The objective of the seminar is to increase students' awareness of cultural issues so that they can deepen their understanding of cultures with which they will be dealing. Interpretation of behaviours and negotiating cross-cultural strategy is key to moving beyond the perception that cultural differences are a problem. Sensitivity to culture creates opportunities for synergies and enrichment in management teams: culture should be seen as an asset not a liability.

Using the A-M-A framework (awareness, models, action skills) we show the importance of moving from denial to awareness as necessary steps in building skills in cross-cultural communication. With heightened awareness managers and others involved can develop culture general models to organize their approach and deepen their understanding: with a value dimension approach enriched by local knowledge of cultures on multiple levels we gain a multi-dimensional view of the values and meanings that people bring to inter-cultural dealings. Add to this experiential learning about our own reactions, feelings and perceptions and we can achieve triangulation enabling us to reduce anxiety and increase cross-cultural communicative competence.

The seminar is illustrated by numerous scenarios, cases and reports of critical incidents as well as leveraging the experience of participants. The 25 hour seminar is highly inter-active.

Language: English
Dates: 20th to 24th July 2009
Time: Monday to Friday, 9.00 am to 2.30 pm
Registration fee: 1,000 euros