Validity of the theory and application of CQ

So is CQ or Intercultural Competence (ICC) overrated? I was thinking that perhaps we are emphasizing too much on it when there are other more important factors at play, like individual personality and style, technical and professional skills and self and relationship management rather than cultural factors.

Maybe it is hard for me to understand this because as a Singaporean, I don't think we have a very strong national culture. Yes, society may have influenced my values and thinking, but basically I don't feel very tied to the Singapore or Chinese or Singaporean Chinese culture. I don't know, it is a blind spot. Maybe some aspects of Singapore culture which I may have adopted are: efficiency and task-focused rather than people-oriented which may have manifested in a rather brash and quick way of speaking, acceptance of diversity, more individualistic than communal and competitive. Maybe you speak to Indian, Chinese or Japanese and they feel strongly aligned with their national culture and yes, agree quickly that culture and ICC plays a difference. Then again, yea, maybe I am strongly influenced by the 'Singaporean Culture' after all.

So some 'facts' are established here:

1. Individuals have idiosyncrasies. At the level of friendship and informal interaction, esp in an intercultural environment, it is probably not accurate to perceive them on a cultural basis, which leads to stereotyping.
2. But as a group, cultural differences probably emerge because after all, culture is 'group speak'. This is especially so when it comes to formal business or tasks because though you may be dealing with an individual, her capacity (i shall stop using the chauvenistic pronoun) is representative of an organization or institution, which is influenced by 'group speak' or cultural values.
3. In a multinatinal organization, people's acculturation into the multinational culture or home culture of the organization depends on a. the duration of time she has been in the organization. b. her previous work experiences. c. the cultural distance between her national culture and the culture of the home organization and d. the salience of organizational identity and organizational culture.
4. The above is a more complex scenario. Of course when an expat is sent overseas, it is very clear that congnizance and acceptance of the other (one) culture has to be undertaken; it is a one way cultural exchange, and what needs to be done is probably more clear-cut (eg training programmes).
5. But in an MNO, a number of factors have to be managed by the HR (culture management): understanding of its own culture and how it may relate to/differ from employees, beneficiaries and sponsors' culture and expectations, taking time to build up its own organizational culture and choosing people carefully through recruitment process (minding past experiences and culture orientation besides techinical skills).  A scaled-down version of organizational cultural management will also take place at the level of multicultural teams. In other words, employees have to be chosen and trained into the organizational culture which is usually reflective of national culture in its values, mission and manner of doing things.

So my conclusion at this point of time could be that yes, professional skills and relationship management evidenced through a record of team work and recommendations are essential, but depending on the nature of the job, and the nature of the organization (if applicant is foreign), CQ serves an important facilitative role (for communication, negotation and 'knowledge transfers'). It thus has to be placed in its proper perspective as not core or primary, but a conduit or important complement to organizational strategy and goals.

In fact, one could say that the personal or career development of the employee is part of training her towards CQ or ICC if the org is an MNO because job effectiveness enables her to see that job motivation and acculturation to org culture can be pursued  despite or through leveraging on cultural diversity.


Phew. I may be writing the obvious here, but heck, it is not obvious to me all the time. I hope this helps to sort out my thoughts.

Theories 25th Aug

Cultural Intelligence (Earley and Soon Ang 2000)...
speaks of one's ability to adapt appropriately and effectively to new cultural environments, whether it be in a new cultural setting or country, or in an intercultural communication situation.

Possession of CQ requires 3 components:
-Cognitive aspect of CQ, which is the ability to be aware of alternative cultural scripts, understand values and motives of people from different cultures and also the ability to reflect on one's (mis)understanding of other cultures (which is also referred to as cultural metacognition)
-Hofstede's and Trompenaar's dimensions of national culture, and the idea of cultural distance would probably fit in here; to be cognizant that there ARE cultural distances and cultural harmony cannot be taken for granted.
-However, more than the above 2 gurus, this aspect includes Identity Theory, which is self-concept (sense of self, closely tied to culture if one looks at Hofstede's pyramid of mental programming). Salient identities manifest themselves in cross-cultural settings, and hence it is the role of multinational organizations to foster strong organizational identity to replace or alleviate the effects of cultural identity.

-Behavourial aspect of CQ, which is the ability to present oneself appropriately, and to understand that self-representation affects others' (locals or culturally diverse others) perception of them.
-This brings in a plethora of cross-cultural concepts like proxemics, body language, facial expressions, time-orientation and even heck, physical attractiveness. B aspect of CQ is the sum manifestation of cognitive and motivational aspects, and is able to use CQ to further personal agenda.

-Finally, Motivational aspect of CQ centres around values, personal efficacy and goal-setting. More than merely a person's 'personality disposition' and 'open-mindedness' to new cultures, it is also about what can motivate a person to develop CQ. This goes in line with expectancy theory of HRM, in which when goals are clearly set and articulated, people, as rational beings, will take progressive steps to attain that goal, including developing cultural cognizance as a means to an end.
-There are also a whole host of fancy terms spotted in IHRM books (or book I must admit..but hey! It took a lot of time!) on global citizenship (Ashwill), global mindset (Vance) etc.

On preferring CQ as a theory to Hofstede's...

CQ as a theory certainly goes beyond national cultures theories because it looks at the level of individuals, and what cultural intelligence means to individual behavoirs. Also, studying national cultures theories may not be so appropriate if field research is on human resource practices involving multinational work teams or other practices, the only application being if I were to study IJM's networks or casework collaboration models in other countries, or even to diagnose the 'health level' of multicultural work teams (by measuring cultural distances or even deciding on recruitment practices). 

Maybe the closest subsitute for CQ theory is the theory of Intercultural Competence, which, according to Deardorff, is unsatisfactory because there is yet no empirical evidence testing the components of intercultural competency, except for a study done by the same author in 2004 which documents consensus by US's intercultural experts on what makes up ICC. Yet, the classification is different for both theories.

To apply CQ theory to HRM is via the theory of Cross-Cultural Management.

Preamble: Cross-cultural management appears (to me) to be subset or recent fad of human resource management. Basically it encompasses most of the different aspects of HRM like employee motivation and job design (and by implication, reward and performance evaluation system, training and development opportunities), communication process (or information management) and also team management. As they say, organizaton strategy is closely tied to human resource management practices as human capital is the key to an organization's competitive strategy and the way to retain talent (esp for non-profit organizations!).

Question will be answered in next session!

Before I leave..
Organization or Corporate Culture management is one aspect of HRM, the reason being that an organization's culture partly depends on its job design, the people it hires, and how it evaluates and rewards performance, and of course, communication processes. Obviously corporate culture is also a strategy (well..not so obviously..maybe in how the org thinks and responds that gives it its identity and solutions..)
How Hofstede is thus useful in this area is that he has identified different types of organization cultures which he connects with Mintzberg's organizational structures (i.e org structure depends on or is influenced by national culture and in turn impacts organizational culture) e.g process vs results oriented, loose vs tight control, open systems vs closed systems etc (ref to Chapters 9-10).
I can thus use the HofMintz theory to understand the culture orientation of IJM (Anglo-Saxxon culture, impacting its values and missions, and..yea [desired] corporate culture etc), and how at the same time because it (apparently) has a multinational workforce or networks in other continents, identification with organization culture (hence identity) has to be emphasized to alleviate disparate cultural identities.

Of Ropes and Life

What she said was poignant.

As Z was mulling over the complexities in her life situation (something which was brought about by her own intentional choice though probably no less deserving of sympathy) while not paying attention to our conversation over dinner, J suddenly said that while she usually espouse not thinking and fretting because it is not helping anyone, Z should, on the contrary, think.

The analogy she gave was as such: that some people say life is like a rope that gets entangled and knotted at some areas. Of course as it is with knots in ropes, we need to untangle them. Yet for some people, like J herself, whom she admits herself to be so 'far gone', the knot has grown so tight that she cannot unravel it; hopefully in time to come it will loosen on its own. If she were to think about it, she would go mad. That I agree. So J went on to say that Z should consider and think properly: that she, having such a good life now in with a good husband and family and maybe job prospects, should not make any knots and entanglements so tight that she cannot unravel them later on. In life one has to think about decisions and in my opinion, traps that we lay for ourselves that we cannot get out of.

If some call it conservative and cowardly and lacking in the 'carpe diem' spirit, I would say, that let no one make entanglements that they cannot loosen, and reap consequences that they would spend the rest of their lives making up for when better things-that which beget life, not death-can be done. After all, life itself is complicated and challenging enough on its own.

Perhaps over our simple meal of baked chicken wings and cucumber in a humble dwelling far away from our respective homelands amongst 3 women sharing confidences, this eloquent and passionate outburst from the otherwise quiet and hesitating J would be something to remember.

Self-Criticism (constructive, probably)

Ok so back to INFJ.

I have compiled a list of shortcomings. Or more likely, select and compile, cos frankly, not all of them apply (one ridiculous one being that I block out other peoples' opinions, esp those who are 'less' than me..ridunkulous, to borrow the BFG's term, or is it..?)


• May quickly dismiss input from others without really considering it

• With their ability to see an issue from many sides, they may always find others at fault for any problems in their lives

• May be intolerant of weaknesses in others

• May believe that they're always right (but according to the personality right up, "'I' am always right, and I usually know it"..as Art got delight in drawing my attention to that sentence..heh)

• May be obsessive and passionate about details that may be unimportant to the big picture

• May be cuttingly derisive and sarcastic towards others

• May be tense, wound up, have high blood pressure and find it difficult to relax

• May hold grudges, and have difficulty forgiving people

• May be wishy-washy and unsure how to act in situations that require quick decision making

• May have difficulty communicating their thoughts and feelings to others

• May see so many tangents everywhere that they can't stay focused on the bottom line or the big picture


The reason for such is as explained:

\" Introverted iNtuition is a personality function that constantly gathers information, and sees everything from many different perspectives. As the dominant player in a personality, it has the effect of constantly bombarding the psyche with new information to consider.  If an entirely new piece of information is perceived by the Introverted iNtuitive, that person must redefine their entire framework of reference".

So this, apparently is the reason for my two greatest faults: rigidity and indecisiveness. Well I am generally welcoming of opinions but where my opinions are the strongest, I have great difficulty in opening my gateway to allow re-interpretation (probably due to pride and conviction). According to this explanation, introverted intuition as my dominant framework is a rather strong schema which I unconsciously rely on to process all the information that I gather, and it is quite a huge amount at that, due to my intuitiveness. This stubborn schema apparently resists stretching and redefinition. Which is true I guess. It takes quite a lot of convicting, humilty esp and pondering for me to accept the validity of a different opinion (the validity, mind you, not the opinion itself). But then again, I can't accept anything can't I? I need to have an opinion of what should work on my own. hmm.


The other shortcoming of indecisiveness is very real. I actually feel it all the more after I quit my previous job and am/was out of my comfort zone having to make many decisions both big and small. It appears that it is precisely cos my intuition absorbs all sorts of information of varying shades and intensity that it actually paralyzes me from making a good and quick decision; I could also be very well afraid of failing. Well, I guess I have to just accept that bounded rationality exists, but I do admit that I need lots of coaching and role modeling in terms of making good decisions and to be generally decisive when the occasion calls for it. The standards which I use to make my decisions on are usually self-centred and short-term too I fear.


The 'remedy'!:

"An INFJ who is concerned with personal growth will pay close attention to the subject of their judgments, and their motivation for making judgments". --alright so before I dismiss any very differing opinion or make hard judgments I should explore my blindspots and question the reason for thinking that way..alright..

• Take care to listen to someone's idea entirely before you pass judgment on it. Ask questions if neccesary. Do whatever it takes to make sure that you understand the idea. Try not to begin judging anything about the idea until you have understood it entirely.


• Before you begin talking to another person, pause for a moment and look at that person. Take in that person's attitude and feelings at that moment. Be aware of the person with whom you're speaking.

• Talk Through Your Thoughts. You need to step through your intuitions in order to put them into perspective. Give yourself time to do this, and take advantage of discussing ideas with others. You'll find externalizing your internal intuitions to be a valuable exercise.

• Keep Your Eye on the Big Picture Watch out for your tendency to become obsessed with details. If you find yourself feeling very, very strongly about a small detail, take a big step back and make sure that you can still see the goal. You're not going to get there if you get mired in the details.

• Relax! Do yourself a favor and learn how to effectively unwind. Get exercise and restful sleep. Take vacations. Engage in relaxing activities. Take care of yourself and your loved ones by learning to let go of your passion and intensity for a respite.

Ok these are good tips that I shall bear in mind, esp that of being aware of to whom I am speaking. It is intensely ironical that despite me being sincere and 'nice' and quasi diplomatic (but which usually inflames into sacarsm or uncomfortably candid comments), I often fail to observe the expressions and body language of the other party. I am just who I am. Which is good. And bad. After all, as the bible says, one should be as gentle as a dove but shrewed as a serpent. And shrewdness encompasses sharp observations and acting appropriately to them. Maybe this is also why I struggle to understand the relevance of intercultural communications, as I had not (still do not) see it as a manifested area of concern, despite my own experiences. Well, it could have been that I have been generally and equally respectful, but who knows my experiences could have been more meaningful and enhanced if I had been more mindful of certain cues. 
 
Yea, I agree about talking through my intuitions too. I also christen them 'intensed spurts of emotion and temper'. Thank God I have Art to whom I can talk through this area when it occurs. I remember in Cambodia when I was having great difficulty with some errant stupid boys that I just had to talk through it with Su-Li. Come to think of it, she must have thought I must be pretty strung up. I pray I will be able to find a good mentor in my internship and future workplace who can work through this with me.
 
And the last bit about relaxation is still a puzzle to me. People sometimes tell me to 'relax' and 'have fun'. Frankly, what is having fun? Ok, now it really looks bad. I mean, I don't seem to have fun as others do..I guess due to my highly-strung nature I take everything too seriously and with calculation. I told you social events can be stressful. Look at me 'having fun' and 'relaxing' now: what am I doing? Thinking through how to improve my personality?! Reading?! Writing stories?! Running?!!Travelling but with much stress cos I am alone and needed to remember the way (but which I want to do anyway cos it's 'fun')?! Ha! I am pretty masochistic I realise now. I think I can only have fun when I am truely with people with whom I feel totally comfortable with, like Art, and Hammie and Isaac (unless the activity is super-duper fun). Probably left to myself I will be doing psedo-'fun' things like what I am doing now =p humpz.  Well, I gotta apply what I have learnt: to take diligent in having fun, even if it is forcing myself to do so..like talking to people..playing games...blah blah.

Well a good friend (let's just call him the Camel) has just sent me a FB message, saying how much he likes and appreciates the entry on God's timing, and that upon looking back on his life, he realises that certain things happened for a reason, though they can only be understood upon hindsight.

There seems to be virtue and joy in patience and long-suffering after all, nerve wreaking as these two words are.

I have 2 more passages which have done much to encourage me, and which I came to comprehend or even read for the first time at seemingly opportune times itself.

"You O Lord, are the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You maintain my lot.
The lines have fallen to me in neat places;
Yes, I have a good inheritance.
I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel;
My heart also instructs me in the night seasons,
I have set the Lord always before me:
Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved"  Psalmes 16: 5-8

I am and still continue to be especially touched by the phrases 'the lines have fallen to me in neat places', because it assures me that because I have tried to always (realise I avoid the absolute) place God before and above me, whatever I have received in life, and whatever that has happened to me in my life, is good-no it is the best-because God has already redeemed the situation(s) and it/they have been covered by His grace. In fact, knowing that God Himself is my inheritance is something that I have slowly grown to though not yet fully understand and appreciate. It kinda sets one free from many grudges and baggage if you think about it.

And another passage was quoted by Ritva, when I told her of my worries and apprehensions of my future.

"...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" Philippians 2:13

I know that this verse is about leading a fulfilling one's salvation as a saved Christian, but hey, who says one's job and career, or heck, even internship is not part of fulfilling one's potential as a Christian or even one's talents? She meant that God will help mould and guide me even as I bump my way through ideas, fantasies..and even applications.

True enough, 3 months later, I got the internship in a Christian organization. Others will call it coincidence and self-fulfilling prophecy. But to those who live by a separate standard and framework, they call it God's Timing.

Ok so Art recently aroused my interest in the Myer-Briggs personality test. He guessed that I was an INFP, which is The Idealist, someone characterised by strong humanitarian principles, and one who is a good writer. I have only just done another quick condensed round of the test online and it reflected that I am an INTJ, which is The Scientist (someone who is rational, analytical and probably an good organizer and strategist). But in actuality (or what is perceived by the test to be), I actually am an INFJ, which is The Protector (come to think of it, the profile did not exactly say what I will be good at doing..heheheh).

Well I was an INFJ when I took the test as part of a professional development session in school a few years back. It probably reflected what I was then, though of course it isn't such a long time ago. Of course I exhibit aspects of INFP, cos Art knew I wanted to be a humanitarian, and what with making him read my blog and writings, he could have thought I am a good writer too. heh. Now that I am reading all the strategy and human resource books, probably I am superfically 'wired' to for the moment think like an INTJ (Scientist..what a joke..hey but according to the website demographics they earn big money and are among the best educated ok..wish I were truly one of them...). Of course being overseas, growing to realise the importance (and sometimes necessity) of socializing with and connecting to people, and preparing myself for my internship and thesis could have changed me too. But my theory is that the changes are still fresh and probably relatively unstable as yet. So let me stick with dissecting the INFJ, and being as always hard on myself, ponder on the weaknesses of this character.

By the way, some interesting statements about 'me':

 INFJs are gentle, caring, complex and highly intuitive individuals. Artistic and creative, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. Only one percent of the population has an INFJ Personality Type, making it the most rare of all the types.

haha feels good to think that 'I' am rare and unique, as well as complex. The interesting thing is that this overview of the personality portrait seems to concide with what is analysed by horoscopes pages on the Scorpio, generally being dark, cunning, vengeful, complicated, mysterious blah blah.


Next, take a look at this man:

 The INFJ individual is gifted in ways that other types are not. Life is not necessarily easy for the INFJ, but they are capable of great depth of feeling and personal achievement.

and in another page on famous personalities, apparently Jesus and Mahatman Ghandi are INFJs too!!!!! Yea, I can see how JC and Ghandi led turmultous, painful yet ultimately personally fulfilling lives..they are who they are for goodness sake. I really wonder what it means to be 'gifted in ways that others are not'-it sounds like unless carefully trained, it may teeter into becoming or doing irrelevant and eccentric. Yea ok if you place JC and Ghandi out of context they can be quite weird lah, not that I consider myself worthy of comparison to them (and of course it is sacrilegious to even place JC and Ghandi on the same scale).


 I guess life is not easy for 'me' because according to the page, I am never satisfied, always looking for perfection, idealism, better alternatives, improvements and rarely resting (on my own laurels..nonexistent as yet). Isaac said the same thing of me actually, that he perceives me to be restless and always looking that something to fulfill me. I guess the bible verse from 1 Tim should really be inscriped in me:

"But godliness with contentment is great gain" (6:6)

Of course I am also aware that my 'perpetual' dissatisfaction can be honed towards achieving spiritual and societal goals. Hey, but it really sucks for the page to say that my life won't be easy ok. Why can't I just be comfortable and be happy settling into domestic life with babbling and drooling babies like those around me.


Ok this entry is getting too long and I haven't even gotten to critcizing myself yet. Till the next entry..

The amiable silence

Having A over for an afternoon of company, chattering or even just amiable silence I hope could lend some healing to the both of us.

For my healing, it is to learn to trust, accept and help a friend again. Having been flared up at a few months ago for giving 'too much' advice on her family matters, I have been taken aback, ashamed, apologetic and eventually set within my heart to be friendly but not be trusting towards this friend again. Unpredictable and turmultous relationships are not my forte, usually best dealt with by me by avoidance stemming from the plain hardening of the heart. I have never spoken to, speak frankly anymore with or even just to speak of people who have hurt me, especially ex-boyfriends. Well, somehow I still think it is the 'smart' thing to do.  Why lay fresh to the surface that which you cannot change or help.

Anyhow, for A, I do not know what it is like to have lost such a close one as a mother. The inevitaboility of the mortality of loved ones (hmm, extremely few there are) greatly frighten me actually. But I do know what it feels like to have paranoia-to be intensely afraid of something whimsical, or seemingly innocuous, or just to have dark thoughts planted firmly in one's head. I just pray that this time of reading the bible, praying, talking, cooking and just to be kept occupied will go some way in helping her get back on her feet. For a person with such a calm exterior as her, to be in this state, to have 'lost control', must be devastating. Kali two days ago in church when asked to speak about church-planting, had said that God multiplies the small things:

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.." (Eph 3:20)

I pray that whatever 'small' things that we have done together, like reading bits of verses, praying and even being in silence together, will indeed go a long way in battling tha vast spiritual warfare that is waging inside her now.