The interface between cultural intelligence and customer satisfaction : the hospitality "perspective"

Abstract

Cultural differences and cultural diversity, in today's globalized world, is a challenge to be faced by individuals and organizations. The shrinkage of cultural boundaries across the world, as an impact of globalization, has made it imperative for global managers to possess the appropriate kind of skills that enables them to function effectively in diverse cross cultural settings. Hotels and other sectors of hospitality have to duly engage in effective management of cultural disparities deeply rooted in the context of managing the customer responses from international travelers possessing diverse cultural backgrounds. Responding to the current need, the present study aims to establish the association that exists between Cultural Intelligence and Customer Satisfaction in the international hospitality industry and identify how CQ enhances the productivity of hospitality managers. The research is quantitative in nature and has been conducted in three luxury five star hotels in India with a sample size of 696 and 552, employees and customers respectively. CQS has been adopted along with a self administered questionnaire on Cross Cultural Training and Productivity. Another questionnaire for measuring the satisfaction level of international customers was used. Also, personal interviews had been conducted in the respective hotels to draw inferences on how the customers from multicultural backgrounds are managed. Results indicate that CQ and Customer Satisfaction are positively correlated and simultaneously enhance the productivity of the organizations in order to favorably satisfy the diverse cultural needs and expectations of their international clientele.