Managing Diversity in a Global Economy

Syllabus –September 8, 2011 - December 15, 2011

Course #: ______ Thursday 6:20 – 8:50 PM Room: ________

Instructor: Deborah Brown

Telephone 646-456-4883

Email: db114@nyu.edu

There are truths on this side of the Pyrenees which are falsehoods on the other.

~ Blaise Pascal

Intense global competition in just the past decade has created a demand for managers and leaders sophisticated and adept in working with culturally diverse teams both domestically as well as globally. But until recently U.S. managers have been very parochial in their view. The body of research and business literature bears out that we have and, to a disturbing degree, continue to labor under the dangerous misapprehension that what is true for Americans working in the United States is universal. Stop to consider, for example, that of more than 11,000 articles published in 24 management journals, approximately 80 percent reported on studies focused on U.S. companies conducted by American researchers.

But hard-won lessons have proven that the U.S. can hardly claim a "gold standard" of management, Only through a willingness to break down conceptual and theoretical biases do we become truly adept at cross-cultural management. Global economic activity is unprecedented and the pace of global competition will only accelerate. Any notion of success transcends national boundaries. When you consider that 70 percent of cross border ventures fail within the first three years, your realize, that the critically important question is no longer whether organizational dynamics are universal or culturally specific, but rather when and how to be sensitive to culture.

Your success as a leader, manager, or team member in today’s global or domestic-multicultural environment will largely hinge on your ability to recognize what differences are operating and learn to harness the potential advantages of diverse ways of understanding and solving business challenges. We will have to manage and think differently—to test and expand on the limits of our knowledge.

This class will explore the various ways to perceive, describe, interpret and evaluate cultural differences as a springboard to understanding how to leverage the diversity of cultural background among employees for competitive advantage.

This class is designed to provide you with an in depth understanding of organizational behavioral issues from both a global and domestic perspective. You will:

Understand your own cultural influences and propensities/presuppositions

Develop insight into how the behavior of people in organizations around the world.

Understand the systematic, predictable patterns of organization behavior across cultures.

Describe and compare organizational behavior within countries and cultures; to better understand and improve the interaction of co-workers, team members and leaders.

Leverage cultural diversity through an integrated approach to managing diversity.

Understand the intersect of gender and culture in organizations.

Students are expected to attend class, complete assigned readings prior to class and participate in class discussions. Homework assignments are to be submitted on their scheduled due dates. Late assignments will not be accepted unless previously discussed and approved. Failure to attend class or satisfactorily participate in class discussions will result in a lower corresponding grade. Exceptions will be made for health and religious reasons.

Midterm = 30 % of grade

Final = 40 % of grade

Reaction papers = 15%

Quality of Participation 15%

TEACHING METHODS

The course will rely heavily on experiential problem solving to unpack strategies to overcome our natural parochial tendencies and/or the ethnocentric default option. Through case studies, reflection and integration exercises, students will learn to see, understand and transcend their cultural conditioning and why it is crucial that they reject the domination of one reality over another.

Student's written work is evaluated for effectiveness, as well as content. The writing must express ideas clearly, logically, and maturely, using Standard English sentence structure, grammar, and spelling. Students must acknowledge all sources of information by following a standard citation format.

The use of cell phones, texting and Blackberries during class will not be permitted.

Details of assigned homework will be posted on Blackboard as will the bibliography of readings. The schedule detailed below is intended as a guideline and will remain flexible.

Week Date Subject/In-class activity Readings/Deliverable Due Dates

1 9/8 Communication tools for understanding culture Reading: Communication Tools, by LeBaron

2 9/15 The vital role of cultural fluency Reading: Cultural Fluency, by Inoues

Reaction paper due

3 9/22 Through a looking glass – Our own cultural underpinnings

Reading: Working with Americans by Stewart-Allen & Denslow. Part 1 & 2

Personal Reflections Paper

4 9/29 Through a looking glass – How we do business Reading: Working with Americans by Stewart-Allen & Denslow. Part 3 & 4

Discussion Questions

5 10/6 Behavior of people in organizations around the world.

Understand the systematic, predictable patterns of organization behavior across cultures

Application exercise and video

Reading: Global Smarts by Hodge

Chapters 1 – 4

Application exercise from U.S. media

6 10/13 The impact of culture on organizations Reading: Power distance, individualism and job related attitudes in a culturally diverse work group by Boechner

7 10/20 In class mid-term exam

8 10/27 Leveraging cultural diversity in organizations Reading: Making Difference Matter by Thomas

The Loudest Duck by Liswood

Create your own case study

9 11/3 Managing in a multi-cultural work environment Reading Cultural Intelligence by P. Christopher Earley, Elaine Mosakowski

Global Leadership Success

Through Emotional and

Cultural Intelligences

by Ilan Alon, Alon Ilan, James M. Higgins 12 pages.

Quiz

10 11/10 The intersect of culture and gender in organizations

Reading: Global Smarts by Hodge. Chapter 13

Organizational Influences on Women’s Career Opportunities by Harris

Women Matter by McKinsey and Company

Integration Exercise

11 11/17 Women’s Progress into the World of Expatriates Breaking Barriers by Altman and Shortland

Discussion Questions

12 11/24 Thanksgiving Day – No Class

13 12/1 In class final exam (written half)

14 12/8 Final exam (verbal presentation)

15 12/15 Exam review

Readings:

Alon, Ilan and Higgins, J. (2005) Global leadership success through emotional andcultural intelligences. Business Horizons, Volume 48, Issue 6, November-December 2005, Pages 501-512.

Bochner, S., and Hesketh, B. (1994). Power distance, individualism and job related attitudes in a culturally diverse work group. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 25 (2), 42-57.

Earley P. C. and Mosakowski, E. Cultural Intelligence. Retrieved August 2010, from http://home.sandiego.edu/~pavett/docs/msgl_503/CulturalIntelligence-HBR.pdf

Hodge, Sheida (2000) Global Smarts: The Art of Communicating and Deal Making Anywhere in the World. New York, Wiley.

Inoue. Y. (2007) Cultural Fluency as a Guide to Effective Intercultural Communication: The Case of Japan and the U.S. Retrieved, August 2006 from http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr15/inoue.htm

LeBaron, M. "Cross-Cultural Tools for Understanding Cultural Differences. Communication." Retrieved, July, 2010, from http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/communication_tools/

Liswood, L. A. The Loudest Duck: Moving Beyond Diversity while Embracing Differences to Achieve Success at Work. Wiley New York.

McKinsey and Company. “Women Matter-Gender Diversity, a Corporate Performance Driver.” Retrieved July 2010 from http://www.mckinsey.com/locations/swiss/news_publications/pdf/women_matter_english.pdf

Ohbuchi, K., and Takahashi, Y. (1994). Cultural styles of conflict management in Japanese and Americans: Passivity, covertness and effectiveness of strategies. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 24 (1), 1345-1366.

Page, Scott. (2011). The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools and Socieities. Princeton University Press.

Stewart-Allen, A. and Denslow, L. (2002) Working With Americans: How to Build Profitable Business Relationships Financial Times Management.

Thomas, D. and Ely, R. (1996) Making Difference Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity Harvard Business Review, Vol. 74, Issue 5.

Yochanan, A. and Shortland, S. (2008) Women and international assignments: Taking stock—a 25-year review. Special Issue: Part One: Breaking Barriers for Purposes of Inclusiveness. Volume 47, Issue 2, pages 199–216.