Course Title: Culture and Business Practice in Asia

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Culture and Business Practice in Asia

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

SOCU1016

City Campus

Undergraduate

365H Global, Urban and Social Studies

Face-to-Face

Sem 1 2006,
Sem 1 2007,
Sem 1 2008,
Sem 2 2008,
Sem 1 2009,
Sem 2 2009,
Sem 1 2010,
Sem 2 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 1 2012,
Sem 2 2012,
Sem 1 2013,
Sem 2 2013,
Sem 1 2014,
Sem 2 2014,
Sem 1 2015,
Sem 1 2016,
Sem 1 2017,
Sem 2 2017,
Sem 2 2018,
Sem 2 2019,
Sem 2 2020,
Sem 2 2021

SOCU1016

City Campus

Undergraduate

365H Global, Urban and Social Studies

Face-to-Face or Internet

Sem 2 2015,
Sem 2 2016

SOCU2264

RMIT University Vietnam

Undergraduate

365H Global, Urban and Social Studies

Face-to-Face

Viet2 2015,
Viet1 2016,
Viet3 2016,
Viet1 2017,
Viet2 2017,
Viet3 2017,
Viet1 2018

Course Coordinator: Dr Reina Ichii

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 0416

Course Coordinator Email: reina.ichii@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 37.5.43

Course Coordinator Availability: By appointment


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None


Course Description

This course aims to provide you with the historical background, current knowledge and skills that will assist you to professionally interact with Asian countries, in particular East and Southeast Asian countries and peoples. Lectures and tutorials focus on Australia’s major business partner countries and regions of Asia, namely the People’s Republic of China including Taiwan, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Reference is also made to the increasingly significant economic and political relationships between Asian countries, the world powers and Australia. History, as well as social and cultural, political, economic, legal, artistic, and environmental dimensions will be introduced. The evolution of these areas over recent decades and their impact upon professional and business practice will be introduced and discussed. Interrelationship between these countries and other countries in the Asia Pacific region as well as their global performance will be explored. Emphasis will be put upon bilateral, political, economic, business and cultural relationship between Australia and these individual countries. 

Economic change and its impact upon government, business, ethnic minorities, social classes and individuals are examined by applying contemporary analytical perspectives from the fields of history, political economy and international relations. Strong emphasis is placed upon the enduring relevance of religious, social and political traditions in Asia. Drawing upon examples, the constraints imposed by cultural distance will be highlighted together with strategies to overcome cultural obstacles to trade and investment, international exchange and cooperation. You are encouraged to reflect upon the processes and consequences of cultural change in Asia and assess how such change might shape future professional and business practice. 



 


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development




Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, you will be able to: 

  1. identify cultural, political and economic dimensions of counties in Asia relevant to the context of business and professional practice in the region; 
  2. systematically critique the interrelationships between politics and economics at the local, national, regional and global levels;
  3. determine and apply specialist knowledge and technical skills required to creatively solve problems and/or devise commercial or professional strategies for interaction with an Asian country or region
  4. demonstrate professional communication skills and practice to gather and present general information about the Asian region with a focus on countries introduced in the course 


Overview of Learning Activities

You will be engaged in learning that involves a range of activities both face to face and online such as lectures/seminars, tutorials, group and class discussion, group activities and individual research. In addition, your learning will be supported by videos, visual images and group learning activities including debate and mock negotiations, research, group presentations and electronic discussion and exchange. Guest speakers with prominent industrial experience may be invited to lectures and seminars. 

You are encouraged to engage in living, learning and working experience in one of the Asian countries of their particular interest and to apply theory and knowledge obtained from this course to real-world contexts. 


Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through our online systems.

Specifically, online weekly readers are available and released on weekly basis prior to each lecture; recommended readings will be available online and relevant resources will be available from RMIT library or public libraries. 

Relevant websites introduced to you during the course delivery will provide you with updated information around course topics. 

There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal.


Overview of Assessment

You will be assessed on how well you meet the course’s learning outcomes and on your development against the program learning outcomes. Assessment tasks are designed to guide you to appreciate the professional value of “cultural knowledge” broadly defined as knowledge of different cultures, political systems, and social values. 

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task 1: Critical annotated bibliography (1,200 words), 30%, CLOs 1, 2 and 3, 

Assessment Task 2: Industrial project presentation and reflection, 30%, CLOs 1, 2, 3 and 4  

Assessment Task 3: Industrial report (2,500 words), 40%, CLOs 1, 2, 3 and 4, 

Feedback will be given by the course coordinator and industrial partners on the assessment tasks. 

If you have a long-term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more. 

Your course assessment conforms to RMIT assessment principles, regulations, policies, procedures and instructions.