Educating the Global Manager

Abstract

The culturally diverse classroom would seem to be the ideal resource that educators can tap to develop their students' cross-cultural competence and bridge different cultures. However, evidence from the education literature suggests that students typically do not benefit from classroom diversity and that, in general, there is a lack of cross-cultural interactions between different cultural groups on campus. In this paper, we provide an integrated framework for developing students' crosscultural competence by drawing on the cultural diversity in the classroom. The framework incorporates established and frequently used strategies for developing cross-cultural competence, as well as additional strategies that we have devised (such as diversity audits, self-awareness and 'other'awareness tools, student-generated cases and virtual linkages). We explain how this approach uses cultural diversity inherent in the classroom as a basis for students' awareness and understanding of cultural differences, knowledge of other cultures and the application of skills. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-HAWORTH.

From Classroom to Boardroom and Ward

“…While many Business departments may have grappled with what it means to internationalize business education, a lack of consensus remains about how to “link the global classroom to the global workplace” (Ramburuth & Welch, 2005). Barker, Hibbins, and Woods’ (2012) study of Business students (majoring in Tourism and Hospitality management) identified that effective communication training needs to be tailored more closely to professional contexts requiring teamwork, especially with people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds.…”

“…The conundrum articulated by Ramburuth and Welch (2005) among other scholars in IoC is the lack of clear consensus on how to “link the global classroom to the global workplace” (p. 6). Practitioners, disciplinary scholars, and educators wrestle this conundrum in their efforts to determine how to embed global perspectives in the curriculum as well as how best to prepare and support students to be interculturally skilled in their group work assignments in class (Woods, Barker, & Hibbins, 2011) and their industry internships in multicultural settings (Dunne, 2011).…”

The Influence of Overseas Study Experience on Teachers’ Beliefs in Chinese Colleges and Universities

“…In previous studies, most scholars have focused on the impact of overseas study experiences on teachers' professional development or a particular aspect of professional development (Gong, 2018;Martin & Nakayama 2010;Ramburuth & Welch, 2005;Wang, 2014;Yan, 2022;Zhong, 2007). Richard (1998) argues that it is not only in teachers' professional development that teachers master some teaching skills, but also the enhancement of teachers' beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and Xu (2020) thinks that teachers' beliefs play a key role in the process of teachers' professional development.…”

Teaching Management of Cultural Differences

“…Nevertheless, in such settings, mixed results have been seen in the education literature. Ramburuth and Welch (2005), in their study "Educating the Global Manager", focus on the development of students' cultural competence and provides useful insights on how to incorporate elements of cross-cultural competence in the context of teaching IB. Furthermore, Koh (2004), in his study "Teaching Understanding Cultural Differences for Business in an Internet-Based Economy", provides a detailed session-by-session guide as well as other resources on the pedagogy to popularize the learning of the origins of national culture and how culture impacts on business management practices as well as the business management system.…”