Multicultural Management/Country Presentations

INTRODUCTION

This assignment is designed to allow you to gain an in-depth understanding of a particular country and specifically in terms of its culture and how that impacts on doing business.  Pick a country that interests you and for which there is an abundance of web-based information, eg, you shouldn’t pick North Korea!  You may have already visited a country that interests you or you may wish to visit one in the future.  Alternatively, you might consider one that is particularly relevant or high profile in terms of current news or relevant to topics that have come up in other courses.  The key is to select a country which you find truly interesting and relevant.

You will find that the web has an enormous amount of information about countries around the world.  Do not rely too much on Wikipedia – there are lots of more informed sites including ones that are maintained by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), eg, the UN or the World Bank.  Most countries have their own governmental sites which provide information about their country and also countries with which they have business and other dealings with.  Also, business organizations maintain sites that can be useful, eg, Chamber of Commerce in various countries, professional organizations like accounting and consulting firms (especially those that specialize in export and import assistance), banks, shipping companies, and international law firms.

THE ASSIGNMENT

This assignment has 1 deliverable – a Powerpoint presentation which should include but not necessarily be limited to:

1.    a description of the country, eg, location, size, history, political structure, economic factors (eg, major industries or economic activity), social factors (eg, languages), cultural factors (eg, religions);

2.    some historical context for the country’s cultural development;

3.    a discussion of the country’s culture in the context of the theories and concepts of the course;

4.    a discussion of the impact the culture/s have on doing business in the country;

5.    advice to business people on how to conduct business in the country, eg, how to negotiate.

Presentations typically range from 25 up to 35 slides.  Virtually all will include a significant amount of graphic material which is desirable, both in terms of knowledge and maintaining interest levels.  If you wish, you can also submit ‘talking points’ attached to your presentation but this is not required.

You must be careful about referencing their sources of information.  Since the only deliverable is a PPT presentation, you should reference your source/s in a footer on the slide where the information is used.  I’m not particularly ‘stuck’ on a particular referencing format.  If you know APA and are comfortable with it, that’s fine.  But the test is that you do reference sources when used and that the reference makes sense.

ASSESSMENT

This assignment is worth 20 marks towards the final course grade.  The assessment is based on content (70%) and presentation (30%).  You must submit a copy of your presentation through the Assignment 1 dropbox on the Moodle course site no later than 23:59 on the date in the assignment schedule.  Your submission subject line must include your name and country, eg, “brad pitt – Australia”.