Calls for papers

 

European Journal of International Management

 

Special Issue on: "The Role of Intercultural Competence in European International Management: Theory, Measurement, Antecedents, and Outcomes"

Guest Editors:
Associate Prof. Nicole F. Richter, Assistant Prof. Marian van Bakel and Associate Prof. Jeanette Lemmergaard, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
Assistant Prof. Christopher Schlägel, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

In light of the current developments – not only in the European context – the relevance of understanding the effects of intercultural competencies on international management outcomes has never been greater (e.g. Thomas, et al., 2015). Researchers agree that to be successful in international and intercultural contexts, European managers and especially global leaders need intercultural competencies to be able to deal with the increasingly complex and globalised word (e.g. Bücker & Poutsma, 2010; Johnson, Lenartowicz, & Apud, 2006; Bird, Mendenhall, Stevens, & Oddou, 2010). The research on cross-cultural aspects of management has long relied on and discussed concepts of cultural values (e.g. the concepts of Hofstede, Hofstede, & Minkov, 2010, of project GLOBE, see House & Javidan, 2004, or of Schwartz, 1992, 1994), and value differences between nations (e.g. Shenkar, 2001; Kraus, Meier, Eggers, Bouncken, & Schuessler, 2016; Jiménez, Jiménez, Ordeñana, & Puche-Regaliaza, 2017) to understand various international management related outcomes (e.g. Garbe & Richter, 2009; Hoffmann, 2014; Hauff, Richter, & Tressin, 2015; Gunkel, Schlaegel, Rossteutscher, & Wolff, 2015, see also the overview in Kirkman, Lowe, & Gibson, 2006).

Albeit the progress made, researchers claim that it is time to move forward and discover new theoretical streams and methodological practices which might be useful for explaining management behaviours and the mechanisms to improve international managerial outcomes (e.g. Kirkman, Lowe, & Gibson, 2017; Devinney & Hohberger, 2017). One of these newer concepts and streams is the one looking more directly at intercultural competencies, such as a global mindset (e.g. Lovvorn & Chen, 2011; Maznevski & Lane, 2003) or cultural intelligence (e.g. Earley & Ang, 2003; Ang, et al., 2007). These concepts have emerged from different research streams, yet seem to significantly overlap and are useful to further study successful intercultural interaction within different management settings (e.g. Andresen & Bergdolt, 2017). Prior research looks at these phenomena from basically four different perspectives (Leung, Ang, & Tan, 2014; Ott & Michailova, 2016): a) a conceptual perspective which focuses on conceptualising competencies and developing constructs (e.g. Ng, Van Dyne, & Ang, 2012, Thomas, et al., 2008), b) the investigation into antecedent factors of intercultural competencies which can be used for developing such competencies (e.g. cross-cultural training or contact with a local host, see Reichard, et al., 2015; Van Bakel, Gerritsen, & Van Oudenhoven, 2014), c) the understanding of moderating or mediating effects of these phenomena on management outcomes (e.g. see Wu & Ang, 2011; Kim & Van Dyne, 2012), and finally d) the direct associations of intercultural competencies with management related performance outcomes (e.g. Remhof, Gunkel, & Schlägel, 2013; Rockstuhl, Seiler, Ang, Van Dyne, & Annen, 2011).

Building on the above, the objective of this special issue will be twofold: First, it will aim to address and promote research associated with theory, conceptualisation, and measurement of intercultural competence to contribute to the recent developments in this area (e.g. Schlägel & Sarstedt, 2016). Second, it will aim at fostering research into intercultural competencies from a management perspective: In this context, the objective is to increase our understanding of the specific processes or mechanisms through which antecedents influence intercultural competencies (that are of value for different management fields). Moreover, the objective is to uncover the processes or mechanisms through which intercultural competencies manifest as determinants of management related outcomes.

These research objectives are not only of theoretical value, but also have valuable management implications: A better understanding of the determinants and outcomes of intercultural competencies could guide the development of effective intervention programs, and should improve the international management in European firms (e.g. Engle & Crowne, 2014; Alon & Higgins, 2005).

References

Alon, I., & Higgins, J. M. (2005). Global leadership success through emotional and cultural intelligences. Business Horizons, 48, 501-512.

Andresen, M., & Bergdolt, F. (2017). A systematic literature review on the definitions of global mindset and cultural intelligence - merging two different research streams. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28, 170-195.

Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., Koh, C., Ng, K.-Y., Templer, K., Tay, C., & Chandrasekar, N. (2007). Cultural intelligence: Its measurement and effects in cultural judgement and decision making, cultural adaptation and task performance. Management and Organization Review, 3, 335-371.

Bird, A., Mendenhall, M., Stevens, M. J., & Oddou, G. (2010). Defining the content domain of intercultural competence for global leaders. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25, 810-828.

Bücker, J., & Poutsma, E. (2010). Global management competencies: A theoretical foundation. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25, 829-844.

Devinney, T. M., & Hohberger, J. (2017). The past is prologue: Moving on from Culture's Consequences. Journal of International Business Studies, 48, 48-62.

Earley, P. C., & Ang, S. (2003). Cultural intelligence: Individual interactions across cultures. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.

Engle, R. L., & Crowne, K. A. (2014). The impact of international experience on cultural intelligence: An application of contact theory in a structured short-term programme. Human Resource Development International, 17, 30-46.

Garbe, J.-N., & Richter, N. F. (2009). Causal analysis of the internationalization and performance relationship based on neural networks: advocating the transnational structure. Journal of International Management, 15, 413-431.

Gunkel, M., Schlaegel, C., Rossteutscher, T., & Wolff, B. (2015). The human aspect of cross-border acquisition outcomes: The role of management practices, employee emotions, and national culture. International Business Review, 24, 394-408.

Hauff, S., Richter, N. F., & Tressin, T. (2015). Situational job characteristics and job satisfaction: The moderating role of culture. International Business Review, 24, 710-723.

Hoffmann, S. (2014). Does national culture impact consumer boycott prevalence? A multi-country study. European Journal of International Management, 8, 141-159.

Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (2010). Culture and Organizations: Software of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and its Importance for Survival (Vol. 3rd). New York: McGraw-Hill.

House, R. J., & Javidan, M. (2004). Overview of GLOBE. In R. J. House, P. J. Hanges, M. Javidan, P. W. Dorfman & V. Gupta (Eds.), Culture, Leadership, and Organizations: The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies (pp. 9-28). Thousand Oaks et al.: Sage Publications.

Jiménez, A., Jiménez, D., Ordeñana, X., & Puche-Regaliaza, J. C. (2017). Cultural distance and foreign direct investment: the moderating effect of vicarious experience. European Journal of International Management, 11, 153-180.

Johnson, J. P., Lenartowicz, T., & Apud, S. (2006). Cross-cultural competence in international business: Toward a definition and a model. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 525-543.

Kim, Y. J., & Van Dyne, L. (2012). Cultural intelligence and international leadership potential: The importance of contact for members of the majority. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 61, 272-294.

Kirkman, B. L., Lowe, K. B., & Gibson, C. B. (2006). A quarter century of culture's consequences: A review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede's cultural values framework. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 285–320.

Kirkman, B. L., Lowe, K. B., & Gibson, C. B. (2017). A retrospective on Culture's Consequences: The 35-year journey. Journal of International Business Studies, 48, 12-29.

Kraus, S., Meier, F., Eggers, F., Bouncken, R. B., & Schuessler, F. (2016). Standardisation vs. adaptation: a conjoint experiment on the influence of psychic, cultural and geographical distance on international marketing mix decisions. European Journal of International Management, 10, 127-156.

Lovvorn, A. S., & Chen, J. S. (2011). Developing a global mindset: The relationship betwween an international assignment and cultural intelligence. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2, 275-183.

Maznevski, M., & Lane, H. (2003). Shaping the global mindset: Designing educational experiences for effective global thinking and action. In N. Boyacigiller, R. M. Goodman & M. Phillips (Eds.), Crossing cultures - Insights from master teachers (Vol. 171-184). London: Routledge.

Ng, K.-Y., Van Dyne, L., & Ang, S. (2012). Cultural intelligence: A review, reflections and recommendations for future research. In A. M. Ryan, F. Leong & F. Oswald (Eds.), Conducting Multinational Research: Applying Organizational Psychology in the Workplace (pp. 29-58). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Ott, D. L., & Michailova, S. (2016). Cultural intelligence: A review and new research avenues. International Journal of Management Reviews, 1-21.

Reichard, R. J., Serrano, S. A., Condren, M., Wilder, N., Dollwet, M., & Wang, W. (2015). Engagement in cultural trigger events in the development of cultural competence. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 14, 461-481.

Remhof, S., Gunkel, M., & Schlägel, C. (2013). Working in the "global village": The influence of cultural intelligence on the intention to work abroad. Zeitschrift für Personalforschung, 27, 1-28.

Rockstuhl, T., Seiler, S., Ang, S., Van Dyne, L., & Annen, H. (2011). Beyond general intelligence (IQ), and emotional intelligence (EQ): The role of cultural intelligence (CQ) on cross-border leadership effectiveness in a globalized world Journal of Social Issues, 67, 825-840.

Schlägel, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2016). Assessing the measurement invariance of the four-dimensional cultural intelligence scale across countries: A composite model approach. European Management Journal, 34, 633-649.

Schwartz, S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 25, pp. 1-65). New York: Academic Press.

Schwartz, S. H. (1994). Are there universal aspects in the structure and contents of human values? Journal of Social Issues, 50, 19-45.

Shenkar, O. (2001). Cultural Distance Revisited: Towards a More Rigorous Conceptualization and Measurement of Cultural Differences. Journal of International Business Studies, 32, 519-535.

Thomas, D. C., Elron, R., Stahl, G., Ekelund, B. Z., Ravlin, E. C., Cerdin, J.-L., Poelmans, S., Brislin, R. W., Pekerti, A. A., Aycan, Z., Maznevski, M., Au, K. Y., & Lazarova, M. B. (2008). Cultural intelligence: domain and assessment. International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 8, 123-143.

Thomas, D. C., Liao, Y., Aycan, Z., Cerdin, J.-L., Pekerti, A. A., Ravlin, E. C., Stahl, G., Lazarova, M. B., Fock, H., Moeller, M., Okimoto, T., & van de Vijver, F. (2015). Cultural intelligence: A theory-based, short form measure Journal of International Business Studies, 46, 1099-1118.

Van Bakel, M., Gerritsen, M., & Van Oudenhoven, J. P. (2014). Impact of a local host on the intercultural competence of expatriates. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25, 2050-2067.

Wu, P.-C., & Ang, S. H. (2011). The impact of expatriate supporting practices and cultural intelligence on cross-cultural adjustment and performance of expatriates in Singapore. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22, 2683-2702.

Subject Coverage
Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Theory and Measurement
• Conceptual papers discussing concepts and frameworks of intercultural competence, their differences and similarities, and appropriateness for various research purposes in an European international management context
• Conceptual papers and/or empirical research that aim(s) to improve existing measures of intercultural competence through novel methodological approaches (e.g., cultural neuroscience)
• Empirical research on the nature and dimensionality of intercultural competence
• Empirical research that compares the similarities and differences as well as the effectiveness of different intercultural competence conceptualisations and measures
• Empirical research that assess the measurement of intercultural competence at the team level and the organisational level
• Empirical research that addresses the measurement of intercultural competence across different countries, regions, and social groups
• Antecedents
• Empirical research into the processes or mechanisms through which different antecedents (that are of relevance to European international management) influence the development of intercultural competencies
• Empirical multi-level research that examines the determinants and development of intercultural competence across different levels of analysis (e.g. supervisor’s intercultural competence and supervisee’s intercultural competence)
• Empirical research that compares different trainings and interventions to foster the development of intercultural competence
• Empirical evidence that combines qualitative and quantitative procedures to assess the role of negative and positive international experience as well as depth and breadth of international experience in the development of intercultural competence
• Empirical evidence that investigates the interaction effects of cultural distance and international experience in the development of cultural competence
• And we also encourage: Empirical research that goes beyond the “usual suspects” and explores the influence of antecedents, such as prenatal testosterone, body mass-index, and ADHD, on intercultural competence
• Outcomes
• Empirical research into the processes and mechanisms through which intercultural competencies influence international management related outcomes (e.g. HR, marketing, purchasing, operations)
• Empirical multi-level research that examines the influence of intercultural competencies across different levels of analysis (e.g., team-level, organisational level)
• Empirical research that tests the unique and shared effects of different facets of intercultural competence on management-related outcomes

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. (N.B. Conference papers may only be submitted if the paper has been completely re-written and if appropriate written permissions have been obtained from any copyright holders of the original paper).

All papers are refereed through a peer review process.

All papers must be submitted online. To submit a paper, please read our Submitting articles page.

Important Dates

Manuscripts due by: 11 December, 2018