CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE 2 Cultural Intelligence Edwin Villa Rivera MKTG 410 American Military University 4 April 2021 Cultural intelligence in the enhancement of personal and organizational effectiveness Introduction Current times call for interaction with people of different cultural backgrounds. Places of work, sports, and even when undertaking our education promote the cultural exchange. It is difficult sometimes to get along with individuals with these varying cultural backgrounds, but it is our obligation to understand those cultures to feel at ease when interrelating. Therefore, it is critical for one to have cultural intelligence to enhance their effectiveness. What is cultural intelligence? Cultural intelligence can be defined as cultural awareness and sensitivity in places where people are of diverse cultures such as corporations. It can also be defined, in broad terms, as the ability to relate to culturally diverse situations and work effectively in them. it affects the effectiveness of individuals and the level of their performance. Van, Ang & Tan (2016) states that the individual with high cultural intelligence has the ability to accomplish goals in respectful and effective ways regardless of cultural context. Impacts of cultural intelligence in the enhancement of personal and organizational effectiveness Daily interaction with different individuals in different cultural backgrounds is something unavoidable. However, this cultural background affects the understanding and our getting along. It is common in some instances that we may not be at ease with the individual because of different believes and norms exhibited by those cultures. Therefore, must be culturally tolerant to be able to be effective in our undertakings. Cultural tolerance is key for acceptance as they are what other culture do or believe though differs sharply from ours without affecting our effectiveness. With high cultural intelligence, an individual can gain a better understanding of different cultures and enable them to work positively and compassionately with an individual from different cultures. Culture leads to the development of advanced knowledge of traditions, nationalities, corporate cultures, and discipline that have an impact on a business. it also enhances the development of insights into the ways various cultures do business and use them to develop appropriate language and behaviors in the concerned professional settings. With cultural intelligence, one is able to deal with differences in working methods and behaviors coming along with a mix of cultures operating together in an organization. Some organizations have a developed culture that new employees can find hard to adjust to. However, with cultural intelligence one can understand and adapt to the culture faster and thus perform exceptionally in their undertakings. Administrations can organize orientation to prepare new employees for the new working environment. The effectiveness of on ...

1. CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE 2
Cultural Intelligence
Edwin Villa Rivera
MKTG 410
American Military University
4 April 2021
Cultural intelligence in the enhancement of personal and
organizational effectiveness
Introduction
Current times call for interaction with people of different
cultural backgrounds. Places of work, sports, and even when
undertaking our education promote the cultural exchange. It is
difficult sometimes to get along with individuals with these
varying cultural backgrounds, but it is our obligation to
understand those cultures to feel at ease when interrelating.
Therefore, it is critical for one to have cultural intelligence to
enhance their effectiveness.
What is cultural intelligence?
Cultural intelligence can be defined as cultural awareness and
sensitivity in places where people are of diverse cultures such
as corporations. It can also be defined, in broad terms, as the
ability to relate to culturally diverse situations and work
effectively in them. it affects the effectiveness of individuals

2. and the level of their performance. Van, Ang & Tan (2016)
states that the individual with high cultural intelligence has the
ability to accomplish goals in respectful and effective ways
regardless of cultural context.
Impacts of cultural intelligence in the enhancement of personal
and organizational effectiveness
Daily interaction with different individuals in different cultural
backgrounds is something unavoidable. However, this cultural
background affects the understanding and our getting along. It
is common in some instances that we may not be at ease with
the individual because of different believes and norms exhibited
by those cultures. Therefore, must be culturally tolerant to be
able to be effective in our undertakings. Cultural tolerance is
key for acceptance as they are what other culture do or believe
though differs sharply from ours without affecting our
effectiveness.
With high cultural intelligence, an individual can gain a better
understanding of different cultures and enable them to work
positively and compassionately with an individual from
different cultures. Culture leads to the development of advanced
knowledge of traditions, nationalities, corporate cultures, and
discipline that have an impact on a business. it also enhances
the development of insights into the ways various cultures do
business and use them to develop appropriate language and
behaviors in the concerned professional settings.
With cultural intelligence, one is able to deal with differences
in working methods and behaviors coming along with a mix of
cultures operating together in an organization. Some
organizations have a developed culture that new employees can
find hard to adjust to. However, with cultural intelligence one
can understand and adapt to the culture faster and thus perform
exceptionally in their undertakings. Administrations can
organize orientation to prepare new employees for the new
working environment.
The effectiveness of one in an organization largely dependent
on the trust bestowed on them by the organization and also

3. other employees. This trust does not develop on its own but
depends on the cultural intelligence exhibited by one in a mixed
cultural group. Van, Ang & Tan (2016) found out that cultural
intelligence is key for an individual in a mixed cultural
environment for alleviating the mistrust between each team
member. However, the varying level of cultural intelligence
affects one trust by the organizational members. Therefore, to
build one trust which will enhance the performance is cri tical
for the improvement of the diverse working environment. with a
high level of trusts, the relationship among employee develops
and also increases the sharing of ideas which could be reflected
in the success of the organization. Also, cultural practices
tolerance plays a key role in trust development. According to
Van Dyne, Ang & Tan (2016), cultural tolerance allows one to
learn different norms and practices of other cultures accept
them they are without creating conflict with theirs.
Mutual understanding is another critical product of a high level
of cultural intelligence. Language plays an important role when
it comes to this aspect. With the firm going global, several
employees find themselves working in a different environment
from their own. Fitting into these environments requires them to
have a high level of cultural intelligence. The first thing that an
individual encounter that could affect his effectiveness is the
language barrier. Therefore, it is critical for those individuals to
learn the language faster for mutual understanding with
organizational employees as well as the client in the
organization. according to Jyoti & Kour (2015) an individual
experience in the language context is dependent on their
cultural experience and previous international experience,
which are key in the determination of one’s cultural
intelligence. Although there exist other factors affecting mutual
understanding, language plays a pivotal role in enhancing
mutual understanding in an organization.
Communication is another critical aspect that affects the
effectiveness of people. It allows one to convey the information
they have to the target destination. However, differences in

4. cultures can affect communication. One might find it difficult to
articulate points where there is high cultural intolerance. it is
true that some cultures are hostile yet some organizations,
seeing business opportunities in those places, make attempts to
venture into those areas regardless of the hostility. Here,
organizations have to conform to their culture (Ang & Van
Dyne, 2015). One of the ways to do so is through learning their
language and use it effectively for communication purposes.
cultural intelligence thus helps individuals to learn the language
quickly and use it effectively; therefore, enhancing their
effectiveness.
Organizations want their employee to work together to achieve
organizational goals regardless of their differences. Cultural
difference is one of the critical challenges that organizations
face in trying to bring employees to work on a given goal
together (Setti, Sommovigo, & Argentero, 2020). They need to
communicate, work as a team, and cooperate throughout their
undertakings. To fit into such a working environment an
individual needs to be culturally tolerant. Therefore, one needs
to have a high level of cultural intelligence to overcome any
internal cultural conflict that might arise because of that
experience.
Improving Cultural Intelligence
An individual, as well as an organization, plays a critical role in
enhancing cultural intelligence. First, an individual needs to
take the initiative of learning how to cope and work with people
of different cultural backgrounds. They can do so by interacting
and learning about those cultures and also learning to be
tolerant of those cultures. Also, they can take initiative to learn
different languages and use communication effectively.
An organization can impart cultural intelligence on their
employee in different ways. First, they can do so through
training their employee to adapt to the cultures of the people in
which they are operating. Second, the organization, setting up
business in a new business environment, will require developing
an organizational culture that conforms to the cultural practices

5. of those places (Setti, Sommovigo, & Argentero, 2020). They
can do so by employing individuals from those areas who will
shape other employees who are not conversant with culture.
These ways will result in an individual as well as organization
enhanced performance.
References
Setti, I., Sommovigo, V., & Argentero, P. (2020). Enhancing
expatriates’ assignments success: the relationships between
cultural intelligence, cross-cultural adaptation and
performance. Current Psychology, 1-21.
Barakat, L. L., Lorenz, M. P., Ramsey, J. R., & Cretoiu, S. L.
(2015). Global managers: An analysis of the impact of cultural
intelligence on job satisfaction and performance. International
Journal of Emerging Markets.
Van Dyne, L., Ang, S., & Tan, M. L. (2016). Cultural
intelligence.
Ang, S., & Van Dyne, L. (2015). Handbook of cultural
intelligence: Theory, measurement, and applications. Routledge.
Jyoti, J., & Kour, S. (2015). Assessing the cultural intelligence
and task performance equation: Mediating role of cultural
adjustment. Cross Cultural Management.