Cross-cultural understanding is crucial in international business, as its absence can lead to one of the major risks in international business known as cross-cultural risk. (Cavusgil, Knight, & Riesenberger 2020).

Being an organisation that hosts a diverse student community, uniting almost 11,400 students from 113 countries worldwide (Haaga-Helia.fi), Haaga-Helia can enhance its commitment to cultural awareness. Keeping this in view, numerous efforts are being made across the organisation. However, this article offers a teacher’s perspective on fostering cross-cultural understanding in International Business classrooms.

Importance of cultural awareness in international business

Cultural awareness is vital for a company’s success when conducting international business. Cross-cultural misunderstandings can jeopardize business deals and harm a company’s reputation. Thus, international business managers must be culturally sensitive.

Culture is not just about the tangible aspects, it also reflects the values and assumptions that people share. The tangible aspects are only a fraction of the cultural iceberg (Hollensen 2020): both visible and invisible aspects of culture are crucial for us to understand. Cultural misunderstandings arise due to different values and expectations, and therefore it is important to be culturally aware.

Cultural differences can impact various aspects of business, such as negotiations, leadership and marketing. International business managers must intentionally acquire culture-specific knowledge and avoid cultural biases (Cavusgill, Knight & Riesenberger 2020).

Equipping students to succeed in diverse markets

At Haaga-Helia, students cultivate cultural awareness and adaptability in the classroom. Multicultural classrooms enable students to overcome barriers, therefore, eliminating the distinction of ‘us’ and ‘them’. This in itself fosters cultural awareness. Here are some learning approaches that we use at Haaga-Helia’s international business programme to promote cross-cultural awareness.

Multicultural teamwork

Teamwork is an essential component of all our courses at Haaga-Helia, and in our classes, we ensure that the teams are diverse. Multicultural teams are crucial for generating different perspectives and fostering creativity. Teams that embrace different viewpoints tend to solve problems more effectively. Students learn to collaborate with members of different cultures, respect differences, and communicate effectively. This prepares them for future international collaborations.

Specific practical assignments

Students complete practical assignments like case studies and other tasks that require them to analyse cultural differences in business contexts. They learn about different cultural values that influence business decisions. For example, they learn about Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, and learn to adapt marketing and leadership styles. Furthermore, they learn to explore the cultural environment of different target countries and devise adaptation strategies for selected companies in new markets.

Exchange programs and international collaboration

Haaga-Helia welcomes exchange students, who participate in our classes sharing their own cultural backgrounds and breaking stereotypes. Our students also participate in study exchanges and learn about other cultures through immersion, which is one of the effective ways to gain cultural understanding.

The students at Haaga-Helia also have an opportunity to engage in collaborative online international learning (COIL) and Blended Intensive Programmes (BIP). Through programmes like COIL and BIP, students from Haaga-Helia connect with peers from partner universities through online joint courses and projects, and both initiatives promote the intercultural competence of students and foster global collaboration.

Work placements

Our students also get to work at large corporations through work placements, where they gain cross-cultural experience. Partnerships with such organisations allow our students to tackle real-world business scenarios, such as culturally specific branding strategies and international negotiations. Work placements help students gain hands-on experience in an industry setting.

Ensuring a global outlook for success in business

As cultural awareness is essential in international business, our approach at Haaga-Helia is to help our students develop it through theoretical concepts, multicultural immersion and practical experiences. As teachers, we strive to enrich the global outlook of our students, and to ensure the development of their cross-cultural awareness for them to succeed in international business and markets.

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