Global Fitness and the Interculturally Competent Organisation

Intercultural Dialogue with Peter Franklin

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Date/Time
Date(s) - 02/06/2023
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Location
Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Business, Auditorium 1st Floor
Zentralstrasse 9
6002
Lucerne

Categories


What must decision-makers in organisations do to make their organisations interculturally competent and why indeed should they bother to make the effort?

The many and various conceptualisations of intercultural competence (e.g. cultural intelligence, global competence, interkulturelle Handlungskompetenz) generally focus on individuals and the competencies they require in order to interact effectively and appropriately in contexts marked by cultural diversity. The concept of Global Fitness does this as well but extends the concept to include the notion of intercultural organisational competence: the ability of organisations to mould the work context in such a way as to foster Global Fitness at the individual level in order to release the innovative potential of diversity.

This presentation will briefly discuss the term organisational intercultural competence and attempts to measure the construct. There follows a brief description of the concept of Global Fitness as a whole, pointing out how it differs from conventional conceptualisations of intercultural competence, and, in particular, how it regards the organisation as having a key role in moulding the workplace to foster Global Fitness. The talk will then set out in greater detail the actions an organisation needs to take to do precisely this in order to manage and leverage cultural diversity in the workplace – in short, how to ‘do’ intercultural organisational competence.

This event will be in English and will be followed by an apéro – a great opportunity for participants to network and exchange on all things intercultural. It is organized by SIETAR Switzerland, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Business, and Peter Franklin. You must register to participate.

 

Raised in the U.K. but resident for many years in Germany, Peter Franklin is professor of intercultural communication and intercultural management at Hochschule Konstanz University of Applied Sciences, Germany, where he works on the Asia-oriented bachelor’s and master’s programmes. He also teaches M.B.A. courses at his university’s Lake Constance Graduate School, and since 2011 has organised the International Week – Konstanz with the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts – Business (HSLU).

Peter has written and contributed to numerous publications – both academic and for the practitioner – focusing on various aspects of intercultural management and intercultural competence development.

Most recently, he co-authored, with Helen Spencer-Oatey and Domna Lazidou, Global Fitness for Global People: How to Manage and Leverage Cultural Diversity at Work, a book for all those wanting to thrive in today’s global workplaces and flourish in culturally diverse contexts. It provides a set of core principles and tools that can be applied flexibly and dynamically to meet your own and your organization’s needs – now and in a changing future. If you would like to order this book, please use coupon code 29AYA3WP to benefit from a special 15% discount.

In addition to his university work, Peter Franklin has trained and addressed hundreds of people from more than 90 companies working internationally in various parts of the world. His focus is on individuals, teams and organisations faced with the challenge of handling change, post-merger integration, expatriate assignments, HQ-subsidiary relationships, global teams and Anglo-German cooperation.