self assessment
Chapter 8
Self-Assessment: Are You Nation-Minded or World-Minded?
Attitudes about global business are as varied as managers are numerous. It seems that the business press can always find someone who is for globalization and someone who is against it. But regardless of your opinion on the subject, managers will increasingly confront issues related to the globalization of the business environment. It is probable that, as a manager, you will need to develop global sensibilities (if you don’t already have them). Understanding your own cultural perspective is the first step in doing so. This assessment has three parts: Step 1, complete the questionnaire shown below; Step 2, determine your score; Step 3, develop a plan to increase your global managerial potential.
Step 1: Use the 6-point rating scale to complete the 32-question inventory shown below.
Rating Scale
1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Mildly disagree
4. Mildly agree
5. Agree
6. Strongly agree
1. Our country should have the right to prohibit certain racial and religious groups from entering it to live.
1 2 3 4 5 6
2. Immigrants should not be permitted to come into our country if they compete with our own workers.
1 2 3 4 5 6
3. It would set a dangerous precedent if every person in the world had equal rights that were guaranteed by an international charter.
1 2 3 4 5 6
4. All prices for exported food and manufactured goods should be set by an international trade committee.
1 2 3 4 5 6
5. Our country is probably no better than many others. 1 2 3 4 5 6
6. Race prejudice may be a good thing for us because it keeps many undesirable foreigners from coming into this country.
1 2 3 4 5 6
7. It would be a mistake for us to encourage certain racial groups to become well educated because they might use their knowledge against us.
1 2 3 4 5 6
8. We should be willing to fight for our country without questioning whether it is right or wrong.
1 2 3 4 5 6
9. Foreigners are particularly obnoxious because of their religious beliefs. 1 2 3 4 5 6
10. Immigration should be controlled by a global organization rather than by each country on its own.
1 2 3 4 5 6
11. We ought to have a world government to guarantee the welfare of all nations irrespective of the rights of any one.
1 2 3 4 5 6
12. Our country should not cooperate in any global trade agreements that attempt to better world economic conditions at our expense.
1 2 3 4 5 6
13. It would be better to be a citizen of the world than of any particular country. 1 2 3 4 5 6
14. Our responsibility to people of other races ought to be as great as our responsibility to people of our own race.
1 2 3 4 5 6
15. A global committee on education should have full control over what is taught in all countries about history and politics.
1 2 3 4 5 6
16. Our country should refuse to cooperate in a total disarmament program even if some other nations agree to it.
1 2 3 4 5 6
17. It would be dangerous for our country to make international agreements with nations whose religious beliefs are antagonistic to ours.
1 2 3 4 5 6
18. Any healthy individual, regardless of race or religion, should be allowed to live wherever he or she wants to in the world.
1 2 3 4 5 6
19. Our country should not participate in any global organization that requires that we give up any of our national rights or freedom of action.
1 2 3 4 5 6
20. If necessary, we ought to be willing to lower our standard of living to cooperate with other countries in getting an equal standard for every person in the world.
1 2 3 4 5 6
21. We should strive for loyalty to our country before we can afford to consider world brotherhood.
1 2 3 4 5 6
22. Some races ought to be considered naturally less intelligent than ours. 1 2 3 4 5 6
23. Our schools should teach the history of the whole world rather than of our own country.
1 2 3 4 5 6
24. A global police force ought to be the only group in the world allowed to have armaments.
1 2 3 4 5 6
25. It would be dangerous for us to guarantee by international agreement that every person in the world should have complete religious freedom.
1 2 3 4 5 6
26. Our country should permit the immigration of foreign peoples, even if it lowers our standard of living.
1 2 3 4 5 6
27. All national governments ought to be abolished and replaced by one central world government.
1 2 3 4 5 6
28. It would not be wise for us to agree that working conditions in all countries should be subject to international control.
1 2 3 4 5 6
29. Patriotism should be a primary aim of education so that our children will believe our country is the best in the world.
1 2 3 4 5 6
30. It would be a good idea if all the races were to intermarry until there was only one race in the world.
1 2 3 4 5 6
31. We should teach our children to uphold the welfare of all people everywhere, even though it may be against the best interests of our own country.
1 2 3 4 5 6
32. War should never be justifiable, even if it is the only way to protect our national rights and honor.
1 2 3 4 5 6
Step 2: Determine your score by entering your response to each survey item below, as follows.
In blanks that say regular score, simply enter your response for that item. If your response was a 4, place a 4 in the regular score blank. In blanks that say reverse score, subtract your response from 7 and enter the result. So, if your response was a 4, place a 3 (7 – 4 = 3) in the reverse score blank.
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Scoring
Total your scores from items 1–16 Total your scores from items 17–32 Add together to compute TOTAL
Interpreting the
Score
Here is what your score means.
People who are flexible, adaptable, open to other cultures, and have good relationship skills are more successful on international assignments. In a sense, we could say that these people have greater “worldmindedness.” Individuals who are strong in worldmindedness look at problems as problems of humanity rather than American problems, or Japanese problems, or Spanish problems. In contrast, people who are weak in worldmindedness are “nationminded.” They define themselves and others by their nationalities: German, Chinese, Egyptian, or Venezuelan. Nationmindedness is “us” and “them,” whereas worldmindedness is simply “us.”
Worldmindedness affects global business decision making. Personnel managers who are low in worldmindedness try to avoid hiring foreign students. Professional buyers, who purchase supplies, raw materials, and finished goods for their companies, were less likely to purchase foreign products when they were weak on worldmindedness. Also, CEOs of exporting companies are more worldminded than CEOs of nonexporting companies.
Worldmindedness is related to gender (females have higher scores), to family income (students from high-income families have lower scores), foreign language ability (fluency in additional languages means higher scores), and college major (business majors have lower scores than other majors, and finance and accounting majors have lower scores than marketing and management majors). Worldmindedness may not be related to international travel (except for longer-term residency in a country) or age.
What follows is a series of grids depicting average worldmindedness (WM) scores for various groupings of students:
|
Worldmindedness by Major |
Average WM Score |
|||
|
Arts and Sciences |
104.65 |
|||
|
Business |
92.94 |
|||
|
Fine Arts |
100.58 |
|||
|
Education |
94.43 |
|||
|
Social Work |
121.25 |
|||
|
Undecided |
90.00 |
(From Boatler, 1992)
Except for undecided majors, Business majors have the lowest worldmindedness scores.
|
No foreign language s |
99.07 |
||
|
One, fair |
97.56 |
||
|
One, good/excellent |
97.95 |
||
|
Two or more, any level |
111.55 |
(From Boatler, 1992)
Speaking more languages leads to increased worldmindedness.
|
Worldmindedness by Language and Major |
|
|
Business Majors |
|
| No foreign language |
88.76 |
|
92.15 |
|
|
94.18 |
|
|
101.00 |
|
|
All Other Majors |
|
|
105.45 |
|
|
100.41 |
|
|
98.70 |
|
|
116.63 |
(From Boatler, 1992)
Business majors who speak no foreign languages have the lowest worldmindedness scores, whereas other majors who speak two or more languages have the highest worldmindedness scores. Whatever major, speaking another language increases worldmindedness.
|
WM by Major and Gender |
Average WM Score |
|
|
Male |
||
|
Finance |
105.35 |
|
|
Accounting |
93.78 |
|
|
Marketing |
113.80 |
|
|
General |
115.22 |
|
|
Female |
||
|
116.33 |
|
111.04 |
|
109.72 |
|
116.39 |
(From Deng & Boatler, 1993)
Male finance and accounting majors have the lowest worldmindedness scores. Female finance and general majors have the highest worldmindedness scores. Except for marketing majors, females have higher worldmindedness scores than males.
Your worldmindedness score is not a fixed number. Several activities can help you improve your score, but to do so you’ll need to develop a plan, such as the one that follows.
Step 3: Develop a plan to increase your global managerial potential.
People don’t change from being nationminded to worldminded overnight. Below you’ll find the outlines of a plan to increase your worldmindedness. You will need to fill in the details to make it work. This plan is based on foreign languages, living overseas, global news and television, and your openness to the different cultural experiences available right where you live.
3a. Language. Research shows that students who speak multiple languages have higher scores (indicating a greater sense of worldmindedness). How many languages do you speak fluently? If you’re an average American student, you speak one language— American English. Develop a plan to become fluent in another language. Specify the courses you would need to take to become conversationally fluent. A minimum of two years is recommended. Even better is minoring in a language. What courses would you have to take to complete a minor?
3b. Living overseas. Develop a plan to study overseas. List the details of two different overseas study programs available at your university or another university. Be sure to specify how long the program lasts, whether you would receive language training, where you would live, the activities in which you would participate, and any other important details.
3c. Global news and television. Another way to increase your worldmindedness is to increase the diversity of your news sources. Most Americans get their news from local TV and radio or from the major networks, ABC, NBC, and CBS. Luckily, you don’t have to leave the country to gain access to foreign news sources. Furthermore, you don’t have to speak a foreign language. Many foreign newspapers and television and radio shows are presented in English. List the foreign newspapers and television and radio shows available to you where you live. Hint: Check your university library, CNN, PBS, and the Internet. Be sure to indicate where you can find the newspapers, the day and time the shows are on, and whether the newspapers or TV shows are in English or a foreign language.
3d. Local cultural experiences. Many American students wrongly assume that they have to travel overseas to gain exposure to foreign cultures. Fortunately, many American cities and universities are rich in such experiences. Ethnic neighborhoods, restaurants,
festivals, foreign films, and art displays, along with ethnic Americans who continue to live and celebrate their heritage, present ample opportunities to sample and learn about foreign cultures right here in our own backyards. Specify a plan of foreign restaurants, ethnic neighborhoods, and cultural events that you could attend this year.
Sources: R. W. Boatler, “Study Abroad: Impact on Student Worldmindedness,” Journal of Teaching in International Business 2, no. 2 (1990): 13–17; R. W. Boatler, “Worldminded Attitude Change in a Study Abroad Program: Contact and Content Issues,” Journal of Teaching in International Business 3, no. 4 (1992): 59–68; H. Lancaster, “Learning to Manage in a Global Workplace (You’re on Your Own),” The Wall Street Journal, 2 June 1998, B1; D. L. Sampson & H. P. Smith, “A Scale to Measure Worldminded Attitudes,” Journal of Social Psychology 45 (1957): 99–106.