The effect of cultural intelligence of top management on pro-diversity work climate and work attitudes of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/EDI-11-2020-0339
• Published date: 20 January 2022
• Date: 20 January 2022
• Pages: 760-777
• Subject Matter: HR & organizational behaviour,Employment law,Diversity,equality,inclusion
• Author: Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol,Tipnuch Phungsoonthorn

The effect of cultural intelligence

of top management on pro-

diversity work climate and work

attitudes of Myanmar migrant

workers in Thailand

Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol

International College, National Institute of Development Administration,

Bangkok, Thailand, and

Tipnuch Phungsoonthorn

Business and General Education Center, Dusit Thani College, Bangkok, Thailand

Abstract

Purpose –This researchexamines the effect of cultural intelligence (CQ) of top management on pro-diversity

climatesand perceived discriminationof the Myanmarmigrant workers inThailand. This researchalso analyzes

theeffect of perceived discriminationon job satisfactionand turnover intentionof the Myanmar migrantworkers.

Design/methodology/approach –The data were collected from 650 Myanmar migrant workers who are

employed at two factories in Thailand. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used

as the data analysis method.

Findings –The results significantly support the positive effect of perceived management CQ on pro-diversity

climates. Pro-diversity climates are also negatively and significantly associated with perceived discrimination.

Moreover, the effect of perceived management CQ on perceived discrimination is fully mediated by pro-

diversity climate.

Originality/value –This research clarifies that simply ensuring top management possess CQ may not be a

sufficient condition for the company to successfully tackle discrimination in the workplace. Rather, it is crucial

for the top management to create an organizational climate that is supportive of the racialdiversity of foreign

migrant employees.

Keywords Diversity, Discrimination, Leadership, Organizational climate, Top management

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

Fundamentally, Thailand’s economy relies heavily on migrant workers from Myanmar.

However, companies that hire migrant workers frequently face crucial challenges from high

turnover rates due to the discrimination commonly experienced by their migrant workers

(Phungsoonthorn and Charoensukmongkol, 2019). Considering the discrimination faced by

migrant workers and its subsequent impact on their emotional and physical well-being, it is

necessary to investigate organizational factors that can reduce the presence of

discrimination. Prior research reported many antecedents that affect workplace

discrimination (Berry and Bell, 2012;Daniel s and Thornton, 2019;En oksen, 2016;

Vassilopoulou and Brabet, 2019). Among these factors, studies have shown that the

leadership characteristics of top management tend to play a crucial role in preventing

discrimination in a workplace (Ashikali and Groeneveld, 2015;Walsh and McDaid, 2019;

Kearney and Gebert, 2009). In particular, previous research mostly centers around the

characteristics of management, such as transformational leadership (Phungsoonthorn and

Charoensukmongkol, 2019), ethical leadership (Petersen and Krings, 2009), destructive

EDI

41,5

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This research received financial support from National Institute of Development Administration.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/2040-7149.htm

Received 26 November 2020

Revised 11 September 2021

8 November 2021

Accepted 7 January 2022

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal

Vol. 41 No. 5, 2022

pp. 760-777

© Emerald Publishing Limited

2040-7149

DOI 10.1108/EDI-11-2020-0339

leadership (McCallaghan et al., 2019b) and servant leadership (Gotsis and Grimani, 2016), all

of which have frequently been found to lessen workplace discrimination. However, research

to date has yet to consider the cultural competence of top management in terms of cultural

intelligence (CQ), which could be essential to create a favorable work environment that

prevents foreign migrant worker exposure to workplace discrimination.

CQ is regarded as a critical aspect of cross-cultural competence that leads individuals to

demonstrate effectiveness in situations involving cross-cultural interactions (Earley and

Ang, 2003;Van Dyne et al., 2012). Prior research shows that individuals with high CQ tend to

have extensive knowledge about national cultures and can institute effective cross-cultural

adaptations when working with foreigners (Sharma and Hussain, 2019;Charoensukmongkol,

2020;Fu and Charoensukmongkol, 2022a). CQ has also been applied in the area of cross-

cultural leadership, with some evidence showing that individuals with high CQ are perceived

more favorably as effective leaders by their foreign subordinates (Presbitero and Teng-

Calleja, 2019;Guang and Charoensukmongkol, 2022;Groves and Feyerherm, 2011;G€

oksoy,

2017;Charoensukmongkol, 2021). Despite the extensive evidence regarding the benefits of

CQ, research on the role of CQ in the area of ethnic discrimination in the workplace,

particularly among foreign migrant workers, is very limited (Sharma and Hussain, 2019). To

date, there is no research that examines the role of top management CQ on organizational

policy that affects ethnic discrimination of foreign migrant workers who are members of an

ethnic minority group within the workplace. This is the primary research gap targeted in

this study.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the association between CQ of top

management and perceived racial discrimination of Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand.

This research is grounded in the leadership theory that postulates top management sets up

organizational policies and climates that affect employees in the workplace (Choi and Chang,

2009;Grojean et al., 2004;Mulki et al., 2009). From this theoretical perspective, the role of top

management CQ on perceived discrimination of Myanmar migrant workers is proposed to be

mediated by pro-diversity climate in the organization. In particular, this research tests

whether top management CQ can associate positively with a pro-diversity climate in the

workplace, and whether this can be linked to lower perceived discrimination experienced by

Myanmar migrant workers. Moreover, this research tests whether perceived discrimination

can subsequently determine job satisfaction and turnover intention for Myanmar migrant

workers. The results of this research are expected to broaden the knowledge regarding the

role of cross-cultural competence of top management. The findings aid in suggestion of

recommendations for management regarding policies and implementations that can help

create fair and appropriate working conditions and organizational climates for foreign

migrant workers.

2. Literature review

2.1 CQ

CQ is defined as the competence of individuals to adapt and perform effectively across

different cultural situations (Earley and Ang, 2003). Ott and Iskhakova (2019) propose that

CQ is the competence that individuals develop through international experience they have

gained in cross-cultural environments. Built on Sternberg and Detterman’s (1986) framework

of the multiple loci of intelligence, CQ is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct

consisting of four aspects of intelligence (Van Dyne et al., 2012). The first aspect of CQ is

“cognitive CQ”and represents the breadth and depth of knowledge that individuals have

about foreign cultures. Individuals with a high cognitive CQ clearly understand how one

culture differs from another in various aspects, such as values, societal norms, religion,

political and economic systems. The second aspect of CQ is “metacognitive CQ,”which

represents an individual’s tendency to plan, monitor and validate their cultural knowledge

Cultural

intelligence of

top

management

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