Managerial Competency Appraisal: A Cross-cultural Study of American and East Asian Managers

1. Managerial Competency Appraisal: A Cross-cultural Study of American and East Asian Managers Journalof Business Research 61(2008)P191-200 EricChong

2. Outline • Introduction • Nationality, organisational culture and managerial behaviour • Cross-Culture managerial competency assessment • Testing for cultural and competency differences • Method • Managerial Assessment of Proficiency (MAP) instrument • Multi-level data collection and analysis • Results • Discussionandconclusion

3. Purpose • What extent to then can the managerial competencies acquires in one cultural environment be applied to in a different environment?

4. Nationality, organisational culture and managerial behaviour • Culture • Collective programming of the mind which distinguishes members of one group from another. • Twolinesofinquiry • broad behavioural similarities and differences within national cultures • “organisational cultures” and “industrial cultures” affect managerial practices and behavioural patterns (Schein, 1992, Trompenaars, 1994; House, 2004)

5. 權力距離。一國範圍內人與人之間的不平等程度。權力距離。一國範圍內人與人之間的不平等程度。 • 個人主義與集體主義。個人對於人際關係（他們所屬的家庭或組織）的認同與重視程度。 • 男性氣質與女性氣質。男性氣質的文化有益於權力、控制、獲取等社會行，與之相對的女性氣質文化則更有益於個人、情感以及生活質量。 • 不確定性規避。一國範圍內人們對於結構性情景（相對於非結構性情景、非常規態勢）的偏愛程度。 • 長期取向與短期取向。長期：著眼於未來的價值取向，比如儲蓄習慣和堅持力。短期：著眼於短期和眼前的價值取向，比如尊重傳統、重視履行社會義務。

6. Cross-Culture managerial competency assessment • Managerial competencies • The individual‘s characteristics that are causally related to effective and/or superior job performance of managers. (Boyatzis,1982) • A direct connection between culture and managerial competencies was established by Boutet et al. (2000) in their study of Rothmans International.

7. Cultural dimensions and managerial competency

8. Three Steps to Test

9. Hypothesis H1. Using managers' scores on an instrument that assesses managerial competency Managers from Asian countries will have scores that are similar to each other, but different from those of American managers. H2. When using an instrument that Americans have developed to assess managerial competency American managers will receive higher scores than Singapore managers on “people- oriented” communication and supervision competencies. H3. When using an instrument that Americans have developed to assess managerial competency No significant difference in scores between American and Singapore managers on “technical-oriented” administrative and cognitive competencies.

10. A comparison between American and Singapore managers (Hofstede’s, 2003) • Power Distance (USA - 40, Singapore - 74) • Individualism (USA - 91, Singapore – 20)

11. People-oriented Technical-oriented Administrative competencies time management and prioritising setting goals and standards planning and scheduling work Cognitive competencies identifying and solving problems making decisions and weighing risks and thinking clearly and analytically • Communication competencies • listening and organising • giving clear information • getting unbiased information • Supervision competencies • training, coaching and delegating • appraising people and performance • disciplining and counselling

12. Managerial Assessment of Proficiency (MAP) • 12 Competencies grouped into four clusters • Administrative cluster • Communication cluster • Supervisory cluster • Cognitive cluster • MAP is an assessment of a manager's knowledge and recognition of good management practices. • Published by Parry (1992) • Videostory-line • 187 multiple choice question

13. From individuals of known organisations • MAP assessment data of managers from Taiwan (n=932), Malaysia (n=304) and Philippines(n=58) wereusedinthis study Data Collected • The average competency scores of individuals within an organisation • 142 managers (27 Singapore-based organisations) • 14 (private sector), 13 (civil service ministries) • The average competency scores of organisations within a country • 3193 managers (average of 49.1 per organization) • 15 (public sector), 50 (private sector)

14. Five-nation Euclidean dissimilarity coefficient matrix Euclidean Distance Model (歐基里德的距離模型)

15. Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) The Taiwan managers were furthest from the American managers and the Singapore managers were closest to the Malaysia managers.

16. Comparison of US and Singapore public sector managers' MAP competencies People-oriented

17. Comparison of US and Singapore private sector managers' MAP competencies People-oriented

18. Result The Singapore managers scored significantly lower than the US managers in 9 out of the 12 assessed competencies. (People-oriented are significantly higher for US) Significant differences No significant differences Setting goals and prioritising Planning and scheduling work and making decision Weighing risks competencies Technical-oriented: • Time management and prioritising • Identifying and solving problems • Thinking clearly and analytically

19. Discussion • The difference in culture was distinguished in the same assessed competencies in both the private and public sectors. • Is this result a true reflection of managerial capability or an artefact of the testing instrument? • Supervisory competency: Power Distance and Individualism indices between the two countries by Hofstede's (2003). • Triandis‘ (1982) distinction between Dionysian cultures(酒神文化), where subordinates are motivated through close interpersonal affiliation and Apollonian cultures(阿波羅文化), where there the relationship between manager and subordinate is characterised by tasks and formality. • This certainly points to the American-developed instrument being inappropriate for used on Singapore managers.

20. Conclusion • The association between skill types and “etic/emic” factors in cross-cultural competency comparisons is an area for further study. • Limitation • The information on respondents in three of the four East Asian countries studied was limited to organization or national-level data. • The differences in sample sizes, meant that the full extent of comparability between all samples could not be established. • The research findings provide empirical evidence that suggest organisations, in managing and assessing their overseas personnel, ought to distinguish between technical skills (tend to be applicable across cultures) and people skills (prone to cultural differences).

21. Thanksforyourlistening.