Purpose This study aims to examine the influence of diversity climate perceptions (DCPs) on team member’s contribution to team innovation and team performance in a multicultural team (MCT). The authors also investigate the moderating effect of cultural intelligence on these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The authors draw upon the interactional model for cultural diversity to build their hypotheses. Data was gathered from 43 teams consisting of 217 members using a structured questionnaire. Ratings were obtained from both team members and supervisors. The data collected was analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings Results indicated that when team members have positive DCPs, it had a positive impact on their innovation and performance in the team. Cultural intelligence was also found to have a direct impact on team member innovation but not on team member performance. Furthermore, cultural intelligence was found to positively moderate the DCPs – team member performance relationship but not the DCPs – team member innovation relationship. Practical implications Managing diversity is a key concern for organizations worldwide given the exponentially rising cultural diversity within the workforce. This study would enable practitioners to understand that developing positive DCPs and cultural intelligence of team members are critical to the success of MCTs. Originality/value Literature has documented mixed results pertaining to team diversity and its effect on performance, resulting in scholars urging the need to explore how the negative effects of team diversity can be mitigated. This research establishes that positive DCPs and cultural intelligence as two key factors contributing to the performance of MCTs.
Cross-cultural research in organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has primarily focused on testing the generalizability of various OCB dimensions in different cultures, while attempting to unearth any culture-specific OCB notions that may arise from the values of a particular culture. But with the contemporary workplace becoming increasingly multicultural, this research attempts to move beyond the study of OCB in culturally homogenous environments and investigates its manifestation in a multicultural context. This study proposes cultural intelligence (CQ) as one of the antecedents of OCB, which enables individuals in foreign cultures to understand the perceptions of OCB in that particular culture, and posits that individuals with high levels of CQ exhibit OCB in multicultural environments. Furthermore, this study investigates the moderating effect of cultural distance (CD) on the relationship between CQ and OCB to test whether culturally similar or different environments strengthen or weaken this relationship. The study draws upon the trait activation theory to test the hypotheses under investigation. Data for this study were collected from 513 expatriates of 31 different nationalities working in a multicultural environment and analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that CQ had a positive impact on OCB, but CD did not have any impact on the CQ-OCB relationship. The findings of this study have important implications for human resource managers managing a culturally diverse workforce.
Purpose In environments characterized by high cultural diversity, the ability to understand the cultural makeup of the workforce and the environment would equip business owners with knowledge required to innovate, take risks and proactively change their business offerings. Drawing on the upper echelons theory and action-characteristics model of entrepreneurship, the purpose of this paper is to test how competencies of small business owners, namely, cultural intelligence (CQ) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) contribute to the performance of their firms. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 106 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from the UAE, the data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using partial least squares–structural equations modeling. Findings Results showed that CQ of the SME owner has a positive effect on firm performance (FP) through the mediating role of EO. Also, CQ of the SME owner was found to have a direct effect on FP, thus asserting its importance as a valuable competency that SME owners need to cultivate when operating in a multicultural environment. Practical implications Skills of the top managers greatly influence the choices and decisions they make, which in turn impact the effectiveness of their organizations. This study focuses on the role of managerial competencies that need to be cultivated among SME owners that would contribute to the growth of their firms. Originality/value This research studies the role of an individual’s cross-cultural and entrepreneurial competencies that enable the organization to achieve higher performance.
Job transfers within the country can lead to adjustment issues, similar to what expatriates face, especially in the case of highly diverse countries, where a host of sub-cultures exist with distinct cultural practices within a single national culture. Intra-national variations in terms of language, ethnicity, food, clothing, economic development, geographic regions or urban-rural differences can be as significant as cross-cultural differences and cause barriers to social integration. Thus, it becomes important to equip employees with cross-cultural capabilities when they are deployed to a culturally distinct part of the country. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of cultural intelligence (CQ) as a critical capability that can enable the cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) of employees in a domestic context. Participants of this study consisted of employees from the information technology sector of India, who were transferred to a different state within the country in the past 1-month. They were further categorized into those working in culturally homogenous versus heterogeneous environments. Data were gathered using a structured questionnaire. The hypotheses under study were tested using structural equation modeling. The results indicated that CQ enabled the adjustment of employees within the domestic context. Furthermore, the CQ-CCA relationship was found to be positively moderated by intra-national diversity. While the ability of CQ to predict outcomes in cross-cultural scenarios has already been explored in employee mobility literature, this paper addresses the issues of intra-national diversity and domestic adjustment within the CQ framework, and establishes the usefulness of CQ to overcome the challenges put forth by intra-national differences and within-country cultural variations.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of our development systems and drawn attention to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this chapter, we acknowledge the critical role of education in supporting sustainable development. We argue for inclusive education for the Sustainable Development approach and offer the African philosophy of Ubuntu (I am because we are) as a mindset that should drive the transformative change required. We contend that this mindset serving as a theoretical and methodological model offers unique potential possibilities of bringing learners close to their social realities and helping them learn together better, the Africentric way. We expect this model to help better understand the intervention and transformative changes required for sustainable education that works for all learners.
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