European J. Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 1, No. 4, 2010 315 Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Bicultural individuals and intercultural effectiveness David C. Thomas* Segal Graduate School of Business, Simon Fraser University, 500 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 1W6, Canada E-mail: dcthomas@sfu.ca *Corresponding author Mary Yoko Brannen INSEAD, Blvd. de Constance, 71305 Fontainebleau Cedex, France E-mail: mary-yoko.brannen@insead.edu Dominie Garcia Department of Organization and Management, San Jose State University, One Washington Square, San Jose, CA, 95192-0070, USA E-mail: garcia_d@cob.sjsu.edu Abstract: Biculturals – people who have internalised more than one cultural profile – are an under explored result of globalisation. This new and growing demographic presents some important challenges and opportunities for international management. Our study explores the idea that biculturalism fosters cultural general skills that can be useful in today’s multinational organisations. Results indicate that biculturals have more pronounced skills related to intercultural effectiveness than monoculturals, including a higher level cognitive skill called cultural metacognition that directly influences intercultural effectiveness. We also explore the idea that those bicultural individuals who experience conflict in their cultural identity development have higher levels of these skills. We discuss implications of these findings for international management. Keywords: biculturalism; multiculturalism; intercultural effectiveness; international management; cultural metacognition; cross-cultural skills; cultural identity; bicultural identity integration; BII. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Thomas, D.C., Brannen, M.Y. and Garcia, D. (2010) ‘Bicultural individuals and intercultural effectiveness’, European J. Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp.315–333. Biographical notes: David C. Thomas (PhD University of South Carolina) is a Professor of International Management and Director of the Centre for Global Workforce Strategy at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada. He is the author of numerous journal articles and eight books including Cultural