Project management is internationally recognised as a management tool that is critical for success in the current work environment. In South Africa, initiatives are under way to produce internationally acceptable education and certification standards for the profession. The aim of this study is to identify the competencies and training needs required of project managers operating in South Africa's unique context. A questionnaire based on both previous international studies and personal interviews was administered by e-mail to members of the Project Management Institute of South Africa. Data was received from 128 respondents operating primarily in information technology, construction and engineering fields across the country. The results of the survey establish a rank ordered list of the competencies and training needs of South African project managers, and confirm that project management competencies are generic in nature. The findings are unique to South Africa, and proffer a set of core competencies which has important implications for the certification and training of South African project managers.

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Although much has been said in academia on the importance of multiculturalism, cultural clashes in business and the workplace continue to be an issue of growing concern as the world moves toward an interlinked, global economy. Now more than ever, learning to draw on the richness of a kaleidoscopic workforce and to assist all team members in delivering their best efforts is a critical managerial task. This article provides a synopsis of the background to the problem of managing culturally diverse organisations, discusses the influences of cultural diversity on management, and proposes a conceptual framework for managing multicultural organisations through the ‘sharing principle’. The challenge for a multicultural learning organisation is to increase the potential benefits of cultural diversity by creating a willingness-to-share attitude – sharing success, sharing mental models, sharing vision, and sharing competence. A real commitment to the sharing principle is essential to effective management in culturally diverse organisations.

Current approaches to corporate strategy are overwhelmingly based on a metaphorical – and mostly unarticulated – understanding of the essential nature of corporations. In this paper we argue that in order to understand corporate strategy it is critical to understand the very nature of the entity called ‘corporation’. We then present an understanding of corporations as works; those entities that create and sustain the world in which humans live. In describing the characteristics of works and the way in which they create and sustain a world, we elucidate the very nature of corporate strategy. We conclude by proposing a process to enable leaders of corporations to engage in corporate strategy as creating and sustaining a world.

In recent years, the management of cultural diversity has become a popular topic within management in general and organisational behaviour and human resource management in particular. The progressive movement of the world into the post-modern era calls for a comprehensive, practical and realistic strategy to change not only the demographics of organisational members and their attitudes, but also the way in which multicultural organisations are managed. Controversies and uncertainties regarding current outcomes still prevail, possibly because of a lack of application of more scientific management styles and methodologies. Management approaches often appear to be based on unfounded assumptions, superficial observations and simplistic assessments. As a result, the derived outcomes are incongruent, oversimplistic, unrealistic and unreliable. To ensure the success of organisations in the growing global market, managers need to establish an effective approach to managing cultural diversity. This article examines some of the traditional concepts of culture and cultural diversity and employs illustrative empirical data to suggest a more scientific approach to the measurement of cultural diversity and its impact on the work environment and management.