Time: You can start your studies within week of enrolment. The estimated time for completing this course is two months. Note! The course opens and you can start your studies 15 May 2026!
Enrollment for the spring courses is open till 14 June 2026, and you can start your studies within a week after enrollment. This course is also available in fall – enrollment opens in June and the first start is in August 2026.
Please note that lecturers will not provide guidance or assess courses between 1 June and 16 August 2026.
Place: Online studies
Scope: 5 ECTS credits
Target group: Anyone interested in the subject
This course is completed independently online on Learn digital learning environment.
Please notice that only students with a Finnish social security number (i.e. a personal identity code) can start their studies on Xamk Pulse’s courses. You can read more here.
Credited in degree at Xamk: All Master level degrees
Area of competence mentioned in Curriculum: Optional studies
Enrolment by 13 December 2026, when there is approximately 2 months left to complete the course.
Fee: EUR 75 (EUR 15 / credit). More information about fees here.
Enrollment for Xamk Pulse studies is binding. After the studies start, you will be sent an invoice by email. The fee will be invoiced and will not be refunded, even if you interrupt/cancel your studies.
You can enroll for Open UAS studies for a maximum of 50 credits per semester. Enrolments that exceed 50 credits will be removed in the order of enrolments.
Xamk’s degree students who are present or absent cannot enroll for Xamk Pulse’s courses. Enrolments by Xamk’s degree students will be removed without separate notification. Paid course fees will not be refunded.
Xamk’s path students enroll on Peppi or Tuudo.
Learning outcomes:
Participation in a “Communication across cultures in business” course strengthens your cultural competence and builds rapport and trust with international clients, directly improving customer satisfaction. After completing this course, the student will be able to understand local cultural nuances which allow businesses to successfully enter new markets and tailor strategies to local consumers to improve negotiation skills by understanding the cultural context of a customer to reduce conflicts by minimizing misunderstandings, team conflicts, and missed opportunities to demonstrate cultural intelligence by building trust with customers.
- You will expand your knowledge of different cultures.
- You will be competent to navigate diverse negotiation tactics and decision-making processes.
- You will minimize misunderstandings and workplace conflicts by recognizing nuances in verbal and non-verbal cues.
- You will be able to implement communication strategies by setting clear time zone boundaries and expectations.
Contents:
- Why is cultural sensitivity in business communication important?
- How could you adapt to a new cultural business environment?
- What are cross cultural misunderstandings and how to avoid them?
- How to co-create a new communication language within a company?
Methods:
- The course is carried out entirely by way of unscheduled online study. The course can be individually completed, and it does not entail group work or scheduled lessons.
- The course is completed by way of assignments that are assessed according to specified criteria. There is no exam in the course.
- The course has scheduled assignments.
- The end date of the course is presented in the course details. By this date, the student must submit all assignments and meet all other conditions set for an approved course completion.
- A failed course can be resit, but a passing course grade cannot be improved.
A five-credit course corresponds to approximately 135 hours of student workload. The number of hours is theoretical and varies depending on the student’s effort.
Study material:
The following literature is used in the course:
- Alfons T., 2020 Riding the waves of culture: understanding diversity in global business.
- Lori P., 2024 Managing across generations and cultures: a practical guide for business.
- John R., et. al, 2024 Intercultural communication for everyday life.
- Mada S., et. al, 2012 Professional Communication Across Languages and Cultures.
Study materials are provided by the teacher via Learn.
Assesment methods and criteria:
The student’s performance is assessed with reference to the learning objectives and assessment criteria of the course. The course completion requires that all assignments are assessed with a passing grade.
Assessment scale:
Accepted/Failed
We will inform you about the implementation of the course by email. If you do not receive the message, please also check your spam!
Additional information on enrolment
Xamk Pulse, openstudies@xamk.fi.
Cancellation
If you do not start your studies, please inform us so that we can remove you from the course. This way, there will be no record of the course you did not complete. Cancellations should be sent to avoinamk@xamk.fi. The fee will be invoiced even if you interrupt/cancel your studies.
Transcript of records
The teacher has one month to give a grade after the student has completed all learning tasks. We will send you an electronically signed transcript of records within about a week after you have received the grade in the Peppi system. The transcript serves as a document if, for example, you are applying for credit for your studies at another university. Studies can also be credited at Xamk if you come to us as a degree student. See more on our website Information on Open UAS, Xamk Pulse studies.
This course is based on the curricula of Xamk’s degree programmes and the Finnish credits are fully compatible with the ECTS.
Please note that there can be changes in the course details in terms of the timetable and teachers, for example.
South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences is audited by the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (FINEEC).