Internationalisation of the Curriculum and
Support for International Students
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: Oxford Brookes University, 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 Oxford Brookes University.
The Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Network has supported and funded the
investigation identified
Key Contact:
Name: Judie Gannon
Address:
Dept of Hospitality, Leisure and Tourism
Management,
Oxford Brookes University
Headington
Oxford
OX3 0BP
Others involved:
Name:
Tel:
Email:
Name:
Tel:
Email
Tel:
Email:
44 1865 483837
jmgannon@brookes.ac.uk
Name
Tel:
Email
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 Education Academy – November 2006 – Page 1 of 5
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.
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 Education Academy – November 2006 – Page 2 of 5
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)
99
139
27
66
Total
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 Education Academy – November 2006 – Page 3 of 5
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 http://www.hlst.ltsn.ac.uk/projects/r5_Gannon.html
Other sources used include:
Alder, N.J. (2001) ‘International Dimensions of Organizational Behaviour’ Cincinnati, SouthWestern 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
http://europacom.com/sietar/members/ldownload.pl?mid=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 Action London, CIPD
Kwok, C. Arpan, & Folks, W. R. (1994) ‘A survey of International Business education in the
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 Education Academy – November 2006 – Page 4 of 5
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.12921312
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 Cambridge
MA. 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
Analysis Oxford, 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.3035
Thomas, D. A (2004) ‘Diversity as Strategy’ Harvard Business Review September 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 Education Academy – November 2006 – Page 5 of 5