Intercultural Primer
Top business schools like the Kelley School of Business provide students with the necessary skills to effectively lead a global organization. In today’s increasingly global marketplace, however, one’s ability to navigate winning ideas through one’s own organization and to effectively negotiate with other complex organizations can be the edge one needs to win in the marketplace. In order to ensure that our students have all of the latest tools necessary to win in the 21st century business environment, Kelley Direct will require all incoming students to take the Kelley Intercultural Primer. This requirement will commence with Spring 2009 incoming students.
An invaluable attribute of a leader is the ability to reframe instinctive judgments about cultural differences and manage culture by addressing and reconciling these dilemmas. This primer, in addition to helping participants better recognize and understand their own cultural values, will help develop an intercultural mindset that will increase their effectiveness in doing business and managing across cultures.
Details for registering for the Kelley Intercultural Primer is sent shortly after admission into Kelley Direct Programs. It must be completed by July 1 for Spring students and January 1 for Fall students. The cost of the Primer is $250.
How is the Primer structured?
The Kelley Intercultural Primer will consist of online lectures, discussion forums and conversations. Participants will complete an online psychometric questionnaire that provides individuals with structured feedback in terms of the energy, emphasis and attention they typically bring to an international competency set that represents the attitudes, skills and areas of knowledge which people need in a range of international contexts to be highly effective in transferring their skills across cultures. This web-based questionnaire, combined with an interactive feedback process, helps raise awareness of potential areas in which participants may require future development, and suggests actions they can take to fill the gaps.
The final result of this diagnostic tool, combined with attention to the present or future international challenges facing each participant, will lead to the creation of personal development plans tailored to each individual. By linking role requirements to each participant’s present emphasis across key international competencies, commitment to personal change can be produced which will ensure that international managers work towards a more strategic fit between the challenges they face and the skills they need.
