Integrating Culture and Management in Global Organizations
INSIDE 2
IMQ News: A New Partnership
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Why Organizations Don’t Do More CrossCultural Training by Craig Storti
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A Comprehensive Guide to Cultural Assessment Tools
Women in International Management: Where Are They? by Margaret Linehan The investigation of women’s progress in international management is relatively new. Over the last fifteen years, empirical studies of women in international management have been undertaken predominantly in North America. Yet, many questions remain unanswered or have been only partially addressed. The international human resource management literature has given very little attention to women as expatriates, probably because international assignments have long remained a male preserve. Up to the early 1980s, research on women in international management was primarily restricted to the role of the expatriate wife in facilitating or hindering her husband’s performance overseas. This article reveals the results of new research on the senior female international managerial career move in Europe. Fifty senior female international managers were interviewed, representing a wide
range of industry and service sectors. At the time of interviewing, the managers were based in Ireland, England, Belgium and Germany, but had worked in many other European countries, in the United States and Japan. Many of the constraints that often hinder women in attaining senior managerial positions are quite similar in most countries. There are, for example, cultural, educational, legislative, attitudinal and corporate constraints in most countries. The relative importance of each constraint varies from society to society. Research by Izraeli and Adler (Competitive Frontiers: Women Managers in a Global Economy, Basil Blackwell, 1994) suggests that the specific image of an ideal manager varies across cultures, “yet everywhere it privileges those characteristics that the culture associates primarily with men.” The requirements for effective managerial
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Selecting an International W orkfor ce: Elusiv Workfor orkforce: Elusivee Best Practices by Michael Tucker Review: Global 8 Book Smarts
Volume 1, Number 2
Fall 20 0 0 E diti o n A quarterly publication produced by the Intercultural Management Quarterly and the Intercultural Management Institute at American University
How can we assign people to international positions who can live and work successfully across cultures? This question has been asked and debated for as long as human resource professionals have worked in the international arena. Today we find ourselves in the strange situation of having very good answers to this question, and yet few organizations are listening to the answers and implementing the best-proven and available practices. Indeed, recent surveys have shown that the great majority of multinational organizations are still making international selections based only on job skills, while they should also be considering the potential for intercultural adjustment as well as personal and family mobility issues. Very few organizations make use of proven selection systems developed and available outside of their organizations. So, what are these best practices? They begin with the simple but difficult situation of having
multiple candidates for each international position instead of a single choice. International human resource (IHR) professionals often report that it is difficult enough to identify one employee who can perform the international job, will accept the assignment, and is mobile, let alone try to come up with two or three. However, the very definition of the word “selection” requires alternatives from which to select. If you are not in the multiple candidate situation you are not even in the selection game – you are in the game of making “whole” the single choices that you have. On the other hand, if you can achieve a ratio of three candidates to one position and use the Overseas Assignment Inventory (OAI), which has known validity correlations, utility theory and actual practice show that failure rates can be dramatically reduced, resulting in huge cost savings. Continued on page 3
IMQ News
A New Partnership with IMI
Welcome to the Fall 2000 edition of the Intercultural Management Quarterly! In this edition, we continue to bring you provocative articles on some of the most pressing issues in the field of intercultural management. We hope that the articles we have selected will enable you to be more effective in addressing the challenges culture poses to management processes. Professionals from the private sector, non-profit organizations and educational institutions looking for the most recent developments and leading-edge research are turning to the Intercultural Management Quarterly (IMQ) as their portal to the intercultural management field. In fact, more than one thousand readers from more than 40 countries have visited our web site at www.imquarterly.com. The inaugural edition of the IMQ was launched at the Intercultural Management Institute (IMI) Conference in Washington, DC in March 2000. The response was overwhelming. The IMQ was also unveiled at the 23rd Annual Conference & Exposition of the Institute for International Human Resources (IIHR) in San Diego, Calif., in April 2000. International HR professionals, trainers, and consultants from around the world eagerly greeted the IMQ and welcomed the new perspective that it brings to the field of intercultural managment. Building on its initial success, the IMQ is pleased to announce that it has formed a partnership with the Intercultural Management Institute at American University. This venture creates an ideal link for the IMQ, between academia and the professional world. The IMQ will remain a student-run publication and will continue to integrate the perspectives of international business and intercultural communication. As a staff, we will strive to challenge the boundaries of the current knowledge in the field and become your knowledge source for intercultural management. We are proud to bring you the Summer 2000 edition of the IMQ. Enjoy! Best regards, Shawn E. Quill Managing Editor
The Intercultural Management Quarterly is a student-run, founded, and managed publication. It was established by the International Communication Student Forum at the School of International Service. It combines new and original research being conducted in the field of intercultural management with the applied perspectives of industry experts. The IMQ integrates the experience of students from various areas of concentration at American University. Due to this interdisciplinary approach, the IMQ is a unique knowledge source for professionals. If you are interested in sponsoring an issue of IMQ or contributing an article, please contact the Managing Editor at editor@imquarterly.com.
IMQ STAFF
IMQ CONTACT
Executive Director • Dr. Gary R. Weaver Managing Editor • Shawn Quill Publication Manager • Andrea Santy Publication Assistant • Lynda Singletary
Intercultural Management Quarterly American University 4400 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016-8177 Phone: (202) 885-1846 Fax: (202) 885-1331 E-mail: info@imquarterly.com
Contributing Writers Margaret Linehan Michael Tucker Craig Storti Anna Prabhala Editorial Review Board Tonya Berenson, Joanne Cossitt, Ian Larsen, Chrysoula Economopoulos, Sadako Mizuno, Yuuka Shiomura
Reproduction No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without permission. Subscribe Online www.imquarterly.com © 2000 Intercultural Management Quarterly
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Intercultural
Assessment & Selection
Dr. Michael Tucker is President of Tucker International in Boulder, CO, a full-service International Human Resource Development Company.
Pressing Issues in Intercultural Management What are the most pressing issues in intercultural management? A survey conducted by IMQ at the Intercultural Managment Institute’s 2000 Conference determined that the following issues are most important to the field.
Spouse
Gender Issues
Repatriation
Selection & Assessment
Negotiation
candidates are demanding to know what is next for them if they accept the international assignment. They fear the “out of sight, out of mind” syndrome, where they will not be considered for new opportunities while on international assignment. They want to be assured that the company will value their international experience and, to the extent possible, help them with next steps in their career. International assignment compensation and benefit policies vary widely across organizations. Many of them offer very lucrative packages, apparently making the assumption that financial incentives lead to superior international performance. The risk here is that this type of policy may attract those who see the financial reward as the single, or most important, motivation for the international assignment. The best practice is to seek candidates who balance financial motives with those of career development and international experience. A final best practice to be discussed here is to follow a “closed loop” system of systematically evaluating international assignment successes and failures and learning from them. Many organizations do little follow-up, despite the availability of 360 degree instruments like the Evaluation of Expatriate Development (EED) which assesses proven factors of success and provides feedback and development information. Given the knowledge and availability of the best practices discussed here, the question posed at the beginning of this article should be redirected. We have answered the question of how we can make successful international selections. Now we need to ask how these best practices can be implemented in our organizations.
Global Mergers
Secondly, you must have time. This means sufficient time to make use of instruments like the OAI (see page 5 for a cultural assessment matrix) and to conduct thorough assessment interviews. Too many international selection scenarios look much like a fire drill. The rapid pace of international business presses IHR professionals to fill needs much too quickly. When prospective international employee candidates are married, the employee and spouse should be assessed and selected as a team. Involving the spouse in this process sometimes goes against organizational norms, and IHR professionals may not be experienced with spouse/couple/ family assessment, but research and practice have shown that international assignment success is achieved by the couple or family as a unit. If the spouse has difficulty adjusting to life in another country, this directly affects the employee and the assignment is jeopardized. It only makes sense then that the spouse should be assessed for intercultural adjustment potential along with the employee, and selection decisions be made for the couple as a unit. Most international selections are still being made almost exclusively by line management, who do not share this decision-making process with IHR. This can mean that IHR is seen only as policy implementers and not as strategic business partners. Best practice here is for IHR to employ a value-added assessment selection system and to be consulted and included in these decisions. Career planning and management is a difficult thing to accomplish in these days of globalization, rapid change, mergers and acquisitions. It is even more difficult when applied to international assignments. Yet, when such an assignment is treated as part of a career plan and not as a single event, the chances for success are much improved. In fact, many excellent international assignment
Training Methods, Content & Technology
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This survey was based on a response pool of 20 percent of conference participants.
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Why Organizations Don’t Do More Cross-Cultural Training? In today’s electronic age and the era of globalization, daily cross-cultural contact, whether face to face or virtual, is a fact of life in most organizations. So why aren’t more employers asking for crosscultural training? Why isn’t cross-cultural training one of the boxes you tick off on your annual request-for-training form, next to time management, team building and effective writing? Even those organizations which do offer cross-cultural training usually offer it only to employees headed for expatriate assignments. Why is the rest of their workforce, who interact on a regular basis with people from other cultures, not getting the skills they need to do their jobs? Why do so-called global companies not recognize the importance of cultural awareness and sensitivity for all employees? In short, why isn’t the demand for cross-cultural training keeping pace with the skyrocketing need? To be fair, cross-cultural training is spreading wider and deeper inside many organizations, but it is still not reaching the vast numbers of people who could benefit from it. One key reason, at least in the United States, is that managers and
supervisors do not truly understand what culture is. That is, they don’t know how culture operates, the part it plays in shaping people’s attitudes and ultimately how it determines much of their behavior. Not really understanding what culture is or how it works, they cannot be expected
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by Craig Storti
to know that cultural differences could be through technology may have the a problem in the workplace. And, if they impression that he or she has experienced do not realize that culture is the problem, other cultures. Since everything has gone they cannot see cross-cultural training as relatively well in these instances, the the solution. individual Imagine you are a 15th century Cross-cultural contact m a y physician, before believe that H a r v e y c u l t u r a l is nearly ubiquitous in today’ today’ss d i f f e r e n c e s discovered that blood cir-culates must not be a through the body, and your patients problem. interlinked world. are dying of strokes. What are the Whether chances you would know about blood things have actually gone so well is an clots and the need, therefore, to prescribe open question, of course. Moreover, to blood thinners? Today’s managers who say that such people have truly do not understand culture have the same experienced other cultures is something chance of identifying cultural difference of a stretch. But they think they have, as a cause of workplace problems and and, furthermore, that they are pretty good prescribing cross-cultural training as the at this cross-cultural stuff. This brings cure. us back to where we started. In a way, we’re probably begging the As a consultant/trainer, I often question. What we should be asking have the experience of talking with ourselves is why don’t these managers potential clients about problems they are and supervisors understand what culture having in their organization. The is? The easy answer here – though no managers I meet with routinely describe less valid for being easy – is that many of issues in classic organizational terms and these people have never lived abroad. then ask me what I can offer them. (To They have not had a profound experience their credit, they have at least gotten to of a foreign culture, an experience that the point where they think culture, brought them face to face with the whatever it is, might be the problem, or I reality of cultural differences – wouldn’t be sitting there.) When I start something that made believers putting a cultural spin on their issues, out of them. they get excited. They don’t have the People who have never been vocabulary (i.e., the cultural perspective) shocked, frustrated or terribly to frame the issues accurately, but as soon upset by something a foreigner did as they hear about culture, they know are likely not to really believe in that’s their problem. culture. They think people are just But what is the answer? How can choosing to be difficult. And if decision-makers become more aware of — you do not believe in culture, if you become believers in — the need for crosshave never really experienced cultural training? The place to start is for culture, then it is not on your list people to realize just how much crossof problems. cultural contact actually occurs in their Paradoxically, it may even be that company, department, or division. globalization itself – the increasing First, decision-makers must recognize interdependence and interaction between that it is not just the overseas expatriates people from far-flung corners of the world who deal with “foreigners,” but a much – actually works against people believing wider range of players. It will not be hard in culture. Someone who interacts for them to see that managers who travel Continued on page 8 regularly with people from other cultures
IMQ Index of Cultural Assessment TTools ools Assessment Instruments Cross Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI) Expatriate Profile Inventory (EPS)
Type of Study
Source
Self-assessment tool Optional 360°° feedback
Grove and Associates www.grovewell.com (718) 492-1896
Self-selection tool Personality analysis
Window on the World www.windowontheworldinc.com
(612) 338-3690
Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)
Personality analysis Optional 360°° feedback
Hogan Assessment System www.hoganassessments.com (860) 388-9777
International Assignment Exercise (IAE)
Self-assessment tool Analysis of situtational readiness
Selection Research Int’l (SRI) www.sri-2000.com (314) 567-6900
Personality analysis 360°° feedback Interview process
SRI (see above)
Personality analysis Optional 360°° feedback
Tucker International www.tuckerintl.com (303) 786-7753
Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI)
60 Item inventory based on the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS)
Drs. M.J. Bennett & M. Hammer www.intercultural.org (503) 297-4622
Overseas Assignment Inventory (OAI)
Self-assessment tool Behavioral analysis Long Track Record
Prudential Intercultural www.prudential.com/prm 1-800-257-4092
Predictive Index (PI)
Personality analysis Voluntary checklist
Int’l Orientation Resources (IOR) www.iorworld.com (847) 205-0066
Supervisor Evaluation Instrument (SEI)
Behavioral analysis 360°° feedback
SRI (see above)
Attention & Interpersonal Style Inventory (SRI/TAIS)
Self-report inventory Personality analysis
SRI (see above)
Windham International Cultural Model
Self-assessment tool Counselor analysis
Windham International www.windhamworld.com (212) 647-0555
International Assessment Interview Procedures (IAP) International Candidate Evaluation (ICE)
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Breaking Cultural Stereotypes:
Women on continued from page 1 performance are not ‘culture free’ but are influenced by the national culture in which the behavior is performed, and effective performance requires managers to adapt their behaviors accordingly. Prior research in international human resource management in Europe indicates that female managers are not progressing to senior management positions at comparable rates to their male counterparts. This research suggests that female managers are faced with more challenges (or barriers) in their career progression to international managerial positions than their male counterparts. The interviewees believed that corporate
International Assignments
do not want international careers, that it is unlikely that these organizations will invest in the development of their women managers and provide assignments with power and opportunity. Furthermore, because men hold most upper level management positions, they are often responsible for selection, including sending individuals on overseas assignments, and may not be willing to offer career advancement opportunities to women subordinates. The interviewees suggested, in their experiences during the past twenty years, that the promotion of females to senior international management positions has proceeded at a very slow rate. Many considered themselves to be quite unique in reaching senior management positions and particularly in pursuing international careers. Embedded in all cultures are traditions, practices and views that impede women’s economic equality and reinforce patriarchal systems and male operating procedures in organizations. Formal organizational policies are formed by wider gender-based societal assumptions regarding the suitability of men or women for international managerial assignments. Initially, women have to overcome formal organizational discrimination in their home countries and subsequently discriminatory policies when seeking international assignments. Formal organizational policies reinforce the informal cultural processes that may affect the participation of female managers in international management. Among the most important of these informal processes are the influences of networking and mentoring. The current research indicates that there are not enough women in senior international positions yet to act as
Female managers are faced with
more challenges than their male counterparts. barriers still exist and appear to be strong in many European countries. The managers, for example, suggested that many jobs are still seen as ‘men’s’ or ‘women’s’ jobs, and this influences the initial intake of a particular gender to organizations. Women are still judged on the male model of career development regarding the appropriateness of their ‘fit’ in organizations. This assessment on the male model occurs with respect to selection, promotion and career development. The interviewees perceived that the main obstacle they encountered in the selection process for an international assignment was their gender. The managers believed that if they had not asked to be included in the selection process for international assignments they would not have been considered by homecountry senior management. All the interviewees believed, where senior management assumes that married women
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mentors for other women. The findings also revealed that, in an international management context, a mentoring relationship is even more important than in domestic management. The participants believed that while partaking in international assignments, in addition to improving their self-confidence, increasing their visibility in organizations and increasing their promotional prospects, mentors provide the contact and support from the home organization which in turn facilitates re-entry. In the absence of family and friends, mentors helped in keeping these women in touch with their home organizations, which in turn reduced the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ syndrome. Mentoring in organizations outside the United States is a relatively recent development, and, therefore, denied to many female managers who worked in an exclusively European context. Forty of the fifty interviewees in this research who had mentors believed that the benefits provided by mentors, regardless of gender, has undoubtedly facilitated their career advancement. A critical question is whether organizations can create conditions that encourage females to take on the role of mentors, as it is clear from this research that there is a lack of senior female mentors. The findings, therefore, suggest that managers, who do not experience the benefits provided by a mentor, could in turn be a contributory factor in explaining the scarcity of female managers in international management. The research also indicates that both mentors and peer relationships can facilitate career and personal development. Peer relationships are different from mentoring relationships in that they often last longer, are not hierarchical, and involve a two-way exchange. Peer relationships have advantages, particularly since a significant number of women may not
have had mentors. The findings from this study indicate that, throughout Europe, the ‘old boy’ network is still strong in most organizations, and particularly in established industries, such as medicine, accountancy and law. The managers perceived that quite an amount of business is discussed and useful contacts are made when male managers network informally, but as females they are excluded access to these informal situations. A further difficulty for women who are in dual-career marriages is an assumption often made by senior homecountry managers that such women do not want an international posting. As more women move into management positions, the ‘trailing spouse’ is increasingly likely to be the male partner, that has to put his own career on hold, and some organizations expect dualcareer status to generate greater employee hostility to geographical relocation. As the majority of expatriate managers are still male, the non-working expatriate spouse group is largely female, and the non-working husband may find himself the lone man in a group of wives. In addition to these concerns, work-permit restrictions by some host countries make it difficult for a spouse to work. A further related problem women international managers face is that senior management in home-country organizations believe that entry into a new job abroad requires total involvement and longer than usual hours of work. The international woman manager is, therefore, likely to be even less available to her family while abroad than during her home-country employment. Homecountry senior managers may assume that because of these barriers women may not want to partake in international assignments. The 28 managers, whose families relocated to facilitate their careers, noted that the organizing and settling in of their families to new surroundings often proved more difficult than dealing with their new professional lives. The participants perceived that much of the guilt and conflict experienced by them as female managers derived from the way parental roles are socially defined. They also believed that the role conflicts and role constraints, which they contend with,
are likely to be damaging generally to women’s careers. The interviewees also perceived that the historical devaluing of women’s work means that women tend to be employed in traditional women’s occupations which have lower pay, power and prestige — all of which can affect women’s career progress. Gender role identity, particularly
management about female managers’ potential abilities, willingness and availability for international assignments. Home-country executives make genderbased value generalizations, for example, that all women are generally alike and they are all very different from men. Senior female managers want international careers, but many such women also want
in relation to childbearing and child rearing, does impact on male or female behaviors in relation to occupational expectations. Conflicts in personal relationships, childbearing and child rearing have an impact on the disproportionately low number of females who pursue, or are interested in pursuing, careers in international management. The views expressed by the managers that have children suggest that work-family conflicts are a major deterrent to female participation in international management. All 28 managers who relocated for their careers believed that they, as females, still took responsibility for organizing home and family. These managers believed that in the case of international relocation for the male career the female would take responsibility for home and family life. Therefore, it is apparent from these data that more females than male managers have to choose between an international career or family commitments. In conclusion, it is clear that female managers experience many more obstacles to their career advancement than their male counterparts do. Despite these obstacles, which the interviewees reported to be overt and covert, female managers are available, suitable and motivated to partake in international management. The discussions with the interviewees reveal that presumptive but erroneous attitudes are adopted by top
marriage and children. Career success is still based on men’s traditional work experiences and assumptions about the importance of work for identity. Women are still judged on the male model of career development regarding their appropriateness or their fit in organizations. And despite recent European Union legislation on sex discrimination and equal opportunities, there is little evidence that much has improved. A commonly shared sentiment of the 50 interviewees reflects the following finding of McGee-Calvert and Ramsey (“Bringing Women’s Voice to Research on Women in Management: A Feminist Perspective,” Journal of Management Inquiry, 1992): “until we admit to the fact that most organizations, as they currently exist, are seriously flawed, the glass ceiling will remain firmly in place, while polished assiduously by those above it.”
Dr. Margaret Linehan is Professor of Management at the Department of Adult & Continuing Education, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland. She is the author of Senior Female International Managers: Why So Few, published by Ashgate, March 2000.
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BOOK REVIEW by Anna Prabhala and Andrea Santy Global Smarts: The Art of Communicating and Deal-Making Around the World by Sheida Hodge Global Smarts by Sheida Hodge is a practical reference guide for any person who will be spending time overseas. It provides insight into different cultures without being a cookbook of cultural do’s and don’ts. Although the title suggests that the main focus of the book is on conducting business abroad, it also initiates the reader to broader aspects of intercultural communication. An engaging compilation of anecdotes, pointers and theory all mixed into one, Hodge remains faithful to her initial promise of “conveying cross-cultural concepts and skills that can be used in a wide variety of cultural situations.” Readers are entertained by real-life stories about joint ventures, business meetings and even dinner parties that have gone awry because of cultural mishaps. However, those with prior knowledge of intercultural communication may find that the book lacks depth and academic rigor. Hodge begins by highlighting the pivotal role the “human factor” or oneon-one communication plays in making or breaking cross-border business initiatives. She offers practical advice on how to be more culturally sensitive in global business ventures. For the most part,
Hodge reiterates what experts have already said in a fast-paced, pithy style that is uniquely hers. However, she does put forward original and handy tips on overcoming common cultural barriers such as gender bias, accent problems and negotiation styles. Hodge advises international women executives to use a letter of introduction from a top company official in one’s home country. She explains that this is an effective way to command authority and respect in traditionally patriarchal societies. Also, she points out that women executives working overseas should not consider themselves activists seeking to change social norms. Instead, she encourages them to adopt a practical attitude and focus on the short-term objective of their assignment. Next, Hodge explains that while one is likely to encounter heavy accents in cross-cultural settings, rushing for an interpreter is not the most effective solution. Instead, she recommends listening carefully, talking slowly, avoiding jargon and being patient to foster mutual trust. In those cases when an interpreter is needed, she recommends finding one who is familiar with terms and business vocabulary.
Finally, Hodge reminds readers that group-oriented cultures such as Latin America, Africa and the Middle East rely at least as much on emotional appeal as on logic in business negotiations. The excessive use of logic by Americans can undermine the potential of establishing long-term business relationships with these cultures. In the final analysis, it is worth noting that Hodge devotes the maximum number of pages to understanding American cultural values. This reiterates a critical message in intercultural communication—that it is important to recognize one’s own culture first before understanding and accepting the world around us. Anna Prabhala received her M.A. in Public Communication at American University and Andrea Santy is a graduate student in the School of International Service at American University.
Why Organizations Don’t Do More ... Training? Continued from page 4 abroad and managers who interact with people from abroad (whether in person, by phone or by e-mail) need better preparation for the work they do. The problem, of course, is not limited to expatriates and managers. Cross-cultural contact is nearly ubiquitous in today’s interlinked world. Today nearly everyone in an organization regularly deals with coworkers, customers, suppliers,
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consultants, etc., from different cultural backgrounds. The issue has become crucial to every aspect of an organization’s effectiveness. Some kind of cross-cultural audit, then, is the place to start — a process that clearly identifies the extent and the exact nature of all cross-cultural contacts across the company or department. Once people know where the contact occurs, then they will know
who needs training and what kind. Once companies and organizations identify that, they will begin giving today’s workers the skills they need to succeed in the global arena. Craig Storti is President of Craig Storti & Associates in Westminster, MD. He is the author of Figuring Foreigners Out: A Practical Guide, published by Intercultural Press, October 1998.