CULTURAL COMPETENCE IS AN ESSENTIAL IN ACHIEVING A GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN A SERVICE ECONOMY.

"Companies needs new cultural competencies to meet the needs of future customers" (Carlos F. Orta (President and CEO of Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR U.S.A.)."

In a service economy where each employee's contribution is critical to business success, a company's ability to inspire a process of continuous learning and improvement in every employee will define its competitive advantage. This is what BellSouth calls "a better return on your investment in human capital". (This has been my core belief put into professional practice for over 40 years personally....Dan Zwicker).

Companies that create cultures of development - where all employees, encouraged to reach their maximum potential, contribute their best efforts to the company's shared business objectives - will continuously recruit and retain top talent, and, therefore, outperform companies that do not. (My core belief is that collaborative practice drives exponential performance through strategically competitive advantage within complex knowledge/information based/professional practice advisory service organizations...Dan Zwicker).

The sine qua non of a culture of development is committed leadership, beginning with the chief executive officer. "If people see the chief executive engaged, explains Orta, "then it filters down throught the company.

Leaders who view inclusion and development as strategic business imperatives, commit to achieving them, incorporate them into every aspect of business strategy and demand accountability at every level of the organization will realize the promise of exponential growth through diversity and inclusion.

'Best practices' point to a CEO who builds a strategic network of policies, practices and programs that work together to increase individual performance and organizational productivity.

These practices are essential for exponential market growth, strategic competitive advantage and relevance within a globally interactive marketplace........Forbes