MSLOC Partners With Peking University to Study Global Workplace Inclusion
The Master’s in Learning and Organizational Change (MSLOC) program received a $3,000 international classroom partnering grant to deepen the global experience for Northwestern University students.
The award, from the Office of the Vice President for International Relations and the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs, allows the MSLOC program to collaborate with faculty at Peking University, a Northwestern University partner institution.
The partnership will provide important cross-cultural, global opportunities for students using online tools during the 2020-2021 school year.
Learning and Organizational Change, which teaches students how to analyze and solve organizational problems across contexts, is offered as a concentration for undergraduates and is one of three master’s programs in the School of Education and Social Policy.
The master’s degree program is dedicated to developing leaders who can facilitate change, whether at a local or international scale. “The call for leaders with the perspectives and capabilities to address global challenges has never been stronger,” said Diane Knoepke, MSLOC associate director who is assisting with the cross-school collaboration.
The award allows MSLOC to enhance a course called Leading Global Change, which explores designing and implementing solutions that affect people and teams from multiple countries, of diverse backgrounds, and in a variety of contexts. By the end of the course, students create a plan for change that might be required in a multinational organization.
“Students will conduct country-level national cultural analyses, participate in cross-cultural virtual collaborations within teams, and delve into global case studies,” said SESP assistant professor of instruction Lina Deng, a co-instructor for the course. “These learning activities will surface the teamwork challenges and tensions typically experienced between people from Western and Eastern cultures.”
The grant will help support the course redesign work, which includes a guest lecture on Western and Eastern cultural differences delivered by a Peking University faculty member and a term paper project that requires students to interview three people from different cultures/countries to craft a proposal for an inclusive workplace initiative.
Through the collaboration with Peking University, MSLOC students will be connected with Peking Guanghua Management School Executive MBA students as subjects for their discovery interviews and data-gathering.
Fuyao Glass USA
At the end of the quarter, students will use the documentary film “American Factory” and case materials to develop a global change plan for the company featured in the film, Fuyao Glass USA.
Raising the stakes for the students’ change plan proposals, Jeff Liu, president and CEO of Fuyao Glass USA, will attend the final class meeting to watch MSLOC student presentations and offer his feedback on their work.
“The challenges presented in the film speak to cultural differences in people management and organizational development,” said Kimberly Scott, MSLOC program director who is collaborating with Deng to create the Fuyao Glass case materials. “We want students to apply what they have learned to create a plan for organizational learning and change in an international workplace.”