By Andreina B. Ojeda, M.A.
The new heterogeneous world order, where we have more choice than ever before in history, mandates for diversification. Those who want to get a competitive edge in business need to open up to different languages and cultures. In a world that is shrinking into a global village with more sophisticated cross-cultural relations, we have no other alternative than to adapt to change in order to be a player in the so called global village. Those of us in the forefront of change will succeed, whereas those with limited horizons will be the first to suffer the consequences when the economy slows down.
Far from leading peoples around the globe to fall into an uniform, homogeneous pattern, a favorable perception of Globalization leads to a huge scope of possibilities. During the Cold War, for instance, world power was shared by two superpowers. On the contrary, nowadays there are so many choices around the world, that companies and organizations have to become ever more effective and diversified in order to succeed in the international marketplace.
It would be very simplistic to think that just because English is the most widely spoken language in the world, we will be able to get by around the world speaking only English. It is important to be able to negotiate in English -commonly the international language of business- but no doubt our prospect clients, associates and partners from different geographic and ethnic backgrounds would certainly appreciate our understanding of their language and, even more, of their culture.
Technology plays an imminent role in the diversification process. Instead of leading to a single choice, it opens up a wide range of choices. As an example, it allows a citizen of any given country to have access to a worldwide range of options to choose from when making a purchasing decision. While it is becoming ever more important to diversify our products and services to satisfy a heterogeneous market, knowing our prospect customers’ language and culture becomes ever more imperative to achieve international success.
