INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION FOR BUSINESS AND MARKETING PURPOSES - 2019/0

Module Overview

The module aims to develop students’ knowledge and understanding of theory and practice in the field of intercultural communication. It will present the theoretical frameworks that have been proposed for explaining and reconciling cultural differences in the multicultural workplace, and then focus on how (and to what extent) these frameworks can be used to facilitate successful interactions in international business environments. Students will be required to analyse intercultural interactions in real-life business settings through case studies, and will also reflect on how cultural awareness can be brought to different professional audiences through training activities such as simulations and presentations.

The assessment involves an individual critical essay on the theoretical frameworks and conceptual approaches to working with different levels of culture in the workplace, and a group presentation in which the students must demonstrate team working skills and cultural knowledge.

Module provider

School of Literature and Languages

Module Leader

JOHNSON Robert (Lit & Langs)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Defining culture and measuring its impact on international business


• Culture’s effect on individuals, teams and organisations


• How differences in communication style can lead to misunderstandings in the international workplace


• An overview of cross-cultural management theory: from the 1950s to the 2000s


• Taxonomies of cultural values: Hall, Hofstede, Trompenaars, Schwartz, GLOBE, Lewis


• Reconciling cultural dilemmas


• Limitations of the values dimension approach and alternative approaches


• Working in multicultural teams


• Face issues and dealing with conflict in the workplace


• Cross-cultural aspects of marketing across cultures


• Needs of the global (marketing) manager


• Cross-cultural training: the ins and outs


• Future directions

 

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Individual presentation (30%)

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate:

• their development in understanding of intercultural communication issues affecting people working in international business and multicultural environments


• their understanding of the range of ways that have been proposed to measure differences and cultural diversity in approaches to doing business across cultures


• their development of presentation, research and analytic skills

 

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

 

Mid-Semester 2000-word critical essay (70%)

End of semester group presentations (30%)

Alternative assessment

 

The alternative assessment to the end of semester group presentation is an individual presentation

 

Formative assessment and feedback

 

Verbal feedback in class plus written and/or oral feedback on project work.

 

Formative ‘feed forward’ is provided through seminar discussions and tutor feedback in seminars, including one-to-one or group tutorials focusing on assignment planning.

Module aims

• Develop students' knowledge and understanding of the historical development of the field of intercultural communication and cross-cultural management, as well as new developments in the field
• Develop students' appreciation of the challenges and complexities of dealing with culture in all its manifestations in international business and marketing settings
• Develop the ability to critically analyse and apply theoretical frameworks and discuss how (and to what extent) they can be used to facilitate successful interactions for those involved in managing and marketing across cultures
• Develop the ability to appraise case studies of real-world marketing and management scenarios, and suggest appropriate and effective ways of resolving any cross-cultural issues occurring
• Encourage students to reflect on their own cultural backgrounds and personal orientations, and how these might be used and perceived in future professional activities

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

 

• Develop students’ understanding of scholarship in intercultural communication and cross-cultural management


• Stimulate a critical approach to using established frameworks within the field of cross-cultural management and raise awareness of strengths and limitations of these frameworks


• Provide students with the opportunity to practice and develop professional research, presentation and consultancy skills

 

The learning and teaching methods include:

 

2 hour seminar x 11 weeks. In each session concepts, models and frameworks will be presented, discussed and applied. Case studies from a range of different sources and cultural contexts will be explored. Activities will be conducted at regular intervals to provide hands-on experiential learning opportunities and to maintain a practical orientation. Time will be allocated towards the middle of the semester to provide formative guidance to students on their individual assignment, and tutorials will be offered to each group to clarify expectations for the final presentations.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: CMCM008

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2019/0 academic year.