Cultural intelligence, global mindset, and cosmopolitanism: a tale of three constructs

Over the past two decades, much of the discussion on cross-cultural capabilities has been dominated by three central constructs: Cultural intelligence, global mindset, and cosmopolitanism. Anchored in distinct disciplinary discourses, these constructs were largely developed in parallel and examined independently from one another. While this diversity of perspectives has imbued the field of cross-cultural and international management with vitality, relevance, and promise, it has also created a rather unruly landscape with multiple theoretical influences and conceptual constructs competing for attention and authority. In this chapter, we offer a comparative analysis of these three constructs along five key dimensions - theoretical foundation, definitions, core properties and key dimensions, salient contexts, and key propositions and findings - and clarify the crux and relevance of each construct. Our ‘compare and contrast’ analysis thus elucidates inter-construct conceptual ambiguities and could potentially facilitate a more informed use of the constructs, thereby reducing empirical research inconsistencies that has pervaded the field.