Luciara Nardon - Working in a Multicultural World

It is axiomatic that the more contacts we have with people from different countries and cultures, the greater the opportunities for increased learning and mutual understanding. This is a principal reason behind global work assignments, study abroad programs, international travel, community get-togethers, various interest groups, and even visits to local ethnic restaurants. Unfortunately, it does not follow that these interactions, however frequent or well-intentioned, will actually result in their desired outcomes. Preconceived ideas, prejudices, perceptual limitations, lack of experience, lack of attention, lack of curiosity, time constraints, and so forth, often inhibit our learning despite the opportunities we are presented with.

In this regard, the CEO of one of Europes leading multinationals has observed that when multicultural teams sit and work together, the results can often be amazing, but that left on their own employees generally prefer to work with people from their own countries, and creativity can be lost. His conclusion: you often have to force people from different cultures to work together for their own (and the companys) good. In todays increasingly global environment, this pressure is now coming not so much from executives as from the work environment itself. Living and working across cultures is a global reality for an increasing number of people, foreign and domestic, in big cities and small, for majority populations and minorities. The trick is how to accomplish this.

Proximity is not the sole solution to this challenge, however. Getting people from different cultures to work together successfully requires two ingredients, not just one. People must have opportunities, but they also must have skills. They require opportunities to meet, interact, and share common experiences both inside and outside of work, however challenging these experiences may be for individuals who lack confidence in moving beyond their comfort zones. But people also require appropriate skill sets to provide them with the tools they need to succeed in strange, unique, and sometimes threatening encounters. To some extent, these skills are inborn, but for the most part they must be learned.

So, here is the dilemma: We are increasingly faced with situations both on the job and in our personal lives that require an increasing amount of intercultural competence, but many of us lack sufficient relevant skills to master these situations with both ease and effectiveness. As a result, opportunities are often lost. People interested in this dilemma will find the present volume to be a refreshingly candid and insightful examination of this topic. Not only does it explore the reasons underlying challenges to productive intercultural relations, but it goes further to suggest and illustrate several strategies for meeting these challenges.

The author, Luciara Nardon, begins this exploration with a series of basic questions that get to the heart of our daily personal and work experiences: How often do you interact with people from other cultures? How often do you expect to interact with other cultures in the future? Generally, how effective do you think you are in these interactions? And how often have you reflected upon your intercultural interactions and looked for better ways to respond? If these questions relate to your personal or work experiences, this is a volume you will wish to read carefully.

Luciara Nardon is uniquely qualified to explore this issue. Born and raised in Brazil, educated in Brazil, Argentina, and the United States, having worked in both North and South America, as well as in Europe and Asia, and now living and working in Canada, she brings a broad repertoire of multicultural industrial and academic experiences to her examination of how people process information and respond to intercultural interactions. She is widely published in our academic journals, serves on the editorial board of the