1 June: UM symposium on Cultural Diversity

In the year that Universiteit Maastricht celebrates its 30th birthday, a special chair on Cultural Diversity, named after Geert Hofstede, will be installed.

On 1 June 2006, during a symposium on Cultural Diversity, professor Mark. F. Peterson will be appointed as the first chair holder on the Geert Hofstede Chair on Cultural Diversity.

Peterson, Internet Coast Adams Professor of Management and International Business at Florida Atlantic University, published frequently about the influence of cultures and international relations in the management style of organizations.

The theme of the symposium is “Clashing or Crossing Cultures”, which includes a state of the disciplines programme with six presentations on cultural diversity from the UM faculty perspective as well as a panel discussion with prominent speakers. There is also a special morning programme for pupils at secondary schools in the Maastricht area covering the same theme. During the programme for these pupils, topics such as dating and freedom of press will be covered in workshops.

Prof.dr. Geert Hofstede, emeritus Professor of Organizational Anthropology and International Management at the Faculty of Economics & Business Administration / Universiteit Maastricht Business School is internationally the most cited professor among Dutch economists.

This was shown in the annual ESB citation index, which was recently published. This year’s index focuses on the top-30 citations over the period 1999 – 2003. With 3240 citations, Hofstede’s work in the field of organizational culture leaves other economists far behind.

From 1985, until his retirement in 1993, Hofstede was a professor at the Faculty of Economics & Business Administration of Universiteit Maastricht. His book ‘Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind’, first published in 1991 and in 2005 republished in a completely revised edition, is regarded as the standard book for social economic sciences.

Source: University of Maastricht, 26 April 2006