Tooting my own horn

Yahoo! After three courses, I offically have a 4.0 GPA!

Though not light reading I highly recommend Riding the Waves of Culture by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner. I think it especially applicable to those of us in business as it provides real organizational examples.

My book review conclusion:
Riding the Waves of Culture combines theory and in-depth analysis for application to international business. It has enhanced my cross-cultural knowledge whereby I consider dimensions when choosing how to interact with others and that multiple perspectives supports cooperation. Business is about relationships – with customers, employees and other businesses. How we choose to solve problems have the greatest impact on those relationships. Riding the Waves of Culture provides a framework and tools for business leaders to seek an inclusive paradigm on the world stage with the ideal that we can achieve favorable outcomes for all.

My book review evaluation:
Reading this book and presenting it to the small group was supposed to be equivalent to having a major text for the class; presenting it to others even in a compressed form was designed to facilitate everybody’s knowledge of the varied bibliography and literature in the field. In your case, you did an exceptionally good job in both areas. You captured the major points of the book and evaluated them critically. I was particularly glad that you chose this book despite the fact that it is not exactly a bed-time reading. Trompenaars was the first European scholar who “discovered” that US MBA practices did not fit into the European intellectual mode, and claimed that Europeans who traveled in large numbers to US to get their MBA’s have been “brainwashed” His book and subsequent consulting and training activities are a reaction to the US practices, one of which is the lack of cultural sophistication. That is, however, changing, mostly due to compelling forces of globalization and the some congressional incentives to business schools. You understood very well his unique approach to cultural analyses.

My final evaluation:
In general, you write well and organized your papers equally well. You clearly used multiple frames and integrated the literature with both your experiences and the classroom contents. You are a delight for teachers to have students like you who come to the course with high expectations, build-in curiosity and prior recognition that culture is important. We enjoyed having you in the class and appreciate the contribution you made to it. I also appreciate your sharing your introduction and other personal experiences with us. Thanks again and best wishes in your personal and professional work. Your grade is: “A”