Cross Cultural (Intercultural) Management Skills - Essay Example

Cross Cultural (Intercultural) Management Skills and Competencies Required For Successful Cultural Adjustment during an Expatriate Assignment Tutor Institution Subject Code Date of Submission Introduction Ability to work smoothly with others from diverse cultures is a vital skill for employees working in foreign land. Unfortunately, it is a competence that is seldom defined by a number of experts working in these nations. There is need for cultural intelligence for one to adapt in a foreign land. This level of intelligence includes: personal adaptation, practical efficacy, meta-cognition and successful interpretation of sending gestures and signals. Culture is defined as the pattern of shared assumptions that a particular group learns and adapts how to solve its problems in a unique way and has continuously been taught by the members. Ethos, therefore, affects management in many ways; this includes making decisions affecting the locals, influencing staff to make particular management choices, deciding on what kind of products and services to offer to the market among other important decisions. Arvil and Magnini (2007, p.53) explain that culture is an undercurrent that influences organizations functions and behavior. There are two major elements of cross cultural management: recognition of hidden cultural assumptions and how one’s cultural background influences the behavior. The understanding of the subject can be vital as it helps management acknowledge the influence culture has on organization performance, how to apply different multicultural management skills in different cultures and finally using diverse cultures as a platform to intercultural competence. This paper is designed to analyze some of the required competencies and skills in terms of interpersonal, knowledge management, analytical, information and action which are vital for any expatriate working or intending to work in any foreign land. Knowledge management is a very important skill and competence in cultural management as it is the most valuable tool companies have for sustaining competitive advantage. Knowledge management Knowledge management is the systematic application of knowledge to improve companies’ performance through facilitating inter-organizational informational sharing and experience. Breiden, Mohr and Mirza (2005 p.15) say that cultural knowledge management competency can therefore help solve management problem. Some of the tasks which are included here are interactive translation, developing participative competence, cross cultural networking, creation of collaborative atmosphere and finally developing of a participative competence. For instance, when French speaking expatriate working for the United Nations is send to South America there he/she will find totally different cultures in terms of language and the kind of food people eat. It calls for ability and readiness to learn and appreciate that other cultures are also important. Interpersonal Skills Building positive relationships with others is a very important skill. It is advisable to develop relationships with locals and colleagues through relational skills development as opposed to being solely task oriented. One should be an all rounded person who is not self centered with possession of social orientation and social adroitness with superb skills in solving disputes, cooperating with friends and affiliates, unlike majoring in work competition and performance excluding the social life. For example, when one is from a Western nation and goes to work in India, it is advisable to participate in some of their services so that they can feel that you are part of them. One of the fundamental beginning steps is adopting the local native language. It might take time and may be hard, but when one can speak the language of the locals, then he will be regarded as one of them. This will make one him/her be an adept communicator which is key in management, though this might be irrelevant when the expatriate is on a short assignment. That notwithstanding, it is necessary that one knows basics such as greetings or saying thank you, because it projects respect, openness and humility. It is also important to value people from other cultures and their respective cultural practices. Arvil and Magnini (2007, p.61) research findings hold that it is not easy to coexist if you do not understand and appreciate another person’s culture. It is important to identify cultural empathy, existing within the organization and learning on how to appreciate them. Interpersonal respect, intercultural sensitivity to the host country, extra-cultural openness and greater sensitivity to the needs of others are very important attributes when it comes to cross cultural management. Keenness when applying non verbal communication is necessary as they convey a lot of subtle messages. For instance, the use of gestures may mean different thing from different cultures. A good example would be the use of thumbs up which maybe may be a vulgar sign in another country. A zero hand sign in France can be applied as a greeting sign while it is an abusive language in Brazil. In a number of Asian countries, a kissing sound is never strange while in western nations people are usually get offended by this kind of behavior as it is perceived to be flirting. Information skills and competencies Being a good listener and observant is another key skill in ensuring cohesion with the locals and colleagues at work. Learning and adoption of listening mode postulates that understanding and digesting of ideas can only be possible through listening skills. These two characters are empirically vital to the successful management. If working in a country like Somali in Africa who believes that foreigners should be doing more of listening, then you must do as to their wish. Being in a position to cope and understand ambiguous scenarios is another competency which is vital to expatriates. These competencies include tolerance of ambiguity, ability to deal with unfamiliar conditions, coping with ambiguity and understanding of non-verbal communication. To deal with all these scenarios, one needs to be patient, impartial, to possess ability to observe large amounts of disparate data and embrace thoughtful judgment. In situations you find you cannot tolerate, one needs to sit alone and adopt new survival mechanisms. Analytical skills One should have an analytical mind of translating complex information into another foreign language. Various studies have supported the use of communication and language competencies as a cross cultural managerial skills and learning. Caligiuri et al (2001,p.361) write that some of the skills needed here includes language skills, communication, willingness to communicate, communication behavior and competence, understanding hosts country language, and being fluent a common language. In spite of the fact that most communication is facial, it is a sheer fact that analytical skills and competence are important in performance of expatriates in foreign assignments. Therefore, understanding requires translation of key concepts, terms, ideas or thoughts as applied by the locals. It is, thus, important that translation of complex information is important from cohesion with the foreigners. It is important that the expatriates avoid going too native, especially when they are on duty. In most occasions, you find that a number will always compare the way things are done in his home country with the hosts. It is not unusual happening, because anytime we move to different environment, there will be high likelihood of all manner of shocks from religion, foods, buildings, traditional cultural practice among others. Van de Vijver (2003, P.23) the most dangerous part comes when you make negative remarks about the hosts. An example was a Canadian School Principal who started dressing as the locals as a sign of commitment to cultural milieu and did not easily survive because he experienced a lot of resistance from the locals. The members felt that their culture was not respected as they are the majority. After some duration of staying in the country, the expatriates’ excitement subsides; a feeling of continuous antagonism hits them as they lose their culture. They tend to disassociate and detach from it which might require a heart and a bit of time to fight the low sense of depression and aggression. Action skills Taking actions and initiatives is a key skill area which can be handy to the expatriates working in another country. The set of skills included here are not being passive, changing bad situations, taking risks, being action oriented, taking initiative, exhibiting extraversion orientation and also decision skills. These competencies are very important when it comes to decision making within an organization. The skills describe how professionals engage in intercultural situations, especially in conflicting conditions. Orientation affects people and influence situations in their lives. The skills and ability to manage others, especially peers, is undoubtedly a tool which can be applied to enhance intercultural management. Morley and Cerdin (2010, p.805) explain some of the management skills which are useful here and include organizational skills, maintenance of close-knit organization and general management skills. Interaction posture and host country is also important in managing others. Therefore, there is a need to actively impact other people through practical real experiences and pragmatic approaches. Besides, a need to take responsibility especially after influencing other people will be quite important. Developmental learning is another key important skill and competency required by expatriates. Ability to develop and learn hosts culture is a plus. An expatriate who is able to diversify his/her understanding is likely to adapt and socialize well with the locals unlike those who tend to specialize. Development entails so many skills because they reflect ability to survive and respond in multiple circumstances. Ability to accept the new host country is also necessary for easy survival. Immediately after one accepts his/her new home, the cultural differences will be narrowed and the feeling of loneliness will reduce. They will become more comfortable in dealing with unfamiliar conditions with minimal disturbance and ability to solve them with ease (Thomas and Lazarova 2006 p.247). In Asia, for instance, the greeting by the first slapping of one’s hand before the normal retune handshaking is normal, unlike the western cultures. This might be different for the locals as the rubbing noses custom is left for the locals. Adaptability and flexibility per se are overemphasized. With a rigid mind, an expatriate cannot adapt to the new home. Therefore, there is need to acquire flexibility in personal trait and cultural. These traits are very important for any expatriate who wants to survive in any foreign land. Any level of stiffness will derail his work and will be a force to have the sense of returning to the home country. Ability to manage stress is another important trait that helps in dealing with inherent complex tensions in place of work. Kumar et al (2008, p.326) explain that processes of solving dialectically opposed views include thinking versus feeling, or action against reflection. When immersed in another group’s culture, there can be a possibility of buildup of internal tensions which might interfere with the expatriates work. Some of the skills which can be applied here include self control under stress, emotional maturity to handle loneliness and depression and stress management. This skill involves the internal capacity to deal with mind bogging issues, reactions to them and how to overcome them. Tolerance of depression stress and loneliness is another mechanism which can be adopted. Conclusion It is axiomatic to argue that the above discussed competencies are definitely needed for successful expatriate. In most cases, the typical scenarios of culture shock usually begin with a thought that the new culture is exotic, wicked, naïve and silly and a feeling that it is diverse. Most of these have been reported by a number of experts when they return home. As discussed, there is a need to be skillful and careful of what is said during and after assignments. If one is not careful, a conflict is likely to rise which will make the work of the expatriate be complicated. If one realizes that he/she is being induced to join a debate which might interfere with the work, the best thing is to avoid contributing to the topic. I, therefore, believe that it is important that before one takes an international duty, it is necessary to do research about that country and the specific locality they will be based. In a nutshell, it is the passion and readiness to learn, appreciate and recognize that all cultures are important and that none is superior. Bibliography Arvil, A.B., & Magnini, V.P., 2007. A holistic approach to expatriate success. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol.19 No.1 pp53-63. Breiden, O., Mohr, B., & Mirza, H.R., 2005. Coping with the job abroad: a correspondence model of expatriate work adjustment. International Studies of Management & Organization, Vol.34 No.3 pp5-26. Caligiuri, P.M., Phillips, J., Lazarova, M., Tarique, I., & Bürgi, P., 2001. The theory of met expectations applied to expatriate adjustment: the role of cross-cultural training. International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol.12 No.3 pp357-72. Kumar, R., Rose, C.R, & Subramaniam, 2008. The effects of personality and cultural intelligence on international assignment effectiveness: a review. Journal of Social Sciences, Vol.4 No.4 pp320-8. Morley, M.J., & Cerdin, J.L., 2010. Intercultural competence in the international business arena. Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol.25 No.8 pp805-9. Thomas, D.C., & Lazarova, M.B., 2006. Expatriate adjustment and performance: a critical review. Handbook of Research in International Human Resource Management, pp247-64. Van de Vijver F. J. R. (2003). Bias and equivalence: Cross-cultural perspectives In Harkness J. Read More