Cultural Agility: Building a Pipeline of Successful Global Professionals

Praise for Cultural Agility

"Any of us who travel outside our home country has experienced firsthand the need to be culturally agile. Caligiuri has done a marvelous job culling research, offering insights, and creating tools that will help us become more personally culturally agile. The twelve competencies give us a standard to prepare for new cultural experiences. Her work goes further to show how companies craft management practices to build a pipeline of agile global professionals. The book has great examples and applicable tools that any business or HR leader will adapt to ensure a stable supply of culturally agile global professionals."

Dave Ulrich, Ph.D., professor of business, University of Michigan; partner, The RBL Group; author, HR Transformation: Building Human Resources from the Outside In

"Cultural Agility masterfully illustrates the complex cognitive blend of intrapersonal and interpersonal competencies needed to navigate successfully in cross–cultural contexts. From an overview of the requisite personality traits and skills, to recruiting and selection approaches, to development and training strategies, this work is an invaluable guide for organizational leaders whose success depends on intercultural competence."

Allison S. Greene–Sands, Ph.D., associate director for culture, Defense Language and National Security Education Office

"A must–read for leaders at all levels. Cultural Agility makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the importance of cultural context as a key determinant of the success of global leaders and their organizations. Context matters and to successfully compete in today′s global economy, cultural context matters a lot."

Charles G. Tharp, Ph.D., CEO, Center On Executive Compensation; executive vice president, HR Policy Association

"Every sector whether international development, sport, government, military, or business is affected by globalization and the complexities it has created. This book is a must–read for organizational leaders wanting to ready a workforce able to successfully navigate these challenges."

Nicholas Craw, past director, Peace Corps; president and CEO, Automobile Competition Committee for the United States

"Caligiuri has captured the true essence of cultural competence. She provides practical solutions and ideas on how to implement practices and tools within an organization to develop global leaders!"

Karen Bicking, global manager, international development programs, Johnson & Johnson

Acknowledgments xvii

PART 1: Introduction: The Basics of Cultural Agility 1

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS CULTURAL AGILITY AND WHY IS IT SO CRUCIAL TODAY? 3

Cultural Agility: A Mega–Competency with Three Levels 4

The Need for Speed in Building a Pipeline of Culturally Agile Professionals 7

Barriers to Creating a Pipeline of Culturally Agile Professionals 10

Take Action 18

PART 2: Who Is Culturally Agile? 21

CHAPTER 2: THREE CROSS–CULTURAL COMPETENCIES AFFECTING CULTURALLY AGILE RESPONSES 23

The Cultural Agility Competency Framework: Twelve Key Competencies 24

How the Competencies Affecting Behavioral Responses Are Different 26

Competencies Affecting Behavioral Responses in Cross–Cultural Contexts 26

Take Action 46

CHAPTER 3: NINE CROSS–CULTURAL COMPETENCIES AFFECTING SUCCESS OF CULTURALLY AGILE PROFESSIONALS 47

Three Competencies Affecting Psychological Ease in Cross–Cultural Situations 48

Three Competencies Affecting Cross–Cultural Interactions 53

Three Competencies Affecting Global Business Decisions 59

Take Action 64

PART 3: Attract and Select the Most Culturally Agile Talent 67

CHAPTER 4: ATTRACTING AND RECRUITING FOR CULTURAL AGILITY 69

Finding Culturally Agile Professionals 74

Attracting Culturally Agile Professionals 82

Creating the Employee Value Proposition for Culturally Agile Professionals 89

Take Action 92

CHAPTER 5: ASSESSING AND SELECTING FOR CULTURAL AGILITY 95

Résumé Screening 98

Foreign Language Assessment 100

Knowledge Assessment 102

Personality Assessment 103

Interview 108

Self–Assessment 113

Take Action 115

PART 4: Train and Develop Culturally Agile Talent 117

CHAPTER 6: BUILDING THE FOUNDATION FOR CULTURAL AGILITY WITH CROSS–CULTURAL TRAINING 119

What to Include in a Cross–Cultural Training Program 121

Delivery Methods for Cross–Cultural Training 128

Language Training 132

Timing and Sequencing of Cross–Cultural Training 133

Readiness for Cross–Cultural Training 134

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Cross–Cultural Training 135

Take Action 140

CHAPTER 7: CRAFTING DEVELOPMENTAL CROSS–CULTURAL EXPERIENCES TO INCREASE CULTURAL AGILITY 141

How Cross–Cultural Experiences Become Developmental 143

Suggestions for Developmental Cross–Cultural Experiences 150

Take Action 156

CHAPTER 8: DEVELOPING CULTURAL AGILITY THROUGH INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 157

International Assignment Goals and Cultural Agility 161

Using Strategic Global Mobility Practices to Build Cultural Agility 164

Take Action 182

PART 5: Conclusion: Leadership and Organizational Factors 183

CHAPTER 9: MANAGING AND LEADING TO BUILD CULTURAL AGILITY IN THE WORKFORCE 185

Your Organization s Readiness for Cultural Agility Practices 187

Leadership Practices to Foster a Culturally Agile Organizational Culture 191

HR s Role in Building the Culturally Agile Workforce 195

Your Cultural Agility 205

Take Action 205

Stay Connected to Learn More 206

Appendix: Lists to Assess Your Organization s Global Employer Image 207

Notes 219

About the Author 231

Index 233

Paula Caligiuri, Ph.D., is a professor of human resource management at Rutgers University, a work psychologist, and regularly appears as an expert guest on CNN. Listed among the top 50 most prolific authors in the field of international business, she is a frequent speaker and sought–out consultant for organizations in the United States, Asia, Australia, and Europe. She is the author of three books and the HR area editor for the top–ranked Journal of International Business Studies.