Human Mobility and Dismantling Cultural Dominance

Abstract

The rapidly increasing effects of globalisation is currently challenging many countries in ASEAN to think more creatively around their approach to human capability development to ensure economic viability. The intensified crossing of national and cultural borders, the emergence of transcendent communication technologies, and the increasing ease of human mobility are reshaping our approaches to international engagement and collaboration. These cross-cultural interactions will become even more important in a post-Covid-19 world as markets and trade open and a renewed effort to aggressively compete for limited talent begins. The future of the workforce is facing significant disruptions, and the competition for talent takes place from a global pool in which many nations are competing. This paper argues that intercultural approaches in business and management are critical to operating in this global environment. In an attempt to more clearly understand the intercultural management approaches needed in this interconnected, interdependent and globalised trading environment, this paper has used an action research approach to examine what (Hollingsworth & Cody, 1995) describes as ‘relational knowledge’. These structured collaborative conversations have their origins in practitioner interactions within human capability development interventions in Indonesia. It is intended that the cultural responses received from our Indonesian project partners and collaborators will form the basis for a meaningful approach to respectful engagement. By framing the action research cycle through an examination of the impacts on human mobility, we can reveal the layers of cultural dominance. The authors concur with (Nagle, 2009) and (Rattansi, 2011), who both view interculturalism as a valuable enabler to encourage cross-cultural dialogue and challenge self-segregation tendencies within cultures.