Overcoming Global Obstacles: Multicultural Management BUS600: Management Communications with Technology Tools Dr. Raj Singh April 23, 2012

Introduction
As a result of globalization, the world in which we do business is increasingly becoming smaller and smaller. People are buying and selling goods, providing services, and communicating with others on a much more global scale. One hundred years ago it would have taken these people months to communicate, but today they can communicate with the press of a button. As our interactions with those from cultures much different than our own increases, communicating with one another creates obstacles we normally wouldn’t face when interacting with those from our own culture. This presents the peculiar problem for the business because it must train managers to effectively communicate within the constructs of different cultural norms and values. Communicating to others the importance of diversity in multinational corporations is a difficult task because it essentially involves asking others to reject the idea of their culture being superior to others. As O’Rourke (2010) points out, “failures in an overseas business setting most frequently result from an inability to understand and adapt to foreign ways of thinking and acting, rather than from technical or professional incompetence,” (p. 284). Regardless of difficulty, if a business is going to remain competitive as a multinational corporation, it is absolutely imperative that managers successfully communicate with individuals from different cultures.
I chose to research multi-cultural management strategies because I understand how multi-national corporations are growing in number and size. Understanding why some are more successful in the global marketplace than