Building Human Capability - Globally    
ITAP R&D Update October 2008 PDF Email

In This Installment:                                           

  1. Updates on CWQ quadrant charts, new questions
  2. Multiple translations of the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™
  3. ITC Conference
  4. The latest Hofstede webinar
  5. John Bing’s meeting with Dr. Geert Hofstede

1.    An update on the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™

The ITAP International R&D team, with considerable help and feedback from our alliance partners and affiliates, has undertaken a significant overhaul of the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire (CWQ) over the last few months. Extensive statistical analysis of the reliability and discriminating qualities of questionnaire items revealed the need for careful editing of some items and replacement of other items. The revised CWQ will offer better results in terms of more accurate individual results as well as improved data for each of the countries in our database. The CWQ database currently has over 3,000 individual respondents from more than 50 countries, including more than 50 respondents from each of 11 different countries.  We are also in the process of improving the graphical capabilities of the CWQ, including adding quadrant charts (see below) that will allow users the opportunity to see results of two different dimensions plotted simultaneously.

Example of forthcoming CWQ Quadrant Chart




2.    Multiple Translations of the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™

Another exciting development is a potential translation of the CWQ into multiple languages. We are currently in the process of building a new translation capability into the framework of the CWQ online web tool. Translating the CWQ into multiple languages will increase the applicability of the tool by expanding the potential base of respondents. Because many respondents will soon be able to take the CWQ in their native language, the overall validity of the CWQ and its subsequent results will also be improved to a great degree. The increase in the number of CWQ respondents will eventually lead to improvements in the country scores that we report to respondents.

3.     Report from the International Testing Commission Conference

Michael Huge, ITAP’s Director of Research and Development, recently attended the International Testing Commission Conference in Liverpool, England (http://www.intestcom.org/). At the ITC Conference, cutting-edge ideas were presented by top researchers and practitioners in the fields of international business, education, cross-cultural psychology, anthropology, and linguistics. Main themes of the conference included measuring the equivalence of instruments across cultures from both a conceptual and a statistical standpoint; detecting social desirability in respondents by using forced choice or “ipsative” measures in testing; special considerations in translating questionnaires; and the latest in item response theory and differential item functioning.


4.    Hofstede webinar:  Differentiating the What and the Why of Organizational Culture and National Culture

In a recent ITAP webinar, Dr. Geert Hofstede discussed “Integrating Corporate Practices and National Cultural Values.”  The topic is highly relevant to organizations operating in a volatile global economic environment.  While economic turmoil creates challenges and failures, it also creates opportunities as evidenced in a large number of mergers and takeovers.  How should these newly-formed entities integrate to become one organization?   At least part of the key to success in this area lies in the lessons shared by Dr. Hofstede.

Most experts, including Dr. Hofstede, agree that changing corporate culture is difficult and takes time.  What is often overlooked or at least underestimated when two or more companies merge/integrate is how the underlying personal values of employees impact how they perceive the corporate culture change efforts. What is appropriate in one national setting is wholly offensive in another.  What is rational in one national setting is wholly irrational in another.  Corporate culture never trumps national culture.   
The answer, then, lies not in abandoning efforts to unify organizations after a merger or canceling efforts to build a high performance culture, but in unifying corporate practices globally while honoring local cultural values. We must work at the intersection of business and national cultural value differences.  Listen to some audio clips from the session here.

5.    John Bing meets with Geert Hofstede

John Bing, ITAP’s founder, met with Geert Hofstede in Los Angeles while Geert and his wife, Maaike, were on their way for a vacation in Samoa.  They discussed improvements in the Culture in the Workplace Questionnaire™ and future collaboration between Dr. Hofstede and ITAP.  Dr. Hofstede reviewed new research in the field and how that might influence future understanding of distinctions between national cultures.  At 80, Dr. Hofstede continues a schedule of writing and travel that would tire most of his juniors!

 
 

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