Journal de l'économie mondiale

Cultural Intelligence: A Review Perspective for Business Administration

Abstract

Renata Klafke, Claudia Tania Picinin and Dan Allen Townsend

This work aims to review the existing publications on cultural intelligence (CQ), presenting what has been discussed and discovered on the subject, the measurements as well as the methods to improve it. A business conceptual framework for the business field is suggested which provides a basis for theory development and debate. Finally, some insights will be highlighted, which can propel the readers into future research. A search was performed on papers selected from the Science Direct database, which houses the empirical studies in the business management field. Sixteen articles were studied in detail. The relationships between skills of using CQ with expatriation or international cultural adjustment were found to be the most investigated themes in the business arena. Most of them revealed the existence of a positive association between the expatriate performance and crosscultural adaptation. The most used instrument used to measure CQ was the CQ Scale, a scale with psychological origins. No scale was developed or found from the business area. From the literature review an initial framework is suggested for the business environment.