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Abstract
As employees become more globally and technically savvy, it is inevitable that e-learning finds its way into the practice of intercultural training. After a decade of providing customized face-to-face intercultural training, Cendant Mobility's intercultural experts are responding to the changing profile of the global workforce. Together with their e-learning partner, Mentergy, they embarked upon a journey toward developing a blended learning solution that is designed to unlock the potential of e-learning, while maintaining their commitment to genuinely impactful skill-- based intercultural training. The focus of this article is on challenges and lessons learned which include: maintaining cultural appropriateness; technological accessibility; training trainers for this new modality; and attaining user acceptance for a global rollout of a blended e-learning intercultural training program.
Keywords
Learning, Information technology, National cultures, Training, Globalization
Intercultural training has been a cornerstone to success for international assignees and global business executives for many years. In today's economy, however, the global company's bottom line is affected daily by the intercultural competence of all levels of the workforce. Thus, as a greater percentage of the total global workforce is interacting across cultures, the need for intercultural training has expanded. This need may be met by infusing a layer of cultural awareness and competencies into existing corporate training and systems and by providing intercultural learning products that focus on cultural competencies. As employees become more savvy, both globally and technically, and the pace of global business constantly quickens, it is inevitable that e-learning would find its way into the practice of intercultural training. This creates exciting opportunities but also presents the challenge of developing solutions that are designed to unlock the potential of e-learning, while maintaining a commitment to skill-based intercultural training that is genuinely impactful. Cendant Mobility, working in conjunction with our e-learning partner, Mentergy, has begun to explore these opportunities. The following are some of the lessons we have learned along the way.
The importance of cultural awareness
Culture is a very complex subject that is challenging to address in any medium. To create intercultural training with integrity, regardless of the modality of delivery, one has to keep in mind intercultural learning objectives and instructional design principles, while covering the subject matter with cultural appropriateness. Therefore, Cendant Mobility's...