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Recently, ethical leadership has become a widely studied research topic. Simultaneously, many studies have begun to emphasise the role of interpersonal communication competence (ICC) in successful leadership. However, there has been little discussion on the links between ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC. To address this research gap, this study aims to compare and combine the research traditions of ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC. The study is based on two literature reviews examining (a) ethical leadership (substudy 1; N = 27) and (b) leaders’ ICC (substudy 2; N = 18). The research questions are as follows: (a) How are the requirements of leaders’ ICC noticed in the literature of ethical leadership? (substudy 1) (b) How are the requirements of ethical leadership noticed in the literature of leaders’ ICC? (substudy 2) The findings reveal that (a) studies in ethical leadership rarely pay attention to leaders’ ICC and (b) studies in leaders’ ICC do not often discuss ethical aspects of ICC, at least explicitly. While a larger sample would have been preferred, the study contributes to previous research by addressing a research gap between ethical leadership and leaders’ ICC and suggests integrating these research traditions to better understand the nature of ethics and ICC in leadership. By promoting novel interdisciplinary research perspectives, the study provides a foundation for further research and development of (a) a competence-based approach to ethical leadership and (b) an ethics-focused approach to competent leadership communication.

This study aims to compare Finnish medical students' perceptions of the suitability of three experiential methods in learning interpersonal communication competence (ICC). The three methods it seeks to explore are: theatre in education; simulated patient interview with amateur actors; and role‐play with peers. The methods were introduced in a pilot course of speech communication.

Students (n=132) were randomly assigned to three groups. The data were collected via questionnaire and focus group interviews, and analysed using qualitative content analysis and cross‐case analysis.

Most of the medical students thought these methods were suitable or very suitable for learning ICC. The methods had five similar elements: the doctor's role, the patient's role, reflective participation, emotional reactions and teachers' actions. Being in a doctor's role, realistic scripts and patient‐roles, observing the interaction and reflection in small groups were the most helpful elements in these methods.

The results of this study show that simulated patient interview with amateur actors, role‐play with peers, and TIE are very suitable methods for practising professionally relevant ICC in the context of doctor‐patient encounters from the medical students' perspective.

Purpose –– This chapter shows the connection between the reality of intercultural communication training and its importance to the development of intercultural communication competence, symbolised by the Rainbow Model of Intercultural Communication Competence.

Methodology/approach –– 405 useable questionnaires (response rate=19.4%) were used from 56 German MNEs in a convenience sample of companies in the high-tech industry that are suppliers for the automotive, aviation, optical and chemical industry.

Findings –– German MNCs provide traditional intercultural communication training sparingly to expatriates, but with adjustments depending on the target country. Only 41% of training recipients deemed the training helpful for their mission. Non-traditional training methods are administered more consistently.

Practical implications –– The Rainbow Model of Intercultural Communication Competence should guide the implementation of customised intercultural communication training efforts.

Social implications –– Assisting expatriates in their development of intercultural communication competence via intercultural communication training fulfils the social responsibility of multinational enterprises.

Originality/value of chapter –– This chapter provides guidance to human resource specialists in the international arena to design and implement customisable intercultural communication training programmes for expatriates.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how individual-level intercultural communication competence (ICC) represented by cultural empathy, open-mindedness, and flexibility predicts preferred use of symmetrical, two-way, conservation, and ethical public relations practices (PRPs) among public relations (PRs) students.

Structural equation modeling was used to analyze self-report data from 268 PRs students surveyed at a southern university.

Results indicated that empathy, open-mindedness, and flexibility together significantly predicted the preferred use of all four PRPs. The three ICC variables each had a positive direct effect on symmetrical and ethical PRPs. Empathy and flexibility each had a positive direct effect on two-way and conservation PRPs.

This study provides evidence that the PRPs resulted from Excellence Theory, despite controversies over their practicality, are closely and positively related with ICC qualities such as empathy, open-mindedness, and flexibility among future practitioners. Future research should overcome the limitations in this study by examining current practitioners instead of PR students who are the future practitioners, investigating the PRP instruments’ criterion-related and construct validity, as well as exploring different levels and types of ICC.

This study is new in bridging the gap between preferred PRPs and the qualities needed for those PRPs, thereby addressing two limitations in the current intercultural PRs research.

This study aims to understand better the impact of intercultural communication, social environment and personality on customer satisfaction and post-purchase stage in retailing from Muslim customers’ perspective. In this endeavour, this study illustrates the unique context of intercultural communication to highlight several improvements contributing towards the advancement of intercultural communication literature.

This research adopted a survey approach where 450 questionnaires were obtained among selected grocery retailers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The measurement of the constructs and their interrelationships were examined based on partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

The findings partially validated the proposed framework with statistically significant relationships among all constructs. Furthermore, it exposed additional insights into some practical and conceptual solutions for addressing intercultural communication of religiously and culturally diverse service encounters in the Malaysian grocery retail industry. These contributions postulated an impetus for future research in various service settings.

Based on the theories, this study assessed the role of the social environment and personality of grocery retail customers on intercultural communication competence (ICC). It also examined the impacts of ICC on inter-role congruence and interaction comfort. It is anticipated that by filling this knowledge gap, the research assisted in strengthening retail communication strategies, which require intercultural communication adjustments in a multicultural business environment. ICC is expected to improve the retail industry’s competitiveness when it positively influences inter-role congruence and interaction comfort among customers.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the impact of intercultural communication and personality on customer satisfaction and loyalty in grocery retailing. In this endeavour, this study illustrates the unique context of intercultural communication to highlight several improvements in the literature and to encourage the advancement of the intercultural communication in the literature.

To initiate the research, a survey approach was taken. In total, 681 questionnaires were returned out of 1,100 that were distributed within selected grocery retailers in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The measurement of the constructs and their interrelationships is examined based on partial least square-structural equation modelling.

The findings validate the proposed framework with statistically significant relationships among all constructs. Furthermore, it exposes additional insights into some practical and conceptual solutions for addressing the intercultural communication of culturally diverse encounters in the Malaysian grocery retail industry. These contributions postulate an impetus for future research in various service settings.

Based on role, interdependence and cognitive consistency theory, this study assesses the role of the personality of grocery retail consumers on intercultural communication competence (ICC) and its impact on inter-role congruence (IRC) and interaction comfort (IAC). It is anticipated that by filling this knowledge gap, the research will assist in strengthening retail communication strategies, which require intercultural communication adjustments in a multicultural business environment. The ICC is expected to improve the retail industry competitiveness when it positively influences IRC and IAC among customers.

A significant body of research has now been accumulated in the intercultural service encounter (ICSE) literature. However, no study to date has provided scholars and practitioners with a systematic review to map and better understand the ICSE domain.

To fill this gap, the authors systematically review and critically examine the state of academic research on ICSE.

Based on a systematic review of 31 journal articles published over the last two decades, the results illustrate that ICSE research is a vibrant and rapidly growing stream of the broader international business domain, and it is topically and methodologically diverse. This review also identifies significant knowledge gaps related to the adoption of different theoretical orientations by researchers examining ICSE at different levels of analysis, a lack of contextual positioning, as well as poor methodological rigor.

Based on the findings, the authors introduce a multilevel and multidisciplinary conceptual framework that integrates the concepts of emotional intelligence (EI) and intercultural communication competence (ICC) as the key variables that explain trust development during the interaction between two key culturally different stakeholders: service providers (employees) and service receivers (customers). Finally, the authors discuss the contributions and implications for both academics and practitioners.

The goal of this paper is to develop and test a model that explains information and communication channel (ICC) choice for knowledge sharing in work teams.

This paper reviews relevant literature in information and knowledge sharing and communication channel choices to develop the four-layered model. From the four-layered model, an online questionnaire was developed to look at the ICCs that participants have available to them, the ICCs they actually use when sharing information in teams, and their motivations for making their ICC choices.

Although participants reported having access to a wide variety of ICCs, they tended to rely on face-to-face interactions, telephone and e-mail for sharing knowledge. In accordance with the four-layer model, participants reported that ICC choice was impacted by the type of knowledge being shared. In addition, ease of use, reliability, convenience, and the ability of the channel to document communications were all factors motivating ICC selection.

The layered model provides a framework for further research to investigate the factors at the outer layers of the four-layered model and the interaction among the layers in affecting ICC choices.

The paper attempts to build a model that organizations can use as a guide to implementing strategies for information and knowledge sharing in teams.

This paper develops and partially tests a model to understand communication choices and information sharing. It provides a framework to examine “traditional” communication choices in the midst of the uproar of the availability of Web 2.0 technologies.