Cross-boarder Teamwork

In our Business Engineering programmes at Fakultät NXT Nachhaltigkeit und Technologie, students work in teams right from the beginning of their studies. The goal is not only to collaborate, but to understand how collaboration works across cultures, disciplines, and expectations.

In two courses taught by Prof. Dr. Hazel Gruenewald this semester

• Intercultural Business Communication (B.Sc. International Industrial Engineering - Operations) and
• Cross-border Teamwork (B.Sc. Industrial Engineering - Sustainable Production and Business)

students were required to develop a team charter and consciously work through the phases of team development. Throughout the semester, they reflected on their interactions, challenges, strengths, and areas for improvement – both individually and as a team.

In the Bachelor Industrial Engineering - Sustainable Production and Business, students took this one step further by working in cross-border teams with Indonesian students from SBM ITB. This collaboration made cultural differences, communication styles, and coordination challenges tangible—and therefore learnable.

Developing intercultural and cross-border teamwork competence is not about theory alone. It requires structured reflection, guided practice, and real interaction across borders.

This is exactly the kind of capability future engineers and managers will need.

Thanks to Prof. Andika Putra Pratama from SBM ITB for supporting this collaboration!