Toward finding culture assessment tools for SE companies

Nowadays, globalization is a normal action for almost every company in the drive to sell more and more products or services to sustain business growth. Companies need to create an inclusive work environment through intercultural competence and ensure a sufficiently diverse workforce. Employees have to work in national and international teams, consisting of different kinds of people. Some of the team members might come from a very diverse cultural background. The project manager faces challenges in leading and managing these multicultural teams effectively. Companies should also know the cultural backgrounds of their customers and partners. One cannot afford to stumble many times due to cultural differences that might cause harmful misunderstandings and thus the loss of business. This paper first introduces information about culture and its definitions, dimensions, terminology, research branches and recognized problems. Many points of view are listed and analyzed where can find reasons to measure the cultural factors in a company. Examination is made of what kinds of tools are available for assessing cultural factors. Because so many cultural assessment tools were found, instead of analyzing dozens of tools, we compiled a table including the characteristics of the tools, which should be considered before selecting the appropriate tool for each company. This examination is being undertaken in two ongoing projects: UbiKnowS and STEP, based on a literature review and case studies on how these assessment tools can be used in actual SE companies.