Cultural Intelligence

In a global market where international teams, initiatives, and joint ventures are increasingly common, it is extremely important for people to integrate themselves quickly in new cultures. Effective strategies for selecting and training people on global perspectives are critical for managing businesses.Current theories in management and psychology do not provide adequate frameworks to explain the successes or failures of people working and managing in foreign cultures. In this book, the authors develop the idea of cultural intelligence and examine its three essential facets: cognition, the ability to develop patterns from cultural cues; motivation, the desire and ability to engage others; and behavior, the capability to act in accordance with cognition and motivation.In their presentation of this new conceptual framework, the authors provide a critical review of the existing literature. They explore the fundamental nature of cultural intelligence and its relationship to other frameworks of intelligence.

"This is a very important book about a significant new concept, 'cultural intelligence' (CQ) that is sure to attract the attention of both scholars and those who are involved in the practical matters of global commerce and international affairs. The authors have amassed a considerable array of academic theories and research evidence to support their arguments for why it is essential to understand CQ and how it can be developed and used in our increasingly multi-cultural world. All of us who consider ourselves 'internationalists' need to read this book." -Lyman W. Porter,University of California, Irvine "Cultural Intelligence provides an innovative, instructive, and engaging discussion of a question that most cultural frameworks have left in the shadows-the question of how people come to understand cultures other than their own. Few questions are of more intellectual or practical interest in this time of multicultural communities, global organizations, and culturally framed political conflict." -Michael W. Morris, Columbia University "Intelligence is frequently understood in terms of the psychological tests so salient in the public mind. Earley and Ang broaden the scope of intelligence to include culture, and then applied cultural intelligence to numerous practical situations. This book is an indispensable companion for those who research the culture and psychology link, work across cultures, or train those who work across cultures." -Harry C. Triandis, University of Illinois,

P. Christopher Earley is Professor and Chair of Organizational Behavior at the London Business School. Soon Ang is Professor and Chair of the Division of Strategy, Management, and Organization at the Nanyang Business School, Singapore.