Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

Required competencies
An early survey in 1989–90 by Ashridge Business School highlighted a number 
of key characteristics considered to be desirable for international managers. 
The most important included, not surprisingly, strategic awareness, adaptabil-
ity to new situations, the ability to work in international teams, international 
negotiating skills and linguistic ability. It is clear that these are all related to 
an awareness of the importance of culture in international business.
As we observed in Chapter 4, this cultural awareness should be manifested 
as follows.
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Selection and Preparation for Foreign Assignments 101
Criteria
One approach to selection is to have a clear set of criteria or competencies 
which are generally recognized as being required for international assignments. 
Apart from the prime requirement of technical competence and professional 
skill, the following competencies are highly desirable:
cultural sensitivity, respect and empathy;
flexibility;
language skills;
interpersonal skills;
intercultural effectiveness;
a stable family situation;
experience of living and working in other cultures;
the ability to deal with complexity, diversity and ambiguity;
the ability to manage the work/family balance;
curiosity to discover more about other cultures;
maturity and emotional stability, and a strong sense of self- motivation;
stamina, self- reliance and patience;
a sense of humour.
The majority of the above competencies have strong cultural implications. 
This is demonstrated by a quotation from a major MNC on the training for 
senior executives which included the required competence to: ‘Demonstrate 
cultural sensitivity, to match one’s own style to the national culture … without 
this a talented executive may do a good job; however, it is unlikely he will 
ever be outstanding.’
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PATIENCE
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TOLERANCE 
UNDERSTANDING
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OBSERVATION
Figure 6.2 Development of cultural awareness

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102 Cross-Cultural Communication
There is therefore a need for a ‘new type of cosmopolitan, multina-
tional, multifaceted executive who is operational across national borders’ 
(Schneider and Barsoux, 2003: 185). Such an international manager who is 
to operate in Europe has been described as the ‘Euromanager’ (The Economist, 
7 November 1992, p. 81) or ‘The New Euro-Executive’ (Hurn, 1999: 17–23). 
However, it can be still relatively rare for companies to judge their managers’ 
ability to be effective in the international environment against any clearly 
defined criteria. One further problem is that previous overseas experience 
is not necessarily a reliable indicator of future successful performance in 
another culture.
Selection and pre- departure training need to be clearly planned in order 
to include, where possible, the employee, partner and the whole family. It 
should be designed to protect the investment in sending personnel to work 
overseas, but also to help them find a level of personal fulfilment in their 
new environment. The ultimate aim is to develop their cross- cultural aware-
ness and cross- cultural skills in order to help them achieve this.