Research On The Influence Mechanism Of The Expatriates’ Cultural Intelligence On Expatriate Effectiveness In International Construction Projects

With the deepening of economic globalization,China’s international construction market is booming.However,the expatriate failure rate remains high,which is usually presented in form of high premature return rate and underperformance of expatriates and has brought huge losses to international construction firms.Therefore,it is necessary to conduct research on the management of international construction expatriates and discuss how to improve expatriate effectiveness in the international construction field.This thesis takes the international construction expatriates as the research object,and aims to investigate the influence mechanism of expatriates’ cultural intelligence(CQ)on expatriate effectiveness(i.e.,task performance and premature return intention).This thesis uses the questionnaire survey method to test the hypotheses with a questionnaire sample of 303 international construction expatriates.The results indicate that CQ can enhance expatriates’ task performance and reduce their premature return intention through the mediating effect of work engagement.Findings also support that cultural distance moderates the positive relationship between CQ and work engagement,as well as moderate the mediating effects of work engagement.This thesis contributes to the expatriate literature by explaining the influence mechanism of expatriates’ CQ on expatriate effectiveness from the perspective of work engagement,and extending the research scope of CQ to the field of international construction.This thesis verifies the synergy of CQ and cultural distance,which provides a new theoretical perspective for studying the moderating role of cultural distance in the context of international construction.The thesis also provides a theoretical basis and policy recommendations for international construction firms to improve expatriate effectiveness.