Business skills and the management of multicultural teams

BA level studies

English in Public Communication

academic profile

elective courses

Online

ECTS points in relation to student’s duties

total number of hours: 30

total number of ECTS: 2

1 ECTS: 30 hours of classes

0,5 ECTS: 10 hours of consultations

0,5 ECTS: 15 hours of self-study, preparing for classes

Course description:

This elective course offers students the opportunity get introduced to Business English around the issue of the Human Resource Management of Multicultural Teams. Students are also familiarized with the practical aspects of the Business Skills of Communication, Presentations, Negotiations, Correspondence etc.

Course objectives:

Students practice business skills such as negotiations, presentations, meetings, along with useful English vocabulary and expressions. Practical elements, role –plays and case studies allow students to produce work such as written business correspondence, diagrams, reports and more.

Course content

This course combines aspects of Human Resources Management with issues of multiculturalism within an international organisation. Students explore the advantages and challenges of a multicultural/multi-ethnic workforce in areas such as overseas assignments, virtual teams, company mergers, etc. This raises issues such as immigration and societal attitudes which are touched upon in class discussions. The management of such a team is explored both in theory as well as practice in the form of case studies, articles and advice from industry experts.

Methods of instruction/ forms of classroom activity:

case studies, role-plays, presentation, pair work, group work, individual work, discussion,ICT tools/MSTeams platform

Reading list

Cotton, Falvey, Kent. Market Leader Uppr. Int. 3rd edition. Pearson Longman, 2011.

Dubicka, Iwonna and O'keefe, Margaret. Market Leader Advanced. 3rd edition. Pearson Longman, 2011.

Pilbeam, Adrian. Market Leader Working across cultures. Pearson Longman, 2010.

Learning outcomes acc to PQR 2019

Knowledge:

Student knows:

1. conduct themselves in elements of Business Skills (k_W01; P6S_WG)

2. be culturally aware in a business environment (k_W07)

Skills

Student can:

2. use the vocabulary and grammar of Business English (k_U05; P6S_UK)

3. engage with some basic theory of multiculturalism (k_U12; P6S_UU)

4. produce written business correspondence (k_U01; P6S_UW)

5. engage collaboratively with their colleagues (k_U09; P6S_UO)

Social competences

Student

7. can engage in a business environment with intercultural sensitivity (k_K03; P6S_KK)

Forms of evaluation of learning outcomes:

1. Active participation 40% of the final grade (outcome 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)

2. Class assignments, all of which should be completed 60% (outcome 1,2,3,4,5,6,7)

Final Grading Framework:

2.0 (Fail): 0-59%

3.0 (Average): 60-68%

3.5 (Average Plus): 69-74%

4.0 (Good): 75-84%

4.5 (Good Plus): 85-92%

5.0 (Very Good): 93-100%