COMM334 – an overseas project experience – is an advanced elective module with an overseas study component designed for students majoring in communication management. With Asia’s economic ascendancy and modernisation, corporate strategic communication in Asia has taken on a new importance in the past two decades. Home to over half of the world’s population, unprecedented political, economic, media, social and technological forces in an age of discontinuities are creating a new world order for Asia. The importance of communicating strategically and the need for greater cross-cultural understanding, including being innovative and enterprising have never been more critical for organisations struggling to effectively communicate with diverse stakeholder groups across different geographies in this new multi-polar business environment.
An SMU-XO module, this course is divided into two segments – Singapore and China (Hong Kong). The overseas experience aims to equip communication students to better understand the unique geopolitical dynamics which affect communication in a one country and two systems nation. Students will be equipped with the ability to apply theory and understand how strategic communication has evolved to influence the integration of paid, earned, shared and owned media which are vital to unearthing unique characteristics that drive communication practice in countries in Asia. In addition to gaining insights from top Asian practitioners in the region, students will also acquire in-depth knowledge of the socio-political-cultural-economic factors that underpin the practice that influence business outcomes in the world’s most populous continent. This course will prepare students in communication management to readily transit and take on responsibilities to manage communication for businesses operating across Asia.
By the end of this course, students will be able to accomplish the following:
• Understand the political, economic, social, media and cultural factors that influence corporate strategic communication in different countries in Asia.
• Apply the principles and theories of cultural values and Global Public Relations framework when examining the industry practices.
• Analyze the effectiveness of different strategies when engaging with multicultural, multi-ethnic stakeholders in today’s technologically driven business environments.
• Gain valuable insights from guest speakers who manage communication in Asiac
• Integrate many communication modules and apply knowledge to align business objectives and communication strategies for effective engagement with the Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong audiences.