Cultural Intelligence and Leadership Styles: Examining the Impact of Multicultural Teams on Organizational Productivity and Employee Satisfaction

Abstract

In today's increasingly globalized work environments, the interaction of multicultural teams presents both challenges and opportunities for organizations. This study explores the relationship between cultural intelligence (CQ) and leadership styles in managing multicultural teams, and their combined impact on organizational productivity and employee satisfaction. The need for this research stems from the growing diversity within organizations, which necessitates leaders to possess high cultural intelligence and adopt flexible leadership approaches to harness the potential of multicultural teams. The findings reveal that leaders with high CQ, who employ transformational leadership styles, foster improved collaboration, enhance team cohesion, and ultimately increase productivity. Furthermore, the study demonstrates that multicultural teams led by culturally intelligent leaders report higher levels of job satisfaction, driven by an inclusive and supportive work environment. The implications of this research extend to human resource practices, emphasizing the importance of developing CQ-focused leadership training programs to enhance the effectiveness of multicultural teams. Future research should explore the long-term effects of CQ and leadership styles on team performance across different industries and cultural contexts, and examine the role of digital tools in facilitating cross-cultural collaboration in remote or hybrid work settings.