Word count: 297 words of actual text.
Culture is apparent in everything that we do: the way we communicate, great each other,
the way we view the world. As Hofstede (2001) puts it, “culture is collective programming
of the mind” (p. 1) that distinguishes one group of people from the other. These
differences create barriers in understanding and building cohesive international teams.
International management is used when a company conducts business across countries.
Therefore, international managers encounter different “programming” or the way of
looking at the world. As international managers we need to learn to deal with these
different approaches to life and this ability may be assessed through cultural intelligence
(CQ).
Cultural intelligence was originally developed by Earley and Ang (as cited in Azevedo &
Jugdev, 2022). It consists of four capabilities: “motivational CQ, cognitive CQ,
metacognitive CQ, and behavioral CQ” (Azevedo & Jugdev, 2022, p. 58). Motivational CQ
is about one’s believe that he/she can succeed in multicultural environment, cognitive CQ
is the ability to develop culture specific knowledge, metacognitive CQ is the connection
between the knowledge of the specific culture, and ability to apply this knowledge in
practice, and behavioral CQ is just that – an ability to adapt one’s behavior (both verbal
and nonverbal) to match those of the foreign country (Azevedo & Jugdev, 2022)
If we consider the definitions of management (planning, organizing, leading and
controlling) (Daft, 2010) and leadership (uniting people to achieve a common goal)
(Northouse, 2013), we will see the importance of cultural intelligence in both
management and leadership when it comes to intercultural engagement. Both,
management and leadership deal with people, whose actions stem from their respective
cultures, let alone the fact that managers and leaders are also people with their own
cultural biases.
Therefore, CQ is an important component of becoming a successful international
manager.
References
Azevedo, A., & Jugdev, K. (2022). Applying cultural intelligence to develop adaptive
leadership. Organization Development Journal, 40(4), 56-70.
Daft, R. (2010). Management. Manson, OH: CENGAGE.
Hofstede, G. (2001) Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and
Organizations across Nations. (2d ed). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. United Kingdom: SAGE
Publications.