Cross-Cultural HRD.

This document consists of three papers presented at a symposium on cross-cultural human resource development (HRD) moderated by Connie Fletcher at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development. "Intercultural Adjustment of U.S. Expatriates in the People's Republic of China" (Hallett G. Hullinger, Robert E. Nolan) presents results of a study of antecedent conditions in the lives of 40 Americans and 7 Chinese living in Beijing, China that contributed to their successful adjustment. Seven categories of adjustment factors are identified: personality, expectations, prior overseas experience, motivation, language skills, intracultural and intercultural relationships, and preparation and training. "Cross-Cultural Training--Review of Literature and an Action Learning Approach" (Nienyu Keng) discusses a study that classified cross-cultural training research into three approaches; analyzed problems related to effectiveness of cross-cultural training and its design; and presented action learning as an alternative method. "Filters of a Family Kind: How They Impact Global HRD--and Why West Doesn't Always Meet East" (Verna J. Willis, Robert L. Dilworth) reports a study that explored how such filters can illuminate understanding of how to deal with HRD in a multicultural milieu, drawing contrasts between the United States and China and to a lesser extent, Japan and Indonesia. It shows how U.S. management and HRD are largely missing the important family-related filter and are extremely vulnerable to miscues and faux pas when dealing with Asian countries. Each paper contains references. (YLB)