Prof. Sharon Glazer.
Proposal for the seminar:
Organizational Psychology is by default an international field of study, especially as businesses and economies become increasingly global. This course is designed to provide students with preliminary understanding of the cross-cultural variations they are expected to encounter as practitioners and scholars. Students will gain an appreciation for the challenges to be faced when engaging in intercultural business interactions. In this course I will highlight some foundational theories of cross-cultural psychology that are important for debating organizational theories. We will explore culture's influence on attitudes and behaviors. It is hoped that by the end of the course, students will be equipped with basic information with which to challenge Western based theories and modify their thinking of Organizational Psychology. In the allotted time, we will define basic theories, exemplify organizational psychology theories that do not transfer readily across cultures, decipher messages encrypted in international consumer advertisements, and work on case studies that exemplify the challenges an Organizational Psychologist can expect to face when working with people from different cultures.
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
1. Discuss the goals of cross-cultural Organizational psychology.
2. Rudimentarily, apply concepts of human and culture values to understanding organizational behavior.
3. Challenge research in Organizational psychology from a cross-cultural perspective.
4. Relate the material presented to issues in organizational life.
