Cultural Intelligence: Surviving and Thriving in the Global Village

Succeed in Any Culture, in Every Situation

In today’s global economy, the ability to interact effectively across cultures is a fundamental job requirement for just about everyone. But it’s impossible to learn the customs and traits of every single culture. David Thomas and Kerr Inkson present a universal set of techniques and people skills that will allow you to adapt quickly to, and thrive in, any cultural environment. You’ll learn to discard your own culturally based assumptions and pay careful attention, in a mindful and creative way, to cues in cross-cultural situations. The authors show how to apply cultural intelligence in a series of specific situations: making decisions; communicating, negotiating, and resolving conflicts; leading and motivating others; and designing, managing, and contributing to multicultural groups and teams.

This extensively revised third edition has been updated with new stories showing cultural intelligence in action. Thomas and Inkson have broadened the focus beyond business to include organizations of all kinds—nonprofits, governments, educational institutions, and more. And they include a reliable and valid measure of cultural intelligence based on a decade of research by an international team of scholars.

David C. Thomas is the Beedie Professor of International Management at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.

Kerr Inkson is an emeritus professor and research advisor at the University of Auckland Business School in New Zealand.

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Living and Working in the Global Village 1 

Cultural Knowledge 18 

Mindfulness and Cross-Cultural Skills 40 

Making Decisions across Cultures 58 

Communicating and Negotiating across Cultures 76 

Motivating and Leading across Cultures 98 

Working with Multicultural Groups and Teams 117 

Developing Cultural Intelligence in an 
Interconnected World 136
Conclusion: The Essentials of Cultural Intelligence 159 

Appendix: Short Form Cultural Intelligence
 Assessment (SFCQ) 165 

Notes 169
Bibliography 177
Index 187
About the Authors 197