This document outlines an 11-week course on international management. Over the 11 weeks, students will cover key topics such as the challenges of international management, the role of culture, managing across cultures, cross-cultural communication, conflict and negotiation, organizational structure and control, motivating across cultures, leadership across cultures, international human resource management, managing international teams, and ethics and social responsibility. Each week focuses on different sub-topics within these areas and includes guidance on what to study and examples to consider.

1. International Management
Ryan and Nathan’s guide to better exam prep*
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Week 1 – The Challenge of International Management
1. Identify the key issues that differentiate international management from
international business.
2. Discuss the importance of international management in today’s global organisations.
3. Compare and contrast international and domestic organisations.
4. Discuss the contingency role of the international manager.
5. What is meant by the terms Parochialism and Ethnocentrism.
Week 2 – The Role of Culture
1. Define culture. What are cultural values, beliefs and norms? Provide examples.
2. What are Hofstede’s five (5) cultural dimensions? Provide examples to demonstrate.
3. What are Trompanaar’s cultural dimensions? Provide examples to demonstrate.
Week 3 – Managing Across Cultures
1. Explain the terms cultural convergence and cultural divergence? Do you think
cultures are becoming increasingly similar? If so, why? If not, why not?
2. Define the term national context. Provide examples of social institutions to support
your answer.
3. Social institutions can influence organisations through coercive, mimetic, and
normative isomorphism. Define these concepts, and provide examples to
demonstrate how they work.
4. When managing globally, what are the four (4) key types of managerial
predispositions that international management can utilise?
Week 4 – Cross-Cultural Communication
1. Explain how culture affects the communication process. In your answer you should
identify each step of the communication process and the impact of culture on each
step.
2. Using Hall (1976), as reference, analyse the difference between explicit and implicit
communication.
3. Identify and describe three (3) verbal communication styles.
4. What is non-verbal communication and describe four (4) types of non-verbal
communication.
5. How does one effectively communication across cultures?
Week 5 – Conflict and Negotiation
1. Define each of the five (5) conflict management styles.
2. Identify and briefly describe the six (6) steps in the international negotiation
process.
3. Explain four (4) ways in which cultural differences can affect the key negotiating
processes.

2. 4. Define five (5) of the seven personal characteristics needed to be a successful
international negotiator.
Week 6 – Organisational Structure and Control
1. Contrast foreign, minireplica and transnational subsidiaries.
2. Define Global Product and Global Area structures and give an example of when an
organisation would use each one.
3. What is an export department? What is an international division? What are the
advantages in having an international division?
4. Describe, using examples, of how a matrix structure works in an international
organisation.
5. Evaluate the arguments in the centralisation / decentralisation debate.
Week 7 – Motivating Across Cultures
1. What are the four components of the Basic Work Motivational Process? Provide an
example of how cultural differences can influence each of these.
2. Explain Expectancy Theory of motivation. Using one or more of Hofstede’s
dimensions, discuss the influence of cultural differences have on this process.
3. Explain Equity Theory of motivation. Using one or more of Hofstede’s dimensions,
discuss the influence of cultural differences have on this process.
4. Explain Goal-Setting Theory of motivation. Using one or more of Hofstede’s
dimensions, discuss the influence of cultural differences have on this process.
Week 8 – Leadership Across Cultures
1. In a high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance culture, which leadership style
is most applicable and why.
2. Identify and differentiate three (3) different implicit leadership styles.
3. How can House’s Path Goal Theory be used in international management.
4. Identify four (4) positive and four (4) negative leadership traits identified from the
GLOBE study.
Week 9 – International Human Resource Management
1. Define Parent-country nationals, Host-country nationals, Third country nations, and
Flexpatriates.
2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using expatriates on international
assignments? Consider issues regarding repatriation.
3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of Ethnocentric, Regiocentric, Polycentic,
and Geocentric IHRM orientation?
Week 10 – Managing International Teams
1. Explain the difference between transnational teams, representative teams,
subsidiary teams, and global virtual teams.
2. What are the advantages of using international teams in multinational organisation?
3. What are the disadvantages of using international teams in multinational
organisation?

3. 4. Using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, explain issues which arise in the start-up,
development, cohesion, and maturity stages of group development.
Week 11 – Ethics and Social Responsibility
1. Identify and discuss five (5) ethical issues identified in international management.
Provide examples to support your answers.
2. Identify and discuss the six (6) basic ethical languages identified by Donaldson
(1992).
3. Critically evaluate the views of ethical relativism and ethical universalism. Provide
examples to support your arguments.
4. List the five (5) economic and five (5) legal components of CSR.
5. Explain the five (5) stages of moral development, giving examples for each.