This weekly seminar is part of the IES Abroad intensive internship program in Rome. Specifically targeted to interns, it offers them some keys to understand the Italian organizational culture, in order to make their experience on the field richer and more valuable. Some of the weekly meetings are dedicated to sharing experiences, opinions, problems and solutions to help interns face the challenges of living and working in an intercultural environment. The seminar analyzes the impact of the Italian culture on the way organizations are managed (micro view), as well as on the education system and the labor market (macro view). The introductory lectures include some basic concepts about organizational analysis, labor economics, and law. Students interested in continuing their Italian studies after the semester in Rome are provided with specific tools on how to use the most relevant national and international sources on these topics. (6 credits)
Prerequisites:
• 4 semesters of college-level Italian language.
• availability and motivation to work for 180 hours (15 hours/week) at one of the IES internship placements.
• an academic major and/or a career plan that is strongly related to the content of the selected internship.
• ability and motivation to present and conduct a research project, with the assistance of an IES faculty member or of a tutor at the placement.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students are able to:
• Analyze the organization they work for;
• Recognize cultural differences and their impact on management style;
• Understand and describe to others the value, in terms of cultural intelligence, of their internship experience in a foreign country;
• Acknowledge the most important current issues concerning the Italian labor market.
Method of presentation:
Class discussions, guest lectures, field visits, student presentations, individual meetings with internship coordinator and IES faculty member(s).
Required work and form of assessment:
Class participation (25%); weekly essays and photographic report* (25%); on-site evaluation by work supervisor (25%); research paper and final presentation (25%).
*During the seminar, students will write a weekly essay about their internship. The seminar instructor will assign a specific theme for each essay. One of the last weekly assignments will take the form of a photographic report: a set of pictures taken at the placement and/or related to the internship, with explanations and comments.
Research component
The research component of the intensive internship program is intended to complement the class and the internship experience. Students will be exposed to valuable library and web resources, increased knowledge in research methodology and greater confidence in conducting primary research, in addition to language practice and hands-on experience in using local resources.
o Each student should decide on a topic for the independent research component of the seminar and prepare a research proposal for submission to the supervisor by the 4th week of the semester.
o The research proposal should be two pages long and include the following: student’s name and general academic information (home school; major/minor; GPA); description of the internship placement; motivation and background to the study; research questions and objectives; methods; key references.
o The topic must be relevant to the content of the internship. The academic dean and the internship coordinator will decide on a research supervisor to be assigned for each specific project, either on site or among the IES faculty.
o The supervisor will guide the student while conducting the research and will evaluate the final project. The student and the supervisor should hold at least four meetings throughout the semester.
o The student, under the supervision of the internship coordinator, will prepare a 30-minute presentation of his/her research project. The presentation can be held at the IES Center or at the placement in a panel setting, including the director and/or the academic dean, the supervisor, the internship coordinator, and a representative of the placement.
o The research project should be completed with a 20-page paper.
content:
Session 1: Interning Italian style
o The life of an intern in Rome: students’ experiences and reflections. Brainstorming on expectations. The “rules” of the IES Rome internship program.
o Working in Italy: cultural differences and stereotypes.
o Cultural intelligence: a journey for life.
Mandatory readings
• Earley Christopher, Mosakowski Elaine, “Cultural Intelligence”.
• Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles. Riding the waves of culture. “An introduction to culture”; “The meaning of culture”; “How far we get involved”; “How we manage time”.
• Argyle Michael, Bodily communication. “Cultural differences in bodily communication”
Suggested readings
• Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles. Riding the waves of culture. “Relationships and rules“; “The group and the individual”; “Feelings and relationships”; “How we accord status”.
Session 2: National culture and corporate culture
o Some key questions for analyzing an organization. Mission, vision, values. The main functions of an organization.
o National culture and corporate culture. Different corporate cultures (the family, the Eiffel Tower, the guided missile, the incubator).
Mandatory readings
• Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles. Riding the waves of culture. “National cultures and corporate culture”.
Suggested readings
• Severgnini, Beppe. La bella figura. A field guide to the Italian mind. “The office. The opera house of orderly anarchy”
• Epstein, Alain. As The Romans Do. “Business, but Not as Usual: Money Isn’t Everything”; “Not Only for Sale: the Artistic Approach to Life”; “Functional Anarchy: Who’s in Charge of This Meeting?.
Session 3: The Italian education system (1)
o Structure and history of the Italian education system: from preschool to high school.
o Strenghts and weaknesses of the Italian school system.
o Teaching and evaluation methodologies in the Italian school system.
Mandatory readings
• Sterponi Laura, Santagata Rossella. “Mistakes in classrooms and at the dinner table: a comparison between socialization practices in Italy and in the United States”.
• Severgnini, Beppe. La bella figura. A field guide to the Italian mind. “School, the workshop where shared memories are made”
Suggested film viewing
• La Scuola (Daniele Lucchetti, 1995)
Session 4: The Italian education system (2)
This session will be held at Città Universitaria, the main campus of La Sapienza University
o Higher education in Italy: the Italian University system and the recent reforms.
o The returns to tertiary education: links between tertiary education and employment.
o Comparative indicators: university in Italy and in the U.S.
Mandatory readings
• OECD, Education at a Glance: OECD indicators. Selected extracts from www.oecd.org.
Session 5: Mid-term internship presentations
Each student will share information and first impressions about their internship with the class. Presentations will include a brief organizational analysis of each placement (mission, vision, values, functions and organizational chart, processes, formal and informal networks…) and a description of the intern’s role in the organization.
Session 6: Individual feedback meetings
During mid-term exams week class will not be held, but each student will make an individual mandatory appointment with the internship coordinator for a mid-term feedback based on: the placement’s first evaluation, the quality of the weekly essays, the class participation and the internship presentation, the advancement of the research project.
Session 7: The Italian labor market: problems and prospects
o The main labor market indicators and their meaning.
o The main themes about the Italian labor market: precariousness, gender discrimination, irregular work and underground economy, safety on the workplace.
o The labor market reform. What has happened since the mid ‘80s. The impact on society and specifically on the young people.
Suggested readings
• Schindler Martin, “The Italian Labor Market: recent trends, institutions and reform options”, International Monetary Fund, 2009. (Pagg. 1 – 14). From http://www.imf.org.
Suggested film viewing
• “Tutta la Vita Davanti” (Paolo Virzì, 2008)
Session 8: Guest lecture
An Italian guest will present on a current issue/theme concerning the Italian labor market. The instructor will assign readings in advance. During the guest lecture, students are required to ask questions, based on their knowledge of the topic.
Session 9: “No country for young people”
o The aging of Italian society and the “young adults”
o The marginality of the Italian young generations
o Intergenerational solidarity and intergenerational conflict in Italy
Session 10: Interview: being young in Italy
Two young Italians (male and female) are invited to answer students’ questions. Students have to prepare in advance and submit to the internship coordinator their set of questions. The themes of the interview are: the transition between university and the labor market; precariousness and the long process to find a stable job; the condition of women in the labor market; demographic issues and the aging of Italian society; the “young – adults”; the marginalization of young generations, their exclusion from the “circuits” of power; the intergenerational conflict.
Session 11
Field study: motivating “human resources”
This session will be held at La Garbatella, a former working class neighborhood
o Worker motivation and the main theories
o A concrete example from Italian history: la Garbatella was created “to guarantee a quiet and comfortable life” for the workers who contributed to the economic reinassance after WWI.
Session 12: Final presentation
Students turn in their final research paper and present the results.
Required readings:
Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles. Riding the waves of culture. Milan, McGraw-Hill,
1998. Chapters 1, 3, 7, 9.
Argyle Michael, Bodily communication, Second edition, Londra, Methuen & Co, 1988. Chapter 4.
Earley Christopher, Mosakowski Elaine, “Cultural Intelligence”, in Harvard Business Review, Harvard,
Ottobre 2004.
Sterponi Laura, Santagata Rossella. “Mistakes in classrooms and at the dinner table: a comparison
between socialization practices in Italy and in the United States”. UCLA University Press, 2000
Severgnini, Beppe. La bella figura. A field guide to the Italian mind. Random House, 2006. Selected
extract: “School, the workshop where shared memories are made”.
Students with an advanced knowledge of Italian have the option of substituting some of the required readings in English with the following in Italian:
Livi Bacci Massimo, Avanti giovani, alla riscossa. Come uscire dalla crisi giovanile in Italia, Bologna, Il
Mulino, 2008.
(A cura di) Simoni Marta, URG! Urge ricambio generazionale. Primo rapporto su quanto e come il nostro
Paese si rinnova, Catanzaro, Rubbettino, 2009. Capitoli 2,3,4.
Bennet Milton J., Principi di comunicazione interculturale, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2002. Capitolo 1.
Argyle Michael, Il corpo e il suo linguaggio. Studio sulla comunicazione non verbale,
Bologna, Zanichelli, 1992. Capitolo 4.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Silvia Zanazzi graduated in Management from Bocconi University (Milan) in 2000, and in Education from La Sapienza University (Rome) in 2009. She also earned a Master degree in Human Resources Management from the Sole24Ore Business School. She has worked as a training coordinator for a leading business school in Milan, being responsible for management training programs and for the development of the school’s network with companies. After moving to Rome, she worked in the field of labor policies for the Italian Government. Since September 2007 she is a full-time staff member at IES Rome Abroad.
This weekly seminar is part of the IES Abroad intensive internship program in Rome. Specifically targeted to interns, it offers them some keys to understand the Italian organizational culture, in order to make their experience on the field richer and more valuable. Some of the weekly meetings are dedicated to sharing experiences, opinions, problems and solutions to help interns face the challenges of living and working in an intercultural environment. The seminar analyzes the impact of the Italian culture on the way organizations are managed (micro view), as well as on the education system and the labor market (macro view). The introductory lectures include some basic concepts about organizational analysis, labor economics, and law. Students interested in continuing their Italian studies after the semester in Rome are provided with specific tools on how to use the most relevant national and international sources on these topics. (6 credits)
• 4 semesters of college-level Italian language.
• availability and motivation to work for 180 hours (15 hours/week) at one of the IES internship placements.
• an academic major and/or a career plan that is strongly related to the content of the selected internship.
• ability and motivation to present and conduct a research project, with the assistance of an IES faculty member or of a tutor at the placement.
By the end of the course, students are able to:
• Analyze the organization they work for;
• Recognize cultural differences and their impact on management style;
• Understand and describe to others the value, in terms of cultural intelligence, of their internship experience in a foreign country;
• Acknowledge the most important current issues concerning the Italian labor market.
Class discussions, guest lectures, field visits, student presentations, individual meetings with internship coordinator and IES faculty member(s).
Class participation (25%); weekly essays and photographic report* (25%); on-site evaluation by work supervisor (25%); research paper and final presentation (25%).
*During the seminar, students will write a weekly essay about their internship. The seminar instructor will assign a specific theme for each essay. One of the last weekly assignments will take the form of a photographic report: a set of pictures taken at the placement and/or related to the internship, with explanations and comments.
Research component
The research component of the intensive internship program is intended to complement the class and the internship experience. Students will be exposed to valuable library and web resources, increased knowledge in research methodology and greater confidence in conducting primary research, in addition to language practice and hands-on experience in using local resources.
o Each student should decide on a topic for the independent research component of the seminar and prepare a research proposal for submission to the supervisor by the 4th week of the semester.
o The research proposal should be two pages long and include the following: student’s name and general academic information (home school; major/minor; GPA); description of the internship placement; motivation and background to the study; research questions and objectives; methods; key references.
o The topic must be relevant to the content of the internship. The academic dean and the internship coordinator will decide on a research supervisor to be assigned for each specific project, either on site or among the IES faculty.
o The supervisor will guide the student while conducting the research and will evaluate the final project. The student and the supervisor should hold at least four meetings throughout the semester.
o The student, under the supervision of the internship coordinator, will prepare a 30-minute presentation of his/her research project. The presentation can be held at the IES Center or at the placement in a panel setting, including the director and/or the academic dean, the supervisor, the internship coordinator, and a representative of the placement.
o The research project should be completed with a 20-page paper.
Session 1: Interning Italian style
o The life of an intern in Rome: students’ experiences and reflections. Brainstorming on expectations. The “rules” of the IES Rome internship program.
o Working in Italy: cultural differences and stereotypes.
o Cultural intelligence: a journey for life.
Mandatory readings
• Earley Christopher, Mosakowski Elaine, “Cultural Intelligence”.
• Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles. Riding the waves of culture. “An introduction to culture”; “The meaning of culture”; “How far we get involved”; “How we manage time”.
• Argyle Michael, Bodily communication. “Cultural differences in bodily communication”
Suggested readings
• Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles. Riding the waves of culture. “Relationships and rules“; “The group and the individual”; “Feelings and relationships”; “How we accord status”.
Session 2: National culture and corporate culture
o Some key questions for analyzing an organization. Mission, vision, values. The main functions of an organization.
o National culture and corporate culture. Different corporate cultures (the family, the Eiffel Tower, the guided missile, the incubator).
Mandatory readings
• Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles. Riding the waves of culture. “National cultures and corporate culture”.
Suggested readings
• Severgnini, Beppe. La bella figura. A field guide to the Italian mind. “The office. The opera house of orderly anarchy”
• Epstein, Alain. As The Romans Do. “Business, but Not as Usual: Money Isn’t Everything”; “Not Only for Sale: the Artistic Approach to Life”; “Functional Anarchy: Who’s in Charge of This Meeting?.
Session 3: The Italian education system (1)
o Structure and history of the Italian education system: from preschool to high school.
o Strenghts and weaknesses of the Italian school system.
o Teaching and evaluation methodologies in the Italian school system.
Mandatory readings
• Sterponi Laura, Santagata Rossella. “Mistakes in classrooms and at the dinner table: a comparison between socialization practices in Italy and in the United States”.
• Severgnini, Beppe. La bella figura. A field guide to the Italian mind. “School, the workshop where shared memories are made”
Suggested film viewing
• La Scuola (Daniele Lucchetti, 1995)
Session 4: The Italian education system (2)
This session will be held at Città Universitaria, the main campus of La Sapienza University
o Higher education in Italy: the Italian University system and the recent reforms.
o The returns to tertiary education: links between tertiary education and employment.
o Comparative indicators: university in Italy and in the U.S.
Mandatory readings
• OECD, Education at a Glance: OECD indicators. Selected extracts from www.oecd.org.
Session 5: Mid-term internship presentations
Each student will share information and first impressions about their internship with the class. Presentations will include a brief organizational analysis of each placement (mission, vision, values, functions and organizational chart, processes, formal and informal networks…) and a description of the intern’s role in the organization.
Session 6: Individual feedback meetings
During mid-term exams week class will not be held, but each student will make an individual mandatory appointment with the internship coordinator for a mid-term feedback based on: the placement’s first evaluation, the quality of the weekly essays, the class participation and the internship presentation, the advancement of the research project.
Session 7: The Italian labor market: problems and prospects
o The main labor market indicators and their meaning.
o The main themes about the Italian labor market: precariousness, gender discrimination, irregular work and underground economy, safety on the workplace.
o The labor market reform. What has happened since the mid ‘80s. The impact on society and specifically on the young people.
Suggested readings
• Schindler Martin, “The Italian Labor Market: recent trends, institutions and reform options”, International Monetary Fund, 2009. (Pagg. 1 – 14). From http://www.imf.org.
Suggested film viewing
• “Tutta la Vita Davanti” (Paolo Virzì, 2008)
Session 8: Guest lecture
An Italian guest will present on a current issue/theme concerning the Italian labor market. The instructor will assign readings in advance. During the guest lecture, students are required to ask questions, based on their knowledge of the topic.
Session 9: “No country for young people”
o The aging of Italian society and the “young adults”
o The marginality of the Italian young generations
o Intergenerational solidarity and intergenerational conflict in Italy
Session 10: Interview: being young in Italy
Two young Italians (male and female) are invited to answer students’ questions. Students have to prepare in advance and submit to the internship coordinator their set of questions. The themes of the interview are: the transition between university and the labor market; precariousness and the long process to find a stable job; the condition of women in the labor market; demographic issues and the aging of Italian society; the “young – adults”; the marginalization of young generations, their exclusion from the “circuits” of power; the intergenerational conflict.
Session 11
Field study: motivating “human resources”
This session will be held at La Garbatella, a former working class neighborhood
o Worker motivation and the main theories
o A concrete example from Italian history: la Garbatella was created “to guarantee a quiet and comfortable life” for the workers who contributed to the economic reinassance after WWI.
Session 12: Final presentation
Students turn in their final research paper and present the results.
Trompenaars, Fons and Hampden-Turner, Charles. Riding the waves of culture. Milan, McGraw-Hill,
1998. Chapters 1, 3, 7, 9.
Argyle Michael, Bodily communication, Second edition, Londra, Methuen & Co, 1988. Chapter 4.
Earley Christopher, Mosakowski Elaine, “Cultural Intelligence”, in Harvard Business Review, Harvard,
Ottobre 2004.
Sterponi Laura, Santagata Rossella. “Mistakes in classrooms and at the dinner table: a comparison
between socialization practices in Italy and in the United States”. UCLA University Press, 2000
Severgnini, Beppe. La bella figura. A field guide to the Italian mind. Random House, 2006. Selected
extract: “School, the workshop where shared memories are made”.
Students with an advanced knowledge of Italian have the option of substituting some of the required readings in English with the following in Italian:
Livi Bacci Massimo, Avanti giovani, alla riscossa. Come uscire dalla crisi giovanile in Italia, Bologna, Il
Mulino, 2008.
(A cura di) Simoni Marta, URG! Urge ricambio generazionale. Primo rapporto su quanto e come il nostro
Paese si rinnova, Catanzaro, Rubbettino, 2009. Capitoli 2,3,4.
Bennet Milton J., Principi di comunicazione interculturale, Milano, Franco Angeli, 2002. Capitolo 1.
Argyle Michael, Il corpo e il suo linguaggio. Studio sulla comunicazione non verbale,
Bologna, Zanichelli, 1992. Capitolo 4.
Silvia Zanazzi graduated in Management from Bocconi University (Milan) in 2000, and in Education from La Sapienza University (Rome) in 2009. She also earned a Master degree in Human Resources Management from the Sole24Ore Business School. She has worked as a training coordinator for a leading business school in Milan, being responsible for management training programs and for the development of the school’s network with companies. After moving to Rome, she worked in the field of labor policies for the Italian Government. Since September 2007 she is a full-time staff member at IES Rome Abroad.