Reaching across continents : engaging students through virtual collaborations

Business schools have the responsibility of preparing students for work in multicultural organizations and global markets. This paper examines a situated learning experience for undergraduates through a virtual collaboration between a UK university and a Brazilian university. This facilitated remote communication using social media and smart devices, allowing students from both institutions to enhance their cross-cultural management competencies. A qualitative approach was used for the research, drawing on the reflections of the tutors from both institutions, and feedback received from students in the UK and Brazil. This paper provides empirical observations regarding the use of this innovative pedagogic approach, generating discussion of the implications for teaching, thus contributing to the literature on international collaborations in cross-cultural management education

The New Global Manager:. Learning Cultures on the Fly

Many years ago, a popular film making the rounds of the local movie theatres was If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Belgium. The film used humor to highlight the plight of a typical American tourist who was overcome by the cultural differences across the countries included in her whirlwind tour of Europe. The film's underlying message was that tourists – at least American tourists – seldom allow sufficient time in their travels to learn about cultural differences, preferring instead to race from one popular tourist site to another in search of good food, unique experiences, and photographs to show to their friends and family back home. The issue is one of having been there, not having learned anything. Today, despite a widespread recognition that we live and work in an increasingly interconnected global economy, it is curious that the dilemma posed in this old film is still salient for many contemporary managers and entrepreneurs alike. How serious are we about learning about other cultures? And if we are serious, how do we accomplish this in meaningful ways as part of our busy work schedules

Culture, cognition, and managerial leadership

Much of the research on global leadership focuses on specific traits that managers and leaders should possess. While the literature acknowledges the importance of cultural differences in influencing both leadership and followership, it largely ignores differences in cognitive processes that can influence how attitudes are developed and behaviours are manifested in local environments as they relate to leadership. With this in mind, this paper examines the role of culture and cognitive processes in leader behaviour, and works to explain why such differences exist across regions. The example of China is used to illustrate the validity of this approach. Implications for research, theory development, and management practice are discussed

Leadership in a global context: New directions in research and theory development

The goal of this special issue is to present a set of articles that, collectively, explores the interrelationships between national culture, leadership, and organizational behavior. Our hope is that these articles will summarize where the field currently stands, as well as suggest new directions for future research and theory development on this important topic. To achieve this, we include 14 articles from authors representing 13 countries. The methodologies used here include meta-analyses, case studies, and interview studies, although the majority represents conceptual model building based on critical analyses of existing theories and research. Management implications are discussed