The cross-cultural differences s in business world can be witnessed in workplace for effective work performance, in terms of reaching sales targets, meeting deadlines, offering criticism, differences of opinion, saving face, complimenting, personal space, working on tight budgets and making judgment. Because of the cultural diversity, it might cause failures to understand or interpret correctly among people in the same working place due to the different philosophy and backgrounds. Therefore, Cultural competence is the ability that we must carry while we enter the workplace.
This course introduces a background of intercultural communication, which includes definitions of and reasons for intercultural communication. And continues with an exploration of culture-based values. No matter where we work today, we will encounter people with a different cultural background and will bring you different experiences. This may enrich your encounter but it may also cause problems. In this course we aim to develop a deeper understanding of the issues in managing across and within cultures.