Cross-cultural

BBA211 CROSS CULTURAL BUSINESS ISSUES Task brief & rubrics MIDTERM EXAM - A

Task

As a future leader, being sensitive to cross cultural business issues will be a growing demand in your career. As you are an international student,

and you speak well languages, you will be expected to succeed in your career in a big extent by mastering your cross-cultural experiences and

knowledge.

For this reason, you will need to develop a detailed explanation to each of the five different assignments listed in the last page, after the rubrics

table, so to prove you can apply your cross-cultural knowledge correctly.

Formalities:

• This is an individual paper

• Format: MS Word document

• Word count: 2000 words

• Cover, Table of Contents, References and Appendix are excluded from the total word count.

• Font: Arial 12,5 pts.

• Text alignment: Double Justified.

• The in-text References and the Bibliography must be in the Harvard citation style.

• Please take into consideration the “Tips top produce a great report” commented in class.

Submission: Via Moodle (Turnitin). Deadline Sunday 31 October 2021 at 23:59 CEST

Weighting: 40% of the course grade

Learning Outcomes: It assesses the following learning outcomes: • analyse the effects of different cultures in international business;

• identify and evaluate the attitudes which are necessary to work effectively in multi-cultural settings;

• compare the theories and practices of various cultures;

Rubrics

Exceptional 90-100 Good 80-89 Fair 70-79 Marginal fail 60-69

Knowledge & Understanding

(20%)

Student demonstrates excellent understanding of key concepts and uses vocabulary in an entirely appropriate manner.

Student demonstrates good understanding of the task and mentions some relevant concepts and demonstrates use of the relevant vocabulary.

Student understands the task and provides minimum theory and/or some use of vocabulary.

Student understands the task and attempts to answer the question but does not mention key concepts or uses minimum amount of relevant vocabulary.

Application (30%) Student applies fully relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class.

Student applies mostly relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class.

Student applies some relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. Misunderstanding may be evident.

Student applies little relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. Misunderstands are evident.

Critical Thinking (30%)

Student critically assesses in excellent ways, drawing outstanding conclusions from relevant authors.

Student critically assesses in good ways, drawing conclusions from relevant authors and references.

Student provides some insights but stays on the surface of the topic. References may not be relevant.

Student makes little or none critical thinking insights, does not quote appropriate authors, and does not provide valid sources.

Communication (20%)

Student communicates their ideas extremely clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spell check

Student communicates their ideas clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spell check

Student communicates their ideas with some clarity and concision. It may be slightly over or under the word count limit. Some misspelling errors may be evident.

Student communicates their ideas in a somewhat unclear and unconcise way. Does not reach or does exceed word count excessively and misspelling errors are evident.

Assignments

Assignment 1: 20%

Pick any two countries. For example, if you wish your country and Spain. Compare and contrast these two countries based on Hofstede’s 6 cultural dimensions. Provide and explain 4 examples on how different situations may de similar or different in each country.

Assignment 2: 20%

List and thoroughly explain what are the six most important sources of miscommunication in cross-cultural exchanges. Recount a time when you experienced a situation of miscommunication between cultures. Explain its implications for you.

Assignment 3: 20%

What might be the causes of misunderstanding/conflict in each of the following situation? Good argumentation is required.

Petra Ben Achouba, the daughter of a mixed couple (his father was a Muslim US citizen married to a mid-west Christian mother), had been assigned to the Saudi

Arabian office of her company in Riad. As an MBA graduate with a major in International Business, she was thrilled to be finally in her new position and looking

forward to cause a great impression to the country CEO. Upon arriving at the new office Petra was looking forward to meeting all her new colleagues and getting

to know them. While waiting for the meeting to begin she decided to initiate some conversation with another member of staff that was present, Mr Ahmed

Joubairy. She introduced herself as Mrs. Ben Achouba and went on to state how happy she was to see that finally women in the country could drive their cars. Mr.

Joubairy seemed distant and unapproachable. Why might this have happened?

Assignment 4: 20%

What might be the causes of misunderstanding/conflict in each of the following situation? Good argumentation is required.

Thomas Gaul had worked hard to become one of the youngest partners of one of the leading consulting firms in the US. When the company received an invitation

from a Mexican firm to make a company presentation for them, Thomas was chosen to go to Mexico DF in order to try to impress and win the client, a big Mexican

hotel chain. Thomas had set up an appointment to make his presentation the afternoon he arrived. Upon arrival he was met by the host firm who told him the

presentation was postponed for two days in order to give Thomas a chance to rest and see the Mexico DF most interesting touristic sites and the three hotels that

the chain owned in the city. Thomas insisted he was fit and ready for the presentation and pressed to have it that afternoon. Eventually it was put back to the

original slot but Thomas noticed that none of the executives at the meeting seemed to be much interested and some of them were in fact missing. At the end of

the meeting one of the executives of the hotel chain suggested they all meet again in two days, so all the executives could assist. Why might Thomas have got this

reaction?

Assignment 5: 20%

What might be the causes of misunderstanding/conflict in each of the following situation? Good argumentation is required.

A U.S. skiing equipment manufacturer decided to explore the possibility of entering the Russian market and capitalize the opportunity to be present in Sochi’s

Winter Olympic Games. They have arranged a meeting with a major Moscow-based sports distributor in order to discuss a joint venture. Three representatives

of each firm meet up in Moscow. Following the initial introductions, the men sat down at opposite sides of the table. After the initial presentations, the US

representatives wanted to create a “nice and friendly” atmosphere and started to smile, make some funny jokes and to take off their jackets and roll up their

sleeves as a sign of 'let’s get down to real business' as time was a real challenge. The meeting was totally unsuccessful, and the joint venture never took place.

What cultural mistakes may the Americans have made? Explain carefully and in detail.