Intercultural Competencies for Fostering Technology-Mediated Collaboration in Developing Countries

Albert Kampermann, Raymond Opdenakker, Beatrice Van der Heijden and Joost Bücker
Additional contact information
Albert Kampermann: Faculty of Management, Open University of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 2960 Heerlen, The Netherlands
Raymond Opdenakker: Faculty of Management, Open University of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 2960 Heerlen, The Netherlands
Beatrice Van der Heijden: Faculty of Management, Open University of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 2960 Heerlen, The Netherlands
Joost Bücker: Institute for Management Research, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9108 Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-25

Abstract: With the rapid global spread and application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the question is whether every culture makes similar use of the ideology that often underlies its creators’ design. ICT applications are designed with underlying beliefs or principles about e.g., work, communication, and individuality. These beliefs or principles are invisible and hidden in software and, as such, in many instances not recognized by users in other cultures. These hidden principles might even frustrate the understanding, use, knowledge-sharing, and e-collaboration between people from different cultures. In this article, we aim to explore, from a historical point of view, the early years of adaptation of ICT in developing countries, and we will highlight the importance of the use of intercultural (ICT-)skills to learn to recognize cultural differences from a relationship-based definition in technology-mediated collaboration. A semi-systematic or narrative review approach is used that is particularly suitable for topics that have been conceptualized differently. Our review firstly summarizes and categorizes the cultural factors impacting the adaptation and diffusion of ICT, especially in developing countries, and investigates which factors could hinder and/or facilitate the collaboration with other countries. Secondly, the findings of a thorough comparison between different intercultural competencies’ frameworks indicate that intercultural competencies show a combination of motivation, knowledge (-management), and skills, which are key competencies in the light of successful technology-mediated collaboration.

Keywords: technology-mediated collaboration; e-collaboration; ICT adaptation; intercultural competencies; case examples; developing countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7790/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/14/7790/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:14:p:7790-:d:593020

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().