Leading and Motivating Multicultural Workforce
Cultural Awareness and Leadership
The material in this module compels us to understand that traditional motivators are culture bound and that what works in our own culture may not be the best motivator in another country. Once again, this Discussion is broken into weekly topics.
Week 1
Describe a specific reward that motivates you. How does that type of reward appeal to your values as a member of an individualist society? Would this reward be as effective at motivating workers in a collectivist culture? Why or why not?
Module 1 – Background
CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE
Journal articles can be located in the Trident Online Library. Access the library from the TLC Portal page.
Application: Cultural Awareness and Leadership
In this module, we will examine several models of intercultural competence, including Cultural Intelligence (CQ) and Bennett’s developmental model of intercultural sensitivity. Let’s start with an interview with Carlos Ghosn, recipient of the INSEAD Transcultural Leadership Award (2008) for his work in successfully leading across national borders. It is a good illustration of why cross-cultural skills translate into superior leader effectiveness. If you have trouble finding it in the library, check the Business Source Complete database after clicking on “Additional Library Resources.”
Stahl, G. K., & Brannen, M. Y. (2013). Building cross-cultural leadership competence: An interview with Carlos Ghosn. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 12(3): 494–502.
Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity
Before delving into what it takes to be effective as a cross-cultural leader, it is good to take stock of where we are in terms of our own world views. Milton Bennett asserts that people vary along a continuum of cultural awareness, ranging from a viewpoint that our own culture is the critical lens through which to view the world to a more integrated view that takes the relative nature of culture into account. It is a developmental model that not only allows us to self-assess our current state, but also to see what the next step is on our journey to becoming more culturally competent.
What is interesting is that some people claim they are “culturally neutral” or “color blind” and treat everyone the same, but they are really ethnocentric because they are minimizing the reality of cultural differences. To examine the characteristics of the different developmental stages and assess where you are on the continuum, see Milton J. Bennett’s Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS), discussed in the following article.
Hammer, M. R., Bennett, M. J., & Wiseman, R. (2003). Measuring intercultural sensitivity: The intercultural development inventory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27(4), 421-443. Retrieved from the Trident Online Library.
Cultural Intelligence
Currently, the most popular way to progress to a higher stage of Intercultural Sensitivity is to develop your Cultural Intelligence Quotient.
Cultural Quotient (CQ) helps us understand and communicate with people from other cultures effectively. It is one’s ability to recognize cultural differences through knowledge and mindfulness, and behave appropriately when facing people from other cultures. The cultural intelligence approach goes beyond this emphasis on knowledge because it also emphasizes the importance of developing an overall repertoire of understanding, motivation, and skills that enables one to move in and out of lots of different cultural contexts (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008).
Reference: Ang, S., & Van Dyne, L. (Eds.) (2008). Handbook on cultural intelligence: Theory, measurement and applications. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. (Not required)
Cultural Intelligence is probably the most widely used construct for training leaders and managers in cross-cultural competencies. Following is the classic reference on cultural intelligence and is still considered to be the essential reading on the topic. If you have trouble finding it in the library, check the Business Source Complete database after clicking on “Additional Library Resources.”
Earley, P. C., & Mosakowski, E. (2004). Cultural intelligence. Harvard Business Review, 82(10): 139–146.
For an explanation of four facets of acquiring cultural intelligence, watch this video from David Livermore. This course is designed to enable you to develop all four factors identified in this video:
Livermore, D. (2009, September 24). Leading with Cultural Intelligence [Video]. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMi7yhHjASQ
Optional Reading
In MGT501, you were introduced to the theory of Experiential Learning which posits that people learn from the way they adapt to the world through a preference for one of four Learning Styles—a combination of thinking, feeling, perceiving, and behaving (Kolb, 1984). The following article reports on a recent study that found that the Divergent Style (people who learn from observing concrete experiences and reflecting on how to adapt to this information) is most conducive to the development of cultural intelligence.
Winn, B. (2013). Learning to lead with cultural intelligence (CQ): When do global leaders learn best? People & Strategy, 36(3), 10–13.
This PowerPoint presentation, Cultural Competence, is another look at the topics in this module and may help to summarize and integrate the concepts from the various readings and presentations. Topics covered include:
- What is culture?
- Cultural Competence
- The Cross-Cultural Competence Scale (similar to the Bennett developmental model of cultural sensitivity)
- Cultural Intelligence