Individual CQ, team CQ and organizational CQ: A multilevel adaptation model

Abstract

With the trend of globalization, more and more Chinese companies have started the journey of internationalization through direct investment or merger and acquisition. In this process, how to adapt to different cultural backgrounds becomes increasingly important, and the conceptualization of cultural intelligence receives extensive attention. Cultural Intelligence(CQ), as a new type of intelligence following social intelligence, emotional intelligence and practical intelligence has been used in describing cross-cultural adaptability. This paper aims to propose a multilevel cultural adaptation model by integrating individual, team and organizational cultural intelligence together. The paper firstly does a review on cultural intelligence, cross-cultural team and organizational intelligence and then introduces the theoretical framework of the multilevel adaptation. It suggests that cultural intelligence at individual, team and organizational levels plays important roles if companies want to do effectively in their globalization.