The development and validation of the Business Cultural Intelligence Quotient

The purpose of this paper is to present a new instrument for measuring cultural intelligence in the business context (BCIQ).

The paper describes the process of the conceptualization of the model and the development of the instrument, the sample, as well as the validation of the instrument. Directions on the use of the instrument and future research are discussed.

The instrument shows good psychometric properties and good predictive power and outperforms other publicly available CQ measures on a number of dimensions.

The unique features and advantages of the present instrument are as follows: first, a refined factor structure compared to existing CQ instruments; second, use of objective cultural knowledge measures; third, applicability in the business and workplace contexts, thus rendering the instrument suitable for assessing cultural intelligence among expatriates, employees, and global virtual team members; and fourth, improved reliability and validity as compared to other Cultural Intelligence Quotient measures.