Theoretical and Practical Advances in the Assessment of Cross-Cultural Competence

Abstract

Organizations engaged in international operations must navigate complex intercultural dynamics for successful performance, necessitating identification of individuals who are likely to succeed in these environments and training personnel in cross-cultural competence (3C). To do so, adequate competency models of 3C need to be developed and valid 3C assessment instruments must be identified or generated. The present chapter reviews issues and challenges in 3C model development and illustrates these problems in an analysis of the Defense Language Office's Framework for Cross-Cultural Competence. The comparative advantages of competency versus causal models of 3C are discussed and an integration of competency and causal models is suggested. An examination of 34 instruments that have been recommended in the 3C civilian and military literatures for assessing cross-cultural competencies and their antecedent factors showed that existing 3C measures suffer from poor construct validity and have not been empirically linked to important outcome variables. A measurement strategy that eschews self-report methods and broadly assesses KSAOs and behavioral competencies is advocated.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA564931

Entities

People

  • Marne H. Pomerance
  • Patrice Reid
  • Rana G. Moukarzel
  • Richard L. Griffith
  • William K. Gabrenya Jr.

Organizations

  • Florida Institute of Technology

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Applied Psychology
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • Human Resources
  • Job Analysis
  • Language
  • Literature
  • Management Personnel
  • Measurement
  • Military Research
  • Organizational Structure
  • Personnel Management
  • Psychology
  • Social Sciences
  • Students
  • Training

Readers

  • Military Leadership and Professional Education.
  • Organizational Process Management (OPM).
  • Systems Analysis and Design