specific values, meanings, expectations and behaviour on organizations and management.

C. Discipline Specific skills

• C1 Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of relevant strategies for managing cultural diversity in cross national contexts.

D. Transferable Skills:

• D1 Continue developing mastery of the essay form, including layout, presentation, structure, expression and argument
• D2 Demonstrate independent learning through accessing and utilising information in a variety of research resources both traditional (e.g. library) and IT (e.g. the internet)
• D3 Students will work in groups during tutorials which will enhance team working skills.

Tutorials will also prepare students for working and studying in a culturally diverse context.

There will be 44 contact hours comprising 36 hours of lectures and 8 hours of tutorials.

Indicative study hours:  200hrs

The concept of culture; models of national culture (Hofstede, Trompenaars); the impact of culture and institutions on organizations, management and work; how culture works – ritual, symbols, language and bodywork; multinationals and cultural/institutional differences; culture and power in multinational organisations, cultural studies of management

Schneider, S.C. and Barsoux, J.L 2014. Managing across cultures. 3^rd ed. Harlow: Pearson Education.
Available at Aberconway library and online at: http://bit.ly/28P276U

Steers, C. et al. 2016. Management across cultures: developing global competencies. 3^rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Available at Aberconway library.

Thomas, C. 2017. Cross cultural management: essential concepts. 4^th ed. Los Angeles: Sage.
Available at Aberconway library. 

Adler, N. 2007. International dimensions of organizational behaviour. 5^th ed. Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.

Ailon, G. 2008. Mirror, mirror on the wall: culture's consequences in a value test of its own design. The Academy of Management Review 33(4), pp. 885-904.
Available at: http://bit.ly/2vxewDv

Barinaga, E. 2007. Cultural diversity at work: 'National culture' as a discourse organizing an international project group. Human Relations 60(2), pp. 315-340.
Available at: http://bit.ly/1VoWj0L

Collinson, S. and Morgan, G., eds. 2009. Images of the multinational firm. Chichester: Wiley.
Available at Aberconway library.

Geertz, C. 1993. The interpretation of culture: selected essays. London: Fontana Press.
Available at ASSL library. 

Hofstede, G. 1984. Culture’s consequences: international differences in work-related values. Abridged ed. London: Sage Publications.
Available at Aberconway library. 

Said, E. 2003. Orientalism. London: Penguin.
Available at Bute Library

Trompenaars, F. and Hampden-Turner, C. 1998. Riding the waves of culture: understanding cultural diversity in business. 2nd ed. London: N. Brealey Pub.
Available at Aberconway library.