Developing Cultural Intelligence in a Serious Game-Centered Blended Course:
Insights from Experiential Learning Theory and Empirical Evidence
Tobias Schumacher and Marion Festing
ESCP Business School, Germany
Volume 18: 2023, pp. 103-136; ABSTRACT
Cultural intelligence (CQ) is a crucial asset for employees working in a global context.
However, CQ development research has produced inconclusive results, which is why researchers
have emphasized the importance of applying theory-based arguments to explain why and how CQ
can be improved. This article takes the perspective of experiential learning theory to describe the
development of a serious game-centered intercultural management course, thereby contributing
learning-theoretical explanations for CQ development by also discussing the relevance of
immersion and experiential learning styles in this regard. The effectiveness of the course was tested
in a longitudinal study with 278 students, and the empirical analysis indicated that course
participation was associated with improvements in overall CQ as well as in terms of all of its subdimensions. Moreover, immersion was positively related with CQ development, and divergent,
accommodative, and assimilative learners all reported
ORDER ARTICLE PERMISSIONS/REPRINTS/OFFPRINTS
To order permissions to include this article in textbooks, edited volumes, course booklets, online/digital course packs, etc., and/or to order multiple individual hard copies for classroom use, please use the appropriate form available on the Order Forms page or alternatively, contact the Publishing Editor pneilson@neilsonjournals.com directly.
