Intercultural Training Requirements for Virtual Assignments:Results of an Explorative Empirical Study

Virtual assignments are characterized by the spatial separation of private and business life.The virtual delegate lives and interacts in one culture, yet he or she works together mainlywith people from another culture. While the virtual assignee is physically located in theheadquarters, from an organizational and operational point of view, he or she belongs to aforeign subsidiary. Since face-to-face contacts with colleagues, customers or suppliers arereduced to a minimum, firsthand experience of foreign cultures does not take place. Thisenhances the likelihood of misunderstandings and intercultural management problems.Moreover, virtual assignees have to switch continuously between home- and host-countryinteractions....