The Importance of Intercultural Communication to improve Students’ Global Leadership Competence: a Phenomenological Approach of Higher Education Institutions in Jakarta
Dr. Ir. Panji Hendrarso, M.M

Abstract
Nowadays, organizations, companies, and other institutions need leaders who are capable of moving in and through divergent cultural environments. An increasing number of studies in recent years have examined issues related to intercultural communication competence which is important for leaders in global era. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of college students who do not have such competence that will lead to failing to be global leaders. This study aims at answering the questions why university students in Jakarta are still lack of intercultural communication competence and how to improve students’ competence in creating global leaders.This study employed a phenomenological approach of a qualitative research design. In this study a semi-structured interview is used to understand how participants experienced the phenomenon. Data were gathered from a total of 17 participants, consists of university students, leaders of student organizations, university graduates who have been working in public and private sector, and an official of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education was interviewed to get the perspectives on the ideal 21st century leaders and what the universities should do to achieve it.The research proved that intercultural communication plays a significant role in improving leadership competence in the global era. Further analysis indicated that there were differences between students who are competent in intercultural communication and those who are not which can be seen from various aspects. This study provides insights on the importance of intercultural communication competence for university students to be global leaders, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of having and not having inter-cultural communication competencies in the global era and offers recommendations for future research.

Full Text: PDF