Cross-Cultural Skills for Deployed Air Force Personnel

Abstract : Air Force leadership recognizes that the cross-cultural performance of Air Force members now plays a greater role in mission success than ever before. The Air Force therefore asked RAND to assist in developing a comprehensive program for preparing members of the Air Force in cross-cultural skills. RAND researchers responded by first creating a taxonomy covering all behaviors relevant to cross-cultural performance after a review of the literature and discussions with Air Force personnel. From this taxonomy, the researchers developed a framework of 14 categories of cross-cultural behaviors: 9 categories of enabling behaviors and 5 categories of goal-oriented behaviors. Enabling behaviors help facilitate a variety of day-to-day activities and are likely to be needed in a variety of jobs. These categories are foreign language skills; verbal and nonverbal communication skills; social etiquette skills; stress management in unfamiliar cultural settings; behavior change to fit the cultural context; gathering and interpreting observed information; applying regional knowledge; self-initiated learning; and respecting cultural differences. Goal-oriented behaviors are associated with specific mission-related activities and are likely to be needed only by individuals working in certain Air Force Specialty Codes (AFSCs). These categories are establishing authority; influencing others; negotiating with others; establishing credibility, trust, and respect; and resolving conflict. The importance of the 14 behavior categories for deployed performance was evaluated by surveying approximately 21,000 previously deployed airmen. Respondents also were asked to indicate how much training they had received. Recommendations for the design of a comprehensive program of cross-cultural training and education were made based on extensive analyses of the results, which included determining whether training needs differed by AFSC, grade (enlisted/officer), and deployment location.

[1]  Michele J. Gelfand,et al.  A Cultural Perspective on Negotiation: Progress, Pitfalls, and Prospects , 2000 .

[2]  Stefan T. Mol,et al.  Predicting Expatriate Job Performance for Selection Purposes , 2005 .

[3]  C. Ward,et al.  The U-Curve on trial: a longitudinal study of psychological and sociocultural adjustment during Cross-Cultural transition , 1998 .

[4]  I. Goldstein.  Training in Work Organizations , 1980 .

[5]  Winston Bennett,et al.  A META-ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONS AMONG TRAINING CRITERIA , 1997 .

[6]  John P. Campbell,et al.  Individual and team training. , 2002 .

[7]  Kurt Kraiger,et al.  Perspectives on Training and Development , 2003 .

[8]  An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Culture Assimilator in Thailand and Greece. , 1972 .

[9]  Meg G. Birdseye,et al.  Individual, Organizational/Work and Environmental Influences on Expatriate Turnover Tendencies: An Empirical Study , 1995 .

[10]  Chet Robie,et al.  A meta‐analysis of the effects of cross‐cultural training on expatriate performance and adjustment , 2001 .

[11]  Yan Li,et al.  Second-Language Fluency and Person Perception in China and the United States , 1991 .

[12]  Jeremiah Sullivan,et al.  The Relationship Between Conflict Resolution Approaches and Trust—A Cross Cultural Study , 1981 .

[13]  Lyman W. Porter,et al.  Managerial Behaviors and Job Performance: A Successful Manager in Los Angeles May Not Succeed in Hong Kong , 1991 .

[14]  Chockalingam Viswesvaran,et al.  Personality determinants in the prediction of aspects of expatriate job success. , 1997 .

[15]  A. Collins,et al.  Cognition and learning. , 1996 .

[16]  R. Wiseman,et al.  Measuring intercultural sensitivity: The intercultural development inventory , 2003 .

[17]  J. Harrison,et al.  Individual and combined effects of behavior modeling and the cultural assimilator in cross-cultural management training. , 1992 .

[18]  R. Glaser.  Education and Thinking: The Role of Knowledge. , 1984 .

[19]  Richard W. Brislin,et al.  Intercultural Interactions: A Practical Guide , 1988 .

[20]  Fred E. Fiedler,et al.  The Culture Assimilator: An Approach to Cross-Cultural Training. Technical Report. , 1970 .

[21]  Dharm P. S. Bhawuk,et al.  The Role of Culture Theory in Cross-Cultural Training , 1998 .

[22]  Thomas Manacapilli,et al.  Common Battlefield Training for Airmen , 2007 .

[23]  M. Gelfand,et al.  Cross-cultural organizational behavior. , 2007, Annual review of psychology.

[24]  Ken-ichi Ohbuchi,et al.  Cultural styles of conflict management in Japanese and Americans : Passivity, covertness, and effectiveness of strategies , 1994 .

[25]  Maddy Janssens,et al.  Intercultural interaction: A burden on international managers? , 1995 .

[26]  Günter K. Stahl,et al.  Evaluation studies of cross-cultural training programs : a review of the literature from 1988-2000 , 2004 .

[27]  Jennifer L. Crafts,et al.  Inductive job analysis: The job/task inventory method. , 1997 .

[28]  H. Triandis.  The Psychological Measurement of Cultural Syndromes. , 1996 .

[29]  C. Cooper,et al.  Organizational Stress: A Review and Critique of Theory, Research, and Applications , 2001 .

[30]  Yuen J. Huo,et al.  Cultural values and authority relations: The psychology of conflict resolution across cultures. , 2000 .

[31]  Susan E. Cross,et al.  Self-Construals, Coping, and Stress in Cross-Cultural Adaptation , 1995 .

[32]  Andrew Molinsky,et al.  Language Fluency and the Evaluation of Cultural Faux Pas: Russians Interviewing for Jobs in the United States , 2005 .

[33]  Allison Abbe,et al.  Cross-Cultural Competence in Army Leaders: A Conceptual and Empirical Foundation , 2007 .

[34]  Winston Bennett,et al.  THE INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNEE: THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF FACTORS PERCEIVED TO CONTRIBUTE TO SUCCESS , 1995 .

[35]  Richard P. Larrick,et al.  Conflict Management Style: Accounting for Cross-National Differences , 1998 .

[36]  Joseph P. Cannon,et al.  Understanding the Influence of National Culture on the Development of Trust , 1998 .

[37]  R. Albert.  8 – The Intercultural Sensitizer or Culture Assimilator: A Cognitive Approach* , 1983 .

[38]  J. Stewart Black,et al.  Cross-Cultural Training Effectiveness: A Review and a Theoretical Framework for Future Research , 1990 .

[39]  Tsai Hsiao-Ying,et al.  Sojourner Adjustment , 1995 .

[40]  Paula Caligiuri,et al.  THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AS PREDICTORS OF EXPATRIATE'S DESIRE TO TERMINATE THE ASSIGNMENT AND SUPERVISOR‐RATED PERFORMANCE , 2000 .

[41]  tim boone,et al.  SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY Albert Bandura Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1977. 247 pp., paperbound , 1977 .

[42]  Y. Aharoni.  Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind , 1992 .

[43]  J. Stewart Black,et al.  Toward a Comprehensive Model of International Adjustment: An Integration of Multiple Theoretical Perspectives , 1991 .

[44]  M. Barker,et al.  Optimising conditions for learning sociocultural competencies for success , 1999 .

[45]  G. Alliger,et al.  KIRKPATRICK'S LEVELS OF TRAINING CRITERIA: THIRTY YEARS LATER , 1989 .

[46]  David A. Harrison,et al.  Input-based and time-based models of international adjustment: Meta-analytic evidence and theoretical extensions , 2005 .

[47]  J. Brett,et al.  Inter- and Intracultural Negotiation: U.S. and Japanese Negotiators , 1998 .

[48]  C. Hui,et al.  Perceived Language Proficiency and Person Perception , 1985 .

[49]  Vivian C. Sheer,et al.  Successful Sino-Western Business Negotiation: Participants' Accounts of National and Professional Cultures , 2003 .

[50]  Stella Ting-Toomey,et al.  Translating Conflict Face-Negotiation Theory into Practice , 2004 .

[51]  C. Ward,et al.  Where's the "Culture" in Cross-Cultural Transition? , 1993 .