CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE: A NEW APPROACH TO INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT TRAININGIn this era of escalating globalization, intercultural differences remain a significant challenge confronting multinational organizations. Many organizations—international firms, multinational companies and those who are now “going global”—require their managers to work across borders. Consequently, organizations increasingly need managers who have the “know-how” to quickly become culturally fluent and who can react in a way that is culturally appropriate. Specifically, global managers need to be able to work with multiple cultures and in multinational teams. However, the challenge of global management effectiveness becomes even more difficult when managers spend shorter periods in any single place and are frequently moved from one location to another. As a result, their country-specific knowledge becomes less relevant.According to authors Earley and Peterson, the traditional approach used in intercultural training is no longer effective enough for today’s global manager. They propose a model, based on the elements of cultural intelligence (CQ), to better prepare global managers to be effective in various intercultural settings. Purpose of the StudyAlthough intercultural training is important, to date there has not been a comprehensive framework of cultural adaptation presented as a training guide. The dominant approach to intercultural training in corporate settings is based on cultural-general assumptions drawn from cultural values and country-specific knowledge for the international assignment. However, this approach tends to treat all participants equally and does not make allowances for the intercultural competencies they already bring to their work.According to Earley and Peterson, one of the fundamental problems with the cultural-values-awareness approach is that it cannot substitute for direct knowledge of interpersonal interactions, because “values alone are not a strongly predictive feature of human behavior.” To address the growing need for cultural competence in the global workplace, they developed a conceptual framework that has practical applications based on CQ. How the Study Was Conducted The challenge for international organizations is how best to prepare their global managers to be effective in intercultural environments. This study closely examined past practices of international management training, with focus on intercultural training program design (e.g., assessments, cultural assimilators, role playing). Two weaknesses in the traditional approach to intercultural training were identified: 1) the “one-stop shopping” philosophy falls short of its goal because it assumes that all individuals need a similar training
regime; and 2) most approaches to intercultural training focus on knowledge-based information regarding the target culture. Further, the combination of these approaches entirely omits the metacognitive skills needed to learn and analyze new situations and cultures to respond appropriately. Consequently, Earley and Peterson expanded on earlier research in the areas of work and social cultural competency. From their observations, they diagnosed what skills make a person culturally intelligent. The result is a model of cultural intelligence with direct practical use for international management training and multinational teams. Cultural Intelligence and Its Importance to the Global ManagerAs defined in the literature ...
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regime; and 2) most approaches to intercultural training focus on knowledge-based information regarding the target culture. Further, the combination of these approaches entirely omits the metacognitive skills needed to learn and analyze new situations and cultures to respond appropriately. Consequently, Earley and Peterson expanded on earlier research in the areas of work and social cultural competency. From their observations, they diagnosed what skills make a person culturally intelligent. The result is a model of cultural intelligence with direct practical use for international management training and multinational teams. Cultural Intelligence and Its Importance to the Global ManagerAs defined in the literature of the 1980s, the capability to adapt is a reflection of a person’s intelligence. Individuals with high social or emotional intelligence are considered to more easily empathize, direct, work and interact with others. A person’s capacity to understand and convey human emotion is also an essential ingredient in emotional intelligence. Yet from a cross-national and cross-cultural perspective, emotional and social intelligence approaches do not offer the cultural context needed to explain how and why people act as they do. Cultural intelligence (see Figure 1), however, places a significant emphasis on adaptation across new cultural contexts and enables and empowers a person to discover new ways to relate to others. CQ, therefore, places strong importance on “metacognition”—or thinking about thinking. At the core of CQ are the following three fundamental elements:1) Metacognition and cognition—thinking, learning and strategizing.2) Motivation—efficacy and confidence, persistence, value congruence and interest in new cultures.3) Behavioral—social mimicry and behavioral repertoire.Figure 1Cultural Intelligence—the capacity to gather, interpret and behaviorally adapt to cultural contexts.In the traditional approach to intercultural training, however, the focus on cultural values presents an overly simplistic understanding of behavior. Rather than a general overview of values and behavior, global managers need tools they can use to think through cultural situations. According to the authors, the CQ approach is “an advance in thinking for understanding manager adjustment because it captures existing approaches emphasizing values orientation and fact finding, but also moves well beyond that by identifying uniquely the CQ strengths and deficits for an individual manager.” The advantage of the CQ approach for the global manager is that it has the potential to open doors in ways that traditional intercultural training does not, and it provides global managers with the necessary tools to deal with difficult cultural situations so that they may be effective in different cultural environments.Key FindingsAs a result of their study, the authors created a model to understand and train global managers. The model (see Figure 2) uses the fundamentals of cultural intelligence from work developed by Earley and Ang (2003). It aids in the identification of an individual global manager’s intercultural competencies. Further, the model identifies additional specific capabilities that will help global managers be effective in unfamiliar, different from his or her own cultural environment. From there, the appropriate types of training interventions can be determined to improve the global manager’s cultural translation competencies. • The model includes two parts: the CQ facets and the intercultural settings. The CQ facets (cultural competencies) on the left side of the model are described below (see CQ Facets). On the right side of the model are intercultural settings that describe the types of situations in which a global manager would use cultural competencies. For example, “intensity” may be working with a multinational team from the company headquarters or being on an international assignment. “Duration” refers to the length of time of the intercultural encounter, and “nature/type” refers to the type of behavior that would be appropriate for that situation.• Knowing oneself is not sufficient for high CQ because awareness does not guarantee flexibility. Being flexible regarding one’s self-concept and being able to integrate new facets are related to high CQ. • The understanding of new cultures may require abandoning pre-existing conceptualizations of how and why people function as they do. • A person with high CQ can inductively understand a social situation to function effectively. (A general but broad knowledge about cultures and societies is required.) • CQ training, coming from an anthropological perspective, may also include economic systems, political and religious institutes, social relationships, etc.The CQ Facets • Metacognitive-Cognitive Facet TrainingMetacognition involves evaluating one’s surroundings through thinking about how one thinks. Individuals who are culturally intelligent can think critically and reflexively regarding their own performance in cultural interactions. Monitoring is another metacognitive competency that reflects the capacity to reason inductively and deliberately, formulate hypotheses concerning actions, and monitor internal and external clues. Also important is the ability to focus attention on culturally-inconsistent scenarios and the ability to detect culturally-discrepant information, and then adjust and incorporate new cultural information through intelligent sense-making.Example: Men and women in Italy kiss on the cheek to greet each other; this is not true in the United States. CQ competencies allow one to figure out how to determine rules for greetings and physical contact across cultural settings. • Motivational Facet TrainingIt is not sufficient to know about another culture. Being motivated and having the confidence to use this knowledge to give a culturally appropriate response is the essence of this facet. Self-efficacy (the ability to accomplish a particular level of performance) and taking action are critical to successful CQ motivation.Example: A person who does not believe in his or her ability to understand people from different cultures is likely to disengage after experiencing a few failures. In contrast, high CQ individuals with a strong sense of confidence regarding intercultural encounters will “work smart as well as hard” and not abandon efforts to learn and relate appropriately.• Behavioral Facet Training This facet refers to the types of behaviors that a person exhibits. CQ reflects the ability to acquire or adapt behaviors that are appropriate in a new culture. A high CQ individual can model mannerisms and posturing, verbal and nonverbal cues, etc.Example: A global manager is talking to a Mexican manager, whose social distance is closer than his. If the global manager maintains a greater social distance, the Mexican manager may feel uncomfortable, apprehensive and hesitant, thus inhibiting effective communication. To support better communication, the global manager stands closer to the Mexican manager, mimicking his social distance.Practical ApplicationsCQ is recommended for global organizations in these two areas: 1) intercultural training for global managers; and 2) multicultural teams.Intercultural TrainingThe primary use of the CQ model is intercultural training. As mentioned earlier, the model serves as a tool to determine the current cultural aptitudes of global managers and to discover in what areas they need further training and coaching. The critical key for intercultural training is that the cognitive aspects of CQ approach assist global managers to learn the what, who, why and how of intercultural interaction.CQ and Multicultural TeamsBased on metacognition (thinking about how one thinks and learns) and motivation (being willing to stick with the situation during difficult times), CQ competencies are very important for multicultural teams. The success of multicultural teams is not based on cultural values training or orientation to diversity. Instead, success is based on the ability of its members to use CQ competencies to uncover commonalities—not their differences—that will help bring them together.These teams typically have unstated assumptions regarding right and wrong, due process, and expectations of team members, often tied to cultural background and experience, which can easily become areas of contention. It may be necessary to set aside certain assumptions and overlook etiquette violations. Consequently, multicultural team building requires strong discipline.For example, a common trap is the assumption of understanding cultural differences based on past travel experience, which only becomes tested when there are stressful situations in the group. The authors point out that team members who have high CQ recognize this difficulty and will remain motivated to look beyond individual differences to find benefits for the good of the team. Examples of issues that can be solved by using CQ competencies are questions such as how members should discuss core issues and how disagreements should be resolved.Study Limitations and New DirectionsThe CQ approach to training and development represents a new direction in both theory and practice. The authors raise a very important question: Will the CQ approach be cost effective and practical for international management training?There are currently three testing grounds for this new approach. First, a group of scholars at the Nanyang Business School (Cultural Intelligence Working Group) in Singapore, with colleagues in the United States and United Kingdom, are developing an assessment tool for CQ using a paper and pencil method. The early findings from their work suggest that a reliable and valid scale can be developed. The authors hope to expand this assessment method to capture aspects of CQ using work samples, simulations and 360-degree feedback. Second, the authors implemented a small-scale introduction of CQ to a new MBA class at the London Business School. Third, through the Nanyang Business School, a broader application of their approach was implemented with 60 non-Singaporean students who were beginning an MBA program, training them in the assessment tool and CQ facets. The programs were well received, and consequently both universities plan to use the program next year.SHRM HR Content InsightsThe role of culture has a direct impact on the bottom line. Many cultures outside of the United States base their business decisions on trust and rapport. Given this fact, if a global manager from the United States does not know how to establish a trusting business relationship and cannot gain the respect of international business associates, accomplishing business goals will be difficult. Consequently, the role of cultural competence is increasingly critical for global managers to be effective in their jobs. In view of the high cost of international assignments and significant time invested in marketing and business development, it behooves organizations to ensure that their global managers have the tools they need to work effectively across borders. Source: Earley, P. C., & Peterson, R. S. (2004, March). The elusive cultural chameleon: Cultural Intelligence as a new approach to intercultural training for the global manager. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 3, 1, 100-115.