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An image to illustrate Leadership and management in intercultural contexts microcredential
If you’re working across cultures or leading international teams, this course will help you build confidence and capability as a global leader. You’ll explore the challenges of managing in international settings and develop the skills to lead effectively in diverse environments. You’ll hear from experienced leaders and academic experts, reflect on your own practice, and learn how to bring out the best in people from different backgrounds. Through real-world examples and interactive activities, you’ll examine how national culture, institutions, and identity shape leadership – and begin developing a global mindset for today’s interconnected world.
This course supports your development as a confident, effective leader or manager in international and intercultural environments. You’ll reflect on your own practice, engage with real-world challenges, and develop strategies for navigating cultural and institutional differences in global business.
You’ll study three main themes, organised into three units:
Unit 1: A cultural perspective
You’ll begin by exploring different ways of understanding culture and how it influences leadership and management. You’ll engage critically with a range of frameworks, using them as a starting point to develop your own insights into cultural variation. This unit encourages you to go beyond textbook definitions and think deeply about the complexities of cultural settings.
Unit 2: Institutions and the business environment
In this unit, you’ll examine how national business environments are shaped not only by culture but by institutional structures, such as labour markets, corporate governance, legal systems, and regulatory frameworks. You’ll compare how these elements vary across countries and consider how they impact leadership practice, organisational strategy, and business conduct.
Unit 3: Developing a global mindset
The final unit brings your learning into focus by encouraging you to apply insights to your own leadership context. You’ll reflect on your identity and leadership style, assess your strengths and development needs, and begin crafting a personal action plan to grow as an intercultural leader. You will also consider what it means to develop a global mindset – an increasingly essential capability in today’s connected world.
By the end of your learning, you’ll be able to:
By the end of this course, you’ll have the skills to lead and collaborate more effectively across cultures and national business environments. You’ll develop your cultural intelligence, improve your ability to build relationships and networks, and learn how to adapt your leadership style to local expectations.
You’ll also be able to think critically about your own leadership practice and apply new perspectives to real-world challenges. As part of the course, you’ll create a personal action plan to continue developing your global mindset and intercultural competence beyond the classroom.
The course will benefit managers, leaders, and individuals aspiring to leadership roles.
Additional contributions were made by Björn Claes, Fahri Karakas, Nceku Nyathi, Angela Lilley, and Fidele Mutwarasibo.
15 UK credits at postgraduate level from The Open University*. Academic credits are awarded on passing the final assessment. These will be at postgraduate level 7 of the Framework for Higher Education (England, Wales and Northern Ireland) / level 11 of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.
*Academic credit may be used towards selected OU qualifications. For more details, including eligible qualifications, visit Counting microcredentials towards OU qualifications. The credit awarded may also be used at another university, subject to the agreement of the receiving institution.
Course work includes:
You’ll take part in weekly tasks and discussions with co-learners to support and consolidate your learning. These activities and discussions build towards the assessment. Towards the end of the course, you’ll submit an assessment demonstrating the skills you’ve acquired. In this assessment, you will demonstrate how you have applied your learning to your own experiences and challenges, and create an action plan to support your continued learning. This will be marked and graded by subject matter experts and make up 100% of your final mark.
This 12-week course requires approximately 12.5 hours of self-paced learning per week, totalling around 150 hours for completion.
All learning materials, exercises and activities are delivered entirely online.
While certain content can be downloaded, some content is exclusively accessible online, requiring a reliable internet connection for viewing. Please consider this if you are travelling.
Leadership and management in intercultural contexts typically starts twice a year – in January and July. This page describes the microcredential that will begin in July 2026 and January 2027.
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
As this microcredential is at postgraduate level, you should preferably hold a UK undergraduate degree or equivalent qualification.
Please note
The course is delivered online and makes use of a variety of online resources. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet, you can contact us about the support that can be given to meet your needs.
To find out more about what kind of support and adjustments might be available, contact us or visit our disability support pages.
StartEndRegister byEngland fee
02 Jan 202730 Apr 202701 Jan 2027£950
We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.
If this course is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could ask your employer to sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees. Your sponsor just needs to complete a simple form to confirm how much they will be paying and we will invoice them.
The fee information provided here is valid for microcredentials starting in the 2026/27 academic year. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.
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