Leadership competencies and attitudes for success in globalization

Leadership competencies and attitudes for success in planetaryizationUnderstanding of inter subject fundamental interaction is essential for trans interior(a) organizations to work effectively in todays orbicular business environment. The level of this infering is related to possession of international competencies within an organization (Gupta and Govindarajan, 2002). Although the motive to develop leading with adequate competencies has stick obvious in recent years (Adler and Bartholomew,1992 Brake et al., 1995 Brake, 1997 Morrison, 2000 This source has non been included in the de nonation hear Bonnstetter, 1999 Suutari, 2002), there is still a signifi finisht gap surrounded by the international human resource requirements of global st stridegies and their realization (Adler and Bartholomew, 1992 Engle et al., 2001, Morrison et al., 1999).The process of some(prenominal)iseing core competencies usu eachy entails having employees identify core competencies by s flockning and assessing comp some(prenominal)-critical resources, capabilities, and competencies three components comm still referred to as associated concepts. In the identification process these concepts often become conceptually and empirically merged, something that occurs in strategic centering research too, when these associated concepts argon defined inter diversenessably. For example, capabilities and competencies are defined interchangeably by Spanos and Prastacos (2004). Furthermore, diversity and complexness increase in a domesticated working environment as business operations become more international. The dynamics, complexity and diversity now characteristic of global environment are diffusing into the domestic environment (Gregersen et al., 1998 Harvey and Buckley, 2002) making increasing demands on management and leadership competencies at all organizational levels. Therefore, increasing understanding of different aspects of globalization and interrelationships of various f actors and their changes result help organizations to meet the new challenges brought by globalization, whether their primary operation environment is domestic, international or global. Employees subscribe to to take heed about culture and cross- heathen communion if they are to work effectively with minorities within their own society or with foreigners encountered at home or abroad (Harris and Moran, 1987, p. 56).The development of global competencies should be base on the global business strategy which determines what word form of global presence is desirable, how many and what types of international or global jobs, projects, task forces, and separate types of interactions exist (McCall and Hollenbeck, 2002). capability development process should start from an analysis of the dynamics of the global business environment and the core competencies, continuing to identifying the profiles of requirement human resources and ending with identification of requirement competenci es for specific jobs/functions. Once the specific leader competencies give been identified, the next step is to build bench strength effectively (Brake, 1997 Gregersen et al., 1998). The other assumption is that global leaders chip in just developed their (general) competencies into a steeper (global) level. Bartlett and Ghoshal (1992), and Baruch (2002) argue that there is no much(prenominal) thing as a global manager, or any universal criteria for global managers. Instead, Bartlett and Ghoshal see global management as being a task of a network of specialists including business managers, countrified managers and functional managers.Yet, they suggest that the top decision makers are the leaders who manage the complex interactions between the three types of managers, and they must understand the strategic importance of each specialist. The majority of the research on international subsidizations and positions has been research about expatriates. Some authors defend stated ex plicitly their focus being on global managers/leaders and yet, handle issues related to the target country such as ethnical distance. However, a global leader (or manager) is not necessarily an expatriate, and vice versa. The value of an expatriate assignment as a major developmental experience for those pursuing global career is vastly ac experienced.Therefore, and because of scarcity of pure global leadership literary works, expatriate literature as well as general leadership literature is relevant also when studying global leaders. Overall, the previous(prenominal) research on global leadership competencies has been dispersed and more synergistic research is needed, together with a more comprehensive theoretical manakin, to understand the processes and interactions underlying the development of a global leadership potential (Tiina, 2004).This paper attempts to take a step towards such fashion model, Secondary data was collected based on the finding of published papers, a rticles and controls perior studeis , the world wide web , existing global leadership and other related literature, these data was reviewd and disscussed to combine findings and suggestions provided in previous literature in a more combinative framework of global leadership competencies and attitudes. The structure of the paper is as follows The terminology used in the international/global leadership ,literature is reviewed and discussed first and the more incorporate framework was described in the chapters that followed. The results identefied 12 competanceie as an assessment and intepret tools to provide an opportunity for experts to reflect on the structure of their company or organisation and to rate the CEO, corporate staff, subsidiary general manager and staff, as well as all employees in general. then indicated whether the competency is essential, useful or not necessary for the CEO, corporate staff, subsidiary general manager and staff, and all employees, in order for the transformational goal to be realised and to make globalization work.Litreture reviewThe main outcomes of previous researchRecent research supports the idea that there are a limited number of key competencies, over and above the contextual ones, that predict sure-fire behavior in a global environment (Jordan and Cartwright, 1998 Gregersen et al., 1998). As was already mentioned earlier, most of the previous research regarding international competencies has been done on and among expatriates, but much of this research is also relevant when studying global leaders. Harris and Moran (1987, pp. 226-227) review of earlier literature produced nearly 70 dimensions of overseas success of which 21 are inclined priority as being more important for foreign employment. However, this listing focuses on filling specific expatriate positions, including many practical and contextual items such as adaptability of spouse, promotability, inte alleviation in host culture etc. Harris and Moran (1987) focus on cross-cultural interaction and suggest that the main outcomes of cross-cultural training can also be used as selecting criteria for overseas service.These are empathy, openness, persistence, sensitivity to intercultural factors, respect for others, role flexibility, tolerance of ambiguity, and a two-way communication skill. Srinivas (1995) defines eight components of global mindset which form the base for competencies needed to meet the challenges organizations/individuals face especially when entering a global environment. The components are curiosity and concern with context, acceptance of complexity and its contradictions, diversity consciousness and sensitivity, seeking opportunity in surprises and uncertainties, faith in organizational processes, focus on continual improvement, extended time perspective, and systems thinking. Rhinesmith (1996) has identified half a dozen-spot characteristics of global mindset that lead to global competencies. These are bigger, broad er picture (leading to managing competitiveness), balancing contradictory demands and needs (managing complexity), trust in networked processes, rather than in hierarchical structures (managing adaptability), valuing multicultural teamwork and diversity (managing teams), flow with change/seeing change as opportunity (managing uncertainty), and expanding noesis and skills, being open to surprises (managing learning). In the same line, Rosen (2000) maintains that globally literate leaders possess quaternary global literacies. These include personal, social, business, and cultural literacy. Jordan and Cartwright (1998) maintain that the key to international success lies in a mixture of personality characteristics and managerial competencies.managerial competencies include relational abilities, cultural sensitivity, linguistic ability, and ability to handle stress. Conner (2000) also identifies a number of skills and capabilities needed by leaders working in a global company, organizi ng them under six headings business savvy, ability to use personal influence, global perspective, strong character, ability to motivate people, and entrepreneurial behavior. Mumford et al. (2000) have defined basketball team categories of leadership skills for the changing world. In addition to social judgment skills, social skills, and creative problem solving skills leaders need four types of knowledge knowledge related to task, business, organization and people. Resources and the process of identifying core competencies usually entails having employees core capabilities by scanning and assessing company resources, capabilities, and competencies ,three factors coming referred to as associated concepts .in the identification process these concepts often become conceptually and empirically merged, Something that occurs in strategic management research too. For example, capabilities and competencies are defined by Spanos and Prastcos (2004) and capabilities by Peteraf and Bergen (20 03) and Ray et al. (2004), and skill, competence. Other scholars, however, have more usefully distinguished these associated concepts (Branzei and Thornhill, 2006 Savory, 2006 Ljungquist, 2008). Were are the first three items? The fifth item is bequeathingness to exercise these skills. Caligiuri and Di Santo (2001) have approached the desired competencies from a company perspective and identified eight desired developmental dimensions for global leadership programs ability to transact business in another country, ability to change leadership style based on the situation, knowledge of the companys worldwide business structure, knowledge of professional contacts worldwide, knowledge of international business issues, openness, flexibility, and ethnocentrism (getting away from it). Spreitzer et al. (1997) focused on finding candidates for those leadership programs, individuals possessing global leadership potential. They have identified 14 dimensions or themes underlying success as an international executive, making a clear distinction between the end-state skills and the ability to learn from experience. jihad (2009) identified that the core competencies had a significant impact on competitive advantage. Goh (2010) examines how to improve the quality of products and services in the age of globalization reviwing the traditional concepts and the six segma framework, ilustrates how paradigram shifts must affect to achieve real gains in quality.The competencies required for globalisationThe above disscussions and further review of relavent litreture is indicated (12) organizational and individual competencies required to make globalisation work have been pull up (Fig.1). These competencies allow for be described and developed in this and the following three chapters.these competencies are described into the below put off as a finding of such review and also in the dissucssions follows.AttitudesPossesses a global mindset full treatment as an match with persons of versatile backgroundsHas a long-term orientationLeadershipFacilitates organisational -changeCreates learning systemsMotivates employees to excellencelnteractionNegotiates and approachesb coflicts in a collaborative modeManages skilfully the foreign deployment cycleLeads and participates effectively in multicultural teamsCultureUnderstands their own cultural values and assumptionsAccurately profiles the organizational and national culture of othersAvoids culture mistakes and behaves in an appropriate manner in other countriesFig. 1. 12 organizational and individual competencies (source developed by the authors)Studies conducted with companies and individuals have demonstrated that organisations and people can successfully change. Self-initiated change (I want to learn this skill) and professionally facilitated change have both been successful. How change occurs is not well understood, and this report is not intended to answer the question of how organisations and individuals c hange. Our purpose is to identify the competencies and to suggest strategies for acquiring them.Conceptual ride of studyFigure 2 below summarises the 12 external environmental factors, leading to globalisation and the 12 organisational or individual competencies required to succeed in globalisation within the organization.External ForcesEconomies ofscaleNew and evolving marketsGlobal sourcingReduced tariffs/ customs barriers and tax advantagesHomogeneous technical standardsLoweredglobal transportation costsIncreased telecommunication options at reduced costsTrend toward homogeneous demand for productsCompetition fromInternational CompetitorsCustome stratey changes fromdomestic-only to globalExchange rate exposureAccelerating rate of technological change worldwide organizational competenciesVision Strategy StructureCompetencies required to make organization workAttitudes- Possesses a global mindsetHas the ability to work as equals with persons of diverse backgroundHas a long-term or ientationLeadershipFacilitates organizational changeCreates learning systemsMotivates employees to excellenceInteractionNegotiates and approaches conflicts in a collaborative modeManages skillfully the foreign deployment cycleLeads and participates effectively in multicultural teamsCultureUnderstands their own culture values and assumptionsAccurately profiles organizational culture and national culture of othersAvoids cultural mistakes and behaves in a manner that demonstrates knowledge and respect for the way of conducting business in other countriesFig. 2. Globalisation forces and competencies (source developed by the authors) power 1. Process a global mindsetAttitudes are learned and therefore can be unlearned. A global mindset is an attitude it is not knowledge or information. We learn to be ethnocentric, and we can learn to be global in our perspective.MindsetsMindset is a word that rarely is used in daily conversation. Websters Encyclopedia full-length Dictionary of the Engli sh Language, containing over 250 000 entries, does not list it. A smaller Websters dictionary defines mindset as a fixed mental attitude.(Fishers, 2000) excellent book Mindsets The Role of Culture and Perception in International Relations demonstrates the importance of possessing a global mindset to succeed in the globalisation process. Individuals working in foreign countries share similar experiences in overseas assignments and must not only meet the requirements of their work assignments, but also be able to come up to unfamiliar attitudes and psychological predispositions. They must function within the expectations of the host culture. In other words, they must work across contrasting mindsets which reflect differences in national experience and culture, according to (Fisher, 2000).To date, no comprehensive studies have been conducted on the ways in which contrasting mindsets affect international business relationships and transactions. The education of most managers has provi ded only hard business skills, such as engineering, finance and strategic planning. Fisher suggests the necessity of providing global managers with additional training in the social sciences, as it is not sufficient to provide a person only with facts and information about unfamiliar cultural practices.Global mindsetsRhinesmith (1996) correctly postulates that a global mindset is a requirement of a global manager who will guide institutions and organizations into the future. He defines a mindset as a predisposition to see the world in a contingent way that sets boundaries and provides explanations for why things are the way they are, while at the same time establishing guidance for ways in which we should behave. In other words, a mindset is a filter through which we look at the world.Rhinesmith states that people with global mindsets approach the world in a number of particular ways. Specifically theyLook for the big picture that is, they look for multiple possibilities for any ev ent or occurrence-they arent satisfied with the obvious.Understand that the rapidly changing, interdependent world in which we are living is indeed complex.Are process-oriented in our experience this is the most important dimension, and the one that is most lacking in individuals who are not globally oriented.Consider diversity as a resource and know how to work effectively in multicultural teams.Are not uncomfortable with change or ambiguity.Are open to new experiences.Ethnocentricity vs geocentricityContrasted to the individual with global mindset is the one who is ethnocentric. Ethnocentricity is defined by the Random House Dictionary as Belief in the inherent superiority of ones own group and culture it may be accompanied by feelings of contempt for those others who do not belong it tends to look drink downward upon those considered as foreign it views and measures alien cultures and groups in terms of ones own culture. A framework developed to illustrating ethnocentrism (Fig. 3). Not only individuals, but also organisations can be ethnocentric (This source has not been included in the reference list Stephen Weiss and William G. Stripp 1993).The ethnocentric organizations tend to use home-country personnel in key positions throughout the world, accept they are more intelligent and capable than foreign managers (Harris and Moran, 2003).Attitudes toward themselves and their groupsAttitudes toward others uplift themselves as virtuous andSee their standards of value as universal and intrinsically trueSee themselves as strongBelieve outgroup is inferior superiorBelieve outgroup is weakDistrust outgroupsFig. 3. Framework of ethnocentrism (source )In this case, superiority is not equal to nationality, and all groups can contribute to the organisations effectiveness.The culture shock inventory, was designed to measure individual ethnocentrism, or the degree to which individuals perceived their value system to be appropriate for others.Attitude changeWith global isation, contact between persons from different cultures increases. What happens when this occurs? Do individuals become more global or more ethnocentric?Following a review of the literature on intergroup contact, This source has not been included in the reference list Amir concluded that the direction of attitude change, following contact with people who are different, depends by and massive on the conditions under which the contact has taken place He indicates that there are well-situated conditions, which reduce prejudice, and unfavorable ones, which may increase prejudice (Kenneth, 1974).The favorable condition of equal status as a factor in reducing prejudice was reported by This source has not been included in the reference list Allport. He pointed out that, for contact between groups to be an element in reducing prejudice, it must be based on equal status contact between majority and minority groups in the pursuit of vulgar goals. Organisations that are globalising must ha ve common goals faculty 2 Works as an equal with persons from diverse backgroundsThis section focuses on working women, since the number of women in the workforce worldwide has dramatically increased since 1950. We are fully awake that diversity in the workforces of many countries is also reflected in a significant increase in the numbers of Third and Fourth World immigrants, the physically challenged, precedential citizens and others. Generally, the following workforce trends have been identified (Moran and Harris, 2003)By the year 2000, women will comprise just under 50 per cent of the UK workforce.By the year 2000, non-whites will make up 20 per cent of the UK workforce.Greater numbers of immigrants are coming to the United Stares than at any time since World War 1.A greater portion of the US workforce is middle-aged, and the workforce is gradually getting older.The demographics of the workforce in most countries are changing. This is reflected in the development of seminars an d workshops on cultural diversity in the United States and other countries. Five years ago these seminars were unheard of, or else, when conducted, they were under the rubric of affirmative action.* What does the note mean?Competency 3. Has a long-term orientationThere are many reasons why companies have not been successful in competing in the global marketplace. One of these reasons is shorttermism. gibe Ferry, the president and co-founder of Korn/Ferry, addresses this issueCorporate America may talk, on an intellectual level, about what itll take to succeed in the twenty-first century, but when it gets right down to decision making, all that matters is the next quarterly earnings report. Thats whats driving much of the system. With that mind-set, e verything else becomes secondary to the ability to deliver the next quarterly earnings push-up. Were on a treadmill.Competency 4. Facilitates organisational changeThis section will cover two main pointswhat some academics and business people say about organisational change, and(2) how they recommend managing these changes. We present several(prenominal) perspectives, as it is our belief that no one individual has all the answers, strategies or methods to facilitate change.Competency 5. Creates learning systemsThis source has not been included in the reference list Peter Senge state it best in his book, The Fifth Discipline The organizations that will truly excel in the future will be the organisations that set off how to tap peoples commitment and capacity to learn at all levels in an organisation.Competency 6. Motivates employees to excellenceThe pronoun testAn operative word in UK organisations for the past several years is ,empowerment. Our employees are empowered, says an executive from a different Fortune 500 company, this one thriving in turbulent times. Perhaps an important difference between the two organisations may be determinedFor six months now Ive been visiting the workplaces of America, administeri ng a simple test. 1 call it the pronoun test. 1 ask front-line workers a a few(prenominal) general questions about the company. If the answers 1 get back describe the company in terms like they, or them, 1 know its one kind of company. If the answers are put in terms like we, or us 1 know its a different kind of company.It doesnt much matter whats said about the company. Even a statement like, they aim for high quality here suggests a workplace that hasnt yet made the leap into true high performance. It isnt yet achieving ever higher levels of quality, productivity and service. Only we companies can do this (Rhinesmith, 1993).Competency 7. Negotiates and approaches conflicts in a collaborative modeThe material describing this competency is drawn from many excellent sources but primarily from the managing cultural difference How to negotiate with japans? Managing cultural synergy and developing the global organization (Black et al., 1999) To make globalisation work, we need to negot iate and approach conflicts collaboratively. Skillful international business negotiators know more than, and behave (act) differently from non-skillful negotiators.Competency 8. Manages skillfully the foreign deployment cycleIt has been estimated that American corporations and brass spend about $50 billion each year in education and training. The goal is to improve the performance of the individual, thus enhancing the operating performance of a company or the government. jay Duffy, manager, employee development, for a division of a large global company, believes training may be a solution if one of the following four situations exists (Hershock, 1993)1. A gap exists between the skill level and the current position requirement.2. The tasks of a present position need to be performed differently.3. The job has changed or will change.4. Future positions may require different or additional skills.The gap between job requirements and the skill of the employee was demonstrated in research conducted and reported by Kathleen Miller (Conference Board, 1992) among others.Competency 9. Leads and participates effectively in multicultural teamsHigh performance teams, team work, worldwide global product teams and other words expressing similar ideas are commonplace in the management literature today. Stories of teams producing remarkable accomplishments are well known. Well functioning teams can increase productivity and creativity. However, functioning skillfully on a team is a learned skill. The Conference Board addresses the problemThe CEO must be fully committed to globalisation and must actively and persistently drive the globalisation process. Chief executive commitment is more important than international experience and background. It is essential that the CEO understands the issues (e.g. culture, human resources, empowerment) and translates commitment into actions. terminology alone will not drive the process.Second, a core team of managers with an international ba ckground must be available in the organization in front anything can happen. These managers must bring international culture and international experience to energise the globalisation process (Suutari, 2002).The process of building an international team large enough to permeate the entire organisation is long and arduous. It requires years of training, attention to recruiting, career development, and job rotations through foreign assignments. The role of multicultural teams in the globalisation process is well recognised.Competency 10. Understands their own culture, values and assumptionsKnow thyself Socrates.Global managers from one country have to work and negotiate with their global counterparts regularly. A common requirement is that they must each be able to communicate effectively and work with individuals who have been socialised in a different cultural environment, and whose customs, values, lifestyles, beliefs, management practices and other important aspects of their pers onal and professional lives are different.A European executive during a personal conversation said, I cant think of any situation in my 25 years of international experience when international business was made easier because people from more than one country were participating. (Fisher, 2000). A global manager must be aware of the many beliefs and values that underlie his or her own countrys business practices, management techniques and strategies.Competency 11. Accurately profiles the organisational culture and national culture of othersCorporate culture is the way of life of an organisation the recent studies of many large organizations, they concludedCorporate culture can have a significant impact on a firms long-term economic performance.Corporate culture will probably be an even more important factor in determining the success or failure of firms in the next decade.Corporate cultures that inhibit strong long-term financial performance are not rare they develop easily, even in f irms that are full of reasonable and intelligent people.Although tough to change, corporate cultures can be made more performance-enhancing (Adler, 1992)Competency 12. Avoids cultural mistakes and behaves in a manner that demonstrates knowledge of and respect for other countriesSkillful international managers have learned to see the world differently and to understand the way others manage and do business. This implies that there is no single way of doing anything and that no one culture is perfect or complete in all aspects. Successful communication with other cultures means not judging customs, rituals or ways of doing business as ridiculous, or inferior to ones own. A Swedish executive of a large multinational corporation expressed it this way We Swedes are so content with the quality of our products and the Swedish way, that we forget that 99 per cent of the rest of the world isnt Swedish. (Pritchett, Pound,1992).ImplicationsThe major aim of this paper was to review global leade rship competency frameworks suggested in previous literature and to build a more combinatorial competency framework to be used in future research. Some general issues related to global leadership research were discussed first, and the more integrated framework was described in the chapters that followed.Despite the large number of studies carried out on critical success factors for international (in most cases expatriate) assignments there are only very few based on empirical research, attempting to test the validity of different items and the reliability of different measures. Results from previous studies accumulate into a long list of competencies characterized by only minor semantic differences of a much smaller number of key competencies (see also Jordan and Cartwright, 1998). Practically no longitudinal research has been reported that would underpin the relevancy of different competencies defined.As a result, there is little agreement among researchers on the definition of g lobal competence, its antecedents or outcomes. From human resource development perspective, this framework may provide the base for planning international training activities where the fundamental questions to be answered is in what type of competencies development is needed for, knowledge, skills and abilities, or other characteristics? Competencies have been defined with terms describing certain personal traits, behaviors, skills, values, and knowledge, and many existing frameworks are combinations of these. In existing research, different types of dimensions have often been mixed and treated as equals.A certain trait in one framework is replaced with corresponding behavior in another. Generally, selection of relevant competencies has generated much argument since the relevance of competencies is commonly seen to vary with the task and organization involved McBeath (1990), Baruch (2002), Evans et al. (1989). In this paper global leadership competencies are seen as those universal qualities that enable indi