A systematic literature review on the definitions of global mindset and cultural intelligence – merging two different research streams

The literature on global mindset indicates a growing array of different approaches to its definition and conceptualization. The components making up global mindset are often unclear and vary significantly between studies. Concomitantly, global mindset shows major overlap with the cultural intelligence construct. This leads to an unfortunate lack of comparability of research results and to potential confusion for readers. In this article, the authors systematically review and synthesize the existing definitions and conceptualizations of global mindset and cultural intelligence. These definitions and conceptualizations are grouped according to four dimensions of cross-cultural competencies: personal attributes, cognitive knowledge and skills, motivation, and resources for adapting behavior. Based on this analysis, we provide definitions and a demarcation of the constructs global mindset and cultural intelligence using the three levels of business management (normative, strategic, and operative). Whereas cultural intelligence is a sufficient cross-cultural competency for employees working in operative management, a global mindset becomes highly relevant at the strategic and normative management levels. We derive implications for management practice as well as for future research.