Introduction To Cross Cultural Competence

Introduction to
Cross Cultural
Competence
Cross-cultural approaches, at least as I view them, strive to

replace the rejection and dehumanization of “the other,”
including the type of demonization that ultimately leads to
war, with active forms of understanding, communication,
and respect. Cross-cultural management asks some very fun-
damental questions: How do I recognize, respect, and act
with civility toward people who are different from me, and
then, based on their very differences, build better teams, bet-
▾
1
ter organizations, better communities, better companies, and

a better world?
— Nancy J. Adler, PhD1
Copyright © 2015. Emerald Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
Walk into any organization today and you will see cultural differences, whether
you are comparing and contrasting people according to age, gender, personality,
ethnicity, nationality, or all of these and more. Increasingly, people are pursuing
education in a variety of countries. They are learning foreign languages, traveling
1. Nancy J. Adler, from “An Interview with Nancy J. Adler, PhD” by Kristine Marin Kawamura
(Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal (2013), 20(2), p. 191).
Dolan, Simon L., and Kristine Marin Kawamura. Cross Cultural Competence : A Field Guide for Developing Global Leaders and
Managers, Emerald Publishing Limited, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/bham/detail.action?docID=2030623.
Created from bham on 2022-04-21 23:52:19.
to foreign locations, and expatriating to gain career experience. They live in cul-
turally diverse neighborhoods, have friends from different cultural backgrounds,
enter multiracial marriages, and enjoy the sports, art, music, and literature of other
cultures. While doing something as simple as standing in line at the local coffee
shop, you can observe a tapestry of cultural backgrounds, hear the music of differ-
ent languages, and feel uniquely individual while also part of a wide-ranging,
complex world of humanity.
Prompted by globalization, the evolution of technology, and migration, and
moved by sheer opportunity, organizations are fast becoming complex, culturally
mixed “salads.” Everyone working in any type or size of firm — whether board
members, senior leaders, middle managers, field employees, knowledge workers,
line workers, support people, or entrepreneurs — must connect, communicate,
collaborate, and compete with others who are culturally unlike themselves. This
is true whether their associates are located in the next cubicle or on the other
side of the world. The expression “the world is your oyster” has new meaning
today as firms search the world for the best suppliers, employees, customers, and
even societies in which to grow, contribute, and compete.
Furthermore, in our knowledge-based society, leaders know that people are
their best resource. They must create the organizational cultures that invite cultu-
rally diverse people to fully contribute information, creativity, passion, and com-
mitment to achieve innovation and competitive success. It has become imperative
that they know how to leverage the benefits of their organizational smorgasbords
of talent.
Unfortunately, many people, employees and managers alike, are unskilled in
acting, speaking, and negotiating in environments of extensive cultural difference.
Not recognizing the degree of cultural bias or prejudice that pervades their per-
ceptions and judgments, they may react to new, culturally complex situations by
applying whatever “worked” in the past. You can think of this pervasive situation
as “unconscious incompetence” — poor performance caused by a fundamental
lack of awareness — and it is extremely costly. If cultural differences remain
under the radar, and the skills needed to mine those differences on behalf of the
organization are not deliberately developed, the entire effort suffers. Unconscious
incompetence reduces creativity, impedes communication and problem solving,
and ultimately creates a drag on productivity and performance that can be detri-
mental — even fatal — to an organization.
But there is very good news: the skills needed to thrive amid the cultural
smorgasbord can be learned, and teaching those skills is a central focus of our
2 Cro ss Cu ltu ral Com pet enc e
careers. We wrote Cross Cultural Competence: A Field Guide for Developing Global
Leaders and Managers to disseminate on a wide scale the information and methods
we have taught in a variety of groups and settings around the globe.
Even people who are already highly competent in cross cultural skills need to
continually advance their capabilities because life doesn’t stand still. The many
forms of media we consume continually open our eyes to new cultural differ-
ences — and raise new opportunities for prejudice, bias, and self-awareness.
Organizations seek new markets and compete in increasingly culturally complex
ecosystems. And people remain curious: they want to learn and better understand
their place in the changing world. The journey to attain cross cultural compe-
tence is constantly evolving.
The fact that you have picked up this book tells us that you have made a com-
mitment to help yourself and others develop cross cultural competence. You are
up for the journey and interested in learning how to lead the kinds of workshops
we conduct all the time. And we know that however difficult it may be to
achieve cross cultural competence, learning and practicing it are actually not com-
plicated. You simply need to gain cross cultural experience while having the inten-
tion to learn, grow, and change and the desire to meaningfully connect with
others who are different.
But short of getting yourself and your workshop participants on a flight to an
unfamiliar land and then facilitating this transformation in the midst of a new cul-
ture, how do you do this?
We have found that people can gain cross cultural experience and advance
their level of cross cultural competence by developing four areas of learning and
practice: cross cultural awareness, skills, values, and practices. We have designed this
book to thoroughly explore all four areas.
The Increasing Demand for Cross Cultural

Competence
We believe the demand for cross cultural competence will only increase among
organizations and governments around the globe. Why? Consider the dizzying
array of forces that presently affect organizations worldwide. The pace of
globalization has accelerated over the years, fueled by changes such as the imple-
mentation of NAFTA, the single alignment of Europe in the EU, the breaking
up of the Soviet Union, the accession of China into the Pan Asiatic Alliance, and
Intr od uct ion to C ros s Cu ltur al C om pete nce 3
renewed interest in expanding NAFTA to countries in South America. New eco-
nomic giants have emerged, such as the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, China,
India, and recently South Africa). Global outsourcing has become a strategic alterna-
tive for many companies requiring cross cultural understanding on the part of all
involved in every aspect of negotiation and partnership. Organizational strategies
must be designed to make the most of national advantages as leaders locate critical
aspects of their value chains in the most optimal location for sustainable competi-
tive advantage. And the rise of terrorism and fanaticism has incited culture clash the
world over, creating a dire need for effective cultural understanding and
communication.
Consider, too, that most companies are marketing and selling to ever more
diverse customers; their products must appeal to all sorts of different tastes, and
service- and knowledge-based solutions must be sensitive to cultural differences.
Leaders, managers, and HR departments must hire, develop, manage, and lead
globally based, multicultural workforces, thanks to growing levels of migration
and partnering. This places new demands on leadership teams and human
resource specialists to create successful cross cultural working environments and
organizational cultures.
To reemphasize a key point, these trends are affecting every kind of organiza-
tion that competes today: global organizations (defined as those with different
functions located in different parts of the world); start-ups and small- and
medium-sized organizations (Web-based or “brick and mortar”); governmental
institutions and NGOs; and social enterprises and social funding companies.
Growth is no longer obtained through finding local, face-to-face customers but
through social media, open platforms, and technology-based relationships.
Furthermore, companies must deal with the vastly complex issues of migration,
human resource development, demographic shifts, energy and natural environ-
ment changes, and social issues such as poverty, education, and freedom — all of
which have cross cultural impacts and implications.
The Solution: Cross Cultural Competence

Designed to bridge the gap between “cultural incompetence” and “cultural
competence” for individuals and organizations, this book serves as a comprehen-
sive, practical, workshop-based program that enables all kinds of people to learn
how to be productive, even to thrive, amid cultural complexity. That means
managers, leaders, workshop facilitators, trainers, organizational change agents,
and HR specialists, among others. While the book presents a series of workshops
to be conducted with groups, you may also use it individually to improve your
capabilities in cross cultural management, become a cross cultural competence
expert and practitioner, develop personally or professionally, or simply learn how
to better work and live in an increasingly diverse world.
We have written this book as a “field guide.” That is, it includes all the
content, exercises, and facilitation instructions you will need to design and deliver
a complete cross cultural competence development program, a targeted work-
shop, or a series of coaching sessions (printable worksheets are freely available
from our Publisher’s website2). Alternatively, you may pick and choose from the
content and selectively design a course to meet your own objectives. We have
grounded the book in the most rigorous and relevant theories, research, and
learning methods in the field of cross cultural management and made them easily
accessible and engaging to apply. Rich with exercises, case studies, survey instru-
ments, and tools, it is based on our extensive experience in delivering cross
cultural training, coaching, and consulting in multiple languages to numerous
organizations across the globe.
Over the years, we have learned that cross cultural competence is best taught
through experiential learning activities that help develop the metacognitive,
cognitive, motivational, and behavioral skills associated with cultural intelligence
(Eisenberg et al., 2013). As a result, we have created the entire program by com-
bining experiential learning — where the mind and body are engaged together
under the supposition that experience is the source of learning and development
(Carter, 2013) — with academic knowledge. You’ll find that we employ music,
videos, readings and quotes, case studies, role-plays, business situation applica-
tions, and opportunities for individual and group reflection and dialogue to help
participants learn most effectively. This will allow you as the facilitator to guide
people who learn through a variety of different learning styles and preferences
while keeping them engaged, refreshed, thoughtfully flexible and ensuring that
they will be able to naturally transfer their learning as they integrate it into their
work environments and private lives.
You will see that we frame the development of global competence as a jour-
ney with no end point: an evolution, not a destination. This is true for everyone
2. www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/cross_cultural_instructor_resources
regardless of position or role, and we work to motivate people to continually
improve, deepen, and broaden their level of cultural awareness, skills, values, and
practices. And since developing cultural competence in individuals also represents
a cultural change for the organization, we provide lots of lessons and recommen-
dations to teach you how to address the problems and overcome the obstacles
that arise with change.
The Knowledge Base

The knowledge base that informs the book has been culled and integrated from
four avenues. First, we synthesize theory, concepts, research, and facts from mul-
tiple dimensions of cross cultural management, including awareness, skills, values,
and practices. Our second source of the research is real world based case studies,
stories, exercises, simulations, and discussions that we have implemented, as have
cross cultural specialists working with individuals and organizations around the
world. Our third source is the research, consulting, and coaching work that
Simon has conducted in numerous countries, work derived from his highly
acclaimed books Managing by Values (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006) and Coaching by
Values (iUniverse, 2011), which have been published in multiple languages.
Simon has also lectured worldwide on these subjects and has certified more than
260 coaches through the Coaching by Values certification program.
The fourth and perhaps most important source is the personal and professional
experience that we have both developed as scholars, educators, consultants, global
business leaders, and world travelers. Our materials, models, and point of view
have developed as we have delivered cross cultural training, workshops, and
coaching in multiple languages to numerous organizations through the years.
In fact, our coauthoring partnership represents the cultural smorgasbord of our

times! Simon was born in Israel and is of Jewish heritage; he currently lives in
Barcelona while working at ESADE University. His wife is a Spanish-born
Italian, and his children live in Montreal and Toronto. Simon speaks English,
Hebrew, French, and Spanish (very well!) as well as Polish, German, and Catalan.
He has trained, coached, and consulted hundreds of leaders in all parts of the
globe with his Managing by Values and Coaching by Values systems. He has
great stories about his many adventures, including learning how to appropriately
drink vodka in Russia, shake hands with African managers, and develop guanxi
and give gifts in China.
Kristine is American, born in Minnesota of Norwegian heritage. Her husband
is Japanese-American, and together they are raising their Japanese-Norwegian-
American twin girls in California while she commutes to work at St. Georges
University in Grenada, West Indies. She has lived, worked, and traveled in more
than 80 countries, studying the interplay of business, culture, art, and socioeco-
nomic development. She has gained life-changing experiences living with the
Cofan Indians in Ecuador, joining in a month-long Sago Worm Feast with the
Kombai and Korowai tribes in Irian Jaya, participating in a chieftain’s funeral
ceremony in Tana Toraja, studying in a Zen monastery in Kyoto and a social
change center in Barcelona, and managing a start-up research and consulting
business in Southeast Asia.
A Building-Block Approach
We’ve taken a building-block approach in organizing the book so you can easily
customize 1- to 3-day workshops; 3-, 6-, 9-, and 12-month programs; or
ongoing organizational culture change processes. We’ve included learning objec-
tives in every chapter and exercise so you can assess workshop results. We created
action plans to guide the ongoing development of global competence, during
and after the workshop. We have also integrated global competence theories,
concepts, research, and facts with related cases, simulations, dialogues, exercises,
reflections, handouts, and assessment tools. Finally, purchasers of the book have
free access to all Instructor Resources: cases studies, handouts, exercises, and
assessment instruments presented in the book via our Publisher’s website.3
The Journey Ahead

You have already begun your journey toward cultural competence by reading
the important context this introductory chapter offers. In Chapter 2 you’ll take
the next step, readying yourself to deliver your first workshop and to describe for
others the cultural competence continuum upon which people generally progress.
Here we offer suggestions for setting up a learning environment, cultivating cul-
tural awareness, developing trust, and invoking a multicultural mood and
3. www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/cross_cultural_instructor_resources
experience in a workshop setting. We give you all the pre- and early-workshop
preparatory materials you will distribute to participants to initiate their own cross
cultural competence journeys.
In Chapter 3, we present an overview of the changing global business envir-
onment; we describe how and why diversity is growing in organizations and use
stories to frame the ongoing need for cultural competence — and the challenges
that may be involved. We identify program-level learning objectives and intro-
duce numerous case studies and exercises so you can effectively kick off your
workshop. Last and most important, in this chapter we present our original, holis-
tic Cross Cultural Competence Model, which serves as a unique multidimen-
sional and integrative foundation for developing cross cultural competence. We
describe its four dimensions, its relevance in the cross cultural management field,
and its value to training programs.
Chapter 4 shifts the conversation from a personal focus to an organizational
one and describes the often untapped value that global competence brings to
organizations. Here, we explore the ways in which people around the globe are
both similar and different. We provide examples of the organizational costs of
culture clash and highlight the environmental trends that drive the need for cul-
tural competence, presenting a business case for developing it.
In Chapter 5, we examine the theories, concepts, and foundation for develop-
ing cultural awareness: the first leg of the Cross Cultural Competence Model.
We also describe the many theoretical and contextual dimensions of culture,
discuss the experience of culture shock, explore the nature of prejudice and bias,
and provide numerous exploratory tools for self-examination of cross cultural
awareness.
Chapter 6 provides a well-rounded understanding of the complexity of values
in cross cultural environments and the environmental forces that drive them. We
discuss the challenges arising from conflicting values and the need for values
alignment. Comparing alternative management systems that underlie different
organizational cultures, we then present the precepts, features, and value of
Simon’s Management by Values (MBV) System, providing individual and organi-
zational inventories from MBV for discussion.
Chapter 7 explores the second dimension of the Cross Cultural Competence
Model: enhancing cultural skills and understanding. We guide you in understand-
ing both Shalom Schwartz’s Theory of Basic Human Values (the 10 motivation-
ally distinct value orientations that people in all cultures recognize) and Geert
Hofstede’s dimensions of national culture, which identify differences in the
cultures and values of a variety of societies. We describe the range of skills people
can acquire through mindful attention and active practice, habits that cultivate a
cross cultural mind-set and lifelong learning. We dive deeply into the practical
skills of communication (including the hidden languages of communication) and
decision making.
Chapter 8 highlights the skill of cross cultural negotiation, beginning with a dis-
cussion of differences from and similarities to domestic negotiation. We present
an original model for cross cultural negotiation that highlights its complexities,
influences, pitfalls, and success factors; we delve into some typical personal atti-
tudes and behaviors involved, including approaches to time, power, and informa-
tion; and we offer a plethora of exercises, role-plays, quizzes, and case studies you
can use to practice and develop each aspect of this complex skill.
In Chapter 9, we focus on the skills leaders and managers need to cultivate.
We introduce readers to Kristine’s Leader-Manager-Mentor-Coach (LMMC)
Capability Model, which frames the development of leadership and management
skills, and Simon’s Coaching by Values system, which serves as a backdrop for
developing the skill of coaching in cross cultural environments. Our goal is to
help leaders and managers skillfully manage multicultural teams, motivate and
inspire people who are culturally both similar and different, and learn how to
effectively lead, coach, and mentor people in diverse environments.
Rounding out the book, Chapter 10 shows you how to guide participants in
designing practice and action plans that will help them continue their journey to
cross cultural competence and proactively create a more culturally aware life,
leveraging the power of relationships, the insight of place, and the gift of travel.
Let’s Begin
So, are you ready to get started on your own journey? Are you eager to guide
groups in their quest to develop as leaders and managers in our global world? We
invite you to use this book to become a cross cultural competence expert; help
your organization, team, or client move forward on the cross cultural journey; or
simply become more cross culturally aware and proficient yourself.
If you choose to lead others on this adventure, we hope you will explore,
learn, and integrate these materials with your unique set of facilitating skills, lea-
dership and management experience, and cross cultural capabilities (embracing
both mistakes and successes) to design a workshop or program that fulfills your
objectives — one that motivates and inspires individuals, teams, and firms to
move forward on the cross cultural competence journey. Most of all, we invite
you to bring yourself into your workshop to build a rich, deep connection with
the participants and create a safe, inspiring, and productive learning experience
for all.
10 C ros s C ult ura l C omp eten ce

Introduction To Cross Cultural Competence

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Introduction To Cross Cultural Competence

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Introduction to

Cross-cultural approaches, at least as I view them, strive to

ter organizations, better communities, better companies, and

2 Cro ss Cu ltu ral Com pet enc e

The Increasing Demand for Cross Cultural

Intr od uct ion to C ros s Cu ltur al C om pete nce 3

The Solution: Cross Cultural Competence

4 Cro ss Cu ltu ral Com pet enc e

Intr od uct ion to C ros s Cu ltur al C om pete nce 5

The Knowledge Base

In fact, our coauthoring partnership represents the cultural smorgasbord of our

6 Cro ss Cu ltu ral Com pet enc e

The Journey Ahead

Intr od uct ion to C ros s Cu ltur al C om pete nce 7

8 Cro ss Cu ltu ral Com pet enc e

Intr od uct ion to C ros s Cu ltur al C om pete nce 9

10 C ros s C ult ura l C omp eten ce

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