Thu Le
What is cultural intelligence? Why is it essential for us in the current era to communicate and work effectively? How does it play a vital role in Public Relations nowadays?
Case Study
In August 2009, A family in California called 911 to report about their Lexus car unexpectedly
accelerating by itself. The call from people who died from the crash became viral, which led to a quick report showing there had been more than 2000 similar accidents caused by Toyota cars. Two months after that, Toyota began a recall of 5.4 million vehicles and later recalled 4.5millions vehicles with new causes pointed out. Toyota got fined 16.4 million dollars for waiting too long to initiate a recall.
The reason causing Toyota's failure is the difference between two countries in the way of dealing with sudden issues. Generally the process of giving a decision in a Japanese organisation takes a bit long as it requires the agreement of all parties involved. Meanwhile in America, responding late is said to be indecisive or not professional
.
What is CQ (Cultural Intelligence)?
Cultural intelligence is defined as the ability to work and communicate efficiently in a cross-cultural environment of two or more different countries. You can identify your CQ by below keys:
You are curious about what is going on in foreign countries. Therefore, you are interested in reading, listening to national news. You also enjoy communicating with foreign friends and learning more about their experiences.
You prepare carefully for outbound trips or for jobs with foreign partners, customers, clients or colleagues. You study about their general cultures to be ready to work with them. (for not being culturally shocked).
When you first encounter a new perspective that is totally different from what you already know, you express being open minded instead of judging. You even change the way you talk or act to suit the culture in which you are if necessary.
You do not put people in stereotypes. This is relatable to cross-cultural competence ( knowledge, skills, and motivation helping you adapt cross-cultural environment. Cross cultural competence is also known as a kind of intelligence which can be measured and improved.
Why is CQ essential in our daily life and PR?
The sensitivity in cross-cultural environments helps us avoid misunderstandings when communicating with people from different cultures in both working and daily life.
According to Forbes, employees who have a high level of CQ are able to bridge the gaps between divides and knowledge in an organisation. They also can help the business take advantages from the multiple perspectives that a multicultural workforce brings to the workplace. Culturally intelligent employees possess the potential to drive up innovation and creativity.
It is easier for those people to build up the trust in foreign clients and customers. It helps people understand more the way culture shapes how people think and behave.
Lack of sensitivity in cross-cultural competence not only causes serious problems for the organisations as Toyota case study but also could push you in awkward or conflict situations in daily communication. For example, when you give someone thumbs up, in a popular way it can be known as an agreement or a like meanwhile in Greek, Russia and some countries in West Africa, it is said to be as impolite and offensive as you use the middle finger. David Livemore and his partners said Culture is not a “nice-to-have” but a key factor to make a global leader nowadays.
How can we measure and develop CQ?
“Cultural intelligence” is mentioned for the first time by Chirstopher Earley, Soon Ang and Linn Van Dyne in 2003 in the book “Cultural Intelligence: Individual Interactions Across Cultures”. In 2015, a social psychologist David Livermore expanded the definition of that word in his book named “ Leading with Cultural Intelligence”. He pointed out that there are 4 components consisted by CQ which can be measured and developed: Drive; Knowledge; Strategy and Action
CQ-Drive (Motivation)
How you have interest and confidence in working effectively in cross-cultural working environments including:
Intrinsic interest: The degree of enjoyments you derived from culturally diverse situations
Extrinsic interest: The tangible benefits you achieve from cross cultural experiences
Self- efficacy: How confident you are when working in culturally diverse environments or having a cross-cultural encounter.
CQ- Knowledge (Cognition)
Understanding and recognising similarities and differences between cultural norms.
Cultural- general understanding: about economy, business, legal, laws, cultural values, religious beliefs, men and women roles expected across cultures, etc.
Context-specific understanding: about the way of using different languages verbally and nonverbally.
CQ- Strategy (Metacognition)
Making sense of culturally diverse experiences and planning accordingly
Having knowledge of cultural differences.
Planning for cross-cultural experiences
Assess and reflect the difference between reality and expectation about cross-cultural experiences.
CQ- Action
The ability to talk and behave accordingly in culturally diverse situations. This includes two dimensions:
Nonverbal communication (body language, emotional expression, and behaviours)
Verbal communication (voice tone, intonation, etc.)
Tips to develop CQ
Different from IQ, which is decided 50% by the gene, CQ (Cultural Intelligence) is the result of environment and education. Therefore, you could literally practice and develop your CQ by follow below tips:
Read books and watch movies or documentaries about cultures all over the world.
Join expat communities in your local area and apply for exchange programs with people speaking the languages you are learning. You can learn the way local people speak, using body language and expressing emotions to speak as a native speaker.
Learn about different cultures by travelling to different places. No need to be different countries, it could be different cities, different districts.
Have a diary written by yourself after each cultural experience by answering some questions: How was that experience? How does it change the way you thought? What are lessons from that experience?
Cultural intelligence could be an individual capability, but anyone can be more culturally intelligent if you train yourself and practice according to the above tips for an adequate period of time.
#workinginPR #workingskill #young generation #cultural intelligence #cultural context #leadership #Leading with Cultural Intelligence
Reference
Nick, B. (2010) Toyota Settles Over California Death. The New York News [Online]. Available from: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/business/19autos.html [Accessed 5 May 2021].
Forbes (2015) Why You Need Cultural Intelligence (And How To Develop It) [Preprint]. Available from: https://www.forbes.com/sites/iese/2015/03/24/why-you-need-cultural-intelligence-and-how-to-develop-it/?sh=12549f7817d6 [ Accessed 5 May 2021].
Livermore, D., Van, L., & (2003) Leading with Cultural Intelligence: The Real Secret to Success. I.e.2nd ed. [Online] New York: AMACOM. Available from: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=AlcRBwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=david+livermore+cross+culture+knowledge+strategy+drive&ots=TS00l_RsKg&sig=DvBjIMhZkVjWajvcVlYtaamm3z0#v=onepage&q=david%20livermore%20cross%20culture%20knowledge%20strategy%20drive&f=false [Accessed 5 May 2021].