Rethinking of the teaching of crosscultural management: an investigation

The purpose of this enquiry is to explore the skills gap in cross-cultural management (CCM). The focus is on investigating the gap by identifying the CCM skills that students can demonstrate in international business programmes within an academic context, then comparing these elements with the skills that employers require for a career in international business. The enquiry puts forward that there is an urgent need to change the fundamental approach to teaching CCM, away from traditional hard skillstowards applied soft skills; to keep abreast of ongoing changes at a global level, and to take into account the impact of technological transformation. The findings point to a number of shortcomings in CCM education today, and serve as a forewarning to those concerned with the future of delivering CCM skills — researchers, faculty and scholars of cross-cultural research.