In der Studie werden relevante Interkulturelle Kompetenzen identifiziert und valide Instrumente zu deren Erfassung für das Internationale Human Resource Management präsentiert. Hierzu wurden fünf Selbstbeurteilungsfragebogen zur Erfassung unterschiedlicher Facetten Interkultureller Kompetenz ausgewählt und in einer empirischen Untersuchung (272 Probanden) hinsichtlich ihrer psychometrischen Qualität geprüft. Zudem wurde über interkulturelle Rollenspiele die Relevanz der einzelnen Interkulturellen Kompetenzen für erfolgreiches Verhalten analysiert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass insbesondere Offenheit, Flexibilität, Perspektivenwechsel und Nonverbale Kommunikationskompetenz erfolgreiches Verhalten in interkulturellen Situationen bedingen. Für die Erfassung dieser Dimensionen werden auf Grundlage der Befunde das Intercultural Sensitivity Inventory ICSI, der Test zur Erfassung Interkultureller Handlungskompetenz TIHK und die Nonverbal Communication Competence Scale NVCCS empfohlen.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop recommendations for measures assessing intercultural training needs for international human resource management. Based on scientific as well as application‐oriented criteria the aim is to select six measures assessing general intercultural competencies and with the help of behaviour ratings in interactive intercultural exercises to evaluate the psychometric quality and practicability of the questionnaires for training purposes. Design/methodology/approach Psychometric quality including prognostic power of ICSI, FLCS, NVCCS, ISAS, TIHK, and SIB was tested by correlating subjects' questionnaires results with observations of their actual behaviour in intercultural exercises. Findings Satisfying psychometric quality and prognostic validity of almost all measures was found. Especially TIHK, ICSI, and FLCS score well for assessing training needs whereas the results for SIB were problematic. Research limitations/implications The study observed student participants of the same culture. Replication studies should examine large samples of different cultural backgrounds and manager populations. Practical implications Human resource managers may benefit from gaining knowledge about which measures to use for identifying employee's weaknesses in intercultural competence in order to create tailor‐made training interventions. Originality/value The study is the first providing information about the psychometric quality, including predictive power, of six measures, that assess intercultural skills to detect intercultural training needs.

The Intercultural Communication Motivation Scale (ICMS) is a tool to assess the intercultural communication motivation of candidates for international assignments. The ICMS performed well in four studies conducted with undergraduate students in New Zealand, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany. Generally showing a stable five-factor structure, high test-retest correlations, very high Cronbach's alphas, and almost no social desirability bias in self and peer evaluations, the ICMS is sensitive enough to detect test-retest differences. Thus, socially responsible strategic international HR programs can use this scale to reliably evaluate employees and their families for specific international locations. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.