Improve learning in your courses, boost your teaching evaluations and research productivity.
X-Culture is accepting applications for the 2013 season.
The main idea: X-Culture is an experiential project designed to enhance learning in International Business/Management/Marketing and related courses.
We team up students from different countries (usually 7 students, 7 countries) and the students work in Global Virtual Teams for a semester thereby gaining first-hand experience in cross-cultural collaboration.
We provide all the materials, training, and administrative support; you do what instructors do in any team project: answer emails, grade team reports, etc.
Professors interested in research will also have ample opportunities to co-author papers based on our longitudinal multi-level multi-source data.
Participants: almost 3,000 from 70+ universities in 40+ countries participate in X-Culture every semester (roughly 50:50 MBA/Undergraduate).
Task: Students have a choice to develop a business/marketing plan or work on real-life business challenges presented by our corporate partners. The report structure is designed to match the content of standard International Business/Management/Marketing/Entrepreneurship courses. Professors teaching Cross-Cultural Psychology, International Communication and related courses have also successfully participated in X-Culture.
The task typically involves product development, market entry analysis, staffing choices, marketing plan development.
Communication: Our philosophy is that the tools students use in X-Culture must be usable in the workplace upon graduation. Therefore, we rely on free online collaboration tools and do not use proprietary platforms. At the beginning of the project, all students receive basic training on the use of Email, Skype, Dropbox, Google Docs, Doodle, Facebook, etc. Teams are free to choose their preferred collaboration method.
English is the working language and sufficient fluency in English is required. Students who do not speak English may be able to participate under special arrangements – contact us for details.
Schedule: The tentative dates for the 2013-3 season (dates will be adjusted +-5 days for best fit to all participants’ academic calendars):
Early track: August 20- October 15
Late track: October 1 – November 25
Most instructors also add time before or after the project for training, discussions and presentations.
X-Culture Certificates: Upon successful completion of the project, the students receive X-Culture Global Collaboration Experience certificates. Instructors also receive Global Educator certificates. Additional appreciation/reference letters can be sent to instructors’ department chairs or deans upon request.
X-Culture Prize: Contingent upon funding availability, top 3 student teams will receive $1000 cash prizes. Additional travel stipends may be available to the members of the best teams to attend the X-Culture symposium.
X-Culture Symposium: Twice a year, we bring X-Culture participants together. The last X-Culture Symposium was hosted by Mercedes-Benz and involved a Mercedes-Benz challenge/prizes, factory tour, meeting with the company management, and other events aimed at helping students launch successful careers.
Does it work? Yes, it does. For empirical evidence on how X-Culture affects course evaluations, course grades/marks, cultural intelligence, attitudes, behaviors and performance, please visit our Publications page.
Testimonials: “Dr.
Cost: X-Culture is a not-for-profit project. A nominal participation fee is charged to cover our basic expenses. To keep the project open to everyone, partial or full fee waivers are available for participants who cannot pay the participation fee for various reasons.
100% of the revenue goes to student travel stipends and to cover our basic operating expenses. All X-Culture stakeholders work on an unpaid basis.
More information: For additional information on X-Culture and research on its learning outcomes, please visit http://www.x-culture.org
Also read about X-Culture in AIB Insights and Academy of Management Learning and Education
Application deadline: August 5, 2013.
Enrollment is competitive. Please apply early to secure your spot.
Due to a large volume of inquiries, it may take us several days to process your application.
If you do not receive a response within five days, please contact us directly at [log in to unmask]
Sincerely,
Vas Taras, PhD
X-Culture Project Coordinator
336-256-8611