On the job management training and multi (1)
European J. Cross-Cultural Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2011
On-the-job management training and multicultural
skills: the moderating effect of openness to
experience
Milan Pagon*
Al Ghurair University,
P.O. Box 37374, Dubai, UAE
Fax: +971-4-4200224
E-mail: [email protected]
*Corresponding author
Emanuel Banutai
Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security,
University of Maribor,
Kotnikova 8, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Fax: +386-1-2302-687
E-mail: [email protected]
Uroš Bizjak
University of Iowa – CIMBA,
Via San Giacomo 4, 31017 Paderno del Grappa, Italy
Fax: +39-0423-951104
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: This study examined the effects of on-the-job management training
on the incumbent public administration managers’ multicultural skills as a
function of the managers’ openness to experience. Two hundred eighty four
public administration managers from the European Commission and 26
member states participated in the study. The results indicate that on-the-job
training (including the initial training, informal training, mentoring, coaching,
and the availability of resources) improve the incumbent managers’
multicultural skills, but only when the managers are moderate or high in
openness to experience. The multicultural skills of the managers who are high
in openness to experience benefit from on-the-job training the most, followed
by the skills of the managers who are moderate in openness to experience.
When the managers are low in openness to experience, the increased amounts
of on-the-job training actually decrease their level of multicultural skills.
Keywords: management training; multicultural skills; openness to experience;
public administration.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Pagon, M., Banutai, E. and
Bizjak, U. (2011) ‘On-the-job management training and multicultural skills: the
moderating effect of openness to experience’, European J. Cross-Cultural
Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.45–53.
Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
45
46
M. Pagon et al.
Biographical notes: Milan Pagon is a Professor of Management at Al Ghurair
University in Dubai, UAE. He received his DSc in Organisational Sciences
from the University of Maribor, Slovenia, and his PhD in Business
Administration from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA. Prior to his
current position, he served as a Professor at the University of Maribor,
Slovenia, Adjunct Professor at the University of Iowa, USA, as well as Visiting
Professor at the Middle East Technical University, Northern Cyprus Campus,
and the University of Arkansas, USA, among others.
Emanuel Banutai is a young Researcher at the Faculty of Criminal Justice and
Security, University of Maribor, Slovenia. He received his BA in Criminal
Justice and Security from the same institution. Prior to his current position, he
worked as an intern at the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia.
He is currently pursuing his PhD at the Faculty of Organisational Studies,
University of Maribor, Slovenia.
Uroš Bizjak is an undergraduate Campus Life Coordinator at the University of
Iowa – CIMBA Italy. He received his BSc in Management Information
Systems from the University of Maribor, Slovenia. Prior to his current position,
he worked as a Student Assistant at the Faculty of Organisational Sciences and
as an intern at the Slovenia Control – Slovenian Air Navigation Company. He
is currently pursuing his MBA at the University of Iowa – Henry B. Tippie
College of Business.
1
Introduction1
Multicultural skills (MCS) can be understood as a subset of intergroup competencies
(Ramsey and Kantambu Latting, 2005) and collaborative competencies (Getha-Taylor,
2008), but focus specifically on working with people and issues originating from cultures
other than one’s own.
Pagon et al. (2009) found MCS to be significantly and positively correlated with
openness to experience and on-the-job training. In this paper, however, we want to
explore the interaction between openness to experience and on-the-job training in their
relation to MCS.
In terms of the Fink and Mayrhofer’s (2009) framework, this is a personal-level
study. It does not investigate the culture; rather, it focuses on personality and its impact
upon the relationship between on-the-job training and MCS. While we agree with Fink
and Mayrhofer (2009) that “people in their behavior are not mechanistically determined
by values, norms and personality traits, but rather guided in their behavioral choices and
also are willing and capable to learn” (p.45), we also believe that their capacity to learn is
itself influenced by their personality.
Openness to experience is one of the big five factors of personality (Costa and
McCrae, 1992; McCrae, 1994). Traits commonly associated with this dimension include
being imaginative, cultured, curious, original, broad-minded, and intelligent (Barrick and
Mount, 1991). According to McCrae and Costa (1997), open individuals are highly
motivated to actively seek out new and varied experiences. Rather than being passive
recipients of new experiences, open individuals are in a constant quest of unfamiliar
situations characterised by a high degree of novelty, as a result of which, they have
access to a variety of ideas and perspectives. In the words of McCrae (1994, p.257),
On-the-job management training and multicultural skills
47
openness to experience is “a trait dimension that affects nearly every aspect of the
individual’s life”.
In previous research, openness to experience has been related to various aspects of
MCS and settings. Summarising the research findings, Ang et al. (2006) conclude that
working with people from different cultures can be difficult for individuals and for their
organisations because cultural barriers can cause misunderstandings and interfere with
efficient and effective interactions. The authors describe those individuals high on
openness to experience as
“… curious and enjoy trying to figure out new things. In other words, they
adopt metacognitive strategies when thinking about and interacting with those
who have different cultural backgrounds. In addition, those who are high in
openness should be more likely to question their own cultural assumptions,
analyze the cultural preferences and norms of others (before and during
interactions), and reexamine their mental models based on interactions with
those from other cultures… They should be more knowledgeable about specific
aspects of other cultures… They are also willing to experience and enjoy new
and unfamiliar environments… [They] seek out, act on new experiences, and
extend their repertoire of behaviors beyond the daily habits.” (pp.108–109)
Their results showed that openness to experience was related to all four factors of CQ
(cultural intelligence), namely metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioural
CQ. The authors emphasise the importance of openness to experience, particularly in
dynamic situations where curiosity, broad-mindedness, and imagination are important.
Therefore, openness to experience is a crucial personality characteristic that is related to a
person’s capability to function effectively in diverse cultural settings (Ang et al., 2006).
MCS not only require learning but also the development of different, more appropriate,
and possibly counterintuitive ways of doing things (cf. Le Pine et al., 2000).
Homan and colleagues (2008) found that there are differences in how teams
experience their diversity. Diverse teams that score high on openness to experience
perform better than diverse teams that score low on this characteristic. When differences
within a team are salient, openness to experience helps teams to capitalise upon their
differences.
But not only has openness to experience been linked to MCS and dealing with
diversity; this personality construct was found to be a valid predictor of training
proficiency (Barrick and Mount, 1991; Salgado, 1997). In a meta-analytic review of
research on the big five, Barrick and Mount (1991) found a corrected correlation of .25
between openness and learning proficiency across five occupational groups. According to
the authors, measures of openness to experience may identify which individuals are most
willing to engage in learning experiences and, consequently, are most likely to benefit
from training programmes. Cellar et al. (1996; cited in Colquitt et al., 2002) showed that
open individuals received more favourable training evaluations in the context of flight
attendant courses.
According to Colquitt et al. (2002), several characteristics of open individuals may
help explain such findings. For example, open individuals are more likely to use learning
strategies that deepen understanding of trained material (Blickle, 1996; Busato et al.,
1999 – both cited in Colquitt et al., 2002). They are also likely to remain confident in the
face of adversity (Schutte et al., 1998; cited in Colquitt et al., 2002) and adapt when
contextual changes make learned behaviours counterproductive (Le Pine et al., 2000).
Open individuals are more willing to engage in the type of self-monitoring and
48
M. Pagon et al.
assessment that is necessary for learning in changing task contexts (Blickle, 1996; Busato
et al., 1999 – both cited in Le Pine et al., 2000).
At the same time, on-the-job training has been linked to improved cognitive and
behavioural cultural intelligence (Grigorian, 2008) and higher level of MCS (Pagon et al.,
2009). Therefore, since both openness to experience and on-the-job training are related to
cultural skills, and since openness to experience was found to be a predictor of training
proficiency, we hypothesise as follows.
Hypothesis On-the-job-training and openness to experience interact to predict the level
of MCS: relative to managers with lower levels of openness to experience,
managers with high levels of openness to experience benefit from higher
levels of on-the-job training.
2
Methods
2.1 Sample
Two hundred eighty four public administration managers from the European Commission
and 26 Member States participated in the study. One hundred fifty three (54%) of the
subjects were male and 130 (46%) were female. The mean age of the subjects was 46.2
years. Sample included 41 (14.5%) subjects with a doctoral degree, 138 (49%) had a
master’s degree, 95 (33.7%) had a university degree, and 8 (2.8%) subjects had a high
school degree or less. One hundred seventy two (61.2%) subjects reported being in the
rank of middle management, while 109 (38.8%) indicated the rank of top management.
The average amount of work experience of the subjects was 21.4 years; the average
amount of work experience in public administration was 16.5 years; and the average
amount of work experience at the current institution was ten years. The mean amount of
work experience in the current position was 3.6 years.
2.2 Measures
2.2.1 Multicultural skills
We developed a 7-item scale measuring MCS. Sample items were: “I feel confident
conducting a meeting in a foreign language”, “I feel confident working with and/or
supervising people from other cultures”, and “I participate effectively in multicultural
teams”. The respondents indicated their answers on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 –
strongly disagree; 7 – strongly agree). Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .78.
2.2.2 On-the-job training
We developed a 13-item scale measuring on-the-job training (including the initial
training, informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources).
Sample items were: “I was formally trained in all aspects of work in my current
position”, “During my career, I received formal training in teamwork”, and “In our PA
On-the-job management training and multicultural skills
49
institution, funds for development and innovation are readily available”. The response
format was the same as in the previous scale. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .79.
2.2.3 Openness to experience
We used a 4-item Openness to Experience subscale from the Mini IPIP Scales
(Donnellan et al., 2006). Sample items were: “I have vivid imagination”, and “I am not
interested in abstract ideas (reverse-scored)”. The response format was the same as in the
previous scales. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .61.
2.3 Procedure
This study was a part of a broader study conducted for the Human Resource Working
Group (HRWG) of the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN) under the
Slovenian Presidency of the EU, and was financially supported by the Slovenian Ministry
of Public Administration.
We used an online questionnaire, published at http://www.surveymonkey.com. The
link to the questionnaire was distributed to public administration managers by the HRWG
members in their respective countries. The rationale for the study was explained to the
HRWG members at two meetings (in Brdo, Slovenia, and in Brussels, Belgium).
Participation in the study was voluntary.
3
Results
The means, standard deviations, and correlations for the variables of interest are reported
in Table 1.
Table 1
Descriptive statistics and correlations
Variables
Mean
S.d.
1
2
1 Multicultural skills
4.71
.95
-
2 On-the-job training
4.14
.90
.22**
-
3 Openness to experience
4.99
.95
.18*
–.09
Notes: *p < .05; **p < .001 and ***p < .0001.
As reported previously (Pagon et al., 2009), MCS are significantly and positively
correlated with openness to experience and on-the-job training. The amount of on-the-job
training and openness to experience are not significantly correlated.
We then analysed the results using hierarchical linear regression for MCS as a
dependent variable. First, we entered on-the-job-training. In the second step, openness to
experience was entered. Finally, we entered the interaction term (the product of openness
to experience and on-the-job training). To reduce the threat of multicollinearity and in
keeping with recommendations of Aiken and West (1991) and Jaccard et al. (1990), the
main effect variables were centred prior to forming the interaction term. Centred
variables were computed by subtracting the mean from its respective raw score for each
case. The results of hierarchical regression are shown in Table 2.
50
M. Pagon et al.
The results revealed a significant interaction between on-the-job training and
openness to experience on MCS (see step 3 in Table 2), which accounted for 4% of the
incremental variance in MCS beyond the main effects, lending support for our
hypothesis.
Results of hierarchical regression analysis for dependent variable MCSa
Table 2
Variable
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
On-the-job training
.22*b
.25*
.23*
.24*
.27*
Openness to experience
On-the job training × openness to experience
Total R
2
.20*
.05*
Δ R block
2
.11*
.15*
.06*
.04*
Notes: an = 239; bstandardised β coefficients are shown. *p < .001.
To understand this interaction, we plotted the effect of the three levels of on-the-job
training for each of the three levels of openness to experience. The three levels for
on-the-job training and for openness to experience were created by splitting the
respective scores in three groups (low – the scores more than one standard deviation
below the mean; medium – the scores within +/– one standard deviation from the mean;
high – the scores more than one standard deviation above the mean). The interaction of
on-the-job training and openness to experience is depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Interaction effects
MULTICULTURAL SKILLS
6
SL
LI 5,5
K
S
L
A 5
R
U
TL
U 4,5
C
IT
L 4
U
M
3,5
High Openness to
Experience
Medium Openness
to Experience
Low Openness to
Experience
Low
Medium
High
ON‐THE‐JOB TRAINING
The results indicate that on-the-job training (including the initial training, informal
training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources) improve the incumbent
managers’ MCS, but only when the managers are moderate or high in openness to
experience. The MCS of the managers who are high in openness to experience benefit
from on-the-job training the most, followed by the skills of the managers who are
moderate in openness to experience. When the managers are low in openness to
experience, the increased amounts of on-the-job training decrease the level of their MCS.
It is interesting to note, however, that when the reported level of on-the-job training is
low, managers who are low in openness to experience report higher levels of MCS than
do other managers.
On-the-job management training and multicultural skills
4
51
Discussion
To understand this study’s findings, one must consider the traits associated with openness
to experience, namely, being imaginative, cultured, curious, original, broad-minded, and
intelligent (Barrick and Mount, 1991); questioning their own cultural assumptions, being
willing to experience and enjoy new and unfamiliar environments, seeking out, and
acting on new experiences, and extending their repertoire of behaviours beyond the daily
habits (Ang et al., 2006). It might as well be that when the levels of initial training,
informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources are low,
individuals high in openness to experience get bored and do not put their abilities to the
best use. On the other hand, those low in openness to experience might be much
more comfortable under such circumstances, which is why they outperform their
high-openness-to-experience counterparts in terms of their MCS. As the levels of initial
training, informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources start to
increase, the situation gets reversed. Individuals high in openness to experience become
more comfortable with the situation and their willingness to engage in learning
experiences results in theirs benefiting more from training programmes, as found by
Barrick and Mount (1991). Those low in openness to experience, on the other hand,
might not respond well to the increased levels of on-the-job training, might be less able to
deal with the newly created complexities, and might resent the burden placed upon their
cognitive, conative, and behavioural resources. This explanation is in line with the
reasoning of Hong et al. (2007; cited in Leung et al., 2008) that when close-minded
individuals are exposed to unfamiliar cultures, they may find novel ideas and practices in
these ‘foreign’ cultures overwhelming and threatening and therefore may resist these
ideas and retreat to the intellectual comfort zone in their own culture.
The present study adds to the openness to experience and MCS literature by showing
that openness to experience interacts with on-the-job training in their relation to MCS.
Although it has been shown that MCS (under various names) are related both to openness
to experience (e.g., Ang et al., 2006; Pagon et al., 2009) and to on-the-job training (e.g.,
Grigorian, 2008; Pagon et al., 2009), and that openness to experience was found to be a
valid predictor of training proficiency (Barrick and Mount, 1991; Salgado, 1997) no
research to date – to the best of our knowledge – has examined the interaction of these
two variables.
There are, however, some studies that investigated similar moderating effects of
openness to experience. Leung and colleagues (2008) examined whether multicultural
experience enhances creativity and found an interaction between openness to experience
and multicultural experience. Among the relatively open participants, those with more
extensive multicultural experience performed better on two creativity tests, while among
the relatively close-minded participants, exposure to multicultural experience was
associated with poorer performance on both tests. Colquitt and colleagues (2002)
investigated the effects of computer-assisted communication on team decision-making
performance as a function of the team’s openness to experience and found that access to
computer-assisted communication improved the decision-making performance of teams,
but only when the teams were high in openness to experience. Baer and Oldham (2006),
exploring the relation between experienced creative time pressure and creativity, found
that openness to experience combined with support to modify the curvilinear creative
time pressure-creativity relation.
52
M. Pagon et al.
Our results, therefore, add to the body of knowledge about the importance of
openness to experience as a moderator of many relationships among various variables
that have relevance for organisational life, such as multicultural experience – creativity,
computer-assisted communication – decision-making, creative time pressure – creativity,
and now on-the-job training – MCS relationship.
In terms of practical implications, our findings suggest that selecting public sector
managers who score high on openness to experience might help increasing the
effectiveness of on-the-job training programmes as well as the level of MCS in public
administration. If, for whatever reason, openness data are not available, research shows
that observer ratings of some big five characteristics are just as valid as self-ratings, so
supervisors may be able to judge openness more informally (Mount et al., 1994; cited in
Colquitt et al., 2002). At the same time, we cannot expect an individual’s openness to
experience to change much over the years. Temporal stability for individual differences
in traits increases over the life course, reaching impressively high levels in the
middle-adult years (McAdams and Olson, 2010). Roberts et al. (2006; cited in McAdams
and Olson, 2010) conducted a meta analysis of 92 longitudinal studies, analysing mean
scores on traits by age decades, from age 10 to age 70. Openness to experience showed a
curvilinear trend: an increase up to age 20 and then a decrease after age 50.
This study should be evaluated in light of its limitations. The major ones are a small
sample size and exclusive reliance on self-report measures; no data from the managers’
subordinates, superiors, or clients were collected. In testing the predictive validity of
individuals’ self-reported multicultural competence, Cartwright et al. (2008) found
significant differences between self-report scores and independent observer ratings, with
self-report scores being higher for all respondents.
Future studies should address these limitations. Also, this study’s findings obtained
on a sample of public administration managers should be tested in other
sectors/industries. It is our hope that this study will instigate more research into the role
that openness to experience is playing in organisational settings, especially when it comes
to MCS and competency.
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Notes
1
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Association of
Cross-Cultural Competence and Management (IACCM) 2009 conference in Vienna (Austria),
24–26 June 2009.
On-the-job management training and multicultural
skills: the moderating effect of openness to
experience
Milan Pagon*
Al Ghurair University,
P.O. Box 37374, Dubai, UAE
Fax: +971-4-4200224
E-mail: [email protected]
*Corresponding author
Emanuel Banutai
Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security,
University of Maribor,
Kotnikova 8, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Fax: +386-1-2302-687
E-mail: [email protected]
Uroš Bizjak
University of Iowa – CIMBA,
Via San Giacomo 4, 31017 Paderno del Grappa, Italy
Fax: +39-0423-951104
E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: This study examined the effects of on-the-job management training
on the incumbent public administration managers’ multicultural skills as a
function of the managers’ openness to experience. Two hundred eighty four
public administration managers from the European Commission and 26
member states participated in the study. The results indicate that on-the-job
training (including the initial training, informal training, mentoring, coaching,
and the availability of resources) improve the incumbent managers’
multicultural skills, but only when the managers are moderate or high in
openness to experience. The multicultural skills of the managers who are high
in openness to experience benefit from on-the-job training the most, followed
by the skills of the managers who are moderate in openness to experience.
When the managers are low in openness to experience, the increased amounts
of on-the-job training actually decrease their level of multicultural skills.
Keywords: management training; multicultural skills; openness to experience;
public administration.
Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Pagon, M., Banutai, E. and
Bizjak, U. (2011) ‘On-the-job management training and multicultural skills: the
moderating effect of openness to experience’, European J. Cross-Cultural
Competence and Management, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.45–53.
Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
45
46
M. Pagon et al.
Biographical notes: Milan Pagon is a Professor of Management at Al Ghurair
University in Dubai, UAE. He received his DSc in Organisational Sciences
from the University of Maribor, Slovenia, and his PhD in Business
Administration from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA. Prior to his
current position, he served as a Professor at the University of Maribor,
Slovenia, Adjunct Professor at the University of Iowa, USA, as well as Visiting
Professor at the Middle East Technical University, Northern Cyprus Campus,
and the University of Arkansas, USA, among others.
Emanuel Banutai is a young Researcher at the Faculty of Criminal Justice and
Security, University of Maribor, Slovenia. He received his BA in Criminal
Justice and Security from the same institution. Prior to his current position, he
worked as an intern at the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Slovenia.
He is currently pursuing his PhD at the Faculty of Organisational Studies,
University of Maribor, Slovenia.
Uroš Bizjak is an undergraduate Campus Life Coordinator at the University of
Iowa – CIMBA Italy. He received his BSc in Management Information
Systems from the University of Maribor, Slovenia. Prior to his current position,
he worked as a Student Assistant at the Faculty of Organisational Sciences and
as an intern at the Slovenia Control – Slovenian Air Navigation Company. He
is currently pursuing his MBA at the University of Iowa – Henry B. Tippie
College of Business.
1
Introduction1
Multicultural skills (MCS) can be understood as a subset of intergroup competencies
(Ramsey and Kantambu Latting, 2005) and collaborative competencies (Getha-Taylor,
2008), but focus specifically on working with people and issues originating from cultures
other than one’s own.
Pagon et al. (2009) found MCS to be significantly and positively correlated with
openness to experience and on-the-job training. In this paper, however, we want to
explore the interaction between openness to experience and on-the-job training in their
relation to MCS.
In terms of the Fink and Mayrhofer’s (2009) framework, this is a personal-level
study. It does not investigate the culture; rather, it focuses on personality and its impact
upon the relationship between on-the-job training and MCS. While we agree with Fink
and Mayrhofer (2009) that “people in their behavior are not mechanistically determined
by values, norms and personality traits, but rather guided in their behavioral choices and
also are willing and capable to learn” (p.45), we also believe that their capacity to learn is
itself influenced by their personality.
Openness to experience is one of the big five factors of personality (Costa and
McCrae, 1992; McCrae, 1994). Traits commonly associated with this dimension include
being imaginative, cultured, curious, original, broad-minded, and intelligent (Barrick and
Mount, 1991). According to McCrae and Costa (1997), open individuals are highly
motivated to actively seek out new and varied experiences. Rather than being passive
recipients of new experiences, open individuals are in a constant quest of unfamiliar
situations characterised by a high degree of novelty, as a result of which, they have
access to a variety of ideas and perspectives. In the words of McCrae (1994, p.257),
On-the-job management training and multicultural skills
47
openness to experience is “a trait dimension that affects nearly every aspect of the
individual’s life”.
In previous research, openness to experience has been related to various aspects of
MCS and settings. Summarising the research findings, Ang et al. (2006) conclude that
working with people from different cultures can be difficult for individuals and for their
organisations because cultural barriers can cause misunderstandings and interfere with
efficient and effective interactions. The authors describe those individuals high on
openness to experience as
“… curious and enjoy trying to figure out new things. In other words, they
adopt metacognitive strategies when thinking about and interacting with those
who have different cultural backgrounds. In addition, those who are high in
openness should be more likely to question their own cultural assumptions,
analyze the cultural preferences and norms of others (before and during
interactions), and reexamine their mental models based on interactions with
those from other cultures… They should be more knowledgeable about specific
aspects of other cultures… They are also willing to experience and enjoy new
and unfamiliar environments… [They] seek out, act on new experiences, and
extend their repertoire of behaviors beyond the daily habits.” (pp.108–109)
Their results showed that openness to experience was related to all four factors of CQ
(cultural intelligence), namely metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioural
CQ. The authors emphasise the importance of openness to experience, particularly in
dynamic situations where curiosity, broad-mindedness, and imagination are important.
Therefore, openness to experience is a crucial personality characteristic that is related to a
person’s capability to function effectively in diverse cultural settings (Ang et al., 2006).
MCS not only require learning but also the development of different, more appropriate,
and possibly counterintuitive ways of doing things (cf. Le Pine et al., 2000).
Homan and colleagues (2008) found that there are differences in how teams
experience their diversity. Diverse teams that score high on openness to experience
perform better than diverse teams that score low on this characteristic. When differences
within a team are salient, openness to experience helps teams to capitalise upon their
differences.
But not only has openness to experience been linked to MCS and dealing with
diversity; this personality construct was found to be a valid predictor of training
proficiency (Barrick and Mount, 1991; Salgado, 1997). In a meta-analytic review of
research on the big five, Barrick and Mount (1991) found a corrected correlation of .25
between openness and learning proficiency across five occupational groups. According to
the authors, measures of openness to experience may identify which individuals are most
willing to engage in learning experiences and, consequently, are most likely to benefit
from training programmes. Cellar et al. (1996; cited in Colquitt et al., 2002) showed that
open individuals received more favourable training evaluations in the context of flight
attendant courses.
According to Colquitt et al. (2002), several characteristics of open individuals may
help explain such findings. For example, open individuals are more likely to use learning
strategies that deepen understanding of trained material (Blickle, 1996; Busato et al.,
1999 – both cited in Colquitt et al., 2002). They are also likely to remain confident in the
face of adversity (Schutte et al., 1998; cited in Colquitt et al., 2002) and adapt when
contextual changes make learned behaviours counterproductive (Le Pine et al., 2000).
Open individuals are more willing to engage in the type of self-monitoring and
48
M. Pagon et al.
assessment that is necessary for learning in changing task contexts (Blickle, 1996; Busato
et al., 1999 – both cited in Le Pine et al., 2000).
At the same time, on-the-job training has been linked to improved cognitive and
behavioural cultural intelligence (Grigorian, 2008) and higher level of MCS (Pagon et al.,
2009). Therefore, since both openness to experience and on-the-job training are related to
cultural skills, and since openness to experience was found to be a predictor of training
proficiency, we hypothesise as follows.
Hypothesis On-the-job-training and openness to experience interact to predict the level
of MCS: relative to managers with lower levels of openness to experience,
managers with high levels of openness to experience benefit from higher
levels of on-the-job training.
2
Methods
2.1 Sample
Two hundred eighty four public administration managers from the European Commission
and 26 Member States participated in the study. One hundred fifty three (54%) of the
subjects were male and 130 (46%) were female. The mean age of the subjects was 46.2
years. Sample included 41 (14.5%) subjects with a doctoral degree, 138 (49%) had a
master’s degree, 95 (33.7%) had a university degree, and 8 (2.8%) subjects had a high
school degree or less. One hundred seventy two (61.2%) subjects reported being in the
rank of middle management, while 109 (38.8%) indicated the rank of top management.
The average amount of work experience of the subjects was 21.4 years; the average
amount of work experience in public administration was 16.5 years; and the average
amount of work experience at the current institution was ten years. The mean amount of
work experience in the current position was 3.6 years.
2.2 Measures
2.2.1 Multicultural skills
We developed a 7-item scale measuring MCS. Sample items were: “I feel confident
conducting a meeting in a foreign language”, “I feel confident working with and/or
supervising people from other cultures”, and “I participate effectively in multicultural
teams”. The respondents indicated their answers on a 7-point Likert-type scale (1 –
strongly disagree; 7 – strongly agree). Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .78.
2.2.2 On-the-job training
We developed a 13-item scale measuring on-the-job training (including the initial
training, informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources).
Sample items were: “I was formally trained in all aspects of work in my current
position”, “During my career, I received formal training in teamwork”, and “In our PA
On-the-job management training and multicultural skills
49
institution, funds for development and innovation are readily available”. The response
format was the same as in the previous scale. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .79.
2.2.3 Openness to experience
We used a 4-item Openness to Experience subscale from the Mini IPIP Scales
(Donnellan et al., 2006). Sample items were: “I have vivid imagination”, and “I am not
interested in abstract ideas (reverse-scored)”. The response format was the same as in the
previous scales. Cronbach’s alpha for this scale was .61.
2.3 Procedure
This study was a part of a broader study conducted for the Human Resource Working
Group (HRWG) of the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN) under the
Slovenian Presidency of the EU, and was financially supported by the Slovenian Ministry
of Public Administration.
We used an online questionnaire, published at http://www.surveymonkey.com. The
link to the questionnaire was distributed to public administration managers by the HRWG
members in their respective countries. The rationale for the study was explained to the
HRWG members at two meetings (in Brdo, Slovenia, and in Brussels, Belgium).
Participation in the study was voluntary.
3
Results
The means, standard deviations, and correlations for the variables of interest are reported
in Table 1.
Table 1
Descriptive statistics and correlations
Variables
Mean
S.d.
1
2
1 Multicultural skills
4.71
.95
-
2 On-the-job training
4.14
.90
.22**
-
3 Openness to experience
4.99
.95
.18*
–.09
Notes: *p < .05; **p < .001 and ***p < .0001.
As reported previously (Pagon et al., 2009), MCS are significantly and positively
correlated with openness to experience and on-the-job training. The amount of on-the-job
training and openness to experience are not significantly correlated.
We then analysed the results using hierarchical linear regression for MCS as a
dependent variable. First, we entered on-the-job-training. In the second step, openness to
experience was entered. Finally, we entered the interaction term (the product of openness
to experience and on-the-job training). To reduce the threat of multicollinearity and in
keeping with recommendations of Aiken and West (1991) and Jaccard et al. (1990), the
main effect variables were centred prior to forming the interaction term. Centred
variables were computed by subtracting the mean from its respective raw score for each
case. The results of hierarchical regression are shown in Table 2.
50
M. Pagon et al.
The results revealed a significant interaction between on-the-job training and
openness to experience on MCS (see step 3 in Table 2), which accounted for 4% of the
incremental variance in MCS beyond the main effects, lending support for our
hypothesis.
Results of hierarchical regression analysis for dependent variable MCSa
Table 2
Variable
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
On-the-job training
.22*b
.25*
.23*
.24*
.27*
Openness to experience
On-the job training × openness to experience
Total R
2
.20*
.05*
Δ R block
2
.11*
.15*
.06*
.04*
Notes: an = 239; bstandardised β coefficients are shown. *p < .001.
To understand this interaction, we plotted the effect of the three levels of on-the-job
training for each of the three levels of openness to experience. The three levels for
on-the-job training and for openness to experience were created by splitting the
respective scores in three groups (low – the scores more than one standard deviation
below the mean; medium – the scores within +/– one standard deviation from the mean;
high – the scores more than one standard deviation above the mean). The interaction of
on-the-job training and openness to experience is depicted in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Interaction effects
MULTICULTURAL SKILLS
6
SL
LI 5,5
K
S
L
A 5
R
U
TL
U 4,5
C
IT
L 4
U
M
3,5
High Openness to
Experience
Medium Openness
to Experience
Low Openness to
Experience
Low
Medium
High
ON‐THE‐JOB TRAINING
The results indicate that on-the-job training (including the initial training, informal
training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources) improve the incumbent
managers’ MCS, but only when the managers are moderate or high in openness to
experience. The MCS of the managers who are high in openness to experience benefit
from on-the-job training the most, followed by the skills of the managers who are
moderate in openness to experience. When the managers are low in openness to
experience, the increased amounts of on-the-job training decrease the level of their MCS.
It is interesting to note, however, that when the reported level of on-the-job training is
low, managers who are low in openness to experience report higher levels of MCS than
do other managers.
On-the-job management training and multicultural skills
4
51
Discussion
To understand this study’s findings, one must consider the traits associated with openness
to experience, namely, being imaginative, cultured, curious, original, broad-minded, and
intelligent (Barrick and Mount, 1991); questioning their own cultural assumptions, being
willing to experience and enjoy new and unfamiliar environments, seeking out, and
acting on new experiences, and extending their repertoire of behaviours beyond the daily
habits (Ang et al., 2006). It might as well be that when the levels of initial training,
informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources are low,
individuals high in openness to experience get bored and do not put their abilities to the
best use. On the other hand, those low in openness to experience might be much
more comfortable under such circumstances, which is why they outperform their
high-openness-to-experience counterparts in terms of their MCS. As the levels of initial
training, informal training, mentoring, coaching, and the availability of resources start to
increase, the situation gets reversed. Individuals high in openness to experience become
more comfortable with the situation and their willingness to engage in learning
experiences results in theirs benefiting more from training programmes, as found by
Barrick and Mount (1991). Those low in openness to experience, on the other hand,
might not respond well to the increased levels of on-the-job training, might be less able to
deal with the newly created complexities, and might resent the burden placed upon their
cognitive, conative, and behavioural resources. This explanation is in line with the
reasoning of Hong et al. (2007; cited in Leung et al., 2008) that when close-minded
individuals are exposed to unfamiliar cultures, they may find novel ideas and practices in
these ‘foreign’ cultures overwhelming and threatening and therefore may resist these
ideas and retreat to the intellectual comfort zone in their own culture.
The present study adds to the openness to experience and MCS literature by showing
that openness to experience interacts with on-the-job training in their relation to MCS.
Although it has been shown that MCS (under various names) are related both to openness
to experience (e.g., Ang et al., 2006; Pagon et al., 2009) and to on-the-job training (e.g.,
Grigorian, 2008; Pagon et al., 2009), and that openness to experience was found to be a
valid predictor of training proficiency (Barrick and Mount, 1991; Salgado, 1997) no
research to date – to the best of our knowledge – has examined the interaction of these
two variables.
There are, however, some studies that investigated similar moderating effects of
openness to experience. Leung and colleagues (2008) examined whether multicultural
experience enhances creativity and found an interaction between openness to experience
and multicultural experience. Among the relatively open participants, those with more
extensive multicultural experience performed better on two creativity tests, while among
the relatively close-minded participants, exposure to multicultural experience was
associated with poorer performance on both tests. Colquitt and colleagues (2002)
investigated the effects of computer-assisted communication on team decision-making
performance as a function of the team’s openness to experience and found that access to
computer-assisted communication improved the decision-making performance of teams,
but only when the teams were high in openness to experience. Baer and Oldham (2006),
exploring the relation between experienced creative time pressure and creativity, found
that openness to experience combined with support to modify the curvilinear creative
time pressure-creativity relation.
52
M. Pagon et al.
Our results, therefore, add to the body of knowledge about the importance of
openness to experience as a moderator of many relationships among various variables
that have relevance for organisational life, such as multicultural experience – creativity,
computer-assisted communication – decision-making, creative time pressure – creativity,
and now on-the-job training – MCS relationship.
In terms of practical implications, our findings suggest that selecting public sector
managers who score high on openness to experience might help increasing the
effectiveness of on-the-job training programmes as well as the level of MCS in public
administration. If, for whatever reason, openness data are not available, research shows
that observer ratings of some big five characteristics are just as valid as self-ratings, so
supervisors may be able to judge openness more informally (Mount et al., 1994; cited in
Colquitt et al., 2002). At the same time, we cannot expect an individual’s openness to
experience to change much over the years. Temporal stability for individual differences
in traits increases over the life course, reaching impressively high levels in the
middle-adult years (McAdams and Olson, 2010). Roberts et al. (2006; cited in McAdams
and Olson, 2010) conducted a meta analysis of 92 longitudinal studies, analysing mean
scores on traits by age decades, from age 10 to age 70. Openness to experience showed a
curvilinear trend: an increase up to age 20 and then a decrease after age 50.
This study should be evaluated in light of its limitations. The major ones are a small
sample size and exclusive reliance on self-report measures; no data from the managers’
subordinates, superiors, or clients were collected. In testing the predictive validity of
individuals’ self-reported multicultural competence, Cartwright et al. (2008) found
significant differences between self-report scores and independent observer ratings, with
self-report scores being higher for all respondents.
Future studies should address these limitations. Also, this study’s findings obtained
on a sample of public administration managers should be tested in other
sectors/industries. It is our hope that this study will instigate more research into the role
that openness to experience is playing in organisational settings, especially when it comes
to MCS and competency.
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Notes
1
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the International Association of
Cross-Cultural Competence and Management (IACCM) 2009 conference in Vienna (Austria),
24–26 June 2009.