Cultural and Motivational Intelligence Contributes to Exports

Proper staffing with relevant skills is important to any business. In large firms the export manager should understand the cultures in which he or she is working within. The researchers looked at 153 U.S. companies to determine if an exporting manager’s cultural intelligence impacts the success of the company in engaging in international sales. Such skills allow for greater adaptation through understanding. 

Companies naturally move through marketing-mix adaptations whereby they change the way in which they handle internal and external pressures.  When done well it increases the strategic, financial, and competitive objective achievements into specific markets (Cavusgil & Zou, 1994). Much of this adjustment is based on the manager’s ability to understand the markets and make connections to the people within that market. 

According to Resource-Advantage Theory when firms can deploy the proper mix of financial, physical, legal, human, organizational, informational and relational resources they can become more productive (Hunt, 2000). The human aspects of R-A Theory relate closely to the marketing manager. This requires the skills of the international marketing manager to match with their motivations and metacognitive cultural intelligence to encourage additional product sales. 

Motivational Cultural Intelligence is the ability to continually put forward energy to learn about new cultures and situations where culture is important. It rests on the four dimensions of motivation, behavioral, cognitive, and metacognitive (Ang et al, 2007). It is a process of understanding norms, cultural rules, underlying values, and mental models of other people that can help in negotiations and business. 

When metacognitive CQ is high it contextualizes thinking with sensitivity to the embedded nature of culture and stronger cognitive flexibility that adjusts to changes in the environment (Klafehn, et. al, 2009). This helps managers understand their customers better from the perspective of their culture and create higher levels of business opportunities. It provides a context to the other’s culture and how to relate information to raise the value of products. 

The research found mixed results in terms of performance but does provide support that motivational CQ and metacognitive CQ can understand culture better, are willing to make adaptations, and can enhance strategic thinking within the organization. The study did have a limitation in terms of measuring how much control these managers have over the processes and whether or not any of their suggestions have been implemented. Simply having personnel with strong skills doesn’t mean there is going to be a benefit without some way of ensuring their ideas are heard and strong ideas are implemented.

Ang., et. al. (2006). Personality correlates of the four factor model of cultural intelligence. Group and organizational management, 31 (1). 

Cavusgil,S. & Zou, S. (1994). Marketing strategy performance relationships: an investigation of the empirical link in export market ventures. Journal of Marking, 58. 

Klafehn, et. al. (2009). Navigating cultures: the role of metacognitive cultural intelligences, “in Handbook of Cultural Intelligence: Theory, Measurement, and Applications.” Soon Angand and Linn Van Dyne, eds. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.

Magnusson, P. et. al. (2013). The role of cultural intelligence in marketing adaptation and export performance. Journal of International Marketing, 21 (4).

Developing Global Cultural Intelligence in Multinational Firms

Organizations that work within multiple-countries have varying cultures and subgroups within their working populations. As multi-national firms become more common it is necessary for leaders to develop a level of cultural intelligence in order to function effectively with people of varying backgrounds. A team of researchers Rockstuhl, et. al. (2011) investigated an elusive concept that has been gaining attention called cultural intelligence. Where IQ helps one solve problems and emotional intelligence (EI) encourages inter-personal relations, cultural intelligence (EQ) may impact international leadership effectiveness.

Changing environments require changes in the skill set of leaders. Due to these changes the careful selection, grooming, and development of leaders within the global economy are necessary to meet new challenges (Avolio, et, al., 2009). Despite this need, most leadership literature has been focused on domestic leadership skills without emphasis on decisions within a more complex global environment.

Global leaders have a greater awareness that exists beyond national borders. To effectively work as a global leader it is necessary to 1.) adopt a multi-cultural perspective beyond national borders; 2.) balance both local and global demands even when they are in contradiction; and, 3.) work with multiple cultures simultaneously instead of with a single culture (Barlett & Goshal, 1992). As each culture views leadership slightly different it is necessary for the multi-national leader to develop a larger perspective to fit within these perceptions.

To develop this wider perspective a level of intelligence is needed to not only manage daily affairs across borders, the complexity of business operations, but also the social aspects of leading. Both general intelligence (IQ) (Judge, et. al, 2004) and emotional intelligence (EI) (Caruso, 2002) have done well in explaining leadership success in national contexts. Yet this leaves cross-border leadership still undefined and elusive to many researchers.

Metacognitive cultural intelligence (CQ) is a level of conscious awareness about different cultures, their underlining assumptions, and how these assumptions impact behavior. They use deep level processing to create cognitive maps of cultures and peoples in social settings in order to navigate those settings for effective outcomes. As more life experience is earned they continue to adjust and update their mental maps (Triandis, 2006). They are rarely stagnant and always adjusting.

Those with such skills have an intrinsic interest in cultures, understand non-verbal cues and are able to better to communicate with people (Rockstuhl, et. al, 2011). They have a natural sense of what people need and try and put them at ease in order to better communicate. With their ability to understand themselves, people within the environment, and challenge assumptions they become more accurate in their influential behavior. Throughout their lives this process becomes more accurate, more aware, and more effective.

The researchers (Rockstuhl, et. al, 2011) used 126 military leaders from the Swiss Military Academy in Zurich. Each of the participants were part of a 3 year program to improve their cross-border effectiveness due to increased likelihood of international conflict. The results found that IQ was related to effectiveness. Emotional Intelligence (EI) was related to general effectiveness within national borders but not internationally. Cultural Intelligence (CQ) was related to overall cross-border effectiveness. This increased as people become more culturally aware.

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