Managing Multicultural Personnel

Managing Multicultural Personnel
By Mary Anne Winslow

Management style varies according to company’s culture and staff. Managers need to have certain knowledge in order to develop a multicultural thinking and to increase the business efficiency.

There is a process of constant learning, not only by the manager but also by the whole organisation, as the global environment of today asks for a multidimensional in order to successfully manage a multicultural workforce.

The world is moving very fast towards a global economy. Competition between companies has exceeded national boundaries. Today, labour force is easier moved from one country to another. The European Union, for example, transforms Europe into an integrated buying and selling block which will compete as a major economic player. However, people still are the key asset for every company. The workforce of today is better educated and there is a continuous need for improvement and personal development. The importance of employees' competences increases generally.

The roles of the manager were forced to change in order to adapt to cultural issues. It is essential to understand the differences between economies and mainly between the multicultural workforces. Competences and leadership styles have been transformed. In this paper, we look into what kind of competences underlies successful managerial performance.

In the global environment, the complexity to specify competences for each job and for each region of the globe, makes it impossible not to rely on core competences in the selection of managers. Management is the same science all over the world. However, the way of managing is what will differ from one place to another.