Kai kurie tarpkultūrinio jautrumo ir vertybių klausimai

The article deals with a research into students’ viewpoints on the place of values in decision making process in an intercultural workplace environment. Intercultural sensitivity is considered to be essential for successful intercultural communication in today’s diverse and globalised world. Therefore, universities should provide the necessary theoretical background to foster their students’ understanding of multicultural societies and offer opportunities to master practical skills how to communicate successfully. Besides, intercultural communication is closely related with values that are integral components of our daily social functioning. Intercultural skills are considered to help people live and work in multicultural societies, whereas their ability to solve ethical dilemmas is critical for everyday interpersonal interaction. Based on the qualitative research carried out at Vilnius University in 2014, the article presents the findings on students’ viewpoints on the place of values in decision making process in an intercultural workplace environment. The analysis of the research data revealed that the respondents, who were students of business management and foreign languages, demonstrated emotional empathy as well as readiness to solve conflicting situations in a constructive way, in the form of dialogue and negotiations, with reference to values as the criteria of evaluation. A conclusion is made that the students’ emotional empathy and their reliance on values could have a positive impact on their intercultural sensitivity. As the students were surveyed prior to the courses in intercultural communication and business ethics and corporate social responsibility, an assumption is made that these courses could broaden their understanding of intercultural working environments and enable students to increase the level of their intercultural sensitivity