SPÅ 2902 Business Communication in English - Effective Presentations and Negotiations (Oral)
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APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2012/2013
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SPÅ 2902 Business Communication in English - Effective Presentations and Negotiations (Oral) Responsible for the course Charles Cooper Department Department of Communication - Culture and Languages Term According to study plan ECTS Credits 7,5 Language of instruction English Introduction The course is relevant for students who believe that their bachelor programme selection may be preparing them for a future in an international business environment. It will enable them to strengthen their skills in two important areas of business communication that must often be carried out in English: (1) negotiations and (2) presentations.
Computer-based tools Students are encouraged to use the Internet during the course, as well as participate in discussion groups and assigned tasks on It’s learning. Learning process and workload Students should start the course by learning what will be required of them in the oral exam. They can do this by reading carefully the document which describes the procedure for the oral exam. They can test how well they have understood its contents by taking a multiple choice test on It’s Learning. The questions for the test will be generated randomly from a larger list of questions all of which are based on the procedure for the SPÅ 2902 exam. 1. Business cases and negotiation techniques. Students must be active from the start in acquiring knowledge of two alternative negotiation strategies provided in the compulsory literature. Time is also allotted for classroom teaching to help in this process. The course provides students with four business cases in which they can try to implement these theoretical negotiating ideas in practice. One of the negotiations may be carried out on It’s Learning. This process requires students to reflect over both their own negotiating experience as well as providing a peer-review of another student team’s negotiating. It is completed with a review session with the class teacher in which students must reflect over how well they managed to apply a negotiation strategy to the particular case. 2. Presentation Students are themselves responsible for identifying a suitable topic for their presentation, constructing a suitable context within which their presentation could be delivered and then developing it, practicing it and, ultimately delivering it at the oral exam. Class teachers provide advice and guidance to students during this process. Workload for the students. According to ECTS norms a student should work 200 hours including lectures and exams to obtain 7.5 credits. The following allocation of time is provided for students as a guide.
Examination The oral exam consists of two sections which are weighted two to one (2:1). Candidates must achieve a passing grade in both sections to pass the exam. The course grading guidelines provide a comprehensive description of what is expected of the presentations and the ‘negotiations’ discussion. All candidates are required to acquaint themselves thoroughly with these guidelines and are therefore, expected to follow them in the exam. The two parts of the exam are, in chronological order: 1) A 6 to 7 minute presentation in a business/professional/organizational context which occupies one third of the examination time and counts for one third of the overall grade. The student, in his/her role of presenter, must make an explicit attempt to persuade the audience that they should either do something or think something which they otherwise would not. 2) A 12-13 minute ‘negotiations’ discussion, which, occupying two thirds of the available examination time, counts for two thirds of the overall grade. The business case selected for discussion is chosen at random. No second choice is permitted. The discussion is led by the examiner and is based on the negotiation theory which is studied during the course and the experience of the candidate in attempting to use the theory in the negotiation of the business cases that they attempt to solve during the course NB. The exam can either be taken individually or with one other course participant. For those opting for a pair evaluation the times indicated above should be doubled. Candidates receive an individual grade. Examination code(s) SPÅ 29021 - Oral exam accounts for 100% of the final grade in the course SPÅ 2902: Business Communication in English 2 (oral): Effective Presentations and Negotiations, 7,5 credits. Examination support materials Powerpoint slides for the business presentation. You may take notes into the exam room to help you with your presentation. They must be in the form of bullet points with a maximum of three words per bullet point. You must NOT have any full English sentences in your notes. For the second half of the exam in which you discuss one of the negotiations, notes are NOT permitted. Re-sit examination A re-sit examination is held in every term. Additional information |