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Business Communication in China
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The opening up of China has offered a context in which Chinese and Europeans are able to get to know each other and cooperate on different levels. This is very obvious in the enormous growth in business interest in China. No doubt about it, China is the place to be!
Since 2006, the School of Communication & Media has a collaboration with the Nankai university, one of China’s top universities. In the project “Business Communication China”, fourth year students in International Communication work closely together with Chinese students. They spend two weeks in China, conducting field research. So far, we have advised over ten businesses varying from a travel agency to a producer of agricultural machines. Student initiative
The Nankai University programme consists of a substantial number of lectures about Dutch, European and Chinese education and debates with Chinese (buddy) students about cultural differences.
Wang Fei, a fourth year International Communication student initiated the project. ‘I wanted the students to see life as it really is in China. I had great hopes of getting rid of miscommunication and stereotypes between people of the two countries. Think globally, act locally was our motto in this project.’ The students visit local government institutions and businesses. They also go to the Forbidden City and the European Chamber of Commerce in Beijing.
Business
The students also work on funded projects for Dutch companies, for instance finding potential trade partners. ‘They succeed very well in a number of cases’, lecturer Erik Kostelijk says. ‘We definitely want to continue international trips like these. They provide a unique opportunity for students to learn about non-western cultures.’
The programme
The program includes sharing experiences, debate and discussions about concrete cases in which dilemmas in communication occur between Chinese and European organizations. Students will study communication problems and discuss ways of reconciling dilemma’s they describe. It also includes a student conference, of workshops, presentations, excursions and debates.
Experts from the field are invited to contribute, giving examples of “best practices” or “problematic cases” where it is almost impossible to reconcile the dilemma’s. |
Watch the video documentary about the China study trip
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