Case studies
The case studies below are in PDF-format. If you are a consultant or facilitator and you are interested in sharing your case study - contact us.
Strenghtening Company identity across Three different national sites
Another case by Bjørn Z. Ekelund presenting application of the Diversity Icebreaker and the trialoguing exercise in a cross-cultural setting. The organization described in the case operated in three different national locations, but the tasks and processes were highly interdependent across this sites. This created tensions and communicational problem, related to cross-cultural issues. First, a series of local workshop was organized in order to prep the groups; later a common session with the Diversity Icebreaker and trialoguing was conducted with 90 persons in one room at the same time.
Using the Diversity Icebreaker questionnaire in on-to-one intercultural trainings with expats.
In this case study Marianna A. Crestani (Synergy Plus Training & Consulting) shares her experience with using the Diversity Icebreaker in an individual work with expatriates. She presents her unique approach step by step and shows how to use the Red, Blue and Green categories to discuss differences. By introducing the tricolour diversity model, she prepares her clients to face a much more complex world of cultural differences. Also available is a Power Point presentation and a recap table, which can be used along with the case study.
Diversity Philosophy – Building organizational culture across different cultures
Bjørn Z. Ekelund (Human Factors AS) describes a team-building session in an organization characterized by a blend of two work cultures and with members from more than ten different countries. The case gives an overview of a one day seminar, organized every half a year as a part of introductory program for new employees, with group activities and discussion themes aiming to build a shared understanding and acknowledgement of diversity. The Red, Blue and Green model is used as a framework to approach more complex types of diversity and as a starting point in building the Third Culture in the organisation.
Integrating and opening to diversity - engineering students.
With this case study Kirsten Wächter (Tailored Trainings) highlights the importance of training in interpersonal and managerial skills among groups often with lack thereof. She shares her experience with using the classical DI seminar with engineering students with different cultural backgrounds and gives examples of a follow-up exercises build on the Diversity Icebreaker.
Knowledge creation in large groups. Use of DI combined with cross-professional checklist
A case by Bjørn Z. Ekelund describing how the Diversity Icebreaker is used together with another tool, the Cooperation Checklist, in a group of 140 young engineers during an annually organized collective learning workshop. The participants were divided into smaller groups and discussed different groups of challenges and improvements in the area of interdisciplinary work.
Diversity Icebreaker applied in a prejudice-reduction training in NGO
Ayşe Betül Çelik, Associate Professor at Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, describes how she applied the Diversity Icebreaker in a prejudice-reduction training in a women’s NGO. The goals of the session were: to facilitate discussion about diversity; to realize that while the group shares a common identity (gender), they also have personal differences; and to help the participants understand that their identities are shaped not only by how they perceive themselves, but also by how the other see them.
