Library
Here you can see the availability of our institute’s library books ranging from the areas of intercultural communication, intercultural management, theories of culture, diversity, gender and country-specific knowledge.
Our reference library is open during business hours or on appointment.
Intercultural communication and competence
Diagnosis of intercultural competence
In preparation for assignments abroad but also in relation to the management of multicultural teams domestically, HR departments see the increasing demand of cross-cultural competence tests to check suitability and training needs of the candidates in advance. This requires the processing of multi-dimensional metrics.
Despite strong demand for sophisticated on-line tests designed for the evaluation of intercultural competence, previously available versions are not yet well developed and lack the knowledge of social and cultural studies. They are based mostly on simplified models, for example, the model of Hofstede, and do not satisfy the complexity of the issue and thus are not usable as a valid measurement instrument.
In a cooperation project with “2: team”, a media GmbH from Munich, we developed an assessment test to measure intercultural competence, which was the first reliable indication of the maturity level and cross-cultural sensitivity held by a person and also can be used as a learning tool. Parallel to the first stage, an internet-based test, the second stage is designed as a process where case studies are applied and the application results should be individually evaluated by experts.
We try to create multifactor online-controlled testing procedures. This knowledge awareness and capacity building can be included in order to collect a detailed picture of intercultural competence and the necessary training potentials.
Claim of the ZIM is to draw a cultural view of “intercultural communication and competence” and to derive from this perspective informed recommendations for complex measurement methods.
As for the online procedure, we do not set our expectations too high. The requirement of the tool is to measure the change in level of intercultural competence prior to the training and after, subsequently measuring the overall success of the training. In addition it can be used in awarding skill certificates.
The thesis of Jochen Schiffmann (October 2009) provides a detailed scientific basis while incorporating current cultural theories to develop a cross-cultural competence measuring method.
