A Multi-Disciplinary Approach to Teaching Cross-Cultural Communication

A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO TEACHING CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Paul Kalfadellis Working Paper 34/05 May 2005

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT WORKING PAPER SERIES ISSN 1327–5216

Abstract The ability of managers to interact with individuals from cultures other than their own, requires a concerted effort on the part of business educators and academics to ‘train’ and ‘educate’ today’s students and tomorrow’s managers in the area cross-cultural communication. This is not necessarily an easy task. Teaching cross-cultural communication requires a multidisciplinary approach, which goes beyond what is traditionally offered by trainers and educators. It requires the educator to design a course that includes not only culture-general but also culture-specific information that incorporates the study of history, religion, politics business, communication, and other social sciences. This paper includes discussion of material and methods from the author’s own experience in incorporating a multidisciplinary approach in the conduct of a cross-cultural communication class.
Paper presented at the 11th Learning Conference, Havana Cuba, 27-30 June 2004

This paper is a work in progress. Material in the paper cannot be used without permission of the author.

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO TEACHING CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION The interconnectedness and interaction of culturally diverse citizens, business and governments is arguably more evident today than at any time in history. The globalization of markets, the international movement of people and the increase in culturally diverse work places has meant an increasing requirement to be able to deal competently and effectively with people of differing cultural backgrounds. In international business there is a growing need for people to receive cross-cultural training (Black & Medenhall, 1990; Brislin & Yoshida, 1994; Tung, 1981). Barlett and Ghoshal (1989) argued that the only way transnational organizations can deal

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