Daphne A. Jameson

Reconceptualizing Cultural Identity and Its Role in Intercultural Business Communication

To complement past emphasis on understanding other cultures, the field of intercultural business communication needs a stronger focus on understanding oneself. Cultural identity is an individuals sense of self derived from formal or informal membership in groups that transmit and inculcate knowledge, beliefs, values, attitudes, traditions, and ways of life. A broad conception of cultural identity should not privilege nationality but instead should balance components related to vocation, class, geography, philosophy, language, and the social aspects of biology. Cultural identity changes over time and evokes emotions. It is intertwined with power and privilege, affected by close relationships, and negotiated through communication. The proposed model of cultural identity highlights components directly related to business, such as economic class and professional affiliation, and demonstrates how culture not only connects people but also defines them as unique individuals. This model can expand research and enrich teaching in intercultural business communication.

Problem-Based Learning in Graduate Management Education: An Integrative Model and Interdisciplinary Application:

This article develops a model of problem-based learning (PBL) and shows how PBL has been used for a decade in one graduate management program. PBL capitalizes on synergies among cognitive, affective, and behavioral learning. Although management education usually privileges cognitive learning, affective learning is equally important. By focusing on real-world problems, PBL helps students appreciate multiple perspectives, recognize nonrational elements of decision making, and confront ethical quandaries. Together, cognitive and affective learning underpin the essential third element: behavioral learning about how to implement plans, lead teams, resolve conflict, persuade others, and communicate with multiple constituencies. Specific examples of PBL projects illustrate this inter relationship.

Conceptualizing the Writer-Reader Relationship in Business Prose

Writers achieve an appropriate writer-reader relationship in business prose not by merely switching from their own to the reader’s viewpoint but by artfully interweaving multiple rhetorical and linguistic elements. The writer-reader relationship is expressed through the many possible combinations of vision and voice, which originate in the textual identities of the implied writer, the implied reader, and, sometimes, other characters. By combining multiple visions and voices, writers create what Bakhtin called intentionally hybrid, internally dialogic language that fulfills a social purpose by reflecting human relationships even when the subject matter is impersonal and technical. You-attitude is but one instance of such language and is not always the best choice. Texts written by Sherron Watkins, former vice president of Enron, illustrate how a writer’s decisions about textual identities, vision, and voice may affect the course of corporate events in dramatic, unexpected ways.

Using a Simulation to Teach Intercultural Communication in Business Communication Courses

Two changes in curriculum planning have led to the growing interest in including an intercultural dimension in business communication courses. First, most business schools have recognized that to be successful, graduates must know something about international business (Beamish & Calof, 1989; Main, 1989). Today even small businesses are involved in international trade and face international competitors. Tomorrow’s business environment promises to be even more global. Some business schools have made major curricular changes to meet this challenge, and others are seeking ways to do so (Aranda, Golen, and Brennenstuhl, 1991; Blum, 1991; Echternacht, 1991). Professional associations and accrediting agencies have shown increasing concern that business schools &dquo;internationalize&dquo; (Nehrt, 1987; Thanopoulos & Vernon, 1987). In some cases, the mandate for a more international curriculum is univer-

Getting Quality Out on the Street: A Case of Show and Tell

Hotel employees hear all about quality standards from the general manager and supervisors. But it’s not until managers demonstrate those principles that employees really learn that quality service means.

Crossing Public-Private and Personal-Professional Boundaries: How Changes in Technology May Affect CEOs' Communication

When Chiquita Brands considered relocating its corporate headquarters, competing cities started Twitter campaigns to influence the decision by communicating directly with the chief executive officer. As he used the new microblogging channel, some of his previously private communication became public, some personal communication became professional, and some professional communication became personal. The case shows how social media can significantly affect chief executive officers’ communication by encouraging boundary crossing. Understanding the connections between the private versus public and personal versus professional rhetorical categories will help business communicators make wise choices as technology continues to introduce new social media and other channel options.

The Ethics of Plagiarism: How Genre Affects Writers' Use of Source Materials:

plagiarism. Are we giving students a complete understanding of what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it? Because plagiarism is viewed as one of the ultimate violations of ethics in the academic world, many faculty limit their classroom discussion of it to moral exhortations, threats about penalties for violating university policies on academic integrity, and warnings about the ruined careers and reputations of people publicly charged with plagiarism. Faculty members are likely to take an absolutist view on plagiarism. In fact, plagiarism is a relatiue, not absolute matter. Whether something is plagiarism depends on context, circumstance, the audience’s expectations, the writer’s intentions, and perhaps most importantly, the genre or subgenre into which the piece of writing fits. The academic world’s standards for documentation are not the same as the business world’s. To view documenta-

Economic Crises and Financial Disasters: The Role of Business Communication

Turmoil has rocked the business world this year. Two major global investment banks, Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, collapsed. Facing bankruptcy, the world’s largest insurance company, AIG, was bought out by taxpayers. The biggest bank failure in U.S. history occurred when federal regulators seized Washington Mutual. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, a stock market index, has plunged by more than a third this year, decimating retirement funds and college savings. Rates of unemployment and home foreclosures have skyrocketed. Earlier this month, the U.S. Congress passed a

New Options for Usability Testing Projects in Business Communication Courses

700 billion bailout to try to revive the credit markets and the larger economy. In the wake of this global economic crisis, some of those responsible were summoned to testify under oath before Congressional committees to explain to the public what went wrong. What they said opened a window onto the thought processes and communication abilities of major business leaders. Many of them denied responsibility, failed to explain what occurred, and undermined their own credibility; as a result they were pilloried by Congress and the media (Becker & White, 2008; Dodd, 2008). But how are these people connected to those of us who teach and do research in business communication? Unfortunately, these are our alumni, our former students. Most of them took our courses, graduated from our colleges and universities, attended our executive seminars, and sought our consulting advice. They certainly are experienced practitioners of business communication. Did we fail them or did they fail us? Are we as an

Implication versus Inference: Analyzing Writer and Reader Representations in Business Texts

The increasing availability of recording technologies makes it easier to include usability testing projects in business communication courses. Usability testing is a method of discovering whether people can navigate, read, and understand a print or electronic communication well enough to achieve a particular purpose in a reasonable time frame. Usability projects increase students’ knowledge and motivation by forcing them to experience the audience’s frustrations with poorly written and designed communications. By following the suggestions and examples provided, faculty can develop effective usability project materials and capitalize on new technologies for data collection and sharing.