The emerging global landscape is in flux, and many multinational organiza- tions are struggling with creating inclusive worldwide mission statements and visions that foster cultural alignment. As they seek solutions to the complicated issues globalism presents, many organizations are reconfiguring themselves. New and more elastic corporate cultural models are being adopted to address the critical cultural factors influencing today’s international business environ- ment. Increasingly, these models hope to capitalize on cultural synergy and the diversity within the workplace.
Cultural synergy, through collaboration, emphasizes similarities and com- mon concerns to integrate differences and enrich human activities and organi- zational systems. It requires looking at the challenges and opportunities together, accessing whatever information is needed together, and finally taking bold and imaginative action together. Constantly changing market concerns, sociopolitical issues, and technology urgently require a resilient, resourceful workforce that can take advantage of cultural synergy.
As the global marketplace expands and changes, so does the way multina- tional organizations structure themselves and conduct business. Increasingly, more are becoming virtual organizations and emerging as trusted guides and a helpful channel to what is new. Disney has expanded its domain to become a reli- able medium to family entertainment. Dell has become more than a manufac- turer: it is a portal for computers and electronic solutions to problems. Harvard University has expanded beyond being an excellent degree-granting institution to becoming the world’s preeminent brand-portal for learning. Brandeis University professor and former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich (2000) puts it well when he says that in this new global economy, “economic value comes not from assets . . . but from the domain of trust [and winning companies] stand not for specific products, but for continuing solutions”
We cannot ignore these changes and the new order of doing business if we hope to remain globally competitive. Cosmopolitan leaders need to accept the changes and embrace the global opportunities presented.