Screening and Training Inter-Cultural Competencies USA and Germany

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The International Journal of Human Resource Management

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Screening and training inter-cultural competencies: evaluating the impact of national culture on intercultural competencies
Andrea Graf
a
Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, College of Business Administration, Department of Management, Abt Jerusalem Str. 4, Braunschweig, Germany D- 38106 Phone: +49 0 531 391 3641 Fax: +49 0 531 391 3641 E-mail: Available online: 17 Feb 2007
To cite this article: Andrea Graf (2004): Screening and training inter-cultural competencies: evaluating the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15:6, 1124-1148 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585190410001677340
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Int. J. of Human Resource Management 15:6 September 2004 1124 1148
Screening and training inter-cultural competencies: evaluating the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies
Andrea Graf
Downloaded by [ ] at 12:57 23 March 2012
Abstract Inter-cultural competencies have become increasingly important for international personnel selection and training. The purpose of this article is to evaluate psychometric data regarding the controversy as to whether inter-cultural competencies are culture-free or culture-bound. In two empirical research projects in the USA and Germany national differences in inter-cultural competencies are evaluated. National culture is indicated as a signicant independent variable for inter-cultural competencies in both studies. However, the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies seems to be minor in relation to the impact of gender culture as well as of organizational culture. Therefore, inter-cultural competencies are judged to be culture-general in the two nations. Conceptual conclusions as well as practical conclusions for IHRM are discussed, based on the results. Finally, the limitations of the studies are pointed out. Keywords training. Inter-cultural competence; international personnel selection; inter-cultural
Increased global competition has been the most inuential trend in economics during the last decade (Adler, 2002). Explosive growth in globalization has led to a growing number of individuals with international assignments, international joint ventures and people moving to other countries to nd work and prosperity. As a consequence, the concept of inter-cultural competence has become increasingly important in business management. Worldwide, the number of international assignees is expected to continue increasing, according to the most recent global relocation survey (Windham International, 2001). However, when using a broad denition of failure (i.e. the expatriate assignment did not accomplish the goals of the company or the expatriate broke off the assignment), global failure rates have been estimated at 1640 per cent (Shaffer et al., 1999), 2040 per cent (Solomon, 1996), 30 50 per cent (Black et al., 1991) and 50 per cent (Allerton, 1997). The average monetary cost of an expatriate failure is placed at anywhere from 200,000 to 1.2 million dollars (Solomon, 1996; Swaak, 1995). In addition to monetary costs, failed expatriate efforts can also lead to negative organizational outcomes, such as delayed productivity, poor relationships with local nationals, negative perceptions of
Dr Andrea Graf, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, College of Business Administration, Department of Management, Abt Jerusalem Str. 4, Braunschweig, Germany D- 38106 (tel: 49 0 531 391 3641; fax: 49 0 531 391 8145; e-mail: a.graf@tu-bs.de).
The International Journal of Human Resource Management ISSN 0958-5192 print/ISSN 1466-4399 online q 2004 Taylor & Francis Ltd http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/09585190410001677340
Graf: Screening and training inter-cultural competencies
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the company, problems for expatriate successors and ineffective repatriation (Bennett et al., 2000). Difculties with the host national culture have been identied as the main reason for the lack of success in the majority of analysed expatriate failures (Bennett et al., 2000; Forster, 2000). One mechanism identied to enhance the chances of expatriate success is effective expatriate selection (Solomon, 1996). Increased emphasis is being placed on utilizing selection procedures that go beyond technical skills and assess factors such as inter-cultural competence (Bennett et al., 2000; Forster, 2000). Inter-cultural competence has also been recognized as a crucial factor for international co-operation among companies. In general, international joint ventures are characterized by instability and complexity (Fedor and Werther, 1996; Pausenberger and Nocker, 2000). Moreover, studies show that approximately 50 per cent of international joint ventures fail, because they do not accomplish the prearranged goals or the co-operation is broken off (Elmuti and Kathawala, 2001; Geringer and Hebert, 1991). Several studies found that cultural differences among the nations of co-operating organizations are decisive for the instability and even for the failure of global joint ventures (Barkema and Vermeulen, 1997: 845; Fedor and Werther, 1996: 39; Li, et al., 2002: 321). Moreover, some authors attribute the majority of failed international joint ventures to cultural conicts among individual managers (Ertel et al., 2001; Gordon and Salganik, 2001). As a result of the recognition of the importance of inter-cultural competence in international business, studies on inter-cultural competencies have constituted an increasing stream in the literature. The focus of research efforts has been to identify skills, attitudes and behaviours that contribute to effective inter-cultural interactions and successful cultural adaptation (for an overview, see Dinges and Baldwin, 1996). From an international perspective this research effort entails the question of whether the identied skills, attitudes and behaviours differ among nations according to their national cultures. Indeed, the fundamental question as to whether inter-cultural competencies are culture free or culture-bound has not been answered yet (Muller and Gelbrich, 2001: 259). The answer to this question is imperative for the concept of inter-cultural competencies (Dinges, 1998; Martin, 1997). Additionally, this issue entails guiding information for international human resource management (IHRM). In fact, international personnel selection as well as inter-cultural training may considerably improve if IHRM knows which competencies are required in the national culture in question. For example, this information would allow the development of relevant skill proles for different national cultures. Consequently, selection and training procedures could be more focused on the respective requirements, both for expatriates and employees working in international joint ventures. In general, if inter-cultural competencies were culturebound, then IHRM might select and train employees culture specically. On the other hand, if inter-cultural competencies were culture-general, selection and training processes could be more generalized. The purpose of this article is to do a psychometric analysis in the USA and Germany in order to approach the controversy as to whether inter-cultural competencies are culturebound or culture-free. To that end, nations are equated with national cultures, following Hofstedes approach evaluating national cultures (1998a: 481). The studies are done in the USA and Germany for methodological reasons. Evaluating capabilities and characteristics in different nations requires measures that are valid in the countries as far as both the language and the culture is concerned (Berry, 1989). In the evaluated nations numerous scientic questionnaires assessing (inter-cultural) competencies are available, and some of them have been validated in an American as well as a German version. The procedure in this article is as follows. Based on literature research, capabilities that are important variables in inter-cultural interactions are identied they are
1126 The International Journal of Human Resource Management referred to as inter-cultural competencies. Then, questionnaires assessing these intercultural competencies are selected. In two empirical research projects the identied inter-cultural competencies are evaluated with the chosen measures based on four research questions. The following starting points guided the development of the research questions. One prerequisite in inter-cultural studies focusing on national or cultural differences is to select appropriate standards of comparison in order to relate inter-cultural impacts to intra-cultural impacts (England and Negandhi, 1979; Helfrich, 1999; Hofstede, 1992; Muller and Gelbrich, 2001). Only if differences among national cultures exceed differences of cultural groups within the respective national cultures, can intercultural differences be concluded. Therefore, the article relates the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies to the impact of gender culture and to the impact of organizational culture. Gender culture refers to the social roles dependent on male and female identities and the gendered nature of particular functions and structures (Maddock, 1999: 8493). Although the suppression of sexual differences is actively sought in Western bureaucracies and corporations alike, gender-related attitudes and behaviours are apparent in the organizational context (Aaltio and Mills, 2002). According to Schein (1997) organizational culture refers to the shared, taken-for-granted basic assumptions held by the members of an organization. The following aspects were taken into consideration when selecting these cultural factors for the intracultural evaluation. The analysis of cultural levels by Sackmann (1997) was taken to get an overview of cultural factors in business. Gender culture was selected for two reasons. First, gender-related differences in organizational behaviour are crucial for IHRM, especially in international personnel selection (Adler, 1995). Second, the classication of gender culture into male and female can be assessed unequivocally in every culture. Organizational culture was selected as the other cultural factor because inter-cultural competencies are discussed in the organizational context in this article. Therefore, it is useful to evaluate the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies in relation to organizational culture. Besides, the competing impact of national culture and organizational culture on various aspects of organizational behaviour has already been the focus of considerable research (for an overview, see Adler and Bartholomew, 1992). Finally, Hofstede and his associates also related the inuence of national culture to gender culture and organizational culture in their value studies (Hofstede, 1980, 1998a; Hofstede et al., 1990). Evaluating the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies in relation to both gender culture and organizational culture requires two empirical studies. The comparison of the impact of national culture and gender culture on inter-cultural competencies is the focus in the rst study, which is conducted at universities (for an explanation of the selection of this population, see the section on Samples below). The evaluation in this study is guided by research questions 1a and 1b. The rst question is asked to analyse whether there are signicant differences in inter-cultural competencies between the two national cultures. The second question aims at relating the results in the rst question to the intracultural differences between men and women. The second study is conducted in two insurance companies in the USA and two insurance companies in Germany (again, see Samples for an explanation for this choice). This study focuses on the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies and on the comparison of this impact to the inuence of organizational culture. Research questions 2a and 2b guide the analysis in the second study. The rst question is intended to analyse whether national culture is an independent variable of inter-cultural competencies in this study. The second research question is asked to compare the inter-cultural differences to
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intracultural differences among the organizational cultures. The four research questions are as follows: Research question 1a: Does national culture represent a signicant independent variable for inter-cultural competencies in the university sample? How is the impact of national culture evaluated compared to the impact of gender culture? Does national culture represent a signicant independent variable for inter-cultural competencies in the industry sample? How is the impact of national culture evaluated compared to the impact of organizational culture?
Research question 1b: Research question 2a:
Research question 2b:
Inter-cultural competencies: understanding and focus of evaluation There is neither an accepted denition of inter-cultural competencies nor an agreement as to which abilities and characteristics constitute inter-cultural competence (Bradford et al., 1998). There are several lists of competencies, both from literature research and empirical studies, which are described to be important in inter-cultural interactions (for an overview, see Kealey and Ruben, 1983). These lists will be the basis for identifying inter-cultural competencies to be evaluated in the studies. Inter-cultural competencies are currently clustered into three components: cognitive, affective and behavioural (Bennett, 2001; Chen and Starosta, 1996; Fritz, 2001; Muller and Gelbrich, 2001; Ting-Toomey, 1999). Implicit in this understanding is the notion that an individual must possess the cognitive dimension (e.g. knowledge about other cultures), the affective dimension (e.g. sensitivity, desire to act in a competent way) and the behavioural dimension (e.g. skills to manage the situation) in order to interact effectively with culturally different others. However, it is assumed that the three components merge into one another (Snyder and Stukas, 1999). In his model, Spitzberg (2000) distinguishes three systems of inter-cultural competence: the individual system, the episodic system and the relational system. The individual system includes what is referred to as inter-cultural competencies, namely characteristics an individual possesses that facilitate competent interaction. Within the individual system he also depicts three components of inter-cultural competencies: knowledge functions (which can be assigned to the cognitive component), motivation (which can be assigned to the affective component) and skills (which can be assigned to the behavioural component). Spitzberg emphasizes that inter-cultural competencies increase the likelihood that an actor will produce behaviours that are normatively competent, but that, however, further factors are decisive. The episodic system view is that there is no guarantee that a person who has performed behaviours that would normally be viewed as competent will be judged as competent by a particular conversational partner in a particular relational encounter. This system concerns those characteristics of an actor that predict co-actors impressions of the actors competence (e.g. co-actors expectancies). The third level, the relational system, includes those components that assist a persons competence across the entire span of relationships rather than in just a given episode of interaction (e.g. mutual condence).
1128 The International Journal of Human Resource Management For the purpose of this paper, inter-cultural competencies are very broadly considered as cognitive, affective or behavioural abilities or characteristics, which facilitate in a normative social sense competent interaction with a person from a different national culture. The focus of the article will be on the individual system of inter-cultural competence. In accordance with Spitzberg (2000), it is assumed that different proles of inter-cultural competencies are likely to result in different behaviours. The term inter-cultural competencies is used because it is postulated that various abilities and characteristics constitute inter-cultural competence. Methods Samples In international studies non-random samples are accepted, because random samples cannot always be compared due to various inuences, e.g. age of subjects, level of education (see, e.g., Brislin and Baumgardner, 1971; Lonner and Berry, 1986). Holzmuller (1995: 242) recommends the use of matched samples in order to reduce the error of variance. Therefore, matched samples in the USA and Germany are chosen in order to be able to attribute resulting differences to national differences. The population in the rst study are MBA students. Students were chosen as participants for different reasons. First, students are the type of employees (educated professionals) likely to be sent on expatriate assignments. Second, there is only a minimal impact of organizational culture in student samples. Of course, universities also have some kind of organizational culture and part-time employment has become increasingly common for students. However, the impact of organizational culture may not be as inuencing for students as for employees in full-time employment. Moreover, student samples can be matched very well. The university samples were matched according to the following criteria: age, male/female percentage, level of education, study subject and size of university. Two medium-sized universities were selected (approximately 14,500 students are enrolled at both). In two successive semesters, at both universities, all students being enrolled at the college of business administration having lectures in management were included in the study. Students majoring in management were selected because there was a balanced male/female percentage in those classes at both universities. The sample consists of 188 students in the USA and 179 students in Germany having same majors (management), similar education (nal examination), similar age (average 30) and balanced male/female percentage. Five questionnaires assessing inter-cultural competencies were administered during class. The measures were completed in the order named in the following section. The sampling criteria in the second study were as follows: line of business, market segment and ofce workers. The sampling populations were four large-scale insurance companies, two in the USA and two in Germany. Employees were chosen as participants as one focus in this study is the impact of organizational culture on inter-cultural competencies. The insurance industry was selected because the insurance industry seems to be an attractive eld for climate and culture research (Hofstede, 1998a: 486). Other studies of insurance companies were reported, for example, by Gordon and Ditomaso (1992), Morgan (1986: 121) and Schneider and Snyder (1975). In this study, three of the ve questionnaires were administered (for an explanation for the selection of questionnaires, see the results section). The measures were handed to 100 randomly selected ofce workers in every company. That selection was random because there was no appropriate sampling criterion within the population of ofce workers.
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Overall, 177 employees sent back the measures (40 respectively 39 in the American companies and 61 respectively 37 in the German companies). In the sample, 70 per cent are female, the average age is 32. The questionnaires were completed in the order named in the following section. Evaluated inter-cultural competencies and questionnaires In the following sections, the abilities and characteristics, which have been evaluated to be inter-cultural competencies in several studies, are specied. Moreover, for every inter-cultural competency the questionnaire utilized in the studies is described. It was a prerequisite for the measures to be based on a sound theoretical foundation and to be valid for the American culture and language as well as for the German. Three of the selected measures were not available in a German version and had to be translated and validated. The German adaptations were developed based on the translation/back-translation method (Berry, 1989). In that process, the American original was translated into German by a bilingual person who is educated in psychology. A second bilingual person, educated in psychology as well, translated the German version into English. Afterwards, the original version and the retranslated version were compared and semantic differences were identied. The process of translation, retranslation and comparison was repeated until no semantic differences could be found any more. Afterwards, the German versions were empirically evaluated according to the criteria recommended by Hui and Triandis (1985) and Meredith (1993) (e.g. measurement invariance). The results of the validation studies are published in separate articles (Graf, 2002, 2003, 2004).
Inter-cultural communication skills Communication skills have been identied in the majority of studies focusing on inter-cultural skills (e.g. Bradford et al., 1998; Cui and Awa, 1992; Dean and Popp, 1990; Gudykunst and Lee, 2002; Martin and Hammer, 1989; Wiseman et al., 1989). Some authors even use inter-cultural competence and inter-cultural communication competence synonymously (Wiseman, 2002). The Behavioural Assessment Scale for Inter-cultural Communication Effectiveness (BASIC), developed by Koester and Olebe (1988), was used to assess inter-cultural communication competence. According to Spitzberg (1989: 246) , the BASIC is one of the most commonly used measures for inter-cultural effectiveness; for instance, Nishida (1985) and Ruben and Kealey (1979) utilized it in their studies. A German version of the BASIC was developed and validated for the German samples (Graf, 2002). The BASIC assesses seven dimensions of inter-cultural communication effectiveness. Those seven dimensions were developed by Ruben (1976) and are as follows: 1) display of respect the ability to express respect for another person; 2) interaction posture the ability to respond to others in a non-judgemental way; 3) orientation to knowledge how one explains the world; 4) empathy the capacity to put oneself in anothers shoes in communication; 5) task role behaviours verbal and non-verbal behaviours contributing to group problem-solving activities; 6) relational role behaviours verbal and non-verbal behaviours contributing to building or maintaining relationships in a group; 7) interaction behaviour/management communication skill in governing interactions to meet the needs and desires of group members; and 8) tolerance of ambiguity the ability to react to new and ambiguous situations with little visible discomfort.
1130 The International Journal of Human Resource Management Each of the eight BASIC dimensions is assessed by one item. For example, the item measuring display of respect is as follows:
Individuals express respect or positive regard for other people around them to different degrees. This is shown through their behaviour, which can take many forms. These range from spoken and unspoken expressions of low interest and regard to statements, gestures and tones of voice that are very supportive and show high regard and respect. Listed below are ve descriptions of patterns of expression. Please indicate on the rating scale shown below which of these ve describes your communication best.
One response option for the above item includes I show deep respect for the worth of others as persons of high potential and worth. I indicate (through eye contact, general attentiveness, appropriate tone of voice, and general interest) a clear respect for the thoughts and feelings of others. I am committed to supporting and encouraging their development.
Inter-cultural sensitivity The emotional capability to be sensitive towards individuals from a different national culture has been identied as crucial for competent intercultural interactions by several authors (e.g. Abe and Wiseman, 1983; Chen and Starosta, 1996; Cui and Awa, 1992; Fritz et al., 2002; Koester and Olebe, 1988; Martin, 1987). The Inter-cultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) by Chen and Starosta (2000) was selected to assess this inter-cultural competency in the studies. The German version by Fritz and Mollenberg (1999) was utilized for the German samples. The ISS is based on the authors concept of inter-cultural sensitivity (Chen and Starosta, 1996, 1997). The ISS consists of twenty-four items and uses a 5-point Likert-type response scale. Scale anchors range from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The ISS is composed of ve scales: 1) engagement in inter-cultural interactions (e.g. I enjoy interacting with people from different cultures); 2) respect for cultural differences (e.g. I respect the values of people from different cultures); 3) self-condence in inter-cultural interactions (e.g. I am pretty sure of myself in interacting with people from different cultures); 4) enjoyment of inter-cultural interactions (e.g. I get upset easily when interacting with people from different cultures (reverse-coded)); and 5) attentiveness in inter-cultural interactions (e.g. I try to obtain as much information as I can when interacting with people from different cultures). Interpersonal competence
The majority of studies concerning inter-cultural abilities emphasize the importance of interpersonal competence (e.g. Abe and Wiseman, 1983; Cui and Awa, 1992; Dean and Popp, 1990; Hammer, 1987; Hammer et al., 1978; Hawes and Kealey, 1979; Kealey, 1989; Spitzberg and Cupach, 1989). For the studies, the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire (ICQ), which was developed by Buhrmester et al. (1988), was selected to evaluate interpersonal competence. The German version of the questionnaire by Riemann and Allgower (1993) was utilized for the German samples. The ICQ contains forty items assessing the following ve domains of interpersonal competence: 1) initiation of interactions and relationships (e.g. Asking or suggesting to someone new that you get together and do something, e.g. go out together); 2) assertion of personal rights and displeasure with others (e.g. Telling a companion you dont like a certain way he or she has been treating you); 3) self-disclosure of personal information (e.g. Conding in a new friend/date and letting him or her see your softer, more sensitive side); 4) emotional support of others (e.g. Helping a close companion work through his or her thoughts or feelings about a major life decision, e.g. a career choice); and 5) management of interpersonal conicts
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(e.g. Being able to take a companions perspective in a ght and really understand his or her point of view). Respondents use a 5-point rating scale to indicate their levels of success and comfort when engaging in the described behaviours. Scale anchors range from I usually succeed rather badly acting in the described way. I feel very uneasy in such a situation to I usually succeed well acting in the described way. I feel very well in such situations.
Social problem-solving capability Research recognizes social problem-solving capability to be a fundamental factor in adjustment (Heppner, 1990; DZurilla, 1990; DZurilla and Maydeu-Olivares, 1995) and acculturation (Ward, 1996). Social problem-solving refers to the process with the help of which individuals attempt to identify, discover or invent effective or adaptive coping responses for situations encountered in everyday life, for which no effective response is immediately apparent or available (DZurilla and Nezu, 1982). DZurilla and Nezu (1990) developed the Social Problem-Solving Inventory (SPSI), which was revised based on several empirical studies (DZurilla and Maydeu-Olivares, 1995; Maydeu-Olivares and DZurilla, 1995, 1996), into the Social Problem-Solving Inventory-Revised (SPSI-R) (DZurilla et al., 1999). The SPSI-R, which was used in the study (German version by Graf, 2003), assesses the following ve dimensions of social problem-solving capability: 1) positive problem orientation (PPO) (e.g. When I have a problem, I try to see it as a challenge or opportunity to benet in some positive way from having the problem); 2) negative problem orientation (NPO) (e.g. I feel threatened and afraid when I have an important problem to solve); 3) rational problem solving (RPS) (e.g. When I have a decision to make, I try to predict the positive and negative consequences of each option); 4) impulsivity/carelessness style (ICS) (e.g. When I am trying to solve a problem, I go with the rst good idea that comes to mind); and 5) avoidance style (AS) (e.g. I wait to see if a problem will resolve itself rst, before trying to solve it myself). Respondents use a 5-point response scale ranging from Not at all true of me to Extremely true of me. Besides the scale scores, one all-encompassing score was calculated for every subject based on the scoring instructions provided by the authors. Self-monitoring Several studies identify self-monitoring as facilitating inter-cultural interactions and cultural adjustment (Gangestad and Snyder, 2000; Gudykunst, 1985; Harrison et al., 1996; Kealey, 1989; Weierter et al., 1997). The concept of selfmonitoring was originally dened by Snyder (1974) as self-observation and self-control guided by situational cues to social appropriateness. Based on his concept of self-monitoring, Snyder (1974) developed the SelfMonitoring Scale (SMS) revised by Snyder and Gangestad (1986). As the questionnaire was not available in a German version, it was translated into German and empirically validated for the German samples (Graf, 2004). In the studies the original scale was administered as it is stronger in evaluating the other-directedness dimension (Briggs and Cheek, 1988). The SMS consists of twenty-ve true false items. Subjects receive a score between zero and twenty-ve. A sample item of the scale is as follows: When I am uncertain how to act in a social situation, I look for the behaviour of others for cues.
Results Statistical analyses Poortinga and van de Flier (1988) emphasize the necessity, in inter-cultural studies, to compare the correlations among the individual tests between the samples. In the case of
1132 The International Journal of Human Resource Management different structures of the evaluated dimensions among the populations the means are not comparable. In order to evaluate the interrelationships among the inter-cultural competencies in the German and the American sample, the intercorrelations (correlations by Pearson) of the scales (BASIC, ISS and ICQ) and the total score of the SPSI-R as well as the SMS are determined. This correlation analysis is done in the university sample because all ve questionnaires are administered. Subsequently, the intercorrelation coefcients of the American and the German sample are compared, that is to say, the Z-score and test on signicance is calculated (see Bortz, 1999: 211). These results indicate that only a few intercorrelations of the scales signicantly distinguish between the American and the German sample. Therefore, rather than comparing each of the 190 correlation coefcients individually between the samples, the following summary information is compared. First, the percentage of statistically signicant correlations among the subscales of the questionnaires is provided for the American as well as the German sample. This percentage information facilitates comparisons across measures with varying numbers of subscales within one sample. For example, the evaluation of the interrelationship of the BASIC and the ISS is based on forty correlations, whereas between the ICQ and the SPSI-R:S the total score is based on ve correlations. Presenting the percentage of signicant correlations provides an appropriate way of evaluating using the same metric (e.g. between the BASIC and the ISS both in the American and the German sample 70 per cent of the correlations were statistically signicant, whereas between the ICQ and the SPSI-R:S 100 per cent were statistically signicant in both samples). The second component of summary information is the average value of the subscale intercorrelations among the measures. This average correlation provides another crucial piece of information about the interrelationship among the questionnaires within one sample. Finally, the summarized ndings are descriptively compared between the American and the German sample. Then, a principal components factor analysis (with varimax rotation) including all scales is conducted in the American and the German university sample. The purpose is to determine whether the underlying interrelationships of the scales are comparable in both samples. The following statistical analyses are calculated in the rst study. The descriptive statistics of the scales are determined (mean, range, standard deviation and coefcient alpha for internal consistency). In order to address research questions 1a and 1b, a twoway analysis of variance (MANOVA) for the whole university sample is conducted taking the nation (referred to as national culture) and gender (referred to as gender culture) as xed factors. This analysis is done in order to evaluate whether the interaction of the factors national culture and gender culture has a signicant impact on any of the scales. Due to the fact that no signicant impact can be found, two one-way MANOVAs are calculated, one taking national culture as a xed factor and the other taking gender culture as a xed factor. One-way MANOVAs are conducted in order to determine the coefcient of determination (adjusted R2) for each factor. The coefcient of determination is a standardized measure of how much of the variance in the dependent variable is explained by the independent variable in the regression model (Glantz and Slinker, 2001: 256). Finally, the variances explained by the factor national culture and by the factor gender culture are descriptively compared. In the second study the following statistical analyses are done in order to address research questions 2a and 2b. Again, the descriptive statistics of the scales are provided. Afterwards, a two-way MANOVA for the whole industry sample is calculated taking the nation (referred to as national culture) and organization (referred to as organizational culture)
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as xed factors. The intention is to analyse whether the interaction has a signicant impact on any of the scales. However, the interaction of the two factors shows no signicant inuence on the scales. Therefore, two one-way MANOVAs are conducted and the adjusted R2 is determined for every factor. The variation due to the country is descriptively related to the variation due to the organization. Study one: university sample
Descriptive statistics
The psychometric properties of the scales in the American and German university sample are presented in Table 1. The developers of the BASIC
Table 1 Descriptive statistics of the scales in the university sample Nation M 4.06 3.85 2.81 2.71 3.10 3.23 3.72 3.64 3.86 3.73 3.69 3.67 3.29 3.49 3.63 3.53 3.85 3.77 4.16 4.11 3.39 3.35 4.06 4.32 3.61 3.61 3.40 3.27 3.21 3.27 3.22 3.26 3.96 3.97 3.40 3.42 13.44 13.09 SD .70 .74 .78 .76 .73 .55 .83 .98 .68 .75 .73 .71 .99 .85 .83 .93 .45 .44 .52 .57 .61 .52 .61 .54 .56 .61 .75 .73 .72 .62 .71 .67 .58 .56 .58 .52 3.44 3.23 Min. 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.71 1.29 1.83 2.33 1.80 1.80 1.00 2.67 2.00 2.33 1.50 1.13 1.50 1.38 1.38 1.00 2.00 1.50 1.50 2.00 4.00 3.00 Max. 5.00 5.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.57 5.00 5.00 4.80 4.80 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.88 4.63 4.88 4.88 5.00 5.00 4.75 4.63 20.00 20.00 Alpha NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA .71 .59 .73 .66 .75 .63 .70 .60 .47 .54 .87 .85 .85 .79 .81 .77 .87 .85 .77 .64 .71 .69
1 BASIC-respect 2 BASIC-posture 3 BASIC-knowledge 4 BASIC-empathy 5 BASIC-task 6 BASIC-relational 7 BASIC-interaction 8 BASIC-ambiguity 9 ISS-engagement 10 ISS-respect 11 ISS-condence 12 ISS-enjoyment 13 ISS-attentiveness 14 ICQ-initiation 15 ICQ-assertion 16 ICQ-disclosure 17 ICQ-support 18 ICQ-conict 19 SPSI-R PPO
USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER
1134 The International Journal of Human Resource Management

Table 1 (Continued) Nation 20 SPSI-R NPO 21 SPSI-R RPS 22 SPSI-R ICS 23 SPSI-R AS 24 SPSI-R total score 25 SMS USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER M 6.30 6.18 11.96 12.46 5.30 6.12 4.96 5.30 68.82 67.94 12.76 11.08 SD 3.54 3.31 3.21 3.15 3.51 3.50 3.26 3.62 11.06 11.25 3.95 3.89 Min. 0.00 0.00 3.00 2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 36.00 35.00 2.00 2.00 Max. 20.00 15.00 20.00 19.00 17.00 15.00 17.00 18.00 94.00 93.00 22.00 20.00 Alpha .77 .74 .72 .69 .77 .72 .76 .82 .84 .84 .68 .69
Notes NA not applicable for this scale due to single-item subscales GER Germany N (USA) 188; N (Germany) 179.
consider each of the eight BASIC items to be conceptually distinct; thus every item is utilized on its own and is not combined into a scale. For this reason, no internal consistency measures of reliability are shown for the BASIC. Table 1 reveals that several scales show low alpha coefcients (below .70). For example, in the ISS all scales show a very low alpha coefcient in the German sample, and for the attentiveness scale also in the American sample. The psychometric quality of the German ISS has been focused in two recent articles (Fritz et al., 2002, 2003) concluding that the ISS is a reliable measure. Additionally, the results from the factor analysis are satisfying for the ISS (see next section on Factorial analysis). Consequently, the results of the ISS will be used in the study. The ICQ-scale management of interpersonal conicts also shows a low reliability. In addition, this scale is not correlating with the same factor in the USA and in Germany (see factorial analysis below). Consequently, the results from this scale will not be used in the study. In the SPSI-R two scales show an alpha coefcient of .69. However, the reliability of the total score is satisfactory (.84). Therefore, the results of the total score and not of the single scales will be discussed in the study. Finally, the Self-Monitoring Scale exhibits low alpha coefcients in both samples. The low reliability of the SMS has also been found in former studies (Briggs and Cheek, 1988; Snyder, 1974; Snyder and Gangestad, 1986). However, Gangestad and Snyder (2000) can show in their appraisal of the SMS that it assesses a single underlying dimension. Consequently, the results will be used.
Analysis on intercorrelations of scales In both samples inter-cultural communication skills (assessed by the BASIC), inter-cultural sensitivity (assessed by the ISS), interpersonal competence (assessed by the ICQ) and social problem-solving capability (assessed by the SPSI-R) show high percentages of signicant intercorrelations one below the other one (from a low of 50 per cent to a high of 100 per cent) (see Table 2, also section above on Statistical analyses). In the American as well as in the German sample the correlation coefcients are small to moderate
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Table 2 Percentage of signicant correlations of scales and average correlation of scales with Fisher Z-Transformation (university sample) BASIC BASIC ISS ICQ SPSI-R (Total score) SMS (Total score) 70% r .202 65% r .184 75% r .250 25% r .077 76% r .218 100% r .337 0% r 2 .016 100% r .322 60% r .099 0% r .030 ISS 70% r .179 ICQ 67.5% r .196 68% r .190 SPSI-R (Total score) 50% r .164 100% r .224 100% r .214 SMS (Total score) 0% r .014 0% r 2.038 20% r .028 0% r 2.110
Notes Above the diagonal the results of the US-American university sample are provided N 188: Below the diagonal the results of the German university sample are provided N 179:
(ranging from a low of .164 to a high of .322). The SMS exhibits low interrelations with the other questionnaires in both populations. The percentages of signicant intercorrelations, as well as the average correlations of scales, do not considerably differ between the American and German samples. Therefore, the interrelationships among the dimensions of inter-cultural competencies are judged to be essentially similar in the two populations. Consequently, the means of the intercultural competencies between the American and the German samples can be compared.
Factorial analysis In the principal components analysis the scales in both samples correlate with six factors. The initial eigenvalue and the percentage of explained variance are comparable in the American and the German samples (see Table 3). In addition, the correlation of the scales with the factors is comparable between the American and German sample (see Table 4). Only two scales do not show the highest correlation with the same factor: BASIC-posture and ICQ-conict. The rst scale shows the highest
Table 3 Initial eigenvalues and percentage of explained variance in the American sample N 188 and the German sample N 179 Component Initial eigenvalue USA 1 2 3 4 5 6
Note GER Germany.
% of variance USA 22.26 10.80 8.78 7.40 4.88 4.50 GER 23.63 11.53 8.03 5.59 5.13 4.86
Cumulative % USA 22.26 33.06 41.85 49.25 54.14 58.64 GER 23.63 35.16 43.19 48.79 53.92 58.79
GER 5.43 2.65 1.84 1.28 1.18 1.11
5.12 2.48 2.02 1.70 1.12 1.03
Table 4 Component matrix of the scales in the American sample N 188 and the German sample N 179 Factor 1 USA .29 .21 .09 .20 .15 .05 .00 .09 .88 .75 .67 .80 .67 .13 .09 .00 .11 .19 .23 2 .00 .69 .10 .10 .45 .34 .57 .62 2.14 .15 .29 2.04 .09 .18 .28 .02 .20 .61 .58 .16 2.02 .73 .53 .00 .67 2.04 .46 .44 .16 .17 .23 .00 .09 .27 .24 2.25 .26 .55 .50 .25 2.00 .09 .17 .10 .15 .29 .21 .17 2.09 .77 .60 .48 .61 .44 .15 .14 .06 .14 .13 .21 2.04 .04 .01 2 .01 2 .06 .04 .16 2 .06 .21 .08 2 .11 .12 2 .11 2 .02 .25 2 .07 .04 2 .04 2 .04 2 .09 .98 .04 2 .10 .11 2 .03 .18 .24 .14 2 .07 2 .04 2 .19 2 .04 .10 2 .04 .25 2 .08 .11 .11 2 .09 2 .02 .97 2.02 .32 2.15 .26 .10 .18 2.01 .21 .04 2.08 .22 .00 .10 .55 .60 .74 .22 .22 .08 .04 .12 2.09 .04 .19 .19 .11 2.08 .05 .22 .01 .14 .01 .25 .56 .71 .78 .45 .07 .25 .09 .00 2 .27 .13 2 .23 .56 .22 .03 .61 .11 2 .02 .22 .00 .16 .27 .29 .10 .23 .06 .57 2 .10 .16 2 .11 .10 .15 .44 .04 .22 .77 2 .00 .01 .29 .38 .05 .38 .14 .00 .14 .05 .58 .03 .01 .33 .78 2.09 2.28 2.21 .15 .16 .16 .15 .17 2.10 .01 .07 2.04 .00 .12 .48 2.04 .05 2.02 .49 .84 .20 2.13 .21 2.12 .14 .01 .21 2.00 .12 2.01 2.12 2.09 .10 .26 .15 .06 2.01 GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4 Factor 5 Factor 6
BASIC-respect BASIC-posture BASIC-knowledge BASIC-empathy BASIC-task BASIC-relational BASIC-interaction BASIC-ambiguity ISS-engagement ISS-respect ISS-condence ISS-enjoyment ISS-attentiveness ICQ-initiation ICQ-assertion ICQ-disclosure ICQ-support ICQ-conict SPSI-R total score SMS total score
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correlation with factor 6 in the American and with factor 2 in the German sample. However, as in both samples there is a reasonable correlation with factor 6, the scale will be retained in the study. The ICQ scale conict management correlates with factor 2 and 6 in both samples. Due to this result and the low coefcient alpha of this scale, the results of this scale are not included. The other scales correlate with the same factor in both samples.
Research questions 1a and 1b: analysis of the impact of national culture versus gender culture In the MANOVA with national culture as the xed factor, a signicant impact
can be identied for four scales (see Table 5). The mean scores in Table 1 reveal that in two of the identied dimensions the American sample shows higher scores (display of respect and self-monitoring). The German sample indicates higher scores in two scales (interaction engagement and interaction enjoyment). The gender culture is indicated as having a signicant impact for seven scales (see Table 5). The ndings supply some evidence for answering research question 1a afrmatively. National culture is shown to be a signicant variable for several dimensions of intercultural competencies. It exhibits most impact on inter-cultural communication, assessed by the BASIC, and on self-monitoring, assessed by the SMS. However, the impact of national culture is very modest (R2 ranging from .011 to .046). Turning to research question 1b the results display the fact that gender culture also constitutes a signicant independent variable on several inter-cultural competencies. On the one hand, the explanation of variance by the factor of gender is modest
Table 5 One-way MANOVAs with national culture (USA and Germany) as xed factor and with gender culture (male and female) as xed factor (university sample) National culture F 1 BASIC-respect 2 BASIC-posture 3 BASIC-knowledge 4 BASIC-empathy 5 BASIC-task 6 BASIC-relational 7 BASIC-interaction 8 BASIC-ambiguity 9 ISS-engagement 10 ISS-respect 11 ISS-condence 12 ISS-enjoyment 13 ISS-attentiveness 14 ICQ-initiation 15 ICQ-assertion 16 ICQ-disclosure 17 ICQ-support 18 SPSI-R total score 19 SMS 6.34 2.50 2.65 .33 2.75 .08 5.30 .36 3.08 .95 .15 21.27 .00 3.02 .57 .38 .06 .35 14.89 Sig. .012* .114 .104 .565 .098 .775 .022* .548 .080 .330 .691 .000*** .974 .083 .450 .534 .797 .555 .000*** R2 .018 .007 .007 .001 .008 .000 .015 .001 .009 .003 .000 .057 .000 .008 .002 .001 .000 .001 .040 Gender culture F 23.51 5.17 3.46 5.29 1.98 .66 .06 .67 4.57 6.99 1.73 .09 5.32 1.66 .01 .87 12.31 1.72 3.66 Sig. .000** .024* .064 .022* .160 .415 .800 .412 .033* .009** .189 .756 .022* .198 .903 .351 .001*** .190 .056 R2 .063 .014 .010 .015 .006 .002 .000 .002 .013 .019 .005 .000 .015 .005 .000 .002 .034 .005 .010
Notes N 367. * p # .05; ** p # .01; *** p # .001.
1138 The International Journal of Human Resource Management (R2 ranging from .013 to .063). On the other hand, gender culture explains group differences for more dimensions of inter-cultural competencies than does national culture. Altogether, in this study, gender culture appears to be at least as inuential as national culture on inter-cultural competencies. Study two: industry sample
Introduction
Due to the request of two companies to restrict the time for the study, the samples in the four organizations completed only three out of the ve questionnaires identied at the beginning of the article. The Inter-cultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) was chosen for the second study because, out of the two measures assessing skills specically in inter-cultural situations (BASIC and ISS), the items of the ISS can be combined to a scale. From the remaining questionnaires, the Interpersonal Competence Questionnaire (ICQ) was selected because it assesses various dimensions of interpersonal and social competence. Finally, the Self-Monitoring Scale (SMS) was utilized in the second study.
Descriptive statistics The psychometric properties of the ISS and ICQ scales and the SMS are summarized for the two American and the two German organizations (see Table 6). Table 6 shows, according to the results from study one, low alpha coefcients for the ISS-scales and the SMS-total score. Due to the arguments already given in the section on study one, the scales will be retained.
Table 6 Descriptive statistics of the scales in the industry sample Nation 1 ISS-engagement 2 ISS-respect 3 ISS-self-condence 4 ISS-enjoyment 5 ISS-attentiveness 6 ICQ-initiation 7 ICQ-assertion 8 ICQ-disclosure 9 ICQ-support 10 ICQ-conict 11 SMS USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER USA GER M 3.71 3.73 3.97 4.04 3.58 3.38 3.90 4.09 3.62 3.70 3.55 3.48 3.45 3.11 3.43 3.32 3.98 4.09 3.43 3.39 11.22 9.00 SD .62 .36 .71 .56 .68 .50 .78 .69 .70 .56 .63 .66 .71 .74 .61 .62 .72 .54 .64 .53 3.78 3.93 Min. 2.57 2.86 2.67 2.33 2.50 2.00 2.00 1.00 2.00 2.33 2.25 1.75 1.63 1.50 2.00 1.75 2.50 2.63 1.75 2.25 2.00 0.00 Max. 5.00 4.71 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.75 5.00 4.50 4.88 4.88 5.00 5.00 5.00 4.63 19.00 19.00 Alpha .78 .38 .79 .66 .74 .53 .67 .66 .65 .54 .84 .84 .85 .87 .78 .78 .91 .85 .83 .75 .55 .59
Notes GER Germany. N (USA) 79; N (Germany) 98.
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Table 7 One-way MANOVAs with national culture (USA and Germany) as xed factor and with organizational culture (organizations) as xed factor (industry sample) National culture F ISS-engagement ISS-respect ISS-self-condence ISS-enjoyment ISS-attentiveness ICQ-initiation ICQ-assertion ICQ-disclosure ICQ-support ICQ-conict SMS .09 .44 4.95 3.03 .58 .69 9.67 1.47 1.32 .27 12.52 Sig. .761 .506 .027* .083 .445 .406 .002** .227 .251 .601 .001*** R
2
Organizational culture F 6.98 5.64 9.51 6.04 3.94 2.56 5.74 2.20 6.87 1.84 5.64 Sig. .000*** .001*** .000*** .001*** .009** .056 .001*** .089 .000*** .141 .001** R2 .111 .092 .146 .098 .066 .044 .094 .038 .110 .032 .092
.001 .003 .028 .018 .003 .004 .054 .009 .008 .002 .069
Notes N 177. * p # .05; ** p # .01; *** p # .001.
Research questions 2a and 2b: analysis of the impact of national culture versus organizational culture The results of the MANOVA with national culture as the xed
factor are demonstrated in Table 7. National culture shows up as a signicant independent variable for three scales. Table 6 shows that the American sample indicates higher scores in the identied dimensions of inter-cultural competencies. Organizational culture exhibits a signicant impact on eight scales. Addressing research question 2a, the ndings conrm that national culture represents a signicant independent variable on several dimensions of inter-cultural competencies. In accordance with the results in the university sample, the impact of national culture is modest (R2 ranging from .028 to .069). With regard to research question 2b, organizational culture inuences eight of the eleven evaluated dimensions of inter-cultural competencies (compared to three of eleven inuenced by national culture). Additionally, the variance explained by the factor organizational culture (range from 6.6 to 14.6 per cent) is higher than by the factor national culture (range from 2.8 to 6.9 per cent). In sum, it can be concluded that organizational culture displays more impact on inter-cultural competencies in this study than national culture. Discussion The two research questions, asking if national culture represents a signicant independent variable in the university sample (research question 1a) or in the industry sample (research question 2a), are answered afrmatively. The MANOVAs in both studies indicate that national culture has a signicant impact on several inter-cultural competencies. However, the impact is evaluated to be modest based on the low coefcients of determination. England and Negandhi emphasize that one should not get overly exited about observed national differences, unless they are rather large in magnitude, in an absolute sense and in a relative sense, when compared to observed differences within a given country (1979: 188). For this reason, research question 1b was asked to compare the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies to
1140 The International Journal of Human Resource Management the impact of gender culture and research question 2b to compare the impact of national culture to the impact of organizational culture. It turned out that both gender culture and organizational culture were signicant independent variables for more inter-cultural competencies than was national culture. Additionally, organizational culture explained more variance of the differences in the group means than national culture. Moreover, different dimensions of inter-cultural competencies (except for self-monitoring) were inuenced by national culture in the two studies, showing that the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies may vary considerably within one country. In sum, the results indicate that inter-cultural competencies may be culture-general as far as the two national cultures are concerned. Conceptually, the studies supply some rst evidence that a general model of inter-cultural competencies might be justied (for Western countries). Of course, ndings from two national cultures do not allow conclusions for further nations (see the section on Study limitations below); however, the signicant tendency for inter-cultural competencies to be national-culture-free in the evaluated nations may attract further research attention. Given the nding that organizational culture exerted more impact on the evaluated inter-cultural competencies in the study than national culture, it may be useful to look closely at the inuence of both cultural factors on inter-cultural competencies. Generally speaking, national culture inuences the way of thinking, the attitudes and behaviours in a population and consequently in organizations as well. On the other hand, organizational cultures also inuence the way of thinking and acting of their employees. In this sense, organizational culture is a subset of national culture. However, this does not imply that national culture is necessarily more powerful than organizational culture. A current perspective is to consider national culture and organizational culture as phenomena of a different order, both inuencing behaviour at work (Hofstede, 1998b; Schreyogg, 1992: 133ff.). In accordance with this understanding, the different patterns of inuence of national culture and organizational culture will be reected. Findings concerning the impact of national culture on specic competencies are mainly derived from value research (Adler, 2002; Hofstede, 2002; Schwartz and Sagie, 2000). Thus, it is stated that a societys value system modies individual competencies, as far as these are strengthened or weakened depending on their cultural evaluation (Durham, 1990; Helfrich, 1999). In relations to the nations investigated, several studies have found signicant differences in value system between the USA and Germany (Hofstede, 1980, 2002; Schwartz, 1994). Consequently, it is not surprising that the prole of (inter-cultural) competencies differs between the USA and Germany. Regarding the pattern of inuence of organizational culture several aspects might be considered. Generally, the skill proles within a company are closely related to HRM efforts. In fact, one major objective of HRM is to create a capability focus within the rm (Ulrich, 1997: 63). Thus, HRM aims at adjusting personnel selection processes as well as training and development interventions to organizational requirements. Besides, a process of organizational socialization takes place: (inter-cultural) competencies that are in harmony with the organizational culture are strengthened and those not desired are weakened. The inuential role of organizational culture in respect of inter-cultural competencies may enlarge the vista on some global issues. Currently, the reasons for failures in international assignments as well as international joint ventures are mainly reduced to obstacles due to different national cultures. However, these results supply some indication that cultural obstacles may not exclusively arise due to variant national cultures but possibly also due to variant organizational cultures. Indeed, the importance of organizational identication processes in international business has been increasingly emphasized (Gotz and Bleher, 2002; Li et al., 2002). From a scientic perspective,
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the results recommend that organizational culture be taken into account in competency research. From a professional perspective, the results suggest that potential cultural differences among companies be considered in making management decisions as is usually done with potential differences among nations. Gender culture displayed a signicant impact on seven out of nineteen dimensions of inter-cultural competencies. Emotional support of others (assessed with the ICQ) has already been identied to show a main effect of sex in former studies. Buhrmester et al. (1988: 996) found women reporting greater emotional support than men. Likewise in this study women stated higher capabilities M 4:12 than men M 3:89: For the other scales no sex bias has been identied in former studies. In this study, women showed better results in the following BASIC subscales than men: display of respect M 4:20 versus M 3:82; interaction posture M 2:90 versus M 2:70 and empathy M 3:84 versus M 3:59; and in the following ISS subscales: engagement in inter-cultural interactions M 3:88 versus M 3:78 and respect for cultural differences M 4:24 versus M 4:08: Altogether, the results indicate better scores on the evaluated inter-cultural competencies for women than for men. Research on gender issues in inter-cultural competencies has been minor (Bradford et al., 1998; Dinges and Baldwin, 1996). However, Selmer (2001), who investigated whether gender is related to international adjustment like interaction adjustment, work adjustment or subjective well-being, found no gender-related effect. Concerning the evaluation by co-actors as to whether a behaviour demonstrated is competent, Biernat and Kobrynowicz (1997), as well as Foschi (1992), supplied evidence that women have more difculty in documenting their ability in competence-related domains than men. Referred to the concept of inter-cultural competence by Spitzberg (2000), this suggests that the episodic system of inter-cultural competence may be different for men than for women. On the other hand, some authors state that this disadvantage for women is cancelled out in international business. In fact, it is argued that local managers see women expatriates as foreigners, who happen to be women, not as women who happen to be foreigners (Adler, 1987, 1995). Given the increasing number of women in international business (Adler, 1995), the issue of gender related impacts on inter-cultural competencies would benet from further research. Despite the preliminary character of the study, the nding regarding the signicant impact of several cultural factors (national culture, organizational culture and gender culture) on inter-cultural competencies will be used to reconsider the understanding of inter-cultural competencies. One suggestion is to describe inter-cultural competencies as cognitive, affective and behavioural abilities or characteristics which facilitate competent interaction with a person from a different culture and not only from a different national culture. Indeed, Pearce argues, in accordance with this extended perspective on inter-cultural competencies, that inter-cultural communication can occur in a conversation between neighbours or even siblings if they do encounter their horizons as boundaries (1994: 314). Consequently, a tentative assumption is that inter-cultural competencies may not only be required when interacting with an individual from a different national culture, but whenever interacting with an individual from a different culture (e.g. gender culture, organizational culture). Recommendations for international human resource management Inter-cultural competencies were indicated to be national-culture-free in these studies. Moreover, the results give some rst indication that inter-cultural competencies may be required not only when interacting with an individual from a different national culture
1142 The International Journal of Human Resource Management but, additionally, when interacting with an individual from a different organizational culture. Consequently, it is suggested that inter-cultural trainings be generalized to a certain degree and, additionally, the focus be expanded from national culture to various cultural factors. As Triandis (1994: 2756) argues, there are so many topics relevant to getting along in other cultures that are not specic to any culture (e.g. learn to suspend judgement, to live with ambiguity). Moreover, training (future) expatriates on cultural inuences in general might prepare them better for the various cultural differences they have to deal with during their assignment. Based on the results it may be concluded that an individual possessing excellent communications skills, interpersonal skills, inter-cultural sensitivity and so on has the potential to interact successfully with both Americans and Germans. The results do not allow conclusions for further national cultures (see Study limitations below); however, it is supposed that this individual might also be successful in further Western nations. Sticking to this assumption, an interesting opportunity for IHRM might be considered: managers could be screened on inter-cultural competencies and those possessing outstanding inter-cultural competencies could be exibly assigned to tasks in different countries. For example, IHRM may identify a prole of required inter-cultural competencies for the company, develop specic assessment tools and screen and select inter-cultural high potentials. These individuals, meeting the skill requirements for successfully working with individuals from a foreign Western culture, may be exibly assigned to international projects (in Western cultures). However, inter-cultural high potentials for international tasks may differ from high potentials for national tasks. Frequently, the appropriate skill proles for national and for international projects are considerably distinguished. In fact, persons who are successful in their home country are often wholly inappropriate for cross-cultural postings precisely because of the orientations that ensured success here (Ruben, 1989: 232). For example, an individual who is extremely ambitious and taskoriented, and an aggressive problem-solver, may be successful in getting to the top in the home company, whereas he or she might not be appropriate for inter-cultural tasks, which require outstanding soft skills (sensitivity, empathy, etc.). Therefore, screening and selection procedures for international assignments should fairly be independent from an individuals past success in the home company. Conclusions National culture represents a signicant independent variable for several inter-cultural competencies in the study. However, the inter-cultural differences of the assessed intercultural competencies were moderate in comparison with the evaluated intracultural differences. The ndings indicate that inter-cultural competence is national-culture-free in the two nations. Overall, the results contribute an argument for the assumption that a general model of inter-cultural competence is justied for the two nations (and possibly for Western cultures). However, several cultural factors seem to inuence inter-cultural competencies, like gender culture and organizational culture. For IHRM the ndings suggest that selection and training processes might be generalized to a certain extent for Western cultures. Moreover, screening inter-cultural high potentials might be reected by companies. Study limitations The current studies have several limitations to be considered in evaluating the results. One major limitation is that only two (Western) nations are included. Therefore, it has been emphasized that this article can serve only as a rst approach towards the question
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of whether inter-cultural competencies are culture-free or culture-bound. Moreover, the rst study focused on ve and the second study on three inter-cultural competencies leaving open the possibility that other inter-cultural competencies would have exhibited different results. Additionally, it may be possible that the (subjective) choice of the measures may have created a bias for or against any of the dependent variables. Another potential limitation of this research project concerns the use of self-report measures, facing the threats to validity associated with self-report measures. The major threat is a potential systematic bias, which occurs when individuals misrepresent or misinterpret their own behaviour (Paulhus, 1986). The most frequent systematic bias reported by researchers is that participants answer based on social desirability. Another potential systematic bias is that the individuals being judged by others to be incompetent may themselves be inaccurate in judging their own (inter-cultural) competencies (Firth et al., 1986). An alternative data source for the studies would have been to utilize nonself-report measures (e.g. peer ratings). However, partner or third-party evaluations pose other serious methodological challenges (Spitzberg and Cupach, 1989: 5861). Future research should try to replicate and extend the focus of these studies. Since the selection of nations may have biased the ndings, preferably non-Western nations should also be included to test the validity of the results. Given the restricted availability of measures validated in several cultures, further empirical research in this eld would be benecial.
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This article was downloaded by: [ ] On: 23 March 2012, At: 12:57 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

Int. J. of Human Resource Management 15:6 September 2004 1124 1148

Graf: Screening and training inter-cultural competencies

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GER 5.43 2.65 1.84 1.28 1.18 1.11

5.12 2.48 2.02 1.70 1.12 1.03

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Notes N 367. * p # .05; ** p # .01; *** p # .001.

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Notes GER Germany. N (USA) 79; N (Germany) 98.

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Notes N 177. * p # .05; ** p # .01; *** p # .001.

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Notes N 367. * p # .05; p # .01; * p # .001.

Notes N 177. * p # .05; p # .01; * p # .001.