Cultural agility

Last updated

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]

Contents

History

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]

In recent times, the concept has been amply developed by Paula Caligiuri from Northeastern University and her co-authors, through many academic articles and books, now being widely used in academic literature. [21] Other authors publishing books on agility as a main subject include Peter Gillies from TIAS School for Business and Society (Tilburg, Netherlands), [22] and Guy Morrow, from the University of Melbourne, Australia. [23]

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:

Further reading

Recent papers

Books

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural diversity</span> Quality of diverse or different cultures

Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture. It has a variety of meanings in different contexts, sometimes applying to cultural products like art works in museums or entertainment available online, and sometimes applying to the variety of human cultures or traditions in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. It can also refer to the inclusion of different cultural perspectives in an organization or society.

A mindset is an established set of attitudes of a person or group concerning culture, values, philosophy, frame of mind, outlook, and disposition. It may also arise from a person's worldview or beliefs about the meaning of life. A person can have multiple mindsets, whilst the two most common ones are often cited as the growth and fixed mindset, a person also has a money mindset which can be more deeply described as a poverty mindset or a wealth mindset. There are also: abundance mindset, positive mindset, negative mindset, victim mindset, protector mindset, poverty mindset, rich mindset, wealth mindset, losing mindset, and winning mindset among others that form the make up of a person's overall mindset based on the various values, beliefs, experiences and opinions that comprise the thinking on a conscious and unconscious level regarding these things.

Cross-cultural communication is a field of study investigating how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures. Intercultural communication is a related field of study.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Communication studies</span> Academic discipline

Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in different cultures. Communication is commonly defined as giving, receiving or exchanging ideas, information, signals or messages through appropriate media, enabling individuals or groups to persuade, to seek information, to give information or to express emotions effectively. Communication studies is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge that encompasses a range of topics, from face-to-face conversation at a level of individual agency and interaction to social and cultural communication systems at a macro level.

A consultant is a professional who provides advice or services in an area of specialization. Consulting services generally fall under the domain of professional services, as contingent work.

Interculturalism is a political movement that supports cross-cultural dialogue and challenging self-segregation tendencies within cultures. Interculturalism involves moving beyond mere passive acceptance of multiple cultures existing in a society and instead promotes dialogue and interaction between cultures. Interculturalism is often used to describe the set of relations between indigenous and western ideals, grounded in values of mutual respect.

Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies communication across different cultures and social groups, or how culture affects communication. It describes the wide range of communication processes and problems that naturally appear within an organization or social context made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. In this sense, it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate, and perceive the world around them. Intercultural communication focuses on the recognition and respect of those with cultural differences. The goal is mutual adaptation between two or more distinct cultures which leads to biculturalism/multiculturalism rather than complete assimilation. It promotes the development of cultural sensitivity and allows for empathic understanding across different cultures.

In business analysis, PEST analysis describes a framework of macro-environmental factors used in the environmental scanning component of strategic management. It is part of an external environment analysis when conducting a strategic analysis or doing market research, and gives an overview of the different macro-environmental factors to be taken into consideration. It is a strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for operations.

Thoughtworks is a publicly-traded, global technology company with 49 offices in 18 countries. It provides software design and delivery, and tools and consulting services. The company is closely associated with the movement for agile software development, and has contributed to open source products. Thoughtworks' business includes Digital Product Development Services, Digital Experience and Distributed Agile software development.

Founder's syndrome is the difficulty faced by organizations, and in particular young companies such as start-ups, where one or more founders maintain disproportionate power and influence following the effective initial establishment of the organization, leading to a wide range of problems. The syndrome occurs in both non-profit and for-profit organizations or companies.

Businesses benefit by having diversity in the work force. The business case for diversity stems from the progression of the models of diversity within the workplace since the 1960s. In the United States, the original model for diversity was situated around affirmative action drawing from equal opportunity employment objectives implemented in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Equal employment opportunity was centered around the idea that any individual academically or physically qualified for a specific job could strive for at obtaining the said job without being discriminated against based on identity. These initiatives were met with accusations that tokenism was the reason an individual was hired into a company when they differed from the dominant group. Dissatisfaction from minority groups eventually altered and/or raised the desire to achieve perfect employment opportunities in every job.

The Bennett scale, also called the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), was developed by Milton Bennett. The framework describes the different ways in which people can react to cultural differences. Bennett's initial idea was for trainers to utilize the model to evaluate trainees' intercultural awareness and help them improve intercultural sensitivity, also sometimes referred to as cultural sensitivity, which is the ability of accepting and adapting to a brand new and different culture.

Talent management (TM) is the anticipation of required human capital for an organization and the planning to meet those needs. The field has been growing in significance and gaining interest among practitioners as well as in the scholarly debate over the past 10 years, particularly after McKinsey's 1997 research and the 2001 book on The War for Talent. Although much of the previous research focused on private companies and organizations, TM is now also found in public organizations

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural sensitivity</span> Knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures

Cultural sensitivity, also referred to as cross-cultural sensitivity or cultural awareness, is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures and others' cultural identities. It is related to cultural competence, and is sometimes regarded as the precursor to the achievement of cultural competence, but is a more commonly used term. On the individual level, cultural sensitivity is a state of mind regarding interactions with those different from oneself. Cultural sensitivity enables travelers, workers, and others to successfully navigate interactions with a culture other than their own.

Cross-cultural psychology attempts to understand how individuals of different cultures interact with each other. Along these lines, cross-cultural leadership has developed as a way to understand leaders who work in the newly globalized market. Today's international organizations require leaders who can adjust to different environments quickly and work with partners and employees of other cultures. It cannot be assumed that a manager who is successful in one country will be successful in another.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural globalization</span> Transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world

Cultural globalization refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations. This process is marked by the common consumption of cultures that have been diffused by the Internet, popular culture media, and international travel. This has added to processes of commodity exchange and colonization which have a longer history of carrying cultural meaning around the globe. The circulation of cultures enables individuals to partake in extended social relations that cross national and regional borders. The creation and expansion of such social relations is not merely observed on a material level. Cultural globalization involves the formation of shared norms and knowledge with which people associate their individual and collective cultural identities. It brings increasing interconnectedness among different populations and cultures. The idea of cultural globalization emerged in the late 1980s, but was diffused widely by Western academics throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. For some researchers, the idea of cultural globalization is reaction to the claims made by critics of cultural imperialism in the 1970s and 1980s.

Global leadership is the interdisciplinary study of the key elements that future leaders in all realms of the personal experience should acquire to effectively familiarize themselves with the psychological, physiological, geographical, geopolitical, anthropological and sociological effects of globalization. Global leadership occurs when an individual or individuals navigate collaborative efforts of different stakeholders through environmental complexity towards a vision by leveraging a global mindset. Today, global leaders must be capable of connecting "people across countries and engage them to global team collaboration in order to facilitate complex processes of knowledge sharing across the globe" Personality characteristics, as well as a cross-cultural experience, appear to influence effectiveness in global leaders.

E.S. (Sheridan) Wibbeke is an Irish-American organizational theorist, intercultural consultant, and author in the field of global leadership known for the development of Wibbeke’s Geoleadership Model of global business leadership competencies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Caligiuri</span> Psychologist, author

Paula Caligiuri is an American academic, talent management specialist, psychologist, book author, and entrepreneur. As a Distinguished Professor of international business and strategy, she is on the faculty at D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University. Her published contributions in the field of international human resource management have won academic distinctions, and been endorsed in scholarly literature and in wider professional circles. Among her books, Get a Life, Not a Job, Managing the Global Workforce,Cultural Agility: Building a Pipeline of Successful Global Professionals, and Build Your Cultural Agility: The Nine Competencies of Successful Global Professionals, received attention by qualified media. In 2023, she wrote Live for a Living: How to Create your Career Journey to Work Happier, Not Harder with Andrew Palmer (Technologist), which focuses on career development. She is ranked # 392 among the best business and management scientists in the US, 810 worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social work management</span>

Social work management is the management of organisations or enterprises in the social economy and non-profit sector, e.g., public service providers, charities, youth welfare offices, associations, etc. Social work management has been traditionally pursued by social workers, social pedagogues, pedagogues, psychologists without additional management skills and knowledge or legal practitioners and business economists – often without reference to the social economy. Furthermore, Social work management is a field of education & practice established since 1980s in Europe & North America that focuses on person-centred leadership, motivation & strategic issues. It manages organizations in social economy & non-profit sector.

References

  1. ↑ Caligiuri, Paula (2013-07-01). "Developing culturally agile global business leaders". Organizational Dynamics. 42 (3): 175–182. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2013.06.002.
  2. ↑ Sager, Mathias (2019-03-02). "The Development of Cultural Agility (A Literature Review)". Medium. Retrieved 2021-02-15.
  3. ↑ Olivier, Sharon; Hölscher, Frederick; Williams, Colin (2021). "7". Leadership and cultural agility (1st ed.). UK: Routledge. pp. 162–191. doi:10.4324/9781003029595-8. ISBN   978-0367457105. S2CID   229417236.
  4. ↑ Caligiuri, Paula. (2012). Cultural agility : building a pipeline of successful global professionals. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. ISBN   978-1-118-33054-8. OCLC   795504483.
  5. ↑ Dahl, Annette (2019). Global perspectives : a practical guide to navigating across cultures (1. udgave ed.). [Risskov]: Granhof & Juhl. ISBN   978-87-970507-5-0. OCLC   1142165270.
  6. ↑ "CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE Trademark of XL ALLIANCE, LLC - Registration Number 4430285 - Serial Number 85937282 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  7. ↑ Traylor, Allison; Caligiuri, Paula (2019-12-16). "The study buddy effect: studying abroad with a close friend and the development of cultural agility". Research in Comparative and International Education. 14 (4): 466–476. doi:10.1177/1745499919894073. S2CID   213915155.
  8. ↑ "Aussie lawyers: London wants you". Australian Financial Review. 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  9. ↑ department, the Maine Sunday Telegram marketing (2020-03-22). "Maine Summer Camps' Level Ground Initiative Opens Up the Camp Experience for New Mainers". Press Herald. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  10. ↑ Caligiuri, Paula; Bonache, Jaime (2016-01-01). "Evolving and enduring challenges in global mobility". Journal of World Business. The World of Global Business 1965-2015. 51 (1): 127–141. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2015.10.001. ISSN   1090-9516.
  11. ↑ Waine, Anthony; Hacker, Vivien (2014), Waine, Anthony; Naglo, Kristian (eds.), "The Phenomenon of David Beckham: Incorporating Cultural Mobility and Cosmopolitanism", On and Off the Field: Fußballkultur in England und Deutschland | Football Culture in England and Germany (in German), Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien, pp. 47–66, doi:10.1007/978-3-658-00133-9_3, ISBN   978-3-658-00133-9 , retrieved 2021-03-01
  12. ↑ "IRMA-International.org: Culturally Agile Leadership: A Relational Leadership Development Approach: Marisa Cleveland, Simon Cleveland: Journal Articles". www.irma-international.org. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  13. ↑ Caligiuri, Paula (2013). "Developing culturally agile global business leaders". Organizational Dynamics. 42 (3): 175–182. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2013.06.002.
  14. ↑ Cleveland, Marisa; Cleveland, Simon (2021-07-01). "Developing Leadership Cultural Agility for Civil Discourse". International Journal of Smart Education and Urban Society. 12 (3): 1–10. doi:10.4018/IJSEUS.2021070101. ISSN   2574-8254. S2CID   236312419.
  15. ↑ Younis, Zeinab Shawky; Mohamed, Dina Assem Abelmounem (2022-10-25). "The impact of Leadershift on cultural agility policy: The search for effective ways of mindfulness". Journal of Business and Retail Management Research. 17 (1). doi: 10.24052/JBRMR/V17IS01/ART-03 .
  16. ↑ Braun, Thomas J.; Hayes, Bryan C.; DeMuth, Rachel L. Frautschy; Taran, Olya A. (2017-11-22). "The Development, Validation, and Practical Application of an Employee Agility and Resilience Measure to Facilitate Organizational Change". Industrial and Organizational Psychology. 10 (4): 703–723. doi:10.1017/iop.2017.79. ISSN   1754-9426. S2CID   148862147.
  17. 1 2 CALIGIURI, PAULA (2021). BUILD YOUR CULTURAL AGILITY : the nine competencies you need to be a successful global professional. KOGAN PAGE. ISBN   978-1-78966-661-8. OCLC   1152067760.
  18. ↑ Goldman, Steven L.; Nagel, Roger N. (1993-01-01). "Management, technology and agility: the emergence of a new era in manufacturing". International Journal of Technology Management. 8 (1–2): 18–38. doi:10.1504/IJTM.1993.025758 (inactive 31 January 2024). ISSN   0267-5730.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2024 (link)
  19. ↑ Goldman, Steven L. (1995). Agile competitors and virtual organizations : strategies for enriching the customer. Roger N. Nagel, Kenneth Preiss. New York: [Wiley]. ISBN   0-471-28650-8. OCLC   902613554.
  20. ↑ 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. ISBN   0-9586804-9-3. OCLC   779853755.
  21. ↑ Duus, Rikke; Cooray, Muditha (2014-06-29). "Together We Innovate: Cross-Cultural Teamwork Through Virtual Platforms". Journal of Marketing Education. 36 (3): 244–257. doi:10.1177/0273475314535783. ISSN   0273-4753. S2CID   168104931.
  22. ↑ Gillies, Peter (2018). Cultural agility : ǂthe ǂnew basics of organizational development. CPSIA. ISBN   978-1-9875-5090-0. OCLC   1258308866.
  23. ↑ Morrow, Guy (2018). Artist Management : Agility in the Creative and Cultural Industries. Milton: Routledge. ISBN   978-1-315-52087-2. OCLC   1032712014.
  24. ↑ Selingo, Jeffrey J. (Nov 17, 2017). "Are colleges preparing students for the automated future of work?". Washington Post . Retrieved Feb 19, 2021.
  25. ↑ "How College Students Should Prepare for Our Automated Future". Time. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  26. ↑ "Cultural awareness training comes to Rwanda". The New Times | Rwanda. 2019-08-05. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  27. ↑ McDonald, Tim. "Humanics: A way to 'robot-proof' your career?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  28. ↑ "The road ahead is hard. Now is not the time to kill off studies in the humanities | Alexis Wright". the Guardian. 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  29. ↑ "CAC Working Groups – Maine Campus Compact" . Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  30. ↑ Lifintsev, Denys; Wellbrock, Wanja (2019). "Cross-cultural communication in the digital age". Estudos em Comunicação. 1 (28). doi:10.25768/FAL.EC.N28.A05.
  31. ↑ Declercq, Christophe (2011-03-17). "Advertising and Localization". The Oxford Handbook of Translation Studies. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199239306.013.0019 . Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  32. ↑ Caprar, Dan V.; Kim, Sunghoon; Walker, Benjamin W.; Caligiuri, Paula (2022-01-01). "Beyond "Doing as the Romans Do": A review of research on countercultural business practices". Journal of International Business Studies. 53 (7): 1449–1483. doi: 10.1057/s41267-021-00479-2 . ISSN   0047-2506. S2CID   256513407.
  33. ↑ "cultural agility". TASCA. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  34. ↑ "Skiilify". Skiilify. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  35. ↑ "Cultural Agility for Organizations". study.com. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  36. ↑ yoonrh@appstate.edu (2020-06-29). "Intercultural Competency". Intercultural Competency. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  37. ↑ Lexington, Transylvania University 300 North Broadway; Fax: 859-233-8797, KY 40508 USA Phone: 859-233-8300. "Program Requirements - Transylvania University". Transylvania University | Academics. Retrieved 2022-03-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  38. ↑ "AFCLC's PAC Prepares Senior Leaders for Overseas Assignments with Culturally Focused Train". Air University (AU). 8 March 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  39. ↑ "The Lehman College Peace Corps Prep Program - Intercultural Competence". www.lehman.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  40. ↑ Ferraro, Gary P. (2017). The cultural dimension of global business. Elizabeth Kathleen Briody (8th ed.). Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN   978-1-138-63245-5. OCLC   957504075.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  41. ↑ Olivier, Sharon (2021). Agile leadership for turbulent times : integrating your ego, eco and intuitive intelligence. Frederick Holscher, Colin Williams. Abingdon, Oxon. ISBN   978-1-003-02959-5. OCLC   1182020299.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  42. ↑ Puckett, Stefanie (2020). The agile culture code : a guide to organizational agility. Göttingen. ISBN   978-3-86980-525-2. OCLC   1200545426.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.