What We Talk About When We Talk About “Global Mindset”

Streufert, and Castore, 1968), and consideration of more alternative viewpoints (Chang and McDaniel,
1995). Taken together, these works attest to the significance of cognitive complexity, or alternatively, to
the detrimental effects of cognitive simplicity in a rapidly changing, complex world.
The Multidimensional Perspective
In addition to the two major streams in the global mindset literature identified above, there is a
third stream of research in the global mindset literature that incorporates both the cultural and strategic
dimensions, as well as several additional characteristics. This multidimensional research stream,
increasingly evident in the literature beginning in 1994, is heavily influenced by the work of Rhinesmith
(1992, 1993, 1996) whose definition of global mindset (see Table 1) combines elements from both the
cultural and strategic perspectives.
Rhinesmith (1992:64) argues that people with global mindsets tend to drive for the bigger,
broader picture, accept life as a balance of contradictory forces, trust organizational processes rather
than structure, value diversity, are comfortable with surprises and ambiguity, and seek to be open to
themselves and others. Thus, according to Rhinesmith, global mindset entails high levels of cognitive
capabilities, especially scanning and information processing capabilities, as well as the ability to balance
competing realities and demands and to appreciate cultural diversity. Rhinesmith’s approach represents
a multidimensional perspective to global mindset, incorporating not only the cultural and the strategic
dimensions but also individual characteristics drawn from the literature on global leadership.
Most work in the multidimensional stream builds directly on Rhinesmith’s approach (e.g.,
Ulrich, Jick, and Kerr, 1995; Srinivas, 1995; Neff, 1995; Kedia and Mukherji, 1999; Paul, 2000).
Authors writing in this stream, in addition to characterizing global mindset in terms of the abilities to
recognize and understand complex and often unexpected business, cultural, and geopolitical dynamics,
list a variety of attributes when describing global mindset. Kedia and Mukherji (1999), for example,
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