The Impact of Intercultural Communication on Cultural Intelligence

Multicultural relations have become a characteristic feature of global economic and social reality. The ever-increasing mobility of the workforce has led to a significant growth in its organisational heterogeneity. Understanding the climate induced by the ethnic diversity of the workforce and the way that performance can be improved at organisational level, have become management priorities in a multicultural environment as these elements are indicators of success. This study aims to highlight the relationships between the level of intercultural communication (IC) and cultural intelligence (CQ) at the individual level. The sociological survey, based on a questionnaire, was the basic element in obtaining primary information. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 367 people working in multinational companies in Romania. The results were processed by econometric methods using SPSS software. The study highlights the direct and positive links between levels of intercultural communication (IC) and cultural intelligence (CQ) at the individual level. The results of the study are only valid at the national level. In order to increase the relevance of the results, we consider it necessary to extend the sample by including more people. By conducting this study, we highlight the importance of having a high level of IC, a level that induces a significant increase in CQ value at the individual level, and also a high willingness to perform in a multicultural organisation. This study is a first at the national level because the links between IC and CQ levels have not been the subject of an experimental analysis before.