International Leadership and Organizational Behavior

Leaders in business and non-profit organizations increasingly work across national borders and in multi-cultural environments. You may work regularly with customers or suppliers abroad, or be part of a globally dispersed cross-functional team, or an expatriate manager on an international assignment. You may be a member of a global online community, or a development aid worker collaborating with an international network of partner organizations. In all of these contexts, your effectiveness as a leader depends on how well you understand and are able to manage individual and collective behaviors in an intercultural context. In this course – together with a team of Bocconi expert faculty and Bocconi alumni – we’ll explore the theory and practice of international and intercultural leadership and organizational behavior. Social science research has revealed systematic ways in which our behavior differs across cultural contexts – enabling us to more effectively work across borders. Insights from psychology, neuroscience, sociology and anthropology, from communication studies and from management scholarship allow us to understand what shapes individual and group decision making, what enhances or weakens team performance, and how we can build and use our social networks. And the shared practical experience of international leaders allows us to identify concrete steps to enhancing intercultural leadership competence, and to be cognizant of common leadership challenges.

Learning about organizational behavior provides a great opportunity to develop your leadership skills and to reflect on your own behavioral tendencies. How do you usually make important decisions? What motivates you and how do you try motivating others? How successfully do you leverage and integrate diverse skills and views in a team? Do you prefer professional relationships with a close-knit group of trusted colleagues, or with a far-flung network of acquaintances from all walks of life?

If you really want to learn how organizations behave and take decisions and at the same time develop leadership skills, then this is the course for you.

We are looking forward to welcoming you and supporting you on this journey of learning and discovery.

COURSE SYLLABUS Week 1 - Leadership Acumen. International perspective on leadership, common traps & challenges, and opportunities of intercultural leadership. Week 2 - Navigating Culture. Impact of cultural differences on organizations, decoding culture, culture classifications and stereotyping, developing intercultural intelligence. Week 3 - Communication. Communication and its impact on leadership identity and relationships, managing communication to improve decision making, steps for developing your intercultural communication skills. Week 4 - Motivation. Views on individual motivation, cultural differences in motivation, developing motivation and commitment in teams. Week 5 - Networking. Patterns of interpersonal relationships in/across organizations, strategically developing social networks and social capital, norms for networking across cultures. Week 6 - Conflict. Effective / defective conflict management approaches, dealing with ethical dilemmas.

Thanks to the participation of our alumni and of the Bocconi Alumni Association, participants will have practical insights on international leadership.

RECOMMENDED BACKGROUND All are welcome! Some prior exposure to basic issues of organizational behavior (communication, decision making, motivation, etc.) is useful, but not required.

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Syllabus

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week 1
LEADERSHIP ACUMEN
Week 2
NAVIGATING CULTURE
Week 3
COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY
Week 4
MOTIVATING FOLLOWERS
Week 5
BUILDING PROFESSIONAL NETWORKS
Week 6
MANAGING CONFLICTS

FAQ

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?

When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Reviews

Very interesting course. Alumni viewpoints, pop-up questions, and interactive dialogues all made the course more engaging. Each video was a good length for informational content and attentiveness.

First of all, thank you so much; It has been the best course for me so far. It will not only help me with my MBA but also being an open, collaborative person in all area of my life. THANK YOU.

Brilliant course! Well structured and presented. I've been an expatriate in Asia and Middle East for 8 years and I wish I could have studied this before I started. Well done Franz!

its great and very useful course ,I can easily learned from all topics and videos the why describe each and small ideas which sometimes people forgot that create big mistake in future .