COMMUNICATION 646
Intervention in Multicultural Organizations Spring 2011
Professor Dr. Gary Fontaine
Office 326 Crawford Hall; Phone 956-3335; Email <fontaine@hawaii.edu>
Home Page "www2.hawaii.edu/~fontaine/garyspag.html"
Office hours 10:00-11:30 MTW or by arrangement
Course graphics at "www2.hawaii.edu/~fontaine/u646PP.ppt"
Laulima https://laulima.hawaii.edu/portal/site/MAN.88435.201130
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This course describes intervention programs designed to prepare, support, and train individuals and teams in multicultural organizations both
locally and globally. It examines these programs in the broader context of Human Resource Management, Organization Management and
Organization Development as they have evolved over the last several decades. It emphasizes an Action Research intervention paradigm. These
intervention programs include screening & self-selection; orientation; organizational & social support; training; health, mental health & counseling;
organizational design; consulting; coaching and mentoring, and community intervention. Our emphasis is on training. Related issues associated
with program evaluation and the professional development of intervention specialists are also addressed. The course is appropriate for graduate
students with at least one previous course in intercultural communication, organizational communication or related topics.
The programs described are derived from and applied to a broad range of domestic and global contexts including: International business, tourism,
foreign study, diplomacy; geographically dispersed teams both face-to-face and online, immigration; refugee resettlement; cultural diversity in
domestic organizations; delivering health, mental health, social, educational, criminal justice, and other services to multicultural communities;
intercultural marriage; organizational change; and accommodating to the impact of new technologies. The course objectives are to Familiarize students with theoretical, programmatic, and delivery issues in the management of effective training and intervention in a variety
of applied contexts.
Provide students with supervised, practical experience in the development and use of specific training and intervention techniques.
Material is presented using lecture, group discussion, media, and experiential approaches in which students have the opportunity to both
experience and develop appropriate preparation, support and training techniques. Evaluation of student performance is based on the ability to
demonstrate both an understanding of the intercultural and organizational literatures and the ability to apply that understanding to the development
of training or other intervention techniques.
Required text: –
Landis, D., & Bennett, J. M. & Bennett, M. J. (2004). Handbook of Intercultural Training, Third Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Strongly Recommended reading –
Holman, P., Devane, T. & Cady, S (2007). The change handbook: The definitive resource on today’s best methods for engaging whole systems.
San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publisher Inc. [Strongly recommended for those with broad Organizational Development interests--about
$45 online in paper]
Pedersen, P. (2004). 110 Experiences for Multicultural Learning. American Psychological Association. Press. [Strongly recommended for those
with a specific Intercultural Intervention focus--about $20 online in paper]
Recommended and online resources for now or the future Brewerton, P. & Millward, L. (2001). Organizational research methods. Sage.
ChangingMinds.org http://changingminds.org/explanations/theories/theories.htm
Dick, B. (2004). Action Research Literature. Action Research, 2(4), 425-444.
Landis, D. & Bhagat, R. S. (1996). Handbook of Intercultural Training, Second Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Wikispaces -- An online resource to support your course team projects (http://www.wikispaces.com/)
Grading The Case (Team grade; due January 31) 15%
The Training & Intervention Contract Proposal (Team grade; class presentations) 35%
Final Exam (Out May 2, due by May 9 at 4:15 pm) 35%
In-class contributions (always) 15%
Final grade - 90-100%=A; 80-89%=B; 70-79%=C; 60-69%=D; 0-59%=F
The Case. As a Client team develop and submit to your Intervention team an approximately 2,000 word description of a case of an
organization requesting a contract proposal for intervention in a multicultural organization. You can select any type or size of organization and
type or scope of intervention. You are free to develop a case from the experience of one or more of your team or to construct a hypothetical
one. Write the case from the perspective of the appropriate managers/directors in the organization. Include in your description standard case
information (e.g., history, cultures involved, problems, relevant personnel and resources, desired intercultural training & intervention objectives,
and so forth). Submit 2 copies (1 to me; 1 to the Intervention team).
The Training & Intervention Contract Proposal. As an Intervention team develop a proposal that: (1) describes in general terms an
intervention program that is at least partially responsive to the case described by your clients, and (2) elaborates in detail at least one specific
training activity designed to meet at least one proposal objective. The proposal must be presented to the class at a scheduled time during the
semester (50%) and then submitted in revised written form the last day of class (50%--1 copy to me and 1 copy to each member of your
Client team). The detailed description of the training activity must be complete in terms of both materials and instructions and should include
the--objectives; intended participants; theoretical basis for the module; trainer requirements in terms of experience, skill, or other
relevant characteristics; and means of evaluation. Grading of the proposal will be based on the degree to which it demonstrates
understanding of course material and appears responsive to the needs of the client organization.
The Final Exam will ask for your individual critiques of the Training & Intervention Contract Proposal submitted to your Client team along with
one or more additional proposals selected from others presented orally to the class. The critiques will be graded on the degree to which they
demonstrate an understanding of course material (e.g. lectures, discussions, texts, exercises, etc.).
Students must have completed the course prerequisite (COM643 or COM623 or consent). Students are expected to attend class on time,
regularly, and not engage in behavior that detracts from a classroom ecology supportive of learning. All students attending class are
expected to be on time in order to minimize disruption of class activities. Those submitting drafts of assignments for professor's review
must do so 2 weeks prior to due date in allow for ample review and feedback. All assignments are due by the beginning of class on the due
date. Late assignments will be reduced one grade for each working day. Assignments must be suitable in spelling, grammar & presentation
in order to be accepted.
Helping people & organizations thrive in their World
We need to understand intervention in multicultural organizations in the much broader
context of Human Resource Management, Organization Management &
Organization Development particularly with respect to the necessities for dealing
with dramatic changes in organizational ecologies as we move further into the
21st Century —
Changes in workforce (increased diversity in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, nationality,
etc.)
Qualitative changes in the nature of jobs
Changes in the knowledge & skills due to new technology, demographics, products,
etc.
Globalization (enough said!)
Changes in organizational design in a “flattening world” (Thomas
Friedman, 2006)
Until recently, intercultural training & intervention has evolved mostly outside
the mainstream of this process. However, the steps & concerns involved in planning,
designing, implementing & evaluating organization management & development
programs overlap significantly with those in intercultural training and continued
integration of the fields is absolutely necessary.
Human Resource Management, Organization Management &
Organization Development
Emerging out of Personnel, Industrial & Social Psychology and Business
Administration over the last century –
Human resource management (HRM) involves the strategic and coherent
approach to the management of an organization's people who individually and
collectively contribute to the achievement of the organization’s objectives. The
terms "human resource management" and "human resources" (HR) have
largely replaced the term "personnel management" as a description of the
processes involved in managing people in organizations.
Organization Management (OM) is involves getting people together to
accomplish the organizations desired goals and objectives effectively. It
typically comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and
controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort
for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.
Organization Development (OD) involves processes designed to change the
beliefs, attitudes, values, and structure of an organization and it’s personnel so
that they can better adapt to changes in the organization’s world.
Common types of intervention foci and methods
Communication
Leadership
Team Building
Stress Management
Conflict Resolution
Mission Planning
Time Management
Technical Training (legal compliance, technologies, etc.)
Change Planning
Facilitating mergers, acquisitions & joint ventures
Coaching
Sex Harassment Prevention
Diversity
International Assignment
Global Management
Organization Management & Organization Development
Professional Associations
ASTD – American
Society for Training &
Development
SHRM - Society for Human
Resource Management
“OD Net” - Organization
Development Network
Thunderbird School of
Global Management
SoL - Society for
Organizational Learning
Peter Senge, Otto Scharmer, Joe
Jaworski, Betty Flowers
“Presence”
Human & Organization
Development
World Café
The World Café is a structured conversational process for awakening
collective intelligence about key questions and issues http://www.theworldcafe.com/
Appreciative Inquiry
Asking questions that focus on highlighting the strengths –
as opposed to weaknesses of an organization to aid growth
toward potential - http://www.appreciative-inquiry.org/ .
360-degree feedback
“360-degree feedback” is feedback about an employee
that comes from all around - subordinates, peers &
supervisors & sometimes customers and suppliers or other
interested stakeholders. It also includes a self-assessment.
The results from 360-degree feedback are often used by
the person receiving the feedback to plan training or other
types of intervention.
http://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=OXJkP13xACg 1:00 min
Open Space Technology
Open Space Technology is a simple way to run productive meetings, for five to 2000+
people, and a powerful way to lead any kind of organization, in everyday practice and
extraordinary change - http://www.openspaceworld.org/
Scenario Planning
Scenario planning is a significant process that brings together very diverse input to
create a set of scenarios that inform effective decision-making. Scenario thinking is more
simply thinking about the world in terms of possibilities rather than forecasts, always
understanding that ideas about where things are going can turn out to be very wrong.
One of the most valuable outcomes of a well-designed scenario planning process is a
shift to scenario thinking by the participating executives.
From R. Dawson - http://rossdawsonblog.com/weblog/archives/2010/06/why_scenario_th.html
Strategic Visioning
From Hinrichs Consulting--http://www.hinrichsconsulting.com/id9.html
Strategic Visioning is a process that engages an entire organizational community in integrating its best hindsight
and foresight in aligned action. It blends traditional strategic planning with best practices emerging from visioning, large
scale collaboration, and graphic facilitation. This blend complements the heavily analytical approaches of traditional
planning with processes that engage participants in a holistic integration of their intuitive, emotional, intellectual, and
physical understandings of the organization – Grove Consultants Int’l - http://www.grove.com/site/index.html.
Six Sigma
Six Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in 1981. It is
widely used in many sectors of industry. Six Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by
identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and
business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and
creates a special infrastructure of people within the organization ("Black Belts", "Green Belts", etc.)
who are experts in these methods. Each Six Sigma project carried out within an organization follows a
defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction or profit increase).
wikipedia
Balanced Scorecard
The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that is used extensively
in business and industry, government, and nonprofit organizations worldwide to align business
activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications,
and monitor organization performance against strategic goals http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspx.
Brief History of Intercultural Training & Intervention a
Formerly Experiment in International Living
in Vermont; Don Batchelder, Al Fantini;
Theodore Gochenour, Gordon Murray;
1930s
UK Center for
International Briefing;
1950s
1960s
US Foreign Service Institute; Robert
Kohls; 1940s
World Bank;
Pierre Casse;
1970s
Army Human Resources Research Office;
Defense Department Race Relations
Institute (DRRI); Navy Overseas Duty
Support Program (ODSP); Al Kraemer, Ed
Stewart, James Downs, Sandra MumfordFowler; 1960s, 1970s & 1980s
Culture Learning Inst Richard Brislin; 1970s
International Society for Intercultural
Education, Training & Research
(SIETAR), 1970s
International
Journal of
Intercultural
Relations; Dan
Landis; 1970s
Hawaii-Tony Marsella, Ken
Sanborn, Paul Pedersen,
Ken Tokuno, Norm Dinges,
Gary Fontaine; 1970s
Brief History of Intercultural Training & Intervention b
Canadian
International
Development
Agency (CIDA);
1980’s
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR); refugee processing
centers in the Philippines (ICMC) & Thailand (Save the Children); 1980s; US
Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) & Center for Applied Linguistics;
1980s.
International Academy of
Intercultural Research; 1990s
Stanford Institute for Intercultural Communication
Cliff Clarke; 1980s; Intercultural Communication
Institute (ICI, in Portland); Janet & Milton Bennett; 1980s
Asia Pacific Management
Forum in KL; Rod Davies,
Clarence Henderson;1995
Going further into the 21st
Century there’s a rapid
global blossoming of
intercultural training &
intervention programs &
organizations –
government/ngo/private
Global Integration Strategies (GIS); Cliff
Clarke, Naomi Takashiro; 2000
Gary Fontaine; 1980s
The Delta Intercultural Academy –
online growing from SIETAR Europa
Peter Franklin 2010
Intercultural Training & Intervention Programs a
Orientation
Screening &
Self-selection
Foreign Study
& Multicultural
Education
Training
Social
Support
The Challenges of
dealing with
diversity at home,
abroad & online
Health
Mental Health
& Counseling
Organization
Management &
Development
Travel &
Relocation
Community &
International
Mediation
Organization
Support
Consulting
& Coaching
The Scholar – Practitioner Model
in Organizational Interventions
Research & intervention in an imperfect,
rapidly changing, stochastic world!
The “scholar – practitioner” or “scientist –
practitioner” model
Action Research or Action Inquiry
Action Research Paradigm
Action research (studying questions or issues with
particular attention to intervention or change) &
participatory action research (“subjects” participate with
researcher in design & conduct of the study)
Strategic Planning for Organizations
Organizations need to establish a Strategic Plan for success that includes:
 a mission that defines what you are doing
 a vision for your future
 values that shape your actions
 strategies that describe your key success approaches
 goals and action plans to guide your daily, weekly and monthly actions
Your organization's success depends significantly on how well you define and live by each.
The starting point must be to determine your company's existing mission, vision, values, strategies &
plans, then — in a background of company performance — ask:
 Is the current vision being realized?
 How has the company's mission and goals changed over the years? Why?
 Describe the actual strategies followed over the past few years in respect of
products/services, operations, finance, marketing, technology, management etc.
 Critically examine each strategy statement by reference to activities and actions in key
functional areas covering such matters as management, funding, marketing, sales,
productivity/costs, and other criteria as appropriate.
Green Giant Fresh by Growers Express
March 2006 Monterey Sessions
Mission - Vision - Values - Strategies & Action Teams
Thursday
Session 1 (9:00 to 10:20) Launch; Communication Strategies & Skills in Growing & Changing
Companies
Break (10:20 to 10:40)
Session 2 (10:40 to 12:00) Our Mission
Lunch (12:00 to 2:00)
Session 3 (2:00 to 3:20) Recognizing & Molding Company Cultures
Break (3:20 to 3:40)
Session 4 (3:40 to 5:00) Our Vision & Values
Friday
Session 5 (9:00 to 10:20) Leadership, Self-Organization & Optimizing Performance
Break (10:20 to 10:40)
Session 6 (10:40 to 12:00) Our Strategies & Challenges
Lunch (12:00 to 2:00)
Session 7 (2:00 to 3:20) Our Goals
Break (3:20 to 3:40)
Session 8 (3:40 to 5:00) Action Plans & Teams
Saturday
Session 9 (9:00 to 11:00) Disembarking–Implementing Strategic Interventions
Skippered by Gary Fontaine, Ph.D.
Strange Lands Global Assignment Specialists
Assessing Needs for Intervention
Steps
Identify gaps between current state and organization mission, goals & objectives
Prioritize the gaps and express in terms of needs
Select an appropriate package of the needs to be addressed in terms of intercultural issues
Methods
Tailored Questionnaires
Interviews
Formal & Informal Observation
Focus Groups
Critical Case Analysis of Successes & Failures
The Key
Good needs assessment requires a collaborative team effort involving all relevant organizational
personnel and the intervention providers
Adapted from Wederspahn 2000
Planning & Designing Intervention Programs
1. Define training objectives in terms of assessed needs
2. Assess training relevant aspects of the organizational ecology
Money, time & facilities available
Scheduling requirements
Previous training history & related human resources programs
Participant characteristics--especially motivation & readiness for change
3. Selecting optimal training program
Participants
Duration
Schedule & Locations
Approaches & techniques
Facilitators
The Bases of Our Behavior
Theories of learning, attitude change & motivation
Common problems of training & intervention programs are that
 It teaches trainees things they already know
 They don’t know any more at the end of a program than they did before
An effective program of intervention must be based on a sound understanding of people -- how
they learn, how their attitudes develop & change, what motivates them, and the bases of their
behavior in organizations.
Theories of learning
 Behavioral (e.g., Pavlov, Skinner). Stimulus & response are the best ways to explain behavior & thus if
you want to change it you must work with those
 Cognitive (e.g., Tolman, Lewin, Bandura). Cognitions (perceptions) play a major along with both
stimulus & response
Theories of attitude change
 Reinforcement theories
 Consistency theories such as dissonance theory (Festinger)
 Changing the ecology
Theories of motivation




Modeling
Drive theories (e.g. Freud)
Motivational hierarchies (e.g., Maslow)
Achievement theories (e.g., McClelland & Atkinson, Weiner)
Optimal state/intrinsic motivation theories (e.g., Rotter, Deci, Csikszentmihalyi)
“The Office”
Key Intervention Concerns
Who’s hiring you and what’s your relationship
to them (e.g., traditional vs “high impact”)?
What are the real needs?
Who are the “stakeholders?”
Review of literature, past interventions,
resources.
What are the intervention focus options?
Where to start?
What are the projected outcomes?
What might be some unanticipated
outcomes?
Evaluation? (If it works and if it doesn’t)
The Bases of Our Behavior in Organizations
Leaders — A person with knowledge of the overall mission directs the activity
of the group.
Blueprints — A plan or representation of the desired outcome of the activity
—”Mission statements, Goals & Objectives.”
Recipes — A sequence of required actions or tasks necessary to produce the
outcome — ”Best practices.”
Templates — A fixed feature of the environment to which the activity is
molded — A full-size model or mold that specifies strongly steers the patternformation process — “Cafeteria tables”
Self-organization — global patterns in a system emerge from local
interactions among participants using behavioral rules executed with only local
information and without reference to the global patterns. Those patterns
emerge from the system; they are not imposed on it.
Implication for training & intervention — need to understand and focus on key
behavioral rules at the local level.
The Game
http://icosystem.com/game.htm
“The Game" illustrates through simulation how simple rules at the local level
(perceptual/behavioral/communication) can produce emergence of unpredictable and complex
structures at a global (organizational) level without the need to infer leadership, management, plans,
recipes, or templates to guide behavior.
As you start playing the game note that changing rules (e.g., for appropriate behavior) and
parameters (e.g., population and sight distance) change outcomes drastically and unpredictably
resulting in patterns that are very complex and appear planned or organized--but by who!
Note how changing sight distance affects outcome in terms of number and stability of the emerging
clusters (or teams). Play with the parameters (e.g., try population=78 or so, sight distance=7).
Note that communication difficulty or cultural diversity, etc. could be functionally similar to sight
distance and be sufficient to produce cultural clustering without postulating other social psychological
explanations. In what ways might cultural differences in the rules for local interactions affect the selforganization process and hence the global outcomes?
Note how medium (e.g., online vrs f2f) could also be related to sight distance in effects?
How much of what goes on in teams is attributable to leadership or management or previously learned
global plans and how much "simply" emerges from relatively simple rules we learn for interacting at
the local level?
Particle swarm optimization
The traditional western social science paradigm views humans as primarily
intentional & rational and behavior, and its products, as caused by decisionmaking, planning, leadership, and so forth. But there are other paradigms.
Evolution computation, self-organization, and swarm intelligence are
related paradigms that view people (teams, organizations, etc.) as potential
problem solutions to challenges in the ecology and identify natural selection
strategies to optimize the solutions (i.e., each person is a potential solution to
some problem!). Evolution is a general problem-solving algorithm.
In a “rational” model of optimization intelligence is defined at the individual
level; in an “evolutionary” model Intelligence is defined at the level of the
“swarm” — the collective.
Particle swarm optimization — built on comparing “our own best” &
“our neighbors’ best” over many iterations.
Implications for organizational training & intervention —
 need to facilitate awareness

of own previous best practices
support awareness of — & communication with — best local others.
Intercultural Models & Skills
To be effective in intercultural intervention we must have a good theory or model of the
challenges faced and the strategies & skills necessary to address these challenges.
For example, the challenges -Relationships & rules
orientations.
Universalist vrs Particularist
The Group and the individual
Communitarianism
Feelings and relationships
Contact
How far we get involved
Individualism vrs
Trompenaars
Affective vrs Neutral cultures
Specific vrs Diffuse cultures
How we accord status
Ascription vrs Achievement
How we manage time
Sequentially vrs Synchronistically
Disintegration
How we relate to nature
Reintegration
Culture
fatigue
Corporate cultures Family (person-oriented); Eiffel Tower
(role-oriented);
Guided Missile (project-oriented); Incubator (fulfillment
oriented)
Autonomy
Adler
Internal vrs External Control
Fontaine
.
Re-entry
Coping with “ecoshock”
Bennett & Bennett
Development of Intercultural Sensitivity
Denial
Defense Minimizatio
n
Ethnocentric Stages
Getting the job done
by dealing effectively with
diversity & change
Acceptance Adaptation Integration
Ethnorelative Stages
Maintaining motivation
The Skills
Skills for
coping with
ecoshock
Patience
Skills for
maintainin
g
Attentional flexibility
motivation
Identifying
motivation
Attentional
regulation
profile-destination
ecology match
Broadening stresscoping tool kit
Use of a sense
of presence to
build IMCs
Communication
skills in ritual
exchange,
perspective sharing, &
language, context &
agenda matching
Skills for
dealing with
diversity
Training for
successful
global
assignments
Identifying the social
support provided at home
Identifying social
support needs abroad
Identifying social support
opportunities abroad
Matching unfilled needs
with available support
Social skills-particularly in
conflict resolution
Skills for
developing &
maintaining social
support
Intercultural Training & Intervention Programs b
Screening & Foreign Study
Self-selection & Multicultural
Education
Orientation
Social
Support
Health
Mental Health
& Counseling
Organization
Management &
Development
Training
The Challenges of
dealing with
diversity at home,
abroad & online
Organization
Support
Travel &
Relocation
Community
&
International
Mediation
Consulting
& Coaching
“Screening” Map for Asia & Middle East
One point for Country
Capital
Population
“Knowledgeable” > 65
“OK” > 50
“Maybe in a pinch” > 35
Adapted from the
TIBS Screening
Program
Typical Screening “Self-Assessment” Instruments
Cultural Competence Self-Evaluation Form (CCSE)
(For counselors & health &mental health providers)
Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity (ICCS)
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Scale
Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)
Inventory of Cross-Cultural Sensitivity (ICCS)
ICCS Online
C Scale = Cultural Integration "I have foreigners to my home on a regular
basis“
B Scale = Behavioral Response "The way other people express themselves is
very interesting to me“
I Scale = Intellectual Interaction "I enjoy being with people from other cultures“
A Scale = Attitude Toward Others "Foreign influence in our country threatens
our national identity" (reversed)
E Scale = Empathy "I think people are basically alike“
From K. Cushner et al. (2003)
Emotional intelligence (EI)
Emotional intelligence (EI) – developed by Daniel
Goleman – is the ability to identify, assess & control the
emotions of oneself, of others & of groups –
http://danielgoleman.info/topics/emotional-intelligence/.
Today organizations worldwide routinely look through the
lens of EI in hiring, promoting & developing their
employees.
Much of the work on EI is supported by the Consortium for
Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations –
http://www.eiconsortium.org/
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Scale
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) Online
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is a person’s capability to function effectively in situations characterized by
cultural diversity. (See Earley, P. C. & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions Across Cultures. Stanford University Press)
Importance
In today’s increasingly global and diverse work settings, the ability to function effectively in multi-cultural
situations is important for employees, managers, and organizations.
Knowledge of your Cultural Intelligence provides insights about your capabilities to cope with multi-cultural
situations, engage in cross-cultural interactions appropriately, and perform effectively in culturally diverse
work groups.
Knowledge of the Cultural Intelligence of others provides insights about how best to interact with others in
multi-cultural situations, engage in cross-cultural interactions appropriately, and perform effectively in
culturally diverse work groups.
Contemporary Conceptualizations of Intelligence
Contemporary research recognizes the importance of interpersonal intelligence, emotional intelligence
(e.g., Daniel Goleman, 1998), and social intelligence. Like these other forms of intelligence, CQ
complements IQ by focusing on specific capabilities that are important for high quality personal
relationships and effectiveness in culturally diverse settings. Adapted from Linn Van Dyne © 2005 – 2007
The scale www.culturalq.com/20itemscale.html
In Mandarin at www.culturalq.com/papers/20_item_CQ_Scale_Mandarin.pdf
Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)
www.idiinventory.com/index.php Mitch Hammer
The Intercultural Development Inventory® (IDI®) is a statistically reliable, cross-culturally valid measure of
intercultural competence adapted from the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity. The IDI can be
used for a wide variety of purposes, including:
Individual assessment in coaching, counseling situations
Group analysis in teambuilding efforts
Organizational-wide needs assessment for training design
Program evaluation to assess the effectiveness of various interventions
Research
The IDI is a 50-item, theory-based instrument that can be taken either in paper and pencil form or online.
The IDI is currently in twelve languages (Bahasa Indoneasian, English, French, German, Italian,
Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Korean, French, Japanese and Chinese). Translations from the Englishlanguage version were completed using rigorous "back translation" scientific protocols to insure both
linguistic and conceptual equivalency. The instrument is easy to complete and it can generate an in-depth
graphic profile of an individual's or groups' predominant level of intercultural competence along with a
detailed textual interpretation of that level of intercultural development and associated transitional issues.
A “Screening Checklist” – Copeland & Griggs
Twenty Questions For The Employee
How Will I Perform In An International Assignment?
To assess how hard you will have to work to become effective in another culture, rate your answers to the questions below, on a scale of 1 to 5. A rating
of 1 means the statement is very untrue, a firm "no." A rating of 5 means It is strongly true, a firm "yes."
1. Do I need a strong support staff and technical experts In order to do my job well? ____
2. Do I become exasperated when kept waiting? ____
3. Must I adhere to a firm schedule to feel I am making progress? ____
4. Do I feel frustrated, impatient, or bored when social subjects are being discussed in business situations? ____
5. Do I believe that having the best product and best price will always win, above all else? ____
6. Am I outraged when told one thing and later find it is not true? ____
7. Do I make decisions alone, without the advice of my colleagues? ____
8. Do I prefer to work alone? ____
9. Am I very uncomfortable in ambiguous or unpredictable situations? ____
10. Am I intolerant of people who do not do things my way? ____
11. Do I have trouble communicating with people outside my field? ____
12. Do I consider learning a new language a waste of time? ____
13. In hiring employees, choosing co-workers, or seeking a new job, would I prefer to work with someone of my own race and ethnic background? ____
14. Have I had negative experiences working with people different from myself? ____
15. Do I feel it is most important to get the job done, even If it means doing it myself? ____
16. Do I sometimes concentrate so hard on what I am doing that I forget to pay attention to the reactions and feelings of my co-workers? ____
17. Do I put my job first and expect my spouse and children to tend for themselves? ____
18. Do I prefer to keep my business and social life totally separate? ____
19. Overseas, would I most likely "be myself" and expect others to accept me for what I am? ____
20. Is money my main reason for accepting an overseas assignment? ____
Total your scores.
If your score is 20 or below, you should do well in many cultures.
If it is between 20 and 50, you will have to work hard to overcome your habitual work attitudes and style.
If your score is above 50, you may experience great frustration and difficulty; you should reconsider your reasons and expectations before accepting an
international assignment.
Adapted from Copeland, L. & Griggs, L. (1985). Going international: how to make friends and deal effectively in the global marketplace. NY: Random
House.
A “Screening Checklist” - Fontaine
Name:
He or she:
Works well with new or changed management styles?
Works well with new clients or customers?
Adapts well to changes in organizational structure?
Adapts quickly to and make use of new technologies?
Is able to provide own structure for tasks?
Quickly rearranges schedule when useful?
Is self-motivated?
Has a variety of friends?
Manages stress well?
Is broadly aware of people, resources & problems in a situation?
Is not bound by the "rules" or standard procedures?
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
N
Y=___ ?=___ N=___
Sample Items from an Orientation Checklist
General information about the host culture
Geography and climate
Current events and economic and social conditions
Important people
Y
Y
Y
N
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
N
N
Y
Y
Y
N
N
N
Specific information about living & working in the host
culture
Survival tips on laws, disease, crime, and security risks
Typical business practices such as hours and rates-of-pay
Housing, health facilities, and schools
Information about preparing for the assignment
Passports, visas, work permits; health, tax clearances
Tax information
Moving household goods
Specific information about the particular assignment
Organizational cultures
Clients, contractors, and key personnel
Host attitudes toward the assignment
Orientation to Some Common & Important Cultural Differences a
The individual & self vrs the collective as the primary unit of value.
Emphasis on honesty & directness vrs harmony, indirectness & face.
Value on doing vrs being or belonging--implications for equality, status & age.
Emphasis on the quality of the deal vrs the quality of the relationship in making
decisions to do business--implications for ritual & the bargaining process.
Preference for high power distance in which bosses make all the decisions vrs low
power distance in which subordinates expect to participate.
Belief in control vrs fatalism--implications for uncertainty avoidance, planning,
decision making & training.
Belief in high vrs low work centrality.
Preference for monochronic vrs polychronic structuring of activities in time.
Some Common & Important Cultural Differences b
A past vrs present vrs future orientation--implications for valuing progress,
change, tradition & continuity.
Perception of people & nature as independent & competitive vrs
interdependent and in balance--implications for valuing technology.
Belief in universalism vrs particularism or rules vrs relationships.
Emphasis on analytic vrs holistic, relational or intuitive understanding-implications for research, education & training.
Different strategies for forming, maintaining & dissolving relationships-including the value on individual attitudes vrs role performance.
Differences in verbal & nonverbal communication symbols.
Preference for high vrs low context communication.
Different conflict
resolution strategies!!!
Some Key Filipino/American Cultural Differences
Emphasis on the individual or self (American) vs. the relationship or collective (Filipino) --implications for the value
of individual freedom, independence, self-reliance, collectivism, relationship building (pakikisama) & authority.
Compartmentalization, openness & mutual independence in relationships (American) vs. breadth, formality &
mutual dependence (Filipino)--implications for trust, role relevance & obligations.
Value on honesty (American) vs. harmony (Filipino) in relationships--implications for communication directness &
indirectness (not to wound amor-proprio or self-esteem).
High power distance between bosses and workers (Filipino) vs. low power distance (American)--implications for
expected/desired participation in decision making.
Preference for monochronic (doing things sequentially--American) vs. polychronic (doing things in an interwoven
manner--Filipino) structuring of activities over time.
A belief in the ability to control one’s life (American) vs. a more fatalistic (bahala na) orientation (Filipino)--implications
for planning, decision making & problem solving.
The place, timing & size of personal payments--”tips” & “bribes” (lagay).
Direct verbal expression of conflict by complainant (American) vs. indirect expression (tampo) and interpretation
by target (Filipino).
Some Key Japanese/American Cultural Differences
Emphasis on the individual or self (American) vs. the relationship or collective (Japanese)-implications for the value of individual freedom, independence, self-reliance, in-group vs. outgroup competition, collectivism & authority.
Value on honesty (American) vs. harmony (Japanese) in relationships--implications for
communication directness, indirectness & face (kao).
Emphasis on the quality of the immediate “deal” (American) vs. the longer-term relationship
(Japanese)--implications for the objectives of business meetings (e.g., decision making or
relationship testing).
High (Japanese) vs. medium (American) work centeredness--implications for the role of the
company vs the family or community in worker’s lives.
High (Japanese) vs. low (American) uncertainty avoidance--implications for planning, job
descriptions & job security.
High (Japanese) vs. lower (American) reliance on “context” in communication--implications for
the meaning of words (yes), gestures & silences.
Direct verbal expression of conflict by complainant (American) vs. indirect expression and
interpretation by target (Japanese).
Means on Work-related Perceptions
a
Individualism: The degree to which action is taken for the benefit of the individual or the
group.
Power Distance: The structure of authority in an organization. The degree to which
inequality or distance between those in charge and the less powerful (subordinates) is
accepted.
Uncertainty Avoidance: The structure of activity in an organization. The extent to which
people prefer rules, regulations and controls or are more comfortable with unstructured,
ambiguous or unpredictable situations.
“Masculinity” or “work-centrality:” The degree to which we focus on goal achievement
and work or quality of life and caring for others and the place of work in employees lives.
The relative masculine and feminine influences in the workplace.
Confucian Work Dynamism (Michael Bond) differentiates between a long-term
orientation to life and valuing persistence, status differences, sense of shame (China,
Japan, South Korea, India) and a short-term orientation to life valuing tradition,
personal steadiness, reciprocity, and face (Pakistan, Nigeria, Philippines, Canada, UK,
US)..
Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and organizations: Software of the Mind. London: McGraw-Hill.
Means on Work-related Perceptions b
Power
Distance
Uncertainty
Avoidance
Philippines 94
Mexico
81
Venezuela 73
India
77
Singapore 74
Brazil
69
Hong Kong 68
France
68
Colombia 67
Turkey
66
USA
40
Ireland
28
New Zeald 22
Denmark 18
Israel
13
Austria
11
Greece
Portugal
Belgium
Japan
Peru
France
Chile
Spain
Argentina
Turkey
USA
Ireland
HK
Sweden
Denmark
Singapore
112
104
94
92
87
86
86
86
86
85
46
35
29
29
23
8
Individualism
“Masculinity”
USA
Australia
GB
Canada
Netherlds
New Zeald
Italy
Belgium
Denmark
Sweden
91
90
89
80
80
79
76
75
74
71
Taiwan
Peru
Pakistan
Colombia
Venezuela
17
16
14
13
12
Japan
95
Austria
79
Venezuela 73
Italy
70
Switzerld 70
Mexico
69
Ireland
68
GB
66
Germany 66
Philippines 64
USA
62
Finland
26
Denmark 16
Netherlds 14
Norway
8
Sweden
6
Confucian Work Dynamism (Michael Bond) differentiates between a long-term orientation
to life and valuing persistence, status differences, sense of shame (China, Japan, South Korea,
India) and a short-term orientation to life valuing tradition, personal steadiness, reciprocity, and
face (Pakistan, Nigeria, Philippines, Canada, UK, US).
Adapted from Hofstede http://www.geerthofstede.nl/
Some Key Bases of Differences in
Corporate and National Cultures
Universalist vrs Particularist orientations.
Relationships & rules
Individualism vrs Communitarianism
The Group and the individual
Feelings and relationships
How far we get involved
Affective vrs Neutral cultures
Specific vrs Diffuse cultures
How we accord status
Ascription vrs Achievement
How we manage time
Sequentially vrs Synchronistically
How we relate to nature
Corporate cultures
Internal vrs External Control
Family
(person-oriented); Eiffel
Tower (role-oriented);
Guided Missile (project-oriented); Incubator (fulfillment oriented)
Trompenaars, F. & Hampden-Turner, C. (1998). Riding the Waves of Culture:
Understanding Cultural Diversity in Global Business.
Trompenaars & Turner How Far We Get Involved 7.3
Trompenaars & Turner How We Accord Status 8.2
Trompenaars & Turner How We Relate to Nature 10.1
Trompenaars & Turner Universalist vs Particularist Orientations 4.1
Trompenaars & Turner Universalist vs Particularist Orientations 4.2
Trompenaars & Turner The Group & the Individual 5.1
A Tale of "O"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p56b6nzslaU
Orientation to Hawaii
List the 10 key points of information that a person coming to Hawaii needs to know about
working and living here
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
List the 5 key points of information that a person coming to Hawaii to work with you needs to
know
1
2
3
4
5
Orientation Resources
 Reference books, novels & films
 Newspapers & Periodicals--with country or international focus
 Government agencies--own & foreign; at home & abroad
 Travel agents, travel consultants, airlines, global moving companies &
credit or charge card companies
 Returning compatriots
 Visitors from the host culture
 Site visits
 The Internet
Orientation on the Web
Training for Intercultural Effectiveness
Technical, Professional or
Management training
Stress-management
training
Language training
Working with interpreters
Working with 2nd language speakers
Culture training
Culture-Specific
Culture-General
Cross-cultural training
Intercultural training
Training Approaches & Techniques
Lecture, group discussion & media presentations
Self-awareness training - Contrast American Episodes and individual & organizational cultural selfassessments
Attribution or sensitivity training - Cultural Assimilators and Critical Incidents
Experiential/Simulation/Role-playing training - Experiential exercises with stop-the-world
techniques
Interaction training - Immersions exercises in or outside of training environment
IMC training - Task analysis
Conflict Resolution training - Workplace Conflict exercise
Social Support training - Social support exercise
Case Studies
Massive multiplayer online gaming (MMPOG) & simulations – Urgent Evoke, Opinion
Space (see Cathy Davidson (2011). “Now you see it: How the brain science of attention will
transform the way we live, work, and learn. “
Evoke, swarm, change the world!
This is not a simulation. You are about to tackle real
problems –
food security
energy
water security
disaster relief
poverty
pandemic
education
human rights
Welcome to the Evoke Network. Welcome to your crash
course in changing the world.
What's an "evoke"?
www.urgentevoke.com/page/how-toplay 1:30 min
The evoke blog – blog.urgentevoke.net/
Developed by the World Bank Institute, the
learning and knowledge arm of the World
Bank Group, and directed by alternate reality
game master Jane McGonigal.
There's an old saying here: "If you have a problem, and you
can't solve it alone, evoke it."
When we evoke, we look for creative solutions.
We use whatever resources we have.
We get as many people involved as possible.
We take risks.
We come up with ideas that have never been tried before.
An evoke is an urgent call to innovation.
Evoking first started in Africa, but it can happen anywhere.
Opinion Space
3 min
“Contrast American” Episodes
Smith:
Konda:
Smith:
Konda:
Smith:
Konda:
Konda:
Smith:
Konda:
Smith:
Konda:
Smith:
Smith:
Konda:
Smith:
Konda:
Yes, my replacement, Mr. Jackson, will be here next week. And I’d certainly like to bring
him over so I could introduce him to you.
Ah, Mr. Jackson. You know Mr. Jackson?
Yes, we worked together several years ago in Germany.
Ah! Is he a good man?
Oh yes, he is a very fine manager. He’s a graduate of Harvard, he’s worked for several
firms, and his last position with us was a major one.
I see.
--------------------------------------------You like tea?
Yes, (accepting a cup) thank you.
Yes, tea is good.
That’s good tea. It’s very good.
Ah, yes. Well, tell us all about yourself.
Ok. I went to school in Texas, at the University of Texas, and of course I’m an engineer;
and I spent my last year in Germany in our engineering division. And now I’m here
principally as an advisor.
--------------------------------------------Well, Kahn’s team can bring in some bulldozers and a road grader--that’s big construction
equipment--and we can level the road, and cut down some of the trees along the edge of
the road and dig drainage ditches.
You say you have to cut trees?
Well, yes. I mean, this will straighten out the road. And, of course, we’ll only cut the trees
right next to the road. They’re mostly old trees anyway, and too old to grow fruit.
Yes, indeed, these are old trees, Mr. Smith.
Adapted from Kraemer
Individual & Organizational Cultural Self-Assessments
“Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire” – Based on the dimensions of
“work-related perceptions” – Individualism, Power Distance, Certainty, Individualism,
Achievement, & Time Orientation (after Hofstede, 1991).
Sample questions
Values Exercise
Imagine that your cruise ship has just sunk in the open ocean. Your group is safe on a
raft with a good chance to survive. There is still room for three more people.
(1) As a group make a choice from the list below of the three persons you would take on
board.
A ten-year-old child
An injured woman
A thirty-year-old man
A married couple in their seventies
A medical doctor
A religious leader
A ship's officer
A newly wed couple
(2) List the perceptual dimensions you used in differentiating among the persons to
make your selection: For example, "survivability," "ability to provide assistance," or "most
likely to benefit from a longer life." Identify the categories within each dimension
(values) which led each person to be selected or excluded. For example within the
dimension of survivability, you might identify “ woman” because they typically survive
such experiences longer.
Stranded!
After a shipwreck, an Hawaiian man and a Japanese man are stranded
on one island; a Haole man, the Filipina wife of the Hawaiian man and
her mother are stranded on the other. The wife wishes to go to her
husband and discusses her dilemma with her mother. The wife then
asks the Haole man to row her to the other island. He agrees in
exchange for her sleeping with him. She submits and he rows her over
to the other island. She tells husband and he kicks her out. The
Japanese man takes her in but won't let her return to her husband later.
Rank each person on a dimension of morally best to worst.
Discuss what dimensions of value led to your ranking.
Sensitivity or Attribution Training
Objective -- to learn about the culture in others. How other cultures
perceive the world and specific incidents in it.
Culture Specific Assimilators (Triandis) or Intercultural Sensitizers
(Albert) or Simulators (Montalvo)
“Isomorphic attributions”
Construction of assimilators
Online Russian, Israeli,
Austrian & US Assimilators
Culture General Assimilators (Brislin)
Impact more on perceptions than performance
Post-training paralysis (Landis)
Culture Specific Assimilator a
The Mexican American Culture Simulator for Child Welfare
Frank F. Montalvo, Tonia T. Lasater & Nancy Garza
Abstract: Project staff and experienced child welfare personnel adapted the Culture
Simulator to train child welfare caseworkers to have an empathic understanding of
minority children and families in order to encourage and support ethnic identity, integrity,
and community life. The training technique used 4 self-instructional modules containing
40 critical casework incidents (derived from discussions with 180 San Antonio, Texas,
barrio residents) depicting misunderstanding between Mexican American clients and
Anglo American child welfare workers due to differences in their sociocultural
backgrounds. Trainees (27 non-Hispanic child welfare workers) were instructed to rank
the 4 alternative explanations for the misunderstanding in each vignette according to thebest-to-the-least preferred answer. Trainees were given the teaching volumes, each with
a test form and rationales, in sequence. After reading the rationales in order of their
answer selection, trainees scored their own tests. Results from trainees and 3 control
groups (46 child welfare and family service workers tested with single volumes) indicated
that significant cumulative learning took place, the technique was equally effective with
experienced and inexperienced workers and for those with extensive exposure to the
Mexican American community, and the best results were obtained when the modules
were followed by discussions designed to integrate the knowledge gained.
Culture Specific Assimilator b
Culture General Assimilator a
The Personal Touch
Missing his wife and children who were still back in the United States, Jack accepted a friend's
invitation to attend a party in Manila. Jack had received his assignment from his company on rather
short notice and so came ahead of his family since he and his wife did not want to pull their children
out of school in the middle of the year. Jack and his friend showed up at the party, Jack was
introduced around, and soon fell into conversation with a very attractive Filipino woman. While
speaking with Jack, this woman was very animated and very attentive to Jack's observations on
various topics. When Jack mentioned something about his personal life, the woman matched it with a
incident from her own life and added more detail than did Jack in his stories. Occasionally, the woman
touched him when talking with him. Jack thought things were going well, but when he suggested that
he and the woman go to a nightclub after the party by themselves, the woman cut off the conversation
as quickly as politeness permitted and walked off to chat with friends in another part of the room. Jack
was not sure what had happened.
If Jack asked you to help him understand what had happened, what would you say?
(1) Jack has misinterpreted the meaning of the woman's behavior.
(2) The woman was trying to tease Jack so as to flatter herself when Jack made the inevitable
suggestion.
(3) Jack's behavior reflected his ambivalent feelings about his wife.
(4) The friend who brought Jack to the party should have prepared Jack for eventualities such
as this.
Adapted from R. W. Brislin, et al. Intercultural Interactions: A Practical Guide.
Culture General Assimilator b
A Managers' Dilemma
Ned Schwartz, the manager of a large factory operation in Canada, had been transferred to an
operation of the same size in a Central American branch, as its production had always been low. Ned
had a reputation of getting things done, but from the start Ned had a hard time. Government
regulations made procuring needed materials difficult. Communication from his site to headquarters
was slow and often garbled. Even Ned's personal work habits had to be changed. He was used to
working late and inspecting the plant after most of the workers had gone home, but strict military rule
imposed curfew hours over such installations as Ned's. In his own country there were organizations to
protest such unreasonable restrictions, but superiors here said there was nothing one could do. Ned
became increasingly depressed and ineffective. He finally asked to be sent back to his original
operation.
What can help explain Ned's situation?
(1) The job was not really appropriate for Ned since the difficulties were too great.
(2) Ned found himself in a situation where he had relatively little control over matters.
(3) Operations in Third World countries are impossible to bring to maximization given the
resources available.
(4) Ned did not have the proper local support. If he had been nicer to local authorities and
workers, they would have offered him more cooperation.
Adapted from R. W. Brislin, et al. Intercultural Interactions: A Practical Guide.
Experiential & Interaction Training
Stop-theworld
experiences
An
“iterative”
process
Identification of differences in
culture and broader ecology
Identification of strategy options for
successful interaction
Identification of skills needed to
implement those strategies
Practice with skills
Experiential Training Activities
A1A2 Exercise
Figure Grid
Correct
Response Grid
response
Your
Score + or comman
Partner’s turn
F(1) d2 [ ]
A(5) 4 [ ]
B(5) 1 [ ]
F(2) 4 [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
E(2) 5 [ ]
D(1) 2 [ ]
E(3) 2 [ ]
D(3) 3 [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
C(5) 5 [ ]
C(1) 1 [ ]
F(4) 1 [ ]
D(5) 1 [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
F(3) 3 [ ]
C(3) 3 [ ]
B(1) 2 [ ]
B(2) 5 [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
A(3) 5 [ ]
A(4) 2 [ ]
C(4) 4 [ ]
A(2) 3 [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
--------- [ ]
E(2) 5 [ ]
--------- [ ]
F(1) 2 [ ]
--------- [ ]
C(5) 5 [ ]
--------- [ ]
F(3) 3 [ ]
--------- [ ]
A(3) 5 [ ]
--------- [ ]
BaFa’ BaFa’
a
BaFa’ BaFa’
A Cross Cultural Simulation
© C opyrightS im ulation Training S ystem s
BaFa’ BaFa’
b
Outline of Activities
Divide into two cultures.
Learn and practice your new culture.
Select an observer.
Exchange observers.
Observers return and report observations.
Exchange sets of visitors.
Each set of visitors reports its observations.
End of the simulation.
Discuss and analyze the experience.
Cases
The Office – “Diversity Day”
Workplace Conflict
Attribution Conflict
Symptoms:
Confrontations, discussions, arguments & fights
Direct & indirect hostility
Solutions:
Changes in organizational, relationship or microculture
Ignorance of Attribution Conflict
Symptoms:
Lack of synchrony, responsiveness & enthusiasm
Solutions:
Increased sense of presence & improved perspective sharing
Attributional Ambiguity
Symptoms:
Problem solving difficulties
Threats to relationship stability
Solutions:
Maintaining motivation
Tolerance & trust in affect or intentions
Stress management
Workplace Conflict Exercise
3
2
Your
1
Your
Your rank of partner’s
3-1
partner rank
rank




3-2

A good boss should be-    
strong, decisive, and firm but fair. He/she should be
protective, generous, and indulgent to loyal
subordinates.
    
impersonal and correct, avoiding the exercise of
authority for his/her own advantage. He/she should demand
from subordinates only that which is required by the formal
system.
    
egalitarian and influenceable in matters concerning the task.
    
responsive to the personal needs and values of others. He/she
should provide satisfying work opportunities for
subordinates.
Attribution Conflict Score (total of 3 -1; range 0 to 56) =
Ignorance of Attribution Conflict Score (total of 3 - 2; range 0 to 56) =
Adapted from C.B. Handy, Understanding organizations. Penguin Books.
Marital Conflict
Attribution Conflict
Symptoms:
Confrontations, discussions, arguments & fights
Direct & indirect hostility
Solutions:
Changes in organizational, relationship or microculture
Ignorance of Attribution Conflict
Symptoms:
Lack of synchrony, responsiveness & enthusiasm
Solutions:
Increased sense of presence & improved perspective sharing
Attributional Ambiguity
Symptoms:
Problem solving difficulties
Threats to relationship stability
Solutions:
Maintaining motivation
Tolerance & trust in affect or intentions
Stress management
Key Potential Marital Problem Areas
•
Marital goals (What are the motives? Individual vs relationship centered?)
•
Decisions (Who makes decisions over what? How?)
•
Children (How many? Who's responsible for rearing?)
•
Money (How saved? Where spent? Who manages?)
•
Cooking & housekeeping (Who? What?)
•
Sex (How? How often? Who initiates? Who responds? What's it mean?)
•
Extended family (Importance? Residence? Roles?)
•
Work (Who works? Where? How work centered?)
•
Lifestyle (Homebound? Social & Entertainment? Travel?)
•
Conflict resolution (Direct, confrontative vs avoiding, mediated?)
Program Evaluation a
General evaluation issues
Did the training program meet its objectives?
Formative evaluation
Summative evaluation
Evaluating intercultural training & intervention programs
Identifying the objectives--Typically training does not give trainees skills to be effective in intercultural/international
contexts. It informs, instructs, illustrates, and perhaps provides some practice in those skills. The effectiveness of
training depends on the extent to which trainees bring what is learned back home to their job and are motivated to give
as much attention to developing those skills as they do other skills deemed essential to their job and career.
Organizational objectives
Employee knowledge/skills/motivation
Employee performance
Organization performance
Trainer objectives
facilitator learning
good impression to further training opportunities
Program Evaluation b
Timing of evaluation
In-course evaluation of trainee knowledge and motivation
On-the-job evaluation of trainee skills and work group performance
End of year/end of 5-year/etc. evaluation of trainee and organization performance
Evaluation methods
Experimental designs (with good assessment, manipulation & control)
Post-post (with control group and random assignment)
Pre-post (with control group and random assignment)
Longitudinal
Non-experimental designs
One-group pre-post (without control or random assignment)
Static group comparison (without random assignment)
Regression-discontinuity (multiple groups without random assignment)
Procedures
Self report questionnaires/interviews
Other report questionnaires/interviews
Observation
Worksheets for Building IMCs
Step 1
Tasks essential to assignment completion
A._______________________________________________________
_
B._______________________________________________________
_
Step 4
N._______________________________________________________
Step 2
Strategy-Ecology Links
_
(+ 0 -)
Ecological characteristics
of task __
a
1.__________________________________
[ ] [ ] [ ]
n
[ ] [ ] [ ]
2.__________________________________
n.__________________________________
b
[ ] [ ] [ ]
Net =
Step 3
Alternative strategies for completing task __
a.________________________________________________________
b.________________________________________________________
n.________________________________________________________
Key Training Concerns
•
•
•
•
•
Who should receive training?
When should training be provided?
How long should the training be?
Where should training take place?
Who should provide training?
High Impact Intervention
Flaws of conventional intervention projects
 Project defined in terms of consultant’s expertise or products (not in terms of client
results to be achieved)
 Project scope based solely on problem to be solved (ignoring clients readiness for
change)
 One big solution (rather than incremental successes)
 Sharp division of responsibility between client and consultant (not partnership)
 Labor-intensive use of consultants (instead of leveraged use)
Keys to high impact intervention projects
 Define goals in terms of client results instead of consultant products
 Match project scope to what the client is ready to do
 Aim for rapid-cycle successes to generate momentum (create smaller rapid-cycle projects
from large-scale goals)
 Build a partnership to achieve and learn (Abandon the traditional view that a project is a task
carried out by a consultant for a client. The project has to be seen as a joint undertaking to
produce a joint product. Both players have to accept that much of the work can and should
be done by client personnel--they often will not only produce better results for less expense,
they will also benefit from the learning that results from the experience.)
 Create a contract for collaboration instead of a proposal for a job
 Build communication bridges (perspective sharing, agenda matching, information
exchange, social influence) and provide interpretation based on more intimate client
experience and broader consultant experience.
Adapted from Schaffer, R. H. (2002). High Impact Consulting: How Clients and Consultants
Can Work Together to Achieve Extraordinary Results. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Distributions of Client/Consultant Involvement in Intervention Activities
Type of Activity
Reflector
Process Fact
Specialist Finder
Collaborator
Alternative in Problem
Trainer/
Technical
Advocate
Solving
Identifier
Evaluator Expert
High Client
Involvement
High
Consultant
Involvement
Directive
Consultant
Role
Non-directive
Consultant
Role
Raises
questions
for
reflection
Observes
problemsolving
processes
& raises
issues
mirroring
feedback
Gathers
data &
stimulates
thinking
Identifies
alternatives
&
resources
for client
and helps
assess
consequen
ces
Offers
alternatives
&
participates
in decisions
Trains the
client &
designs
learning
experiences
Provides
Proposes
information &guidelines,
suggestions persuades or
for policy or directs in the
practice
problemdecisions
solving
process
Adapted from Management Consulting: A Guide to the Profession, M. Kubr,
(Ed.) (1996). University Associates, La Jolla, CA.
Ethical Issues in Training & Intervention
Issues associated with the trainer
Must be knowledgeable in content
Must be competent in method (training pedagogy)
Must be committed to professional development
Issues associated with the content of training
Information exchange and skill development
Confrontation with new beliefs and behaviors in training
Changing trainees' perceptions, attitudes, values
Issues associated with the client organization
Purposes to which new skills are to be applied
International Roles
Senior
Executives
International
Assignees
Global
Managers
Home
Office Staff
International
Business Travelers
Host-Country
Counterparts
Adapted from Wederspahn 2000
Cultural Process Teams
Management Teams
Cultural Process Teams
Organizational design
Interventions
Mediation
Multicultural
Ecology
Global Teams
Adapted from Silvia Odenwald
Global Manager's Tasks
Global
Managers
•Readily adjusting to different cultural values & practices
•Networking with multicultural colleagues & associates on a worldwide basis
•Conducting business diplomacy at the highest corporate & governmental levels
•Balancing conflicting interests of stakeholders in different countries
•Promoting & supporting multicultural teamwork
•Learning from colleagues of all nationalities
•Sharing of best practices between country operations
•Managing cultural and ethnic diversity within the organization
•Being a catalyst to move the company globally
•Representing the global perspective in corporate strategy planning
•Flexibly & quickly adapting to changes in the global business ecology
•Modeling global managerial attitudes & behaviors to peers & subordinates
Adapted from Wederspahn, 2000
Global Manager's Skills
Global
Managers
Ways of Thinking
• Keeping the global corporate mission in focus amid ambiguous, dynamic & sometimes chaotic
international business conditions
• Being continually engaged in a global learning process
• Being aware of their own "cultural baggage," but transcending it
• Discerning individual versus cultural differences
• Accurately interpreting cross-cultural signals of warning, threat, approval, acceptance,
discomfort, agreement, displeasure, support, disagreement & so forth
• Thinking about business matters from different cultural viewpoints
Ways of Feeling
• Enjoying international travel & the foods, music & so forth in "strange lands"
• Liking the challenge of learning about other cultures
• Being relatively uninhibited when practicing new behaviors
• Accepting uncertainty or ambiguity
• Feeling comfortable among people from other cultures
• Having confidence, but not over-confidence
• Being a "presence seeker"
Adapted from Wederspahn, 2000
Management Planning in Strange Lands
New, Diverse or Changing Ecologies
Remind ourselves of the
organization’s mission.
Revise if necessary & possible.
Assess the support by
organizational ecology in
terms of people (e.g., cultures,
skills, motivations, social
climate), facilities, resources,
products or services,
markets or clients,
competition, time, place,
larger organizational context,
and community and changes
in that ecology.
Identify strategies for fulfilling the
mission and specific objectives
within each.
Develop an action plan for each
objective by identifying required tasks,
optimal process in terms of the
organizational ecology, time-line,
resources, and personnel responsible.
Social Support
Needs
Resources
Information & guidance
A different perspective
A similar perspective
Comparison for adjustment, performance & satisfaction
Sharing responsibility & effort
Familiarity
Companionship
Sources
Intimacy
Homecountry
groups
Homeculture
groups
Assignee
Support
Needs
Hostculture
groups
Organizational Support for International Assignments
•
Programs of preparation, support & training
•
Clear assignment objectives & appropriate status
•
Appropriate recognition, career relevance, salary & other benefits
•
Staff support & other necessary task resources
•
Performance appraisal with an understanding of international assignment problems
•
Access to good communication technologies
•
Health, passport, visa, banking, & tax arrangements
•
Housing, transportation & security
•
Vacations, R & R, & home leaves
•
Help for nonworking spouse & children
•
Health, mental health, and counseling assistance
•
Assistance in re-entry to home office & community or to the next assignment
Skills in Developing & Maintaining Social Support
Identifying the social support provided at home
Who & what?
A focused or diffused pattern?
Identifying social support needs on the assignment
Who is left behind & how much support will they continue to provide?
Identifying social support available on the assignment
Exploring & scouting
Matching unfilled needs with available support
Matching resource requirements of needs with resources provided by
available support groups
Maintaining existing relationships
Home-country & home-culture groups
Dealing with work-group & family conflict
Developing, maintaining & dissolving new relationships
Home-culture & host-culture groups
Quick personalization & being in the right time and place
Dealing with conflict
Saying “good-bye”
Social Support Exercise
My support needs
at home?
Who fills them
at home?
Filled
abroad?
Who is available
abroad?
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
_______________
___________
Y N
_______________
Social Support Online
Stress-management Skills
in New, Diverse or Changing Ecologies
Expanded “tool kit”
for new ecologies
Stress-management
“tool kit” for home
Therapy
Self-pity
Share it
Drink
Analyze it
Sex
Sex
Hobbies
Pray
Eat
Sight see
Suicide
Shop
Blame
others
Hike
Acceptance
Gain
perspective
Relaxation
Cry
Sleep
Escape
Exercise
Meditate
Drugs
Massage
Fight
Seek
solitud
e
Get
help
Anger
Competitive
sports
Work
Read
Smoke
Walk
Mediational Model of Stress Management
Modify the stressor situation
Changing the situation by adding music, lowering noise, altering workload
Leaving the situation through transfer, vacation or resignation
Increasing social and organizational support--particularly from the boss
Getting more control over the situation
Modify mental appraisal of the situation
Redefining the severity of the stressor
Evaluating the stressor more positively
And, critical to ecoshock, understanding the ecological bases for cultural differences
experienced
Modify the physiological arousal produced by the stressor
Muscle relaxation
Meditation
Exercise
Prescription drugs, alcohol, etc.
Developing effective responses for coping with the situation
Improving technical and professional skills
Improving language skills
Improving social and communication skills
Improving a sense of presence, attention or flow as the situation requires
My Stress-management "Tool Kit"
Current stress-management tools
Effectiveness


















Net score [ ]
Some new ones to try & develop
Some Key Ethical Challenges
in Dealing with Cultural Diversity
The themeTo be successful in culturally diverse areas in the Pacific Rim requires not only dealing with cultural
complexity about what ways to do business are seen as effective or not, but ethical complexity, as well. That
iswhat ways are right or wrong in terms of broader moral, philosophical or religious beliefs. Whereas people often
are willing to adjust their ways of business, they are typically much less likely to sacrifice their ethics!
In Hawaii this complexity reflects our mix of cultures, our small island ecology and the relatively low mobility of our
people.
The distribution of rewards
Equity
Equality
Need
Status
The timing of rewards
Bribes
Tips & bonuses
Gifts
Communication of information & influence
Honest & direct
Harmony & indirect
ConclusionWhile ethical issues may be subtler and less frequently addressed than effectiveness and performance
ones, they can influence business success as well. Especially in a small island ecology in which
Everyone knows everything and they remember!