X-Cultures is an international program made up of students at universities around the world. Groups are formed and topics are selected from a list of case studies. The exact requirements for each project vary depending on the project chosen but in general, the teams are asked to compile marketing strategies, produce reports about a company’s supply chain, and/or coordinate a new product launch in a new foreign market.
I had the opportunity to go through this program twice, both with the same Professor. Once as part of Professor Johnson’s MGMT 461 – International Management class taken in Spring 2020 during my sophomore year and in Professor Johnson’s MKTG 445 – Global Marketing course taken in Fall 2021 during my junior year.
Both times, I was placed in an international team and made team leader. The team consisted of a group of students with varying levels of English proficiency, large time zone differences, and frequent misunderstandings related to cultural differences. Despite these challenges, I was able to lead my team to produce a well-rounded report that we were proud of. It met the requirements laid out in the original project outline and collated the many perspectives we brought from our worldwide experiences.
Overall, this experience taught me a lot about working with an international team to achieve a common goal.
