Intercultural Competence

Examples of Intercultural Competence in the following topics:

• Considering Cultural and Interpersonal Differences

  • Intercultural competence is an individual's ability to communicate with, and adapt to, the cultural norms and expectations of each employee or customer.
  • The following figure highlights the three building blocks of one intercultural approach: cross-cultural competence, language proficiency, and regional expertise.
  • This model suggests that the development of each building block allows for the largest potential crossover between the sections, and that employing them in concert provides the largest potential level of competence for an intercultural manager.
  • Managers who pursue intercultural competency while possessing a strong understanding of their own strengths, weaknesses, and cultural identity will more effectively immerse themselves into the cultures of co-workers.
  • This chart illustrates the three factors that constitute an effectively intercultural understanding for management: Regional Expertise, Language Proficiency, and Cross-Cultural Competence

• Cultural Intelligence

  • Cultural intelligence is the ability to display intercultural competence within a given group through adaptability and knowledge.
  • The concept of cultural intelligence is exactly what it sounds like—the ability to display intercultural competence within a given group through adaptability and knowledge.
  • An interesting perspective on cultural intelligence is well represented in the intercultural-competence diagram, which highlights the way that each segment of cultural knowledge can create synergy when applied to the whole of cultural intelligence, where overlapping generates the highest potential CQ.
  • This diagram illustrates the three factors that constitute an effectively intercultural understanding for management: Regional Expertise, Language Proficiency, and Cross-Cultural Competence.
  • Analyze the key components inherent in developing strong cultural competence as a manager in a diverse global economy

• Gender and Diversity

  • The most effective way to ensure proper communicative efficiency in diverse teams is to improve intercultural competence.
  • Intercultural competence is simply the ability to communicate with different groups and cultures effectively and appropriately—"effectively" meaning that shared goals are being accomplished, and "appropriately" meaning doing so without violating the values, norms, relationships, or expectations of others.
  • Intercultural competence is a widely studied area of organizational communications and behavior.
  • One model outlines the three following components as being at the core of a culture-savvy individual: regional expertise, language proficiency, and cross-cultural competence.
  • Of course, intercultural considerations are only some of the issues that arise in diverse teams.

• Considerations when Managing a Global Corporation

  • Strong global management skills, intercultural competence, and a sensitivity to cultural issues are necessities for global managers.
  • The development of global management skills, as well as the intercultural competence to identify and develop sensitivity to cultural issues, becomes a larger factor in the overall success of these business models.
  • This is best achieved through understanding what constitutes a high level of intercultural competence and leveraging this confidence to achieve the desire results in global management (see Boundless's "Cultural Intelligence" section).
  • To summarize the concept of intercultural competence, the basics necessary for effectively developing this is a linguistic understanding, a cultural understanding (religion, ethics, values, etc.), and regional expertise (ethnicity/geography).
  • Sensitivity to important cultural considerations and the development of a highly perceptive intercultural competency is a prerequisite for any global corporations considering geographic expansion into a new market.

• Cultural Transmission

  • Intercultural competence is the ability to communicate successfully with people of other cultures.
  • In interactions with people from foreign cultures, a person who is interculturally competent understands culture-specific concepts in perception, thinking, feeling, and acting.
  • The interculturally competent person considers earlier experiences free from prejudices, and has an interest in, and motivation towards, continued learning.
  • The development of intercultural competence is mostly based on the individual's experiences while communicating with different cultures.

• Building a Diverse Workforce

  • Therefore, it is a top priority for multinational corporations to develop a strong intercultural competence in their management and apply this competence to the human resource framework.

• Definition and Challenges of a Global Corporation

  • There are differences in strategies and approaches in every geographic location worldwide, and attracting talented managers with high intercultural competence is a critical step in developing an efficient global strategy.

• Are Global Corporations Beneficial?

  • There are differences in strategies and approaches in every geographic location worldwide, and attracting talented managers with high intercultural competence is a critical step in developing an efficient global strategy.

• References

  • The race relations competence workshop: Theory and results.
  • Training police for intercultural sensitivity: A critical review and discussion of the research.

• The Challenge of Diversity

  • This evolving outlook on a diverse workplace has ultimately resulted in the recognition and implementation of diversity management and intercultural understandings within organizations, creating stronger and more ethical business practices.
  • Effective managers in diverse situations have a highly developed degree of cultural competence that empowers them to use careful observation skills to determine what gestures, phrases, customs and values would be most appropriate in a given circumstance.