As part of the Erasmus+ KA2 CBHE project, “Development of Soft Skills in Universities of Armenia and Georgia in Line with the Requirements of the 21st Century Labor Market” (DeSIRe), Vanadzor State University (VSU) hosted a series of seminars on May 12 and 13, 2025. These seminars followed a training session held at Dresden University of Technology (TUD), Germany, and focused on MOOC 2: “Understanding and Developing Organizational Culture.”

The training was conducted by Dr. Gohar Dokholyan, Co-coordinator of the DeSIRe Project, and aimed to enhance the knowledge and skills of 15 students and 20 staff members of VSU in the field of organizational culture.

The seminars primarily focused on Geert Hofstede’s six dimensions of organizational culture—individualism, masculinity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence. The concept of national culture was presented as a foundational element for understanding and developing effective organizational culture.

An interactive Kahoot game centered on the dimension of “individualism vs. collectivism” engaged participants and reinforced key concepts.

In addition to Hofstede’s model, participants were introduced to Johnson and Scholes’ Cultural Web, which highlights critical elements for fostering a healthy organizational culture. The session also included a segment on distinguishing between managerial and leadership qualities. Participants took part in an interactive activity where they sorted and categorized various traits, placing them under “Managerial” or “Leadership” columns.

To conclude the seminar, Dr. Dokholyan invited participants to reflect on organizational values by writing down three qualities they consider essential for a successful organization and three they would use to strengthen their own organizational culture. Using the digital tool Mentimeter, a word cloud was generated from the responses, offering a visual summary and a starting point for further reflection.