Cultural competence/Business Cultural Intelligence Quotient

The Business Cultural Intelligence Quotient was created by Ilan Alon, Michele Boulanger, Judith Meyers & Vasyl Taras , (2016)

The following items were taken from the Appendix. Instrument items, by dimension

Response items are a five point Lickert Scale: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often, Always, except for factor four (true/false)

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Factor 1

1. I could live happily in any culture. 2. *I am open to new ideas, people, and cultures. 3. I deal effectively with the stress of working in different cultures. 4. *I enjoy the novelty of experiencing new cultures. 5. I successfully adapt to other cultures. 6. *I integrate well into other cultures. 7. *I have a desire to experience cultures that are different from my own. 8. I tolerate quite well the uncertainty of an unfamiliar cultural experience. 9. I effectively handle uncertainty. 10. *I feel a natural drive to connect with other cultures. 11. *I enjoy communication with locals in a new cultural setting. 12. *I interact well with people from other cultures. 13. I adapt to the customs and social behavior of those in other cultures. 14. I expect to make friends in the new culture when working abroad. 15. *I make friends with people who are different from me. 16. *I establish and maintain relationships with people from other cultures. 17. *I am comfortable interacting with people of different cultures. 18. I form close friendships with people from other cultures. 19. My friends say that I am culturally savvy. 20. *I take an interest in the social practices of other cultures.

Factor 2

1. I pay attention to how information is exchanged in a new cultural setting. 2. I attend to cross-cultural cues as part of my communication style. 3. I see problems from a cultural perspective other than my own. 4. I adjust my communication style to meet the demands of a cross-cultural business meeting. 5. *I pay close attention to how my words affect the people with whom I interact. 6. *I am aware of how I impact the emotions of others during cross-cultural interactions. 7. *I think about the feelings of others when communicating. 8. *I pay close attention to the words I use in cross-cultural situations. 9. I am effective in dealing with cross-cultural conflict. 10. I observe the degree of non-verbal communications between myself and others.

Factor 3

1. *I read editorials on international business. 2. I mirror the habits and mannerisms of those in other cultures in order to immerse myself. 3. When I enter a new culture, I examine their business practices. 4. I am prepared to work cross-culturally because of my academic training. 5. *I rely on the international media to stay abreast of new global developments. 6. I am prepared to work cross-culturally because of my professional experiences. 7. I keep notes on the cross-cultural business practices that I have found to be successful. 8. I use a mentor or trusted resource to help me process cross-cultural information. 9. *I follow international news. 10. I demonstrate the flexibility needed to work across time and distance.

Factor 4 (Scale: True/False)

1. *In the US, people greet each other formally in continuous business relations using their titles and surnames. 2. *East Indians sometimes shake their head from side to side to show agreement with what is being said. 3. *The Muslim religion forbids eating milk products with meat. 4. *The ethnic composition of South Africa is predominantly white. 5. *In Japan, even the smallest tokens as gifts are considered bribes. 6. *Israelis prefer indirect communications with others to avoid hurting their feelings. 7. *The euro is the currency of Switzerland. 8. *The Japanese believe that a firm handshake and direct eye contact is good for establishing trust (or as a sign of stature). 9. *Confucianism suggests that a husband is the master of his wife. 10. *It is common in America to challenge your boss when you disagree. 11. *A knife is not an appropriate gift in Russia. 12. *The teachings of Islam emanate from Saudi Arabia. 13. *Knocking on the desk as a way to clap is common in Germany. 14. *Jamaica was once the center of African slave trading. 15. *The thumbs-up “ok” is a universally understood sign around the world. 16. *Standing close to one another is typical in Middle Eastern cultures. 17. *The carnival in Brazil is always held immediately after Easter. 18. *The counting systems of China, Korea, and Japan are known for being brief and logical. 19. *If Power Distance is a measure of how much a country values a hierarchy, then Sweden is low on the Power Distance Index (PDI). 20. *As a culture, Australians require a great deal of certainty.

Items denoted with * were retained in the final version of the instrument

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