Title of Case Study: / Project to Investigate Teaching of Intercultural Awareness and Related Communication Skills in International Hospitality and Tourism Programmes across UK and Selected International HEIs
Institution and initiating department/faculty: OxfordBrookesUniversity, Dept of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism Management, funded and supported by the Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network
Departments/faculties in which initiative implemented/to be implemented:
Investigation of the teaching of intercultural awareness and related communication skills in international hospitality and tourism programmes across UK HE institutions and selected international institutions. Follows on from the development of modules focusing upon intercultural awareness and communication skills on the BSc and MSc programmes in the Department of Hospitality Leisure and Tourism Management, at OxfordBrookesUniversity.
The Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network has supported and funded the investigation identified
Key Contact: / Othersinvolved:
Name: / Judie Gannon / Name:
Address:
Dept of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism
Management,
OxfordBrookesUniversity
Headington
Oxford
OX3 0BP / Tel:
Email:
Name:
Tel:
Name
Tel:
Tel: / 44 1865 483837 / Email
Email: /
Abstract
The internationalisation of business and management curricula have been widely debated (Dahl, 2003; De Vita & Case, 2003; Haigh, 2002; Kwok et al., 1994) and the hospitality and tourism industry and its management education curriculum has been no stranger to these deliberations (Black, 2004; Seymour & Constanti, 2002; Ledwith & Seymour, 2001). Despite these insights there is no coherent overview of the intercultural management skills provision across hospitality and tourism management education, within the UK and on an international scale. Within the Department of Hospitality Leisure and Tourism Management of Oxford Brookes University, modules on intercultural awareness and skills have operated for several years at postgraduate and undergraduate levels. This project hopes to explore and capture existing provision in the UK and a sample of selected international hospitality and tourism programmes, and aid the development of the existing modules. By establishing current practice provision through web based and survey research it focuses upon identifying the range of assessment methods used to meet the learning outcomes for specific intercultural management skills modules and achieve broader postgraduate and undergraduate profiles. Submitted: July 2006.
Background – contextual issues giving rise to the initiative
Economic, political, technological and social evidence all suggest that the international dimensions of the world increasingly influences our lives. Few commercial organisations fail to acknowledge that events outside their own country impact upon the behaviour and actions of their existing and future customers, employees and related stakeholders (Dahl, 2003; Mead, 1998). Furthermore, changing population profiles, and medium and long-term hospitality and tourism growth forecasts suggest increases in transient workforces and increasingly sophisticated and diverse customers (IH&RA, 2004; Reisinger & Turner, 2002; Gudmundson & Hartenian, 2000). In conjunction with the argued benefits of managing diversity (Thomas, 2004, 1993; Kandola & Fullerton, 1996), the importance of developing intercultural skills is highlighted. Intercultural skills can be defined as the ability to interact “with other groups (minority and majority), where tasks requiring interaction are completed effectively with neither of the party suffering from any invisible stress-related symptoms.” (Brislin, et al., 1986; Mamman, 1995 p. 530). In addition a significant segment of the international management literature focuses upon what it takes to become a successful manager. Operating in international environments is seen to demand the ability to cope in diverse and complex situations, and in particular with people who have different values, beliefs and backgrounds. The whole area of culture, as the study of a society or group’s attitudes, behaviours and customs, should arguably form part of any undergraduate or postgraduate programme professing international credentials (Hale & Tijmstra, 1990; Leask, 1999). However, a theoretical understanding of culture, specifically national cultures, is probably insufficient for the development of a successful international management career (Adler, 2001; Schneider & Barsoux, 2003). As the international management literature attests, many of the managers sent abroad by their companies struggle to live up to the expectations of their skills and knowledge (Adler, 2001; Forster & Johnsen, 1996). Even where the figures for failed expatriates are contested (Harzing, 1995; 2001) there is evidence from international managers themselves of the difficulties they face when working with and in diverse cultures (Le Sueur, 1999; Shay & Tracy, 1997). The main reasons for such problems are based on; the use of technical skills as the prime basis for international assignment selection, and a dearth of intercultural adjustment preparation and training (Harzing, 2001). Building upon this account of the relative absence of intercultural skills education and training in the business world, a project to explore the existing provision of intercultural skills education at undergraduate and postgraduate levels in UK and selected international hospitality and tourism programmes was devised.
Description of activity or initiative
The main aim of the project was to investigate and develop a body of knowledge and suitable accompanying resources on intercultural management skills modules delivered at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The project identifies current practice examples in intercultural management skills modules across selected business and management programmes, as well as a sample of hospitality and tourism undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. The focus of the survey is on the learning outcomes developed for these modules and the assessment methods deployed to achieve the learning outcomes and the broader undergraduate and postgraduate profiles. The issue of assessment is particularly important due to the contention that multicultural group work is often resisted by UK students (De Vita, 2002), yet opportunities to effectively learn from intercultural interactions mean such an approach seems pedagogically apposite. By drawing on UK and selected international examples of intercultural management modules the researcher also hopes to devise a resource guide on the delivery and assessment of intercultural skills teaching in hospitality and tourism programmes, at postgraduate and undergraduate levels.
Evaluative comments
The survey phase of the research will begin in the next few weeks and follows on from the findings of the web based research summarised in the table below (Table 1). The table identifies that courses professing some international dimensions make up a significant minority of hospitality and tourism undergraduate and postgraduate programmes on offer in the UK. The postgraduate courses in particular were more likely to profess an international focus, which is probably a reflection of the need to attract international students. Using the web pages from the various educational institutions in this initial search, each international hospitality and tourism course has been examined to ascertain the ways in which international issues are addressed in their curriculum. The majority of courses use international placements, the teaching of the international context of hospitality and/or tourism, and foreign language components to fulfil their international course title credentials. Very few courses explicitly identified the teaching of intercultural skills though the teaching of more general management and personal skills was evident. However, it was not possible to distinguish whether intercultural skills were developed as part of their remit from the secondary Internet sources, hence the use of questionnaires to further explore this aspect. In addition the author has also developed contacts with academics in Australia and the UK to share knowledge and best practice about intercultural awareness and related skills teaching.
Table 1 International Hospitality and Tourism Undergraduate and Postgraduate Programmes (all modes of study)
Undergraduate Hospitality & Tourism / Postgraduate Hospitality & Tourism
Hospitality
(%) / Tourism
(%) / Hospitality
(%) / Tourism
(%)
International / 23 (23.3) / 17 (12.2) / 9 (33.3) / 13 (19.7)
Not International / 76 (76.7) / 122 (87.8) / 18 (66.6) / 53 (80.3)
Total / 99 / 139 / 27 / 66
Advice to others
Student evaluation of the intercultural awareness and related skills modules within the Department of Hospitality Leisure and Tourism Management has been very positive and helped to encourage the broader ‘internationalisation’ of the programmes. There is a wealth of knowledge and information for academics hoping to develop this aspect of their curriculum and prepare their students for multicultural work environments. These modules also help to put in context some of the experiences and examples students confront as they undertake (international) work placements and learn about hospitality and tourism activities across the world. A resource guide is currently being prepared for academics thinking of teaching intercultural awareness and communication skills in applied business settings such as the hospitality and tourism industry.
Reflection/any other comments
While there are ‘heated’ debates regarding the internationalisation of the curriculum across UK higher education very little attention has been paid to the role of intercultural awareness and skills as part of this provision. This suggests a largely ethnocentric view of international courses provided in UK higher education institutions. It is particularly pertinent that Australian and New Zealand higher education sectors are now competing for international students on the basis of the intercultural awareness and skills components of their programmes (Crichton, Paige, Papademetre & Scarino, 2004).
Further details [urls; relevant references/publications; alternative contact names]
The web address for the study is
Other sources used include:
Alder, N.J. (2001) ‘International Dimensions of Organizational Behaviour’Cincinnati, South-Western Publishing
Black, K. (2004) ‘A Review of Factors which Contribute to the Internationalisation of a Programme of Study’ Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education Vol. 3 No. 1
Brislin, R. Cushner, K. Cherrie, C. & Yong, M. (1986) Intercultural Interactions: A Practical Guide Beverly Hills, CA; Sage
Crichton, J. Paige, M. Papademetre, L. & Scarino, A. 2004 ‘Integrated resources for intercultural teaching and learning in the context of internationalisation in higher education’ Prepared by the Research Centre for Languages and Cultures Education in the School of International Studies at the University of South Australia
Dahl, S. (2003) ‘An Overview of Intercultural Research’ SIETAR UK Journal Vol. 10 No. 1
De Vita, G. & Case, P. (2003) ‘Rethinking the internationalisation agenda in UK higher education’ Journal of Further and Higher Education November Vol. 27 Issue 4 pp. 383-398
De Vita, G. (2002) ‘Cultural Equivalence in the Assessment of Home and International Business Management Students: A UK Exploratory study’ Studies in Higher Education Vol. 27 No. 2 p.221- 231
Forster, N. & Johnson, M. (1996) ‘Expatriate management policies in UK companies new to the international scene’ International Journal of Human Resource Management Vol. 7 No. 1 pp. 177-205
Gudmundson, D. & Hartenian, L.S. (2000) ‘Workforce Diversity in Small Business: An Empirical Investigation’ Journal of Small Business Management p.27-36
Haigh, M.J. (2002) ‘Internationalization of the Curriculum: designing inclusive education for a small world’ Journal of Geography in Higher Education Vol. 26 No. 1 p.49-66
Hale, A. & Tijmstra, S. (1990) ‘European Management Education’ INTERMAN Geneva
Harzing, A.W.K. (1995) ‘The Persistent Myth of High Expatriate Failure Rates’ International Journal of Human Resource Management Vol. 6 May pp.457-475
Harzing, A.W. (2001) ‘Of Bears, Bumble-Bees and Spiders: The Role of Expatriates in Controlling Foreign Subsidiaries’ Journal of World Business Vol.36 No. 4 pp. 366-379
IH&RA (2004) ‘Where will we find tomorrow’s workers?’ HOTELS March p.64
Kandola, R.S. & Fullerton, J. (1998) Diversity in ActionLondon, CIPD
Kwok, C. Arpan, & Folks, W. R. (1994) ‘A survey of International Business education in the 1990s’ Journal of International Business Studies Vol. 25 No. 3 p.605-623
Le Seuer, A. (1999) ‘Running a hotel on the roof of the World: Five years in Tibet’Chichester, Summersdale Publishers
Leask, B. (1999) ‘Internationalisation of the Curriculum: Key challenges and strategies’ Paper presented at IDP Education Australia 1999 Australia International Education Conference, October
Ledwith, S. & Seymour, D. (2001) ‘Home and away: preparing students for multicultural management’ International Journal for Human Resource Management Vol. 12 No. 8 p.1292-1312
Mamman, A. (1995) ‘Employee intercultural effectiveness in a multicultural workplace: theoretical propositions, strategies and direction for future research’ International Journal for Human Resource Management Vol. 6 No. 3 pp. 528-552
Mead, R. (1998) International Management: Cross Cultural Dimensions 2nd edition CambridgeMA. Blackwell Publishers
Orpen, C. (2003) ‘Teaching Students to Manage Cross Culturally’ Cross Cultural ManagementVol.10 No. 3 p.80-86
Reisinger, Y. & Turner, L.W. (2002) Cross Cultural Behaviour in Tourism: Concepts and AnalysisOxford, Elsevier
Schneider, S.C. & Barsoux, J. (2003) ‘Managing across cultures’ 2nd ed. Harlow, Essex, Financial Times/Prentice Hall
Seymour, D. & Constanti, P. (2002) ‘University Hospitality Education for International Management: A Case of Wasted Opportunities’ Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education Vol. 1 No. 2
Shay, J. & Tracey, J.B. (1997) ‘Expatriate Managers: Reasons for failure and implications for training’ Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, February, Vol. 38 No.1 pp.30-35
Thomas, D. A (2004) ‘Diversity as Strategy’ Harvard Business ReviewSeptember p. 98-108
Project to Investigate Teaching of Intercultural Awareness and Related Communication Skills in International Hospitality and Tourism Programmes across UK and Selected International HEIs. The Higher EducationAcademy – November 2006 – Page 1 of 5