Intercultural management and international competitiveness in the global economy

The major feature of the globalisation phenomena has been of powerful drive towards integrating world markets and harmonising the characteristics which are pertinent for these. This phenomenon relates to a number of inter-related developments; the dramatic political and economic world changes, the strategies employed by international corporations and the predominance of international competitiveness as a driving factor in the global marketplace. These changes have had a profound effect on the organisation, aims and strategies of the international business environment. In particular these changes adumbrate the significance that incremental advantages have in improving international competitiveness for both corporations and nation states. A specific aspect often ignored is the role of intercultural management in increasing the efficacy of maximising competitiveness and this paper explores how the wider dimension of culture, intercultural management and the driving forces of globalisation can combine in this respect. Thus intercultural management will have clear perceptions and determinants stemming from the host nation in respect of their ability and competence in fostering international competitiveness. Clearly there are different models in the global marketplace; these range from the North American, the European, the Asia-Pacific, and that present in China. The paper suggests how these models are changing and what predominance these models will have in the future international business environment. Furthermore the paper explores a possible model for combining intercultural management approaches with the pertinent global factors, in particular the international competitive dimension, to produce a holistic model facilitating corporations move to increasing their international competitiveness.