Evidence-based coaching uses the combination of best-available scientific knowledge and professional experiences to create interventions geared towards personal development, or performance enhancement. In order to continuously improve upon such practice VACOBE continues to research and test the theoretical and psychometric models for their applicability and effectiveness before engaging in them with a coachee. Listed below are some downloadable examples of our recent research already published or still awaiting publication.


Psychometric Personality Instruments in Cross-Cultural
I-O Psychology

The influence of personality as one of the elements shaping the potential for effective international leadership, motivation, and performance appears undeniable. Assessing personality traits within a cross-cultural context using a valid and reliable framework would therefore provide significant benefit when comparing and selecting managers for global, expatriate assignments. Particular focus of the discussion will rest on possibly existing cultural influences on both validity and reliability of items, scales, and test scores derived from personality assessments. While psychometric testing can offer insights into personality, attitudes, and behavior in the workplace, it is important to ensure that these psychometric instruments take on a multicultural perspective. As psychometric tools are often used in predicting employee behavior on the job, their administration should only be performed if test users and their clients are completely informed about the tool’s obvious limitations, as only then can score interpretations avoid the causing of harm of test takers.

Diversity in Organizations: Tangible Impacts of Multiculturalism on Aspects of Organizational Performance

The article investigates the question, if multiculturalism and diversity benefits often presumed to increase organizational creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving capabilities can be unanimously substantiated and quantified within the context of typical business-oriented organizational performance indicators, such as sales-to-goal achievement, new customer acquisition, diversification, and return on capital. The article first outlines the psychological underpinnings of multicultural diversity integration, and then discusses the prevalent conflict of positions in current scientific literature on its positive and negative effects on organizational performance. It is concluded that, any performance effects predominantly consist in an organization’s improved cognitive and psychological functioning, and that the qualitative direction of both positive and negative effects greatly depends on the organizational and industrial contexts, strategy, corporate culture, and resultant human resource policies.

Integration versus Separation: A Plan for International Diversity Initiatives

Diversity constitutes an inherent degree of uniqueness; a noticeable difference from others, which allows for new, potentially unconventional problem evaluation, constructive disagreement, and the deriving of new solutions and approaches to persistent challenges.While most organizations will acknowledge the importance of diversity in business considerations, the full potential of a diverse workforce appears to have not yet been leveraged and exploited. However, a structured, holistic, yet tactical implementation using a ‘think global-act local’ strategy as showcased in the article may not only increase an organization’s compliance with EEOC guidelines and produce more sustainable results than current programs, but also make tangible returns on such investments more traceable and transparent, particularly within the context of creativity and innovation, productivity, and overall organizational performance.