(Elisabeth Prechtl, Ph.D. student at University of Bayreuth, Germany) Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment Centre (Elisabeth Prechtl, Ph.D. student at University of Bayreuth, Germany)

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Overview 1. Introduction: purpose of the study 2. Intercultural assessment centre 3. Design of the study 4. Validation strategy: Validation by prediction 5. Results 6. Implications and discussion

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Introduction: Purpose of the Study  International companies send employees abroad  Increase in all kinds of assignments, expecially short-term assignments (< 1 year, according to Cartus Global Mobility Policy & Practices Survey, 2007)  Success of the assignment is crucial to the company and subsidiary  more and more SME send employees abroad (e.g. frequent commuting) Key issue for international HRM: selection of candidates, assessment of an employee´s competences/ skills in dealing with different cultures (before assignment),

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Introduction: Purpose of the Study Common practice: - employees are sent abroad because of their previous overseas experience and the number of languages they speak - high reliance on self-selection of employees (in SME, Schmidt& Minssen, 2007) however, instruments for assessing intercultural competences are available:- Questionnaires ( Matsumoto et al., 2001, Earley et al., 2004), - Assessment Centres (Lievens et al., 2003, Ehret, 2006)  can an instrument such as an Intercultural Assessment Centre increase the prediction of success when other information is available?

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Overview of the Intercultural Assessment Centre  Aim of this assessment centre: to assess a candidate’s potential for intercultural encounters before being sent abroad or working in an international team  Assessment of six intercultural competences (Inca-model, Prechtl& Davidson-Lund, 2007 ): - tolerance for ambiguity - Behavioral flexibility - Respect for otherness- Empathy - Knowledge discovery- Communicative awareness  The candidates participate in different tasks which simulate „critical“ situations in contact with other cultures, like role-plays, group exercises and written scenarios

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Overview of the Intercultural Assessment Centre - Dimensions and Tasks- Tolerance for ambiguity Video exercise Roleplay 1 Roleplay 2 Written scenario Behavioral flexibility Respect EmpathyKnowledge discovery Communi- cative awareness Group roleplay

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember  t 1 Intercultural Assessment Centre  t 2 candidate participates in an interview during assignment concerning intercultural performance (telephone interview)  t 3 supervisor/ collegue (from foreign culture) answers questionnaire on candidate´s performance 3. Design of the Study Candidates are sent abroad, regardless of the result of this assessment

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Sample: employees of small and medium-sized companies (+students on internships) to be sent on short-term assignments/ commuting assignment  t subjects participate in 1day assessment (run in Germany, )  t 2 51 subjects are interviewed during assignment in different countries (self-rating, )  t 3 29 supervisors/ collegues rate them (other-rating) 3. Design of the Study

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Design of the Study Countries of assignment

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Approach: Validation by Prediction -> Can intercultural success be predicted by the result of the Assessment Centre? (predictive validity) -> Can the Assessment Centre predict more of the success criteria than biographical information? (incremental validity) Method: Ordinal Regression Analysis Parameters: R 2 according to Nagelkerke significance of model fit 4. Validation by Prediction

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Predictors:  Intercultural Assessment Centre (6 intercultural competences)  Biographical data previous overseas experience, number of foreign languages 4. Validation by Prediction Criteria of intercultural success:  Effectiveness  Adaptation to work  Commitment to foreign organization  Satisfaction with work/ in general

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Effectiveness and adaptation to work (self-rated): variance explained by predictors 5. Results: a) Success rated by Candidate

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Commitment to foreign organization (self-rated) 5. Results: a) Success rated by Candidate

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Satisfaction with living in the host country and generally (self-rated) 5. Results: a) Success rated by Candidate

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Results: a) Success rated by Candidate Summary for self-rated success: – Biographical information accounts for 2-21% of variance – Intercultural assessment (dimensions of intercultural competence) accounts additional 4-13% (increment) – However, a large part of variance remains unexplained: model of all predictors together is significant only for adaptation to work

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Effectiveness and adaptation to work (other-rated) 5. Results: b) Success rated by Supervisor

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Commitment to foreign organization (other-rated) 5. Results: b) Success rated by Supervisor

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Satisfaction with living and generally (other-rated) 5. Results: b) Success rated by Supervisor

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Results: a) Success rated by Supervisor Summary for other-rated success: – Biographical information accounts for 3-18% of variance – Intercultural assessment (dimensions of intercultural competence) accounts for additional 33-49% (increment) – Both predictors together can explain a large part of variance: model is significant for adaptation to work, commitment and satisfaction

Elisabeth Prechtl - Predictive Validation of an Intercultural Assessment CentreSeptember Some Implications… Intercultural Assessment Center (intercultural dimensions) does have an incremental validity over biographical data  an Intercultural Assessment Centre rating does enhance the accuracy of prediction  amount of variance explained by predictors differs among success criteria (e.g. more explained for other-rated criteria)  intercultural dimensions are most useful for the prediction of success criteria, when other-rated success is important (e.g. when persons are rated by others from a different culture) Discussion: is there an effect due to a self-other-rating-bias?

Thank you very much for your attention!! contact: elisabeth.prechtl(at)web.de