University of Miami Cultural Mentor Paper

PART 1 – CULTURAL MENTOR PAPER

To complete this project, you will need to find some cultural mentors to help you learn about the country (beyond what you find on the internet!). Contact at least 3 people who can serve in this cultural mentoring role. One of these mentors will be your Primary Cultural Mentor – the one who grants you the most access and provides the most information. As a team, get to know your primary mentor in person or using virtual communication tools (e.g. Zoom). You will need more than 1 meeting with your mentors to complete this project.

TIPS to find cultural mentors:

International Students (many student athletes are international) / Faculty / Friends / Coworkers

UM Student Organizations

https://isss.miami.edu/about/council-of-internatio…

Social Clubs in Miami (e.g. German American Social Club of Miami)

Embassies and Consulates in Miami (e.g. Consulate General of Costa Rica)

Internations: https://www.internations.org/miami-expats

(a) Introduction. Write a brief introduction to your primary cultural mentor. Where were they born, where have they lived, how long for? Indicate where your cultural mentor is from originally on a map (if from the major city, then show specific street / suburb within the city).

(b) Culture Shock (optional – only if they now live in the USA). What was their experience adjusting to life in the USA like? Did they experience any culture shock when they moved here? What helped them to adapt to the new culture?

(c) Cultural Values. Compare your primary cultural mentor’s own individual cultural values with yours. How are you (each of your team members plus your cultural mentor) similar and how are you different? To measure individual cultural values, see the Appendix (last page) in:

Yoo, B., Donthu, N., & Lenartowicz, T. (2011). Measuring Hofstede’s five dimensions of cultural values at the individual level: Development and validation of CVSCALE. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 23(3-4), 193-210.

(d) Leadership. Summarize your learnings about leadership in the country you studied, based on research online, plus an interview with your cultural mentor from that country. Ask them about how to be recognized as an effective leader in that country/region. Ask them to provide you with specific examples of well-known corporate leaders from their country – what makes the person an effective leader in that country? How does this relate to their cultural values?

(e) Personal Learnings. Each individual team member should write their own section about: a) ways that your cultural mentor helped you become a more effective cross-cultural communicator? b) how MGT 617 has helped you develop your global mindset (around 2 paragraphs per team member – labelled with their name)