Reflection Paper

Running Head: CROSS CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE 2

CROSS CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE 2

Trident University International

Charles E. King

Leaders and Leadership Module 3 SLP

MGT501: Management and Organizational Behavior

Dr. Peter Haried

September 29, 2019

Cross Cultural Intelligence

Culture is one of the greatest pillars that impact on interpersonal relations between individuals from different geographical locations. It is described as individuals’ values and beliefs hold towards other groups of people, and it impacts on individuals’ outward behaviors and attitudes towards others of different cultural orientation. Peoples’ inner beliefs and values influence how we act either in desirable or undesirable patterns. The level of culturally-induced behavior is influenced by an individual’s level of cultural intelligence. Gaining knowledge on other cultures increases our facts about different people and their places, traditions, fashions, political, and economic systems among other cultural diversity aspects. Cultural intelligence helps individuals to interact effectively and work well across different geographical locations with minimal or no cultural offenses to others.

To determine my level of cultural intelligence, I took a quiz from cross-cultural work scenarios and the country quiz from the United Kingdom (UK). The two quizzes have relatively tested the level of awareness to other countries cultural aspects. In the case of cultural work scenarios, my cultural awareness on countries like Turkey, Argentina, and Thailand. On these scenarios, I had a wrong choice. On the other quizzed on the U.K, the score was relatively good with exceptions of the meaning of celebratory gathering proposes a toast, the mostly spoken non-native language, and at what position of the clock should the knife and fork be placed when a dinner guest has finished their meal?

From the quizzes, I was surprised that Turkey is cosmopolitan, and they are used to Western Women. I believed that women in rural Turkey are not allowed to leave their houses. Besides, I got know that it is important to learn about other country’s culture and natives to have experience with you. Nick was offered a two days delay for his market presentation so that the Argentinean supervisors can have experience with him before the presentation. Further, I was amused that I don’t know non-native languages in the U.K, meaning of their flag, and table etiquette.

My strengths in cultural awareness are that I can identify some cultural behaviors that are offensive to a country’s natives. For instance, I was able to identify that asking personal questions in France and folding shirt sleeves in Japan is offensive. Besides, I’m culturally aware of celebrations and currency in the U.K. On the other hand, my weakness was that I cannot identify table etiquette in the U.K, conduct behavior in Thailand, and women cultural requirements in Turkey. I had a belief that women in rural Turkey are not allowed to leave their homes.

Improving on my level of cultural awareness especially on my weak can areas can through open discussions with foreigners or colleagues who have experience with these cultures. Besides, I can research these countries’ cultures through international websites, reading articles or books cultural diversity (O'reilly, 2013).

Cultural awareness in leadership is a critical element in today’s global workplaces. Building on managers cultural intelligence greatly impacts on their understanding of how to operate across cultural differences, and the benefits it has to a leader, teams, and the company. Improving on cultural awareness helps managers to understand the connection between their leadership styles and geographical areas culture hence flexible leadership that culturally matches his or her followers (Larsen, 2014). Besides, it helps them to communicate effectively through the application of cultural empathy and style. Additionally, it helps them impact on the productivity of their teams, build confidence, and break barriers. Cultural awareness makes an individual a strong and flexible leader hence high followership (Larsen, 2014).

References

Larsen, H. (2014). Benefits of Cultural Awareness in Leadership | HWAO Consulting. Retrieved from, https://www.hwaoconsulting.com/leadership/benefits-cultural-awareness-in-leadership

O'reilly, C. (2013). Why is cultural intelligence important? Retrieved from, https://www.trainingzone.co.uk/develop/talent/why-is-cultural-intelligence-important

Result Appendix

Cross cultural work scenarios

George Tailor works as a supervisor for an engineering company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the UK he had a reputation for speaking his mind and by doing so gett...	-
Jenny Rains had been assigned to the Paris office of his company. As a graduate in French and someone with a lot of admiration for all things French she was ver...	-
Jonathan Manning has been chosen to set up a branch of his engineering consulting firm in Seoul, South Korea. Although the six engineering consultants that woul...	-
A U.S. golfing equipment manufacturer decided to explore the possibility of entering the Japanese market. They have arranged a meeting with a major Japanese fir...	-
Jane and Diana had been working together as teachers in Istanbul, Turkey. It was coming up to the end of their contracts and had decided they wanted to see a bi...	-
Bob de Jonge and his Thai associate, Chaiwat Soonvichai, are walking into a meeting in Bangkok. Chaiwat asks Bob casually, 'Do you have the latest marketing por...	-
Nick Mills had worked hard to become the top sales representative of the IT company he worked for. When the company received an invitation from an Argentinean f...	-

U.K quiz

Your score:	6.00 out of 8.00 (75.00%)
Passing score:	6.80 (85.00%)
Elapsed time:	00:50