THE NEED OF INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE IN A MULTICULTURAL WORK ENVIRONMENT (LITHUANIAN CASE)

Working in a multicultural environment is quite little analyzed in Lithuania but is widely discussed in the world scientific literature and is very relevant in the course of globalization processes. The aspect of multiculturalism has been studied relatively actively and interest in it has increased especially as Lithuania integrates into the European Union and NATO. A lot of research has been already done about intercultural cooperation and its problems, but analyzing and studying the intercultural aspect, its peculiarities and intercultural communication efficiency in a multicultural environment at work, in negotiations, intercultural projects working in multicultural teams in companies or outside is not analyzed enough. At that meanwhile, in the current scientific literature there are no clear descriptions for individual multicultural aspects of communication, as most scientific works present conclusions and proposals based on classification of cultures, by cultural differences, but with little consideration of cultural background or intersection of cultures – the reason for the communication and its productivity, also the necessity of intercultural competence. The aim of this article is – to analyze the scientific literature about working in multicultural environments and to present the recent research of intercultural competence analysis of intercultural communication in Lithuanian companies where people constantly work in multicultural teams. After analyzing the peculiarities of the work of the multicultural teams, make proposals for the improvement of multicultural teamwork, corresponding to today's trends.