Proceedings of 10th Annual London Business Research Conference
10 - 11 August 2015, Imperial College, London, UK
ISBN: 978-1-922069-81-8
Analyzing the Role of Cross-Cultural Experience and
Cultural Intelligence in Developing Global Leaders
Pallvi Arora and Neelu Rohmetra
Abstract
Globalization has created the need for managers across the globe to be networked
and especially the ones who can function effectively in intercultural
situations/environments. Despite the fact that it is assumed that managers who
work in international assignments tend to develop the cross-cultural competency
skills by working in the multicultural environment, there is no such clarity in the
context of how global leaders use such experiences to transform their learning into
concrete knowledge as well as skills that can practically build on their effectiveness
to function in the global scenario. As managing the ‘global leadership gap’, one of
the primary concerns for multinational corporations wherein addressing diversity
issues presumes significant importance, the present paper proposes Cultural
Intelligence (CQ) to be an essential cross cultural learning capability that can
facilitate global leaders and managers to give meaning to their cross cultural
experiences. By using the experiential learning theory (ELT), the authors devise a
model for using Cultural Intelligence as an important tool that can be adopted by
international managers to successfully use cross cultural experiences. Also that it
is reflected through the literature that managers who are culturally intelligent are
more competent in terms of effectiveness that they pose in international
assignments. It is not the quantity of time that one spends on international
assignments but the quality of time during such assignments that develop
competent global leaders.
Keywords: Cultural Intelligence, Experiential Learning Theory, International
Assignments and Global Leaders.
Field of Research: Management
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Dr. Pallvi Arora, Assistant Professor, International Centre for Cross Cultural Research and Human
Resource Management (ICccR & HRM), University of Jammu, Jammu, India, Email:
pallvi.arora12@gmail.com
Professor Neelu Rohmetra, The Business School and Director, International Centre for Cross
Cultural Research and Human Resource Management (ICccR & HRM), University of Jammu,
Jammu, India, Email: nrohmetra@yahoo.co.uk