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

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
encouragement

providing

me

with

unfailing

support

and

continuous

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.

2


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.

3


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

5


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
7



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.

8

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
9


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
10

culture refers to observable and visible artifacts and practices of cultures that
address

11


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.

12


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.

13


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
14


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

frame of reference for

15

outlined

by

Plum

presents

a


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
16


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

17


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
18


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: • Culturegeneral 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
19


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 selfefficacy as sub - dimensions of motivational CQ. Intrinsic Interest is defined as

20


valuing culturally diverse experience in and of itself because it is inherently
satisfying

21


(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

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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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