Multicultural workforce congregations have become today's workplace realities. The cross-border market terrorism sponsored by MNCs evoked counter insurgency and strategic warfare from domestic businesses. Partnering people in this race is vital for success in the marketplace. This article highlights the challenges of HR professionals in orienting HR processes and practices to cross-cultural work settings, building inter-cultural competence and minimizing the impact of culture shock. The issues involved in cross-cultural HR initiatives are discussed, reviewing industry practices and the road ahead in this journey.

Alexander the Great is remembered today for his quest for conquest and unquenchable thirst for territorial aggrandizement. The corporate behemoths of this century have a role model in Alexander for emulation in global dominance and market supremacy. An amazing fact revealed by a study conducted by the Washington-based Institution of Policy Studies (IPS) is that, of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations; only 49 are countries! It is estimated that the sales of 200 top corporations were equivalent to 28.3% of the world GDP in 1998. The collective sales of 200 MNCs, which was estimated at $7.1 tn in 1998, made the combined economies of 182 countries humble.

Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), which operates in 140 countries with 1000 companies, prides itself on being a truly global company with 11 board members representing seven nationalists. Many global companies produce and sell their global brands more overseas than in domestic markets. As of 2002, Nestle has 50% of its sales outside of the home market; Coca-cola has 80% and Procter and Gamble 65%. Otis Elevator developed the Elevonic 411 by means of six research centers in five countries. This international cooperation saved over $10 mn in design costs and cut the development cycle from four years to two. Similarly, Mitsubishi Trading Company employs over 60,000 market s worldwide, whose job is to gather, analyze and feed market information to the parent company.

HRM Review Magazine, Human Resource Management, Cross-cultural Context, Global Companies, Airline Corporate Human and Organization Resource Database, ACHORD, Multiculturalism, Kodak Company, Polycentric Approach, Geocentric Approach, Multinational Firms, International Computers Ltd., Global Strategy, Cross-cultural Training, Global Enterprises.