Modulbeschreibung

Students enrolled in the Bachelor of Business Administration and Business Information Technology (both at the School of Management) and the Bachelor of Industrial Engineering and Management (at the School of Technology) can apply and develop their personal, social, professional, and methodological skills in an international and intercultural context. This is in addition to the skills they have acquired and refined in previous student consultancy projects or industrial projects.

The students work in a mixed team of American and Swiss students on a consulting project for a client based in Switzerland, the DACH region, or North America. Within this project, students conduct either a larger primary research study (e.g., market analyses, employee surveys, image and attractiveness analyses) or develop a management concept (e.g., development of a business case, development of management recommendations). The team properly plans and conducts the research tasks, collects, and analyses the data and draws appropriate conclusions. The process and results are documented in a report that meets academic standards (60 pages plus appendix) and presented to the client in a final presentation that is rhetorically convincing and tailored to the target audience.

Additionally, students strengthen their intercultural competencies while cooperating in a multicultural team by applying the intercultural foundation taught in previous semesters.

An application for the JUSP module is required. The WTT decides on admission to the program.
Students in the School of Management can apply for JUSP and take it instead of PRP2 or ICP2 (for International Management). Students in the School of Technology may consider JUSP as an alternative to other elective modules or courses.

School of Management: WSA1, WSA2, PRP1 or ICP1
School of Technology: Completion of the full Industrial Project Program

• Schriftliche Gruppenarbeit
• Präsentation in Gruppen

Same grade for all OST team members (exception: exclusion from group grade / from project according to PPRx manual)

Assessment is conducted by the project coach, intercultural mentor, client, and, if applicable, the statistics coach (in the case of quantitative market research); evaluation criteria and weighting are based on the grading sheet (published on Moodle).

• The students give a poster presentation in one of the coaching sessions (group work, the grade is integrated into the evaluation of the project work).
• Final presentation: Students present and discuss the project results with the client. Duration: approximately 60 minutes, followed by a 30-minute discussion (the grade is integrated into the evaluation of the project work).
• Final intercultural group reflection for OST students (the grade is integrated into the evaluation of the project work).

Professional competences:

Participants can:

• apply the knowledge acquired across all subjects to a specific project in an international business context,
• implement the formal requirements of a holistic, scientific, and conceptual work within a real-life project,
• apply the basics of intercultural communication and competence (4 steps, cultural dimensions, communication styles) to their consulting project and hence work on the project become more effectively,
• identify cultural differences and similarities between U.S. and Swiss cultures and consider how these might be leveraged for teamwork and project implementation, and
• recognize and address intercultural challenges in their consulting project in a timely manner.

Methodological competences:

Participants can:

• meet the formal and scientific requirements of a demanding consulting project involving both secondary and primary research,
• plan and carry out a complex primary survey and report the survey results and/or develop an implementable management concept in a consistent and structured manner,
• apply advanced project management methods,
• document and present results in a manner appropriate to the target group.
• demonstrate the ability to think and work scientifically (e.g., research design, questionnaire design and coding, evaluation with statistical functions, qualitative data collection and analysis), and
• apply the taught intercultural instruments to practical multicultural team situations, especially the 4 steps method.

Self-competences:

Participants can:

• reflect and challenge their own judgement as well as the opinions of the team members,
• familiarize themselves with a new topic in a short time,
• Show flexibility, independence, and responsibility,
• Work effectively under pressure, show endurance, and be able to take criticism,
• develop a sense for conflict potential and find constructive solutions,
• reflect on intercultural situations, analyze them and find solutions,
• Demonstrate an understanding of their own culture, particularly recognizing the influence of their cultural background on team dynamics,
• consider a situation from multiple cultural perspectives, and
• be open to different work styles and ways of thinking, respect them, and collaborate impartially, leveraging cultural diversity to enhance project success.

Social competences:

Participants can:

• demonstrate their communication, teamwork, and leadership skills,
• develop their professional experience as part of an international project team,
• show knowledge and demonstration of their readiness and openness towards other cultures and people, thus develop their intercultural sensitivity, and
• Collaborate effectively in a multicultural team, contribute to its development, and enhance their cross-cultural communication skills.

Topic area I: Project work

• Integration of the contents of various courses of the previous and ongoing semesters for a systematically conducted primary survey (letter of scope, research design, data collection and data analysis, recommendations, actions) and/or conceptual work (letter of scope, analysis of the current situation, collection of ideas, evaluation, conception, actions, recommendations)
• Presentation technique and communication: structure and design of final report, final presentation

Topic area II: Intercultural competencies

• Kick-off training: Begin to build your teamwork (Code of conduct, team profile, get-together, know your working style)
• Input CH-Kultur & US-Kultur
• Pause: How is it going – IC coaching
• Be aware: Potential upcoming challenges and how to address them
• Emphasize trust & collaboration: Mid-project reflection, followed by review of measures taken
• Debriefing of intercultural teamwork
• Final group reflection per team

Group work, guided self-study, individual and group reflection, group coaching, experiential learning.

Mandatory:

• PPRx-Handbuch / Guide for International Consulting Projects
• JUSP Moodle and PPRx-Servicecenter
• JUSP MS Teams
• Project Draft from WTT/client
• Kickoffs with WTT, Project-Coach and client
• JUSP program documents from WTT, Robert Morris University and project coaches
• Documents from client
• Intercultural communication materials
• Further literature