Analyzing the Effects of Demographic and Organizational Factors on Global Mindset of Business Leaders: An Empirical Multi-Industry Study from Five Continents

ABSTRACT This mixed-method study defines, clarifies, and operationalizes the concept of global mindset and identifies statistically significant factors that contribute to the development of a global mindset. Seven demographic and six organizational factors are examined for their effects on global mindset. The sample includes 158 senior business leaders operating at global organizations on five continents who participated in a web-survey. Global mindset is measured by a composite score of the leader's intellectual and cultural intelligence. Six factors: (a) number of foreign languages spoken, (b) raised by/live in a bilingual/multi-ethnic family, (c) number of countries worked in, (d) location/country of employment, (e) percentage of employees working overseas, and (f) percentage of revenue from overseas are found to significantly increase global mindset. The study confirms that global mindset is critical to leadership in business