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Top2. Theoretical Background
Skills and expertise in internationalization play a significant role for students and professionals of Information Systems who are working in a global environment. Several attempts at creating definitions, models and instruments for the competence required for operating in an international setting have been made throughout the past 30 years (Arasaratnam, 2006; Deardorff, 2006; Johnson, Lenartowicz, & Apud, 2006; Spitzberg, 2011; Ting-Toomey, 1999), yet a clear and universally accepted definition has not been achieved.
Ergo, what is intercultural competence? It has been suggested, that in order to be interculturally competent, one must have empathy, motivation, positive attitude toward other cultures, experience, and interaction involvement (Arasaratnam, 2006). At the same time, a definition for cross-cultural competence states that “Cross-cultural competence in international business is an individual's effectiveness in drawing upon a set of knowledge, skills, and personal attributes in order to work successfully with people from different national cultural backgrounds at home or abroad” (Johnson, Lenartowicz, & Apud, 2006). The definitions vary greatly across domains; intercultural competence in sociolinguistics, cross-cultural competence in international business and herein globalization competence in the field of Information Systems.
Furthermore, a recent study by Pawlowski and Holtkamp (2012) identified seven categories of key competences for working in international IT projects:
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Generic competences;
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IS competences;
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ICT competences;
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Project management and leadership competences;
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Collaboration and knowledge management competences;
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Communication competences;
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Intercultural competences.