As part of the MBA curriculum, we recently completed a six-week course in cross cultural management taught by Dr. Anne Marie Francesco. The course focused on strategies and frameworks used in analyzing different cultures and how we can incorporate them in to our own management toolkit.
To celebrate the last day of class, we took part in an international potluck-style lunch and contributed a dish or drink from a culture represented within our respective class groups. We also prepared short presentations to give everyone a glimpse inside the culture we chose to highlight.
It was a great way to showcase the diversity represented within our cohort and the food was incredible! We sampled traditional dishes from Iran and India to China and Indonesia and saw presentations from many others including Russia, Italy, Greece, Australia and the Netherlands.
My own group represented the land of the Irish and appropriately, we brought Guinness as our cultural contribution. The presentation included a description of how to pour a perfect pint followed by a contest between our professor and a classmate to see who could do it better. After official judging by GBSA President, Jeff Norman, congratulations were in order for Dr. Francesco.
Overall it was a great way to wrap up the class and many thanks to the organizing committee for a job well done!