These service failures are unnecessary. Research shows
that service managers have the tools to measure and develop
the cross-cultural skills of their service personnel. Yet, while
the value of having an interculturally competent service
employee may make sense, the concept has not been tested in the marketplace. As a result, management is unlikely to
make the investment in developing the cross-skills of their
customer-contact employees until they see some evidence of
the benefit. Therefore, the focus of this study was to test the
effect of intercultural sensitivity on employee performance in
cross-cultural service encounters. If the relationship between
employee performance and intercultural sensitivity was
found to be positive and significant, it could justify an
investment in testing and training service employees who are
involved in cross-cultural encounters.