Assistant Professor
International Business
Comparative Cultures Collegium
M.B.A., University of Southern California

Phone: 727.867.8452
Email: shaperma@eckerd.edu
Office: Science Annex
4200 54th Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33711

Courses:

Cultural Environment of International Business/IB 260S
This course examines the vital role that culture plays in international business. Course content addresses the following topics: (1) How the method and theory of cultural anthropology can be applied to business activities and operations; (2) How anthropology can help business personnel with international assignments to successfully adapt to their host cultures; and (3) How transnational business organizations modify local cultures, and equally how local consumers throughout the globe transform corporations. Course material focuses heavily on the nations of East Asia, Europe and multinational corporations. Lastly, the course examines the unmet needs of consumers and employees who live within cultural contexts that are relatively unfamiliar to the managers of business organizations.

International Management/IB 261S
This course focuses on the challenges and opportunities associated with organizational management and business strategy in the global environment. Students will gain a general overview of the process and effect of internationalization in contemporary business, along with an introduction to theories, concepts and skills relevant to managing effectively in today?s global environment. Students will engage in active research and analytical problem solving related to managing in the international environment and will frequently be called upon to brief their findings to the class.

Marketing for Tourism/WT
This course acquaints the student with marketing strategy and marketing orientation practices in the tourism industry. The student will learn how hospitality and travel-related businesses have to be customer-oriented, as customers are part of the product their company is selling. The course shows the major decisions that hospitality managers face in their efforts to balance the organization?s objectives and resources against varying customer needs and opportunities in the global marketplace. In addition to analyzing cases and working on projects, students will hear from experts from the airline, cruise, and resort industries. Behind-the-scene tours of a luxury resort, the Port of Tampa and the Florida Aquarium are planned. The course fulfills requirement for Social Science academic area.

Current Research:

Much of my research has centered on training programs designed to develop the cross-cultural skills of both managers in the workplace as well as front-line employees interacting with customers from other cultures. I have also examined the effects of culture on the hospitality and travel industry. Cross-cultural research is vital to the tourism industry not only because it is the largest industry in the world, but because growth for the industry requires successful service encounters between people of different cultures. My most recent research examines cultural issues that firms must consider as they enter the Chinese marketplace. This research is the culmination of a study abroad program with 25 of my students as we visited multinational corporations and organizations in Beijing and Shanghai in January 2008.

WT 2008 "The Evolving Mindset of the Chinese Manager" (PDF)
"The Evolving Mindset of the Chinese Manager" (PowerPoint Presentation)

Cross-Cultural Training for Hospitality and Tourism: Improving Service Encounters through Industry-Targeted Critical Incidents (PDF)

Intergenerational Learning Opportunities:

The Faculty Liaison Committee (Committee) invites your proposals for funding of Intergenerational Learning (IGL) activities and projects that involve faculty, ASPEC, and students. The Committee encourages first-time applicants who wish to experience the positive outcomes from IGL programs. ASPEC and sponsors are pleased to fund these grants of $200 to $500, and all worthy proposals will be considered by the Committee.

Proposals should be submitted to:

Morris Shapero, Chair, Faculty Liaison Committee
Email: shaperma@eckerd.edu
Office: Comparative Cultures Collegium/SE 100
Phone: (727) 864-8452
no later than November 15th, 2009. Proposals (approximately 500 words) will be presented to all members of the Committee which will meet in early December and will decide what proposals to fund.

All grant recipients will be notified in early January 2010 and will be asked to attend a Committee meeting in early February 2010 that will detail additional program requirements including presentation of your project’s outcomes at the Learning Grants 2009-2010 luncheon to be held in April 2010. At this event, faculty, ASPEC and students from each project will share highlights of their projects with all in attendance.

The Committee will evaluate all submitted proposals based upon how well each project can achieve in some way the mission statement of the program:

It is our hope that Eckerd College ASPEC/Faculty Development grants provide an intergenerational, experiential education where learning occurs through a cycle of action and reflection as students work with faculty and ASPEC members through a process of applying what they are learning to community problems and, at the same time, reflecting upon their experience as they seek to achieve real objectives for the community at large and deeper understanding and skills for themselves.

A proposal form is linked below to guide applicants with their submission. Feel free to adapt this form to your own format as long as all the requested information is included with your proposal.

ASPEC Faculty Learning Grants Proposal Form