Cross-cultural competence in the context of NGOs: bridging the gap between ‘knowing’ and ‘doing’

Abstract

International human resource management research in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) is scarce and it predominantly focuses on the recruitment and retention of volunteers. The context of NGOs is different from conventional for-profit international business settings with different kinds of challenges, especially in terms of providing appropriate training on managing multi-cultural teams and working with local project partners and communities. The literature also tends to focus on expatriate perspective and not on a host country perspective. We address this gap by examining how project managers and hosts experience cross-cultural issues on overseas assignments. We study volunteer project managers leading international and local youth volunteers during the Raleigh International programme in Malaysia. We use a qualitative methodology and data collected at 3 case locations via participant observation during 120 days contact with the respondents as well as interviews and surveys. We propose the CPACE (Curiosity, Passion, Adaptability, Communication and Empathy) framework describing competences needed in cross-cultural encounters and based on respondents’ actions as well as their words and it is relevant to a NGO context. The framework is intended to lay the foundation for future research and in particular to demonstrate the need for cross-cultural competence to be more grounded in particular contexts.

Keywords:

• Cross-cultural competence
• ethnography
• expatriate experience
• international volunteers
• management
• NGOs

Notes

1. Raleigh International has updated from a youth development charity to a sustainable development charity that inspires young people to be agents of change. Its charitable objectives remain unchanged.

2. The demographic characteristics of the project managers were as follows: 50/50 split in terms of gender; age ranging from 26 to 54, and they were of British, Irish, Canadian and New Zealand nationality. The community leaders and other representatives were all male, aged between 30 and 55 years old and Malaysian nationals.

3. The definitions for each competence are sourced from the Oxford English Dictionary (2001) unless otherwise stated.

4. Unless stated otherwise, the quotes in this main section are from project leaders.

5. Figure 2 aims to demonstrate the integration and interdependence of the dimensions. It is an optical illusion based on a square ring – with no start or end. Within our approach we propose that Communication is the foundation of Cross-Cultural competence, with the others as pillars of Cross-Cultural competence.