Fox and Dubai Women’s College Students Collaborate Across the Ocean
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Like many other students this spring, three teams of undergraduate business students worked together to complete a case study. But there was one dramatic difference: many of these team members never met until their final presentation.
During a semester-long collaboration with the Dubai Women’s College (DWC) in the United Arab Emirates, students in Temple’s Fox School of Business strove to overcome the difficulties of communicating with teammates from whom they were separated by thousands of miles.
In a final culmination of their efforts, the DWC students traveled to America to present the projects with their Fox partners in a case competition among the three groups. All three teams won awards for their projects, proving that it would take more than language, time and cultural barriers to hinder these future business leaders.
Such cross-cultural, cross-national communication was the goal that Dr. Arvind Phatak, executive director of The Fox School’s Institute for Global Management Studies (IGMS), and the Temple Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) had in mind when he designed this pioneering class.
“Companies are increasing their collaboration with companies in countries that have different cultures and languages,” said Phatak. “I wanted to find a way to teach the importance of virtual collaboration. This case study required input from both sides, America and Dubai.”
The teams designed hypothetical business plans for Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream to enter the Dubai market. These plans were based on the Harvard Business School case, Ben & Jerry’s – Japan. To construct a successful plan, the students had to study the economic, political, cultural, legal and environmental factors in Dubai and their impacts on the potential business operations of Ben & Jerry’s in that market. Each team’s research was enriched by the students’ differing cultural points of view.
Melissa Swallow, a senior graduating with a double-major in marketing and international business, described the challenges of working with team members on another continent. “There was some initial difficulty communicating with the girls from Dubai, but interacting with them and learning about their lives and culture was also the most rewarding part of the experience.”
In order to share their research and comments with their teammates, the girls communicated through a variety of virtual channels, including a Blackboard discussion board, e-mail, Yahoo chat rooms and video conferencing sessions. Phatak even provided the students with calling cards so they could talk long distance.
“There were a lot of barriers that might have made the work impossible, but we found ways to go beyond what we thought we were capable of to overcome our cultural differences,” said Mariam Kamal, one of the DWC students.
“What was even more important than the outcome of the competition was successfully getting around all the barriers and boundaries,” Phatak said. “That was the true accomplishment.”
