Ever wonder if your 360 feedback program has equal value across all the cultures represented in your organization?
Frank Shipper, Ph.D., recently coauthored an 18-page scholarly article titled "Does 360 Feedback Process Create Actionable Knowledge Equally Across Cultures?" in the Academy of Management's Learning and Education (2007, Vol. 6, No. 1, 33-50). Shipper has researched various aspects of management effectiveness for more than 20 years, often using Clark Wilson Group 360 feedback as his research instrument.
In this study, he and coauthors Richard Hoffman and Denise Rotondo challenge some assumptions as they look at feedback recipients in the US, Ireland, Israel, Phillipines, and Malaysia.
Culture is likely to affect 360 feedback in two basic ways, say the authors. "The process of seeking and providing multiple sources of feedback is based on values and assumptions not equally shared by all cultures," they write. In addition, they say, "the relationship of [360 feedback] outcomes to various cultural values may also come into play."
Using Clark Wilson Group's Survey of Management Practices™, the study showed important nuances in the usefulness of feedback information to individuals. It used four cultural values that have been found to differentiate workplace behaviors: uncertainty avoidance, power distance, individualism and "masculininity" (orientation to competition and outcome, as opposed to cooperation and process).
Available in print version only.
