Language, cultural intelligence and expatriate success

Kyle C. Huff

Management Research Review, 2013, vol. 36, issue 6, 596-612

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine how cultural intelligence (CQ) and language proficiency are related to cross‐cultural adjustment, expatriate satisfaction, and expatriate desires towards the future, to further what is known about CQ. Design/methodology/approach - A quantitative survey was developed and administered to 140 native English‐speaking expatriates living in Japan who were participating in the Japan Exchange and Teaching program. The survey was designed to measure CQ, language proficiency, cross‐cultural adjustment, satisfaction with their work and life in Japan, and their attitudes towards future expatriate assignments. Findings - In total, there were eight criterion variables used in the study. Results from a series of hierarchical regression analyses revealed that the four CQ factors and language proficiency to various degrees were able to predict the various criterion variables. Motivational CQ was the only predictor variable that was able to predict all criterion variables. Research limitations/implications - This paper provides solid quantitative research into CQ. However, since the data come from self‐report surveys, its limitations in terms of common method bias are recognized. Practical implications - This study identifies both language ability and CQ as predictive of expatriate adjustment. This information enables organizations to better prepare their members for expatriate assignments. Originality/value - Although prior research has investigated a number of these issues separately on various types of samples, this paper is the first to combine all the variables into one study using expatriates.

Keywords: Expatriates; Language; Japan; Cultural Intelligence; Adjustment; Satisfaction; Language proficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:mrrpps:v:36:y:2013:i:6:p:596-612

DOI: 10.1108/01409171311325750

Access Statistics for this article

Management Research Review is currently edited by Dr Jay Janney and Prof Lerong He

More articles in Management Research Review from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().