Bridging cross-cultural issues in the globalised world: a case for training

It is almost a cliche to research on cross-cultural issues in the organisational context. Since [the] early nineties, with the opening up of markets, liberalisation policies in many countries and globalisation, there has been an explosion in the amount of research on this subject. This is a conceptual paper which proposes a model which could be used by managers and trainers in organisations as a framework for designing cross-cultural training programmes, To this end, the research first attempts to define culture and why cultures differ; second, identify the key cross-cultural issues in the present globalised world; and finally, proposes ways to overcome the issues involving misunderstandings and contrary views resulting from multicultural differences. The paper highlights its implications for trainers, team leaders of multicultural teams, project managers, in effect, all managers in an organisation's national and global operations. It concludes that managers should no longer consider cross-cultural issues as a problem, rather as opportunities leveraging them to encourage creativity, innovation, peace, harmony and cultural synergy in their organisation.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

It is almost a cliche to research on cross-cultural issues in the organisational context. Since [the] early nineties, with the opening up of markets, liberalisation policies in many countries and globalisation, there has been an explosion in the amount of research on this subject. This is a conceptual paper which proposes a model which could be used by managers and trainers in organisations as a framework for designing cross-cultural training programmes, To this end, the research first attempts to define culture and why cultures differ; second, identify the key cross-cultural issues in ...  [+] Show more