Knowing other cultures will increase your competitive advantage

The extent of the current financial crisis is the best indication of our connected world. Almost no country is immune to the fall-out of the current financial system. Our world is not only connected at the financial level, but at many other levels and managers who have a good understanding of various cultures have an advantage over those who don’t.

I have met few managers who are working for multi-nationals American companies, but their knowledge of other cultures was really limited. I haven’t work for a large corporation for such a long time to know what type of culture training these managers get, but from what I experienced I can tell that companies need to focus more on how the other side of the world functions.

Few years back, I would have never thought that I would travel to the places I have been to for the last year and half. Knowing other cultures and management style showed me how little I knew about global management.

When the job market slows down, many people try to go back to school to get more certifications and degrees; it would be a good career move to get yourself familiar with other cultures and some of the issues that are facing our world.