Communication science: An integral part of business and business studies?

Communication is at the center of any business transaction. Unfortunately until recently, communication has rarely been assigned its proper relevance in traditional business studies at German universities. This paper attempts to demonstrate why communication science can and should be an integral part of all business studies. Without understanding the pertinent communication principles, it will not be possible to fully understand specific business relationships. With understanding, more effective and efficient use of communication in business relationships will become possible. This paper, therefore, briefly outlines the role of communication in some areas of business and then proceeds to sketch a succinct communication model to illustrate how communication affects business relationships. The paper ends with a concrete example, namely that of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg, of how communication science may be integrated as a distinct subject into the curriculum of business studies. -- Kommunikation stand schon immer im Mittelpunkt jeder Wirtschafts- und Geschäftsbe-ziehung. Leider wurde der Kommunikation bis vor kurzem jedoch keine eigenständige Rolle in wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Curricula an deutschen Universitäten zugesprochen. Dieses Arbeitspapier versucht darzulegen, warum Kommunikationswissenschaft ein integraler Teil aller wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Curricula sein sollte. Denn ohne ein wahres Verständnis der relevanten Prinzipien der Kommunikation ist es nicht möglich, viele Wirtschafts- und Geschäftsbeziehungen tiefgreifend zu verstehen. Demzufolge beschreibt dieses Arbeitspapier in knappen Zügen die Bedeutung der Kommunikation für einige Bereiche der Wirtschaft, um dann im Rahmen einer kurzen Beschreibung des Kommunikationsmodells darzulegen, wie die Kommunikation diese Beziehungen beeinflusst. Anhand des Beispiels der Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaften an der TU Bergakademie Freiberg wird abschließend erläutert, wie die Kommunikationswissenschaft in ein wirtschaftswissenschaftliches Curriculum integriert werden kann.Business Communication,Intercultural Communication,Communication Process,Business English Curriculum,Wirtschaftskommunikation,Interkulturelle Kommunikation,Kommunikationsprozess,Wirtschaftsenglisch Curriculum

Intercultural communication in business ventures illustrated by two case studies

The information and communications revolution has hastened the process of globalization in today's world of business. Consequently, businesses, even small and mid-sized companies, are confronted with cultural diversity when these companies become internationally active. Yet only few businesses are well prepared for a culturally diverse global market. Indeed, many business ventures fail not for a want of superior products and/or services, but due to a lack of intercultural competence. Disregarding the cultural component in a business transaction can and will lead to mistakes due to cultural misunderstandings which are the result of miscommunication. Because not much intercultural research exists for German American business ventures, this paper focuses on two German corporations, Buderus and Bayer, who are actively engaged on the American market to determine how they are coping with the cultural differences and measures they have adopted to surmount the cultural gap. -- Die Informations- und Kommunikationsrevolution hat den Globalisierungsprozess in der heutigen Geschäftswelt beschleunigt. Folglich werden Unternehmen, sogar kleine und mittelständische Unternehmen, plötzlich mit einer größeren kulturellen Verschiedenheit beim Verkauf ihrer Produkte und Dienstleistungen im Ausland konfrontiert. Bislang sind nur wenige Unternehmen gut vorbereitet auf diesen kulturell vielfältigen globalen Markt. Viele Unternehmen schlagen nicht fehl, weil hervorragende Produkte und / oder Dienstleistungen gewünscht werden, sondern aufgrund eines Mangels an interkultureller Kompetenz. Ein Nichtbeachten der kulturellen Komponente in geschäftlichen Transaktionen kann und wird zu Fehlern führen, hervorgerufen durch Missverständnisse basierend auf einer ungenügenden Kommunikation. Weil es nicht viele Forschungsergebnisse auf dem Gebiet der interkulturellen Kommunikation für deutsch-amerikanische Unternehmungen gibt, konzentriert sich dieses Arbeitspapier auf zwei deutsche Unternehmen, Buderus und Bayer, welche auf dem amerikanischen Markt aktiv sind. Außerdem wird aufgezeigt, wie diese beiden Unternehmen kulturelle Unterschiede bewältigen.Intercultural Communication,Globalization,Business Ventures,Interkulturelle Kommunikation,Globalisierung,Business Ventures

Good internal communication increases productivity

Internal communication has become an important factor in today's business world. The increased use of electronic media can, despite their obvious advantages, cause communication problems, i.e. information overload. By avoiding communication problems, the productivity of a company can be increased. The relation between internal communication and productivity has been subject of a number of surveys. Although different survey approaches have been used, all found that there is a positive impact of communication on productivity. Since different communication dimensions have a different impact on an employee's perceived productivity, effective and efficient internal communication has to be managed, therefore, in accordance with the situation of each company and its employees. -- In der heutigen Geschäftswelt gewinnt interne Kommunikation als Wettbewerbsfaktor eine zunehmende Bedeutung. Die vermehrte Anwendung von elektronischen Medien kann jedoch trotz ihrer Vorteile auch zu Kommunikationsproblemen, speziell zu Informationsflut, führen. Indem Kommunikationsprobleme vermieden werden, ist es möglich im Unternehmen die Produktivität zu erhöhen. Dieser Zusammenhang ist Gegenstand verschiedenster Studien, die trotz unterschiedlicher Ansätze alle einen positiven Einfluss von Kommunikation auf die Produktivität herausstellten. Aufgrund verschiedener Stellencharaktere und der damit verbundenen Nutzen bestimmter Informationen, beeinflussen vielfache Arten von Kommunikation die Produktivität von Angestellten unterschiedlich. Ebenso sind Unterschiede zwischen den Angestellten und verschiedenen Unternehmenstypologien zu verzeichnen. Folglich ist das Management von interner Kommunikation auf das spezielle Unternehmen und seine Mitarbeiter zuzuschneiden.Productivity,Internal Communication,Communication Methods,Communication Problems,Information Overload,Produktivität,Interne Kommunikation,Kommunikationsmethode,Kommunikationsprobleme,Informationsflut

Business and intercultural communication issues: Three contributions to various aspects of business communication

This paper describes psychological contracts and how they are created. Even though the phenomenon of the psychological contract can be observed in a variety of relationships, this paper solely discusses psychological contracts in business settings. The paper discusses in particular how psychological contracts affect the employee/employer-relationship.The findings will then be applied to the example of IBM in the early 1990s, when IBM decided to lay off employees despite its no-layoff policy. Finally, suggestions are made as to what could have been done to prevent the negative effects of psychological contract violation at IBM. -- Der Aufsatz definiert die Eigenschaften eines psychologischen Vertrages und erklärt sein Zu-standekommen. Obwohl psychologische Verträge in vielen Situationen auftauchen, konzent-riert sich diese Arbeit auf psychologische Verträge in Arbeitsverhältnissen. Besonders wird betrachtet, welchen Einfluss psychologische Verträge auf das Arbeitnehmer-/Arbeitgeber-verhältnis haben. Die Ergebnisse werden dann auf das Beispiel von IBM in den 90er Jahren übertragen. IBM entschied zu diesem Zeitpunkt, Arbeitnehmer trotz eines Arbeitsplatzsicherheits-Grundsatzes zu entlassen. Letztendlich werden Vorschläge unterbreitet, wie die negativen Effekte der Ver-letzung des psychologischen Vertrages bei IBM hätten verhindern können.Psychological Contracts,IBM,Workplace Relationship,Psychologische Verträge,Arbeitsplatz-Verhältnisse

INTERCULTURAL MISUNDERSTANDINGS: CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS

Intercultural misunderstandings involve a number of complex causes which can easily escalate into conflicts. Since conflicts are also complex, it is not easy to find solutions because there is no one solution for all problems. Systems Theory, transdisciplinarity, and the social ecological model take a holistic approach in investigating complex phenomena. They permit the creation of a theoretical framework based on previous empirical research and theories across scientific disciplines to identify the relevant elements of complex phenomena and to understand the interrelationship of these elements. Intercultural misunderstandings and conflicts are very complex phenomena because they include culture, perception, identity, ethnocentrism, relationships, trust building and conflict management as well as intercultural commu-nication competence which entails cognition, metacognition, and social metacognition. Since most em-pirical studies focus on isolated, individual elements in specific contexts, this article describes the theoretical framework of how the various findings and theories developed in different scientific disciplines can be used to form a cohesive framework to help circumvent intercultural misunderstandings and conflicts. In so doing, it follows the general principles of Systems Theory, transdisciplinarity, and the social ecological model

Relationships and Trust in Perceiving Price Fairness: An Exploratory Study

This paper explores the interrelationship of those human factors which influence the perception of price fairness. Previous empirical research reveals that these factors include in addition to human perception, also attitudes, satisfaction, relationships and trust. Past studies focused on isolated, individual components in specific contexts but not on how these components are interrelated and affect one another. In line with Systems Theory this paper investigates the interrelationship of these components. Since positive relationships create more trust greater tolerance for divergence emerges. Hence expectations are more likely to be confirmed which increases satisfaction and improves relationships which, in turn, has a positive impact on perceived price fairness

Communication and Consumer Activities of Social Networking Sites Users: Cases from Germany, Poland and Russia

The growth of the Internet heavily influences people’s lives every day, especially by the development of Social Networking Sites (SNS), which since their first appearance have been constantly recording a growing number of users. The main purpose of this paper is to identify the significance of SNS in relation to two activities of individual users: communication and consumer behaviour. The study focuses on the three most popular SNS in three neighbouring countries (Germany, Poland, and Russia) namely, FACEBOOK, VKONTAKTE, and YOUTUBE. The methodological approach is twofold: firstly, the authors developed a theoretical background of the areas of using SNS and formulated research questions; secondly, they applied the PAPI and CAWI methods for the data analysis. Regarding the researched activities, it should be noted that SNS users use these platforms more often for communication than consumer actions. The most useful here is FACEBOOK in comparison to YOUTUBE. This study provides results, which can be useful in the management of the enterprises that use SNS for their marketing communication in Germany, Poland, and Russia

Comparing consumers’ value perception of luxury goods: Is national culture a sufficiently explanatory factor?

The aim of this paper is to explore the grounds for commonalities and differences between customers’ value perception of luxury goods (CVPL) from different countries. An international e–questionnaire was conducted amongst 1,193 respondents. Data from 5 different countries (Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Germany, Portugal and Poland) were analyzed with adopted and modified scales from Wiedmann et al. [2009], Vigneron and Johnson [2004] and Holbrook [1999, 2006]. The country comparison of functional, social and hedonic value components in CVPL indicates strong cultural grounds for the existing differences, but diverges from similar studies in the field. Differences between CVPL between countries cannot be sufficiently explained by reference to the cultural traits of the specific country setting (for example, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions). CVPL is more an outcome of a subtle interplay between the economic, cultural and religious facets of the given country. Longitudinal studies of dynamic interplay between economic, social and cultural country-specific factors explain the differences and commonalities in a far more precise and detailed manner than referring only to a single category of explanatory factors. Research shows the need for “glocal” marketing strategies within the luxury goods sector when it comes to the local CVPL attributes