Research Proposal

Proposed Research Topic:

Emotional Intelligence and Cross Cultural Training: Implications for Human Resource
Management
Purpose:
Going global has resulted many businesses to operate other than their home countries and to
expand beyond the restriction of borders. Cross Cultural Training (CCT) is pre-requisite for
expatriate managers to successfully run the business abroad. Cultural intelligence has also
become imperative for going global. There has been a lot of research done on cross cultural
training programmes and importance of emotional intelligence in management. However,
there has not been much research on importance of emotional intelligence competencies for
expatriate managers. This study is going to examine the role of emotional intelligence in
training programmes and how it helps expatriate managers to perform their leadership
practices while managing diverse human resource capital. We will cite different cultural
training programmes being designed in MNCs and importance of emotional intelligence in
such programmes. Then, based on different aspects of emotional intelligence how it will
contribute to effective human resource management in a diverse culture environment.
Scope:
This study will help organizations to understand the importance of emotional intelligence of
their managers operating in the subsidiaries, as well as the impact of cross cultural training on
their efficiencies. With this study we hope to open gateways for future research in the area of
emotional intelligence and cross cultural training. For example,
Analysis of situational need of emotional intelligence in multinational companies
Relationship between emotional intelligence and successful expatriate managers
Detailed study of different designs and strategies of cross cultural training in MNCs.
Literature review:
Human resource management doesnt takes place in a vacuum. There are many internal and
external factors that affect its functioning and structure and among them is the socio-cultural
environment in which company is operating (Tayeb 2005). For MNCs this is of crucial
importance as it will help them to design efficient cross cultural training programmes. There
are many aspects of HRM which are influenced by national cultural for example management
styles, leadership styles, employee-work relationship, attitudes, norms and values. For an
effective leadership approach, which is imperative for managing diverse human capital we
need to focus on these influential factors when working in different cultural environment.
Studies have revealed that emotional intelligence has a major influence on effective
leadership. Due to the increase in workplace diversity of MNCs, the demand for a person to
be more cognitive has also increased to be a successful expatriate and emotional resources
have become more significantly important (Singh 2010). It has also been found that
ultimately it is the emotional and personal competencies that we need to identify and measure
if we want to be able to predict performance at workplace resulting in its effectiveness,
thereby enhancing the worth of the human capital (Singh 2010). Emotional Intelligence has
been defined as a range of cognitive abilities and competencies which determines the ability
of a person to handle environmental demands and pressures (HR magazine, 1997). Goleman
(1995) applies the emotional intelligence concept to the workplace setting. In this analysis, he
argues that the emotionally intelligent worker is skilled in two key areas he presents in his
emotional competence framework. These are "personal competence" - how we manage
ourselves, and "social competence - how we manage relationships. Kavita S. (2010) found
out that emotional intelligence is related with personal competencies of employees. Greston
(1992), in a literature review of inter-cultural competence, has given a range of personality
traits that an international employee should possess in order to complete his international
assignment successfully. An empirical study revealed that successful international managers
who were successful in expatriate assignments related to four dimensions: self-oriented
dimension, others-oriented dimensions, perceptual dimension and cultural toughness
(Mendenhall & Oddou 1985 pg 39-47). Experienced partners in a multinational consulting
firm were assessed on the EI competencies plus three others. Partners who scored above the
median on 9 or more of the 20 competencies delivered $1.2 million more profit from their
accounts than did other partners a 139 percent incremental gain (Boyatzis, 1999). Research
by the Center for Creative Leadership has found that the primary causes of derailment in
executives involve deficits in emotional competence. The three primary ones are difficulty in
handling change, not being able to work well in a team, and poor interpersonal relations.
Emotional training may help people to pay more attention to social and emotional dynamics
as well as learn from their everyday environment and interactions with others. This kind of
training may increase motivational level of employees and their resources to learn, hence
increasing their ability to manage their emotions and interactions with others and giving them
more self confidence (Urch, Mount & Sala 2013). Therefore, for MNCs it is very important
that they also focus on emotional intelligence competencies in their CCT programmes.
Conclusion
This proposal focuses on the key importance of two main factors i.e. Emotional Intelligence
and Cross cultural training, and how these factors can be studied to develop methods by
altering these factors and achieving desired results in various cultures. This research will
prove to be helpful in developing HR practices in MNCs operating in cultures with extremely
variant social or environmental values. Training the expatriates to be ready in different
cultures and to be emotionally mature to sustain in those environments we can achieve a
synergy in all the subsidiaries of MNCs. This will lead to further benefits like ability to form
a highly efficient cross cultural platform equipped with diverse work force.















References:
Cherniss, C. (1999) The Business Case for Emotional Intelligence. Consortium for Research
on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations, Rutgers University.
Druskat, V.U., Mount, G & Sala, F. (eds.) (2013) Linking Emotional Intelligence and
Performance at Work: Current Research Evidence with Individual Groups, Psychology Press
Forster, N. (2000) Expatriates and the impact of cross-cultural training. Human Resource
Management Journal (Vol. 10, Iss. 3, p.p 6378)
George, M.J. (2000) Emotions and Leadership: The role of emotional intelligence. Human
Relations (vol. 53), Rice University
Ko, H. & Yang, M (2011) The Effects of Cross-Cultural Training on Expatriate Assignments.
Intercultural Communication Studies, Chang Jung Christian University, Taiwan
Lenartowicza. T, Johnsonb, J.P. & Konopaskec, P. (2013) The application of learning
theories to improve cross-cultural training programs in MNCs. The International Journal of
Human Resource Management (Vol.25, Issue 12, p.p 1697-1719),
Mendenhall, M. & Oddou, G (1985) The Dimensions of Expatriate Acculturation: A Review.
ACAD MANAGE REV (vol. 10, no. 1 p.p 39-47)
Singh, K. (2010) Developing human capital by linking emotional intelligence with personal
competencies in Indian business organizations. Int. Journal of Business Science and Applied
Management (Vol. 5, Iss. 2), University of Delhi.