International Programs

Spring 2009
S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management
Cornell University

Class Meets: Monday, Wednesday, 8:40am-9:55am, Room B10

Instructor: Professor Gary Katzenstein, Room 401F

Office Hours: Thursdays, 3-6pm or by appointment

Office Phone: 255-7469, E-mail: gjk29@cornell.edu

Overview

Western managers must continue to accept and respect that fundamental differences exist between their home territories and the Asia-Pacific region. This remains a precondition for the success of their firms over the long-term. This course takes a managerial perspective to introduce students to those differences, whether working in Asia or managing operations and personnel in Asia.

The course will cover major issues in organizational behavior and human resource management in the Asian context. The organizational behavior part of the class will look at issues such as national culture, communication, leadership, motivation, decision-making, and group dynamics in an Asian context. The human resource part of the course will examine recruiting, developing, and retaining local personnel, managing expatriates in Asia, and localization of Asian businesses.

Because Asia is a very large and diverse place it is impossible to cover all Asian countries in a short, seven-week class. Therefore, I will have to focus a bit to make the course coherent. Although I will use some examples from Southeast Asia and less often from South Asia, most of the class will focus on East Asia, specifically Greater China (China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore), Japan, and South Korea.