Professional skills and expertise
In this module, students will develop their self-management and leadership competencies, improve their people management, teamwork, and decision-making skills, and explore how to effectively communicate and collaborate in an intercultural team environment.
On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:

• discuss the role and responsibilities of a manager in an international business context
  
• explain how managers can effectively manage themselves
  
• develop strategies for developing other people, positively influencing their performance, and dealing with conflict situations
  
• discuss how managers can build and lead high-performance teams
  
• apply decision-making tools for preparing and making rational decisions
  
• identify the specific challenges of leading culturally diverse teams and virtual global teams
  
• develop awareness for the role of cultural differences in a management and leadership context
  
• describe models and examples of intercultural (in)competence
  

• identify personal goals, strengths, values, and priorities
  
• apply strategies for coping with setbacks (resilience)
  
• enhance teamwork skills (including working in virtual teams)
  
• develop awareness of one's own and other cultures
  
• critically analyze cultural differences in communication style, problem-solving, and non-verbal communication
  

• describe the role of data analytics and artificial intelligence for supporting managerial decision-making processes
  
• explain which digital tools can be used for effective teamwork in global (virtual) teams
  

None

This module covers the following topics:
I. Personal effectiveness in a managerial role
• The managerial role and responsibility
• Managing and developing yourself
II. Interpersonal effectiveness
• Leading and developing others (including fundamentals of leadership)
• Effective teamwork
• Leading global virtual teams (including the use of digital technologies in global virtual teams)
III. Organizational effectiveness
• Effective decision making (including the use of digital technologies for supporting decision making)
• Results-oriented management (including non-financial results)
IV. Effective intercultural communication
• Basic concepts and models of intercultural communication
• Critical analysis of cultural differences in communication style, problem-solving, and non-verbal communication
• Conflict management in an intercultural context
• Experiential exercises and groupwork enabling students to test and improve their own communication skills and apply the knowledge they have gained
V. International management practice
• Current issues in international management practice
• Approaches of practicing managers to dealing with management and leaderhip-related challenges

Browaeys, M.-J. & Price, R. (2015). Understanding Cross-cultural Management.3rd ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Northouse, P. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice, 8th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Steers, R. M. & Osland, J. S. (2019). Management Across Cultures: Challenges, Strategies, and Skills. 4th ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sternad, D. (2020). Effective Management: Developing Yourself, Others and Organizations. London: Macmillan International Higher Education/Red Globe Press. [Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2015). Developing Management Skills. 5th global edition. Harlow: Pearson.

• Lecture and discussion
• Case studies
• Role play
• Self-study
• Group work
• Discussions with practicing managers (in guest lectures and/or study trip/excursion)

Integrated module exam (immanent examination character):

• Final written exam (60%)
  
• Learning diary (30%)
  
• Class participation (10%)