Module 1 - SLP

THE NATURE OF ORGANIZATIONS AND THE CONTEMPORARY ENVIRONMENT

Background

The purpose of the Session Long Project in TUI classes is to give you the opportunity to explore the applicability of the Module to your own life and work. This can be done in a number of different ways—cumulative papers, practical hands-on experimentation with a tool of some sort, or reflections on a place of work or life experience. The common thread is personal application, aimed at demonstrating a cumulative knowledge and understanding of the course's material.

For this course, the project will take the form of encounters with personal management assessments, aimed at constructing a personal inventory of your management skills and a plan for improving those skills. In each module, you will complete an assessment of a set of skills and/or situation diagnostics, focusing on your strengths and identifying any weaknesses that may have been revealed through the assessment and/or your personal experience. You will then be asked to create a plan by which you can "grow" your strengths and shore up your weaknesses. By the end of the course and the project, you will have a personal management profile and action plan.

In this module, you will be assessing your cultural awareness.

Required Reading

Refer to the required and optional readings for this module, and any other readings which will help you in increasing organizational effectiveness through cultural awareness.

Assignment

Click on this link to Kwintessential Language and Culture Specialists. The site may take a moment to load, so be patient. You will find a selection of 20 or so cultural awareness quizzes. Choose one or two that look interesting to you. (Hint: You will learn the most if you choose a general quiz, or one that concerns a country with which you are not familiar, and then choose a quiz that tests your knowledge of a culture with which you think you are highly familiar.) After completing the quiz(zes), address the following questions in a 2- to 3-page essay:

•Which quiz(s) did you take?

•Were you surprised at your score?

•What strengths do you think you have in the area of inter-cultural awareness?

•What weaknesses are you able to identify?

•Create a plan of specific steps you can take to build on your strengths and improve areas of weakness.

•Why is it important for managers to increase their levels of cultural awareness?

Keys to the Assignment

The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered in your paper include:

•Complete the assessment according to the guidelines and interpret the results.

•Include the actual quiz and results.

•Discuss BOTH strengths and weaknesses. If there were gaps between your assessment results and your own thoughts about your level of cultural awareness, why they do these gaps exist?

•Discuss concrete actions you can take to improve your cultural awareness.

Assignment Expectations

Your paper will be evaluated on the following points:

•Precision - Does the paper address the question(s) or task(s)?

•Clarity - Is the writing clear and the concepts articulated properly? Are paraphrasing and synthesis of concepts the primary means of response to the questions, or are excessive use of quotations how thoughts are conveyed?

•Breadth - Is the full breadth of the subject, i.e., the keys to the assignment, addressed?

•Depth - Does the paper address the topic in sufficient depth, and include the background readings and other background resources as references?

•Organization - Is the paper written well? Does the grammar, spelling, and vocabulary appropriate to graduate level work? Are headings included in all papers greater than 2 pages?

•Referencing (citations and references) - Does the paper use citations and quotation marks where appropriate? Are the references from the background readings and assignment used and properly cited? Are all references listed in the bibliography used and referred to via citation?

•Application - Are the concepts of the module appropriately applied to the subject?

Tips and Suggestions

Please note the following tips and suggestions:

•Include a cover page and reference page, in addition to the 2-3 pages of analysis described above.

•Include headings for all papers longer than two pages (basically all papers), but do not use headings as "space fillers."

•Cite AND reference all sources that you use in your work, including those that you do not quote but paraphrase. This means include citations and quotation marks for direct quotes of more than five words, and citations for information that you have paraphrased from other sources.

•Follow TUI Guidelines for well-written papers. (If you are unsure of what those guidelines are, see The Elements of a Well Written Paper).