Master students from PWOE simulate work in multicultural teams and develop strategies for dealing with diversity in teams and organizations
Explicit and implicit rules are an expression of every culture. Whether it is the culture of an ethnic group or a corporate or departmental culture – rules govern coexistence. The handling of foreign rules was the focus of the guest lecture by Julia Johannsen (expert in the field of intercultural management from Germany).
The students of the first semester of the Master’s degree program in Organizational & Human Resources Development did a so-called CultuRallye together with Julia Johannsen: It starts very easy. At each table, the players begin to play with specially designed dice. They got to know the rules. The rules at each table, however, are different from those of the table from which they come. Without speaking, the students now had to deal with the foreign situation and either learn new rules or “import” their own. In any case, without words! This gently dosed culture shock seemed like an eye-opener. It was experienced how we feel as strangers in a new environment and what we need to orientate ourselves.
If you are interested in an exchange on Intercultural Management, please contact us:
Contact:
Dr. Barbara Covarrubias Venegas
Researcher Department of Management
barbara.covarrubias@fh-wien.ac.at