Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Asia accounts for over 50% of the world’s population and its consumer demand is worth U$10 trillion annually. For Australian businesses, one of the biggest impediments to realising this “Asian opportunity” is a lack of understanding about Asia capabilities – in particular which capabilities are critical to business success and how prevalent they are in the workforce. This study clearly defines and measures individual Asia Capability, to understand the prevalence of Asia capabilities in the Australian workforce. A survey which conceptualized and measured individual Asia capability was developed and piloted, then administered to a nationally representative sample of 2000 Australian workers. Findings were used to create a National Scorecard of Australia’s Workforce Asia Capability which mapped the nature and extent of Asia capabilities among Australia’s workforce, and enabled organisations to assess their workforce Asia Capability against a national benchmark. There is currently no agreed definition or measure of Asia capability in academic literature. The findings provide a theoretically and empirically-based conceptualization of individual Asia capability, consisting of experience, knowledge, and abilities in seven key Asia Capability Domains.