The business leaders, expatriates and other individuals who work in international business or in dealing with other cultures for business purpose, need capabilities to understand the business, political, geopolitical, social, economic and cultural environments of different countries. Moreover, these individuals also need capabilities to appreciate and treat people from other cultures equally. However, the capability to interact socially with people from diverse cultures is not the skill that is obvious to all individuals (Crowne 2006: 127). To be effective in dealing with people from various cultures, individuals need a set of capabilities that will enable them to understand the difference between their own culture and the culture of the people whom they deal with. In an international business environment, organizations are looking for a new breed of individuals, leaders or employees who are able to work efficiently with people from different cultures.
To address this need to deal with people from other cultures, Cultural Intelligence Quotient (CQ) is an important capability (Early & Ang 2003).
“Cultural Intelligence Quotient (CQ) refers to an individual’s capabilities to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings” (Early & Ang 2003). CQ is the set of capabilities that enables an individual to function effectively in new cultural settings, that is different from their own (Early & Ang 2003; Ang & Inkpen 2008: 341).
“CQ is a construct that assess multiple aspects of intercultural competence based on a theoretically grounded, comprehensive and coherent framework” (Ang, Dyne & Tan 2011). CQ capability allows individuals to understand a wide range of cultures and can facilitate leaders to adapt in various cultural settings (Early &
Ang 2003; Thomas 2006; Ng & Early 2006; Ng, Dyne & Ang 2009:514).
Individuals with high CQ, are more capable of recognizing discretionary contributions that would be viewed positively in a particular cultural context (Dyne, Ang & Nielson 2007).
Though there are multiple forms of intelligence such IQ, EQ etc., specialized in measuring several forms of intelligence, they are not proficient enough to measure the cultural capabilities of the individuals. Consequently, in addressing the issues related to measurement of the cultural competence of individuals, Cultural Intelligence Quotient (CQ) was formulated by Ang & Early in 2003. Ang
& Early (2003) developed CQ based on Strenberg & Dettermens (1986) integrative theoretical framework on multiple loci of intelligences. They proposed a set of capabilities comprising of mental, motivational, and behavioral components that focus specifically on resolving cross-cultural problems (Ng, Dyne & Ang 2009). Strenberg & Dettermens (1986) integrated the myriad views
on intelligence and proposed four complementary ways, such as, metacognitive intelligence, cognitive intelligence, motivational intelligence and behavioral intelligence (Ng, Dyne & Ang 2012:32; Ang & Inkpen 2008:341). Based on this multiple loci of intelligence, Ang & Early (2003) developed four factor model of Cultural Intelligence Quotient (CQ) this consisted of, Motivational CQ, Cognitive CQ, Metacognitive CQ and Behavioral CQ. According to Ng, Dyne & Ang (2012:
33) and Ng, Dyne & Ang (2009:101) “Motivational CQ refers to the capability to direct energy and attention toward learning about and functioning in situations characterized by cultural differences. Cognitive CQ refers to the knowledge of norms, practices and conventions in different cultures acquired from educational and personal experiences (Early & Ang 2003). Metacognitive CQ refers to the awareness and control of cognitions used to acquire and understand information (Ng, Dyne & Ang 2012: 33; Ng, Dyne & Ang 2009:101). Behavioral CQ refers to the capability to exhibit appropriate verbal and non-verbal actions when interacting with people from different cultures” (Ng, Dyne & Ang 2012: 33; Ng, Dyne & Ang 2009:101).
In addition to Early & Ang (2003) and for the purpose of giving insights on CQ to practitioners, business leaders and the students, Livermore (2010) proposed or labeled four dimensions of cultural intelligence: CQ drive (motivational), CQ Knowledge (cognitive), CQ Strategy (metacognitive) and CQ Action (behavioral).
The following diagram describes CQ framework and its dimensions and is followed by the explanation of the CQ dimensions.
Figure 7. Cultural Intelligence Quotient (CQ) Theory
Motivational CQ
Motivational CQ refers to the capability of individuals to direct attention, interest, energy and drive towards learning and operating in a diverse cultural environment and adapting to cross-cultural and multicultural situations (Dyne, Ang & Livermore 2010; Rockstuhl et al. 2011). The individual is required to have a basic sense of motivation to learn and function in a cross-cultural environment.
The motivation to approach people from different cultures does not happen by cross-cultural training or by reading stereotypical assumptions from the internet.
Instead it happens by approaching it with genial motivation. Therefore, the motivation to direct the energy of an individual towards another culture is facilitated by motivational CQ. Motivational CQ empowers the individual to show interest, confidence and drive to adapt to a cultural environment that is unfamiliar to the individual (Dyne, Ang & Koh 2008). The primary motivators such as enhancement, growth and continuality are the factors that are included in motivational CQ (Earley 2006). Individuals with high CQ capabilities are motivated to adapt and function in the cultural environment that is different from their own (Livermore 2010). Motivational CQ constitutes of three sub-dimensions: intrinsic motivation resultant from the enjoyment of diverse cultural situations, extrinsic motivation gained from diverse cultural experiences and self-efficacy which is the level of confidence to encounter cross-cultural situations (Livermore 2010). Motivational CQ is the foremost factor, because without motivation CQ it is not easier to demonstrate the other three factors of CQ (Ang & Inkpen 2008:344; Dyne, Ang & Livermore 2010).
Cognitive CQ
Cognitive CQ represents the knowledge structure of individuals about the universal elements that constitute the cultural environment and includes cultural institutions, norms, practices and conventions in different cultural settings (Dyne et al. 2012:301). Cognitive CQ denotes knowledge of norms, practices, values and conventions that has been acquired by individual personal experiences (Ng, Dyne
& Ang 2006; Dyne, Ang & Livermore 2010). Cognitive CQ consists of two sub-dimensions: cultural systems which is the how society organizes itself to meet its members’, and cultural norms and values explaining the varying way of issues such as time, authority and relationship. (Ang & Inkpen 2008: 344). Moreover, apart from the information gained from experience and education that involves specific norms, practices and conventions. Cognitive CQ also includes universal facets of culture as well as culture-specific differences (Ang et al. 2004). The cognitive factor of CQ is the critical component, as knowledge about culture is crucial for an individual’s performance and decision making during cross-cultural situations (Dyne, Ang & Koh 2008). Appreciating and understanding a
society’s culture can shape an individual’s pattern of social interaction within a culture (Ang & Inkpen 2008:344). Individuals with cognitive CQ are able to comprehend the differences between both their own and that of the host culture (Dyne, Ang & Nielsen 2007). Individuals gain high cognitive CQ when they are exposed to several cognitive factors within a culture which affects an individual’s way of thinking and behavior (Livermore 2010 & Crowne 2008). Cognitive CQ is an essential element in order to understand several aspects of foreign cultures cultural norms, practices, behavioral aspects etc.
Metacognitive CQ
Metacognitive CQ explains how an individual can formulate strategy in a cross-cultural situation using their cross-cross-cultural experience. Metacognitive CQ promotes active thinking of individuals and triggers critical thinking about habits, assumptions, and culturally bound thinking when cultural backgrounds are different. Moreover, it allows individuals to evaluate and revise their mental maps, and thereby the accuracy of their understanding (Dyne, Ang & Koh 2008).
Metacognitve CQ creates awareness to control the cognitions to acquire and understand information about other culture (Ng, Dyne & Ang 2009). The metacognitive CQ consists of three elements such as planning, awareness and checking (Dyne, Ang & Livermore 2008). Metacognitive CQ sub dimensions - planning to face the cross-cultural encounters, awareness of self and others, and checking whether the plans are appropriate (Dyne et al. 2012; Livermore 2010).
Metacognitive CQ enables individuals to adjust their mental maps during the cross-cultural or multicultural encounters whilst checking personal cultural assumptions, checking assumptions made on others and checking interpretation after the cross-cultural interactions (Dyne et al. 2012:299; Dyne, Ang & Nielsen 2007:350). Individuals with high Metacognitve CQ, are consciously aware of the cultural preferences and norms of different societies prior to and during the interactions (Ang & Dyne 2008). “Metacognitive CQ is considered as the decisive element of the CQ model as it promotes active thinking about people and situations in diverse cultural settings, triggering an active challenge to the rigid reliance on culturally bound thinking and assumptions and drives individuals to adapt and revise strategies so that they are more culturally appropriate and more likely to achieve desired outcomes in cross- cultural encounters” (Ang, Dyne &
Tan 2011). Metacognitive CQ has been emphasized as the critical component for the following reasons. First, it promotes active thinking of the individuals when cultural backgrounds differ. Second, it triggers critical thinking of the individuals about the host country’s cultural habits, assumptions, and culturally bound thinking. Third, it allows individuals to evaluate and revise their own mental
maps, consequently increasing their accuracy in cross-cultural settings (Dyne, Ang & Koh 2006).
Behavioral CQ
Behavioral CQ is the action level capability of individuals involved in intercultural interaction (Ng, Dyne & Ang 2009:514). “Behavioral CQ reflects an individual’s adaptation to different cultural settings and the capability to deal effectively with people with whom the individual does not share a common cultural background and understanding” (Early & Ang 2003: 12). Behavioral CQ measures an individual’s behavior in diverse cross-cultural situations (Dyne Ang
& Nielsen 2007). In order to build strong business network, as well as for other people related activities, Behavioral CQ is a critical component because behavior is often the most visible characteristics of social interactions (Dyne, Ang & Koh 2008). Behavioral CQ plays a major role in the CQ framework, as individuals initiate and maintain face-to-face interactions they do not have access to each other’s latent thoughts, feelings, or motivation. People tend to respond to others by what they see and hear from the other person’s vocal, facial and other outward expressions. Besides, behavioral expressions are especially salient when working with people from another culture. Therefore, by adopting appropriate behavior, individuals are able to create greater affinity with their counterparts from other cultures. Behavioral CQ is a critical component of the CQ framework since behavior is often the most visible characteristics of social interactions (Dyne, Ang
& Koh 2006; Livermore 2010). The sub-dimensions of behavioral CQ such as verbal, non-verbal behavior and speech acts, bring a flexible repertoire of behavioral responses that are appropriate in a variety of situations that arise in different cultural environments (Dyne, Ang & Nielsen 2007). A high level of behavioral CQ, enhances the ability of individuals to exhibit the correct verbal, non-verbal and speech acts appropriate for different situations, environments, different locations in a particular culture. Individuals with high behavioral CQ can draw on the other three dimensions of CQ to translate and enhanced motivation, understanding, and planning (Livermore 2011: Dyne, Ang & Koh 2006). Whereas, low level of Behavioral CQ, may result in misunderstanding and wrong judgment with the people from other cultures. Behavioral CQ also enables the individual to build strong ties with various stakeholders, because behavior is often the most visible characteristics of social interaction (Dyne, Ang & Koh, 2006).
Summary
CQ is termed as a culture free construct which provides insights to perform effectively in any culturally diverse social and workgroups (Dyne, Ang & Nielsen
2007:345). CQ capabilities can be helpful for the individuals in any country, culture, cross-cultural situations and environment. CQ is based on a theoretically grounded, comprehensive and coherent framework (Dyne, Ang & Nielsen 2007:
345). According to Ng, Dyne & Ang 2009:245 “CQ has been developed from a theoretical concept to a measurable construct with strong psychometric properties and constructs validity evidence, from theoretical expositions of its practical significance to empirical evidence of its predictive validity, and from an academic construct to a practical framework for multicultural and global education and development”. The CQ capabilities include skills that facilitate individuals to observe and respond spontaneously during cross-cultural interaction.
The individuals who are exposed to several cultural factors may have high CQ capabilities (Crowne 2008). In addition, high CQ individuals, will apply their motivational, cognitive, metacognitive and behavioral capabilities in cross-cultural situations (Ng, Dyne & Ang 2009:245). On the other hand, low CQ individuals may face complex social coordination problems due to the lack of knowledge and perceptive about the nuances of cultures (Rockstuhl et al.
2010:2). Individuals with higher CQ capabilities, are viewed as the smart acquaintance by the observers. In an international business environment, those individuals who have higher CQ capabilities, are believed to be appropriate to work with on international work assignments (Kim &Dyne 2012:278). Therefore, CQ is a significant capability for individuals working in the international environment.