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In the process of Renminbi (RMB) internationalization, the heterogeneity and complexity in knowledge under the multicultural contexts have been considered as important factors that can have profound impacts on the cross-border flow of the RMB currency. Moreover, COVID-19, an exogenous shock, also triggers more in-depth reflection on the relationship between cross-border knowledge management and the financial risk governance. In addition, the needs to effectively respond to global risks and crises prompt the necessity in systematically establishing an effective cross-border knowledge management mechanism and innovatively solidifying the knowledge bases needed for the further internationalization of the RMB.

Based on the analysis on the current status of the RMB internationalization, this paper qualitatively explores some major challenges and difficulties encountered in the process of RMB internationalization from the perspectives of knowledge management and cross-cultural theories. To effectively mitigate these challenges and difficulties, discussions and recommendations centered on three main aspects: cross-cultural management; cognition; and innovation for the further development of the RMB internationalization are also presented in this paper.

Based on the analysis on the cross-border knowledge management and cross-cultural perspectives, this paper identifies three major challenges and difficulties that the RMB internationalization is encountering, including: cultural heterogeneity and its adverse impacts on the communication amongst economic entities; the existence of knowledge iceberg; and the difficulty it presents to cognition and financial innovation. Meanwhile, the authors also present recommendations on the development of the cross-border knowledge management mechanism for furthering the progress of internationalizing the RMB currency.

From the perspective of cross-border knowledge management, this study not only elaborates on the recommendations aimed at further promoting the RMB internationalization but also provides reference and guidance for the state, central banks and commercial banks to play better roles in furthering the RMB internationalization.

This paper creatively integrates the micro knowledge management into the macro process of RMB internationalization, thoroughly discusses two main challenges and difficulties encountered in the process of RMB internationalization from the unique perspective of cross-border knowledge management under the multicultural contexts and provides relevant recommendations for RMB’s further internationalization. This study also enriches the exploration of knowledge management outcome variables and further expands the research field of knowledge management.

There are two broad approaches in the literature to studying challenges faced in multicultural teams. One approach is to examine the effects of demographic differences among individual team members (e.g., gender, ethnicity, age) on group process. This literature supports the notion that compositional heterogeneity can be both positive and negative in terms of successful group process (Ely & Thomas, 2001). On one hand, heterogeneity increases the chances that a group will bring a wide range of experiences and consider multiple perspectives in solving problems (Ancona & Caldwell, 1992; Jehn et al., 1999). On the other, heterogeneity makes it more difficult for groups to establish effective group process. For example, it is more difficult for heterogeneous groups to communicate and to develop work norms (Bettenhausen & Murnighan, 1985). They are also more prone to conflict (Jehn & Mannix, 2001; Jehn et al., 1999). So, although the theoretical benefits of diversity to pool unique perspectives and resources exist, they are more difficult to attain and sustain in practice.

This study aims to theoretically explore the relationship between potential antecedents of business model innovation (BMI) in multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the paths through which BMI unfolds in such contexts. This study theorizes how multiculturalism in top management teams (TMTs) influences team-level cultural intelligence (CQ), which enhances firm strategic agility and helps develop BMI in MNEs.

This study’s cross-level theoretical framework describes the mediating role of CQ of TMTs in the relationship between team multiculturalism and strategic agility, which subsequently influences BMI. This study discusses contributions, limitations and future directions.

MNEs’ capability of developing and recombining disruptive knowledge from globally dispersed sources and integrating them to innovate is subject to the knowledge-sourcing paradox. Despite the importance of intra-member diversity in the form of multicultural individuals in multicultural teams, inter-member diversity is more prominent in the literature. Regardless, the applicability of a comprehensive conceptualization of diversity in multicultural teams to BMI has yet to be examined. This study’s theoretical model links multiculturalism in TMTs with BMI in MNEs through a cross-level framework.

This study contributes to the International Business literature by proposing a novel conceptualization of team multiculturalism and leverage theoretical underpinnings of the Dynamic Managerial Capabilities perspective to develop a cross-level model of factors influencing BMI in MNEs.

Multicultural organizations are often argued to hold potential knowledge resources that can be used to increase performance. However, while only a few studies have been undertaken on the subject, linguistic differences are argued to make the use of knowledge and the sharing of knowledge a challenge in multicultural organizations. This study seeks to explore the relationships between language, knowledge sharing and performance.

A questionnaire was directed electronically to members of academic multicultural departments in Denmark.

Results showed that consistency in English management communication was the dominating factor with strong relationships with all of the investigated knowledge sharing and performance variables. English communication consistently had an association with some of the knowledge sharing and performance variables but not with all of them. The number of languages and the communication frequency were generally positively associated with the outcome variables.

This study targeted multicultural academic organizations. The findings may not be generalizable to other organizations.

Results indicate that multicultural organizations should support consistent English communication in general and English management communication in particular.

Since there are no similar large‐scale studies on the intra‐unit management of language diversity, the findings may be of considerable theoretical and practical importance.

The research examined factors of academic studies as perceived by Jewish and Arab students in Israel, and changes in their implementation of activities in a multicultural context in the field of education, comparing between undergraduates studying for a BA in education and graduate students for MA in education and attending a course titled “Multiculturalism in the Global Era”.

The findings are derived from a questionnaire distributed to Arab and Jewish students (N = 434), studying together in the Faculty of Education of one academic college in Israel. In total, 251 of them were graduate students, and 183 who were undergraduates.

It was found that insofar as the students from either programme acquired knowledge and tools regarding multiculturalism, they reported (1) more positive attitudes regarding the “Other” group and regarding multiculturalism, (2) implementation of a larger number of activities relating to multiculturalism in the field of education, (3) Arab students performed more activities in multicultural contexts and (4) older students performed a larger number of activities in multicultural contexts. The research findings also indicated a direct relation between participation in the course and activities conducted in the field of education. In addition, students' acquiring of knowledge on multiculturalism mediated the relation between participation in the course and implementation of multicultural activities in the field of education.

The research stresses the importance of higher education institutions in promoting knowledge and practice of multiculturalism in Israeli society.

Challenging assumptions about the uni-nationality of markets, the paper aims to understand the role of intra-national cultural heterogeneity in product standardisation and adaptation strategies of multinational firms in a single-country, multicultural market.

The study is set against the dominant backdrop of deductive reasoning in the field and adopts a qualitative mode of inquiry that promotes empathy with the setting. Through a multiple case study approach among paradigmatic cases, it sheds light on the aforementioned objective.

The paper conceptualises the term “layers of adaptation” and reveals that firms use multi-dimensional standardisation/adaptation configurations. It explicates sub-contextual variations that move beyond assumptions of intra-national sameness and identifies their influence on unnoticed, more agile forms of adaptation.

Findings are limited to the analysis of practices in a specific setting. More studies across diverse contexts are necessary in order to expand the boundaries of relevant investigations and enrich the process of theorising.

The findings caution that lack of internal sameness in multicultural markets may necessitate a multi-layered standardisation/adaptation logic that considers varying “depths” and “breadths” of relevant marketing strategies.

The paper challenges assumptions that have characterised the standardisation and adaptation discourse, conceptualises the term “layers of adaptation” to denote the need for more considerate market responses and highlights the usefulness of qualitative investigations towards theoretical grounding of the field.

Public relations (PR) education has not kept pace with the rapid globalisation that has occurred since 1992. The existing PR body of knowledge, and PR curricula around the world, have a US bias. In order to prepare PR students in various parts of the world to become effective multicultural professionals it is essential for experiences and perspectives from other continents to be integrated into PR education. The complexities of societal factors such as culture, political systems and media systems make Asia a challenging place to conduct strategic PR. It is time for educators to integrate experiences from other continents into the PR body of knowledge, thereby building PR curricula that contribute to training truly multicultural PR professionals.

Performance in virtual teams, which faces cultural and demographic differences, is a relevant phenomenon that has been widely investigated in recent decades, but with opportunities in exploring other levels of analysis as individual and project. This current research aims to understand how multicultural virtual teams affect individual, team and project performance.

The authors conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) and bibliometric analysis to capture 273 papers from the Web of Science (WoS) database using a snowball approach. In a second approach, the authors selected 130 papers to conduct a content analysis.

The authors presented a longitudinal overview regarding the adoption of virtual teams in project management (PM) literature. A conceptual framework was proposed to explore the relationship between multicultural virtual teams and performance with three levels of analysis: individual, teams and project. The authors contributed with research hypotheses to be explored in future empirical studies not only at the team perspective but also at the project and individual levels. The thematic analysis suggested that the literature focus has shifted from hard to soft aspects faced by virtual teams. Social identity/categorization theory was the most prominent theory in this body, but it is not fully explored in PM literature. Other opportunities of future studies are to understand the impact of cultural diversity, the sense of belongingness, the project life cycle and the development of a knowledge management program.

The authors developed a 3-level conceptual framework for future empirical studies and demonstrated that cultural differences are mainly approached at the national level in the literature, bringing suggestions for future empirical research.

While demand for many products has become more homogeneous across countries, cultural factors have strongly inhibited this change as well. In a multicultural world, cultural heterogeneity will continue to remain the most significant barrier to one global market. Cultures are resilient and enduring and so is the concept of global multiculturalism. At the global level, trading blocs may be viewed as a cluster of geographically close countries that share abstract and/or material culture in varying degrees. It is interesting to note that the three major regional trading blocs (i.e. the European Union, North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Association of South East Asian Nations) can be characterized by significant differences in culture. With the rapid emergence of trading blocs in the multicultural market, our paper attempts to meet several objectives. First, we discuss the growing importance and underlying motives of regional trading blocs in a multicultural setting. The level of trading arrangements between nations is described and a brief overview of the three major trading blocs is then presented. The level of heterogeneity of each trading bloc is examined with implications for market segmentation. The critical role of strategic alliances in the context of regional trading blocs is discussed next. Finally, we recommend marketing strategies for firms marketing to countries within its trading bloc as well as to countries outside its trading bloc.

Empirically‐based programmes are the cornerstone of the prevention science field. Beyond curriculum content and design, several aspects of school‐based prevention and intervention programmes have been found to contribute to their effectiveness, including implementer training, programme fidelity and principal [head teacher] support. The current investigation examined whether the degree of heterogeneity among classroom members (ie. students' racial or ethnic backgrounds, students' neighbourhood socio‐economic status (SES), students' neighbourhood education level and students' neighbourhood immigrant status) influences the effectiveness of the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) social and emotional learning programme. The analyses found a relationship between the degree of classroom heterogeneity and students' pre‐test scores on social and emotional variables. Moreover, gender differences were evident on pre‐test scores, reflecting differential baselines. The findings for analysis on classroom heterogeneity as a moderator of the programme's effectiveness in improving students' social and emotional competence were mixed. Future research and policy implications are discussed related to advancing the field and ensuring culturally relevant evidence‐based programming.