CASE STUDIES
Real results, from real teams navigating real difference.
See how CQ helped a global bank cut its expat learning curve, a business school prepare students for global careers, and a pharma company clear months of costly friction.
3 months
Expats fully functional in role within 3 months, down from an average of 8–9. Early attrition dropped 15%.
— Impact study: global banking institution
One of the world's largest banks sends thousands of top performers on global assignments. Many took nearly a year to become effective and struggled to adjust.
CQ assessment and coaching for the expat, pre-departure through re-entry
Check-ins at months 1, 2, 3, and 6 turned early friction into deliberate development
Returnees brought leading practices home and applied them in new roles
Why CQ mattered
Pre-move briefings weren’t the problem. The gap was the ability to read and adapt to an unfamiliar environment, and CQ gave expats a way to develop it.
The shift
Career counsellors said students could finally connect their intercultural experiences to the careers they wanted. Engagement across cultural backgrounds rose noticeably.
— Impact study: university business school
An accreditation review revealed that a highly regarded business school had no tangible way to assess or develop students' intercultural competence.
A 3-year CQ programme woven into the curriculum
Students used their own CQ Assessment results to prepare for study abroad
Final year applied CQ to interviews and first jobs, anchored by a personal CQ Action Plan
Why CQ mattered
“Global-ready” is easy to claim, hard to evidence. CQ gave the school a validated way to develop it, and students the language to prove it.
25%
Fewer missed deadlines one year on, and fewer conflicts escalated to supervisors. The programme became required training for every new project manager.
— Impact study: global pharmaceutical company
A global pharma company's research teams were losing time to misunderstandings and delays in getting new medications to market.
A 3-month CQ programme for 120 project managers across 3 offices
Assessment, workshop, and small-group coaching built around each manager's own development plan
Teams turned their differences into an asset, drawing on diverse perspectives to stress-test products before launch
Why CQ mattered
The delays weren't technical. They were cultural. Once teams could decode each other's working styles, the friction that cost months quietly disappeared.