3. CHAPTER THREE: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE (CQ)
3.8. Cultural Intelligence CQ Outcomes
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In conclusion, CQ has been found to play a significant role as a moderator and as a mediator of the relationships between Employee Performance, Adjustment, Job Strain, Innovation Adoption, Institutional Distance, Leadership Effectiveness, Innovative Work Behaviour, Job Performance, Organisational Behaviour, and Travel Strain. Given the few research studies found in this area, there is a potential to further the examination of CQ role in this research as a moderator and as a mediator to investigate its influences on the defined relationships. However, CQ notion and measurement will be adopted in this research as a moderator and as a mediator because of its natural connections to the employee empowerment and the expected outcomes of the emergence of innovation.
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achievement is more related to general and interaction adjustment rather than work adjustment.
Similar results were concluded by many scholars who found a negative relationship between one or more CQ facet and the work adjustment within the multicultural environment as concluded by Lee et al. (2014). Most of the scholars suggested several solutions to overcome this challenge; for example, Chen (2015) argued that well-received intercultural training might enhance the relationship between CQ and work adjustment. For furthering the investigations, scholars like Huff et al. (2014) have examined each CQ facet along with one adjustment type and in general, and found positive and significant relationships.
For adaptation, motivational and behavioural were found the only two CQ facets that predict the cultural adaptation (Ang et al. 2007). Also, Ward et al. (2011) added in this context that high levels of both metacognitive and motivational CQ facets resulted in enhanced cultural adaptations with minimal challenges. Furthermore, effective cultural adaptation depends on the individual capabilities to adjust to multicultural situations (Ng and Earley 2006). However, the crucial question is which facet is the most important one that contributes to adapting to new cultural settings? (Alon and Higgins 2005). Before answering this question, a multicultural setting is required in order to provide an international exposure that allows individual “learn to select and apply the appropriate tools, adapting them when necessary” as argued by Johnson et al. (2006). By having the right setting, motivational facet as approved by many scholars like (Huff et al. 2014) is playing a significant role in the expatriates overall success in adjustment and adaptation.
In conclusion, adjustment and adaptation to a cross-cultural environment are the most important outcomes of the CQ that facilitate the success of expatriates in their overseas jobs. To
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overcome the adjustment and adaptation challenges; structured and ongoing training on intercultural understanding and engagement in addition to the international exposure would increase the CQ levels. Also, the motivational CQ is the crucial factor that can predict the adjustment types (general, interaction, and work) and support the individual adaptation to multicultural challenges. However, individual capabilities, education, and experience would expedite, delay, or fail the adjustment and adaptation.
3.8.2. Performance and Effectiveness
Most of the scholars found that individuals need to have a successful adjustment in a cross- cultural working environment in order to enhance performance and effectiveness (Lee et al. 2014).
In the same context, CQ positive influence on adjustment and adaptation would lead to having a significant positive influence on the performance and educational effectiveness, as explained by Jyoti and Kour (2015). Thus, adjustment and adaptation come in the first place for individuals on the way to excel in a cross-cultural environment. Also, individual adjustment and adaptation will influence their capabilities in performing and being cultural effective.
When individuals have a level of satisfaction in adjustment and adaptation, the overall CQ, in general, would have a positive and significant relationship with both cross-cultural effectiveness and job performance (Lee et al. 2013). In the same context, when considering an overall CQ, scholars like (Bucker et al. 2014) found a positive and significant relationship between communication effectiveness and CQ four facets. On the other hand, Chen et al. (2010) studied the influence of each CQ facet and found that motivational CQ, along with work adjustment, has a
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positive relationship on job performance. Also, metacognitive and behavioural CQ predict task performance, as concluded by (Ang et al. 2007). In addition, motivational and behavioural CQ indirectly increase task performance, as indicated by Malek and Budhwar (2013).
In conclusion, individual performance and effectiveness depend on CQ outcomes that require enhanced individual adjustment and adaptation in order to perform efficiently in a cross-cultural environment. Also, all factors that affect individual’s adjustment and adaptation would have a direct and indirect influence on the individualperformance and effectiveness, which require being taken into consideration in the individual preparations to work in a multicultural environment.
3.8.3. Cross-Cultural Leadership
Global managers as stated by Bird and Mendenhall (2016) need to exercise more exceptional leadership because they are “tasked with developing and implementing a corporate vision, building organisational culture, fostering diverse stakeholder relations and leading significant change efforts”. For better multicultural organisations management, Hudea (2014) has discussed the positive diversity influence on the organisation and how the positive leader attitude encourages the employees to adopt a similar attitude. Through Hudea’s conceptual model, the outcomes of the positive cross-cultural leadership were innovation, performance, competitive advantage and reputation. Scholars like Snaebjornsson et al. (2015) argued that leader gender in a specific value of a particular cultural might affect their management style as “in some cases, women are not as successful as men, for example, when they adopt a masculine leadership style”. Therefore, it is essential to take into consideration the organisational and cultural expectations and barriers to
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facilitate the leaders their mission in managing short and long-term goals in a multicultural working environment.
The cultural expectations from the leader who are working in a cross-cultural environment and how they should behave have a direct influence on the leader conduct and success (Dorfman et al. 2012). The influence of the culture would generate social challenges that require the leaders to have specific abilities to overcome and function within a cross-cultural environment (Rockstuhl et al. 2011). They have shown the leadership abilities to work efficiently in a multicultural work environment through having higher CQ in general “as the strongest predictor of cross-border leadership”. By defining CQ as “core cross-cultural leadership competence (personal, social, and cross-cultural”. Deng and Gibson (2009) have concluded through their model that leaders can improve their effectiveness by increasing their CQ in general and more specifically in cognitive and behavioural intelligence.
In summary, adjustment and adaptation, performance and effectiveness, cross-cultural leadership are considered as the primary CQ outcomes. These qualities are important to be considered as part of the individual, group, organisation, and community to enhance the performance through the cross-sectional interactions at all levels. CQ will be utilised in this research as a moderator and mediator to influence the relation between innovation drivers and the emergence of innovation outcomes in the public sector higher education service providers.
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