Success in the global economy requires a number of ingredients, including innovative ideas and products, access to raw materials and competitive labor, savvy marketing strategies, solid financing, sustainable supply chains, and predictable logistical support. The central driver in this endeavor, however, is the manager – who is perpetually caught in the middle. Indeed, no one ever said being a manager was easy, but it seems to get more difficult with each passing year. As competitive pressures increase across most industries and services, so too do the pressures on managers to deliver results. Succeeding against the odds often catapults a manager into the higher echelons of the organization, with a concomitant increase in personal rewards. Failure to deliver often slows one’s career advancement, though, if it doesn’t stop it altogether. The stakes are very high for managers and organizations alike.

With this in mind, what do managers need to know to survive and succeed in this complex and turbulent environment? Certainly, they need to understand both micro- and macroeconomics. They need to understand the fundamentals of business practices, including strategy, marketing, operations and logistics, finance, and accounting. They also need to understand issues such as outsourcing, political risk, legal institutions, and the application of emerging technologies to organizational operations. In addition to this knowledge, however, managers must understand how to work with other people and organizations around the world to get their jobs done. We refer to this as multicultural competence, and it is the focus of this book.