Influence of Cultural Intelligence on Socio-cultural Adaptation for Expatriate Leaders in Malaysia

Success factors of expatriate leaders in a globalized world depend highly on selective competencies. Each competency have a wide set of skills associated with it. This paper attempted to present an investigation for the assessment of a competency such as cultural intelligence on socio-cultural adaptation for expatriate leaders working in different organizations in Malaysia. The hypotheses developed in this study were tested through primary data collected using the survey method. Purposive sampling technique has been used to collect 210 responses. Exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modelling techniques were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that cultural intelligence and socio-cultural adaptation influence expatriate leaders and the dimensions of cultural intelligence influence the performance of expatriate leaders mediated by socio-cultural adaptation. Organizations can get benefit greatly from incorporating cultural intelligence competency development for expatriate leaders in global positions. It will help the expatriate leaders to meet new and exciting challenges, and targets rapidly and performs efficiently.