Cultural intelligence in the curriculum
Employees in global teams create better results if they are good at navigating cultural diversity. Therefore, cultural intelligence is included as an element in the teaching at SDU.
By Asta Holst Bach
One group is engineers. They have been tasked with building a bridge using cardboard, scissors and glue. But not alone. The bridge is to be constructed in collaboration with the other group in the room.
The second group has been told that they come from a fictional nation and have been given a list of cultural behaviours in that country. For example, they always greet each other with a kiss on the shoulder, it is inappropriate for women to use glue and men are not allowed to use scissors.
But the group of engineers does not know anything about the cultural norms. The aim of the exercise is to understand the behaviour of the others as quickly as possible so that the groups can build the bridge together.
A revealing simulation
All participants are students at SDU, and they are engaged in a simulation – an exercise that aims to test and increase their cultural intelligence.
Nicole Richter, Associate Professor of International Business at the Department of Business & Management, is behind the simulation. The exercise reveals which participants are culturally intelligent, she says:
- It’s a very interesting exercise to observe. How quickly does one team figure out the cultural behaviour of the other group? In the simulation, it’s clear who is attentive and quick to adapt.
Conflict or advantage
In her research, Nicole Richter has dealt extensively with the concept of cultural intelligence. In short, cultural intelligence is the ability to understand, reason and adapt your behaviour in situations where you are surrounded by cultural diversity.
When people with different cultural backgrounds work together, cultural intelligence is crucial to ensure that differences do not create conflicts or challenge the collaboration, says Nicole Richter:
-Often, when we see that someone is solving a task differently than we would ourselves, we think they’re doing it wrong. But in reality, it’s just that they are doing it in a different way than we’re used to. It’s about cultural differences, and if the people in a group don’t acknowledge this, it can lead to conflict.
Nicole Richter also emphasises that employees having different cultural backgrounds is also a great benefit for a team. The collaboration can benefit from the different perspectives and approaches to solving a task.
A global experiment
Can cultural intelligence elevate performance and social integration in global teams?
Nicole Richter examined this question in 2018, when she headed a research collaboration between SDU, the University of North Carolina in the USA and Agder University in Norway in a project that examined the importance of cultural intelligence in global virtual teams.
Up to 4000 university students from 40 different countries participated in the study. And the results from the research project showed that high cultural intelligence in an international team strengthens both the social integration between the people in the group and the team’s work performance.
Cultural intelligence at the University
From her research, Nicole Richter knows how important it is for employees in global teams to be culturally intelligent. She makes a point of strengthening this quality in her students in her teaching at SDU.
There are several aspects that students can work on to improve their cultural intelligence. First and foremost, they can learn more about other cultures. This is because knowledge helps reduce prejudice, says Nicole Richter.
But cultural intelligence is also about understanding how your own cultural values influence the way you behave. And simulations can make that clear. An example of this is the exercise with the two groups who have to read each other’s cultural codes and build a bridge together.
- The simulation gives the students an insight into the importance of culture and how their own values influence them, says Nicole Richter.
Good results
Nicole Richter continuously tests the students’ cultural intelligence. And in recent years, the students on the International Business master’s degree programme at SDU have had an extraordinarily high cultural intelligence score.
Nicole Richter sees this as a sign that the University is strengthening the students’ cultural intelligence. However, she points out that students studying International Business have a natural advantage:
- The students are interested in different cultures and nations. Otherwise, they probably wouldn’t have chosen the programme, and this is also reflected in their good results. But she also emphasises that everyone can improve their cultural intelligence:
- Surround yourself with people from different cultures and get an understanding of their habits and thoughts. If you are motivated and meet them with an open mind, it will automatically have a positive effect on your cultural intelligence.
Meet the researcher
Nicole F. Richter is an Associate Professor of International Business at the Department of Business & Management. She researches in intercultural competences and advises on tools for measuring cross-cultural competences and learning models.