Dr Jan Harwelljharwell@brookes.ac.uk

Department of Business and Management.

Oxford School of Hospitality Management

BRINGING GRADUATE ATTRIBUTES TO LIFE

Graduate attributes:Global Citizenship(Critical Self-awareness and Personal literacy and Digital and Information Literacy)

MSc Course in International Hospitality and Tourism Management

CONTEXT

2003 Turismo Sant Ignasi and Hogeschool Maastricht Developed an MSc in Innovative Hospitality Management (IHM)

Collaborative Partnership Developed Between TSI and Hogeschool, Maastricht and Oxford Brookes University

Research Methods and Dissertation Modules

Erasmus Teaching Exchanges

BENEFITS

2008 Develop Collaborative Learning Project for Students

Intercultural Coaching and Interactive Skills in a Cross-Cultural Context

Assessment: portfolio which evidenced experiential learning over the semester

Learning outcomes: analyse influence of own cultural background on behaviour, reflect on ability to use skills in culturally diverse contexts, evaluate the nature and effect of cultural stereotyping and cultural differences in communication styles, develop own cultural sensitivity, manage self development

Collaboration

Intercultural mgmtcompetences

Virtualcommunications

LiteratureLearning: collaborative, intercultural virtual, technology mediatedBusiness collaborationsVirtual teamsIndustry specific (employment, management skills)

Global CitizenshipEmployability, CSPL, DIL

Learning outcomesTransferable skills

WHY IS INTERCULTURAL VIRTUAL WORKING /COLLABORATION BECOMING INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT?

Social and environmental responsibility

pressure to reduce carbon emissions

Reduce costs worldwide economic slowdown /

recession increasing competition

Technology is improving facilitating interactions with

colleagues in the same organisation,

colleagues in other organisations and customers

Geographically dispersed work-forces

Enhance problem solving processes

Draw on wide range of expertise (share)

Improve outputs /offerings Improve competitiveness Small organisations can

compete with larger organisations

Flexible working Develop new ‘learning’ and

‘working’ communities

HOW DOES THE VIRTUAL INTERCULTURAL COLLABORATION WORK?

December OBU tutor goes to Barcelona to ‘kick start’ collaboration (2 days)

January IHM students move to MaastrichtStudents put into inter-cultural cross-university teams OBU students briefed on collaboration

4/5 Week collaboration commencesCommunication within teams is virtual until they meet in Oxford in March

March Assessed presentations take placeAlso raft of curricular and extra-curricular activities take place. Duration of visit increased over past 5 years

May OBU students submit portfolio (reflection on learning from the collaboration is part)

IN THEIR VIRTUAL TEAMS STUDENTS ARE REQUIRED TO:

1. Prepare a 15 minute presentation on one of the following subjects: Communication in multi-cultural teams in the tourism and hospitality industries Management of multi-cultural teams in the tourism and hospitality industries Conflict resolution in multi-cultural teams in the tourism and hospitality industries Motivation in multi-cultural teams in the tourism and hospitality industries

2. Synthesise a range of appropriate theoretical models and frameworks with their own practical experiences (from the inter-cultural collaborative teamwork on this module and relevant industry work experience).

3. Evaluate the opportunities and challenges tourism and hospitality managers may face when trying to develop the selected inter-cultural competency/skill.

Weighting 20% of module marks

Team identity?

Inefficiency, digital distractions, social

loafing

Challenges of virtual intercultural collaboration

Selecting appropriate digital tools (availability, access, cost, expertise /comfort level of users)

Poor understanding / agreement of task, priorities

BENEFITS OF VIRTUAL INTERCULTURALCOLLABORATION

Has: enhanced students’ ability to achieve

the learning outcomes (module) enabled them to think about and

evidence their achievement of the Graduate Attributes

Global CitizenshipCritical Self-awareness and Personal literacy and Digital and Information Literacy

in ways that will improve their employability

Taken skills developed largely in social arenas and adapted them to and enhanced them in professional arenasFacilitated the development of intercultural inter-university professional and social networking

Virtual collaboration between Sant Ignasi / Maastricht and Oxford Brookes University (provides them with ‘real time’ experiential learning – they learn through doing.