Kursübersicht "Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace(B 07a)"

Lehrende(r) der Kurseinheit:

Lernergebnisse/Kompetenzen

What does culture have to do with business? Despite of current discourses on the decline of regional cultures and the rise of a homogenous global culture, it seems that more than ever before it is referred to culture when something goes wrong or misunderstandings occur in business interactions. Although culture is soft and not measurable, it still has an undeniably important impact business communication. Due to the internationalization of companies and the mobility of individuals communication has grown increasingly complex. While most business today is conducted in English, this language is no longer the sole domain of native speakers. People of widely different cultural and linguistic backgrounds are dealing with each other either face to face or over long distances without ever meeting personally. The success of companies largely depends on managers’ ability to foster international relations and to maintain cross-national networks. Intercultural communication skills as well as interdiscourse communication skills are basic requirements. This course is meant to strengthen students’ ability to gain strategic advantages over their competitors in an increasingly diversified business environment.

Inhalte

Intercultural communicative competence is a combination of knowledge, attitudes and skills. Students will be enabled to reflect on their own culture, its values and communication styles in order to identify and understand different patterns of communication in intercultural contexts. They will be encouraged to embrace cultural diversity as an opportunity rather than an impediment and to turn working with international and intercultural teams into an advantage. They will master complex communicative tasks such as chairing international meetings and resolving problems arising from critical incidents. Students will be enabled to critically reflect on current models of culture and notions of group membership and identity. They will draw on the main theories of intercultural communication and discuss generalizations and oversimplifications. Identifying relevant categories for interpersonal negotiation will be a central aim in transferring this knowledge to concrete managerial challenges. Topics will be:

Conceptualizing culture in applied sciences
The role of language in intercultural business communication
Verbal and nonverbal aspects in intercultural communication
Working in intercultural (virtual) teams
Building trust in long-distance communication
The influence of business structures and corporate culture on intercultural business communication

Lehrformen

Analysis of video case studies, exercises to enable self-reflection and stereotypes, simulation of business communication situations, text discussions

Teilnahmevoraussetzungen

Formale: Eingeschriebene(r) Studierende(r) am Fachbereich WiSo des RheinAhrCampus für den Master-Studiengang.

Inhaltliche: Students must be able to communicate freely in an English-speaking environment.

Prüfungsformen

Continuous Assessment on the basis of classroom work (e.g. chairing a meeting, managing an intercultural team, solving problems in e-communication and phonecalls), student interview project (presentation and essay)

Art	Datum der Leistungserbringung	Prüfungsanmeldung
(bitte Zeitangabe ...Min)		Ende 1. HS*	Ende 2. HS*	individuelles Datum
Klausur: ...Min.	wird vom PA festgelegt*			bei Klausur nicht möglich
Test: ...Min.	tt.mm.jj			tt.mm.jj
Präsentation	tt.mm.jj			tt.mm.jj
Hausarbeit	tt.mm.jj			tt.mm.jj
Andere	tt.mm.jj			tt.mm.jj

* Prüfungsamt Termine

Bewertung

Die Prüfungsleistung ist erbracht und ECTS-Punkte werden zuerkannt, wenn die Prüfungsleistung zu der gewählten Kurseinheit des Gesamtmoduls bestanden worden ist. Die entsprechende Bewertung ergibt dann die Modulnote.

Literaturhinweise

Spencer-Oatey, H. and Franklin P. 2009: Intercultural interaction: a multidisciplinary approach to intercultural communication. Basingstoke [u.a.]: Palgrave Macmillan
Neuliep, J. W. 2009: Intercultural communication: a contextual approach. Fourth Edition. Los Angeles [u.a.]: Sage.
Tuleja, E. A. 2009: Intercultural communication for business. Mason: South-Western.
Piller, I. 2011: Intercultural communication. A Critical Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Varner,Iris /Beamer, Linda 2011: Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace. Mcgraw-Hill Higher Education