The mbti® instrument in asia

The MBTI® Instrument in Asia
Memories and Ob
M i d Observations over 20 years
ti
Presented by
David Freeman

® CPP Asia Pacific, CPPAP and the CPP Asia Pacific logo are trademarks or registered trademark of CPP Asia Pacific Pty Ltd.

Welcome
Mr JEFF HAYES - President, CPP Inc.

Dr NAOMI QUENK - world expert

CPP-AP Representatives from Asia

Our Presenters from throughout Asia Pacific

Our many Participants from around the World

® CPP Asia Pacific, CPPAP and the CPP Asia Pacific logo are trademarks or registered trademark of CPP Asia Pacific Pty Ltd. 2

An Amazing Journey

APP - di t ib t since 1987
distributor i
Started in Australia with MBTI® instrument - 1989


Big Questions
Would the MBTI® instrument work in Asia?

Are the MBTI® questions relevant/appropriate?

Does Culture distort the results?

Do Type distributions differ across Asian cultures?

Is there a market for MBTI® instrument in Asia?


Culture
Mainstream question since 1966
Landmark work of Haire, Ghiselli & Porter
,
Seminal work of Hofstede (1980)
Power Distance
Individualism v Collectivism
Masculinity v Femininity
Uncertainty Avoidance

Two competing views:


One View of Culture:

Culture is becoming less important as values converge,
through combination of globalisation and the advent of new
technologies that give everyone in the world access to the
same information products and services (Stening 2006)
information, services. (Stening,

As
A countries i d t i li and embrace KFC M D
t i industrialise d b KFC, McDonalds, ld
Hollywood movies and the pervasive American culture, we
all slowly converge in terms of values and institutions and
institutions,
come to have similar ways of managing economic entities
and conducting our lives. (
g (Harbison & Myers, 1959)
y , )


Another View of Culture:

Cultural values are very deeply seated and much of
the convergence that some people believe is being
witnessed is only superficial or very limited in effect.
(Koen, 2005)


Hofstede & Singapore
Found Singapore to be:
High in deference to leaders (SJ); Collective (STJ);
Neutral on Masculinity/Femininity; low avoidance of
uncertainty (P)
Data is
D t i now over 25 years old
ld
Singapore has changed dramatically:
Less collective - much more individualistic
Family ties weaker
G i i ffl
Growing economic affluence
Influences from abroad:
“overwhelming role of MNC’s in national economy”
overwhelming MNC s economy
Importance/number of expats (foreign talent)


Influence of Culture
If a country had HIGH cultural imperative everyone
might come out the same on MBTI® instrument
g
Japan
Korea

If not, then reasonable diversity of Type
not


A Guinea Pig - Elaine in Hong Kong (1990)
Reported Type: ESFJ
Self-Estimate: ESFJ
Self Estimate:
Verified Type: ESFJ

The “acid test”:
“My husband read the profile in Introduction To Type®
and pronounced it 100% accurate!”


So into Singapore we strode - confident of success

Small immediate problems:


MBTI® - Form G (Used until 1998)

If you were asked on a Saturday morning, what you
were going to do that day would you
day, you…
Be able to tell pretty well, or
List twice too many things or
things,
Have to wait and see?


MBTI® - Form G (Used until 1998)

Which
Whi h word appeals t you more?
d l to ?
Foundation - spire


Establishing the right “MINDSET”

Imagine you are NOT at work.

OH REALLY - Give me a break!


The MBTI® Accreditation Program Family

“I feel really at home in this group - and it’s the first
time.
time ”

“Why don’t I feel this way anywhere else?”


Typical Accreditation Program Composition
‘Verified Type’ Table – July 1996
ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ Pref No. Modal
1 1 2 4 Type
E 27 - 82%
E
ISTP ISFP INFP INTP I 6
2 2
S 13
N
ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP N 20 - 61%
2 1 4 2 9 T 24 - 73%
T
F 9
ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ
8 1 2 7 18 J 22 - 67%
J
P 11
11 2 7 13
33% 6% 21% 39% N = 33

Expected 48% 15% 13% 24%


The Difference?
In many Accreditation programs:

150% more NF’s and NT’s than in Singapore population

Half the ST’s and SF’s

WHY?


Composition of an Accreditation Program
In most countries:
In the first few years - relatively large p
y y g percentage of NF’s
g

In the next few years - increasing p
y g percentage of NT’s
g

After about six years - increasing percentages of STJ’s
STJ s


Singapore Population Types - (Estimated)
Online Form M & Q ‘Reported’ Type, 2007
N = 2906 (Bell, A, 2008)

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ
E – 52%
548 172 62 180
I
19% 6% 2% 6%
ISTP ISFP INFP INTP
S – 62%
138 68 87 130
N
5% 2% 3% 4%
ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP
T – 71%
144 50 162 167
F
5% 2% 6% 6%
ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ
J – 67%
557 133 97 211
P
19% 5% 3% 7%
48% 15% 13% 24%


Singapore School (Secondary 4) Types
Form G ‘Reported’ Type, 1991
N = 1733 (Male – 47.3% Female 52.7%) – Lim TK, 1994

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ
E – 51%
M 17% M 6% M 3% M 4%
I
F 16% F 8% F 4% F 5%
%
ISTP ISFP INFP INTP
S – 65%
M 7% M 3% M 4% M 5%
N
F 6% F 3% F 3% F 4%
ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP
T – 67%
M 8% M 4% M 5% M 5%
F
F 6% F 3% F 6% F 6%
ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ
J – 60%* * M 58%
M 16% M 5% M 2% M 6%
P F 63%
F 16% F 7% F 3% F 5%
M 48% M 18% M 14% M 20%
F 44% F 20% F 16% F 20%


Singapore students:
Less extraverted than Americans (Am:62% Si:51%)
68% boys were T’s - expected
65% of girls were also T - totally unexpected
33% males & 32% females were STJ
Lim argues that culture plays a role here:
Over 40 years - poor trading port to modern State
Govt played major role
Just to survive Singapore had to be practical, organised, efficient,
decisive, duty-bound, conventional, detail-oriented & systematic
Education system emphasised factual learning and objective
problem-solving over imagination and creativity
Males and females were treated alike and given equal opportunity
All social pressures (cultural imperatives) to be S T & J
S,
Hofstede: Deference to Leaders (H), Collectivism (H) and
preferences for Masculinity (N) and Uncertainty Avoidance (L)


An Observation (speculation?)
With the passage of time and lessening of need for
systematic, decisive, structured and careful
y
management, as Singapore reaps the rewards for
its diligence over many y
g y years, its been able to
engage in more creative and imaginative thinking
and more caring approach.
g pp

This seems to have been accompanied with an
increasing percentage of students in the JC’s
verifying preferences for N and F
F.


Onward throughout Asia Pacific…
Chinese translations - 1993
Hong Kong - first QP - 2000
Shanghai - 2000
Beijing
B iji - 2004
India - 2005
Taiwan - 2007
2007 - became CPP-AP
CPP AP


Indian MBTI® Certification Program - 2006


Hong Kong Accreditation Program Types
Aggregated ‘Reported’ Type
N = 298 (Ball, R, 2008)

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ
E – 55%
36 15 11 20
I
12% 5%
% 4% 7%
%
ISTP ISFP INFP INTP
S
10 3 22 17
N - 56%
3% 1% 7% 6%
ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP
T – 54%
6 5 35 16
F
2% 2% 11% 5%
ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ
J – 62%
31 24 24 23
P
11% 8% 8% 8%
28% 16% 30% 26%


Hong Kong Program:
Overall an ENTJ group (like Singapore)

Majority of N’s rather than S’s

Large percentage of NF’s

Probable under-representation of ST’s
under representation ST s


Hong Kong Training Program Participants
Form M ‘Reported’ Type, 2000-8
N = 847 (Ball, R, 2008)

ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ
E – 52%
129 66 25 62
I
16% 8% 3% 7%
%
ISTP ISFP INFP INTP
S - 55%
36 14 48 29
N
4% 2% 6% 3%
ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP
T – 56%
17 28 74 33
F
2% 3% 9% 4%
ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ
J – 67%
112 60 54 60
P
13% 7% 6% %
35% 20% 24% 21%


Very similar to Singapore (STJ)

Includes Accreditation participants
Not sorted for gender
Reported type - not verified

We really DON’T have representative samples of
countries other than USA and UK
If anybody would like to donate for the research


Who Uses the MBTI® Instrument in Asia
MNC’s
Large companies
g p
Government Departments - MinDef, MOE etc
Self Employed
Self-Employed Consultants

Each year 23,000 people take the MBTI in Singapore
y , p p g p
alone
Mainly used as an OD tool
In a country of 4.2 million - seems like everybody has
been told to get their type done by 2010.
(Wood,A.
(Wood A 2005)


What is it Mainly Used for:
Teambuilding
Improving intra group communication
intra-group
Improving employee self-understanding
Resolving i t
R l i intra-group conflicts
fli t
Leadership/senior management team development

Least popular uses were:
Stress management
Individual employee counselling
(Wood, A. 2005)


However…
Only 22% of the surveyed organisations reported
using the instrument:
g
MNC’s with HQ in English-speaking countries
Service industries - particularly banking and finance
p y g
Higher than average proportion of expats

Of those NOT using the Instrument:
Most were SME s
SME’s
Did not know of it and its applications, or
Were using other products in particular DiSC
products, particular,


Future Opportunities/Challenges
Staying abreast of updated administration
guidelines
Knowing what to do after administration
(applications)
Ensuring MBTI® instrument is not used to
stereotype
New delivery channels
New applications:
pp
360 degree feedback
Links with other theories - EQ, decision-making etc


Other Instruments
FIRO-B® Instrument

TKI Instrument

CPI 260® Instrument

ITSA Abilities Tests


Questions

Political statements

Other contributions


References
Haire,M., Ghiselli,E.E., & Porter, L.W. (1966) Managerial Thinking: An international study. New York:
John Wiley
Harbison, F.H., & Myers, C.A. (1959) Management in the industrial world: An international analysis.
New York: McGraw-Hill
Hofstede, G. (1980) Culture’s consequences: International differences in work-related values. Beverly
Hills, CA.: Sage
Koen, C.I. (2005) Comparative international management. London: McGraw-Hill
Lim, T.K. (1994) Personality types among Singapore and American students. Journal of Psychological
, ( ) y yp g g p y g
Type, Vol 31, P.10 1994
Myers, I.B.,McCaulley, M.H., Quenk,N.L., & Hammer, A.L. (1998) MBTI Manual: A guide to the
development and use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, 3rd Edn CPP Inc., Palo Alto CA
Stening, B.W. (
g (2006) Cultural intelligence: Put it ( g ) on the Asian HRM agenda. Research and
) g (High) g
Practice in Human Resource Management 14(2), 74-84
Wood, A.S. (2005) The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® as an organizational development tool: A
Singapore perspective. MBA Dissertation: University of Manchester. Manchester Business School

Trademarks
® FIRO-B, FIRO, CPI 260, SkillsOne and the CPP logo are registered trademarks of CPP Inc.
® MBTI, Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Introduction to Type and the MBTI logo are trademarks or
registered trademarks of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Trust in the United States and other countries.
Myers Briggs countries


®
2008 MBTI Asia Conference - Singapore

MBTI Asia Conference 2008

The mbti® instrument in asia

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