Overview
Aims
1. Introduce students to the key concepts, theories, and practices of intercultural business communication.
2.Help students learn how to apply those concepts and theories to understanding and critically analyzing how cultural difference affect business communication and practices.
3. Raise students’ self-awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses in intercultural communication.
4.Develop effective intercultural communication skills in business.
Course contents
1. The Process of Communication. Models of Communication. Communication postulates
2. Definitions of culture. Models of culture. Edward T. Hall’s cultural factors
3. Trompenaars and HampdenTurner’s seven dimensions of culture
4. Hofstede’s 6 cultural dimensions
5. Business communication. Forms and networks
6. Introduction to oral communication. Verbal s non-verbal communication
7. Socialising in business. Telephoning. Business interviews
8. Business meetings. Presentations and oral reports
9. Negotiations techniques and strategies
10. Characteristics of written business communication
11. Business letters. Notes and memos
12. Employment correspondence
13. Business reports
14. Business contracts
Learning outcomes
By the end of the course, students will be able to
1. use effectively the conceptual and theoretical framework to investigate cultural encounters (in a business setting)
1.1 undestand and apply research methods specific to intercultural business communication
1.2 understands complex cultural phenomena in a business context
1.3 apply the optimal research method so as to analyse a complex cultural phenomenon in business settings
1.4 elaborate and present an interdisciplinary research paper, resorting to research methods from humanities and social sciences
Assessment
1. Elaboration of a practice-based research paper in the field of intercultural business communication