How To Answer A Managing Across Cultures Assignment
To answer a Managing Across Cultures assignment built from excerpts, treat each excerpt as a mini case: name the framework, apply it to the facts in the excerpt, and back it with a dated real example. Do that for every task and your marks follow the brief’s weighting. If you want a structured second opinion, our management assignment help team can review your plan.
What the Managing Across Cultures assignment is really asking
The European Business University Managing Across Cultures assignment has three excerpts: McDonald’s localisation with a Hall-based training task, a Fiat advert with a negotiation question, and a workplace stereotype scandal with two reflective tasks. Each task tests a different skill, so one generic “culture” essay will not do.
- McDonald’s: strategy evaluation using the four cornerstones of diversity.
- Korean training scenario: Hall’s high and low context applied to speech and body language.
- Fiat: spotting Chinese cultural factors the advert ignored.
- Negotiation: cultural dimensions plus verbal and non-verbal cues.
- Scandal case: dated facts, then effects on image and revenue.
- Stereotypes, cultural intelligence and your own workplace: personal, evidence-based reflection.
How the marks and words split
The brief gives 100 marks across eight tasks. Check your own brief for word limits, then divide words roughly in line with marks.
| Task | Marks | Share of words |
|---|---|---|
| McDonald’s strategy | 15 | 15% |
| US trainer and Korean unit | 20 | 20% |
| Fiat and Chinese culture | 10 | 10% |
| Negotiation styles | 10 | 10% |
| Stereotype scandal | 15 | 15% |
| Other stereotypes | 10 | 10% |
| Cultural intelligence | 10 | 10% |
| Own workplace culture | 10 | 10% |
Step-by-step plan
- Read each excerpt twice and underline the command words (research, explain, assess, identify, describe).
- Pick one named framework per task: diversity layers or cornerstones, Hall, Hofstede or GLOBE, and the four CQ dimensions.
- List two or three facts from the excerpt that you can apply the framework to.
- Choose a well-documented stereotype case with exact dates, such as the 2018 arrests at a Philadelphia Starbucks, which led to a store closure for bias training on 29 May 2018.
- Draft the practical tasks as lists where the brief asks for tips, such as body language advice for the Korean unit.
- Write the personal tasks from real memory: situations, what you did, what you would change.
- Check similarity and AI-content rules, then add references in the required style.
Support for the report layout is available through our report writing help page.
Task-by-task approach
McDonald’s and diversity
Start with the global-versus-local idea: the core system stays the same, while menus and marketing adapt. Then map your cornerstones or layers of diversity to real practices, such as religious dietary needs, local ownership and local hiring. Finish with an evaluation, because adaptation can also weaken brand consistency.
The Korean training scenario
This is the highest-scoring task, so give it the most depth. Split the answer into verbal changes (pace, directness, feedback, handling “no”) and non-verbal changes (bowing or handshake, eye contact, gestures, seating and silence). Present the body language tips as a short list, since the brief asks for tips, and explain why each one works in a high-context setting.
Fiat and the negotiation question
For the advert, pull out the exact scene or message and test it against Chinese values such as face, family, hierarchy, symbolism and trust. For the negotiation question, compare two styles in a table: goal, communication, decision-making, time and non-verbal cues. Then link the gaps to alliances and mergers, where mismatched expectations can slow integration.
Scandal, stereotypes and reflection
Use a four-part flow for the scandal: what happened and when, how the company responded, what it cost in reputation and sales, and what it should have done earlier. For other stereotypes, give a business example for each and a measurable fix, such as structured interviews or pay audits. For the personal tasks, use the “situation, action, result, lesson” pattern so your reflection reads as evidence, not opinion.
A quick way to lift each answer
| Weak version | Stronger version |
|---|---|
| “McDonald’s adapts to local tastes.” | Names a market, a menu change and the diversity factor behind it, then evaluates the risk. |
| “Be polite to Koreans.” | Explains which behaviour changes, and links it to high-context communication. |
| “The advert offended people.” | States which cultural value was ignored and how testing would have caught it. |
| “Stereotypes are bad for business.” | Shows a case, its dated timeline and the cost to image and revenue. |
| “I have good CQ.” | Rates all four CQ dimensions with one example and one development step each. |
Referencing, similarity and AI-content rules
The brief says similarity must stay under 25% and that heavily AI-generated work is not accepted. Write each answer from your own notes, paraphrase sources rather than lifting phrases, and keep case descriptions short and analytical. Quote only short definitions, and put the quotation in quotation marks with its source.
Use the referencing style your module requires. Harvard is common, with the author and year in the text and a full list at the end. Cite the framework creators (Hall for context, Hofstede or the GLOBE team for dimensions, Earley and others for CQ) and a reliable news or business source for the case facts.
A simple time plan
Four short working sessions are enough if you plan them in advance.
- Day 1: read the excerpts, choose frameworks and select the stereotype case.
- Day 2: draft the McDonald’s, Korean training, Fiat and negotiation answers.
- Day 3: draft the scandal, stereotype, CQ and workplace answers.
- Day 4: edit for word count, check facts and dates, add references and run a similarity check.
If you are short of time, protect the Korean training task (20 marks), the McDonald’s task and the scandal case (15 marks each) first, because they carry the most marks and need the most evidence. The shorter tasks can be finished with one framework, one example and one evaluative sentence each. Always re-read the task wording at the end and tick off every verb, such as explain, assess or list, so that no part of a question is left unanswered.
Leave the personal tasks until you have had time to think of real examples; they are easy to rush and hard to fake.
What markers reward
- A named model in every answer, applied to the facts rather than just defined.
- Specific cultural points about China, not “Chinese people value tradition”.
- Both verbal and non-verbal cues in the negotiation answer.
- Exact dates and business impact in the scandal case.
- Honest, specific reflection in the CQ and workplace tasks.
- Consistent referencing and in-text citations.
Common mistakes
Most lost marks come from missing links between theory and the excerpt, not from missing theory.
- Describing Hall’s model without adjusting the trainer’s behaviour.
- Treating “Asian” or “Chinese” culture as one block with no nuance.
- Choosing a scandal with vague facts or no revenue or reputation evidence.
- Presenting stereotypes as facts rather than analysing them.
- Writing a CQ answer that says “I am very culturally intelligent” with no examples.
- Ignoring the similarity limit by copying case summaries.
Student pain points
“I cannot remember what the four cornerstones of diversity are.” Use the wording in your lecture slides, name the source, and apply each cornerstone to a McDonald’s practice.
“I have no international work experience for the CQ question.” Use campus, community or online team situations; the markers want honesty and reflection, not a large CV.
“Which stereotype case is safe to use?” Pick one with well-reported dates, company response and cost figures, and check them in more than one reliable source.
“My workplace culture feels too ordinary.” Ordinary is fine. Describe rituals, rules, communication habits and leadership behaviour with two concrete examples.
See how an answer can look
For a worked structure, read our Managing Across Cultures sample extract, which is for reference only and should not be submitted as your own work. If you also have a strategy module, the Global Business Strategies market-entry brief shows a similar task layout.
FAQs
Can I use any company for the stereotype scandal?
Use a well-known company where the facts are widely reported, and state the date, what happened, the company response and the effects on image and revenue.
How do I use Hall’s model for the Korean training task?
Identify the trainer as low-context and the staff as high-context, then show how to change pace, directness, feedback and body language to suit them.
Should I use Hofstede or GLOBE?
Either is acceptable if the brief allows it. Name the dimensions you use and apply them to the Fiat and negotiation tasks.
How do I write about my own cultural intelligence?
Take the four CQ dimensions of drive, knowledge, strategy and action, rate yourself honestly, give one real example for each and set a development step.
Do I need references in every task?
Yes, for theory and case facts. Personal reflections still need theory citations, but the experience itself comes from you.
What if my word limit is tight?
Use short tables and lists for tips and comparisons, and keep paragraphs short. Prioritise the higher-mark tasks.
When you are ready for a plan, a draft review or full support, submit your assignment details and we will advise on the next step.
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