Developing Cross Cultural Competency of Local Staffs and Expatriates to Contribute to Job Satisfaction through action research in the Business Development Unit (BDU) in MICTDC

AbstractThe aim of this research was to highlight the effects of cross cultural training on job satisfaction of local staff in dealing with foreign expatriates in business organizations in Myanmar. This research used an organizational development intervention (ODI) to assess the concept of cross-cultural competence (CCC) to the Myanmar ICT Development Corporation (MICTDC).Both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) approaches were employed. The research was conducted in Myanmar from January 2015 to November 2015. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS software (for survey) and content analysis (for interview).The findings indicated there was a positive change in recognition of cultural issues in the organization after the ODI. During the pre-ODI stage, interviewees recognized in principle that cultural awareness was a problem for the organization as employees avoided working with expatriate workers or expressed frustration in working with them. However, during the post-ODI stage there was a much stronger recognition of the importance of cross-cultural awareness across the organization, while the perspective of the pre-ODI stage was largely that CCC was important only for those who worked with expatriate workers or international clients. Another noticeable outcome was the connection between CCC and level of job satisfaction in the organization.The ODI resulted in an increased level of CCC and increased level of job satisfaction on the part of both the local and expatriate staff. Both local staff and expatriate staff reported that the cross-cultural training improved their knowledge and skill levels which in turn improved their level of job satisfaction and work experience. Keywords: cross cultural competency, job satisfaction, action research and organization development intervention