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Canyon College

COURSE SYLLABUS: Cultural Awareness in Business

Course Title: Department: Instructor:

Cultural Awareness in Business Business Susan M. Quade, MBA-IM E-Mail Vita

Textbook: Online Bookstore

Harris, Phillip R. and Moran, Robert T., Managing Cultural Differences: Leadership Strategies for A New World of Business, Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, Texas 77252; 5th ed. 2000. ISBN #: 0877193452

Instructors Background:

A Bachelor's of Applied Science in Industrial Technology from the University of Michigan; A Master's of Business Administration in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management (commonly known as--Thunderbird) in Glendale, AZ in 1987. While there I have had classes in Cultural Aspects of Business including International Political Economy, Diplomacy, Negotiation and Bargaining, Doing Business in Mexico and the Andrean Countries. In addition, I have taken classes in: Japanese and Chinese Culture and History, International Marketing, International Law, Countertrade, and International Trade Administration. The instructor has worked over 20 years for four multinational corporations. She has worked in International Sales, International Marketing, International Operations and International Project Management. She has taught in an MBA-Global Management programs were she specializes in Global Marketing, Global Operations and International Project Management. She has worked in Mexico and China. In addition, she has visited and studied Mexico's, Japan's, and China's business environments. Her regions of interest are Latin American especially Mexico and Asia especially Japan and China. Her second language is Spanish.

Course Purpose:

The purpose of this course is to explore the cultural diversity in business and at work today. While the book is and has been written for over the last 20 years for the global leader it also applies to anyone who works in a culturally diverse workplace. Even if that work place is for a US Employer, on US land, with a workforce of US citizens. Today, it is very likely that company has more than one language spoken on it property, not including the company’s and the industry’s jargon. The workforce will be more heterogeneous than homogenous.

“The source of greatest cross-cultural difference in organizations throughout the world is in the concept of management." pg 107 Harris, et al.

Management is 75% communication; this is difficult enough when all the employees come from similar cultures, backgrounds, and use the same language. This includes subculture of different career tracks and professional jargon. If we take this environment and include a culturally diverse workforce, it increases the complexity of communication exponentially.

This class’s goal is to provide the student with a framework to understand the cultural diversity so they will be effective with all groups and subgroups within a modern work place.

Course Scope:

This course encompasses the entire spectrum of basic cultural theory, the cultural impacts on business and six groups of the most major cultures today. Topics covered will include: Doing Business with North Americans, Latin Americans, Asians, Europeans, Africans, and Middle Easterners. Please note, that originally we were not going to cover Africa or the Middle Eastern Cultures very extensively, because their impact on global business is usually minimal. After the events of September 11, 2001 it has changed everyone’s perspective and now we will spend more time on these cultures.

This is not an easy course; there are 15 Chapters, 440 pages and 4 exams to be covered in 8 weeks. This includes many new, complex concepts and understanding of cultures and people totally different from your life and your experiences.

ASSIGNMENTS:

Week

Chapters & pages

Topic

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Chapters 1 - 3, pages 2-82 Chapters 4 - 5, pages 83-135 Chapters 6 & 7, pages 138-177 Chapters 8 - 9, pages 180-216 Chapters 10 - 11, & 14, pages 220-275 & 383-409 Chapter 15, pages 410-439 Chapters 12-13, pages 277-382

Culture, Communications, and Negotiation Cultural Change and Cultural Synergy EXAM 1 (Chapters 1-5, 250 points/50 Multiple Choice Questions) Transitions & Relocations, Work Force Diversity Women in Global Business and Effective Performance EXAM 2 (Chapters 6-9, 250 points/50 Multiple Choice Questions) Doing Business with North and Latin Americans and Middle Easterners. EXAM 3 (Chapters 10, 11 & 14, 250 points/50 Multiple Choice Questions) Doing Business with Africans Doing Business with Asians and Europeans EXAM 4 (Chapters 12, 13 & 15, 250 points/50 Multiple Choice Questions)

Class Grading Criteria (of 1000 points):

A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D

= = = = = = = = =

93 -100% 90 - 92% 88 - 89% 83 - 87% 80 - 82% 78 - 79% 73 - 77% 70 - 72% Below 70%

930 - 1000 points 900 - 929 points 880 - 899 points 830 - 879 points 800 - 829 points 780 - 799 points 730 - 779 points 700 - 729 points 699 or less points

Administrative Notes:

E-mails must be submitted weekly on course progress to remain active in the course, even if no progress was made. If a student has not contacted the instructor in two weeks, the instructor reserves the right to inactivate the student. The student will then have to petition the college and the instructor to be reactivated. The petition must include a detailed plan for completing course work. All e-mails should include the course number and week number in the subject line.

The instructor requires a minimum of two days notice to request access to take an exam.

The Exams are timed; the instructor reserves the right to deduct points from the final score if the student significantly goes over the time limit.

"Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence." - Abigail Adams