The Business Meeting: A Cross-cultural Experiential Learning Activity

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a simulation designed to help students learn about the challenges and necessary skills for conducting business in cross-cultural settings. The exercise involves assigning participants to two fictitious cultural groups, each with its own norms and expectations. Participants interact with members of the other culture in accordance with the instructions provided in order to negotiate successfully. This experiential learning activity allows students to reflect on their cross-cultural skills in a simulated business setting. An assessment of the exercise conducted in classroom setting indicated evidence of its effectiveness.

KEYWORDS:

• Cross-culture
• negotiation
• groups
• experiential learning
• simulation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. We conducted confirmatory factor analysis and paired t-tests. Details of these results may be furnished upon request.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arpita Joardar

Arpita Joardar is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Charlton College of Business, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. She received her PhD from University of South Carolina. Her research primarily focuses on foreignness effects, group acceptance and international entrepreneurship in cross-cultural contexts. Her research has appeared in publications such as Journal of International Management, International Business Review, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, Organization Management Journal, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences etc. She can be reached at [email protected].

Konrad Jamro

Konrad Jamro is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Charlton College of Business, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He received his PhD from University of California Irvine. His research primarily focuses on manager-subordinate relationships in cross-cultural contexts, and income inequality and its outcomes for organizations and societies. He has several publications for academic audience and business professionals. He worked 10+ years as an engineer, consultant and researcher. He can be reached at [email protected].

Ram Ravi

Ram Ravi graduated with Master of Business Administration from the Charlton College of Business, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He received his Bachelor of Management Studies from University of Mumbai. He can be reached at [email protected]