Developing Intercultural Competency Training in Global Organizations

doi:10.1017/9781108854184.018

14 - Developing Intercultural Competency Training in Global Organizations

An Examination of the Cadre of Global Managers

from Part II - Practice of Intercultural Training

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 18 September 2020

Miriam Moeller and

Michael Harvey

Edited by

Dan Landis and

Dharm P. S. Bhawuk

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Dan Landis: Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, Hilo
Dharm P. S. Bhawuk: Affiliation:
University of Hawaii, Manoa

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Summary

Global organizations demand a heterogeneous global talent pool. For decades, this talent pool has been dominated by what we consider traditional “there-and-back” expatriates, overseas assignees who are transferred to a host-country for three to four years and subsequently return to the home-country organization. To accommodate the pressures of globalization, it is argued that organizations today would benefit from a more dynamic talent pool which is composed of a cadre of managers that includes but also goes beyond the traditional expatriate. We speak of the global manager “family” which in addition to expatriates includes flexpatriates and inpatriates. Together these complimentary pools of talent help to facilitate the development of a global mindset among global managers that is necessary to compete beyond domestic borders. The mix of managers differs greatly relative to the duration of assignments, destinations, number of destinations, and commitment to the organization and career. As a result, we argue that each manager requires a combination of intercultural competencies or a “tool set” to reflect the demands of the assignment type which allows them to be successful in their roles. This chapter draws on a competency-based view to form the basis of the critical elements for building intercultural competency in global managers.

Keywords

expatriate inpatriate flexpatriate competency training talent

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Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Handbook of Intercultural Training , pp. 475 - 494

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108854184.018 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2020

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