Expatriates in China: Experiential Learning, Cultural Intelligence, and Expatriate Effectiveness

Abstract

Cultural intelligence (CQ) is believed to be an important quality for expatriates and international managers. To understand how this quality can be developed from international experience, the present study employs experiential learning theory to discover how cultural distance and learning flexibility contribute to the development of CQ in expatriates in China, and consequently their effectiveness in China. Analyses of data collected from 175 expatriates in China indicated that there is a positive relationship between cultural distance and CQ, and an inverted U-shape relationship between learning flexibility and CQ. CQ positively influence expatriates’ job performance via expatriate adjustment. The results advance our knowledge on the role of experiential learning in expatriates’ abilities and effectiveness, specifically in a Chinese context. Implications for the selection and development of expatriates are also discussed. Keywords: Cultural Intelligence, Experiential Learning, Learning Flexibility, Cultural Distance, Expatriate Effectiveness