A Cross-Cultural Empirical Analysis of Person-Organization Fit Measures as Predictors of Student Performance in Business Education: Comparing Students in the United States and India

Abstract

Preliminary research examining the influence of P-O fit on the effectiveness of learning, training, and development in business education indicates a potential to extend the P-O fit domain to predict student outcomes in the classroom (Westerman, Nowicki, & Plante, 2002). Our purpose in this study is to examine the effectiveness of three person-organization fit measures (values congruence, personality congruence, and work environment congruence) in predicting performance and satisfaction in management training and education cross-culturally, using data sets from students in India and the United States. Data was collected from 194 students in four sections of management classes taught by four instructors from higher educational institutions in the Western U.S. and India. The results indicated that student-professor personality congruence was a significant predictor of student performance, and classroom environment congruence was a significant predictor of both student satisfaction and performance in the United States. No P-O fit measure was predictive of student outcomes in India. Results and implications are discussed.