The increasing integration of economies around the world, particularly the movement of people (labor) and knowledge (technology), has created new challenges that extend beyond national borders. With today’s global competition, companies are looking for new ways to better their position in the world market economy. Knowledge about production methods, management techniques, export markets and economic policies represents a highly valuable resource for any company in the new world without borders. Education, training, and research and development are needed to promote productivity, address the talents of widely dispersed workers.
As companies become global in scope, the issues of training American workers to better function in an international environment and produce for an international market have taken new dimensions. For example, the global market for supply-chain training is expected to grow 42.2 percent each year.
Building a Wide-Ranging Corporate Culture
Companies must train their workers to expand their knowledge beyond domestic issues. This is done by cultivating an awareness of multicultural differences. In addition, there will be more pressure on organizations to include global training in their strategic plan.
Managing Training Efficiency
Human resource development professionals need to become strategic, proactive and business-oriented to succeed. For training to have a continuous impact on performance, supervisor, manager and executive must include learning in their daily management practices. This becomes very important as the flow of information becomes global and requires close monitoring and adjustments.
New Customer for the Global Market
The old business of dealing with a customer as a person and as an individual has shifted in the global economy to individual countries and regions. Reaching customers at any given country requires being able to penetrate that country as a national market. In many cases, red tape, geopolitical concerns, cultural barriers as well as laws and regulations are the first hurdle to overcome.
Global E-Learning
As electronic learning becomes more feasible, companies are using computer-based delivery systems to deliver training around the globe. Courses delivered in the United States are used by learners with varied cultural and technological backgrounds. However, it is important that local training professionals deliver training programs by adapting the style of the material and by making a course developed in another country both culturally and pedagogically relevant.
War for Talent with Language Skills
According to USA Today, less than 1 percent of high school students are studying a foreign language today. Although it is true that English is the second language in most systems of education around the globe, this cannot be taking for granted in the future as other countries such as China, India and Middle East might introduce their own languages. The example of Euro in the financial global market can be a precedent to take into account.
Dr. Bassou El Mansour is a faculty member in the Industrial Technology Education Department at Indiana State University. He can be reached at bmansour@clomedia.com.
