Combining Multicultural Management and Diversity Into One Course on Cultural Competence

Abstract

There can be little debate that culture—the multiple characteristics and backgrounds that shape individuals’ and organizations’ identities, perceptions, attitudes, and behavior—strongly influences the success of business enterprises today. Intergroup conflict constantly threatens the ability of both domestic and global firms to operate efficiently, cooperatively, and fairly. Did a merger between a Japanese-owned firm and an American-owned firm fail because of inferior products and inappropriate pricing or because the managers were personally incompatible and the organizations’ operating styles too disparate? Did a company’s efforts to advance women into management fail because the women were not up to the challenge or because the work environment undermined their performance or perceived performance? Business educators cannot simply teach undergraduate and graduate students that cultural differences matter. They must equip students to understand how cultural differences work and thus how to turn cultural competence into a competitive advantage. Unfortunately, undergraduate and graduate courses in multicultural management (also called “cross-cultural management”) tend to fall short of this goal. We identify cultural management skills required for success in today’s business environment, then examine gaps between those target competencies and current teaching in multicultural management, and the source of those gaps in the courses’ conceptual foundations. We suggest improving these courses using concepts from, among other places, “domestic” diversity management courses. In fact, we propose to improve both types of courses by merging them into a unified course designed around the border-erasing concept of cultural competence. WHAT MANAGERS NEED TO KNOW