Six Categories In The Survey Assignment

There are six categories in this survey which correspond to six
dimensions of cultural competence.
BF = Behavioral Flexibility
KD = Knowledge Discovery
CA = Communicative Awareness
RO = Respect for others
TA = Tolerance for ambiguity
E = Empathy
Part 1
For questions 1 – 7 score yourself in the following way:
(a) Never (1 pt)
(b)Sometimes (2 pts)
(c) Frequently or always (3 pts)
1. In restaurants I often eat dishes with ingredients that I don’t
know. BF
2
2. I often seek contact with other people in order to learn as much
as possible about their culture. KD
3
3. When other people don’t feel comfortable in my presence, I
notice it. CA
2
4. I find it easy to adapt to people from diverse origins. RO
3
5. I am comfortable with not understanding things if I am in a
strange place or foreign country. TA
2
6. When there are colleagues in my work area who constitute an
ethnic minority, I try to involve them in the majority group. E
3
7. When colleagues or superiors from different cultures criticize my
work, I consider changing my work habits accordingly. BF
2
Part 2

For questions 8-12 score yourself using the number of points
beside the option you chose. The highlighted initials represent
which dimension those scores go into.
You have been selected to take part in an international work project
with an associate European company. This will involve you spending 3–
4 months in a country which you have not visited before (although it is
possible that you learnt some of the language at school).
KD
8. What kind of information do you think you would need before
departure?
a. I don’t know, I would wait until I got there. (1)
b. I would use a guide book or other sources to find information
about housing, healthcare, travel.(2)
c. I would learn or review the language and look for official sources
on history and culture (3)
You have been appointed to a placement in another country for
training purposes. Early in your placement, you discover that the
system of hierarchy is totally different from that practiced in your own
country. For example, you are used to people dressing informally,
using first names, eating in the same canteen. Here there is much
more formality, rules and regulations, and people don’t even speak the
same way to each other. It is very strange and you cannot help feeling
that your own way is much better.
9. What are some things you might do? (RO)
a) Make an effort to maintain familiar practices, Try and change
things, Explain that our ways are better (1)
b) Admit homesickness, Look for positive side, even though own
way is best (2)
c) Seek explanation from superiors in order to understand
reasons, Make an effort to be patient, tolerant, Try out a
different way of behaving to fit in, co-operate, adapt self to
others (3)

A young person from a different country comes to work at your firm for
6 months. You are aware that he is rather isolated and you consider
the idea of inviting him to join you and your friends. The problem is
that your group of friends have known each other for a long time and a
stranger would find it difficult to fit in. (E)
10. What would you probably do?
a) Ask friends whether they would welcome a stranger before
taking action, Find out from conversation whether the person
would have similar interests, Invite if interests are similar (2)
b) Invite even if interests are different, Tell friends that you are
bringing a stranger and explain why, Find out whether the person
would like to join your group of friends, Invite because you would
like to be invited if you were in the same position. (3)
c) Mention the problem to a colleague, Wait to see whether the
person suggests meeting (1)
You have been working in a foreign country for six months and you
speak the language well enough for everyday needs. At work, difficult
procedures are explained to you in your own language, so there are no
problems here. However, it is almost impossible to understand your
colleagues when they talk to each other as they talk quickly about
situations you do not understand. It is also difficult to understand jokes
and casual remarks where people seem to speak in a local dialect.
Therefore you often feel out of your depth and confused.
11. How do you feel? (TA)
a) I would feel unhappy, I would feel very left out, I couldn’t deal
with that (1)
b) I would talk only to fellow nationals (2)
c) As long as I wasn’t being deliberately excluded it would be OK
(3)
12. How would you describe a familiar but complicated task involving
the use of a piece of machinery as if to a foreigner who did not speak
the language very well? (CA)