Turkay iew didi_cultural intelligence

Selen [email protected]

Teachers College, Columbia University

Cultural intelligence What is it? Why do we need it?

Virtual worlds for fostering cultural intelligence

Cultural intelligence in context - D.I.D.I Initiative

Discussion and Conclusion

IQ SQ (Thorndike&Stein, 1937) PQ (Sternberg, et al., 2000) Theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner,

1983) EQ (Coleman, 1995) CQ (Ang&Earley, 2003)

Intelligence is more than cognitive ability (Sternberg et al, 1986)

Background

Globalization, advancement in information, communication, transportation, logistic

=> Smaller and flat world (Friedman, 2005)

=> increased cultural diversity in work place => increased cultural diversity in student base at schools.

Background/CQ

An individual’s capability to function effectively in situations characterized by cultural diversity (Ang, Van Dyne, & Koh, 2005; Earley & Ang, 2003; Earley & Mosakowski, 2005).

Allows individuals to understand and act appropriately across a wide range of cultures (Thomas, 2006).

Background/CQ

Multi-dimensional construct (Ang&Earley, 2003)

Background/CQ

Poor CQ leads to stereotyping, unnecessary conflict, delays and leadership failure.

High levels of CQ leads to strong mastery and sense of emotional display and physical presence.

People with high CQ are very good at getting along with people from other cultures (Thomas, 2006) Necessary for those aim to work in foreign markets.

Related to interpersonal trust, acceptance and integration by other team members and development of a global identity(Shokef &Erez, 2008)

Background/CQ

Language acquisition Diversity of social contacts International work/studying abroad

experiences

(Shannon&Begley, 2008)

Background/CQ

Content Artifacts (i.e. clothing, environment…)

Multi-modality See pictures and graphics Hear language, music Read

ImmersiveAvatars

Gestures, Animations

Background/Virtual Worlds

Virtual forbidden city – immersive replica of Forbidden City in Beijing (a partnership between the Palace Museum and IBM)

Simulations to train soldiers to get familiar with Arab cultures-

funded by Department of Defense.

(Taylor&Sim,2009)

Cultures in Second Life


IBM uses SL for hosting employee meetings, conduct employee training and even evaluates managers on their cross-cultural/geography skills.

Useful in connecting people around the globe to drive collaboration.

IBM has built 12 "virtual islands" in SL Aims to use them to explore how to

conduct business in the virtual world.


TURKEY – BOSPORUS IN SL MEXICO


• Values of people and belief about the place• Greetings and noob welcome• Intimacy • Changing appearance

(Tirthali, 2010)


• How to portray ‘Indian’?• Bollywood as the ‘homogenized’ Indian culture

“…. Bollywood Music [The large collection of Indian Clothes](Saree Salwar Kurta Sherwani Bindi Lehenga Sari Mehendi and other accessories)”

(Tirthali, 2010)


User Created Content is Good! Cultural Artifacts

▪ Buildings▪ Music▪ Items▪ Clothing

Having Avatars is Good! Animations Gestures Maybe use NPCs if someone cannot be at the

place 24/7


Cultural intelligence is not static but evolves continuously through learning from social interactions (Thomas et al., 2008). Therefore,

To what extend can virtual worlds foster individuals’ (especially teens’) cultural intelligence?

How can we enhance individual’s cultural intelligence in virtual worlds? (Formal training? Role playing? Etc.)

What are the affordances of virtual worlds for enhancing individuals’ CQ and how effective are they?

Background/Study

About the Project

Dream It. Do It Initiative’ http://www.genv.net/didi

Project Partners & Funders Global Kids

www.globalkids.org

Youth Venturewww.genv.net

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

• Examine to what extent a virtual medium can promote youth changemaking

• Explore online/offline cross pollination of youth development and changemaking

• Determine the extent to which online endeavors affect youths’ mindsets about leadership and initiative

• Test whether Youth Venturers could efficiently tip a virtual world from a culture of self-interest to promoting societal good

Background/Study

Background/Study

Dream It. Do It. WorkshopSetting the ground rules

How does D.I.D.I. Work?

Background/Study

Dream It. Do It. WorkshopYouth connecting problems they have identified with their passions and skills


Background/Study

When teams are ready to launch, D.I.D.I. provides:

• Seed funding (up to US $1,000 per team) • Ongoing tools and support• Peer Mentors to provide expertise and support• A network of fellow Venturers both within and outside of

TSL• An identity as part of the global Youth Venture

movement (GenV.net)

Selection Panel


Background/Study

Participants in D.I.D.I.– Majority were between 13 and17 years old.– Teens from general TSL population– Teens from after-school programs (organized

groups), NYData Collection

– Pre-Post surveys– Action Plans of Teams– Workshop chat logs – will be– Interviews with team leaders– Survey administered to drop-outs

Analysis- Deductive and Inductive analysis of data using NVivo 8

Background/Study

About the Project : Participants & Data Collection

Study

Findings: Participants & Ventures

In 18 months,

DIDI reached 185 youths.

39 teams were formed. 37 teams created an action plan. 35 went to the selection panel. 24 launched ventures. 15 active launched ventures by May 2009. 13 teams had members from different

countries.

Ventures ranged wide areas spanning preventive health, social health, animal welfare and healthy atmosphere in SL

Goal – to find a common topic Talked about their local communities Hobbies Passions Worries

A common venture idea for many international teams were environment (especially climate change) or helping out new TSL residents

Study

Findings: What helped with increasing CQ -Searching for a venture idea

Study

Findings: Increased Metacognitive CQ and Motivational CQ

• “I liked working with diverse groups and learn about and from them… and I am from Africa” – Global Warming

• “It was fun. We learned some about the differences of communities. Also, we always had to consider everyone timezone when we wanted to have meeting, which can sometimes be a hard thing to do.” – Profound Hams

• “It was interesting as I had the privilege of socializing with people from other cultures….I would like to do that more in the future…” – Motion Mall

• “…there are others in the worlds who wants to do good things like I do. ” - Above It

“Expressing certain opinions or ideas among a team can be far more challenging compared to working alone, especially in a virtual world... It was not easy but we were able to agree on things” –Motion Mall

“You can access the large community of people around the world. It’s fun to work with them” – A New Tomorrow

Study

Findings: Increased Metacognitive CQ

S- Finding evidence of increased motivational and metacognitive CQ.

W - Did not use a test to measure (like Ang et al.(2007)’s 4 factor 20 item CQ inventory).

W -Studied CQ as a byproduct of the project. What happens if the aim is to increase

participants’ CQ?

Conclusion/Discussion

Discussion: Strength & Weakness of this study

Mindfulness in virtual teams tends to be higher than it is in their face-to-face counterparts, although face-to-face contact is an undeniable asset when building a relationship. The virtual context helps people focus and pay attention to the right issues (Maznevski,2008).

Need for projects to explore potential of virtual worlds for fostering CQ.

Need for a more robust study focuses on enhancing CQ with more robust measurements.

Need for culture inventories Animations, clothing, avatars


Discussion: Future Studies?

Experiential learning is needed to form behavioral patterns which support cultural intelligence. Cases, role plays simulation

Understanding why a positive or a negative outcome occurred and how to repeat or avoid this outcome in the future is part of a life-long learning process-


Discussion: Future Studies – Emphasize Experiential Learning

People learn new behaviors through not only their own experiences and the results of those experiences but also through observing the behaviors and consequences of others.

Social learning theory describes 4 elements necessary for learning : Attention Retention Reproduction Motivation


Discussion: Future Studies – Emphasize Social Learning Theory

Initial qualitative analysis of data provided evidence that virtual worlds can be effective in improving individuals’ CQ.


Conclusion: Virtual Worlds

• Increased globalization across most industries has prompted observers to pay attention to the need for augmenting cultural intelligence in workers.

• Exploiting cultural diversity is the key to unlimited innovation and growth.

Virtual worlds offer unique possibilities for a virtual team leaders to think differently (Kahai et al., 2007).


Conclusion

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Selen [email protected]

Teachers College, Columbia University