Cultural agility is a term employed in talent management to design a complex competency based on skills whose command allows an individual or an organization to perform successfully in cross-cultural situations.[1][2][3] Cultural agility has been conceptualized as an individual's ability to comfortably and effectively work in different cultures (e.g., countries, organizations) and with people from different cultures, national origins, generations, gender, etc.[4] People with cultural agility are able to "build trust, gain credibility, communicate, and collaborate effectively across cultures".[5] The concept appears to overlap with others such as cross-cultural competence and cultural intelligence.[6] The subject has been linked to studying abroad,[7] foreign talent acquisition,[8] immigrants and refugees,[9] career success,[10] sports coaching,[11] leadership development,[12] and global business.[13] Currently, the term is often associated with research carried out by Paula Caligiuri, and a few others like Marisa Cleveland,[14] and Zeinab Shawky Younis.[15] On psychological aspects, the command of cultural agility resources may be facilitated by personality traits like extraversion, openness, and predisposition to novelty seeking, but also by appropriate learning.[16] Self-assessment has been pointed out as a practical approach to evaluate the level of competence reached by cultural agility trainees.[17]
Apart from its colloquial use, the term agility was proposed as a relevant concept to industry and business management in the 1990s by Steven L. Goldman,[18] who published a volume on the subject.[19] An early use of the full term (cultural agility) is found in a series of conferences by Terry Lee named "Leadership for the New Millennium", in 1999.[20]
Beyond academic circles, the term has gained popularity in mass media when commenting about the need for acquisition of intercultural skills to achieve adequate inclusion in the socioeconomic workings of an increasingly globalized world.[24][25][26][27][28] A Cultural Agility Collaboration Group has been established by the University of Minnesota to facilitate developing inclusive, equitable, socially just spaces in campuses, and local communities.[29]
Digitalization
Digital technologies facilitate communication across cultures, and help overcome language barriers to some extent.[30]
Localization
Although adapting business practices to local cultural preferences may seem generally appropriate,[31] detailed assessment of circumstances may reveal overall benefits from the use of countercultural practices on some occasions.[32]
Training
Opportunities to learn cultural agility theory and/or techniques appear to be growing through:
Lazarova, Mila; Caligiuri, Paula; Collings, David G.; De Cieri, Helen (2023-01). "Global work in a rapidly changing world: Implications for MNEs and individuals". Journal of World Business. 58 (1): 101365. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2022.101365. PMC9229585
Caligiuri, Paula; Caprar, Dan V. (2022-06-06). "Becoming culturally agile: Effectively varying contextual responses through international experience and cross-cultural competencies". The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 0 (0): 1–22. doi:10.1080/09585192.2022.2083918. ISSN0958-5192
Caligiuri, Paula; Sbaa, Maha Yomn; Milosevic, Mina; MacGregor-Peralta, Julia; Griffith, Richard (2022-12). "Assessing cross-cultural performance: beyond just "being there", revisited". International Journal of Cross Cultural Management. 22 (3): 413–431. doi:10.1177/14705958221135216. ISSN1470-5958
Books
Caligiuri, P. (2012). Cultural Agility: Building a Pipeline of Globally Successful Professionals. Jossey-Bass Publishing. ISBN978-1118275078.
Ferraro, G. P., & Briody, E. K. (2017). The cultural dimension of global business. Taylor & Francis. ISBN1138202290[40]
Olivier, S., Hölscher, F., & Williams, C. (2020). Agile Leadership for Turbulent Times: Integrating Your Ego, Eco and Intuitive Intelligence. Routledge. ISBN978-0367457105[41]
The Agile Culture Code: A guide to organizational agility (1st ed., 2020). BusinessVillage, ISBN978-3869805252.[42]
Caligiuri P. Building Your Cultural Agility: The Nine Competencies of Successful Global Professionals. Kogan-Page Publishing, (2021, in press), ISBN978-1789666618[17]
↑ Caligiuri, Paula. (2012). Cultural agility: building a pipeline of successful global professionals. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN978-1-118-33054-8. OCLC795504483.
↑ Dahl, Annette (2019). Global perspectives: a practical guide to navigating across cultures (1. udgaveed.). [Risskov]: Granhof & Juhl. ISBN978-87-970507-5-0. OCLC1142165270.
1 2 CALIGIURI, PAULA (2021). BUILD YOUR CULTURAL AGILITY: the nine competencies you need to be a successful global professional. KOGAN PAGE. ISBN978-1-78966-661-8. OCLC1152067760.
↑ Goldman, Steven L. (1995). Agile competitors and virtual organizations: strategies for enriching the customer. Roger N. Nagel, Kenneth Preiss. New York: [Wiley]. ISBN0-471-28650-8. OCLC902613554.
↑ Robert H Miller (1999). "Higher, Faster, Stronger - the Challenge of the New Millennium". The International Congress on Local Government Engineering and Public Works: incorporating the 10th National Local Government Engineering Conference, Sydney, Australia, 22-26 August 1999. Sydney, N.S.W.: Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia. p.6. ISBN0-9586804-9-3. OCLC779853755.
↑ Ferraro, Gary P. (2017). The cultural dimension of global business. Elizabeth Kathleen Briody (8thed.). Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN978-1-138-63245-5. OCLC957504075.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
↑ Olivier, Sharon (2021). Agile leadership for turbulent times: integrating your ego, eco and intuitive intelligence. Frederick Holscher, Colin Williams. Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN978-1-003-02959-5. OCLC1182020299.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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