THE ROLE OF CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND COMMUNICATIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING BUSINESS CONTRACT IN FDI COMPANIES

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LE THI THUY NGA

THE ROLE OF CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND
COMMUNICATIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE PROCESS OF
GETTING BUSINESS CONTRACT IN FDI COMPANIES
(Vai trò của am hiểu văn hóa và kinh nghiệm giao tiếp trong quá
trình kí kết hợp đồng thương mại trong các doanh nghiệp có vốn
đầu tư nước ngoài)

M.A THESIS

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN – 2019


THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

LE THI THUY NGA

THE ROLE OF CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE AND
COMMUNICATIVE EXPERIENCE IN THE PROCESS OF
GETTING BUSINESS CONTRACT IN FDI COMPANIES
(Vai trò của am hiểu văn hóa và kinh nghiệm giao tiếp trong quá
trình kí kết hợp đồng thương mại trong các doanh nghiệp có vốn
đầu tư nước ngoài)

M.A. THESIS
(APPLICATION ORIENTATION)

Field: English Linguistics
Code: 8220201
Supervisor : Dr. Hoang Ngoc Tue

THAI NGUYEN – 2019


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The study would not have been completed without enthusiastic support and
encouragements of many people.
I would first like to thank my thesis advisor Dr. Hoang Ngoc Tue, Dean of
Faculty of Foreign Languages, Hanoi University of Industry. The door to Dr.
Hoang Ngoc Tue office was always open whenever I ran into a trouble spot or had
a question about my research or writing. He consistently allowed this paper to be
my own work, but steered me in the right the direction whenever he thought I
needed it.
I also would like to thank the teachers from School of Foreign Languages Thai Nguyen University, who have given me useful advices and conditions for the
completion.
I would also like to thank all the respondents who took time out of their
busy schedules in order to participate in this study and to make the study a success
Finally, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents and to my
boyfriend for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement
throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing
this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them.
Thank you.

Author

Le Thi Thuy Nga

1


DECLARATION
----------------*****---------------I certify that the monitor thesis entitled “The role of cultural intelligence
and communicative experience in the process of getting business contract in
FDI companies” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the
Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Foreign Language, Thai Nguyen
University.

Signature:

Le Thi Thuy Nga
Thai Nguyen, 2019.

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ABSTRACT

The world’s economic power is shifting as globalization, influenced by
economic growth, trade policy, and new trading relationships presses onward.
Consequently, more efficient methods and outcomes are necessary. The purpose
of the study is to find out if cultural intelligence and comunicative experience are
related to the success of a business negotiation. The empirical part of this study

was done using qualitative research method. Semi-structured interviews were
carried out among 4 participants from different companies. Results indicated that
aggregate cultural intelligence predicts intercultural negotiation outcomes,
intercultural negotiation satisfaction, and intercultural negotiation performancesatisfaction. Together, the findings suggest that the cultural intelligence scale can
be relied upon to predict intercultural negotiation outcomes as well to select
managers for improved negotiation performance.

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Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................... 1
DECLARATION ................................................................................................... 2
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 6
1.

Background ............................................................................................... 6

2.

Purpose, research question and scope of the study ................................... 7

3.

Research question...................................................................................... 8

4.

Structure of the study ................................................................................ 8

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 9
1.

Cultural intelligence .................................................................................. 9
1.1.

Basic definition of culture and intelligence ........................................ 9

1.2.

The concept of cultural intelligence ................................................. 12

1.3.

Four facets of cultural intelligence ................................................... 16

1.3.1.

Metacognitive CQ ......................................................................... 16

1.3.2.

Cognitive CQ ................................................................................. 18

1.3.3.

Motivational CQ ............................................................................ 19

1.3.4.

Behavioral CQ............................................................................... 20

2.

International Negotiation ........................................................................ 21

3.

Role of Cultural Intelligence in the International Business .................... 23

4.

The difficulties when developing Cultural Intelligence.......................... 24

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................... 26
1.

Research design ....................................................................................... 26

Culture and its role in organizations ................................................................ 28
4


2.

The interview setting and participants .................................................... 30

3.

Research question.................................................................................... 32

4.

Data collection ........................................................................................ 32

5.

Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 33

CHAPTER IV: FINDING AND DISCUSSION ................................................. 34
1.

Cultural Intelligence: Cultural awareness ............................................... 35

2.

Cultural Intelligence as a skill for effective businessman ...................... 38

3.

Challenges of CQ in culturally diverse environment .............................. 40

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS.......................................................................... 42
1.

Recommendations ................................................................................... 42

2. Limitation ..................................................................................................... 43
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 44

APPENDIX 1 ....................................................................................................... 47

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
This chapter discusses about background of study, purpose, research
question and scope of the study. The organization of this study also can find out
in this chapter.
1. Background
Today, it requires an ability to adapt to a variety of cultural situations in
globalized world. In the pace of globalization, the effectiveness of international
assignment is becoming important source of competitive advantage for many
organizations (Zhang & Dodgson, 2007). There are more and more companies
extending domestic market and accessing to international market. With this trend,
it is non-denied when international business negotiation becomes a necessary
requirement for companies. They contact to customers, suppliers from anywhere
they get benefits. Getting a business contract is not an easy task for anyone. And
with the businessmen at FDI companies, it is more difficult because they must
negotiate with foreigners, who come from many different countries in the world.
In the progress of negotiation, cultural differences which has significantly impact
on the outcome (Angelmar & Stern, 1978), because international business
negotiation involves at least two or more parties coming from different cultural
backgrounds (Liu & Liu, 2006). Cultural adaptation is an important dimension of
this complexity and requires appropriate communication skills (Yamazaki and
Kayes, 2004). In the table, negotiators from different countries will have their
values and observation, and this will cause some challenges through the process.
This is the reason: cross-cultural interactions might threaten people as they realize
that the previously taken-for-granted assumptions they had are no longer relevant
or appropriate when communicating with people from a different culture (Kim,

2001). The feeling of ‘losing-ground’ often leads to anxiety (Bücker, 2014).
Studies have shown that cultural intelligence (CQ), which is a person’s ability to
adapt effectively to new cultural contexts (Earley and Ang, 2003), can help to

6


reduce anxiety during intercultural interactions (MacNab, Brislin and Worthley,
2012), as it helps individuals to interpret unfamiliar cultural cues (Brislin et al.,
2006).
The controller in negotiation table will get achievement, and particularly,
negotiators play important role is the table. Beside the advantages of their
companies such as prices, transportation, process, etc..., their own experiences,
confidence and skills in intercultural context also take part in their successful.
The negotiators should be raised more awareness about cultural intelligence
and their performance to get the best achievement when they have an international
business negotiation.
There has been a growth researches and papers focused on international
negotiation or intercultural context. Many researchers also focused on negotiators
and provided guides for them. However, they only referred to developed countries
and other developing countries. Vietnam is a developing country. More and more
companies from over the world invest into Vietnam, we call it foreign direct
investment companies (FDI companies). The leadership of FDI companies also
often contact and make an international contract. Therefore, this paper will address
the gap of literature regarding on negotiators’ performance and CQ in Vietnam
FDI companies. This research also figured out the impacts of negotiator’s profile
to their international business contract. These two factors will be developed in
another way with the previous research.
2. Purpose, research question and scope of the study
International business negotiation is a complexity task, then in this situation

each evolved parties always hope about a success negotiation, that is negotiation
outcome.
The businessman taking part in a business negotiation can be divided into
2 types:


Having basic knowledge about local culture and communicative

experiences
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

Having basic knowledge about cultural intelligence, however do not

know exactly to improve it
Therefore, the result of this research can be developed to 2 trends for 2 types
of businessman.
This research will be conducted in Thai Nguyen Industrial Zones to find the
difficulties about cultural intelligence and communicative experiences after that
suggesting the best solution and recommendations for businessman. Moreover,
this research can help universities to make a suitable syllabus through teaching
and studying.
3. Research question
To get the answers to the problem statement, the author need to formulate
research questions that can be helpful. This question will be critical in getting the
correct answers, seeing as good questions give good answers:
 How do FDI leaderships in Thai Nguyen Industrial Zone understand the
role of Cultural Intelligence in business negotiation?

4. Structure of the study

The research study includes five (5) chapters. The first chapter provides the
background of the study, general understanding of issue. It gives the justification
for the project and discusses the importance of the topic. This chapter also shows
what the objective of the study is and which questions author is going to answer
during the research.
The second (2) chapter summarizes the relevant literature and dealing the
theoretical background relevant to the research matters and previous studies in the
field. This chapter also gives the explanations and definitions for the main
concepts used in this study.

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The third (3) chapter tells the reader about chosen methodology and method
in this study. This part describes the entire process of conducting the research:
choosing candidates for interviews, contacting these participants, taking
interviews from the respondents, questions asked. The findings that are presented
in the fourth (4) will be followed with the last fifth (5) chapter of discussions and
conclusions. This chapter links the theory with empirical findings, as well as
makes the contribution suggestions for the existing theoretical knowledge and
real-life practices in business negotiation.

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter summarizes the relevant literature and dealing the theoretical
background relevant to the research matters and previous studies in the field. This
section also gives the explanations and definitions for the main concepts used in
this study.

1. Cultural intelligence
1.1. Basic definition of culture and intelligence
Before discussing cultural intelligence and its aspects, it is important to go
to the root of the matter and start with the definition of culture and intelligence
and the reasoning behind establishment of the theory of cultural intelligence.
Geert Hofstede in his work” Culture and organizations” writes “Social
systems can exist only because human behavior is not only random, but to some
extent predictable. For each prediction of behaviour we try to take both the person
and the situation into account…as the more accurately we know a person’s mental

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programming and the more accurately we know the situation, the more sure our
prediction will be.” (1979, P.15)
For a long times the term “general intelligence” had more narrow meaning
as an ability to solve problems in academic settings. Schmidt and Hunter (2000,
p.3.) acknowledge general intelligence as” the ability to grasp and reason correctly
with abstractions (concepts) and solve problems.” It is not merely book learning,
a narrow academic skill, or test - taking smarts. Rather it reflects a broader and
deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings – “catching on”, “making
sense” of things, or “figuring out” what to do.
Nowadays it is universally acknowledged that the intelligence does not stay
only inside the classroom, but is a part of a bigger picture and belongs to a real
world, where the social aspect (social intelligence), emotional aspect (emotional
intelligence) and practical intelligence make general intelligence mobile and
applicable to a certain situation and turn it into successful intelligence.
In opinion of Robert Sternberg, a professor of Human development in
Cornell and an author of the Diarchic theory of human intelligence: “Intelligence
has to be understood, measured and developed in its cultural context. “(Sternberg,

1985) Sternberg provides intelligence with a broader meaning based on one’s
personal standards and within one’s sociocultural context. Successful intelligence
is the ability to succeed in life within one’s cultural context by capitalizing on
strengths and compensating for or correcting weakness through adapting to,
shaping, and selecting environments by a combination of analytical, creative,
practical, and wisdom based /ethical skills and attitudes. Education and society
should take into account the cultural/ecological context in which intelligence is
embedded. The term” culture” can have numerous interpretations and can be
applied to different areas of human development. According to Triandis (1972)
the term culture contains both objective and subjective elements. Objective culture
refers to observable and visible artifacts and practices of cultures that address

10


fundamental human needs of gathering food and relating to others, the
environment and the universe (Brown, 1991; Murdock, 1987; Triandis, 1994). The
following elements can be referred to the objective culture: knowledge of
economics (capitalism versus socialism), legal aspects, political system,
knowledge of the types of traditional cultures (matriarchal and patriarchal), beliefs
and typical role expectations from males and females, sociolinguistic knowledge
regarding rules of languages, usage of non-verbal elements, understanding other
languages and dialects. Subjective culture describes the hidden psychological
features of cultures that are less obvious. It consists of the values, beliefs, norms
and assumptions that are shares within the society. Although the each nation has
a particular unique culture, there is still similarity in core beliefs and concepts are
set in the different environments. What is different is the way in which members
of a society interpret these concepts. For example, every culture has a notion of
“Time”. Geert Hofstede explains culture as “the collective programming of the
mind that distinguishes the members of one category of people from another”. One

can immediately distinguish the phrase collective programming”. Richard D.
Lewis in his book “When cultures collide” (2012) interprets collective
programming as a process of transformation of national/regional concepts, learnt
from the early childhood, into core beliefs, which are almost impossible to ignore
or discard. Those core beliefs are questioned or weakened when the belief holder
travels abroad or interacts with a person with a set of core beliefs different from
his own. At that point so called “culture shock” is imposed on a belief holder,
which is a result of not just person’s visual observation, but as a result of action or
an utterance. The belief holder faces dilemma of either accept the differences and
try to work on finding the common grounds of interaction or to reject anything
which is divergent to the core beliefs. The decision-making moment is the
evidence of possession or lack of the cultural intelligence.

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1.2. The concept of cultural intelligence
The concept of cultural intelligence (CQ) has been introduced into the
international business literature by Earley (2002) and Earley & Ang (2003).
Earley et al. understand cultural intelligence as “a person’s capability to successful
adaptation to new cultural settings, that is, for unfamiliar settings attributable to
cultural context” (Earley et al., 2006: 5). Since the introduction of CQ in 2002, a
number of different scholars have dealt with this concept, which has led to a
variety of different definitions and applications of CQ. Thomas et al. (2008: 126)
have summarized in table form these definitions, and thereby give a thorough
account for all definitions of CQ to be found in business literature to that date.
Thomas et al.’s presentation has been modified though in order to incorporate
definitions made by scholars not using English as their working language.
It is interesting to note that to this date only a fairly small number of
scholars have been working within the field of CQ. Furthermore, Earley and Ang’s

understanding of CQ has so far been the most dominant one in terms of its
application in empirical studies, of which however only a few have been
conducted to this date (Earley & Peterson, 2004; Ang et al., 2006; Templer et al.,
2006; Ang et al. 2007).
It has only been recently that two quite different conceptualizations of CQ
were coined: the concept of CQ by Thomas (2006) and the concept of CQ by Plum
(2007; 2008). Thus, arguably the conceptualizations of cultural intelligence can
be broadly divided into three different approaches: the approach of Earley & Ang,
the concept of Thomas et al., and the conceptualization of Plum. On basis of these
different approaches to cultural intelligence a brief overview on the literature
concerned with this subject will be presented.

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According to Earley et al. (2006: 22ff), the areas of CQ mentioned above
are somewhat related to each other, but, as also depicted in exhibit 4.2, they are
not understood as an interrelated system (see also Earley & Peterson, 2004: 109).
Thus, arguably, it is assumed that the three areas of CQ are distinct from each
other. This notion seems to be rather functionalistic as for example the exchange
of business cards (a facet of behavior) includes both an aspect of motivation (one
is interested in getting to know the other’s name, position and so on) and cultural
strategic thinking, as one so may know how to address the other properly.
Therefore, it can be argued that CQ conceptualized as a system of interrelated
areas seems to be better suited to explain why some people are more successful in
cross-cultural encounters than others.
1.2.1. Intercultural Engagement
This dimension comprises emotional and motivational aspects important
for improving contact and cultural bridge building. As indicated previously, one
has to be interested in the other and motivated to create results together with the

other. This in turn asks for a certain emotional maturity as embarrassing situations
may arise during the cultural encounter. In these situations one should be able to
handle one’s emotional reactions as well as those of the other. Moreover, one
should appreciate “that the reactions may be culturally conditioned, and not mean
the same thing to both parties” (Plum, 2008: 24). This very quote also indicates
the overlapping nature of the three dimensions employed by Plum, as knowing
that a given reaction may be caused by certain culturally influenced preferences
arguably is an aspect of cultural understanding as well. The same is true for the
aspect of mental flexibility as cross-cultural encounters may change a person’s
own cultural understanding of him- or herself. Thus, one should be open for
change which means that one should show a “learning attitude, curiosity and the
courage to allow [oneself] to be changed by the intercultural encounter” (Plum,
2008: 237). In order to be able to learn from an unfamiliar cultural context one has

13


to be fully present and pay special attention to the situation at hand in order to
realize signs indicating that steps have to be taken to improve the cross-cultural
communication in question as it otherwise may lead to confusions.
1.2.2. Cultural Understanding
The second dimension is understood as “the knowledge and mental
dimension” of CQ (Plum, 2008: 26). The main aspects within this dimension are
cultural self-awareness, general knowledge of cultural differences, and the talent
to transfer experiences made in one cultural encounter to another cultural
encounter, which may take place in another cultural field. Thus, Plum takes the
stance that one has to conceptualize oneself and the other as cultural beings whose
worldviews and behaviors can be caused by culture. Even though the actions of
the culturally other cannot be predicted, some detailed knowledge of the other
person’s culture may help to better maneuver in the situation in question.

However, in order to handle the cultural encounter successfully, one should be
able to sense and notice the cultural differences at hand. This implies that one
should be aware of not overestimating the influence of culture on possible
misunderstandings as these just as well could be caused by differences in
personality or other aspects. Therefore, one should be able “to look at the situation
in a broader perspective and not to exaggerate the importance of cultural
differences” (Ibid: 29).
As indicated above, cultural differences play a role in different cultural
fields such as professional, organizational or national areas. According to Plum
(2008: 28), experiences made in one cultural field can be transformed into general
knowledge of cultural mechanisms. This knowledge in turn enables a person to
better understand situations in other cultural field as “the cultural mechanisms at
play are comparable” (Plum, 2008: 28f). Therefore, the dimension of cultural
understanding as outlined by Plum presents a frame of reference for

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understanding, “which can prepare us for all sorts of cultural encounters” (Ibid:
29).
1.2.3. Intercultural Communication
In Plum’s conceptualization of CQ, Intercultural Communication is the
third dimension of interest and it comprises more aspects than merely
communication. She understands this component as one of “cultural practice” and
as such it is the most important one to her (Plum, 2008: 29f). As already indicated
above, Thomas et al.’s definition of CQ no longer incorporates a component of
“action”, since culturally intelligent behavior is viewed as the outcome of CQ.
Moreover,

as

this

dimension

includes

verbal

and

non-verbal

communication along with written and potential other means of expression, in any
encounter communication in one way or the other will be expressed. In order to
interact successfully, one has to be aware of one’s own mode of communication,
meaning that one should be able to stop some of one’s routine expressions and
reactions with the aim of improving the contact to the other by establishing
common patterns of communication. In other words, cultural intelligent
communication asks for the ability to turn off one’s cultural autopilot. In order to
establish common patterns of doing things, one firstly has to be aware or made
aware of one’s actions. Therefore, at times one should be able to move the
conversation to meta-level to discuss how the conversation is conducted. Moving
to the meta-level may also help to change one’s perspective on certain issues
discussed. Arguably, not all persons dare to take such a step, but it is an important
part of intercultural communication that one has “the courage to experiment and
take a new approach to the situation, to feel [one’s] way and find ‘new steps’”
(Ibid: 31). At times, the steps taken may fail, but in order to communicate
successfully across cultural borders, one should be persistent in trying out different
approaches to the situation at hand. In this context, it is significant to ask for

15


feedback in order to alter one’s actions appropriately, which in turn asks for one’s
capability to apply a variety of communication tools in a given situation.
1.3. Four facets of cultural intelligence
Earley and Ang (2003) utilized Sternberg’s multiple-loci of intelligence to
create a concept of Cultural Intelligence as a four-dimensional structure with
metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioral components within the
culturally diverse environment. Metacognitive CQ is an individual capability to
acquire and understand cultural knowledge and is focused on higher - order
cognitive processes with capability to create plan, monitor and revise mental
models of cultural norms for countries or groups of people. Cognitive CQ is based
on the knowledge of norms, practices and conventions on different cultures
acquired from educational and personal experience (Ang et al, 2007 p.338).
Motivational CQ reflects the capability to be interested and motivated in learning
new about other cultures and be willing to function in situations culturally
different from its own. Behavioral CQ is responsible for demonstrating
appropriate behavior in a certain cultural context and is derived from the
knowledge obtained through the metacognitive, cognitive and motivational CQ.
Metacognition, cognition and motivation are referred to mental capabilities and
result in mental functioning, behavioral intelligence attributes to the behavioral
capability to flex motor skills and demonstrate a range of verbal and nonverbal
actions.
1.3.1. Metacognitive CQ
Metacognitive CQ attributes to the mental capability to acquire and
evaluate cultural knowledge. The main dimensions of Metacognitive CQ are
awareness and monitoring of cognitive processes. According to Triandis (2006),
persons with high metacognitive CQ have high awareness of how their own

culture determines their behavior and their understanding of intercultural
situations. Before being exposed to a new culture, they thoroughly prepare, for

16


example through cross-cultural training programs. During the interaction, they
audit how their interpretation is in line with intentions of others. Triandis calls
these characteristics as isomorphic attributions. Heightened awareness and audit
launch the mental mechanism, responsible for acquiring and understanding
knowledge, relating to culture. The essential attributes of the mentioned process
are self-awareness, other - awareness and situational awareness (Triandis, 2006).
To understand the nature of metacognitive CQ the specific metacognitive selfregulated mental processes are to be mentioned: planning, awareness and
checking. Planning has a strategic basis and is launched before the actual
encounter with another culture. Drawing of short - term and long term objectives
and creating action plans for specific steps to be taken in specific cultural
environments are the main characteristics of planning. Planning is based on
thinking about culture and reflecting what is to be done before the actual action.
Planning can be self- reflecting (What can I do to achieve what I want?), relating
to others (What might they do to achieve what they want?) and engaging both
parties (How might our actions affect what we can achieve in this situation?).
Awareness is characterized as knowing about cultural thinking and knowledge of
self and others in real time. (Ridley, Schulz, Glanz and Weinstein, 1992). While
planning is about accepting consciousness, awareness depicts degree to which
people have real-time understanding how culture influences: ● Their own mental
processes and behaviors ● The mental processes and behaviors of others in
intercultural interactions ● The intercultural situations. Awareness implies that a
person is capable to correlate own cultural habits with those of another culture and
postpone some judgment until enough information is accumulated to interpret
intercultural interactions. It includes being aware of how cultural aspects of the

situation might be influencing personal behavior and the behavior of others. To
generalize said above – awareness is the individual’s competence to make sense
of self, others and the specific situation. The third sub - dimensional aspect of the
metacognitive CQ is checking, which includes reviewing assumptions and
17


adjusting mental maps when actual experience is not the same as expectations. It
uses the method of comparison between the expected outcome and the actual
outcome of the intercultural communication. After checking personal cultural
assumption, checking assumptions made about culturally diverse others and
checking interpretations after interaction lead to the communication adjustment
during the real –life situation. All three sub-dimensions of the metacognitive CQ
prompt a person with high metacognitive CQ to plan ahead, reflect upon the
situation during the actual communication and adjust the behavior accordingly.
The timeframe of the three sub-dimensions is to be divided into three stages.
Planning happens before the interaction, awareness should be during the whole
process from the initial planning until the end of interaction. Checking takes place
during and after the communication. To summarize above said, it can be noted
that sub-dimensions represent an essential component of the metacognitive CQ,
because they target proactive thinking about participants of a situation in
intercultural environment (planning), challenging dependence on culturally –
bounding habits and thinking (awareness) and adjusting strategies to ensure that
mental models are culturally appropriate and work as an assistance for the
successful outcomes in the intercultural encounters (checking).
1.3.2. Cognitive CQ
Cognitive CQ accumulates the general knowledge about cultures and
cultural differences. Perception of elements that build up the cultural environment
brings an understanding how the system arranges the patterns of behavior and
interactions within a culture, and why behaviors and interactions differ across

different cultural environments (Ang & Van Dyne, 2008). This general knowledge
can be subdivided into two main areas, such as: • Culture-general knowledge –
informative knowledge of the major elements that constitute the cultural
environment; • Context–specific knowledge – informative knowledge about a
cultural behavior within a specific environment and procedural knowledge of how

18


to be effective in that specific environment. (Ang and Van Dyne, 2008). Culture–
general knowledge is explained as knowledge of the universal elements that
constitute a cultural environment (Ang, 2008). It gives an important organizational
framework for thinking about possible ways of comparing different cultures and
getting an understanding about similarities and differences. Context-specific
knowledge deals with the field of informative knowledge about manifestation of
cultural characteristics in a specific environment and the procedural knowledge
how to be effective in that environment. An environment or domain could be
related to specific subcultures such as business environment, diplomatic
environment, peacekeeping forces, educators or demographic subgroups based on
gender, age and education. The individuals working in multicultural business or
diplomatic environment should possess detailed cultural knowledge about the
norms and expectations of these subcultures in order to perform effectively.
Context –specific knowledge is directed to the specific insider understanding of
how to operate in a specific environment, whereas culture –general knowledge
refers to a broader comparison across cultures based on outsider understanding
and comparisons (Morris, Kwok, Ames and Lickel, 1999).
1.3.3. Motivational CQ
Motivational CQ is explained as a mental capability to monitor and direct
power towards performance within intercultural environment in a real problemsolving situation. Motivational theories have a different approach towards the
moving force of the work-related behavior. Some motivational theories emphasize

the individual characteristics, such as needs, values and traits as the source of
constraints for the work-related behavior. Others pay more attention to the context
in with the behavior is expressed, such as job description or the cultural
individualities. Ang chooses to focus on intrinsic, extrinsic and self-efficacy as
sub - dimensions of motivational CQ. Intrinsic Interest is defined as valuing
culturally diverse experience in and of itself because it is inherently satisfying

19


(Deci, 1975). The intrinsic satisfaction is gained from the novelty of intercultural
interactions and basic enjoyment of cooperating with people from different
cultural background. The fundamental interest in other cultures and working with
diverse groups is also a part of intrinsic interest, which is selfgenerated, comes
from the inside of a personality and not situation inflicted. Extrinsic Interest is
described as appreciating the tangible personal benefits that can be derived from
culturally diverse experiences (Ryan& Deci, 2000). This kind of interest is
connected to the satisfaction from the intercultural experience and an enhanced
reputation based on the intercultural work experience. Self-Efficacy to Adjust is a
capability to use a task-specific confidence in culturally diverse situation, such as
interacting with locals, possessing different cultural background, or being
confident to operate in the culturally diverse environment. Self – Efficacy comes
from the personal will to get involved in the situation of cultural diversity. People
with high motivational CQ are positive about the intercultural interaction as they
see the benefits of the activity and are confident in their capabilities to successfully
operate within the situation. All three sub - dimensions of motivational CQ
activate energy that allows a person to perform effectively within the diverse
cultural setting even when the situation is difficult.
1.3.4. Behavioral CQ
Behavioral CQ works on adjusting behaviors to fit different cultural

contexts. Ang identifies the behavioral CQ as an individual’s capability to enact a
wild repertoire of verbal and nonverbal actions when interacting with people from
different cultures (2009). Behavioral CQ is the way of applying all the three
dimensions of the CQ in a real life situation by using appropriate behavioral ways.
Communication behaviors can be placed into three main categories: verbal,
nonverbal and speech acts. Verbal Behavior refers to flexibility in vocalization. A
person can adjust his or her behavior by changing the pace of the speech, the

20


amount of warmth or enthusiasm, the use of pauses or silence as in different
cultures they are treated in a different way.
Nonverbal behavior is defined as flexibility in communication by using
gestures, facial expressions and body language. Some cultures are more expressive
in the usage of non-verbal means of communication then the others. The task for
a non-local outsider is to learn through the metacognitive CQ the appropriate ways
of nonverbal communication and adjust his or her behavior accordingly. A person
with high behavioral CQ shows behavioral flexibility in intercultural environment
by adjusting the behavior to a new contest. To sum up the mentioned above, the
CQ can be defined as “an outsider’s seemingly natural ability to read the message,
sent by a stranger, in a correct way, in the same way as his compatriot will
understand” (Early, 2009). The capability of ‘reading the message’ is a result of
interaction of four dimensions of CQ: metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and
behavioral.
2. International Negotiation
In a recent review of negotiation literature, Max Bazerman and colleagues
(Bazerman, Curhan, Moore & Valley, 2000) concluded that cross-cultural
negotiation is a rapidly emerging area. They identified two types of research in the
cross-cultural negotiation: one is negotiation within cultures, focusing on

comparing the nature of negotiation within different cultures; and the other is
negotiation across cultures, focusing on intercultural negotiation. It is the latter
type which we mainly discuss in the present paper, and we use intercultural
negotiation and international negotiation interchangeably in this paper.
International negotiation involves at least two parties who come from different
cultural backgrounds. Culture refers to shared norms, roles, belief systems, laws,
and values that form meaningful wholes and which are interrelated in functional
ways (Triandis, 1994). Probably due to the short history in research and the

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difficulties in data collection, so far the empirical studies of international
negotiation are quite few.
In this section, perspectives on international business negotiation are
reviewed. An international business negotiation is defined as the deliberate
interaction of two or more social units (at least one of them a business entity),
originating from different nations, that are attempting to define or redefine their
interdependence in a business matter. This includes company-company, companygovernment, and solely interpersonal interactions over business matters such as
sales, licensing, joint ventures, and acquisitions (Weiss, 1993:270).
Generally, the process of negotiation consists of three different negotiation
stages including the pre-, actual negotiation, and post- stages (Ghauri 1996:7). The
effective flow of the negotiation process can determine the success of a
negotiation.
The pre-negotiation stage, which involves the preparation and planning, is
the most important step in negotiation (Ghauri 1996:14). It sets the foundation for
the process negotiating (Lewicki et al. 1994). It consists of interactions, such as
building trust and relationships, and the task-related behaviors which focus on the
preferences related to various alternatives (Graham & Sano 1989, Simintiras &
Thomas 1998). In brief, the first stage of negotiation emphasizes getting to know

each other, identifying the issues, and preparing for the negotiation process.
The negotiation stage involves a face-to-face interaction, methods of
persuasion, and the use of tactics. At this stage negotiators explore the differences
in preferences and expectations related to developing an agreement.
The post-negotiation stage relates to concessions, compromises, evaluating
the agreement, and following-up.
These stages are often done concurrently. The negotiation process is a
dynamic process, involving a variety of factors related to potential negotiation
outcomes.

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International business negotiations are typically more complicated and
difficult to assess than the negotiations taking place between negotiators from the
same culture. This is because the values of the negotiators are different.
Negotiators have unique perspectives on negotiations leading to different styles.
Other external influences such as international law, exchange rates, and economic
growth also increase the complexity of negotiations. International business
negotiators need to understand each other’s values so that they can adapt their
negotiating approaches to emerging situations.
3. Role of Cultural Intelligence in the International Business
Negotiation theories with an emphasis on culture are assessed in this
analysis Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of behavior acquired
and transmitted by symbols including their embodiment in artifacts. The essential
core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas
and values. Cultural systems may be considered as products of action, or as
conditioning further action (Kroeber & Kluckhohn 1952:181).
Culture provides the context for negotiation because it takes place within
the framework of a culture’s institutions and is influenced by its norms and values.

Culture is a key factor affecting negotiation processes and outcomes (Brett et al.,
1998). According to Salacuse (1998), negotiation practices differ from culture to
culture. Culture provides the "negotiating style" – the way persons from different
cultures conduct themselves in negotiating activities. Culture determines the way
people perceive and approach the negotiating process. They have specific
perspectives on power, time, risk, communication, and complexity. Individualist
negotiators tend to engage in coercive or competitive behavior, and arguments
whereas collectivist negotiators emphasize relationships and problem solving
(Heydenfeldt, 2000).

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