Managers with higher Cultural Intelligence (CQ) are more effective in their leadership roles, the CQ of leaders contributes to a more positive perception of leadership performance in teams that are characterized by significant cultural diversity.
1. Introduction
Cultural Intelligence, a 21st century concept, determines the extent of workers’ success in foreign cultures, but also provide an answer to why dealing with issues that arise from cross-cultural problems can cause failure or success. The name used for this concept is Cultural Intelligence, which was abbreviated by Ang as CQ, “short for cultural intelligence quotient”
[1]; both forms (Cultural Intelligence and CQ) are used in research and the literature equally for the cultural intelligence model itself and the measured level of cultural intelligence, which can be confusing.
The individual relationships of a person living in a foreign culture have an impact on their life, their resilience and, of course, their performance in the workplace. The ways in which people can be successfully encouraged to work better vary from nation to nation and culture to culture. For all these reasons, there is a growing need for more and more people—whether managers or subordinates—to excel in their professions and to successfully overcome intercultural barriers, whether at home or in cultures and countries other than their own
[2].
Working abroad is no longer surprising, as there is no small community or family that is not affected by the fact that one of its members decides to emigrate permanently or temporarily overnight, but it is by no means certain that they are prepared for the challenges of the new environment
[3]. The globalisation of circumstances also poses a challenge for the newcomer, but the development of personal competences, including the elements of integration competence, is necessary to be able not only to cope but also to succeed
[4].
In the case of diverse (i.e., multicultural) groups, initial friction arising from cultural differences can hamper success from the moment of entry and can escalate into serious conflicts if not properly addressed and managed in time, with negative financial consequences if workers from different backgrounds are hired.
2. The Relationship between Cultural Intelligence and Management Competencies
2.1. The Importance, Brief History and Measurability of CQ
CQ is a discipline of the 21st century, a product of globalization. Rockstuhl et al.
[5] pointed out that, although leadership is influenced by general intelligence and emotional intelligence, these findings relate to operating at home, in one’s own country, and there was little research examining the impact in transnational contexts
[5]. In the 21st century, researchers have turned their attention intensively to the skills and competences needed to integrate into other cultures. Egwuonwu et al. define CQ as human capital that can improve managerial relationship performance
[2].
A pioneer in CQ research was Ang
[6], who in 1997 noted that experts of different nationalities recruited for the Y2K problem, although skilled at their work and considered the best in their field, were not able to work together effectively. By exploring this new workplace requirement, Ang and Earley created the concept of CQ
[7] and published a book on the results of their research, CQ
[6]. Thomas and Inkson
[8] further elaborated on their two classical theories, and listed knowledge, mindfulness, and intercultural skills as the components of CQ, with knowledge being the knowledge of one’s own and other cultures, mindfulness being the ability to pay attention to context, and intercultural skills being the skills to use the former two. Dogra and Dixit
[9] have brought together the most significant published work on CQ beyond classical CQ research (
Table 1).
Table 1. CQ research.
Research Topic |
Researchers |
The link between CQ and the performance of foreigners |
Kim, Kirkman and Chen (2008) [10] |
The link between CQ, individual global identity and multicultural groups and group performance |
Shokef and Erez (2008) [11] |
The moderating role of CQ in foreign managers |
Elenkov and Manev (2009) [12] |
An integrated model of experiential learning and CQ |
Ng, Dyne and Ang (2009) [13] |
A conceptual model to investigate the role of CQ in labour diversity and group performance |
Karma and Vedina (2009) [14] |
The impact of CQ on conflict management skills |
Ramirez (2010) [15] |
Linking management CQ to leadership and team performance |
Groves and Feyerherm (2011) [16] |
A conceptual model in which prior intercultural experience influences international leadership potential through CQ |
Kim and Dyne (2012) [17] |
Link between CQ and employee engagement |
Kodwani (2012) [18] |
Impact of short-term international experience on CQ dimensions |
Engle and Crowne (2013) [19] |
The impact of CQ on multicultural negotiation performance |
Groves and Feyerherm (2014) [20] |
The role and impact of CQ on task performance |
Jyoti and Kour (2015) [21] |
CQ, global leadership preparation and communication effectiveness in terms of anxiety and uncertainty management |
Mukherji, Jain and Sharma (2016) [22] |
Factors influencing CQ |
Garamvölgyi and Rudnák (2017) [23] |
Conceptual model: the impact of management CQ on group performance |
Dogra and Dixit (2017) [9] |
Theoretical framework for examining the relationship between management CQ, group CQ and organisational CQ |
Dogra and Dixit (2017) [9] |
Developing CQ |
Raver and Van Dyne (2017) [24] Alexander, Ingersoll, Calahan, Miller, Shields, Gipson and Alexander (2021) [25] |
CQ and intercultural training |
Alexandra (2018) [26] |
CQ and the way we speak |
Ng, Van Dyne, and Ang (2019) [27] |
CQ and cultural diversity |
Alexandra, Ehrhart, and Randel (2021) [28] |