Intercultural Communication Institute

SIIC 2009 Workshop Description

36 | Doing the Right Thing! – Values Around the World

Values have been studied by virtually every discipline in social science, including the intercultural field. Values may be stated or unstated, conscious or unconscious, subtle or overt—and they always result in behaviors that the actor believes is “right.” Rarely is the connection between a stated value and demonstrated action carefully examined. Failure to understand underlying values can negatively impact both domestic and global business interactions. This class will explore the newest cross-cultural values research followed by experiencing exercises that allow participants to explore values from a personal, organizational and global perspective.

Designed for
Educators, consultants, facilitators and trainers who want to understand the underlying value systems of students and clients and experience interactive exercises for exploring values.

Objectives
Participants will have the opportunity to:

Learn the most current instruments for measuring values
Learn the most current cross cultural values data
Experience exercises that explore both personal, organizational, and national values
Develop an organizational values statement that connects stated values to observable behaviors

Learning Activities
Participants will have the opportunity to:

Complete assessments clarifying their own core values and identifying the cross-cultural values that might most challenge them personally
Complete a series of interactive exercises exploring value differences across nationality, gender, age, and other cultural differences, and identify how these value differences can benefit or challenge organizations
Practice connecting observable behaviors to potential cultural values as a way of working more effectively with a wide range of individuals
Create, or revise, a value statement for organizations that defines observable behaviors to support stated values

Faculty: Donna Stringer

Donna M. Stringer is president of Executive Diversity Services (EDS), an organization development company specializing in cross-cultural issues, located in Seattle. A social psychologist with over 30 years’ experience as a manager, teacher, researcher, and writer, Donna specializes in cross-cultural instructional design, executive coaching, and work team interventions for organizations in the U.S., Asia, Latin America, and Europe. In addition to articles in the areas of diversity and inclusion, cross-cultural communication, gender differences, values, and organizational development, she recently authored a book, 52 Activities for Exploring Values Differences, and an article on preparing the next generation of diversity trainers for the 2007 Pfeiffer Annual Training Series.