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When does emotional intelligence function better in enhancing expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment? A study of Japanese PCNs in Malaysia

Jessica Marie Arokiasamy (Graduate School of Business Administration, Meiji University, Tokyo, Japan)
Soyeon Kim (Faculty of Business Administration, Shujitsu University, Okayama, Japan)

Journal of Global Mobility

ISSN: 2049-8799

Article publication date: 20 May 2020

Issue publication date: 12 June 2020

774

Abstract

Purpose

As globalization expands opportunities for foreign investments, the role of expatriates is becoming important for business success in host countries. Cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) of expatriates is considered significant in determining business success in host countries. This study investigated the issue among Japanese expatriates in Malaysia. The purposes of this study were to unravel the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on CCA and clarify the facilitating role of cultural intelligence (CI) on the relationship between EI and CCA.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was administered to 107 Japanese parent country nationals (PCNs) working at Japanese subsidiaries in Malaysia.

Findings

The findings show that EI positively influences the subdimensions of CCA, namely, CCA–general, CCA–social and CCA–work. A notable finding is that CI facilitates the positive effect of EI on CCA–social.

Research implications

The findings advance the existing studies on expatriate management by delving into the CCA issue with two culturally distinctive countries that have rarely been studied in this research domain, Japan and Malaysia. This study further contributes to prior studies by clarifying a boundary condition in which EI functions better in enhancing expatriates' CCA.

Practical implications

The findings provide Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) valuable directions and strategic ideas in the realm of expatriate management. Such insights can contribute to business success in host countries.

Originality/value

Diverting from the conventional West–East approach in expatriate management studies, this study took an East–East orientation and explored the relationships among EI, CI and CCA. By proving that CI stimulates the positive effect of EI on CCA, this study underlines the significantly interactive effects of two distinctive individual capabilities on enhancing expatriates' CCA. It further highlights that CI should take on importance in attempts to understand CCA, even in seemingly culturally similar East–East nations.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This study was partially supported by research grants from Meiji University and Shujitsu University. The authors are grateful to Jan Selmer and the anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments.

Citation

Arokiasamy, J.M. and Kim, S. (2020), "When does emotional intelligence function better in enhancing expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment? A study of Japanese PCNs in Malaysia", Journal of Global Mobility, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 67-84. https://doi.org/10.1108/JGM-05-2019-0027

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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