‘It’s Important for Us to Know How to Do Teamwork’: Perceptions of Chinese International Hospitality Students Regarding Teamwork Skills

ABSTRACT

This article investigates the perceptions held by Chinese international students at one Australian university regarding the importance of teamwork skills for entry-level positions in the Chinese hotel industry and the development of these skills. The findings from 19 semi-structured interviews demonstrate that most respondents feel that it is crucial for Chinese international students to develop teamwork skills for the Chinese hotel industry. Even though some respondents reported positive experiences working on university assignments with other students of different nationalities, others felt that cross-cultural teamwork was challenging due to their perceived weak English language skills and lack of creative ideas. Some students also mentioned that they would like their university lecturers and tutors to assist them in the formation and facilitation of teams. The article recommends structured interventions regarding cross-cultural teamwork and continuous English language teaching to familiarize the Chinese international students with the challenges that they may face.

摘要

本文调查了一所澳洲大学的中国留学生, 关于团队合作能力对于中国酒店业入门级职位之重要性以及如何培养这些能力之看法。通过19个半结构化的访谈得出的研究结果表明:大多数受访者认为, 对于中国留学生而言, 培养中国酒店业的团队合作能力至关重要。一些受访者报告, 他们在与其他国籍不同的学生完成大学作业方面有积极的体验;然而另一些受访者则认为, 由于认为自己的英语能力较弱以及缺乏创意, 进行跨文化团队合作具有挑战性。一些学生还提到:他们希望大学老师和导师们能够帮助他们组建和促进团队。本文建议就跨文化团队合作及持续英语教学采取结构性干预措施, 使中国留学生们熟悉自己可能面临的挑战。

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism and hospitality education
• Chinese international students
• teamwork skills
• cross-cultural teamwork skills
• hotel industry

关键词:

• 旅游和酒店教育
• 中国留学生
• 团队合作能力
• 跨文化团队合作能力
• 酒店业

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katrine Sonnenschein

Katrine Sonnenschein is now working as an Associate Professor in Department of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at BI Norwegian Business School. Previously, she worked as an Assistant Professor at Jönköping International Business School, Sweden, and she holds a PhD from the Department of Business Strategy and Innovation at Griffith Universiy, Australia. Her research interests are professional socialization, humanresources management, cultural adjustment, work integrated learning, career, international education, and tourism and hospitality management education (E-mail: [email protected]).