Area Stud­ies 3 - Ger­man: In­ter­cul­tur­al man­age­ment and cor­por­ate com­mu­nic­a­tion

Course content

The third semester of Area Studies in German is built on two dimensions: Content and Language

The overall aim of this course is to deepen the students’ knowledge of the economic, political and socio-cultural context of firms in the German speaking countries, and to strengthen their written communication skills in their chosen language.

The specific aim of the course is to develop students’ understanding of the relationship between economic institutions, organizations and markets, and their implications for international business and sustainability.

The content dimension in regards to the specific aim will therefore introduce and reflect the language areas perspectives upon topics like general business management and corporate communication with a focus on intercultural management, business cultures and communication, organizational structures, and the challenges of digitalization and sustainability.

The language dimension is aiming at improving the students’ written production and expression in a professional context. Focus is on grammar and lexical skills, use of conjunctions, and idiomatic expressions as well as reading and comprehension. Emphasis will also be put on learning and practising phrases needed in order to make presentations and participate in class discussions.

Integration

The course builds on the German Area Studies of the 1st and 2nd Semester courses. It also complements the themes of the parallel course teaching in Organization, Culture and Communication, and in International Business and Sustainability.

Nordic nine

In the course the students acquire the knowledge to help resolve global challenges by understan­ding why and in what ways history and cultural backgrounds make actors differ in their approach to resolving global challenges. The knowledge helps the students to contribute to the successful completion of transnational negotiations and projects. They learn to approach foreign cultures in an unbiased way and to understand the motivation for other people’s behaviour based on a compassionate attitude and an ability to communicate in a foreign language.