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2010/2011  BA-ICC  Intercultural Corporate Communication

English Title
Intercultural Corporate Communication

Course Information

Language English
Point 7,5 ECTS (225 SAT)
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Course Period Autumn
Time Table Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Study Board
Study Board for BSc in International Business
Course Coordinator
Margrethe Smedegaard MondahlLisbet Pals Svendsen
Main Category of the Course
  • Communication
Last updated on 29 maj 2012
Learning Objectives
After having followed the course, the students will be able to:
  • Make an informed selection and comparison of the relevant theories and concepts in relation to intercultural corporate communication;
  • Compare the main culture and communication models and account for their advantages and drawbacks in the given situation;
  • Apply the theories and models chosen to the case(s) in point in the exam paper;
  • Analyze, interpret and explain situations and practices making use of the appropriate language register in the given situation;
  • Reflect on personal competences as stakeholders in an internationally oriented corporation, acquired in terms of the knowledge and skills required to communicate with people from different cultures.
Assessment Oral with Written Assignment
Marking Scale 7-step scale
Censorship Internal examiners
Exam Period December/January
Individual oral 20 minutes examination based on a written group project (4-6 students) of maximum 25 pages. Students may bring their own laptop with e.g. a PowerPoint presentation for the oral exam; this is optional and not a requirement.
Examination
Prerequisites for Attending the Exam
Course Content

In a corporate context, strategies for good communication may be laid out, but if the personal competencies of the individuals who are supposed to make the strategies materialize into real communication are lacking, there will be a gap between corporate and stakeholder expectations and what is actually being communicated.
The course rests on the viewpoint that communication is primarily a personal competence; if, in a corporate context, an individual is unable to make the proper linguistic, discoursive, cultural, pragmatic and strategic choices, the intended message will not be communicated; this goes for both written and spoken communication.
Therefore the course will be balancing corporate communication theory and practical exercises with elements of theory and practice that allow the individual students to develop their strategic communicative competence by making informed choices from the various language-related topics dealt with in the course. The course will also address the special role of English as a business lingua franca, which has implications for both native and non-native users of English.
The course will be drawing upon a number of business dilemmas and cases, preferably real-time cases, which will allow students to follow current development in the media of economic, financial and business-related interest and draw on different types of media for input in terms of vocabulary, analytical assignments etc.

Teaching Methods
The teaching methods used will vary, depending on the task at hand. The main components will be lectures by the teachers and guest lecturers, (student) presentations, reflecting teams, analytical exercises, case study discussions, negotiation and/or mediation exercises, symposiums, written assignments relating to the case(s) used etc.

The students will be encouraged to actively use a synchronous ICT platform for sharing ideas, information, documents etc to support and enhance learning through collaborative activities. An additional purpose of the use of ICT is to allow students to monitor their own learning progress and to develop their learning capabilities for use beyond the course.
Literature

Course literature:
Argenti, Paul A. (2007): Corporate Communication (4th ed.) (Singapore: McGraw-Hill International Edition)
Mondahl, Margrethe Smedegaard; Svendsen, Lisbet Pals & Rasmussen, Jonas (2010): Professional Oral Communication in English. (Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press)

Supplementary reading (on CBSlearn) - examples:
Huczynski, Andrzej A. & Buchanan, David A. (2007): Organizational Behaviour (UK: FT Prentice Hall) – Chapter Six: Communication
Schneider, Susan & Barsoux, Jean-Louis (2003): Managing across Cultures (UK: FT Prentice Hall) – Chapter Three: Interacting Spheres of Culture
Scollon & Scollon: Intepersonal Politeness and Power
Yule, George (1996): Pragmatics (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press) – Chapter Seven: Politeness and Interaction (Face)
Other relevant materials, including internet links to text, video materials etc.
All articles are subject to replacement by newer and/or other materials.