Below is a transcript of our conversation with Dr. James Melton, Professor in CMU’s College of Business Administration
David Nicholas:
I'm David Nicholas, and this is Central Focus, a weekly look at research activity and innovative work from Central Michigan University students and faculty. Respect in the world is earned when the United States maintains good business relations with other countries. An example is the work done by Dr. James Melton, professor in CMU's College of Business Administration. He traveled to the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences in Germany and taught a course designed to bridge gaps in cultural understanding and business communication. I sat down with Dr. Melton to learn about it, the integration of CMU students into the exchange, and the plans to continue and expand efforts to bring countries and cultures together…
Was the course that you taught, Intercultural Business Communications, developed specifically for this trip, or is it something that's in the curriculum that you normally teach?
James Melton:
So, it is an undergraduate course that I teach here at CMU. It's called Global Business Communication. And there's also a study abroad version of that course that I've taught in Austria and Japan, and I'm planning to do that again in Germany this coming May.
DN:
What field are we targeting here when you talk about being able to bridge some of these communication gaps and come to this better understanding in global business? Is there a particular focus that you have for this?
JM:
So, for this particular group of students, they are in a program called Communication Media Management. So, it deals with lots of different kinds of communication. And we really focused on general principles of intercultural communication, but we applied that to Germans working with Americans. And so, they developed a training program for German engineers to work with American engineers and other people that they would work with in their professional lives.
DN:
We always hear about the world getting smaller. We've seen certainly great periods of growth and expansion when it comes to the connections globally. Are we in the midst of one of those now, or has it remained steady in terms of, I'm getting at the need for, or the real demand for something like this to make some of these relationships more productive?
JM:
Yeah, I mean, I think that the world has been getting closer since the 1970s as we've gotten better communication technologies and increased trade. I think that's a little bit under stress right now just because of geopolitical tensions and other things. So, I think it's still very important and very relevant. And I think they sensed, I think this university senses that too, because they wanted to have this relationship with us as well. So yeah, I think that the principles are going to apply in so many different areas of professional life that, it could be in business, but it could be in other fields as well.
DN:
There was also a collaborative part to this where the German students that you taught were then brought together in some sessions with the CMU students. Talk about how that came together and what the focus was in that kind of interaction.
JM:
Yeah, so I supervise our internship program in the Applied Business Communication Program here at CMU and wanted that group of students to have a chance to interact with the German students. The German students were trying to learn about American workplace culture. So, it was a really good fit for them to interview each other. And the German students were able to ask the American students who were doing internships about their daily experience. And the CMU students could learn about the German educational system and some of the ways that they do internships. So, I thought it was a really productive exchange and hopefully we can build on that kind of thing in the future.
DN:
Is there sort of a transferability, an adaptability of what you then have now kind of honed in on and developed for the time you spent in Germany where it could be taken elsewhere?
JM:
Absolutely. Yeah. I think the ideas and the concepts are going to be applicable in a lot in every culture. And so, you know, the study abroad or me teaching the German students is just a different audience or a different way to apply that and learn about it. But absolutely, and we have other courses in our College of Business that try to do the same thing in other countries.
DN:
Well, in a current climate that seems to put an awful lot of emphasis on division, this sounds like a bridge to something productive. And for that, Congratulations on the opportunity, and I hope that it develops and can grow into some other opportunities and other locations, and the relationship with the students can continue down the road as well. James Melton, Professor, College of Business Administration here at CMU. Thanks very much for taking the time to talk with us.
JM:
Thank you.
