International Human Resource Management-MJ Version

Compared to traditional CCT methodologies (e.g., lecture based), e-CCT
has several advantages: it enables firms to lower costs associated with deliver-
ing training content, it allows trainees to individualize and self-manage their
learning experience, and is easier to administer. For these reasons e-CCT is
rapidly growing as an effective way of preparing expatriates to live and work in
a new culture. Because e-CCT contains highly specialized training content,
many organizations depend on external training vendors to design, develop,
and deliver the e-CCT program. e-CCT programs come in a variety of packages,
each with its own benefits and drawbacks, therefore selecting the right e-CCT
vendor is very important to the success of the CCT program (see Box 11.2 on
how to evaluate potential e-CCT vendors).

Box 11.2: Evaluation of e-CCT

With the inception of e-learning in many organizations, cross-cultural train-

ing programs are also beginning to be delivered via the internet or through

organization’s intranet systems. To evaluate these electronic delivery CCT pro-

grams, one should determine to what extent this system provides a complete

program of CCT, covering everything that would normally be covered in a

comprehensive cross-cultural training program. You can evaluate the content

of e-CCT by asking these questions:

• Does the program have a section explaining what culture is and how it
  affects daily life? Evaluate how well these are explained.


• Does the program provide a framework (or model) for understanding
  culture – including several dimensions of culture? Are they easy to under-
  stand and apply to real life?


• Does the program allow the participant an opportunity to evaluate his or
  her own cultural values? Is the cultural value assessment a reliable instru-
  ment? Ask to see the reliability evidence for the scales measuring the
  various dimensions (e.g., alpha coefficients).


• Can the participant’s cultural values be evaluated against the host country’s
  cultural values? How were the values applied to the host countries
  validated? (Be careful that they were not created by the author’s percep-
  tions.) Ask to see a report on the development process and the validation
  studies.


• Does the program effectively explain the challenges of culture shock?
  Evaluate how well this concept is described.


• Does the program include a self-assessment to help the expatriate con-
  sider the challenges for his or her family, career, and personality? As
  before, check carefully the reliability of the scales used to assess these
  concepts and validity reports which document the linkage between the
  dimensions assessed and criteria of expatriate success. (Be careful because
  there are tools that have been written to ‘look’ relevant – which have no
  practical or substantiated worth.)

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