Bachelor
2023/2024
Business Communications
Type:
Compulsory course (Business Administration)
Area of studies:
Management
Where:
Graduate School of Business
When:
3 year, 3 module
Mode of studies:
offline
Open to:
students of one campus
Language:
English
ECTS credits:
3
Contact hours:
30
Course Syllabus
Abstract
In today’s changing and uncertain world, effective communication is one of the most critical skills to develop. How you communicate ideas, feelings, instructions and thoughts is crucial to your success, especially in business. Communication is an activity, skill and art that incorporates lessons learnt across a wide spectrum of human knowledge. Business Communication course is designed to introduce skills and practices that will help you communicate and develop communication strategy for your business and/or for business of your clients/stakeholders. As part of the program, we will explore how to communicate in written and oral form. We will practice some of the fundamentals of business writing, including memoranda, email, business letters, and discuss how to be persuasive and engaging in these writings. Additionally, we will explore oral presentations and interviews. Theoretical part of the course includes key concepts, frameworks and theories which being applied in combination with practical tasks will contribute to the development of your communication skills and competencies. This course is designed to give students a comprehensive view of communication, its scope and importance in business as well as the role of communication in influencing the decision-making process.
Learning Objectives
- To familiarize students with a wide range of modern approaches and tools necessary for effective interaction in a business environment. To give an understanding of various types, forms, and channels of business communication, to transfer practical skills for solving complex and conflict situations that may arise during negotiations, teamwork, and cross-cultural communication. To acquaint with recommendations for forming and developing one's own style of presentations and negotiations.
Expected Learning Outcomes
- To understand the scope of business communications process and its essential elements. To be aware of various communication models and to understand how the communication process works. To distinguish various communication barriers and to be able to overcome them.
- To study practical communication skills such as active listening, SPIN selling technique, conflict management and negotiations. To understand how one can improve their body language, public speaking and presentation skills. To distinguish various leadership styles and understand how they affect communication.
- To be aware of communication risks in the decision making process. To know common cognitive biases and understand their impact on decisions. To learn how groups evolve and how to make effective decisions in groups avoiding negative effects such as groupthink
- To be aware of types and variety of communication channels in business environment. To get practical skills of both written and oral communication, such as business and academic writing, managing and making business phone calls.
- To know what is communication strategy and how it can help in the communication process. To learn various strategies for team communication. To learn practical communication tools (e.g. defining your target audience, working with focus groups, common internal communication tools). To understand the importance of fact checking and to learn how to do it.
- To learn the scope of business and cross-cultural etiquette in communications. To learn practical tips how to conduct zoom meetings and interviews, how to prepare for the recruitment interview. To understand what practices and rules work in business environment.
- To learn how the emotional intelligence affects business communications. To learn practical approaches to developing your EQ, working with common negative emotions at work and applying various strategies to resolve conflicts at the workplace.
Course Contents
- 1. Business Communication. Introduction
- 2. Business Communication is about influencing others
- 3. Business Communication in decision making
- 4. Communication channels in the organization
- 5. How to develop an effective communication strategy
- 6. Business etiquette and cross-cultural communication
- 7. Business communication and emotional intelligence
Assessment Elements
- Activity at the seminarsAt each seminar student receives from 0 to 3 points depending on the activity and participation in the discussion
- EssayGroup homework. An essay in English (at least 10,000 characters) on one of the topics offered by students. Topic corrections are possible in agreement with the teacher. The work must be submitted no later than 15 calendar days before the start of the session. The essay is graded on a 10-point scale
- Group projectPresentation in mini-groups (5-6 people) on one of the topics proposed by students. The results of the project are presented in the form of presentation in Power Point format. The group presents the presentation offline in the form of report. During the presentation, a set of skills obtained as a result of the course is assessed: revilation of the topic, clarity and visuality of the slides, presentation skills, business etiquette. The rating is given on a 10-point scale per group, all group members receive the same rating.
- TestFinal written exam in StartExam. Includes 40 questions (with a choice of one correct answer, several correct answers, with a “true/false” answers). Test duration: 40 minutes
Interim Assessment
- 2023/2024 3rd module0.2 * Activity at the seminars + 0.15 * Essay + 0.25 * Group project + 0.4 * Test
Bibliography
Recommended Core Bibliography
- Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. (2014). Hakjisa. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsnar&AN=edsnar.oai.library.wur.nl.wurpubs.454134
- DeLamater, J. D., Myers, D. J., & Collett, J. L. (2018). Social psychology. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/hselibrary-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1652845
- Pratkanis, A. R. (2007). The Science of Social Influence : Advances and Future Progress. New York: Psychology Press. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=358198
Recommended Additional Bibliography
- Daniel Goleman. (2006). Emotional Intelligence : Why It Can Matter More Than IQ: Vol. 10th anniversary ed. Bantam.
- Daniel Goleman. (2006). Working With Emotional Intelligence: Vol. Bantam hardcover reissue ed. Bantam.