The fabric of the workforce is changing. Indeed, domestic managers are working with an increasingly multicultural workforce at home while managers who travel abroad often work with people from multiple cultures. Concurrently, managers are often required to work with people in organizations that span across geographic boundaries, located in various time zones, relying mainly on information technology. However, empirical guidelines to train managers facing these challenges are scant as management typologies fall short when it comes to identifying the skills needed for simultaneously working with people from multiple cultural backgrounds.The goal of this study was to identify a repertoire of multicultural managerial competencies for work at home and abroad, in face-to-face contexts and via the use of technology. Using competency modeling as a conceptual framework, we enlisted the help of 20 mid- to upper-level managers who were invited to participate in individual behavioral event interviews to discuss positive and negative critical incidents and to answer questions grounded in job analysis. Data was analyzed using thematic (content) analysis based on a mixed method, a process that mostly illustrated the emergence of new competencies. ATLAS.ti was then used to code transcripts and to cross-reference behaviors according to emerging competency categories. Managers were then invited to validate the relevance of the initial version of the typology and to confirm that no competencies or related behaviors were missing.The resulting Multicultural Managerial Competency (MMC) typology, outlining five competence categories that combine 12 competencies along with their 71 corresponding behavioral indicators, makes both theoretical and practical contributions while offering flexibility for application. Indeed, the MMC typology illustrates an overlap between management and intercultural/cross-cultural literature, confirming that managers in multicultural contexts are called upon to invest in the management of trusting relationships, in distance management, as well as in expatriate management. Multicultural elements also permeate classic business and team functions thereby giving management requirements a new form. In terms of practical applications, the MMC typology provides concrete behavioral indicators for managers to use as guidelines for competence and serves to inform the creation of university curricula in international management.

Recent surveys of international business professionals indicate that foreign language abilities and cultural sensitivity are important competitive advantages in today's globalized economy. The current study interviewed 71 practicing global professionals currently working in cross border transactions in diverse fields. Biographic, demographic and second language data were collected, including information on experiences and opinions on the use and importance of foreign language and cultural awareness abilities in the professional world. Research questions include: (1) Who are the global professionals applying L2 abilities at work? (2) How do they apply these abilities? (3) What are the profiles of advanced and non-advanced proficiency users? (4) How important are linguistic abilities and how much of a competitive advantage do they represent? (5) What language strategies and communication strategies are used? (6) What are the most common beliefs on the role of foreign languages and culture awareness in business? (7) How well do intercultural communication models explain the culture views and experiences reported by working professionals? Results indicate that learners with self-reported advanced proficiency regularly apply the four language abilities (listening, reading, speaking and writing) at work, albeit in varying degrees, depending on the level of complexity of the task (phone, email, face-to-face meeting, etc.). For the majority of informants, foreign language and culture abilities are considered important for professional effectiveness. For those who reported advanced foreign language abilities, they also exhibited a greater appreciation for increased exposure to foreign language learning, had received more foreign language instruction, and had more experience working and living abroad. Those advanced in foreign language abilities were also more likely to be non-native speakers of English, have earned a university degree while using an L2, had family or community connections to the target language, have emigrated, or have a spouse with a different L1. The study also ranks and identifies the informants' strategies used to deal with language and culture issues. Participants' anecdotes were analyzed in light of current cultural analysis models applied in International Business Communications. Suggestions are presented for curricula changes to improve foreign language proficiency in professional settings. / text