Psychometric and Organisational Predictors of Perceived Risk in a Multi-Country Perspective: The Mediating and Moderating Effects of Cultural Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, Role Stressors and Organisation Culture

As most international organisations employ safety and risk management systems that encompass an international standard (ISO31000:2009), not everyone has the same understanding and perception of risk or values that presuppose the framework of this standard. Errors and violations that lead to accidents and incidents suggest individuals and organisations have different inherent risk acceptance traits. Moreover, aligning culture, emotional schema, and organisational values in the perception of risk is difficult to achieve in practice based on perception and behavioural norms. This is made even more pertinent against a backdrop of task or role conflict, ambiguity, and overload.The focus of this study looks to the psychometric and organisational predictors of perceived risk in a multi-country perspective to gain insight into the mediating and moderating effects of cultural intelligence, emotional intelligence, role stressors and organisation culture. This research is based on a number of overlapping theories such as the four factor model of cultural intelligence, emotional intelligence theory; social theory of risk; role stress theory; organisational culture theory; and person-organisation fit theory that embody factors that underpin the predictors of cultural values and perception within the international standards risk management framework. The underlying problem is therefore how to align cross-cultural values and perceptions of risk in local and cross-border environments.As such, the general objective of the study is to gain an understanding of the relationship of role stressors, value systems, and cultural and emotional frameworks that influence risk judgement and behaviour in cross-cultural organisational environments. This research uncovered a number of latent factors that act as mediators and moderators within these paradigms.Data were analysed from a sample of 299 participants across high-risk industries based on country of birth in four countries i.e. Australia, United Kingdom & Northern Ireland, United States of America, and Singapore. Exploratory factor analyses using structural equation modelling, and hierarchical regression analysis were used to determine the mediating and moderating relationships among the study variables.xviiThe results revealed that in an organisational cross-cultural setting (i) role conflict, ambiguity and overload mediates the relationship between cultural intelligence and organisational culture; (ii) emotional intelligence is positively related to cultural intelligence, organisational culture, and role ambiguity; (iii) role ambiguity is positively related to cultural intelligence, organisational culture, and mediates the relationship between emotional intelligence and cultural intelligence; (iv) meta-cognition, cognition, and motivation mediates the relationship between organisational culture, risk perception, role conflict, role ambiguity, and role overload; (v) risk perception is positively related to organisational culture, and person-organisation fit; (vi) person-organisation fit is positively related to organisational culture and mediates the relationship between risk perception and organisational culture; (vii) cultural intelligence moderates the relationship between person-organisation fit and organisational culture. These findings contribute to human resource development, cultural and organisational behaviour theories that also find place in the scope of professional practice in aligning effective risk management templates across borders.The study has some limitations that future research might address. Overall it focuses on individual as opposed to country. The extent to which nationality impacts on the results remains to be studied. In conclusion, this study offers a number of contributions that have significant implications for theory and professional practice in the risk management domain.