Academy

What Is X-Culture?

Main idea

We place trainees in international virtual teams with peers from around the world: 7 people per team, each in a different country.

They solve real-life problems presented by real-life companies.

In the process, they learn about other countries and cultures, learn how to collaborate online, work as a team, and solve business challenges.

Every semester, about 5,000 people from over 40 countries take part in X-Culture. As of 2018, over 45,000 students have participated in X-Culture, and about 5,000 more are added every semester.

Most participants are MBA students from over 150 universities. However, the project is also open to non-student professionals who seek to learn new skills, expand their professional network, and improve their resume.

Following the popularity of the project with universities, we have been receiving numerous inquiries from non-students who also want to participate in X-Culture; who also want an opportunity to gain international experience, learn new skills, and improve their resume.

Since 2016, non-student professionals ages 18-45 can participate in X-Culture.

The non-student professionals receive the same training and complete the same project as the MBA/university students, they work in international teams, develop their solutions to real-life problems presented by real companies, meet the company CEOs in live webinars, write and present their reports, and receive the same certificates and recommendation letters.

In 2018, we also opened our training project to pre-college teens, although the younger participants complete a simplified version of the task suitable for their age.

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  1. International experience

    Complete a project in a team where each team member is from a different country.

  2. Business consulting experience

    Solve a real business challenge for a real client company.

  3. Expand professional network

    Meet company CEOs, university professors, and professional peers from around the world.

  4. New knowledge and skills

    Training in cross-cultural communication, online collaboration tools, international business, business writing and presentation, and more.

  5. Cultural intelligence

    A documented significant improvement in cultural intelligence from before to after the project.

  6. X-Culture Certificate and Recommendation Letter

    You learn and grow. We provide a documented proof.

  7. Stronger resume and improved chances of a new starts

    X-Culture experience makes you a much stronger applicant for a stipend or job.

Benefits for Trainees

For Students

Benefits for Teachers

Team power
  1. Enhanced student learning

    Compared to control groups (no X-Culture), students in courses with X-Culture do better on exams.

  2. Improved teaching evaluations

    Compared to control groups, students who have X-Culture give their teachers higher evaluations.

  3. Research and publications

    X-Culture is a great research platformthat provides high-quality multi-source multi-level longitudinal data. If you are interested in scholarly work, X-Culture will provide you the necessary data.

  4. Professional network

    Meet the hundreds of educators and business professionals on the X-Culture team.

  5. Documented proof of your achievement:

    X-Culture Global Educator Certificateand support letters sent to your principal or department head. You do a great job; we make sure the world knows about it.

  6. X-Culture certificates for your students

    Students get X-Culture International Business certificates, which help with college and job applications.

  7. Helps us make education more interactive and experiential

    The workplace is becoming global. Learning how to work across cultures in classroom is like learning to swim on a football field. X-Culture is developing new teaching methods for the new today – and you can be part of our team.

How It Works

main idea

Main idea

  • The students work in international teams with peers from around the world.
  • They solve real-life problems presented by real-life companies.
  • In the process, they learn about other countries and cultures, learn how to collaborate online and work as a team.

Step-by-step

  1. Students can enroll individually (by parents if younger than 16) or as a group (3 or more) by a teacher or parent instructor
  2. We provide age-appropriate training on online collaboration tools, teamwork, problem solving, and report writing.
  3. We put them in global virtual teams.
  4. Real companies present real business challenges and the students try to solve them.
  5. We monitor student performance and send weekly performance review to students/teachers/parent instructors.
  6. The international teams prepare their reports and present them to their client companies.
  7. The students receive X-Culture Global Collaboration Certificates.
  8. The teachers/parent instructors receive X-Culture Global Educator Certificates.
  9. The best students are invited to the X-Culture Symposium.
  10. The data are used for research and publishing – and you are welcome to join as a co-author.
Step by step

Program Design

Theoretical Training
(4 weeks)

Diary
  • Cross-cultural communication.
  • Problem solving in teams.
  • Team leadership.
  • Online collaboration tools.
  • The art of writing winning business proposals.
  • Plagiarism and academic referencing.
  • The basics of International Business.

Practical Training
(8 weeks)

Desktop
  • The trainees are placed in international teams.
  • 6 people per team, each in a different country.
  • Real companies present real international business challenges.
  • Real time zones, real cultural differences.
  • All communication online and in English.
  • Live webinars with the client CEOs.

Post-Project Reflections
(4 weeks)

Certificates
  • Trainees present their work at an online teleconference.
  • Trainees receive X-Culture International Business Certificates and Recommendation letters.
  • Best students are invited to the X-Culture Symposium.

Quick Facts

  1. X-Culture launched: 2010
  2. Number of students per session: 5,000
  3. Number of universities per session: 130
  4. Number of countries by student residence: 40
  5. Number of countries by student nationality: 75
  6. Total number of X-Culture graduates since 2010: 41,200
  7. Total number of universities since 2010: 271
  8. Total number of university professors since 2010: 508
  9. Notable clients: Mercedes-Benz, Louis Vuitton, Home Depot, Hard Rock International, JCB
  10. Number of clients per session: 5-10
  11. Open for non-student adults: 2015
  12. Open for pre-college youths: 2018

Testimonials

It was an eye-opener! I learned a lot about other cultures and business and enjoyed the experience!
Ninette, Spain
It a was a challenge to work with students from different countries. But it was a great opportunity to learn how to deal with different cultures.
Visar, India
I really feel I learned a lot about working with people from other countries. I am now closer to my dream of getting a job in a global company.
Shu, China
I was in a job interview and it was going nowhere. Then I mentioned my X-Culture experience and the interviewer’s eye lit up.
I got the job.
Matthew, USA
I was applying to universities in the U.S. and my X-Culture experience helped set me apart from other applicants. Nobody had such experience. I really think it helped me get the stipend.
Guilia, Italy
It has been two years since I participated in X-Culture. It was hard to work with people from different countries. Looking back though, it was the best traing for my career.
David, Canada

Participation Fee

Individual

$195
per individual participant

Group

$495
3+ trainees enrolling as a group. *

* Applicants can enroll as a group as long they the group has 3 or more trainees and the group has a group leader (either an external more experienced colleague or the most experienced group member). The trainees applying as a group will still be placed on different international teams, so that each group member will be working with different people from other countries. However, it is expected that the group members will interact frequently, exchange experiences in their international teams, comment on each other’s ideas and support each other otherwise.

X-Culture Academy Stipends

  • We believe that everyone should be able to receive X-Culture training, regardless of financial standing. Therefore, low-income applicants can apply for the X-Culture Academy Stipend.
  • The participation stipend is $150 for individuals and $300 for groups of 3+ students led by a teacher or parent instructor.
  • Stipend will be applied directly to the participation fee. Thus, the stipend recipients will pay only $45 (Individual) or $195 (Group of 3+) program participation fee for the entire four-month program.
  • The number of the X-Culture Academy Stipends is limited.
  • The stipends are generally reserved for participants from low-income families (combined family income < $10,000 per year) or other special-needs applicants and are contingent upon the applicant’s excellent performance on the Theory test.

Dates for the 2018-2 Session

Session dates:

2018-2: September 3 - December 30, 2018
Application: Start processing applications May 1
Application deadline: August 20

2019-1: January 28 - May 31, 2019
Application: Closed, Start processing applications September 1
Application deadline: January 1

2019-2: June 3 - August 30, 2019
Application: Closed, Start processing applications February 1
Application deadline: May 1

Hurry up!

Application deadline: (2018-2)

August 20

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X-Culture Corporate Partners