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2019/2020  KAN-CIBCO1008U  Organisational Communication II: Cultures and Identities

English Title
Organisational Communication II: Cultures and Identities

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Full Degree Master
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course Spring
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for Master of Arts (MA) in International Business Communication in English
Course coordinator
  • Alex Klinge - Department of Management, Society and Communication (MSC)
Main academic disciplines
  • Globalisation and international business
  • Intercultural studies
  • Communication
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 03-04-2020

Relevant links
Learning objectives
The Students should be able to:
  • Understand and reflect on process-based theories of identity, identity formation, and identity threat
  • Understand and reflect on symbolic definitions of culture and (and in contrast to) instrumental definitions of culture
  • Identify the ways in which national identities and numerical cultures come into being and can be used to coordinate and control people and social processes
  • Analyze and explain the ways that cultural meaning is carried by storytelling and material things
  • Reflect on the ways that an understanding of process-based theories of identity, and of symbolic culture allows one to describe a business and diagnose problems a business might experience
Examination
Organizational Communication II: Cultures and Identities:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Size of written product Max. 10 pages
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration Written product to be submitted on specified date and time.
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) Internal examiner and external examiner
Exam period Summer
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

This course makes use of work from Anthropology, Communication, and Organization Studies to present students with interpretive theories of culture and identity in order that they may understand the human predicament inside and outside of a business environment. This material is offered in contrast to more quantitative and instrumental understandings of business and organizations and is meant to challenge students taken for granted assumptions about how people generally and businesses a bit more narrowly, work.

Description of the teaching methods
The course combines lectures, discussion, exercises in groups, and presentations. In order to relate the course to business practices, a part of the course will be based on case studies.
Feedback during the teaching period
Office hours, class feedback and peer feedback, tutorial sessions
Student workload
lectures 14 hours
preparation for lectures 56 hours
seminars 16 hours
preparation for seminars 32 hours
group assignments and feedback 60 hours
exam incl preparation 30 hours
Expected literature

A selection of articles including for example:

 

Boje, D. (1991) The Storytelling Organization: a study of Study performance in an office supply firm. Administrative Science Quarterly, 36, 106-126.

Gabriel, Y. (1991) Turning facts into stories and stories into facts: a hermeneutic exploration of organizational folklore, Human Relations, 44 (8), 857-875.

Ooi, C.S. (2007) Un-packing packaged cultures: Chinese-ness in International Business East Asia: An International Quarterly, 24(2): 111-128.

Søderberg, A.M. and Holden, N. (2002) Rethinking Cross Cultural Management in a Globalizing Business World. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2 (1): 103-121.

Sveningsson, S. and Alvesson, M. (2003) Managing managerial identities: Organizational fragmentation, discourse and identity struggle. Human Relations 56 (10) 1-31.

Vaara, E. (2003) The International Match: Metaphors as vehicles of social identity building in cross-border mergers. Human Relations, 56(4): 419-451
Last updated on 03-04-2020