By Jenna Somers
A 2023 study of cultural intelligence in multinational enterprises in China recently won the Basu Sharma Best Paper Award, presented annually for the best publication in the Journal of Comparative International Management. The study, “Cultural Intelligence, Diversity Climate, and Employee Behavior: A Study of MNE Subsidiaries in China,” found that cultural intelligence promotes employee behavior that is beneficial to the diversity climate of multinational enterprises operating in the context of China’s Confucian culture.
The paper was co-authored by Rong Wang, assistant professor of human and organizational development at Vanderbilt Peabody College of education and human development; first-author Juana Du, a professor at the School of Culture and Society at Royal Roads University, Victoria, B.C., Canada; and Crystal Jiang, a professor in the Department of Management at Bryant University in Rhode Island. The researchers examined the relationship between cultural intelligence, employee behavior, and diversity climate, defined as employees’ shared perceptions about how much their employer values diversity by utilizing fair practices and socially integrating all personnel.
“Our findings have broad implications for multinational corporations as the sector embraces EDI initiatives, Wang said. “A focus on diversity and inclusion in the workplace is important for organizations wanting to foster creativity and collaboration among employees, but to build a positive diversity climate, organizations must support employees with high cultural intelligence.”
Two types of cultural intelligence—metacognitive and motivational—each play a distinct role in creating a positive diversity climate and encouraging teamwork. Metacognitive cultural intelligence refers to a person’s mental consciousness and awareness during intercultural interactions and manifests as planning behavior before interactions with diverse colleagues, assessing internal biases, and making mental adjustments to achieve cultural integration. Motivational cultural intelligence refers to a person’s willingness to learn about cultural differences and adapt in culturally diverse situations.
The researchers found that employees with higher metacognitive cultural intelligence are more likely to perceive their workplaces as diverse and inclusive, a belief that prior research has shown facilitates an environment where culturally heterogenous teams can develop shared values and a cohesive organizational culture. The study also revealed that motivational cultural intelligence had a positive effect on organizational citizenship altruism behaviors—the actions employees take to support colleagues—which fosters a harmonious and collaborative work environment.
Surprisingly, the study found that while harmony—an important concept in Confucian culture—had a direct impact on motivational cultural intelligence, it did not play a role in the relationship between motivational cultural intelligence and employees’ altruistic behaviors. The researchers suggest that employees may have different interpretations of harmony and not necessarily view it as facilitating their work and relationships in multinational corporate offices.
These finding may help organizations leverage their employees’ cultural intelligence to strengthen office diversity climate and increase employees’ creativity, collaboration, and performance. That said, the researchers caution that the study’s findings should be understood within the context of multinational enterprises in China and may not be generalizable to other cultural contexts, even within other Asian societies.
