Intercultural competence

Intercultural competence

Intercultural competence is a term that is used to describe the ability to function effectively across different cultures. The term is used synonymously with multiculturalism. A competent intercultural employee is one that can perform, act, think, communicate, and work effectively with other people from another culture both at home and abroad. Intercultural competence is vital for managers as it reduces intercultural conflict, thereby enhancing teamwork and collaboration in an organization. Therefore, intercultural competence is a critical asset in an increasingly globalized world where people can interact with other people from different countries and cultures. Indeed, intercultural competence helps in inculcating cross-culturalism in society. Intercultural competence has numerous benefits:

Local market knowledge:

Intercultural competence gives a multinational company advantage when expanding into new markets. Often when a competent intercultural manager leads product promotion, research has shown that such products are likely to succeed (). Intercultural competence helps an individual to understand the customs, regulations, market dynamics, and prevailing laws which benefit the expansion program.

Diversity in product and service offering:

() argued that intercultural competence allows an organization to offer an acceptable range of products and services. By understanding the needs of the community, it follows that an organization will have products that meet the needs of the community.

The motivation of employees:

One of the failures of multinational companies and expatriate managers is the failure to understand the needs of the local employees. However, competent intercultural managers understand local employees and can motivate them accordingly using appropriate problem-solving skills that relate to their culture.

More significant opportunity for personal growth and development:

When recruiting for a manager to be sent abroad, the firm’s senior management always selects who is perceived to be interculturally competent. This selection is the first step towards the career development of the individual chosen. Fundamentally, expatriate managers are chosen from ambitious, talented, and globally-minded professionals who like new challenges.