IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/bracre/v51y2019i2p111-129.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Are accounting academics culturally intelligent?: An empirical investigation

Author

Listed:
  • Tharapos, Meredith
  • O'Connell, Brendan T.
  • Dellaportas, Steven
  • Basioudis, Ilias

Abstract

Cultural diversity within accounting university classrooms creates a number of educational challenges that have been little investigated. This study draws on the theoretical framework of cultural intelligence (CQ), which is new to accounting research, to enhance understanding of the intercultural capabilities of accounting academics. CQ is comprised of four interrelated capabilities: metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioural. The previously validated cultural intelligence scale (CQS) survey was used to identify CQ levels and results were compared to demographic variables and other factors in order to explain differences. The results indicate that accounting academics display levels of CQ at the lower end of comparable studies on other professionals. Results also show that academics who have lived abroad for longer than one year and who have taught transnationally in Southeast Asia are likely to possess significantly higher levels of total CQ. Female accounting academics are more likely to possess higher levels of behavioural CQ indicating a propensity to more easily adapt their behaviour in culturally diverse situations. This paper contributes to the growing literature on CQ by increasing our understanding of the antecedents that influence CQ levels in the area of international experience, through the examination of the potential impact of overseas teaching experiences and overseas residency. Furthermore, this study introduces and examines new measures capturing the breadth and depth of international experience; that of long-term overseas residency and cultural distance.

Suggested Citation

  • Tharapos, Meredith & O'Connell, Brendan T. & Dellaportas, Steven & Basioudis, Ilias, 2019. "Are accounting academics culturally intelligent?: An empirical investigation," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 111-129.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:51:y:2019:i:2:p:111-129
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bar.2018.08.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890838918300520
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.bar.2018.08.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ehrlinger, Joyce & Johnson, Kerri & Banner, Matthew & Dunning, David & Kruger, Justin, 2008. "Why the unskilled are unaware: Further explorations of (absent) self-insight among the incompetent," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 98-121, January.
    2. Guozhen Huang & Carolyn J. Fowler & Rachel F. Baskerville, 2016. "Entering the accounting profession: the operationalization of ethnicity-based discrimination," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(8), pages 1342-1366, October.
    3. Bücker, Joost‏ JLE & Furrer, Olivier & Lin, Yanyan, 2015. "Measuring cultural intelligence: a new test of the CQ scale," FSES Working Papers 461, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    4. Yew Ming Chia, 2005. "Job offers of multi-national accounting firms: the effects of emotional intelligence, extra-curricular activities, and academic performance," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 75-93.
    5. Chris Carter & Crawford Spence, 2014. "Being a Successful Professional: An Exploration of Who Makes Partner in the Big 4," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 949-981, December.
    6. James Guthrie & Lee D. Parker, 2014. "The global accounting academic: what counts!," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(1), pages 2-14, January.
    7. Crawford Spence & Chris Carter, 2014. "An exploration of the professional habitus in the Big 4 accounting firms," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 28(6), pages 946-962, December.
    8. Ang, Soon & Van Dyne, Linn & Koh, Christine & Ng, K. Yee & Templer, Klaus J. & Tay, Cheryl & Chandrasekar, N. Anand, 2007. "Cultural Intelligence: Its Measurement and Effects on Cultural Judgment and Decision Making, Cultural Adaptation and Task Performance," Management and Organization Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(3), pages 335-371, November.
    9. Shane Nicholls & Matt Wegener & Darlene Bay & Gail Lynn Cook, 2012. "Emotional Intelligence Tests: Potential Impacts on the Hiring Process for Accounting Students," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 75-95, June.
    10. Rachel F. Baskerville & Kerry Jacobs & Vassili Joannides de Lautour & Jeff Sissons, 2016. "Ethnicity as inclusion and exclusion," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(8), pages 1262-1269, October.
    11. Soon Ang & Linn Van Dyne & Christine Koh & K. Yee Ng & Klaus J. Templer & Cheryl Tay & N. Anand Chandrasekar, 2007. "Cultural Intelligence: Its Measurement and Effects on Cultural Judgment and Decision Making, Cultural Adaptation and Task Performance," Management and Organization Review, The International Association for Chinese Management Research, vol. 3(3), pages 335-371, November.
    12. Oded Shenkar, 2012. "Beyond cultural distance: Switching to a friction lens in the study of cultural differences," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(1), pages 12-17, January.
    13. Darlene Bay & Kim McKeage, 2006. "Emotional Intelligence in Undergraduate Accounting Students: Preliminary Assessment," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 439-454.
    14. Elenkov, Detelin S. & Manev, Ivan M., 2009. "Senior expatriate leadership's effects on innovation and the role of cultural intelligence," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 357-369, October.
    15. Alon, Ilan & Higgins, James M., 2005. "Global leadership success through emotional and cultural intelligences," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 501-512.
    16. Crowne, Kerri Anne, 2008. "What leads to cultural intelligence?," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 391-399.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Miroslav Jurasek & Petr Wawrosz, 2023. "How Does Self-Efficacy in Communication Affect the Relationship Between Intercultural Experience, Language Skills, and Cultural Intelligence," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    2. Tharapos, Meredith & Marriott, Neil, 2020. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: Research quality in accounting education," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(5).
    3. Key, Kimberly & Healy, Margaret & Mulligan, Emer, 2022. "Closing the cultural intelligence skills gap in accounting students: An action research approach to cross-cultural teamwork," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(3).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schlägel, Christopher & Sarstedt, Marko, 2016. "Assessing the measurement invariance of the four-dimensional cultural intelligence scale across countries: A composite model approach," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 633-649.
    2. Bücker, Joost‏ JLE & Furrer, Olivier & Lin, Yanyan, 2015. "Measuring cultural intelligence: a new test of the CQ scale," FSES Working Papers 461, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    3. Lorenz, Melanie P. & Ramsey, Jase R. & Richey, Robert Glenn, 2018. "Expatriates’ international opportunity recognition and innovativeness: The role of metacognitive and cognitive cultural intelligence," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 222-236.
    4. Zhang, Ying & Xu, Nan & Frost, Mark & Zhou, Wei & Li, Yuran, 2021. "Modeling team efficiency for international production assignments in Chinese manufacturing multinationals," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    5. Jase R. Ramsey & Raina Rutti & Eric Arseneau & Smita Srivastava & Trip Knoche, 2025. "Exploring the impact of entrepreneurial alertness and cultural intelligence on creative self-efficacy: A global perspective," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 77-108, March.
    6. Vlajčić, Davor & Caputo, Andrea & Marzi, Giacomo & Dabić, Marina, 2019. "Expatriates managers’ cultural intelligence as promoter of knowledge transfer in multinational companies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 367-377.
    7. Geneviève Morin & David Talbot, 2023. "Cultural intelligence of expatriate workers: a systematic review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(1), pages 413-454, February.
    8. Avaz Mammadov & Andreas Wald, 2025. "The Role of Cultural Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence in the Internationalization of SMEs: Does Global Mindset Matter?," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 65(1), pages 115-144, February.
    9. Sebastian Stoermer & Samuel Davies & Fabian Jintae Froese, 2021. "The influence of expatriate cultural intelligence on organizational embeddedness and knowledge sharing: The moderating effects of host country context," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(3), pages 432-453, April.
    10. Jurásek Miroslav & Potocký Tomislav, 2020. "How to Improve Communication within an Organization? The Relationship between Cultural Intelligence and Language Competence," Journal of Intercultural Management, Sciendo, vol. 12(2), pages 53-81, June.
    11. Saeed Nosratabadi & Parvaneh Bahrami & Khodayar Palouzian & Amir Mosavi, 2020. "Leader Cultural Intelligence and Organizational Performance," Papers 2010.02678, arXiv.org.
    12. Cátia Sousa & Gabriela Gonçalves, 2019. "Multiculturality as an antecedent to work wellbeing and work passion," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 7(2), pages 101-124.
    13. Laura BRANCU & Valentin MUNTEANU & Ionut GOLET, 2016. "A Comparative Approach of Cultural Intelligence Profile of Management and Non-Management Romanian Students," REVISTA DE MANAGEMENT COMPARAT INTERNATIONAL/REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 17(4), pages 308-319, October.
    14. Miroslav Jurasek & Petr Wawrosz, 2023. "How Does Self-Efficacy in Communication Affect the Relationship Between Intercultural Experience, Language Skills, and Cultural Intelligence," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    15. Kadri KARMA & Rebekka VEDINA, 2009. "Cultural Intelligence as a Prism between Workforce Diversity and Performance in a Modern Organization," REVISTA DE MANAGEMENT COMPARAT INTERNATIONAL/REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 10(3), pages 527-542, July.
    16. repec:rai:zfpers:doi_10.1688/1862-0000_zfp_2013_02_remhof is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Abdel-Rahim, Heba Y. & Lorenz, Melanie P. & Zaher, Angie Abdel, 2022. "How do cultural difference, cultural exposure, and CQ affect interpretations of trust from contract choices? Evidence from dyadic cross-country experiments," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    18. Altinay, Levent & Kinali Madanoglu, Gulsevim & Kromidha, Endrit & Nurmagambetova, Armiyash & Madanoglu, Melih, 2021. "Mental aspects of cultural intelligence and self-creativity of nascent entrepreneurs: The mediating role of emotionality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 793-802.
    19. Felker, Julie & Gianecchini, Martina, 2015. "Influence of pre-graduation international experiences on early career internationalization: The mediation effect of career capital," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 60-70.
    20. Bindu Gupta & Davinder Singh & Kaushik Jandhyala & Shweta Bhatt, 2013. "Self-Monitoring, Cultural Training And Prior International Work Experience As Predictors Of Cultural Intelligence - A Study Of Indian Expatriates," Organizations and Markets in Emerging Economies, Faculty of Economics, Vilnius University, vol. 4(1).
    21. Gabriela Gonçalves & Marta Reis & Cátia Sousa & Joana Santos & Alejandro Orgambídez-Ramos, 2015. "The Effect of Multicultural Experience in Conflicts Management Styles: Mediation of Cultural Intelligence and Self-monitoring," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 3(1), pages 4-21.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:bracre:v:51:y:2019:i:2:p:111-129. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/the-british-accounting-review .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.