Effects of cultural intelligence on employee performance in international humanitarian sector of Kenya

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) DegreeThe purpose of this study was to determine the effects of cultural intelligence (CQ) on employee performance in the context of international humanitarian organizations in Kenya. Samples of 86 employees from 6 international humanitarian organizations working in the regional headquarter offices that are based in Nairobi were the respondents for the survey. A Survey design involving an online self-reporting questionnaire system was used. A questionnaire developed by Ang et al. (2007), was utilized for measuring CQ and addressing each of the four CQ dimensions. Performance questionnaire was developed from various literatures with additional questions added in. A pilot test was conducted to test the validity and Cronbach’s alpha was used to test the internal reliability. Factor analysis was used to identify which of the four dimensions of CQ have a stronger effect on employee performance. T–test, F-tests and R2 (square) were utilized. Correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis were used. It was found that all the four dimensions of CQ (metacognitive, cognitive, motivational and behavioral) have a positive relationship with performance. Metacognitive and motivation CQ were found to have a significant influence on performance, followed by behavior CQ. Cognitive CQ was not found to have a significant effect on employee performance. The moderating role of employees’ level of position against the effect on CQ and performance relationship showed an increase in the output of performance with increase in level of position, being the additional significant value this study brings to the literature of CQ. Employee performance was conceived to be a combination of task performance and contextual performance. The four dimensions of CQ account for up to 63.9% of employee performance. This suggests that international humanitarian organizations should consider selecting the CQ components as a competency for hiring, developing employees and to include CQ as one of the key competencies for enhancement such as through cultural training