Abstract
In the early 60s, international assignment started to reach local business environments. In those times, employees were sent to foreign subsidiaries for almost three years; expatriates were in charge of command and control over local nationals. In order to adapt themselves, they were trained on the living considerations and country briefings including some aspects of cultural norms and language ability. Changes came in the late 1990s with a rapid business globalization followed by an increased need for effective international working; they were influenced by three key factors: firstly, the changing nature of international organizations; then, the change in the host company's locations; and finally, the changing nature of the international assignees themselves.
Extract
[...] Indeed, barriers to success include a reliance on analytical skills and the predominance of Myers Briggs type indicator types favoring a sensing/thinking orientation. Thus, there is an existing problem for programmes drawing on experiential techniques. Moreover, as MBA attracts people already working in companies, it is difficult given that they will not be re-entering the world of work for a period of months. C. LIMITATIONS As theory and reality could be different, there is also a worrying gap between theoretical lists of competencies and the reality of organizational practice as revealed in selection criteria for international management assignments. [...]
[...] Moving from the theory approach to the practical approach Programs may propose on the ground real situations that the students have to achieve on. In order to be more efficient, the training will take another dimension, with responsibilities issues in others cross-culture situation. That real-world approach is missing in most traditional MBA programs. Those ones often forget that executive decision makers are not fact collectors; they are fact users and integrators. In addition, the training team must not be professors who have never set foot inside a real business except as customers. [...]
[...] On the other hand, “Soft skills” are typically hard to observe, quantify and measure. People skills are needed for everyday life as much as they're needed for work. They have to do with how people relate to each other: communicating, listening, engaging in dialogue, cooperating as a team member, solving problems, and resolving conflict. Leaders at all levels rely heavily on people skills, too: teambuilding, encouraging innovation, solving problems, making decisions, instructing, coaching, encouraging and motivating. This is this kind of skills that are required to become an international manager. [...]
[...] Unfortunately, this is more the exception than the norm. Far too many try to enforce a Western style upon the local culture or, even worse, adopt the most convenient, and often the worst, of both cultures. INTERNATIONAL MANAGER DEVELOPMENT NELLY MEUNIER 3 D. ALTERNATIVES The international management and business dimension– due mainly to globalization – has become a major challenge to institutions, governments and organizations. This helps explain why the area of international management is becoming more important within the academic setting. [...]
[...] However, criticism has long been raised about the imbalance of “hard” skills versus “soft” skills in most MBA curricula. Indeed, joining multiple cross-cultural contexts is becoming a vital competence for the aspiring managers. Thus, being an international manager requires being adapted in new situations, being sensitive to different cultures, and being able to work in international teams and language and to be openminded. In 1994, the Wills and Barham study highlighted the international manager's effectiveness in three criteria: the cognitive complexity, the emotional energy, and finally, the psychological maturity. [...]
