International Management

Course: International Management
Course number: DE4554
ECTS credits: 6
Prerequisites: None

Description

This course will cover relevant aspects of management in an intercultural context, treating topics normally covered in any management class while including international complications. Special attention will be paid to the impact of culture on planning, organizing, staffing, and communicating. Students should acquire basic skills to help them deal with people from different cultural backgrounds (clients, customers, suppliers, subordinates, bosses) and will learn through a limited number of cases, and real-world examples.

Learning objectives

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

- Understand what culture is and how it is learned.
- Understand how to minimize ethnocentricity.
- Analyze various customs and distinguish between learned and natural behaviours.
- Recognize the pitfalls of intercultural communication.
- Know the difference between high-context and low-context cultures.
- View their own cultures more clearly.
- Debate the pros and cons of cultural relativity.
- Contrast different points of departure for ethical decisions.

Educational activities will be developed by means of different didactic strategies:

- Theory and Practice
- Collective and individual tutoring
- In-class presentations
- Daily assignments
- Group assignments
- Assessments

Contact Hours: 45

Methodology

The course syllabus follows Communicative Approach methods, based on the core principles of procedure conception and constructive acquisition of knowledge. The methodology is based on teaching-learning procedures that are focused on the learner, which encourages active participation and results in the development of general and specific competencies that provide knowledge, capacities and attitudes for their future professional careers.

Form of Assessment

The form of assessment is based on the core principles of the educational assessment, i.e., an active and participative teaching-learning process focused on the learner. The instructor uses numerous and differentiated forms of assessment to calculate the final grade received for this course. For the record, these are listed below. The content, criteria and specific requirements for each assessment category will be explained in greater detail in class.

The final grade consists of three parts: class participation, daily work and exams
- 33% Active in-class participation
- 33% daily work
- 34% exams

Grading Scale goes from 0 to 10.

Numerical Grade Range
Letter grade Percentage
Range
10 A+ 100%
9.5 ? 9.9 A 95 -99%
9 ? 9.4 A- 90-94%
8.5 ? 8.9 B+ 85-89%
7.5- 8.4 B 75-84%
7 ? 7.4 B- 70-74%
6.5 ? 6.9 C+ 65-69%
6 ? 6.4 C 60-64%
5 ? 5.9 C- 5-59%
0-4.9 F 0-49%

The final grade will be the average of active in-class participation, daily work and exams.

Attendance Policy

Attendance is compulsory. In order to excuse any absence, students have to deliver a doctor's note or other valid justification to the Academic Co-ordinator.

An absence is equivalent to a session. Two late arrivals of more than 15 minutes will be considered an absence.
Any unjustified absence will negatively affect the students? final grade by lowering his/her participation grade.

The participation grade will be lowered as follows:

NÚMBER OF ABSENCES PARTICIPATION
3 unjustified absences - 30%
4 unjustified absences - 40%
5 unjustified absences - 50%

If a student has more than 5 unjustified absences, the PARTICIPATION GRADE will be zero (0).
Any student with 7 or more absences will NOT pass the course. Those students whose absences have been properly justified will get No Presentado (N.P).

There are not excused or justified absences. E.g.: Not to attend a class because of sickness will count as an absence.
Note: Students are responsible for signing on the attendance sheet as this is the only evidence that they have attended to class.

Excused absences still require the fulfillment of all work, including papers, essays, and exams.

 

Active Participation

The methodology used in class requires students? daily participation in following:

- Debates about different topics;
- Questions posed in class;
- Opinions and comments;
- Documents and texts.

Criteria to Evaluate Participation Grade
The student very often contributes with important and original comments that encourage debate, using critical and analytical arguments clearly based on reading, investigation, daily work, and class work.

8.5 -10

The student very often contributes with important and original comments that encourage debate, using critical and analytical arguments clearly based on reading, investigation, daily work, and class work

.7- 8.4
The student frequently participates voluntarily and makes valuable contributions that are generally based on reflection and daily work.

5- 6.9
The student makes occasional comments, usually only when asked, and shows no clear interest in the course. The student does not start debates nor shows a clear understanding of the importance of class/homework and readings.

0- 4.9
The student makes no comments at all, or makes irrelevant or distracting ones during class. This usually results from frequent absences or a lack of preparation for class.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Basic Bibliography:
Luthans, Fred & Doh, Jonathan P. (2012) International Management: Culture, Strategy, and Behavior. Eighth Edition. McGraw-Hill.

Additional Bibliography:
Ariely, Dan (2008) Predictably Irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions. New York: HarperCollins.
Ball, D. et al. (2009) International Business: The challenge of global competition. McGraw Hill: Boston.
Bonache, J. & Cabrera, A. (2002) Dirección estratégica de personas: evidencias y perspectivas para el siglo XXI. Prentice Hall: Madrid.
Dowling, Peter et al. (2007) International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context. London: Thomson Learning.
Friedman, Milton. (1970) “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase its Profits. The New York Times Magazine, pp. 33, 122-124.
Gilbert, Daniel. (2006) Stumbling on Happiness. London: Harper Perennial.
Gladwell, Malcolm. (2008) Outliers: The story of success. London: Penguin Books.
Hall, E. T. (1990) The Silent Language. New York: Random House.
Harford, Tim (2009) The Logic of Life: A rational economics of an irrational world. London: Random House.
Kahneman, Daniel. (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Penguin Books.
Kristof, N. & WuDunn, S. (2009) Half the Sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. New York: Random House.
Krugman, Paul (1997) Pop Internationalism. Boston: The MIT Press.
Lakoff, G. (1987) Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things: What categories reveal about the mind. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Landsburg, Steven E. (2007) More Sex Is Safer Sex: The unconventional wisdom of economics. New York: Free Press.
Lewis, Richard D. (2006) When Cultures Collide: Leading across cultures. Boston: Nicholas Brealey.
Morrison, Terri & Conaway, Wayne. (2006) Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: The bestselling guide to doing business in more than 60 countries. Avon, MA: Adams Media.
Patel, Raj. (2009) The Value of Nothing. London: Portobello Books.
Sandel, Michael. (2009) Justice: What’s the right thing to do? New York: Farrar, Strauss, & Giroux.
Sen, Amartya. (2009) The Idea of Justice. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Thomas, David C. (2008) Cross-cultural Management: Essential concepts. Los Angeles: Sage.

Online Reference & Research Tools:

http://geert-hofstede.com/
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/spain-country-profile.html
http://guide.culturecrossing.net/

Further readings may be provided by the teacher.

UNITS
1. Introduction to the Course
2. The Meanings and Dimensions of Culture
3. Managing across cultures
4. Ethics and Social Responsibility
5. Organizational Cultures and Diversity
6. Cross-Cultural Communication and Negotiation
7. Strategy Formulation and Implementation
8. Entry Strategies and Organizational Structures
9. International Organizational Structures
10. Managing Political Risk, Government Relations, and Alliances
11. Effective International Human Resource Management
12. Leadership Across Cultures
13. Management Decision and Control

14. Motivation Across Cultures

15. Human Resource Selection and Development Across Cultures