Top-Bottom of the Pyramid Collaborative Engagement

Abstract

Business students are taught that a global mindset is critical in the global economy (Business Week, 1997; Govindarajan & Gupta, 2001). Managers with a global mindset operate on the assumption of multiple countries, cultures, and contexts (Begley & Boyd, 2003). It is also noted that firms populated by such people have a ‘key source of long-term competitive advantage in the global marketplace’ (Levy et al., 2007). That is why firms give equal weight to cross-cultural adaptability as to technical ability and expertise when selecting expatriates (Dowling & Welch, 2005). In other words, for competitive firms, global mindset is important in employee assessment. One business school’s mission to ‘transform students into leaders in the global market place’ indicates that some schools have picked the cue. So how do business educators cultivate a global mindset among students? Some innovators are experimenting with models such as the World Bachelor in Business (WBB) programme, a product the University of Southern California, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Italy’s Bocconi University launched in 2013. It is aimed at fostering global mindset among undergraduate students who will live and study on three continents while earning degrees from all the three universities (BizEd, 2013). Such momentous programmes may be out of reach of most business schools. However, the experiential learning cycle (ELC) model introduced in chapter 5 of the Experiential Learning Theories and Concepts section of this handbook provides an alternative modest approach to global awareness and mindset enhancement among students.