Crossing Cultures: Insights from Master Teachers

Crossing Cultures provides a bold and refreshing new resource for teachers and trainers with proven methods for developing coping strategies and problem-solving skills in the cross-cultural arena. A comprehensive study structured to provide a framework for teaching; each chapter contains a teaching module, highlighting the potential difficulties, dialogues and variations in cross-cultural teaching. Ideal for those teaching Business across borders, this is a uniquely practical guide that features contributions from the leading lights of the field.

Table of Contents:
Section 1. Not the Beginning 1. Culture, Passion, and Play Section 2. Framing the Culture Concept: What is Culture / How can we Characterize it? 2. Are we the Same or are we Different? - A Social Psychological Perspective of Culture 3. What is Culture and Why Does it Matter? - Current Conceptualizations from Anthropology 4. One's Many Cultures: A multiple Cultures Perspective 5. Learning about Our and Other Selves: Multiple Identities and Their Sources Section 3. Culture Scanning and Sense-Making: How do we 'Learn' and Characterize Culture? 6. Context / Culture Interaction: Teaching Thick Descriptions of Culture 7. Cultural Scanning: An Integrated Cultural Frameworks Approach 8. Teaching Cultural Sensemaking 9. Examining Culture Change Through 'Fiddler on the Roof' Section 4. The Experience of Crossing Cultures 10. Using the Hero's Journey: A Framework for Making Sense of the Transformational Expatriate Experience 11. Apples and Oranges: An Experimental Exercise in Crossing Cultures 12. Building Transpatriate Skills: The Star Trek Case 13. Cultural Transitions: A Biophysical Model for Cultural Adaption, Section 5. Going Deeper: Developing a Global Mindset 14. Turning Frogs into Interculturalists: A Student Centered Developmental Approach to Teaching Intercultural Competence 15. Shaping the Global Mindset: Designing Educational Experiences for Effective Global Thinking and Action 16. Limitations of the Culture Perspective in Teaching International Management: The Case of Transitional Economies 17. Reflective Silence: Developing the Capacity for Meaningful Global Leadership Section 6. The Cultural Context of Work: Collaborative Relationships Today 18. Building Multinational Teams: Learning to Manage the Challenges of Homogeneity and Heterogeneity 19. Teaching Culture 'On the Fly' and 'Learning in Working' with Global Teams 20. Teaching Mindful Intercultural Conflict Management 21 Effective Cross-Cultural Leadership: Tips and Techniques for Developing Capacity Section 7. The Cultural Context of Work: Impacts on Functional Performance 22. Global Ethics 23. Negotiating Culture 24 Conceptualizing and Designing a Course in International Human Resource Management 25. Incorporating Culture in Joint Venture and Alliance Instruction: The Alliance Culture Exercise 26. Teaching Culture in the Capstone Strategy Course Section 8. Not the End 27. As We Go Forward

About the Author :
Nakiye Avdan Boyacigiller is Dean of the Graduate School of Management at Sabanci University, USA. She has 17 years experience of teaching at San Jose State University. Richard Alan Goodman is Assistant, Associate and Full Professor of Technology and Strategy at The Anderson School, UCLA, USA. He also chairs an affinity group of 54 faculty from 33 univertsities on cultural issues. Margaret E. Phillips is Associate Professor of International Business at the Graziadio School of Pepperdine University. She is both a teacher, a scholar and a consultant in international management.

Review :
"Synthesizing knowledge drawn from several disciplines, the authors share exemplary pedagogical techniques suited to audiences in all types of organizational settings. Although written from multiple perspectives and addressing a wide range of topics, the chapters flow naturally. As this volume was created in the spirit of sharing, we as readers become engaged in a conversation about how to best teach cross-cultural management and how to promote better understanding in intercultural encounters. While Crossing Cultures is a useful reference for educators and trainers and is directed toward international management education, anyone involved in the intercultural field will find it to be a valuable resource."--International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 30 (2006)