The IAFOR Journal of Business and Management
Volume I – Issue I – Summer 2014

The IAFOR Journal of Business and Management
Volume I – Issue I – Summer 2014

The IAFOR Journal of Business and Management
Volume I – Issue I – Summer 2014

This ground-breaking empirical study involving the application of Kozai Group's
Global Competency Index (GCI) with 86 Chinese Students in Japan elucidates the
importance of certain personality traits that modulate ability to succeed in business
and other goal-oriented activities in foreign cultures and success in performing in oral
performance in foreign languages. Fourteen of the 16 GCI dimensions were strong
predictors of oral/aural performance in Japanese among the 86 Chinese subjects.
The results indicate that the vast majority of the personality traits represented by the
GCI, which have been validated in terms of enabling successful cultural adaption for
optimal performance in global business, also facilitate oral/aural performance in
foreign languages.

Adaptation to foreign cultures and acquisition of proficiency in foreign languages
often prove to be key factors in determining the degree of success in a foreign
assignment or long-term cross-cultural business relationship. Kozai Groups GCI has
been widely used as a predictor of ability to function in foreign cultures and is
especially applicable to screening candidates for long-term assignments abroad.
This empirical study demonstrates that the same psychological traits that facilitate
cultural adaptation also facilitate performance in foreign languages. This knowledge
can form the basis for introspection and training programs for improving
cross-cultural competences and cross-cultural communication. The key to
understanding the reasons behind the sentiment of the statement "I am just not good at
speaking foreign languages" and how to overcome this state of mind is provided.

Merlin Levirs