Seminar: Intercultural Management

Guest Lecture at the
Free University of Bolzano-Bozen

The Free University of Bozen-Bolzano is a highly renown institute located in South Tyrol, Italy. Founded in 1997, the FU Bolzenis organized in one school (economics and management) and four faculties (computer science, design and art, education, science and technology). Today, it has about 3,100 students that are taught in German, English and Italian.

Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

The campus in Bruneck-Brunico, situated in the marvellous surrounding of the Italian Alps, is home to the tourism branch of the university. The major in Tourism Management, offered as a three-year course, is equally trilingual. It prepares students from Italy and other European countries for the challenges in the international tourism industry by practice-oriented study activities. This includes seminars, applied tourism projects, internship semester, field trips and academic work.

FU Bozen Tourism Management

Also this academic year, I was invited to lead a two-day seminar on a favourite topic of mine: “Intercultural Management: Working Successfully Across Cultures”. In this respect, the special touch in Bruneck are the students with their cultural background from South Tyrol, Italy (yes, it makes a difference!), Austria, Germany and even Poland.

The seminar was attended by a very lively and interested group of 13 students. An overview of the agenda is provided by the agenda:

• What is culture?
• Introduction to intercultural management
• Culture standards and dimensions
• How well do you know the world?
• Business etiquette
• Stereotypes
• Case: Intercultural project management in Panama
• Different cultures across countries
• Conclusion & Feedback

The final feedback from the students towards the topic and the lecture was highly positive. It was the first time that the topic of Intercultural Management was offered in a seminar environment in Bruneck, and the students in unison appreciated the opportunity to look “out of the usual economics box” into a hitherto undiscovered issue.

The detailed feedback on the learning experience and the various exercises shows the high degree of acceptance of the topic and the interactive teaching methods applied:

Feedback on Learning Experience 1

Feedback on Learning Experience 2

Both the perfect organisation of the FU Bozen and the active participation of the students helped to make the seminar “Intercultural Management” a large success. The key learning experiences 1) to create awareness for different cultures and behaviour patterns; 2) to recognise its potential positive and negative influence on management issues; and 3) to overcome intercultural obstacles by applying both an open mindset and proactive management tools were absolutely reached.

But not only for the university, Bruneck is a lovely and charming place to visit. My snowboarding experience from last year on Kronplatz was certainly remarkable, and the opening of the Messner Mountain Museum in the castle of Bruneck in 2010 will add additional interest to the area.

But the best of it all is to be found in the food: a good and hearty dinner in the charming atmosphere of the Weißes Lamm is my very personal highlight...

Tourist information about Bruneck



Andreas Hauser