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CM C53 - European Companies in Multicultural Contexts* "NOT ESTABLISHED"

Faculty
Assistant Professor Tore Olsen and John Wrench
Course Coordinator
Tore Olsen
Prerequisite/progression of the course
The course could favourably be combined with courses on corporate ethics, CSR, value management, culture and/or with courses on the social and economic policies of the European Union. It requires general knowledge national and European politics and economy.
Course content, structure and teaching
The course investigates the ethical, political, and economic issues employees and firms face when dealing with differences in culture and nationality. The course provides an overview of the ethics of solving conflicts based on culture. It also gives an overview over different national policies of immigration and integration, with a special but not exclusive focus on Denmark, Germany, Britain and France. The national immigration and integration policies condition the recruitment and retention possibilities of individual companies in different ways. While national immigration and integration policies set the general context for the HR policies of firms when it comes to integration and accommodation of persons with different cultural and nationally backgrounds, companies operating in several countries face an even more complex situation. The course gives an overview of the EU initiatives in the areas of immigration and integration, which are intimately connected with the development the European economy and labour market. Immigration and integration policies have become salient political issues and immigrant cultural minorities have challenged the established value consensuses of national societies. Public policies balance between popular demands for limitation of immigration and reinforcement of established national values, and the long and short term exigencies of the national economies and individual companies to ensure well structured immigration and integration in European societies. Individual companies are caught between national regulations on immigration, legislation and general agreements pertaining to the labour market and their individual needs to recruit and retain attractive workers in an increasingly globalised economy. In addition, they are expected to live up to corporate citizenship requirements and social responsibility, for example to further labour market integration of ethnic minorities and/or in exhibiting loyalty towards the values underpinning national integration policies, while staying competitive on the marketplace. The course studies the different possibilities for companies to deal with these cross-pressures in different national contexts.
The course draws on a number of theories. First, theories concerning multiculturalism and diversity management. Second, theories regarding the politics and policy of immigration and integration at the national level and at the level of the European Union. Third, theories about international migration and its effect on national institutions. Fourth, theories about the impact of national culture and national business systems for the implementation HR policies in companies working in one or more national contexts.
Teaching methods:
The course will combine lectures with a more interactive seminar format, in which students are required to participate actively, e.g. by making shorter group presentations to be discussed by co-students. The oral examination is based on mini-projects, which with benefit can be written during the semester. The mini-project is based on an independently chosen problem that can be developed as the semester progresses. The course encourages comparative studies (between countries and/or companies), but other formats are also accepted. The course will also involve a small number of guest lectures from professionals working with these issues in companies and with representatives of the trade unions and employers organizations in Denmark.
Through the course the student will develop the ability to analyze and discuss the political, legal, organizational and ethical issues connected to dealing with ‘multiculturalism’ in companies operating in and across different national contexts. This ability is central for solving conflicts and making policies related to policies at the political level, and at the level of individual companies.
The course's development of personal competences
The course develops knowledge of and sensitivity towards the many issues relating to multiculturalism in and outside of organizations.
Learning Objectives
At the end of the course the student should be able to:
  • describe and compare theories arguing for and against differential treatment of people with immigrant and minority background
  • Identify and discuss on the basis of theory presented in the course the respective relevance of different factors present in different national contexts for the development of HR policies in companies operating in one or several European countries
  • Issue recommendations with regard to the development and implementation of company policies for recruitment and retention of immigrants and minorities
  • in connection with the elaboration of miniproject-based examination be able to analyze and discuss an individually chosen case of study in a methodically and argumentatively consistent manner
Type of examination, exam aids and assessment
Individual oral exam based on a written mini-project written ind. At the exam the student is allowed to bring presentation notes and the project. The mini project and the oral exam are evaluated as a whole. The objective of the oral exam is to discuss and put the written paper into perspective. This could be done by means of examples, reflection on alternative methods and theories for dealing with the problem, as well as a discussion of possible solutions to the problem. The oral exam is based on the mini project and its problem statement but the examiners can ask questions and discuss issues from the entire curriculum. If other readings than the ones stated in the curriculum have been applied in the mini project, these could also be included in the discussion.
Recommended literature
Books:
  • Geddes, A. (2003) The Politics of Migration and Immigration in Europe. London: Sage.
  • Joppke, C. (2009) Veil: Mirror of Identity, Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Konrad, Alison M., Pushkala Prasad, and Judith K. Pringle. The Handbook of Workplace Diversity. London ; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 2006.
  • Laden, S. and Owen, D. (eds) (2007) Multiculturalism and Political Theory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Moodod, A. Triandafyllidou and R. Zapata-Barrero (eds) (2006) Multiculturalism, Muslims and Citizenship - A European Approach, London: Routledge.
  • Mor Barak, M. (2005) Managing diversity, London: Sage Publications
  • Schierup, C.U. and Hansen, P. and Castles, S.(2006) Migration, Citizenship, and the European Welfare State, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Wrench, J. (2007) Diversity Management and Discrimination – Immigrants and Ethnic Minorities in the EU, Aldershot: Ashgate.
Articles:
  • Castles, S. (2006) ‘Guestworkers in Europe: A Resurrection? International Migration Review, Volume 40, Issue 4: 741-766. http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1747-7379.2006.00042.x
  • Chiang, Flora (2005) 'A critical examination of Hofstede's thesis and its application to international reward management', The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16:9, 1545 – 1563
  • Edwards, Tony and Kuruvilla, Sarosh (2005) 'International HRM: national business systems, organizational politics and the international division of labour in MNCs', The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16:1, 1 – 21
  • Ferner, A. et al (2006) ‘Workforce Diversity Policies’ in P. Almond & A. Ferner (eds) American Multinationals in Europe: Managing Employment Relations across National Borders, Oxford: Oxford University Press: pp. 146-171
  • Geddes, A. and Guiraudon, V. (2004) ‘Britain, France, and EU Anti-Discrimination Policy:The Emergence of an EU Policy Paradigm’, West European Politics, 27(2): 334-353.

Sidst opdateret af The Electives Office 18.08.2010