Essay Topics in Cross Cultural Management

The assessment for this module is 100% course work, in the form of a essay (excluding references and appendices). This is to be completed by each student individually, i.e. not in groups. The purpose of the essay is to interpret and explain information from academic literature and to assess its usefulness in cross cultural management.

One of the topics below must be selected for the essay:

1.Review the academic literature on national culture and consider how it can be used by multi-national corporations (MNCs) to devise its strategy.

2.Review the academic literature on cross cultural management and consider how it can be used for planning negotiations for a new international joint venture with a domestic partner which is culturally distinct from the home base of the MNC.

3.Review the academic literature on devising a code of practice for ethical behaviour and consider how it can be used for the operations of an MNC that conducts its activities in the USA, Western Europe and China.

The assignments will be evaluated on the basis of the criteria outlined below.

• The essay is to be based on a critical review of the literature. The following concepts for each topic should be considered (although not all need necessarily to be reviewed in the essay):

Topic 1 – cross cultural management, strategy, institution & culture, at least one cultural framework (e.g. Hofstede’s cultural framework, Trompenaars’ model, Hall & Hall, Schein’s culture model)

Topic 2 – cross cultural management, joint ventures, communication, institution & culture, negotiations, at least one cultural framework (as per topic 1)

Topic 3 – cross cultural management, business ethics, institution & culture, code of practice, (code of conduct), at least one cultural framework (as per topic 1)

• All concepts and terms used in the work should be clearly and correctly defined.
• Reasons and arguments should be provided to support the conclusion drawn. Where applicable, appropriate empirical evidence should be presented.
• 3 to 5 examples should be provided from academic and practitioner sources.
• Links between key factors from the literature and the arguments of the essay must be critically evaluated to ensure that they are relevant, robust and valid in the context being used.

The Essay Structure:

1.Introduction: The introduction should set a clear direction and describe the structure of the essay.

2.Main text: This section should provide the analysis of the essay and provide the following:

• A clear description of the focus of the essay
• An in-depth discussion of the key issues related to the topics
• Cogent arguments on how the key points from the literature can be used, supported by examples and empirical evidence
• A clear logical flow