Business Communication: Culture and Communication

• Business Communication 2, Session 1 discusses culture and communication, with Mark Moser as the lecturer.
• The course will be conducted in an IM Combi Online/Virtual Exchange format.
• The session objectives include introducing students to topics covered in the semester, and understanding the course and assessment structure.
• Additionally, students should gain insights into how culture affects communication.
• Further aims are to define culture, discuss similarities and differences in definitions, and reflect on cultural identities and their world view.
• Mark Moser is a lecturer in Communication and Cultural Competence at the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, School of Business.
• Other module lecturers include Dr. Terry Inglese, Heike Geiling, and Dr. Alfonso Del Percio.

Online Class Netiquette

• Prepare all necessary materials before class.
• Test your equipment beforehand, using a headset if possible.
• Log in with your full name and profile picture.
• Join the online room a few minutes early for small talk.
• Act appropriately, maintaining classroom behavior. Quick breaks are acceptable when indicated (e.g. webcam showing an empty chair).
• Mute the microphone when not speaking to avoid background noise.
• Unmute the microphone when speaking to contribute to discussions.
• Participate actively and share thoughts during online classes.
• Have the camera turned on to enhance collaboration, unless instructed otherwise.
• Legal regulations must be followed regarding recordings, compliance with consent is essential.
• Recordings are only provided in special circumstances and is not standard practice.

Icebreaker Activity

• Form groups of 3 persons with unfamiliar classmates.
• Introduce yourself without using any labels or categories.

Module Contents

• Cultures and how to describe them
• Interpersonal Communication in culturally diverse settings
• Cultures, Communication and Collaboration
• Assignments during the module

Knowledge and Understanding

• Explain the dimensions of culture and their impact on communication at all levels.
• Identify barriers to successful interpersonal communication.
• Identify and describe different perspectives in communication.
• Elucidate the role of perception and interpretation in communication.

Application and Communication

• Analyze intercultural communication settings using tools, models, and frameworks.
• Choose an approach for successful communication based on setting and audience.
• Listen actively to respond appropriately.
• Clearly communicate the intended meaning.
• Collaborate effectively in diverse cultural settings, to achieve specific and desired results.

Moodle Page

• Course information will be available on Moodle under the headings Program, Assessment, and Material.

Semester Program

• 19.02.25: Introduction, Course Overview, Assessment, My culture and Communication, Working in teams by Mark Moser.
• You must upload the VLOG My Culture and Communication by TUE, 25 Feb 2024, 18:00.
• 26.02.25: Tools 1 with Mark Moser and guest Alfonso Del Percio, focusing on describing and analyzing cultures in Language and Culture Models.
• 05.03.25: Tools 2 Heike Geiling will focus on Intercultural Competence: becoming interculturally competent
• 12.03.25: Terry Inglese will lead Business Challenges 1: collaborate and give feedback, Attribution Theory, GLOBE and Collaboration
• 19.03.25 : you will self-study and do a reading called: The Culture Theory Jungle and The American Factory-
• 26.03.25: Terry Inglese will lead Transfer Skills 1: Analysing and understanding how cultures shape collaboration practices.
• 02.04.25: Terry Inglese : Business Challenges 2, build rapport and trust, master small talk-
• 09.04.25: Alfonso Del Percio : Business Challenges 3, business meetings and master value and audience based communication
• 16.04.25: Mark Moser: Business Challenges 4, master paraverbal and nonverbal communication skills in collaborative settings.
• 23.04.25: you will Study Course Revision
• 30.04.25: Heike Geiling will focus on Business Challenges 5, how to present effectivley online and offline
• 07.05.25: Heike Geiling and Mark Moser: transfer skills 2 Coaching sessions for assessment 1 critical analysis'
• 14.05.25: Preparing for Assessment 1
• 21.05.25: Heike Geiling on "Business Challenges 6", which looks at how to deal with conflicts in intercultural setting
• 21.05.25: Mark Moser: Instructions for Team Case Analysis, Revision and Key learnings
• 28.05.25: Preparing for Assessment 2
• 04.06.25: Mark Moser wil provide Assessment 2: Team Case Analysis
• Assessment 1 is a Critical Analysis worth 40% of the final grade.
• Assessment 2 is a Team Case Analysis worth 60% of the final grade.
• To work effectively in this module, form groups of five and ensure diversity, and sign up for a team by February 28 at 5 pm, team will be confirmed in session 2.
• Please sign up here:
  • Brugg (Tues): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i6maBhVCcK6UN4MjL1LFpKH3uuoj8khR8S9U-j0siQQ/edit?usp=sharing
  • Olten IM 1.31 (Mon): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ntZYqDcnYM-kdIYa vBGFC4JWTI|Ax8B78w5JnS6KfQ/edit?usp=sharing
  • Combi/Virtual Exchange Online (Wed): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oVC3xGPNo4nOJEokQ4RR0C6LYXwnPEurRs_-H-mMtGM/edit?usp=sharing
  • Olten IM 1.42 (Thur): https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wIMYmGIcXSEwTRICi33dQIBF0mbqAeODCYEA3NePFsg/edit?usp=sharing

Module Requirements

• Regular attendance and active participation is required.
• Regularly check Moodle for assignments.
• Consult with your team and classmates if you miss something or have questions.
• Use the MS Teams collaboration space for questions.
• Communicate and collaborate with your assigned team.

Defining Culture

• Culture provides a sense of orientation.
• Culture shapes how we perceive and experience the world.
• Culture significantly impacts collaboration, communication, and other aspects of life.

Exploring Culture

• Brainstorm keywords linked to the concept of culture.
• Add important terms to a word cloud.
• Reflect on cloud content with your team.
• Define culture and add it to padlet.

Defining Culture (Trenholm/Jensen, 1992)

• Culture is a set of values, beliefs, norms, customs, rules and codes defining a distinct group and giving a sense of commonality.

Definitions of culture include

• Tyler (1870): Culture is a complex whole encompassing knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, capabilities and habits acquired as a member of society.
• Kroeber & Kluckhohn (1952): Culture consists patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behaviour acquired and transmitted by symbols. Its essential core consists of traditional ideas and attached values.
• T. Schwartz (1992): Culture consists the derivatives of experience, more or less organized, learned or created by individuals, including images, encodements, and their interpretations.
• Hofstede (1994): Culture is the collective programming of the mind distinguishing members of one group from another.
• Matsumoto (1996): Culture the set of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group, but different for each individual, communicated from one generation to the next.
• Spencer-Oatey (2008): Culture is a fuzzy set of basic assumptions and values, orientations to life, beliefs, policies, procedures and behavioural conventions shared by a group, that influence each member's behaviour and other peoples interpretation

Two Important Concepts of Culture

• Software of the mind (Geert Hofstede).
• Accepted and familiar behaviour (Ricardo Pellegrini).

Characteristics and Symbols of Culture

• The Iceberg model illustrates the visible (language, clothing, food, housing, music) and invisible (attitudes, beliefs, opinions, values, assumptions) aspects of culture.
• The Culture Onion model shows the outer layer (behaviours, language, food, clothing), finding norms and values as you go inside.
• The inner core layer is made of "basic assumptions", routine actions and beliefs that are deeply rooted inside.
• Hofstede Pyramid includes Personality, Culture and Human Nature

Cultural Relativity

• Cultural relativism: Ethical and social standards reflect their cultural context.
• Cultures differ fundamentally, including moral frameworks.
• International relations: Actions are judged by the ethical standards of the society where they occur.

Cultural Relativity and Multiple Cultural Memberships

• Questions to consider:
• Which cultural labels do others give me?
• Which cultural labels do I give myself?
• Do I let others define their cultural membership?

My Cultural Identities

• Cultural identity- emotional significance one attaches to belonging or affiliation with a larger culture.
• Cultural identity: the characteristics of an individual, also the culturally identical group of members sharing the same cultural identity or upbringing
• Consider your own cultural identities through these questions:
  • What cultures are shaping me?
  • Where do I feel I belong (and why and for how long)?
  • How do we communicate in that particular culture?

Tasks

• My Culture Map: drawing a map of cultural identities and places of belonging.
• Chimamanda Ngozi Achie: The Danger of the Single Story

Mandatory Starter Assignment (VLOG, +/- 4min, ungraded)

• Describe key aspects of cultures associated with
  • How do aspects of these cultures shape you today?
  • How do they influence your communication style?
• Strengths in communication.
• Areas for improvement in communication.
• Provide an example of an intercultural communication situation experienced.
• Upload Vlog to the Switch folder, by Tuesday, 25 Feb 25 (6pm CET)
• Student videos available to lecturers only; however, students should discuss their Vlog-contents in class.

Homework for Session 2

• Study the article "What is Culture" by Helen Spencer-Oatey (pages 1-14). The text is on Moodle.
• Ensure access to the Starter Assignment VLOG for the next session.

Session 1 of Business Communication 2 covers culture and communication, led by Mark Moser. It introduces the semester's topics, course structure, and the impact of culture on communication. Students will define culture, explore its definitions, and reflect on cultural identities.