Supporting international assignments for intercultural effectiveness: a course redesign

Increased global mobility has resulted in a proliferation of international work, study abroad and volunteer opportunities. Yet these types of opportunities canbe challenging, and the support people receive can greatly influence their ability to navigate effectively across cultures. This project examines the concept of intercultural effectiveness for the purpose of redesigning a course on supporting international assignments offered by the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Intercultural Communication. With a stronger link to research across sectors and with a focus on intercultural effectiveness, the redesigned course promotes a comprehensive integrated approach to supporting individuals and groups throughout the international assignment cycle. Conceptual frameworks and models are introduced to assist course participants in analyzing contextual, organizational as well as individual factors contributing to success and intercultural effectiveness in international assignments, and in planning and developing competency-based support programming.