Research | Funded Projects

CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING. THE EDUCATION OF A GLOBAL LEADER.

Global Leaders have to traverse new borders in several ways: crossing unfamiliar boundiers, adapting to a globalized home, challenging outdated mental models. Reflecting on this last condition, the general purpose of CQ educators is to create the preconditions for the future leader not to perceive in a negative way the challenge of having to change his mental model but, if it is needed, he acknowledges how to do it. To this aim, we belief that a strong relationship could be created between Cultural intelligence (CQ), Experiential Learning (EL) and students’ learning outcomes (SLO). Starting from that point, the purpose of this research project is to develop a process model for enhancing students’ global leadership capability through international experience. With the intention to answer the research questions, this research design will be organized considering three studies with different samples. All studies will be conducted at the University of Salerno.Study 1 and Study 2 will be conducted at the Department of Scienze Aziendali (Management & Innovation Systems). Both are based on students that are grouped by level of prior international experience. In the first one the sample will be composed of management students, in the second one the sample will be composed of computer science students that have a management background. Study 3 will be condacted at the Department of Scienze Umane, Filosofiche e della Formazione. It will be designed to replicate findings from Study 1 and 2 in a different educational setting (not management studies). As in the Study 1 and 2, the students are grouped by level of prior international experience. As used in the empirical work of Ramsey and Lorenz (2016), the level of international experience variable will be composed by the number of countries students received formal education (including the home country), the number of study-abroad experiences, the number of countries visited, and the number of countries lived in (including the home country). The criteria used to group the students derives from previous works (Crowne, 2008; Ng et al., 2009; Triandis, 2006) that consider the exposure to different cultures as an antecedent to CQ development.Ang et al.’s (2007) CQS questionnaire was used to measure students’ cultural intelligence. The CQS is comprised of 20 items and uses a 7-point Likertscale for response (7 corresponding to “Strongly Agree”). We chose this instrument since it gives a holistic measure of CQ as well as producing four distinct components, namely the metacognitive, cognitive, motivational, and behavioral facets of CQ, which correspond to our conceptual interests. The following are sample items for each of these dimensions: Metacognitive: “I am conscious of the cultural knowledge I apply to cross-cultural interactions.” Cognitive: “I know the cultural values and religious beliefs of other cultures.” Motivational: “I enjoy interacting with people from different cultures.” Behavioral: “I change my nonverbal behavior when a cross-cultural situation requires it.”All the students participant in Study 1, 2 and 3 will answer the CQS questionnaire both Time 1 (in the first minutes of the CCMc) and Time 2 (as the concluding activity of the CCMc).The final sample (the total amount of students participants in the three studies) consisted of respondents who completed which gives a response rate of 90%. The results of this research could be of interest for management education because the process of nurturing future effective global managers begins in the classroom (Ang, Van Dyne, & Koh, 2006; Ramsey & Lorenz, 2016). The effectiveness is related to the empowerment of the students – our future leaders - with the skills and mindset needed to lead effectively in today’s complex multinational business environment (Gundling, Caldwell, Cvitovich, 2015).