 Hi students, in this topic we are going to discuss about Black and Mendel Hall's model of cross-cultural training. You would remember that in the previous topic we had talked about Tongue's model in which she identified two dimensions on which the training method which should be used for international assignments was discussed. Now Tongue's model has been modified and upgraded by Black and Mendel Hall and we are going to discuss that particular model in this topic. So let's take a look at the key dimensions of this model. Alright, so there are three key dimensions of this model. Number one is the training method. Number two is the levels of training rigor. And number three is the duration of training which is relative to number one expected degree of interaction. And secondly, culture novelty which is the amount of difference between the culture of the parent country national and the host country national. So the duration of training is going to depend the duration and rigor of training is going to depend on both these things. If the cultural novelty is high and level of interaction is high, then the level of rigor and duration of training that is also going to be high and that is also going to be longer. And if the cultural novelty is low and the level of interaction between parent country nationals and host country nationals is low, then the level of rigor as well as the duration of training will also be low. So that is going to basically demonstrate what kind of training method is going to be employed or should be employed in these particular circumstances. So in the next slide, we are going to look at the illustration of this model and how different training methods should be used for each type of situation. Alright, so let's take a look. This model is again a little bit more modified by other authors. So this is this particular diagram is defined by Mendelhall, Dubburn and Odo and you can see that there are three dimensions on which the kind of training and the dimensions are mentioned in this diagram. So you can see that on the x-axis is the length of stay. So your y-axis is less than a week on the lower side, then there are 1 to 4 weeks in the center and on top of it 1 to 2 months. So you can see that as the level of rigor and length of training is 12 and the length of stay is 12, then our approach of training is changing. So to decipher this, we go further towards the training methods. So if our length of stay is less than one month and along with that, the level of rigor or length of training is less than one month, then the level of rigor will be lower and the length of training will also be less than a week. And what kind of training will be provided in this? That is information giving approach, i.e. you will not keep the training very rigorous. Since you have to do it in a few days, less than a week, then basically you will provide information. So in the information giving approach, what strategies can be there? You can see that in the model you are told that this area can be briefings that what is the area of different briefings about the area and what is the culture there and how is the terrain there or what are the requirements there. Apart from that, there can be cultural briefings. Apart from that, films or books or videos can be provided. Use of interpreters, if you have to stay for a little while in an international assignment, then you do not know the language there, so you will not have time to teach the language there. In fact, if you are going to stay for a week or a month, then you will be provided with interpreters and that is why you will need to provide training that how to use interpreters will be done. And apart from that, survival level language training, i.e. you can do basic survival there, i.e. you can ask someone for a way or you can ask someone for time or you can talk to someone yes or no, then the survival level language training will be provided to you in this situation. So if your length of stay is less than a month and if your level of interaction is low and if cultural novelty is also low, then in this situation, the level of rigor training will be low and the length of training will also be less than a week and the information based approach should be used by you. Now moving to the next level, if your length of stay is up to a year, you have to stay for a year, cultural novelty is also there and your level of interaction so in this situation, the level of rigor training will be moderate and the length of training can be of 1 to 4 weeks i.e. you can be given training for a month. So this approach is called an effective approach. What strategies can you have in an effective approach? One is culture assimilator training i.e. you assimilate the culture, like not just knowing the culture but also assimilating and absorbing the values and attitudes of that culture, this can be provided to you in training. Apart from that, role-playing can be done. Apart from that, critical incidents, what kind of critical incidents can happen in a particular different type of a culture. For example, if you are going to a culture where let's say driving safety culture is not conscious, then critical incidents can happen regarding safety on the roadside. So the training required from a person who is coming from a developed country, for example, if a person is coming from the UK, then the situation of road safety is very high and people are very much particular. But if you are going to a less developed country like for example India or Pakistan, road safety conditions are not that good. So those kind of critical incidents may be incorporated in this effective approach. Then another strategy which could be used is cases, stress reduction training because if a person is going for about a year, then the person could be having kind of a stress because of the cultural shock. So that could be also incorporated and then moderate language training. Finally, if you are being sent on an expatriate international assignment for one to three years which is a significant amount of time and that means that you are going to live in that new culture for a long period of time, then the level of rigor of training is also going to be high and the amount of training, the length of training that is also going to be longer. So training could take place for one to two months. This approach would be called then immersion approach. Immersion means that you are in the training period you will be immersed in the culture of the host country. Different exercises will be done, will be provided to you so that you are able to absorb and get immersed in the culture of the host country and therefore absorb it into your subconscious. So this could include assessment centers, it could include field experiments, it could include simulations, you know very well about simulations that simulations are replicas of real life situations, then sensitivity training that you are sensitized to different values and cultures of the host country and then in this kind of a approach, extensive language training will be provided because you are going to stay in the country for more than a year and therefore you must know the language of the country, you must know the language of the people who are living there so that you can interact with them because you are going over there for some kind of a business and that is something which must be taken into account that you must know the language of the business. So these are the three types of approaches which are employed according to the length of training, length of stay and the level of rigor which is required for a particular situation and three types of methods can be employed, one is the information giving approach, then the effective approach, then the immersion approach and this is going to be determined according to the basis of these three dimensions. So this is Black-Elmander Hall's model of cross-cultural training and how training should be done for ex-patriot assignments.