This study aims to develop and validate a workplace cultural intelligence scale (WCQS) as a workplace-specific complement to established cultural intelligence measures. In response to the growing salience of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in contemporary organisations, the study develops a scale that captures surface- and deep-level cultural diversity within organisational settings while integrating DEI principles into the cultural intelligence domain.
The WCQS development stages include item generation, scale development, and scale evaluation. A conceptual framework was derived from a systematic literature review and validated through a two-round Delphi study involving 20 experts, yielding 49 items, which were later refined to 27. A pilot survey of 253 employees led to a 16-item scale across three dimensions. The last stage involved testing its validity and reliability on 747 employees through discriminant, convergent, and predictive validity checks.
Workplace cultural intelligence comprises 16 items across cognitive diversity, emotional equity, and behavioural inclusion, with confirmed psychometric validity.
The WCQS broadens the cultural intelligence literature by specifying how cognitive, affective, and behavioural capabilities operate in DEI-relevant workplace contexts. The study also acknowledges the need for future comparative validation against established cultural intelligence measures, multi-source outcome data, and behavioural observation methods.
This study presents a DEI-integrated WCQS that complements existing CQ instruments by focusing on the specific cultural demands of organisational life, including identity-based diversity, fairness sensitivity, and inclusive behavioural capability.
