Business and Culture: A Virtual Exchange Across Four Countries

1. Introduction

Educational exchanges are nothing new. Indeed, the University of Oxford welcomed its first international student, Emo of Friesland, in 1190 (University of Oxford, 2014). But recent decades have witnessed a boom in student mobility. According to the Institute of International Education, for example, the 2018/2019 academic year set a record year for both international students studying in the USA, and Americans studying abroad—1,095,299 and 347,0997 students respectively. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the European Commission has been promoting student mobility since 1987 with its Erasmus program, which has to date seen participation from more than 9 million people and some 4,000 institutions across 31 countries (Erasmus, n.d.).

In the context of business education, globalization and the rise of China, India, and other fast-growing economies, have spurred many business schools to incorporate educational exchanges into their curricula (Loh et al., 2011). The logic is simple. To succeed in the global workplace means having a global mindset—the cultural awareness and cultural consciousness which a global economy demands. And educational exchanges are an effective method to facilitate its development (Finley et al., 2007). Educational exchanges also help to grow other related skills, including emotional resiliency, flexibility, personal autonomy, and openness (Kitsantas & Meyers, 2001).

The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has revealed a significant limitation of traditional educational exchanges: geography. The pandemic caused great disruption to existing educational exchanges, and the uncertainty of when travel would resume made it difficult for most students to plan their future schedules. But even before the pandemic, traveling across borders to seek a cross-cultural experience was infeasible for many students. In the USA, for example, only one in ten undergraduate students studies abroad before graduating (Institute of International Education, 2020). Common reasons for not pursuing a student exchange include scheduling challenges, financial constraints, and onerous degree requirements.

Voilà virtual exchanges, which connect students across two or more countries via technology, to learn together and to collaborate on a project in cross-cultural teams. Such virtual exchanges can be extracurricular or structured within a for-credit course. Virtual exchanges use a variety of communication methods and forms of delivery. According to a 2021 report by the Stevens Initiative, however, most virtual exchanges (38%) feature a blend of asynchronous activities (in which participants share information and engage at different times) and synchronous activities (in which participants engage in real-time) (Stevens Initiative, 2021).

Virtual exchanges have focused on a wide variety of topics—seemingly anything which would benefit from two or more different cultural groups coming together to explore a given topic would be an appropriate choice. According to the Stevens Initiative report, the top three content areas on which virtual exchanges focus are: intercultural dialogue and peace-building (67%); science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (25%); and global or international affairs (24%). Of course, virtual exchanges can focus on multiple content areas, so the total does not sum to 100%. Other content areas which were cited in the report include language learning, education, and entrepreneurship or business.

Virtual exchanges can be effective and low-cost alternatives to traditional educational exchanges, conferring many of the same benefits without the travel requirement. They also offer a unique pedagogical opportunity. The conventional wisdom is that students who study abroad will ‘naturally’ come to understand and appreciate cultural differences. With virtual exchanges, however, instructors have a more controlled environment in which to facilitate cross-culture learning. Indeed, they can ensure that culture is not simply a passive backdrop, but instead is a topic for student analysis, reflection, and action.