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2014/2015  BA-BINBU1008U  Corporate Communication

English Title
Corporate Communication

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Course period Second Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in International Business
Course coordinator
  • Lisbet Pals Svendsen - MSC
Co-lecturer: Margrethe Smedegaard Mondal, Department of International Business Communication, mm.ibc@cbs.dk
Co-lecturer: Ahmad Zaki Faizi, Department of International Business Communication azf.ibc@cbs.dk
Main academic disciplines
  • Communication
Last updated on 03-07-2014
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 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.
Examination
Corporate Communication:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Oral exam based on written product

In order to participate in the oral exam, the written product must be handed in before the oral exam; by the set deadline. The grade is based on an overall assessment of the written product and the individual oral performance.
Individual or group exam Individual
Individual oral 20 minutes examination based on a written group project (4-6 students) of maximum 30 pages. The grade is based both on the written report and on the oral performance.
Size of written product Max. 30 pages
Assignment type Project
Duration
Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
20 min. per student, including examiners' discussion of grade, and informing plus explaining the grade
Preparation time No preparation
Grading scale 7-step scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period December/January and Winter Term, the regular exam takes place in December. The make-up and re-examination takes place in January.
Make-up exam/re-exam
Another examination form
The make-up and re-examination is an individual 72-hour home assignment of max. 10 standard pages, assessed by one internal examiner.
Description of the exam procedure
Individual oral 20 minutes examination based on a written group project (4-6 students) of max. 30 standard pages. The grade is based both on the written report and on the oral performance.

Students may bring their own laptop with e.g. a PowerPoint presentation for the oral exam; this is optional and not a requirement.

Declaration of Authorship (available on E-campus) must be included in the group project.
Course content and structure
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, discursive, 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 as well as interpersonal communication theory and practical exercises to allow the individual students to develop their strategic communicative competence by making informed choices from the various corporate communication and interpersonal communication 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, e.g. 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.

ICT will be used as a tool to support the learning and knowledge sharing processes through collaboration, as research shows that particularly for communications-related subjects, collaboration works toward harnessing student knowledge
Teaching methods
Teaching methods 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, tutorials, 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
Student workload
Lecture hours 42 hours
Tutorial 5 hours
Preparation for class 84 hours
Writing of 30 pages group project plus preparation for oral exam 94 hours
Expected literature

Course literature:

  • Cornelissen, Joop (2011): Corporate Communication, A Guide to Theory and Practice. (3rd ed., Sage Publishing).
  • Solomon, Denise & Jennifer Theiss (2013): Interpersonal Communication, Putting Theory into Practice (1st ed., Routledge).


Supplementary reading (on ICT platform) - examples:

  • Huczynski, Andrzej A. & Buchanan, David A. (2007): Organizational Behaviour (UK: FT Prentice Hall) – Chapter Six: Communication
  • Mondahl & Svendsen (2003): Mastering Oral Communication (Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press) – Chapter Four: Reception
  • 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 and other materials are subject to replacement by newer and/or other materials.

Last updated on 03-07-2014