Staff Member Internationalisation

Requirements

The international aspects of an organisation are often implicit, hidden in all the day-to-day activities. For this reason, the effects are only recognised to a limited degree (including compliance issues) and many opportunities are lost. Such a situation may become a problem and the solution is often to make some responsible for internationalisation. However, such an appointment may create problems of its own because the person in question with most of the departments of the organisation; not limited to his or her own office.

Staff members internationalisation may have to prove themselves by specific targets like an increase of acquired international tenders or partner programmes and universities. However, they are often only partially involved in the implementation and the departments in question may have other priorities. This situational problem may be reinforced by another aspect of that job. Like for instance the human resources

manager the staff member in question has to advise the top of the organisation (strategic management function), implying that s/he has the ear of the boss, bypassing hierarchy.

Against this backdrop the question is what profile such a staff member should have. The short answer is people skills, experience and the international and cultural competences. The first relates to the possible internal sensitivities and the need to establish and maintain contacts, in particular with people abroad. The international competence consists of knowledge, skills and attitudes related to internationalisation, such as knowledge of the international and European context, the capability to recognise consequences for the organisation and to spot opportunities, mastering languages, advisory skills and research qualities. The cultural competence, another prerequisite for an effective co-operation across cultures, is discussed in Culture 10.