Introduction:

What precisely is the nature of the ability – often referred to as intercultural competence – to manage the cultural complexity of international interactions and to function successfully at the interface of cultures? What affective, behavioural and cognitive sub-competencies does a person need to work successfully in an international context? Or to put it less technically, what are 1) the attitudes and dispositional traits, 2) the skills and abilities and 3) the knowledge international managers need to succeed? Although there is a certain agreement on the answers to these questions amongst scholars and researchers not only (or even mainly) in management studies but also in other fields, the currently received wisdom reveals a number of deficits in need of attention by those researching in this area, not least in view of the consequences for practitioners selecting and developing internationally effective managers. This article will give a brief account of the received wisdom concerning intercultural competence, point out where deficits exist and make suggestions as to how they could perhaps be eliminated.

In particular, it

- critically evaluates the influence of Hofstede and others in the development of the intercultural competence of international managers

- gives an overview of what is known about the components of intercultural competence for international management

- presents a framework for giving order to the multiple components of intercultural competence

- discusses the various terms used to describe ‘intercultural competence’ and their conceptualisation

- points out the limitations of conventional conceptualizations of the criterion of appropriateness in intercultural competence

- proposes an extension of the criterion of appropriateness to include situational considerations

- critically reflects on the possibly culture-centered nature of the criterion of effectiveness in conceptualisations of intercultural competence