International AssignmentsIntercultural Competence and Selection

Dialogues• Near the Family

Sharon: So, Fatima, you’ll be graduating in May. Congratulations.

Fatima: Thank you.

Sharon: Do you have a job lined up?

Fatima: Yes. I’ll be working for the Central Bank.

Sharon: Good for you. Have you found a place to live yet?

Fatima: Actually, the bank’s very near my parents’ place.

Sharon: That’s nice. So you’ll be living quite near them.

Dialogues• Vacancy

Horst: Have you finished writing that job advertisement yet?

Luigi: Not quite.

Horst: Don’t take too long. Filling that vacancy is a priority.

Luigi: I agree. Actually, I think I know of a possible candidate.

Horst: You do? Who?

Luigi: She’s my youngest niece. Marta. A nice girl.

Horst: Great! Tell her to apply.

Causes for Misunderstandings• Lack of knowledge in own and

foreign behaviour patterns, values and attitudes

• Unawareness of the impact culture has on our behaviour

• Generalizing own norms on other norm system

• Denial of other rules, believe in dominant position

• Ethnocentric thinking and wrong attributions

Intercultural Sensitivity• Sensitivity to the importance of

cultural differences and to the points of view of people in other cultures (Bhawuk & Brislin, 1992)

• Ability to recognise multiple perspectives of an event or behaviour, the ability to take into account norms and values that differ from one’s own, and the ability to empathise with people from a different culture (Van der Zee & Brinkmann, 2002)

Intercultural CompetenceIntercultural competence means:• Respecting and valuing cultural specifics and

differences• Tolerance• Mutual understanding• Empathy• Sensitizing common values, norms and

similarities• Experiencing new enriching and enlarging

possibilities of (working) behaviour• Establishing common cross-cultural experiences

and knowledge of action

Correspondingly intercultural competence excludes:

• Lack of intercultural and cultural knowledge

• Feelings of dominance and superiority• Ethnocentrism• Prejudices• Destructive national and cultural

stereotypes• Fear of foreign cultural behaviour

Issue of knowledge, attitudes and motivation

• Transfer of knowledge and skills

• Improving communication

• Personnel developmentRepresenting common organisational policies

• Developing local managers

Reasons for Expatriation

Taxomony of International Personnel Selection Situations

Organisational Strategies

• Ethnocentric

• Polycentric

• Regiocentric

• Geocentric

Profile of the Model Cross-cultural Collaborator

Indicators of Successful Assignments• Fulfilling the assignment

- effectiveness- contentment, psychological well-being

• Dealing with the specific challenges of international assignments- specific motivation- no increased level of stress- culturally sensitive behaviour

• Socio-cultural adaptation- effective communication- cultural and intercultural knowledge- positive relationships with members of the host culture

International Assignments

Selection

Preparation

Assignment

Reintegration

Selection• Practices used by organizations to

select the right people for a job• Selection methods– Cultural differences

• Culturally diverse workforce• Multinational organizations• Adaptation of tests &

internationalisation of test procedures

• Bias in test material, procedure and interpretation

Selection Process

Source of figure: Fisher, Schoenfeldt, & Shaw (2003), Figure 7.1

•Measure applicants’ qualifications–Use good measures: reliable & valid

•Select which applicant to hire

•Evaluation of process

Selection criteria• Work qualifications

- technical competence and expertise- management skills- work motivation

• Specific skills- motivation- language- intercultural experience

• Intercultural competence- empathy- tolerance for ambiguity

Types of Selection Methods• Interviews (structured, unstructured)• Psychological testing– Mental ability (IQ)– Personality – Integrity (honesty)– Projective tests– Graphology

• Work sample tests• CV, application blanks• Biographical info (biodata, life histories)• Reference checks• Assessment Centres (AC)

Intercultural Assessment Centre

Criteria and Exercises

Validity of Selection Tools Validity (r) Gain in

validity % increase in validity

GMA .51 Work sample tests .54 .12 24 Integrity tests .41 .14 27 Conscientiousness .31 .09 18 Employment interview (structured) .51 .12 24 Employment interview (unstructured) .38 .04 8 Job knowledge test .48 .07 14 Job tryout procedure .44 .07 14 Peer rating .49 .07 14 Training & Experience behavioural consistency method

.45 .07 14

Reference checks .26 .06 12 Job experience (years) .18 .03 6 Biographical data .35 .01 2 AC .37 .02 4 Training & Experience point method .11 .01 2 Years of education .10 .01 2 Interests .10 .01 2 Graphology .02 .00 0 Age -.01 .00 0

Differences Across Cultures• Substantial differences across

Western, industrialized nations– Interviews & CV’s important everywhere– Graphology important in France– AC (UK, Germany, NL, less in France &

Belgium)– Testing (France, Belgium, less in

Germany & UK)– Personality tests widespread in NZ

How Can These Differences Be Explained?• Ryan et al. (1999):– Sample of 959 organizations in 20 countries

• Measures:– Number of methods used– Extent of methods used– Number of verification methods (check

credibility & employee record through various means)

– Extent of verification methods– Number interviews– Number of (psychological) tests & extent

• Cultural variables: power distance (PD) & uncertainty avoidance (UA)

Results• More variance due to organizational

differences than national differences– Variance explained by national differences

between 5% and 43%

• UA & PD explained some of this variation:– High PD: more interviews; peers less likely to

be involved in interviews– High UA: less verification (stick to tried &

tested, no trust in employer references & group/panel interviews; reliance on biodata, job trials, one-on-one interviews)

– High UA: more testing, more extensively used– Explained variance between 0% and 9%

Favourability perceptions

Selection method

US Germany Spain Portugal South Africa

France (non-students)

Interview Good Good Good Good Good Good CV Good Good Good Good Good Good Work samples Good Good Good Good Good Good Biodata Good Poor Medium Medium Good Medium Ability tests Medium Medium Medium Medium Good Medium-Good References Medium Good Medium Medium Medium Medium Personality

tests Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium Medium-Good

Honesty tests Poor Medium Poor Medium Medium Poor Personal

contacts Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor

Graphology Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor Poor

Some more general (implicit) problems

Highly relevant in a NZ context • Scientific testing– What is our criterion (what kind of people with

what kind of capabilities do we try to hire)?

• Do we get the people we need? Do we get the skills we need?

• What are our tests like??? Do they measure ‘things’ in a cultural appropriate way?

• What are our test procedures like? Are they culturally appropriate?

Importance of Procedural Justice Dimensions in Favourability Reactions

US South Africa France

Scientific evidence Strong Strong Medium Employer’s right Strong Strong Strong Opportunity to

perform Strong Strong Strong

Interpersonal warmth Medium Medium Weak Face validity Strong Strong Strong Respectful of privacy Medium Medium Weak

Difficulties of International Personnel Selection

• Reliability and validity of assessment tools• Lack of job, institution, and culture

analysis• Lack of integrated process• The need to assess spouse and family• Lack of follow-up monitoring and research• Predicting adjustment versus

effectiveness• The reality of the individual

A Model for an Integrated International Selection Process• Establishing the profile of skills and

knowledge

• Planning and implementing the selection procedures

• Training and monitoring the overseas performance

Conclusions• Culture influences process of

recruitment and selection (attitudes, purpose, perceived fairness, methods)

• Selection tools for international assignments:- biographic questionnaires- realistic job preview- intercultural assessment centres

• Training and support is necessary for all phases of international assignments (pre-departure, sojourn, post-sojourn)