Quite a while back, I decided to follow this MOOC course on Coursera called "International Leadership and Organizational Behavior". It's an interesting open source course offered by the Università Bocconi.

Reflection task 1: “INTERNATIONAL LEADER OF THE YEAR AWARD”

For this reflection task, choose a company (or organization) that you are interested in, a company with international presence or plans to operate on an international level. Imagine the company has decided give an “INTERNATIONAL LEADER OF THE YEAR AWARD” to a public figure, an outstanding individual who can serve as an inspiration for the company’s cadre of leaders. Which well-known individual would you give the award to?

Thus...

1. Organization: Global Campaign for Education – GCE (http://www.campaignforeducation.org/en/)

2. Mission statement: “Education is a basic human right, and our mission is to make sure that governments act now to deliver the right of everyone to a free, quality, public education.“ (source:http://www.campaignforeducation.org/en/about-us)

3. Award nominee: Shakira (foto)

   http://www.fundacionpiesdescalzos.com/en/who-we-are/our-founder

4. Rationale: Shakira aims to create awareness about the importance of accessible education for all, gender equality, and the living conditions of children in vulnerable situations. She seems a very charismatic and committed person, working towards that aim. On several occasions she has been described as enthusiastic and patient, good qualities of a good leader, when mobilizing other to join in the campaign.

   Shakira can be seen as an inspirational leader as she is reaching out to the world (also owning her own charity foundation), spreading her message about the importance of providing quality education to all children to ensure a better and possible future for them to different governments, summits, universities, public and private entities.

   Shakira is from Colombia, a country where the principles she and the GCE stand for are still lacking in many parts. Growing up in Colombia, a developing country known social conflict and injustice, she started her charitable work in her own country, already at the age of 18, showing great social engagement. That shows great dedication.

   Her connections and gained experience in the field, conform to the GCE's mission would be a great asset to the campaign. Her worldwide popularity as an artist, would enable the reaching of an even larger crowd and movement, generating awareness about the importance of EDUCATION FOR ALL. Shakira knows how to reach out to her fans and other crowds. The GCE would do good engaging her as a leader. With her leadership qualities and celebrity status, she can aid the campaign to achieve its goals, effectively.
    

Reflection task 2: Cultural significance of an artifact

For this reflection exercise, we want you to pick an artifact from your own culture and explain its cultural significance by pointing out how it is connected to values and assumptions in your own culture. Specifically we want you to include the following in your submission:

1. A short description and a photo of your artifact. If your chosen artifact is an object, getting a photo should be easy. If the artifact is a ritual, you’ll want to include a photo of the ritual in action. If your artifact is an aspect of language or a story, you need to be a little bit creative to find a representative photo.

2. An explanation of what cultural meaning and significance the artifact holds in your culture. Try to articulate your culture’s values and hidden assumptions are relevant to fully understand the meaning of the artifact.

3. BONUS: if you know or have personally experienced how foreigners misinterpret the artifact (i.e. assign a different/wrong meaning to it), please describe that misinterpretation.

“Tatort” - Germany's CSI (crime scene investigantion) TV series

Website: http://www.daserste.de/unterhaltung/krimi/tatort/index.html

Description of the artifact: Tatort (literally translating to “crime scene” is Germany’s most popular crime series, aired almost every Sunday evening on public television at prime time 20:15. Central to it's plots are not only the committed murders and crimes, but also current issues or controversies in German society. It was first aired in 1970 and has become a solid Sunday evening tradition for many Germans ever since. Characteristic to each episode are the following scenarios: the dead corpse found at the beginning, the murderer identified towards the end and the city specific duos of crime solving inspectors. The plot – instead of flashy camera work – is the focus of the show.

An explanation of what cultural meaning and significance the artifact holds in your culture: Tatort can be seen as a reflection, portrayal or even critic of German society, touching upon topics many viewers can relate to in one way or another. Germans often gather in their homes to watch Tatort together, meet at public viewings or use social platforms for live commenting... joining in the crime solving. It creates a sense of community. The plots themselves are not always the most brilliant, but the combination of familiarity and suspense provides us viewers with some end of the week entertainment and conversation topics. I came across this very pinpointing analysis on why Tatort is of such significance to quite a few Germans: “Tatort is a mirror of Germany's – the home base of security consciousness – federal composition. Although Tatort does not solve the real-life issues in society, it ... provides an emotional outlet ... and certainly solves the majority of its murder cases, so that on Sundays people can go to bed feeling safe and sound.” There exists a hidden assumption that watching Tatort, especially from afar (abroad) kind of creates a feeling of belonging and recognition, as it showcases German values and lifestyles, as those of a certain group of people who want Germans to think about social issues.

(Sources: http://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/lp/prj/mtg/typ/tat/en6859345.htm, https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/culture/communication-media/always-on-a-sunday)

Common misunderstandings: The realistic depiction of German society in Tatort or the regional portrayals of life in the various city where the series is staged can lead to certain misconceptions of the actual judicial system and proceedings and common beliefs, as Tatort is often the scene for generalizations.

Reflection task 3: Writing an cultural sensitive e-mail to a colleague

Imagine you work for a German multinational company, and you get the following email from one of your German colleagues:

Jill,

I want you to know that your team always monopolizes the discussion at our weekly meetings. There are other projects that need time to be discussed as well. So far, thanks to your team, we haven't been able to do that.

Eberhardt

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EXERCISE SUMMARY

Use the four dimensional framework to “decode” Eberhardt’s email message. What are the facts, the self-disclosure, the relationship statement, and the appeal that are included in this short email? Then draft a reply to his message that you think would help resolve the situation in an inter-culturally sensitive manner. Finally, briefly reflect  on the four dimensions of communication that are embedded in your reply to Eberhardt.

My answer

1) Analysis of Eberhardt Message:

• Factual statement(s): Jill's team is taking over the discussions at the weekly meetings, with the consequence that the other teams do not have the opportunity to fully give their share and expose topics important to them.
• Self-disclosure(s): It is very frustrating and annoying that Jill's team is so omnipresent in the weekly discussions, not giving others the chance to contribute and discuss other topics equally as important!
• Relationship-statement(s): They are colleagues & need to work together, even though they are part of seperate teams. Hopefully, by cooperating, the issue will be resolved.
• Appeal(s): Through her position in her own team, Jill could make the problem clear to her direct colleagues of her own team, to leave space for the other teams to share their projects and issues with the rest of the company..

2) Reply:

Dear Eberhardt,

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me! I have been reflecting on the past few meetings, and have realized that you certainly have a point there. My team's apologies for the inconveniences we have caused at our weekly meetings. I have shared your feedback with my team and we all agreed that from now on, we will be more attentive to the other team's projects. I can assure you that we did not mean ill. Looking very much forward to next weeks meeting and thank you again for confiding in me!

I appreciate an open and direct communication very much!

Kindly regards,

Julia

3) Reflection on Reply:

• Your factual statement(s): Thank you for your feedback, we are sorry for the inconvenience and will do our best to resolve the issue
• Your self-disclosure(s): I appreciate very much that you are confiding in me, and I apologize for me teams behavior.
• Your relationship-statement(s): We are colleagues who can communicate openly with each other (in our own team, but also across with members from other teams)
• Your appeal(s): Let us work together peacefully and accordingly, reinforcing trust and dialogues to work towards a common goal.