Abstract
Although the need to develop global leaders with adequate intercultural competencies has become obvious (Morrison, 2000; Suutari, 2002), global leadership, as an emerging field, has not received a great deal of attention (Morrison, 2000). Literature of developing global leadership has been focused on partial evidence to generate simple universality with an American bias (Dickson, Hartog, & Mitchelson, 2003). This chapter attempts to propose an integrative Intercultural Effectiveness (ICE) model for Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals. The model evolves a theoretical conceptualization to link ICE and global leadership with the theory of transformative learning and the process of cross-cultural learning. It provides a series of process guidelines for HRD professionals in designing, developing, and conducting HRD programs for the development of global leadership.
TopGlobal Leadership
Global leadership is an emerging topic that has received far less attention than the more common topic of domestic leadership (Morrison, 2000). Jokinen (2005) defined global leaders as those who take on more global responsibilities and who have more global duties. The development and management of a global organization requires individuals who possess a global mindset, global competencies, and who think, lead, and act from a global perspective (Kim, 1997).
However, the primary problem in defining global leaders and identifying the competencies required for their development have not reached consensus. Without agreement on the intercultural competencies required for global leaders (Johnson, Lenartowicz, & Apud, 2006), planning for their leadership development becomes problematic (Jokinen, 2005).
Gregersen et al.’s (1998) survey indicated that 85% of Fortune 500 firms reported limited numbers of global leaders. There are only eight percent of companies in Fortune 500 firms that report comprehensive systems for developing global leaders (Suutari, 2002). The shortage of global leaders has become a critical issue for many organizations to achieve success in the global arena (Shen, 2005). Therefore, it is necessary to explore the competencies that are required for developing global leaders in order to form a consensus for the area of global leadership.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Intercultural Learning: Bartel-Radic (2006) defined intercultural learning as “the acquisition or modification of the representations of intercultural situations” (p. 652).
International Human Resource Development: Wang and McLean (2007) defined “International HRD (also known, perhaps more appropriately, as cross-cultural HRD, transnational HRD, and global HRD is a field of study and practice that focuses on for-profit, not-for-profit, and /or governmental entities and individuals cooperating in some form across national borders” (p. 105).
Human Resource Development: Nadler and Nadler (1989) defined HRD as “organizied learning experiences provided by employers within a specific period of time to bring about the possibility of performance improvement and/ or personal growth” (p. 6). HRD includes three context components-individual, work related issue, and organization (McLean, Barkett, & Cho, 2003).
Intercultural Competence: Taylor (1994) indicated that intercultural competence is “an adaptive capacity based on an inclusive and integrative world view which allows participants to effectively accommodate the demands of living in a host culture” (p. 154).
Global Leaders: Jokinen (2005) defined global leaders as those who have international responsibilities and activities.
Intercultural Effectiveness (ICE) Competence: Kelley and Meyers (1995) defined ICE as cross-cultural competence and cross-cultural success. Cui (1989) defined ICE as the general assessment of a sojourner’s ability to communicate effectively across culture. Han (1997) highlighted five measurable competencies for ICE.
International Training/Cross-Cultural Training: Tung (1981) defined cross-cultural training as any procedure or intervention used to increase the global manager’s ability in coping with international assignments. Shen (2005) echoed Tung’s idea and defined international training as the training for international assignments.