Designing a course in intercultural business communication

For this post, I review an article by Sokuvitz (2002) discussing the process he followed in designing a course in intercultural business communication. This will be helpful for the course I’m creating in Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace. Although the course developed by the author was at the graduate (MBA) level, I found some good ideas for the community college/undergraduate-level course I am creating, given the similarity in goals.

The author argues that strategic business communication in the global marketplace requires competency in interacting across cultural, gender, and ethnic barriers. His intent, then, was to develop a course that “explores the impact of cultural variation and identity on business communication in a global setting” (Sokuvitz, 2002, p. 56).

Sokuvitz (2002) provides a rationale for the course stemming from the internationalization of business, resulting in new tensions that business leaders must manage. The growth of multinational companies is being driven by globalization and the economic advantages of off-shoring. At the same time, otherwise competent business leaders thrust into managing multicultural teams face the risk of failure without the needed cultural intelligence. In this environment, organizations, leaders, and employees must understand different customs and customers, manage and collaborate with a culturally diverse workforce, and learn how to use computer communication in culturally sensitive ways to connect employees in different countries.

To develop the course, the author first conducted focus groups of students in the MBA program at Babson College. Findings affirmed students’ interest in a course to address issues such as cultural stereotyping, how to engage with other cultures without shedding their own cultural identity, and the need to gain understanding of business communication behaviors practiced in other countries and by other cultures. Students also wanted to practice skills that would help them become better intercultural business communicators. Students in the course planning focus group indicated “awareness of the increasingly global nature of business affairs as the primary reason that effective leaders should understand not only others’ cultures but also the interaction between culture, world view, and what it means to be a successful leader” (Sokuvitz, 2002, pp. 61-62).

The writer also conducted a benchmarking review of cross-cultural business communication programs offered in graduate management programs in 14 U.S. schools, including Boston College, Harvard Business School, Dartmouth College and Duke University. He also conducted interviews with faculty. The results revealed different emphasis in programs, as suggested by course titles such as “Talking Business: Negotiation and Communication in Cross-Cultural Perspective,” “International Communications and Media Networks,” “Managing Across Cultures,” and “Cross-Cultural Communication and Business.” The final phase in the course development process entailed six weeks of research and reading by the author to update himself on latest scholarship in the field.

The result of this process was a course in “Global Business Communication” that included objectives such as “to provide theoretical and ethical frameworks for understanding the role of culture, gender, and ethnicity in global business communication” and “to explore best practices in cross-cultural business communication which improves one’s effectiveness as a leader” (Sokuvitz, 2002, p. 65).

The teaching methods selected for this course were lecture-discussion, case analyses, simulations, and experiential exercises. Evaluation was in the form of class exams, class participation, individual papers and presentations, and team papers and presentations. To provide currency to the course and link it to the real world of business, each week students were required to select and present media clippings on business and culture to the class, from papers and magazines such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. Each student also had to produce a “Survival Guide” on how to conduct business in a foreign country of their choice, applying intercultural communication principles learned in the course, and provide a copy of the guide to the whole class.

Below are some lessons from this paper that can help in the design of similar courses:

• A course in intercultural communication in a business context can address topics such as globalization and how to engage with multicultural markets and diverse employees, stereotyping, cultural identity, and best practices in intercultural business communication.
• The course can also examine the use of media technology to connect global workplaces and the impact of culture on this process.
• Research (asking students) can be helpful in course design, if this is possible. 
• Research by the course designer can include evaluating similar programs offered by other institutions, in addition to reading the latest literature in the field. 
• Course designers should consider including theory and ethics as part of the course. 
• Course designers should consider including a practical focus to the course, with opportunities to develop a useable end product. 
• Use of news stories about business and culture can help connect classroom teaching to the real world.

References

Sokuvitz, S. (2002). Global business communication: The design and delivery of MBA instruction (Focus on intercultural communication). Business Communication Quarterly, 65(1), 56-69.