Andrew Molinsky

Sanding down the Edges Paradoxical Impediments to Organizational Change

In contrast to population ecology and new institutionalist approaches that cite the external environment as the culprit for inertia, this article steps inside the organization to show how internal processes render change ineffective. It is argued that the very same processes described in the literature as prerequisites for success are paradoxically those that make change less likely to occur. Detailed examples of failed organizational change from a Fortune 50 corporation and a metropolitan teaching hospital illustrate the ways in which the organizational system not only sands down the sharp edges of ambitious change agendas, but also uses the change process itself as fuel for perpetuating the status quo. The final section relates these basic paradoxes to deeper roots of change in social systems and suggests ways of changing the way we change in light of the resiliency and resistance of the organizational system.

Cracking the Nonverbal Code Intercultural Competence and Gesture Recognition Across Cultures

The purpose of this set of studies was to assess whether the ability to distinguish between real and fake gestures in a foreign setting is positively associated with cultural adjustment to that setting. To do so, we created an original videotaped measure of gesture recognition accuracy (the GRT). Study 1 (n = 508) found positive associations between performance on the GRT and length of stay in the foreign setting and between GRT performance and self-reported intercultural communication competence. Study2 (n = 60) replicated the positive association between GRT performance and self-reported intercultural communication competence. It also found a positive association between GRT performance and external perceptions of intercultural communication competence and motivation as rated by observers native to the new cultural setting. Together, findings from the two studies highlight the importance of gesture recognition in the cultural adaptation process and the potential of the GRT measure as a useful assessment tool.

Language fluency and the evaluation of cultural faux pas : Russians interviewing for jobs in the United States

How are nonnatives evaluated when committing cultural faux pas, and how does their fluency in the language of the foreign culture affect the evaluation of their culturally inappropriate behavior? I address these questions in the context of Russian professionals learning to interview for jobs in the United States, an arena of strong cultural differences where cultural faux pas can occur easily. Building upon previous research on stereotypes and stigma, and upon research on accounts and discounting, I find that language fluency has a contingent effect on the evaluation of culturally inappropriate behavior. When an individual is assessed on interpersonal dimensions, poor language fluency leads to a less negative impression of culturally inappropriate behavior, but this shielding effect is reversed when the dimension of evaluation is professional competence.

Training Wheels for Cultural Learning Poor Language Fluency and Its Shielding Effect on the Evaluation of Culturally Inappropriate Behavior

This research examined the effect of language fluency on the evaluation of culturally inappropriate behavior. A series of video vignettes were created in which a nonnative speaker either followed or broke social rules while displaying varying degrees of fluency in English. Results demonstrated a shielding effect of poor language fluency, such that when the nonnative individual acted in a culturally inappropriate manner, poor fluency in English shielded the individual from negative evaluation.

A Situational Approach for Assessing and Teaching Acculturation

This article introduces a situational approach for assessing and teaching acculturation that captures how a person’s level of competence and authenticity in a foreign cultural setting varies across the various situations the person encounters. Whereas previous research, such as the U-curve and Berry’s dual identification model, portrays cultural adaptation at a broad, general level, the current approach provides a more nuanced perspective on acculturation by taking into account situational variability as well as variability in experienced competence and authenticity. The benefits of the framework for cross-cultural training and education are illustrated within the context of foreign MBA students in the United States.