Global competency is essential for those businesses that are doing, or want to do, business internationally. While elements of global culture may be included in traditional diversity training programs, it is imperative that national culture be addressed when a company does business overseas. If a company is sending expatriates abroad, global competency training is needed to help them understand the unique culture of the country within which they’ll be living and working.

Hofstede conducted extensive research looking at how countries differed on several dimensions: individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and power distance, time perspective and indulgence. While individual behaviors differ, each country as a whole has shared patterns along these dimensions. Global competence training should make employees aware of how employee behavior will differ given these dimensions.