Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Multicultural business environments have become a major challenge for many Nigerian organisations. Business environments are characterised by economic, political, socio-cultural, religious, technological, and many other forces. These forces constitute major challenges that present negative consequences to the growth and development of organisations. Cultural diversity has become the main feature of many organisations due to the activities of multinational organisations and the effect of globalization. This study therefore focused on investigating survival strategies of organisations in multicultural business environments with an intention to draw useful lessons for Nigeria’s multicultural organisations and entrepreneurs. The study adopted a conceptual approach by critical review and analysis of relevant literature. This enabled us to discover that cross-cultural organisation competence is what organisations working in a multicultural environment require for survival and advancement. The study concluded that if multicultural issues are not effectively and efficiently managed, entrepreneurs will be frustrated in accomplishing the desired objectives of their organisations. It recommended that organisations and entrepreneurs operating in a multicultural environment should train their managers and employees to acquire multicultural competence rather than mere traditional competence. Pluralism which encourages integration of different cultures to achieve organisational purposes was also recommended.