International Business Culture and Communication, Theoretical Perspective 5 points Syllabus : International Business Culture and Communication, Theoretical Perspective Course code : FEUC17 Responsibility : The Department of Business Administration Subject : Business Administration Level : C (advanced) Course credit : 7.5 ECTS / 5 points Field of education : Social Sciences 1. Resolution to arrange the course The course is established by the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Umeå and the syllabus was confirmed by the Board of Business Administration on May 28 2004. 2. Objectives The business environment is truly international or global. Export and import activities are increasing and foreign direct investment activities have grown over the decades. Functional areas such as procurement, marketing as well as product development and human resource management need to account for cultural differences and cross-cultural relations. This course is designed to enhance the student's understanding of business cultures and cross-cultural communication and develop the student's cross- cultural analytical skills. 3. Content Cultural studies and cross-cultural communication is a vast area where many theoretical disciplines contribute. The course focuses on business culture and cross-cultural communication in business contexts rather than on general country or regional cultural issues. Student participation and the use of cases, and student-led project work is an essential component of the course. The course is devoted to the study and analysis of business culture. This includes the study of cultural components prevalent in business and on analytical approaches to define cultural differences and cultural indicators. Marketing, organizational behavior, decision-making and business negotiations will be highlighted as areas where cultural awareness is needed. The course concludes with communication from a cross-cultural perspective. 4. Prerequisites Courses in Business Administration 60 ECTS credits. Students are required to have a minimum of 30 points from the A- and B- level courses in Business Administration for entry to the course. Exchange students require a minimum of 40 points from the A-and B-level courses in Business Administration for entry to the course. It corresponds to 60 ECTS-credits in basic courses in Business Administration (Management, Accounting, Financial Investments, Cost Accounting and Marketing.) 5. Teaching methods The course will include traditional lectures, case-seminars, assignments to be carried out and solved together with students and project assignments. An important aspect of the course is for the students to search for information outside the required reading in connection to these assignments. The students will be expected to take an active part in all parts of the course. 6. Examination Attendance at lectures, seminars, study visits and a written project report are required. Written exam and project report will be graded. The following grading system will be used: Pass with distinction (Väl godkänd, Vg 75% or more), Pass (Godkänd, G 50% or more), Fail (Underkänd, U less than 50%). For exchange students the ECTS grading scale will be used upon request. When a student has failed an examination on two occasions, he or she has a right to have another grading teacher. A written request should be handed to the director of studies no later than two weeks before the next examination opportunity. Grades on the course are awarded when students have passed all examinations and compulsory course elements. 7 Utilization et cetera The course language will be English. The course is aimed for students within the exchange programme at Umeå School of Business and Economics. The number of students on the course is limited. If the exchange students do not take all places on the course it might be possible for other students to be admitted to the course. 8 Readings and other material Required reading: Beamer, Linda. & Varner Iris.: Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace, 3:nd ed., McGraw-Hill (2005). ISBN: 0072829222 Articles: Brislin, Richard W and Lavoi Kim (2003) "Cultural diversity in peoples’ understanding and uses of time". Applied psychology: An International Review, 52(3): 363-382 Brown, P. M and Turner, J. C. (2002) "The role of theories in the formation of stereotype content". In Craig, McGarty, Yzerbyt, Vincent, and Spears, Russell, Eds, Stereotypes as explanations [electronic resource]: The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups, Ebrary, London ; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002, http://site.ebrary.com Goodin, Robert E, and Geoffrey Brennan (2001) "Bargaining over beliefs". Ethics, 111, 256-277 Keesing (1994) "Theories of culture revisited". In Borofsky, Robert Ed, Assessing cultural anthropology, New York ; London : McGraw-Hill , pages 301-312 Articles & Cases; Studentexpeditionen. Supplementary reading: Moran, R. T. & Stripp,W. G.: Successful international business negotiations. Gulf Professional Publishing Company. Houston (1991). ISBN: 0872011968. Raiffa, H.: The art & science of negotiation, Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1982). ISBN: 0674048121 ------------------- UMEÅ UNIVERSITY Faculty of Social Sciences Department of Business Administration S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden www.fek.umu.se