Ateneo’s cross cultural management: X-Culture Global Virtual Program

Last 12 to 19 July 2023, the X-Culture Global Symposium was held at Lublin, Poland, hosted by the Faculty of Economics at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University. Ateneo De Manila University was represented by three individuals who became the first and only Filipinos to attend X-Culture’s Global Business Symposium. Ateneo alumni (Batch ‘23) Timothy Paul Cantonjos and incoming freshman (Batch ‘27) Jacinda Rae Ania Ng participated as students in their respective undergraduate and academy divisions. Ms Mary Lou Cunanan is a faculty member and is the first and only Certified Master Faculty for X-Culture in the entire country. She teaches LAS 144.70 Cross Cultural Communications which incorporates X-Culture into the course. It is offered every semester, and this incorporation is one of the many efforts done by Ateneo's John Gokongwei School of Management to include globalization into their curriculum. 

X-Culture is a professional association dedicated to developing and disseminating knowledge about international business. Students are able to learn through experiences with real-life problems of real businesses given to them as the company challenge. They work on this challenge as a GVT or a global virtual team. Each member comes from a different country to contribute to the internationality of the project. The symposium has a similar structure; however, students will be able to meet in person to finalize and present their work. 

Throughout the duration of the Symposium, there were multiple events and schedules attended by the participants. 12 July marked the official welcome, with a reception held for all the participants. It consisted of welcome speeches from X-Culture’s Administrative Team and Maria Curie-Skłodowska University’s lead faculty. The following day, the festivities started! The welcome orientation took place with the introduction of ambassadors as well as a surprise campus tour. During the night, participants could opt to watch the jazz festival.

The next day, 14 July, the students had concurrent company site visits with their challenge company and a live Q&A with company executives. Afterward, participants had lectures on the history of Lublin and a panel discussion on business in Poland. On Saturday, 15 July, participants got to learn more about Lublin by visiting some local tourist attractions. First on the list was the State Museum at Majdanek, which depicted the tough times during the Nazi Regime’s control in Poland. Second was a Lublin City Tour; participants strolled through the bustling and lively Old Town. The Open Air Museum was the next stop, which preserved rural Polish life, and to cap off the day, a barbecue party was held at the botanical gardens. Surrounded by nature and blooming flowers, participants could enjoy Polish staples and barbecued dishes alongside each other.

Sunday was deemed an Intramural Day. Students signed up for various sports to play as a way to get to know each other and to have some fun in the sun. They also learned how to get their feet moving in Polish by learning traditional folk dancing. The subsequent activities required the students to get down into the hard work. On Monday, 17 July, students had their first presentation, where they presented to faculty members and got feedback. This helped them in preparing for their final presentation in front of the company executives.

X-Culture also had various concurrent sessions after the first presentations were concluded. Ms Mary Lou Cunanan and Timothy Paul Cantonjos once again showed excellence in their field by presenting The Rise of Asia: Why You Should Conduct Business in Asia. Finally, on 18 July, students conducted their final presentation to the company executives in the morning. Throughout the afternoon, the Bank of New York Mellon conducted a design thinking workshop for the participants. To wrap up a week of fun and exciting activities, a gala was held at the Victoria Hotel to commemorate the efforts of all the participants.