Dr Hyun-Jung Lee

This course is available on the MBA Exchange, MRes/PhD in Management (Employment Relations and Human Resources), MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Human Resource Management/CIPD), MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (International Employment Relations/CIPD), MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Organisational Behaviour), MSc in Management (1 Year Programme), MSc in Management (1 Year Programme) (Work Placement Pathway) and MSc in Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

How to apply:

Places on oversubscribed courses will be allocated via a random ballot process with priority given to students with the course in their Programme Regulations, followed by other Department of Management students, then students from elsewhere in the school. Providing you apply before the Department deadline of 10am on Monday 28 September 2026, the time you applied will not be taken into account. Please be aware that places on high demand courses cannot be guaranteed. By submitting an application, students are confirming that they meet any pre-requisites specified. Providing an additional written statement will not aid a student’s chances of being accepted onto a course, and statements are not read.

For further information and updates on course availability during Week 1, please see the Department of Management Electives Moodle page.

Deadline for application:

Please apply by 10am on Monday 28 September 2026 with your first course choices. No allocations are made before this date and time.

For queries contact:

Please view the Department of Management Electives page for contact emails.

Some background in psychology and organisational behaviour, and/or international business is useful, but not required. This is a qualitative course, and the coursework requires a high level of writing skills. Students with purely quantitative skills may struggle.

The ability to communicate cross-culturally and to understand the diverse perspectives of people from different cultures is a necessity in order to achieve a competitive advantage in the global economy. The aims of the course are to understand the impact of culture on management; to identify the areas in which cultural differences pose challenges as well as opportunities in managing people across cultures; and, to become more self-aware of our cultural conditioning, individual biases and assumptions. 

Topics include, understanding cultures and cultural conditioning, analytical frameworks of cross-cultural comparisons, national cultures and cultures in individuals, and global leadership and cultural intelligence 

15 hours of seminars and 15 hours of lectures in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Winter Term.

Experiential learning is emphasised and team working is an integral part of the course. The teaching is highly participative. Students will be asked to make presentations and participate in various class exercises including role playing. The course is demanding of students, and success depends partly upon student commitment and willingness to participate fully.

In its Ethics Code, LSE upholds a commitment to intellectual freedom. This means we will protect the freedom of expression of our students and staff and the right to engage in healthy debate in the classroom.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the WT.

The following reading list contains some easily accessible introductory discussions. Most of the course reading is taken from journals. A full reading list will be provided in the syllabus at the start of the course. 
• Gehrke, B.  ;Claes , M-T. (eds.) (2014), Global leadership practices: A cross cultural management perspective, Palgrave Macmillan. 
• Steers, R. M., Osland, J. S.,  ;Szkudlarek, B. (2023). Management across cultures: Challenges, strategies, and skills (5th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
• Thomas, D. C., & Peterson, M. F. (2017). Cross-cultural management: Essential concepts (4th ed.). SAGE Publications. 

Course participation (10%).

Essay (50%).

Project (40%).

This component of assessment includes an element of group work.

The essay is completed individually, and the project is completed as part of a group.