Emotional Intelligence and Offshoring Arrangements

• In Event: Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Sustainability & The Financial Crisis

Abstract

The continued growth of the Indian economy and its legions of inexpensive English-speaking graduates made India the global leader in Business Process Outsourcing(BPO) and offshoring. Offsetting India’s success as a BPO center are perceived problems among clients of poor communication, lack of trust and ineffective management training, particularly for MBAs (Downey, 2017; Jain, 2015; Mayur et al., 2015). One potential explanation is a culturally driven lower Emotional Intelligence. Comparing MBA subjects in India and the United States, we find lower levels of EI in the Indian MBAs. This provides evidence for proposed links between lower levels of EI and communitarian societal values (Moon, 2011). We advocate the inclusion of EI training in Indian MBA and firm training.

Authors

• Stephen Brian Salter, Middle Tennessee State University

• Gaurav Gupta, University of North Carolina Wilmington

• Philip Lewis, Eastern Michigan University