Global Mindset as the Integration of Emerging Socio-Cultural Values Through Mindsponge Processes

Abstract

A flat (Friedman 2005) or spiky (Florida 2005) world does not matter, as globalization has passed the point of no return. Much of the international recognition for an emerging economy, therefore, rests with its cultural relevance to its economic partners worldwide. Active participation on the global scale has made acculturation more apparent and faster today, especially for managers working in multicultural environments (Gupta & Govindarajan 2002). In other words, managers with global mindsets are presumably more open in their thinking (Taylor 1991), which in turn enables them to make use of serendipity as a strategic advantage (Napier & Vuong 2013b). Meanwhile, businesspeople are facing an emerging problem of getting so very many cultural values. A framework for assessing the values may help them improve their ability to respond not only faster, but also more efficiently to a new cultural setting. Last but not least, a fast-changing world renders it possible to make a proper values today inappropriate tomorrow and vice versa. It is, therefore, necessary to keep value evaluation as well as learning/unlearning processes continuous. This chapter proposes the concept of the mindsponge and its underlying themes that explain why and how executives, managers, and corporations could replace waning values in their mindsets with those absorbed during their exposure to multicultural and global settings. One can think of a mindsponge as a metaphor of the mind as a sponge that squeezes out inappropriate values and absorbs new ones that fit or complement the context at hand. This chapter first provides a brief literature review on global mindset and cultural values, which suggests that not only can a mindset be improved, but that its learning mechanism can also be developed. Then the chapter offers a conceptual framework, called the "mindsponge," which builds upon earlier works linking mindset to themes of multi-filtering (e.g., Vuong & Napier 2013, 2014). The process is proposed to help identify emerging values in the transition economy of Vietnam and also to reconfirm existing core values. Discussions about (i) serendipity as a method of innovation, (ii) pursuit of

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