No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Chinese host country nationals' willingness to help expatriates: The role of social categorization
Abstract
In this study, we examine Chinese host country nationals' (HCNs') willingness to offer role information and social support to expatriates from the United States. Using data from 132 Chinese managers, we find that ethnocentrism, interpersonal affect, and guanxi significantly impact HCNs' willingness to offer help to expatriates. Furthermore, we find that the job level of the expatriate has a significant impact on HCNs' willingness to offer role information but not on willingness to offer social support. The results suggest that paying attention to the perceptions and reactions of HCNs toward expatriates is imperative for multinational companies if expatriates are to succeed on their assignments. ©2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
... Social categorization theory (SCT) provides an essential theoretical basis for understanding stereotyping based on age, gender and race (Toh & DeNisi, 2007). A study by Varma, Budhwar, and Pichler (2011) argues that people are categorized into social groups for several reasons, including unavailability of sufficient knowledge and malicious prejudice. This leads to the formation of social groups, some of which are regarded as high status and others of which are perceived to be low status. ...
... Due to the willingness of the host nationals to associate, relate and interact with high-status expatriates, these expatriates have an advantage over their peers in low-status groups. The support they receive helps with their cultural adaptation to the foreign work environment, and thus they are expected to have greater job commitment and lower turnover intention, which in turn result in the successful completion of assignments (Varma et al., 2011). Based on the above discussion, expatriates perceived to be of higher status will be expected to be more productive and more adaptive than those belonging to low-status groups. ...
... Previous studies have focused mostly on the roles of the expatriates' families, organizational support and individual characteristics in expatriation success (Caligiuri, 2000). Varma et al. (2011) investigated the role of host nationals using self-efficacy and motivation theories, and developed a research model that outlined their role in the success of expatiates. Their study underpinned the crucial role played by host nationals in the adjustment process, and it found that a lack of support from host nationals may impede expatriates' performance. ...
The paper aims to investigate whether trust in a host government can mitigate the negative effects caused by the social complexities facing low-status expatriates (LSEs) living in China. It models trust in host government as a mediator in the relationship between expatriates' perception of status-based prejudice and their work attitudes; it further outlines the role of self-esteem in this relationship. The study seeks to expand knowledge in the domain of expatriate management by explaining the prejudicial behavior of host country towards low-status expatriates. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze responses from LSEs in China. The results provide the evidence that perceived discrimination negatively affects expatriates' work attitudes and suggest that trust in the host government can mediate such effects. Self-esteem is found to be a significant moderator in the relationship. With this, the study empirically affirms social categorization theory, showing it to be a powerful lens through which LSE adaptability can be the behavior of host nationals towards low-status expatriates and can be further developed with regard to the adaptability of low-status expatriates.
... Among these, the role played by HCNs has received a lot of attention from scholars, as HCNs have a lot of information required by expatriates, and their assistance can go a long way in helping expatriates adjust (See Kang and Shen, 2018 for a review). Specifically, HCNs have been shown to be able to provide expatriates with two types of informationrole information and social support (see, e.g., Varma, Budhwar, and Pichler, 2011a;Varma, Pichler, and Budhwar, 2011b). While role information can help guide the expatriate by providing him/her with information about the workplace and the accepted norms of behaviour in the workplace, social support helps the expatriate adjust to living in the new city/country by providing him/her information about schooling for children, shopping, hospitals, and safe neighbourhoods, etc. ...
... The good news is that the HCNs do help the expatriates with the relevant information but only under certain conditions . In a series of empirical studies, Varma and his colleagues examined HCNs willingness to offer support to expatriates from different countries (Varma et al.,2011a;Varma, Pichler, and Budhwar, 2011b;Varma et al., 2006). These studies report that HCN categorization of expatriates was a key determinant of HCN willingness to support help. ...
... In the context of expatriate-HCN interactions, it is highly likely that HCNs would interact with, and offer necessary support to, those expatriates whom they perceive as having similar values (e.g., Varma et al., 2011b). Given that values are derived from national culture, individuals from other countries are more likely to be seen as holding different values (Varma et al, 2011a). Furthermore, other researchers argue that organizational factors also exercise an influence on HCN's willingness to help expatriates. ...
It is well established that expatriates need support from host country nationals (HCNs) to successfully adjust in their new location, and subsequently perform well in their jobs. Drawing on a sample of 149 Indian nurses in the United Kingdom, this two‐phase study illustrates how expatriate‐HCN interactions unfold over time (two years). To do this, we draw upon social identity theory and show that effective expatriate‐HCN relationship building (i.e., perceived categorization and perceived values similarity) lead to HCN support and, subsequently, expatriate adjustment. Results confirmed that perceptions of categorization and value similarity significantly impacted HCN willingness to offer support. We also find that expatriate age, education level, and time spent in the host country significantly impact adjustment. We discuss theoretical and practical implications and offer suggestions for future research.
... Research has shown that expatriates often face difficulties in and outside of the workplace. As such, help from host-country nationals (HCNs) with work and social support plays an irreplaceable role in expatriates' adjustment and performance on international assignments (Caligiuri, Joshi, & Lazarova, 1999;Farh, Bartol, Shapiro, & Shin, 2010;Varma, Budhwar, & Pichler, 2011). Helping behavior toward coworkers often goes beyond one's job duty and is risk-taking behavior that may affect the provider's own work performance (Shen & Benson, 2016). ...
... The past decade has witnessed increasing academic interest in exploring factors predicting the relationship between HCNs and expatriates (e.g., see, Arman & Aycan, 2013;Toh & DeNisi, 2007;Toh & Srinivas, 2012;Varma et al., 2011). However, the extant literature regarding determinants of the willingness of HCNs to help expatriates has a focus on personal and intrapersonal factors such as personality (Caligiuri, 2000;Johnson, Kristof-Brown, Van Vianen, De Pater, & Klein, 2003) and social categorization (Arman & Aycan, 2013;Varma et al., 2011). ...
... The past decade has witnessed increasing academic interest in exploring factors predicting the relationship between HCNs and expatriates (e.g., see, Arman & Aycan, 2013;Toh & DeNisi, 2007;Toh & Srinivas, 2012;Varma et al., 2011). However, the extant literature regarding determinants of the willingness of HCNs to help expatriates has a focus on personal and intrapersonal factors such as personality (Caligiuri, 2000;Johnson, Kristof-Brown, Van Vianen, De Pater, & Klein, 2003) and social categorization (Arman & Aycan, 2013;Varma et al., 2011). Thus far, organizational factors predicting the willingness of HCNs to help expatriates have been largely overlooked, indicating a need for further theoretical and empirical clarification. ...
The assistance of host-country nationals (HCNs) both within the workplace and in the external environment plays a significant role in expatriate adjustment and work performance on international assignments. Extant research exploring antecedents of HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates focuses on personal and intrapersonal factors but overlooks organizational contextual effects. In this study, we propose and test a model that HCNs' willingness to help expatriates is influenced by HRM practices in international subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Results of analyzing data collected from Chinese subsidiaries of South Korean MNEs showed that high-commitment HRM practices directly and indirectly influence HCNs' willingness to help expatriates through the mediation of perceived organizational support (POS). Socially responsible HRM indirectly influences the criterion variable through the mediation of organizational identification. Moreover, POS and organizational identification sequentially mediate the effect of high-commitment HRM on HCNs' willingness to help expatriates. These findings shed some light on organizational antecedents that go beyond personal and intrapersonal factors of HCN attitudes and behavior toward expatriates.
... However, expatriates must consider that HCNs categorise expatriates into in-group or out-group members and that this categorisation determines whether or not they offer assistance to expatriates (Fisher, 1985). Numerous studies have noted that HCNs typically divulge role information and provide social support only to expatriates they perceive as having similar sets of values and those whom they might invite into their social group or inner circle (see, e.g., Varma et al., 2011a), while other expatriates may face discrimination, due to their gender and/or ethnicity, as well as the very fact that they are expatriates (see, e.g., Pio and Essers, 2014). This makes it critical that we examine the factors that influence HCNs' categorisation of expatriates as in-group or out-group members, as this would help us train expatriates appropriately, prior to their departure, as well as guide them in terms of appropriate behaviours on location. ...
... Clearly, HCNs' assistance can contribute to expatriates' positive adjustment and improved performance on the job (Olsen and Martins, 2009;Shay and Baack, 2006). In this connection, it has been argued that ultimately HCNs serve as the 'best source' for expatriates to obtain role information (Varma et al., 2011a). However, HCNs may only share this information with expatriates who have become members of their social circle (Varma et al., 2006). ...
... China, India, Poland, the UK and the USA) and reported that HCNs in all cases tended to categorise expatriates into in-groups and out-groups, and that HCNs' willingness to help expatriates was guided by this categorisation (see Varma et al., 2006;Varma et al., 2011a;Varma et al., 2011b;Varma et al., 2012). Our study adds to the current literature because it examines the factors associated with HCNs' willingness to share role information and provide social support to expatriates in a hitherto unstudied location, i.e. ...
Using data from 243 executives in Turkey, we investigate the relationship(s) between perceived values similarity, in-group/out-group categorisation, interpersonal effect and Host Country National (HCN) willingness to offer role information and social support to expatriates. Results of this study confirm that HCNs are more likely to offer support to expatriates whom they categorise as in-group, as well as to those who they perceive as holding similar values. In addition, our data suggest that Turkish HCNs are more likely to offer support to Indian expatriates as compared to expatriates from the USA, and to expatriates who are assigned to work as their supervisors rather than to expatriate subordinates. We discuss implications of our findings for multinational corporations and suggest future research ideas.
... In this study, the construct "Willingness to Help the Expatriate Manager" was chosen as the dependent variable because the degree to which help is offered to the expatriate by the Chinese hotel worker will equate to the manager's success in the organization (Varma, Budhwar, & Pichler, 2011). Research has shown that local employees play a critical role in the successful adjustment of expatriates by providing social support on the job (Mezias & Schandura, 2005;Toh & DeNisi, 2003;Varma, Toh, & Budhwar, 2006). ...
... Local employees are the best sources of information, helping the expatriate to navigate cultural norms and learn new role information (Toh & DeNisi, 2007;Varma, Pichler, Budhwar, & Kupferer, 2012). While Willingness to Help has not been previously tested in the literature predicted by Interactional Justice, Willingness to Help has been associated with altruism (Moorman, 1991), interpersonal affect (i.e., an attraction between two individuals who hold similar values; Varma et al., 2011), and ethnocentrism (i.e., holding values shared by another ethnic group; Varma et al., 2012). Due to the relationships between the constructs of Interactional Justice tested with altruism, interpersonal affect, and ethnocentrism, Hypothesis 3 is proposed: ...
... The survey instrument was developed based on previous studies validating each construct in the model (see Figure 1) examining the relationship between Western expatriates and the Chinese hotel workers. Each question was borrowed from the extant literature with validated scales and focused on components related to Self-Face Conflict Avoidance Style (Peng & Tjosvold, 2011;Ting-Toomey & Kurogi, 1998), Other-Face Conflict Avoidance Style (Peng & Tjosvold, 2011), Interactional Justice (Bies & Moag, 1986), and Willingness to Help the Expatriate (Varma et al., 2011). The survey instrument utilized a 5-point Likert scale (1 D strongly disagree to 5 D strongly agree) to record respondents' choices. ...
The rapid expansion of the hotel industry in Mainland China has precipitated an increased need for hiring Western expatriate managers, especially among multinational brands. The consequences of expatriate failure are well studied and are of vital concern among stakeholders, necessitating a deeper understanding of Chinese norms. Prior justice research in China has recommended the inclusion of Chinese societal protocols, such as face protection and conflict avoidance, as predictors of Interactional Justice. The current study has added to the literature the importance of understanding face conflict avoidance styles as a precursor to Western expatriate managerial success.
... Scholarly discussions on the relationships between expatriates and HCNs focused on expatriate-centric outcomes (Takeuchi, 2010;Freeman, 1984), HCNs' role in supporting expatriates (e.g. Pichler et al., 2012;Varma et al., 2011Varma et al., , 2012 or enabling expatriate effectiveness (Bruning et al., 2012). While HCNs work under similar working conditions, have similar relationships with expatriates, and exert significant influence on expatriates, the IHRM literature typically overlooks them (Takeuchi, 2010). ...
... Third, other factors such as gender and nationality (e.g. Varma et al., 2011) can be considered for future study. Gender and nationality are entwined, especially given Nigeria's patriarchal culture that values men over women. ...
... Scholarly discussions on the relationships between expatriates and HCNs focused on expatriate-centric outcomes (Takeuchi, 2010;Freeman, 1984), HCNs' role in supporting expatriates (e.g. Pichler et al., 2012;Varma et al., 2011Varma et al., , 2012 or enabling expatriate effectiveness (Bruning et al., 2012). While HCNs work under similar working conditions, have similar relationships with expatriates, and exert significant influence on expatriates, the IHRM literature typically overlooks them (Takeuchi, 2010). ...
... Third, other factors such as gender and nationality (e.g. Varma et al., 2011) can be considered for future study. Gender and nationality are entwined, especially given Nigeria's patriarchal culture that values men over women. ...
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the dynamics of workplace relationships between expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs) in international development organisations (IDOs) through the lens of the social comparison theory. These relationships are likely influenced by the way human resource management (HRM) practices are implemented among individuals from both groups.
Design/methodology/approach
The auhtors used an inductive approach and analysed qualitative data from ten expatriates and twenty HCNs employed by five IDOs in Nigeria, a risk-prone context.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that both expatriates and HCNs perceive that the HRM practices implemented by IDOs are more favourable to expatriates. This leads to further social comparisons between members of both groups, affecting their workplace interactions.
Practical implications
The way expatriates and HCNs perceive and act towards these differential practices matters for the operations of IDOs. As such, the authors recommend that IDO management may consider acknowledging diversity in their workforce, enact inclusive practices and make deliberate investments on learning opportunities and maximise the continued investments in expatriate use.
Originality/value
This study contributes to expatriation literature by clarifying the extent to which the enactment of differential HRM practices in a risk-prone context can exacerbate upward social comparisons and significantly influence working relationships. The authors explore this outside the context of multinational enterprises, focusing on IDOs that play a valuable role in local societies.
... Scholarly discussions on the relationships between expatriates and HCNs focused on expatriate-centric outcomes (Takeuchi, 2010;Freeman, 1984), HCNs' role in supporting expatriates (e.g. Pichler et al., 2012;Varma et al., 2011Varma et al., , 2012 or enabling expatriate effectiveness (Bruning et al., 2012). While HCNs work under similar working conditions, have similar relationships with expatriates, and exert significant influence on expatriates, the IHRM literature typically overlooks them (Takeuchi, 2010). ...
... Third, other factors such as gender and nationality (e.g. Varma et al., 2011) can be considered for future study. Gender and nationality are entwined, especially given Nigeria's patriarchal culture that values men over women. ...
This paper aims to explore the dynamics of workplace relationships between expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs) in international development organisations (IDOs) through the lens of the social comparison theory. These relationships are likely influenced by the way human resource management (HRM) practices are implemented among individuals from both groups.
... Organizations also should consider how to best select and prepare these HCNs for their liaison roles (Wang and Fang, 2014). Such factors as HCN personality, the perceived compensation gap between HCNs and expatriates, social categorization and in-group versus out-group assessment, previous experience with expatriates, interpersonal affect and relationship quality may influence HCN attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates related to useful information sharing and mentoring Varma et al., 2011;van Bakel et al., 2016). Helpful preparation may involve informing HCNL candidates about organizational expectations and also training them to fulfill these HCNL roles and behavioral components (e.g. ...
Purpose
To enlarge the focus on international mentoring beyond traditional company-assigned expatriates, this conceptual paper examines important contexts and dynamics of intercultural mentoring involving traditional expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs), with both as mentors and mentees.
Design/methodology/approach
This conceptual paper explores how intercultural mentoring in different contexts can guide the individual professional development of expatriates and HCNs, and in doing so, contributes to MNC knowledge management and organization development.
Findings
Major contributions of this paper include increased attention to the role of culture in mentoring, and an illumination of important intercultural mentoring opportunities and imperatives involving traditional company-assigned expatriates and HCNs, who are key global talent players in MNC knowledge management and overall operations performance. This paper also provides practical recommendations on how organizations can facilitate mentoring within a global context, as well as suggestions for viable avenues for future research, including further extending the global talent reach of international mentoring.
Originality/value
This paper emphasizes the importance of taking the intercultural context into account when planning and managing mentoring in MNCs and outlines how culture can affect mentoring relationships involving traditional company-assigned expatriates and HCNs. This contextual aspect has often been neglected in the extant literature, yet can be crucial for the success of mentoring relationships that cross cultural borders. With its inclusion of HCNs, this paper also expands the picture of international mentoring beyond the traditional focus on company-assigned expatriates.
... A second line of investigation focusses on the preferences, perceptions and, less commonly, characteristics and attitudes of HCEs towards a specific group of expatriates. Studies have, for example, shown that openness to experience (Arman and Aycan, 2013), HCEs' ethnocentrism (Varma et al., 2011a(Varma et al., , 2012 and in-group collectivism (Stoermer et al., 2020;Varma et al., 2016b) are significantly correlated, the former positively and the two latter negatively, with positive outcomes. These positive outcomes include, among others, HCEs' willingness to support expatriates or expatriate embeddedness in the host organisation. ...
Purpose
Drawing on socio-cognitively orientated leadership studies, this paper aims to contribute to our understanding of host country employees’ (HCEs) negative perceptions of successive expatriate leadership by exploring how their memories of shared past experiences affect these perceptions. Contrary to previous work which tends to focus on HCEs’ attitudes towards individual expatriates, the authors shift attention to successive executive expatriate assignments within a single subsidiary.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on an intrinsic case study carried out in a Polish subsidiary of an American multinational pharmaceutical company which had been managed by four successive expatriate General Managers and one local executive. The authors draw on interview data with 40 HCEs. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff who had been managed by at least three of the subsidiary’s expatriate leaders.
Findings
The authors demonstrate how transference triggered by past experiences with expatriate leaders as well as HCEs’ implicit leadership theories affect HCEs’ negative perceptions of expatriate leadership and lead to the emergence of expatriate leadership schema.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explores the role of transference and implicit leadership theories in HCEs’ perceptions of successive executive expatriate assignments. By focussing on retrospective accounts of HCEs who had been managed by a series of successive expatriate leaders, our study has generated a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of the role of HCEs’ shared past experiences in shaping their perceptions of expatriate leadership. The authors propose a new concept – expatriate leadership schema – which describes HCEs’ cognitive structures, developed during past experiences with successive expatriate leaders, which specify what HCEs believe expatriate leadership to look like and what they expect from it.
... Moreover, future research will need to integrate other culturalrelated factors to investigate the role of host language proficiency. For example, previous research has found that expatriates' salient and immutable personal attributes, such as sex, may be an important marker for HCNs' categorization (Varma et al., 2011); meanwhile, at least one past study reports that males and females adopt different communication styles (Tung, 1993). Therefore, host language proficiency and sex could be simultaneously examined in future research. ...
This research examines the benefits of host language proficiency of Chinese expatriates working in Thailand. Host language proficiency is conceptualized in terms of linguistic and communicative competence. Anchored on social identity theory, this study tests whether the host language proficiency of Chinese expatriates affects their work engagement and to what extent host country nationals (HCN) support plays a mediating role. Survey data were collected from 15 Chinese subsidiaries in Thailand. In total, 413 valid questionnaires were gathered. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The results not only found a direct positive association between host language proficiency and work engagement but also confirmed that the HCN support partially mediated the linkage of host language proficiency and work engagement. The finding of this study adds a greater understanding of how and why host language proficiency can exert a beneficial influence on the work engagement of Chinese expatriates in Thailand. Based on the result, relevant practical implications are provided.
... From a social identity perspective (Toh, 2004), personal characteristics of expatriates that are valued by people in the host country's culture may encourage social support from local coworkers, and thereby enhance the effect of CQ on the development of cross-cultural relationships. This is supported by previous studies that found that factors such as gender, nationality, and job position can influence the categorization of HCN (Shen & Jiang, 2015;Varma et al., 2011). Therefore, when examining the effect of CQ on the quality of social support from local coworkers, it is important to consider certain personal characteristics that might be congruent with the cultural characteristics of those in the host countries. ...
Grounded in the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this research investigates the role of cultural intelligence (CQ) on the level of burnout experienced by Chinese expatriates working in Thailand. In particular, in light of the collectivist characteristics of Thai culture, the study proposes that coworker support of host country nationals (HCN) is the mediator that explains the association between CQ and burnout. Moreover, given the feminine and power distance characteristics of Thai culture, this research explores whether the effect of CQ on HCN coworker support is moderated by gender and job position of Chinese expatriates. Survey data was gathered from 413 Chinese expatriates working for 15 Chinese subsidiaries in Thailand. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The analysis supports the mediating effect of HCN coworker support on the link between CQ and burnout. Moreover, moderating effect analysis indicates that the positive association between CQ and HCN coworker support is stronger for male Chinese expatriates and those in lower job positions.
... First, individualism (IND)/collectivism and power distance (PD) have strong relevance to leadership in relation to hierarchy and teams, respectively. East Asian countries represent a cultural cluster in which IND is low and PD highly pronounced, in contrast to the Anglo-Saxon cluster where IND is high and PD low (Varma, Budhwar & Pichler, 2011). Secondly, and related to the first reason, studies have claimed that there are culturally-specific leadership styles in East Asia such as paternalistic leadership (Aycan, 2006;Aycan, Schyns, Sun, Felfe, & Saher, 2013) or collective leadership (e.g., I. Yang, 2006). ...
Management research on humor, which has mainly been conducted in Anglo-Saxon regions, generally tends to assume that the use of humor by a leader towards his or her subordinates has positive effects. However, despite the popularity of such studies in Anglo-Saxon regions, less attention has so far been paid to the aspects of the cultural context of leader humor, particularly in regard to time. We argue that leader humor is not so effective in East Asia because of different preferences in relation to communication style and divergent expectations and value sets during early-phase leader–member interactions. On the other hand, however, we also argue that leader humor may become equally if not more effective in the mature phase of leader–member interactions. While cultural differences, along with the current popularity of positive emotions, including humor, at work, are much more apparent at the early stage of a relationship, our exploration uncovers areas that are important for effective cross-cultural communication training and the development of managers for global assignments.
... Lin, 2001a). The informal relationship between expatriate managers and local subordinates, both in and outside the workplace, has specific cultural elements that pervade the local context (Malek & Budhwar, 2013;Peterson & Thomas, 2007) and is a point of entry to local norms and role information (Liu & Shaffer, 2005;Wang & Kanungo, 2004;Vance, Vaiman, & Andersen, 2009;Varma, Budhwar & Pichler, 2011). Indeed, the process of acculturation for adapting to a new cultural environment is not limited to task-based interactions (Berry, 1997). ...
Pursuing an international career in China can be risky particularly when there is a lack of informal relationships and knowledge of the socio-cultural environment of the country. Drawing from social capital theory of career success and intelligence theory, this study investigates the influence of expatriate manager-local subordinate guanxi on expatriate managers’ career performance and the contingency role of cultural intelligence. Using multi-source data from a sample (N = 154) of expatriate managers in China, our results show that expatriate manager-local subordinate guanxi positively influences expatriate career performance, and that this relationship is positively moderated by expatriates’ cultural intelligence. The broader theoretical and practical implications of the findings for international careers are fully discussed.
... The third potential way concerns HCNs' attitudes towards expatriates (Toh and Densi, 2007). Accordingly, some studies have looked into HCNs' categorisation of expatriates, their attitudes towards expatriates, and their effects on expatriate adjustment (Toh and Densi, 2007;Mahajan, 2011;Varma et al., 2011aVarma et al., , 2011b. In contrast, perceived host attitude towards expatriates (PHATE) can be described as expatriates' perceptions of how host nationals behave towards them. ...
... The third potential way concerns HCNs' attitudes towards expatriates (Toh and Densi, 2007). Accordingly, some studies have looked into HCNs' categorisation of expatriates, their attitudes towards expatriates, and their effects on expatriate adjustment (Toh and Densi, 2007;Mahajan, 2011;Varma et al., 2011aVarma et al., , 2011b. In contrast, perceived host attitude towards expatriates (PHATE) can be described as expatriates' perceptions of how host nationals behave towards them. ...
... Research has highlighted that people in India are orienting more towards individualistic values and thus focusing more on the fulfillment of personal interests and desires (Varma, et al., 2011;Kim and Tung, 2013). This shift has paved its way into the organizations wherein employees have shifted from organization-dependent careers to protean careers, thus taking over the responsibility of managing their own careers and wellbeing. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of individualism-collectivism (IC) in determining psychological contract fulfillment (PCF) at individual level, thus attempting to establish that cultural orientation of each individual may differentially predict the fulfillment of his/her psychological contract.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was conducted on the cross-sectional data collected from 465 IT professionals working at different multi-national software companies.
Findings
Model fit between the dimensions of IC and PCF was found to be good, indicating a significantly positive relationship between within-culture cultural orientation of an individual and his/her perception of PCF. The analyses revealed that collectivist beliefs, values and norms have a significant relationship with the perception of delivery, fairness and trust toward PCF. The relationship between collectivist values and fairness of the deal was found to be insignificant.
Research limitations/implications
A major theoretical implication of the study is its contribution to evidence that people with collectivist orientation have a relatively positive perception toward the fulfillment of a psychological contract between them and the employer. It also clarifies why employees working in the same work environment tend to develop unique psychological contracts owing to their tendency to orient toward a particular cultural state of mind in the form of beliefs, values and norms guiding their day-to-day work-life.
Originality/value
The study is a valuable addition to the current literature in two ways. First, it contributes to the area of personality by examining the individual cultural orientation as an individual difference predictor of PCF. This helps in understanding the role of differences in emotions, cognition and behavior among individuals in predicting the fulfillment of hidden expectations of employees. In the domain of psychological contract, it contributes to evidence that explains why employees in same job conditions and employment relationships experience breach or fulfillment owing to their difference in cultural orientation.
... In sum, it seems that Japanese subsidiaries in China could manage both Chinese staff and Japanese AEs more effectively. As is the case for Western MNEs operating in China, the unique Chinese business environment, influenced by Chinese culture and the esoteric Chinese language, are difficult to understand for the Japanese (Snell & Tseng, 2001;Stoltenberg, 2003;Varma, Budhwar, & Pichler, 2011). ...
This article examines the potential boundary-spanning roles of Japanese self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) working at Japanese-affiliated companies in China. We show that, compared to Japanese assigned expatriates (AEs), Japanese SIEs have longer living and working experience in China and better linguistic proficiency in Chinese, and build a relationship of trust with Japanese AEs, Chinese employees, and the headquarters in Japan. We also find human resource management (HRM) practices that emphasize normative integration will lead to the nurturing of trust (social capital) among the parties concerned, and the social capital will enhance the boundary-spanning functions of Japanese SIEs. This research demonstrates the value of these SIEs as a new option to replace the dichotomy of AEs or host-country nationals and the importance of practices for normative integration and social capital, which can be expected to facilitate the boundary-spanning roles of Japanese SIEs.
... From this perspective, foreigners in general are usually treated as members of an out-group. Accordingly, they are likely to receive less social or professional support from local co-workers or superiors than would be offered to locals [40]. ...
... In this context, Toh and DeNisi (2005) proposed that the relationship between expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs) is of particular importance. In response, increasing attention has been paid to the role of HCNs (Mahajan and Toh, 2014;Massingham, 2010;Toh and DeNisi, 2003;Toh and DeNisi, 2005;Toh and DeNisi, 2007;Toh and Srinivas, 2012;Varma et al., 2011;Varma et al., 2012). For instance, prior research on HCNs has investigated HCNs' stereotypes (Watanabe and Yamaguchi, 1995), attitudes (Arman and Aycan, 2013) and trust towards expatriates (Banai and Reisel, 1999), the effects of perceived injustice of pay policies (Toh and DeNisi, 2003;Bonache et al., 2009;Oltra et al., 2013), the social construction of crosscultural differences (Belhoste and Monin, 2013), as well as social support provided by HCNs (Bader and Schuster, 2015;Farh et al., 2010;Mahajan and Toh, 2014;Malek et al., 2015;Pichler et al., 2012). ...
... This tendency to consider more strongly the role of host-country nationals has been highlighted in broader expatriate research as well (e.g. Varma et al., 2011;Takeuchi, 2010). Arman andAycan (2013, p. 2929) identify three lines of research concerning host-country nationals in the expatriation process: first, the differences between host-country nationals and expatriates; second, their role in the cross-cultural adjustment and performance of expatriates; and third, their attitudes toward expatriates. ...
p>Purpose – Research on female expatriates has been substantially growing over the last decades and particularly in more recent years. Complementing previous thematic analyses of the literature, the purpose of this paper is to apply textual statistics and correspondence analysis to reveal the existing semantic structure of the field of research on female expatriates.
Design/methodology/approach – Using correspondence analysis, the authors explored textual data from the abstracts of 151 identified journal articles published in English since 1975. The authors obtained a graphical representation showing the various developmental stages of research on female expatriates.
Findings – The authors found that research follows a home-host country orientation and advances from an organizational focus toward individual-level studies. The authors identified various directions for future research and especially a strong need for more multilevel approaches to study men’s and women’s expatriate experiences and trajectories in various contexts.
Research limitations/implications – Only articles with abstracts entered the analysis, which in turn was dependent on the content and quality of these abstracts. This limitation has been addressed by thoroughly reading each article considered.
Originality/value – This review adopts an original method in research on (female) expatriates and more broadly management research. It enabled the authors to map out the development of key research themes over time. Based on this analysis, gaps in current research could be identified and clear directions for future research were formulated.</p
... An example of a context where this is particularly true is China, where guanxi is a fundamental social dynamic. Indeed, being accepted among locals is very important if expatriates in China are to receive the social support and the role information necessary to their adjustment (Varma, Budhwar, & Pichler, 2011 ). ...
We examine the role context plays in expatriates’ adjustment, specifically the extent of expatriates’ contact with locals. We take data from 20 semistructured interviews with Luxembourgers, international executives settled in Luxembourg for more than ten years, 20 with firm-assigned and self-initiated expatriates in Luxembourg, 20 with international executives in five other financial centers (Zurich, Singapore, London, Frankfurt, and Paris), and four with expatriates’ leaders in Luxembourg. Drawing on social learning theory, we show that in the highly international context of a Big Four firm in Luxembourg, expatriates interact mostly with their international counterparts, feel they meet the demands of their host environment, learn appropriate behavior from their fellow expatriates, and see little need to interact with locals. Our results suggest that the stress the current literature lays on the importance of relationships with locals for expatriates’ adjustment is context bound and that in more international contexts, relationships with locals may be of less importance.
Purpose
The aim of this study is to develop a better understanding of how the transferability and recognition of host country professional experience and educational credentials impact the repatriation intentions of long-term self-initiated expatriates (SIEs). To that end, the study interviews a sample of American-educated French long-term SIEs in the United States (US) to assess how both their higher education and professional experience influence their social identity in their home country, France and their perceived repatriation opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
This study applies social identity theory to the examination of the combined impact of higher education and work experience abroad on the repatriation expectations of long-term SIEs. The author interviewed twenty-one French SIEs who attended universities in the US and remained there afterward to begin their careers.
Findings
The findings of this study confirm that the repatriation intentions of long-term SIEs are strongly influenced by concerns about the ability to maintain their host country standard of living in their home country. It also finds that foreign educational credentials and professional experience can constrain the ability of long-term SIEs to repatriate easily and gain acceptance. To overcome this, long-term SIEs often feel that they must embrace alternative repatriation strategies to maintain the lifestyle that they enjoyed while abroad when returning back home.
Originality/value
This study examines a sample of long-term SIEs from one home country, France, who left to attend university in the same host country, the US. It assesses how the experiences of those who remained in the US afterward to start their careers impacted their repatriation intentions. This study contributes to the body of knowledge on the context of self-initiated expatriation by examining the influence of host-country educational credentials and work experience on the repatriation intentions of long-term SIEs.
Building on person-supervisor fit and implicit leadership theories, we examined the effect of the fit between expected and observed leadership behaviors on employee satisfaction in a cross-cultural context. The data we analyzed had been collected from 237 Chinese employees who reported directly to 40 expatriate senior managers. The results of the polynomial regression analyses and response surface modeling showed that a high degree of fit was associated with a high degree of supervisor satisfaction and that such satisfaction was higher when the expected and observed leadership behaviors exhibited a high level of alignment. Our study’s theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.
Expatriates of U.S.-based MNCs (Americans) on overseas assignment face unique adjustment and job-performance issues that have affected employer operations, resulting in financial loss and low morale. The specific problem was the poor adjustment of Americans in Russia, due to type of job, type of position, and prior-international experience. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine whether differences existed in the process of adjustment of Americans in Russia based on job-specific attributes. The quantitative study featured a causal-comparative design. The sampling frame included the estimated 4,000 Americans working for US-based MNCs, members of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia (ACCR). ACCR ¡ membership-list was used to gather a simple random sample of 197 through an anonymous online survey, a pre-validated 5-point Likert scale based on the Peltokorpi-Cultural Adjustment (2008) scale. Results for a one-way ANOVA showed no significant difference for employee adjustment based on type of job or position, and a significant difference was found for prior-international experience (p<.05). Recommendations for practice included (a) encouragement of U.S.-based MNCs that do business in Russia to incorporate the finding of this study, and (b) for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to create programs to assist member firms to develop a knowledge base and recruitment practices for better adjustment of Americans in Russia. Recommendations for future research included (a) a causal-comparative study to evaluate pre-assignment training as a moderating factor to explain differences in adjustment for employees with different types of job and positions, and (b) a quasi-experimental study to further assess interactions among the current study variables as to the influence on Americans adjustment. Acknowledgements
Against the backdrop of host-country national (HCN) research, this chapter reviews and analyzes the role of HCNs in the context of expatriate management, shedding more light on the HCN perspective of being considered a source of help for expatriates, agents of knowledge and innovation for MNEs, as well as stakeholders in their own right. Based on this review and analysis, a research agenda is developed, which aims to change the conversation about how we understand the relationship between HCNs and expatriates. Furthermore, we want to uncover and propose three new narratives, neocolonialism, critical race theory, and sustainable development, that might set the research direction for the following years.
We systematically review theoretical and empirical research published in 38 journals over the last 52 years dealing with host-country nationals (HCNs) in multinational enterprises. We find that HCNs are treated in a relatively homogeneous manner, despite their important differences. Three themes dominate: HCN–expatriate relationships, human resources policies and practices influencing HCNs, and the impact of expatriate interactions on different HCNs. Social psychology theories are commonly applied, and most studies are empirical and cross-sectional. We suggest a more refined treatment of HCNs, promising theoretical and methodological approaches, and thematic directions to enrich the HCN literature further.
This study unravels the link between employees’ exposure to peer-initiated task conflict—defined as the extent to which they perceive that coworkers systematically contest and attack their opinions—and their engagement in helping behavior. Beliefs about interpersonal conflict might mediate this link, and two personal resources, passion for work and collectivistic orientation, arguably have moderating roles. To test these predictions, this study relies on survey data from employees who work in the banking sector, which confirm that peer-initiated task conflict diminishes helping behavior, because the focal employees come to believe coworkers are responsible for their emotion-based quarrels. Employees’ passion for work and collectivistic orientation buffer this harmful dynamic. Organizations thus should recognize that exposure to overcritical colleagues can undermine voluntary work behaviors, as well as consider how they might help reduce the force of this negative dynamic by enabling employees to find ways to draw from their supportive personal resources.
Little research examines host country national (HCN)-expatriate interaction from the HCN’s perspective. Our study contributes to theory and practice by introducing the concept of ‘HCN-expatriate interaction quality’, one that has received little attention in the literature. Drawing on the Intergroup Contact Theory, we examine the mediating role of HCN-expatriate interaction quality between the HCN’s on-the-job interaction with and support to the expatriate, as well as two moderating effects: off-the-job interaction with the expatriate and perceived expatriate receptivity towards support. Further, we examine how different types of the HCN’s prior international experiences enhance interaction quality with and support to the expatriate. Using a multi-wave design of HCNs in Taiwan, we find support for most of our hypotheses.
Due to the high costs and strategic importance of expatriate assignments, expatriate performance management (EPM) plays an increasingly important role for multinational enterprises (MNEs). However, research on EPM is still in its infancy. Drawing from the convergence/divergence debate in international human resource management, this study investigates and compares EPM strategies and practices across MNEs from three different country clusters to better understand whether EPM practices tend to converge, diverge, or crossverge (i.e., show aspects of both). Results from surveying 132 Anglo‐Saxon, Germanic, and Japanese MNEs reveal prominent differences (divergence) at the EPM strategic level such that Japanese MNEs tend to pursue more ethnocentric staffing strategies and design EPM systems specifically tailored to expatriates. On the practice level, we found both commonalities and differences between Japanese and Anglo‐Saxon and Germanic MNEs, pointing toward crossvergence. Theoretical and practical implications of our results are discussed.
With approximately 50 million people across the globe considered expatriates (persons living and working abroad for a limited time), global mobility is an important issue for individuals, organisations, and national governments, and a major research stream in universities and business schools. Written by a team of internationally renowned scholars from around the world, this volume summarises what is known about the management of global mobility and sets an agenda for future research. It also offers a comprehensive overview of the practical implications for organisations that manage expatriates, and individuals who are currently or aspiring expatriates. Providing an accessible and globally relevant introduction to the subject of expatriation and global mobility, this book will appeal to postgraduate, MBA, and EMBA students studying global mobility or international human resource management. It will also be of interest to practitioners, such as human resource managers and global mobility managers, who would like to gain a better understanding of the expatriation process.
Purpose
The support of host country nationals (HCNs) is critical for expatriate adjustment and performance. Drawing from social identity theory and self-categorization theory, this study investigates the antecedents of HCNs' support toward expatriates in Central/South America, focusing on cultural similarities and expatriate race.
Design/methodology/approach
We conducted a quasi-experimental study to understand the antecedents that promote the willingness of HCNs to offer required support to expatriates. Data were gathered from 117 Latin American participants, who were asked to respond to questions about their perceptions of expatriates from the USA and their willingness to offer support to those expatriates.
Findings
Overall, our findings suggest that HCNs are likely to provide support to expatriates when they perceive the expatriates as similar in terms of culture and race. Specifically, African Americans received more positive attitudes and support than White Americans in South/Central America. The effect of cultural similarity on HCN willingness to support expatriates was mediated by perceived trustworthiness.
Originality/value
The present study extends the research on HCN support to expatriates, to Central/South America, an important region that has been under-studied in the expatriate–HCN context. Another novel feature of our study is that we investigate the role of expatriate race and cultural similarity and illuminate the underlying mechanism of the relationship between expatriate race and HCN support.
Social categorization is predominately assumed to have negative effects on the prosocial behavior of host country national (HCN) employees toward expatriates in foreign subsidiaries. Challenging this assumption, I draw on the common ingroup identity model to propose that dual identity – simultaneous identification with membership in a subgroup and in a superordinate group – reduces HCNs’ intergroup biases and facilitates prosocial behavior. More specifically, I hypothesize that HCNs’ organizational identity has a moderating effect on the positive relationship between HCNs’ expatriate outgroup categorization and dual identity, such that this relationship is weaker when organizational identity is low. Furthermore, I hypothesize that dual identity mediates the relationship between expatriate outgroup categorization and two prosocial behaviors: information sharing and affiliative citizenship behavior. Results from the data collected from 1,290 HCN employees in Japan provide support for these hypotheses and the moderated mediation model.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a nomological model of the dark side of expatriate–host country national (HCN) relationships by identifying and explaining the development and the types of expatriate–HCN disruptive relationship behaviors (DRBs), their antecedents and consequences.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted semi-structured interviews ( n =27) with both expatriates and HCNs, focusing on DRBs that they exhibit toward each other, the factors preceding them (antecedents) and the mechanisms through which they affect the relationship between expatriates and HCNs, as well as the outcomes of such behaviors.
Findings
The findings show that relational dysfunction emanates from multilevel differences between expatriates and HCNs, and these differences induce workplace conflicts. These conflicts increase relational (emotional, social, instrumental and opportunity) costs that render both dyadic members to evaluate their relationship and socially categorize each other negatively, thus, detaching from the relationship. This detachment then leads to disruptive relational behaviors that amplify the conflicts and detachment dynamics and worsen interpersonal and intergroup dynamics, ultimately resulting in relational breakdown.
Research limitations/implications
This study possesses methodological (e.g. relatively small number of interviewees) and conceptual (e.g. high degree of comprehensiveness) limitations. However, these offer implications for further research as they open a multitude of promising research avenues that could enhance the proposed model.
Originality/value
This is the first study the authors are aware of that focuses on discovering and explaining the nomological network of the dark side of expatriate–HCN relationships. The use of interdependence theory to understand cross-cultural relationships is novel. As such, it delivers theoretical and empirical contributions and fosters further research efforts.
Self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) who work for a subsidiary of a multinational enterprise from their country of origin and hence are familiar with both countries' language and culture can be expected to act as boundary-spanners between the assigned expatriates sent from the parent country and host country nationals, and between the headquarters and the subsidiary. We develop a new model of boundary-spanning that encompasses both individual and organizational antecedents and validate the model using survey data from Japanese-affiliated companies in China. We find that familiarity with Chinese language and culture and the potential dual allegiance of SIEs contribute to enhancing their boundary-spanning behavior. We also find that relationships of trust among the parties concerned (social capital) and global career opportunities for such self-initiated expatriates (geocentric staffing) have positive influences on their dual allegiance. Finally, normative and systems integration of human resource management are associated with increasing levels of social capital and geocentric staffing.
Organizational sponsors of guest workers to the United States claim foreign‐born workers enhance productivity and innovation. Drawing upon a unique dataset of all organizational sponsors of guest workers in the United States from 1993 to 2008, we find a 10% increase in guest worker sponsorship is associated with a 2.2–3.1% increase in patenting within firms. Furthermore, we examine how organizational industry and country of origin are associated with the effects of guest worker sponsorship on organization‐level measures of innovation and productivity. Despite an overall within‐firm positive association between sponsorship and patenting, higher percentages of a firm's workers on visas are associated with lower patenting, but higher labor productivity. Firm‐level industry and country of origin heterogeneity is significantly related to the relationship between guest work sponsorship and both patent‐related and nonpatent investment in innovation such as research and development (R&D) expenditures. Semiconductor firms and universities spend more on R&D in conjunction with guest worker sponsorship, while semiconductor companies and hardware companies patent less. We discuss theoretical and human resource implications, and offer suggestions for future research.
The diversity literature has yet to investigate relationships between diversity and leader–member exchanges (LMX) at multiple levels of analysis. The purpose of this paper is to test a multilevel model of nationality diversity and LMX. In doing so, the authors investigate the role of surface- and deep-level diversity as related to leader–member exchange differentiation (LMXD) and relative LMX (RLMX), and hence to subordinate job performance. The results suggest surface-level similarity is more important to RLMX than deep-level similarity. The relationship between surface-level similarity and RLMX is moderated by workgroup nationality diversity. When workgroups are more diverse, there is a positive relationship between dyadic nationality similarity and RLMX; when workgroups are less diverse, similarity in nationality matters less. Moreover, LMXD at the workgroup level moderates the relationship between RLMX and performance at the individual level.
In this paper, we draw on the construct of regulatory fit in explaining how expatriates manage interactional and work-related discrepancies in diverse cultural contexts. When expatriates go overseas, they are often faced with a set of expectations that are at variance with their home country norms and these differences in expectations generate discrepancies. The emergence of discrepancies in an alien cultural context exacerbates the uncertainties facing the expatriate, though the response to uncertainty varies between expatriates. We posit that expatriates with a promotion-focused self-regulatory system are focused on maximizing gains leading them to manage uncertainty through experimentation whereas expatriates with a prevention-focused self-regulatory system are oriented to minimizing losses leading them to manage uncertainty by persisting with the status-quo. Utilizing insights from motivational science and by linking the self-regulatory processes to the cultural context, we develop a framework and propositions for expatriate adaptation in loose and tight cultures. We present managerial implications of our model and offer guidance for testing the framework.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and present a conceptual model of expatriate–host country national (HCN) interaction that explains how organizations can help increase cooperation between expatriates and HCNs by facilitating interaction between expatriates and HCNs.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw upon intergroup contact theory to develop a process model which describes the processes critical to “the effectiveness of the expatriate–HCN relationship,” from both the expatriate and HCN perspectives.
Findings
HCN–expatriate interactions are critical to the success of both expatriates and HCNs, but such interactions should not be left to chance – instead, organizations should intervene and facilitate conditions that foster such interactions, which can lead to better understanding and appreciation of each other. This would ensure that both expatriates and HCNs have a better understanding of the critical role played by the other party, and thus be willing to offer relevant and necessary support at the right time.
Practical implications
Prior research reveals that most expatriate–HCN interactions are left to the individuals themselves and are thus subject to stereotypes, misperceptions and even unfulfilled expectations. By intervening in this process, and providing relevant information about each other to both parties, organizations can facilitate higher quality interactions, help reduce or remove stereotypes and increase the chances that both parties receive required and relevant information on a timely basis from each other.
Originality/value
The authors specifically discuss how interpersonal expatriate–HCN interactions allow the two parties to become acquainted with each other, when the effects of such interactions can be strengthened, and what the resultant effects are in terms of expatriate–HCN relationships.
There has been a growing interest in the potentially positive impact of expatriate interactions with host country nationals (HCNs) in International Human Resource Management (IHRM). This paper provides a comprehensive overview of this relatively new body of literature, and organises the empirical research with regard to antecedents and outcomes of expatriate-local (E-L) interactions at four different levels of analysis: individual, dyadic, group, and societal level. A literature search resulted in the selection of 74 articles, published between 1990 and 2016, which focus on E-L interactions that influence the success of an organisation. The overview shows most of the research has been done at the individual level of analysis, examining the impact of contact with HCNs on expatriate adjustment and performance. Several avenues and suggestions for future research are listed; an important starting point for future research is to clearly delineate which aspect of expatriate-local interactions is investigated – the frequency, depth, or breadth of the contact. This review counterbalances the predominant IHRM focus on expatriates as sole actors in expatriate success by specifically including another important stakeholder, the HCN. It further provides directions and a research agenda for future research on expatriate-local interactions.
Host-country nationals' (HCNs') attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates are critical for expatriate success. Thus, this study systematically reviews the existing literature on the antecedents and consequences of HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates. It is revealed that HCN personality, the perceived compensation gap between expatriates and HCNs, social categorization, HCNs' previous contact with expatriates, expatriate justice, task cohesiveness, interpersonal affect, and interpersonal relationships (guanxi) directly or indirectly predict HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates. The attitudes and behaviors of HCNs toward expatriates are significantly related to expatriate adjustment and performance. This review indicates that the extant research on HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates is limited, and the findings of past studies are often contradictory. Theoretical and practical implications as well as future research directions are discussed.
In this chapter, we propose and test a model that the willingness of HCNs to help expatriates is influenced by IHRM practices in international subsidiaries of MNEs. Results showed that high-commitment HRM practices directly and indirectly influence HCNs’ willingness to help expatriates through the mediation of POS. Socially responsible HRM indirectly influences the criterion variable through the mediation of organizational identification. Moreover, POS and organizational identification sequentially mediate the effect of high-commitment HRM on HCNs’ willingness to help expatriates. These findings shed some light on organizational antecedents that go beyond personal and intrapersonal factors of HCNs’ attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates.
This chapter addresses the research method used in the study. This study implemented a mixed research methodology. Specifically, the qualitative study investigated the IHRM policies and practices and the use and management of non-traditional expatriates of South Korean MNEs in China. Content analysis was used to analyze the interview data from ten South Korean MNEs. The data for the quantitative study were collected through surveys involving 485 host-country nationals (HCNs). Structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypotheses.
The social support provided by host country nationals (HCNs) has been identified as an important source of successful expatriation. However, the roles of different HCN actors have not yet been sufficiently differentiated in this process. Drawing on social support theory and conservation of resources theory, this chapter aims to fill this void by investigating the impact of social support provided by five groups of HCN actors on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment: HCN top management team members, supervisors, colleagues, and subordinates in the work domain, as well as friends in the non-work domain. The resulting model suggests that all these HCN actors can increase expatriates’ adjustment; however, colleagues in the work domain and friends in the non-work domain have the highest influence on all types of adjustments.
The social environment of expatriates is a crucial factor for various desired outcomes of international assignments such as psychological well-being, cultural adjustment, job satisfaction, and performance. However, literature on expatriates’ social environment either considers social support as a theoretical link to explain the relationship between social network characteristics and performance or measures it on a global scale in contrast to a meaningful latent construct. By applying confirmatory factor analysis using data from 435 expatriates, this book chapter aims at providing guidance on how the construct social support should be employed in future studies. The book chapter contributes to the expatriate literature by developing a sound conceptual model regarding social support, recommending an appropriate measurement of the construct, and showing that social support should not be treated as one global construct. Instead, the results suggest to account for three different dimensions that should be measured separately in order to avoid a misdirected, short-falling application of the construct.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role played by host country nationals’ (HCNs) collectivism and the interpersonal affect they develop toward expatriate colleagues, in determining the degree to which Chinese HCNs would be willing to offer role information and social support to expatriates from India and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a between-subjects simulation (n=402) with front-line, junior-level professionals in four global organizations operating in China, measuring their interpersonal affect toward a hypothetical expatriate colleague, and their willingness to offer role information and social support to the expatriate.
Findings
Results indicated the interpersonal affect felt by Chinese HCNs mediates the relationship between the collectivism levels of Chinese HCNs, and their willingness to offer role information and social support to expatriates.
Research limitations/implications
It should be acknowledged that the authors used hypothetical “paper-people” to test the hypotheses. Future studies should investigate the impact of collectivism and interpersonal affect on HCN willingness to offer role information and social support by examining HCNs’ attitudes toward real-life expatriate colleagues.
Originality/value
While empirical studies examining HCN willingness to offer role information and social support have begun to emerge in the expatriate literature, only a couple of studies have included interpersonal affect as a key determinant. Given that interpersonal affect is a key determinant of individuals’ reactions to others, but also a complex construct, the findings confirm the need for organizations to examine how this impacts performance and co-worker interactions in the workplace.
Existing management literature on voice has primarily focused on examining who uses their voice and when it is used, ignoring why employees speak out and how they do so. We examine the conditions under which Chinese employees use their voice toward their German managers at German companies in Mainland China. The findings from our empirical study emphasize the importance of Chinese employees' personal identification with their German managers as a precondition for voice behaviors. Our results suggest that Chinese employees utilize indirect voice behavior in addition to direct voice behavior when interacting with their German managers. This indirect guanxi-voice behavior has neither been recognized nor investigated in the literature. The theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.
Apesar de as expatriações terem se tornado frequentes no mundo corporativo atual e de a maioria dos expatriados serem voluntários, e não designados para trabalhos no exterior por organizações empresariais, muitos autores têm tratado esses dois grupos de expatriados (voluntários e organizacionais) de forma homogênea. Neste trabalho, o objetivo foi diferenciar expatriados voluntários e organizacionais, conceitual e empiricamente, ao examinar diferenças na adaptação de indivíduos de ambos os grupos no Brasil. O estudo, de natureza qualitativa, foi realizado por meio de entrevistas semiestruturadas, estudadas por meio de análise de conteúdo, com 21 expatriados organizacionais e 24 expatriados voluntários residentes no Brasil. O marco teórico utilizado no estudo foi o modelo de adaptação transcultural de expatriados de Black, Mendenhall e Oddou (1991). Os resultados encontrados permitem ressaltar a importância da separação conceitual e empírica entre ambos os tipos de expatriados, uma vez que eles se mostraram com distintas características em termos das três dimensões de adaptação transcultural adotadas neste estudo. Para profissionais de Recursos Humanos que lidam com expatriação, são apontados expatriados voluntários como uma opção vantajosa para a formação de uma força de trabalho global, uma vez que eles tendem a adaptar-se melhor que expatriados organizacionais. Para acadêmicos, recomenda-se considerar ambos os tipos de expatriados em suas especificidades em futuras pesquisas.
We address the lack of knowledge concerning the role of host country languages in multinational corporations based on an inductive qualitative study involving 70 interviews with Nordic expatriates and host country employees (HCE) in China.
Building on the strongly discrepant views of expatriates and HCEs, we demonstrate how expatriates’ willingness to learn and use the host country language lead to different types of expatriate-HCE relationships, ranging from harmonious to distant or segregated. In doing so, we emphasize the subtle and fragile connection between expatriates’ attitude towards HCEs’ mother tongue and trust formation in addition to the construction of superiority-inferiority relationships.
Sales management never received much attention in Chinese enterprises under central planning. Firms purchased inputs from suppliers and sold to customers assigned by the plan. For transactions outside the plan, personal connections were more important than selling skills or sales management, because there was no free market where firms could buy or sell output. Reforms and increasing competition have disrupted this old system. Customers have choice, and some of them are choosing better quality, better after sales service, better delivery. Relying completely on connections has become more difficult.
Foreign and joint venture companies have introduced modern sales management into China, and many are developing effective sales forces. This article contrasts sales management in wholly owned foreign firms, joint ventures, and SOEs. Foreign companies lead in adopting modern sales management, while SOEs have not progressed very far in modernizing sales. However, profitable SOEs have begun to change how they sell. JVs show a mixture of foreign and SOE management technique. They may achieve the best sales forces in the long run, because they are adapting modern methods to the Chinese context.
This study investigates the direct and moderating effects of Chinese work values and organizational commitment on the stress-job performance relationship. Chinese work values are the work-related Confucian values of Chinese societies, and include collectivism, hardworking, endurance, and harmonious social relationships (guanxi ). A three-component (affective, continuance, and normative) conception of commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991) is used. A self-administered questionnaire survey collected data from two samples of Hong Kong employees during 2001. These samples included 386 (197 males, 179 females, 10 unidentified) and 145 (51 males, 94 females) respondents. The purpose of recruiting two samples was to replicate the stress-performance relationship in a Chinese setting to enhance generalization of the results. The results consistently revealed that sources of pressure and self-rated job performance were negatively related. Furthermore, organizational commitment and Chinese work values were positively related to job performance. A series of hierarchical regressions, while controlling for age, tenure, and job level, revealed that Chinese work values and organizational commitment were significant stress moderators. Chinese work values were found to be significant moderators of the stress-performance relationship in both samples. However, those values only safeguarded performance when work stress was low or moderately high. When work stress was very high, employees with high levels of Chinese work values reported lower job performance. Organizational commitment, in contrast, protected employees from the negative effects of stressors and moderated the stress-performance relationship in a positive direction, but for the first sample only. The implications of the study are that it is essential to nourish work values among employees and cultivate employees' commitment to their organizations. However, in very high stress situations, it is more appropriate to alter the work environment to reduce stressors at work, in order to enhance job performance.
This article explores the indigenous concept of guanxi and its applications in the Chinese context. Guanxi is defined as the existence of direct particularistic ties between two or more individuals. We relate this concept to the idea of relational demography, which has been used by U.S. scholars in recent years to explain and predict a variety of individual-, group-, and organizational-level outcomes in U.S. employment settings. By comparing and contrasting the idea of guanxi to relational demography, we aim to develop an integrative framework that will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics underlying demographic and background similarities between people in the Chinese context than by using either concept alone. We offer several illustrative hypotheses on how and when relational demography and guanxi will matter most in influencing work outcomes in Chinese organizations.
This article analyzes the relationship between problems of management in the People's Republic of China and Chinese culture. Five problem areas are outlined: (i) organizational structure; (ii) management skills and succession, (iii) Party/management relations; (iv) operational; and (v) motivation and labour discipline. Chinese culture is seen to have four main features affecting organizations: (a) respect for age and hierarchy; (b) group orientation; (c) face; (d) the importance of relationships. It is argued that these can reinforce management problems arising from a planned economy, as well as undermining the legitimacy of formal organization. In the future, it is likely that moves towards Western management methods may not have the desired effects as a result of cultural influences.
This study focused on the role played by social support on the job from coworkers and supervisor in facilitating newcomer adjustment and in mitigating the effects of unmet-expectations stress. The literature on social support indicates that it has three kinds of impacts on stress and subsequent outcomes: a main effect on outcomes, a main effect on perceived stress, and a moderating effect on outcomes. The present study investigated the interrelationships of stress, social support, and outcomes at work, using a sample of newly graduated nurses in their first six months on full-time hospital jobs. A longitudinal design employing three waves of data collection was used. Social support was found to have important main effects in reducing the level of unmet-expectations stress and facilitating positive adjustment outcomes among newcomers.
We examine the referent selection process of host country national (HCN) employees. We outline the conditions under which they are more likely to select expatriate colleagues as comparative referents and suggest that, when this occurs, they are likely to experience relative deprivation. We also highlight the role of national culture in the process. Our model shifts the focus of overseas assignments research from the expatriate to the HCN, and it also has important practical implications for multina- tional enterprises sending employees overseas.
As China is becoming an important market and there are a lot of foreign ventures operating there, different lines of research have been providing useful information for foreign ventures to manage effectively in China. In this paper, we discuss one of the critical factors leading to successful management of Chinese subordinates, i.e. building and maintaining good guanxi (i.e., interpersonal connection) with them. We conducted an empirical investigation to illustrate (1) the supervisor-subordinate guanxi concept is different and unique when compared to other similar concepts in the Western literature such as leader-member exchange (LMX) and commitment to supervisor; (2) the supervisor-subordinate guanxi will affect the Chinese supervisor's administrative decisions; (3) guanxi can be measured by concrete behaviour/activities. Data on 189 supervisor-subordinate dyads were collected in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Results indicated that supervisor-subordinate guanxi is a distinct concept from LMX and commitment to supervisor. It also has additional explanatory power over supervisory decisions on promotion and bonus allocation after controlling for performance. Implications for foreign ventures and expatriates are discussed.
In this study, the effects of information seeking on newcomer socialization are assessed. The results suggest that by seeking information, organizational newcomers can facilitate the socialization process. The frequency with which 135 new staff accountants sought specific types of information during their first 6 mo of employment was related to how well they mastered their job, defined their role, learned about their organization's culture, and became socially integrated. In contrast to findings from research focusing on the organization's role in socialization, these findings suggest that newcomers are proactive information seekers who take an active role in adjusting to their new environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Executive Overview
Many expatriate human resource (HR) policies, particularly in the area of compensation, remain rooted in the past because they continue to favor the expatriate over local staff and do not take into account the increasing qualifications and aspirations of these local employees. Inequitable treatment leads to low commitment and poor work performance among local staff. More importantly, inequitable treatment creates tension between local and expatriate employees and causes the local staff to be less willing to be cooperative or supportive of the expatriates with whom they have to work. Without local support, expatriates may experience greater difficulty adjusting to their new jobs and the new environment, which is a contributing factor in the failure of expatriates. To minimize these problems, HR practices of expatriating organizations should focus on providing more equitable compensation for local and expatriate employees, selecting expatriates who are truly worthy of the higher pay, and increasing the transparency of pay practices so that local employees can see the linkage between work inputs and compensation more clearly. Managers at the local organization should emphasize favorable referents for local staff, breed organizational identification among the employees, prepare the local staff for incoming expatriates, and encourage them to assist and mentor incoming expatriates. It is critical that multinational companies (MNCs) are aware that some existing HR practices have potentially unintended negative consequences and that neglecting the impact of these practices on local employees hurts the effectiveness of the organization as well as the ability of expatriates to succeed in their assignment.
Two studies were conducted to investigate the indigenous concept of guanxi and its applications in the Chinese context. Guanxi refers to the existence of direct particularistic ties between an individual and others. We relate the concept to the idea of relational demography, which refers to similarities or differences between an individual and others on such factors as age, gender, race, religion, education, and occupation. The two studies focused on the importance of guanxi and relational demography in Chinese employment settings. In study 1, their importance was examined in a sample of 560 vertical dyads (i.e., between supervisor and subordinate) in Taiwan. In study 2, the effects were analyzed in a sample of 205 horizontal dyads, specifically between business executives and their important business connections (e.g., key customers, suppliers, bankers, government officials) in mainland China. Results support the importance of both guanxi and relational demography for subordinate trust in the supervisor, but only guanxi is found to be (extremely) important for business executives' trust in their connections. Implications for future cross-cultural research on the effect of common ties are discussed.
A theory of the types of values on which cultures can be compared is presented and validated with data from 49 nations from around the world. Seven types of values are identified, structured along three polar dimensions: Conservatism versus Intellectual and Affective Autonomy; Hierarchy versus Egalitarianism; and Mastery versus Harmony. Based on their cultural value priorities, nations are arrayed in a two-dimensional space, revealing meaningful groupings of culturally related nations. Analyses replicate with both teacher and student samples. Implications of national differences in cultural values for differences in meaning of work are explicated. To stimulate research on cultural values and work, hypotheses are developed regarding the cultural value emphases that are especially compatible or conflicting with work centrality, with different societal norms about work, and with the pursuit of four types of work values or goals.
Interpersonal affect has been found, in prior laboratory research, to be related to ratings of job performance. Such findings have been taken to mean that affect creates bias in ratings. The present study was conducted to determine if this relationship would hold up in a field setting. The present study was also designed to examine how structured diary-keeping, and the nature of the appraisal instrument, might be related to affect-appraisal relationships. The results for 85 raters, and 404 ratees, suggested that affect was significantly related to all ratings, but more strongly related to trait-like ratings than task/outcome-like ratings, and that having raters keep performance diaries actually increased the strength of the relationship between affect and ratings. We concluded that affect may not be a biasing influence on ratings, but may be a result of better subordinate performance. Results from an analysis of the diary content supported this conclusion. Implications for the role of affect on ratings and the nature of the relationship between past performance and interpersonal affect in field settings are discussed.
This study was designed to investigate host country national (HCN) categorization of female expatriates, in two samples—U.S. and India. Two hundred and twenty-two HCNs (104 in the U.S. and 118 in India) participated in the study. Consistent with prior research [e.g., Tung, R. L. (1998). American expatriates abroad: From neophytes to cosmopolitans. Journal of World Business, 33: 125–140], we found that female expatriates from the U.S. were not discriminated against. Indeed, we found that female expatriates from the U.S. were preferred by Indian HCNs, as co-workers, significantly more than male expatriates from the U.S. We discuss implications for organizations and offer suggestions for future research.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.
List of Tables - List of Figures - Acknowledgements - List of Abbreviations - Preface - PART 1: SHAPING THE IRON-RICE BOWL - Setting the Scene - The Iron Rice-Bowl: The Early Days - Labour-Management Relations - Economic Reforms and their Implications for Labour - PART 2: 'OLD WINE, NEW BOTTLES?' - Labour Reforms at City-Level: Background - Selected Case-Studies at Enterprise-level - The 'Three Systems Reforms' - PART 3: BEYOND THE IRON-RICE BOWL - Discussion - Human Resource Management 'With Chinese Characteristics'? - Conclusions - Appendices - Endnotes - References - Index
Responses to attitude and activity preference surveys were compared for the degrees of real and perceived similarity within male (n = 13) and female (n = 11) friendship pairs. Activity preference similarity was substantially greater than attitudinal similarity, in fact: friends' attitudinal similarity was no greater than strangers'; individuals were able to predict the friend's responses to the activity survey more accurately than to the attitude survey; and activity similarity was a better predictor of liking than was attitudinal similarity. The findings were the same for males and females. These results suggest that the opportunity to engage in mutually pleasurable activities may be a stronger motive in friendship choice and friendship maintenance than is the satisfaction of knowing the friend agrees with you.
We examine the referent selection process of host country national (HCN) employees. We outline the conditions under which they are more likely to select expatriate colleagues as comparative referents and suggest that, when this occurs, they are likely to experience relative deprivation. We also highlight the role of national culture in the process. Our model shifts the focus of overseas assignments research from the expatriate to the HCN, and it also has important practical implications for multinational enterprises sending employees overseas.
China's rapid economic development is being accomplished through a system of industrial governance and transaction that differs from Western experience. Here, we identify the broad institutional nature of this distinctiveness within a framework of information codification and diffusion. The emergent features of China's economic order are analyzed with reference to the business system developing there, in particular, the nature of market arrangements, the form of capitalism, and the role of government within that system. The limited extent of codification of information in China and its communal property rights and organization of economic transactions suggest that decentralization from the former state-command system is giving rise to a distinctive institutional form--network capitalism.
M.A. Hogg, D.J. Terry, Social Identity Theory and Organizational Processes. M.G. Pratt, Social Identity Dynamics in Modern Organizations: An Organizational Psychology/Organizational Behavior Perspective. B.E. Ashforth, S.A. Johnson, Which Hat to Wear?: The Relative Salience of Multiple Identities in Organizational Contexts. S. Brickson, M.B. Brewer, Identity Orientation and Intergroup Relations in Organizations. M. Hewstone, R. Martin, C. Hammer-Hewstone, R. Crisp, A. Voci, Majority-minority Relations in Organizations: Challenges and Opportunities. R. Moreland, J. Levine, J. McMinn, Self-categorization and Work Group Socialization. N. Ellemers, Social Identity, Commitment, and Work Behavior. C. Bartel, J. Dutton, Ambiguous Organizational Memberships: Constructing Organizational Identities in Interactions with Others. D. Abrams, G. Randsley de Moura, Organizational Identification: Psychological Anchorage and Turnover. T. Tyler, Cooperation in Organizations: A Social Identity Perspective. R.M. Kramer, Identity and Trust in Organizations: One Anatomy of a Productive but Problematic Relation. J.T. Jost, K.D. Elsbach, How Status and Power Differences Erode Personal and Social Identities at Work: A System Justification Critique of Organizational Applications of Social Identity Theory. M.A. Hogg, Social Identification, Group Prototypicality, and Emergent Leadership. S.A. Haslam, M.J. Platow, Your Wish is Our Command: The Role of Shared Social Identity in Translating a Leader's Vision into Follower's Action. D.J. Terry, Intergroup Relations and Organizational Mergers. D. van Knippenberg, E. van Leeuwen, Organizational Identity after a Merger: Sense of Continuity as the Key to Post-merger Identification. S. Gaertner, B. Bachman, J. Dovidio, B. Banker, Corporate Mergers and Stepfamily Marriages: Identity, Harmony, and Commitment.
In the West, there is growing awareness that connections can be pivotal to a firm's success in gaining competitive advantage in the global arena. This paper compares Western networking with guanxi (connections) prevalent in Confucian societies. Guanxi are built between and among people. Hence the effective deployment of human resources is critical to the success of building such relationships. Data from forty West European multinationals with operations in China were collected. Where relevant, these were compared with the findings of Hong Kong firms in China. Specifically, the paper examined (1) how large European multinationals perceive the characteristics of guanxi ; (2) the importance of guanxi for market entry and long-term success in China; and (3) how guanxi is built and maintained by European companies in China. While the European companies have been able to establish a presence in China, their moderate level of satisfaction with performance there may be attributable to their inability to build very strong and appropriate guanxi with the relevant authorities. This may stem from their use of expatriates to staff senior management positions and insistence upon sole or majority-equity ownership to allow for maximum control. The implications for international human resource management are discussed.
This study examines the psychological contract from the perspective of new IT recruits that are located in the US and China. Psychological contract emphasizes the mutual exchange between employees and employers. Three hundred and ninety-five questionnaire responses from the graduating classes in the information technology discipline in the US and China (Shanghai and Beijing) were analysed. The results of this exploratory study reveal that new IT recruits from China and the US hold many similar beliefs on employer–employee obligations, such as employers' obligations to provide high pay, job autonomy, long-term job security, financial reward for obtaining IT certificates, exciting projects and opportunities to work on leading-edge technology, and employees' obligations to work extra hours when needed, to be loyal and to volunteer to do non-required tasks. Cross-cultural differences do exist however. US IT recruits as a whole place greater emphasis than their Chinese counterparts on rapid career advancement, having a motivating boss and completion of assignments on time, but less emphasis than their Chinese counterparts on receiving project milestone bonuses. Findings also suggest that, although employees can be from the same overarching culture such as the Chinese culture that emphasizes collectivism, there exist strong subculture differences even within the same country. New IT recruits in Shanghai tend to have beliefs that are at times closer to the US IT professionals than to their fellow IT new recruits in Beijing. The differences across cultures and subcultures are more extensive among female than male IT new recruits.
Relationship marketing is currently an important topic in the marketing literature. The use of relationships in marketing and business generally varies around the world. In the Chinese-based economies much is made of Guanxi which provides the relationship building for interpersonal relationships. In this paper the foundations of Guanxi are described in the form of a four-stage model. As Guanxi is a particular form of relationship in the Chinese culture and underpins much of the business carried out in China-based economies, it is compared to relationship building in Western cultures. The paper adds to the literature on relationships and how they are developed and is important to the literature on relationship marketing applied in the Chinese context. It also helps the practitioner, who wishes to develop relationships in Chinese-based economics, by providing guidelines on how the Chinese like to do business.
This article tests the hypotheses that perceived host ethnocentrism will impact negatively on expatriates' work adjustment, host commitment and parent commitment as well as increase the desire to return early from overseas assignments. Hierarchical regression analyses were performed on survey data from 250 international assignees controlling for a wide range of personal, organizational and locational characteristics. As predicted, perceptions of local ethnocentrism had a negative effect on work adjustment and commitment to the host unit, particularly when cultural distance was low. We also found that European expatriates were more likely to react negatively to perceptions of host ethnocentrism than were their American counterparts. In general, there was no support of the hypothesized links between perceived host ethnocentrism and parent-firm commitment or the desire to return early.
A recurring theme in the literature on Chinese management has been the impact of culture and, in particular, the influence of values derived from Confucianism on Chinese management practices. The reforms that led to foreign direct investment (FDI), the problems of State-owned enterprises (SOEs), the social, political and economic changes and analyses of Chinese managerial styles and performance have been the major concerns. There has been less attention specifically paid to Chinese managers' characteristics and to managerial career patterns, which may be shaped by national culture and values. In contrast, in the West, there is a vast body of literature covering career theories and managerial growth, dealing variously with personal values and other factors, such as family upbringing, education, social background and employment structure, that have major impacts on managers' career pathways. This paper explores how far executive career development in modern China (PRC) corresponds to Western notions, and also tries to determine whether there are specific factors relating to Chinese executives' personal biographies and career paths. A pilot study was carried out to identify the variables that might shed light on career patterns and, if possible, to profile the Chinese manager. A number of emergent themes are described. They derive from the experience of individual interviewees who took part in the pilot research, which was conducted in Beijing and Shanghai and in which forty-nine managers in forty-two companies were interviewed. These pilot interviews revealed a complex interplay of biographical data and career themes. Of clear importance was the guanxi mechanism (direct or indirect personal relationship to solicit favours) which has no exact comparison in the West and which does not figure in Western career theories. A preliminary tentative Chinese executive career model has been developed.
Chinese business managers, in general, have been portrayed as valuing harmony and peace and having a tendency to avoid confrontation for fear of disturbing relationships involving mutual dependence. This is held to be a reflection of traditional Confucian cultural values. This paper is an exploratory study which attempts to establish the relationship between the traditional, Confucian cultural values and the modes of conflict resolution preferred by Chinese business managers. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument was employed in this study to describe the preferred conflict resolution modes of Chinese business managers. The results show that compromising tend to be the most preferred conflict resolution mode of Chinese business managers because of the latter's predominantly humanistic, Confucian self-concept. However, other modes, that is, collaborating, competing, avoiding and accommodating, are also being employed by Chinese business managers as a strategic and political variation of that Confucian self-concept.
Numerous studies have found that supervisors rate women lower than men for similar levels of performance, suggesting that for female employees, performance alone may not be able to guarantee fair ratings. What is not clear is whether this disparity is a function of the gender composition of the supervisor–subordinate dyad or simply a case of male supervisor rating behavior. Based on data from supervisor–subordinate dyads in four organizations, we found that after controlling for performance, both male and female supervisors exhibit a positive bias toward subordinates of the same sex and rate members of the same gender higher. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
This study examined the role of 3 sources of support in facilitating expatriate adjustment and performance. A model was developed that examined the effects of perceived organizational support (POS), leader-member exchange (LMX), and spousal support on expatriates' adjustment to work, the country, and interacting with foreign nationals. In turn, it was expected that expatriate adjustment would influence expatriate task performance and contextual performance. The model was tested using a sample of 213 expatriate-supervisor dyads via structural equation modeling. The results indicated that POS had direct effects on expatriate adjustment, which in turn had direct effects on both dimensions of performance. Although LMX did not influence adjustment, it did have direct effects on expatriate task and contextual performance. Spousal support did not relate to adjustment or performance. Practical implications for facilitating expatriate adjustment and performance are discussed.
A literature review reveals that supervisors’ positive affective regard (‘liking’) for subordinates is associated frequently with higher performance appraisal (PA) ratings, and with other findings such as greater halo, reduced accuracy, a better interpersonal relationship, and a disinclination to punish poor performance. However, the interpretability of the empirical literature is weakened by a number of conceptual and methodological problems. Moreover, most investigators have simply assumed that the effects of liking constitute sources of bias in PAs, and the causal nature of the observed relationships needed to be clarified. Based on the review, nine causal hypotheses constituting a model of 10 latent constructs with 17 paths are presented. Each direct effect is characterized as representing either a relevant (valid) influence, a source of bias, or as biased/valid contingent on the particular indicator or circumstances. Suggestions are made for integrating the model with a developmental approach, and implications are drawn for employment test validation and the investigation of test bias.
The present study sought to extend our knowledge of the relationship between work values and job performance. Situational constraints were examined as moderators of the relationship between the value of achievement and performance in a service-sector field setting. In the present setting, sales promotions removed situational constraints on performance during three of the six time periods examined. In general, average levels of performance were higher, and there was greater variance in performance when situational constraints were removed. Situational constraints moderated the relationship between the value of achievement and objective performance dimensions, although effect sizes were modest. Further, the present study adds to the small group of studies that have found a direct relationship between achievement and performance in a field setting. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The aim of the studies was to assess the effefcs of social categorization on intergroup behaviour when, in the intergroup situation, neither calculations of individual interest nor previously existing attitudes of hostility could have been said to have determined discriminative behaviour against an outgroup. These conditions were satisfied in the experimental design. In the first series of experiments, it was found that the subjects favoured their own group in the distribution of real rewards and penalities in a situation in which nothing but the variable of fairly irrelevant classification distinguished between the ingroup and the outgroup. In the second series of experiments it was found that: 1) maximum joint profit independent of group membership did not affect significantly the manner in which the subjects divided real pecuniary rewards; 2) maximum profit for own group did affect the distribution of rewards; 3) the clearest effect on the distribution of rewards was due to the subjects' attempt to achieve a maximum difference between the ingroup and the outgroup even at the price of sacrificing other ‘objective’ advantages.The design and the results of the study are theoretically discussed within the framework of social norms and expectations and particularly in relation to a ‘generic’ norm of outgroup behaviour prevalent in some societies.
The recruitment, development, motivation, and retention of competent and high-performing Chinese professionals and managers is a major challenge for foreign firms operating in China. This article analyzes how local managers and professionals are managed in Western companies’ manufacturing joint ventures. The investigation is based on interviews conducted in 65 Chinese-Western joint ventures. The study revealed that a variety of Western human resources management practices have been implemented in China. However, few Western companies make a total transfer to China of policies and practices from the foreign company’s home country operations. This article suggests practices that will be successful in the Chinese context.
Affect is considered by most contemporary theories to be postcognitive,
that is, to occur only after considerable cognitive operations have
been accomplished. Yet a number of experimental results on preferences,
attitudes, impression formation, and decision making, as well as
some clinical phenomena, suggest that affective judgments may be
fairly independent of, and precede in time, the sorts of perceptual
and cognitive operations commonly assumed to be the basis of these
affective judgments. Affective reactions to stimuli are often the
very first reactions of the organism, and for lower organisms they
are the dominant reactions. Affective reactions can occur without
extensive perceptual and cognitive encoding, are made with greater
confidence than cognitive judgments, and can be made sooner. Experimental
evidence is presented demonstrating that reliable affective discriminations
(likedislike ratings) can be made in the total absence of recognition
memory (oldnew judgments). Various differences between judgments
based on affect and those based on perceptual and cognitive processes
are examined. It is concluded that affect and cognition are under
the control of separate and partially independent systems that can
influence each other in a variety of ways, and that both constitute
independent sources of effects in information processing. (139 ref)
(PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved)