International Relations Center (ZIB)
University of Cologne
Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences
Cologne International Summer University (CISU)
Session 2: August 8 - 28, 2015
Intercultural Communication
Lecturer:
Dates:
Location:
Hiroshi Ota
Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo
August 18 - 28, 2015
Main Campus (Seminargebäude), Room S14
Grading:
Attendance and class participation:
Group work assignments including in-class presentations:
Final presentation:
Credit Points:
Attendance:
6
30 h
30%
35%
35%
Workload:
180 h
Independent Studies: 150 h
Course objectives
This course is designed to equip students with a paradigm—a mental model—for living and
communicating with people from cultures other than his/her own one. East Asian culture will
be discussed extensively throughout the course. The course will begin with an examination
of culture—what constitutes national culture and how is it reflected in the way people
communicate? Then we will look in depth at one approach to examining culture—Geert
Hofstede’s five dimensions—and, using those dimensions, look for identifying behavioral
markers among the cultures students come from, draw conclusions about the differing
cultures, and investigate how to communicate effectively with people from different cultural
backgrounds. This course will also examine other cultural concerns: shame and guilt
cultures; in-group and out-group; the study of intercultural communication as well as the
issues of micro-cultures within the larger cultural contexts, and finally the impact of
stereotyping on our communication behavior.
Moreover, the issues dealt with in this course include, but are not limited to, verbal and
nonverbal norms as well as the rules and etiquettes of communication in cultures, culture
shock, negotiation, multicultural teamwork, leadership and decisionmaking, and ethical
issues in intercultural communication.
The goal of this course is to both acquire intercultural communication skills and enhance
mutual understanding of cultural diversity in today’s global society by providing diverse
perspectives on culture and communication.
International Relations Center (ZIB)
University of Cologne
Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences
Course description
Session 1: What culture is (definitions of culture), Culture as a Mental Programming, Power
Distance (Inequality in society)
Session 2: Individualism and Collectivism, Masculinity and Femininity (Assertiveness and
modesty)
Session 3: Uncertainty Avoidance (What is different, is dangerous), Long-term and Shortterm Orientation, Virtue versus Truth (Confucianism)
Session 4: High Context Culture and Low Context Culture, Honesty (real intent) and
Diplomacy (public position)
Session 5: Shame Culture and Guilt Culture, In-group and Out-group
Session 6: Nonverbal Communication, Space and Time
Session 7: Case study: Culture clash between Japan and U.S.A. referring to “Gung Ho”
(movie)
Session 8: Wrap-up (concluding remarks) and and Exam (in-class presentation): Each
student should give an individual presentation regarding a given topic.
Course prerequisites:
There are no prerequisites for this course.
Teaching methods:
A mixture of lectures, class discussions, case studies, and group work including in-class
presentations comprises the activities of this course.
Personal and interpersonal competences:
By the end of the semester, students should be able to:

Describe Hofstede’s dimensions of culture, giving illustrations of extreme positions in
each dimension

Identify the position of his/her own culture along the Hofstede continua

Identify behavioral markers of Hofstede’s dimensions in other cultures and how each
would impact his/her own communication behavior

Describe alternative approaches to the study of intercultural communication and points
of commonality among them

Understand the major practical issues of intercultural communication
International Relations Center (ZIB)
University of Cologne
Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences

Acquire an intermediate level of competence in managing and resolving problems and
issues with counterparts from other cultures
Pre-course assignment:
Students should read assigned chapters of “Cultures and Organizations: Software of the
Mind” by Geert Hofstede. This book has three editions. Thus, the assigned chapters for each
edition are shown in the attached list (see “Readings”).
Course readings and literature:
The course pack compiled by the lecturer will be used for this course. It will be given to
students at the first session.
Readings
“Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind”
First Edition
Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York:
McGraw-Hill. (ISBN: 0-07-029307-4)
Assigned Chapters
1. Levels of culture
2. More equal than others
3. I, we, and they
4. He, she, and (s)he
5. What is different, is dangerous
7. Virtue versus Truth
Second Edition
Hofstede, G. & Hofstede, G. J. (2005). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind.
New York: McGraw-Hill. (ISBN: 0-07-143959-5)
Assigned Chapters
1. Introduction: The Rules of the Social Game
2. More Equal Than Others
3. I, We, and They
4. He, She, and (S)he
5. What Is Different Is Dangerous
6. Yesterday, Now, or Later?
Third Edition
Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of
the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill. (ISBN: 978-0-07-166418-9)
Assigned Chapters
1. The Rules of the Social Game
2. Studying Cultural Differences
3. More Equal than Others
4. I, We, and They
5. He, She, and (S)he
6. What Is Difficult Is Dangerous
7. Yesterday, Now, or Later?
International Relations Center (ZIB)
University of Cologne
Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences
Grading:
Attendance and class participation: 30%
Group work assignments including in-class presentations: 35%
Exam (in-class presentation): 35%