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By Andy Molinsky, Harvard Business Review Press, 2013
Andy Molinsky, associate profes- sor of organizational behavior at Brandéis University's International Business School, has written an important book with wide application to the field of international education. He specializes in cross-cultural interaction in business set- tings, but his creative approach to teaching his MBA students and workers how to adapt in their cross-cultural interactions has cur- rency for the education abroad field. He says his book "teaches people who are not bicultural or multicultural by birth how to act effectively in different cultural environ- ments and at the same time to feel authentic, or authentic enough, when doing it" (p. xii). His principal premise speaks directly to the raison d'etre for campus internationalization efforts: providing opportunities for students to study, work, or serve abroad and find their way to adapting to their new environment in the classroom, the community, or the work- place. However, Molinsky's argument is that "knowledge of cultural differences is certain- ly necessary to be effective abroad, but it is not sufficient. To be truly effective in foreign cultures, you need to develop global dexter- ity necessary for translating your knowledge into effective behavior" (p. xv).
Although the examples cited through- out his text demonstrate the problems of cross-cultural adaptation and adjustment for ex-pats working abroad [he includes mini-cases that are not just from a U.S. perspective, but from varied nationali- ties working either in the United States or overseas], the common thread of his stories (drawn from actual case examples and/or personal interviews) focus on the need for a purposeful and intentional an- alytic framework to guide individuals in their adaptation...