Cultural Quotient

1. Cultural Quotient

2. What is Cultural Quotient (CQ)? • “the ability to cope with national, corporate and vocational cultures. CQ is the ability to make sense of unfamiliar contexts and then blend in.” -as first described by Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski, who coined the term, in Harvard Business Review (HBR), October 2004 Issue • Cultural Quotient, or CQ for short, helps us understand and communicate with people from other cultures effectively.

3. Our definition of CQ • “It is one’s ability to recognize cultural differences through knowledge and mindfulness, and behave appropriately when facing people from other cultures” -coined after looking at original definition, other definitions and researching on various ways to improve one’s CQ

4. Why CQ? • Widespread globalization- People of different cultures today live together everywhere in the world • More opportunities to interact with foreigners in many aspects (domestically, business, work, etc) • One would need to know the customs of other cultures, especially the taboos or risk offending people • People with higher CQ would be able to interact with people from other cultures easily and more effectively

5. Integrating CQ Applicable in: • business world –making business deals with foreign companies • daily life –interacting with neighbors, friends, in laws, etc from other cultures

6. Three Parts of CQ • The Head /  Cognitive (rote learning about the beliefs, customs, and taboos of foreign cultures, the approach corporate training programs tend to favor, will never prepare a person for every situation that arises, nor will it prevent terrible gaffes), • The Body / Physical (one will not disarm one’s foreign hosts, guests, or colleagues simply by showing that one understands their culture; one’s actions and demeanor must prove that one has already to some extent entered their world), and • The Heart / Emotional/ Motivational (Adapting to a new culture involves overcoming obstacles and setbacks. People can do that only if they believe in their own efficacy).

7. CQ development: Case Studies • Singapore: Built the first Cultural Intelligence Centre in the world, at its Nanyang Technological University • United States of America: Many Businessmen taking lessons on Chinese and Indian Culture in an effort to do business there. • Commercial Companies: Novartis and Nike have started to revamp their human resource (HR) agenda to include cultural diversity.

8. Tips to improve one’s CQ • Discover different cultural groups: Research on the different major ethnic groups and their many sub-groups • Discover their habits and ways: Look up on websites and books, but the best way would be living and interacting with them itself • Discover the dos and don’ts: mindsets, beliefs, behavioral patterns will differ in every culture

9. One World • There would always be different nationalities and races, cultures and traditions in the world • Racial harmony is when people of different nationalities and races work together harmoniously in a society • Understanding each other’s culture practices and habits through CQ can help achieve this seemingly impossible goal.

10. Conclusion • In our globalized world it is inevitable to meet more and more people of different ethnicities and cultures, and interaction with them is unavoidable. • We would need to understand each other better, which is to say having a higher Cultural Quotient, if we are going to start living and working together.

11.  Thank you 