News & Events

MRG Research to Appear in the International Journal of Testing

We are pleased to announce that Volume 8 issue 4 of the IJT focuses on cultural issues in personality assessment in work settings an includes a summary of recent MRG research.

Issues of Global and Local Norm Use in Assessments of Motivation
Robert I. Kabacoff, Ph.D., Management Research Group

Abstract
With the growth of globalization, organizations are increasingly challenged to manage talent, improve employee engagement, develop effective teams, create succession pipelines, and increase organizational effectiveness in multinational settings. Given the need to evaluate and compare individuals from more than one country using standardized assessment instruments, there is a consequent need to understand the issues and implications of norm selection decisions. The current investigation examines the impact of global vs. local norm selection in the assessment of motivation in work settings. A sample of 21,248 participants from organizations in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States completed the Individual Directions Inventory" as part of ongoing organizational development activities. The choice of norm appeared to have minimal impact on most scales among the Anglo cultures studied. Results illustrate the issues researchers and organizations face when creating cross-national assessments, and provide recommendations regarding norm selection and the communication of results to end-users.

We can expect Issue 4 to be out by January 2009.