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1 – 10 of over 31000Yu-Shan Hsu, Yu-Ping Chen, Flora F.T. Chiang and Margaret A. Shaffer
Integrating anxiety and uncertainty management (AUM) theory and theory of organizing, this study aims to contribute to the knowledge management literature by examining the…
Abstract
Purpose
Integrating anxiety and uncertainty management (AUM) theory and theory of organizing, this study aims to contribute to the knowledge management literature by examining the interdependent and bidirectional nature of knowledge transfer between expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs). Specifically, the authors investigate how receivers’ cognitive response to senders’ behaviors during their interactions becomes an important conduit between senders’ behaviors and the successful transfer of knowledge.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used the actor partner interdependence model to analyze data from 107 expatriate-HCN dyads. The authors collected the responses of these expatriate-HCN dyads in Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India.
Findings
Receivers’ interaction anxiety and uncertainty, as a response to senders’ relationship building behaviors, mediate the relationship between senders’ relationship building behaviors and successful knowledge transfer. When senders are expatriates, senders’ communication patience and relationship building behaviors interact to reduce the direct and indirect effects of both receivers’ interaction anxiety and uncertainty. However, when senders are HCNs, the moderation and moderated mediation models are not supported.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the knowledge management literature by investigating knowledge transfer between expatriates and HCNs using an interpersonal cross-cultural communication lens. The authors make refinements to AUM theory by going beyond the sender role to highlighting the interdependence between senders and receivers in the management of anxiety and uncertainty which, in turn, influences the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication. The study is also unique in that the authors underscore an important yet understudied construct, communication patience, in the successful transfer of knowledge.
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This study sought to advance understandings of migrant worker labor outcomes by examining (1) the relationship between migrant employees’ motivational cultural intelligence (CQ…
Abstract
Purpose
This study sought to advance understandings of migrant worker labor outcomes by examining (1) the relationship between migrant employees’ motivational cultural intelligence (CQ) and employee well-being and (2) whether voice behavior at work mediates this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Working with leader–member exchange (LMX) theory and conservation of resources theory, the author proposed a multiple mediation model to explain the relationship between motivational CQ and employee outcomes and how employee voice may mediate this relationship. LMX and voice behavior were tested for the mediating effects in a cross-cultural context. To test the model, a questionnaire was conducted with Vietnamese migrants working in Taiwan (343 valid responses were collected). The results were analyzed using regression and bootstrapping.
Findings
Higher motivational CQ was associated with higher levels of work engagement and lower levels of job burnout. Strong employee voice mediated this relationship: high motivational CQ enabled workers to learn cultural nuances that helped them speak up in appropriate ways (in part by building strong relationships with leaders), which positively influenced work engagement and job burnout.
Originality/value
This study is one of the first to clarify and contribute to the research domain of cross-cultural management and motivational CQ among Vietnamese migrant workers living in Asian cultures. Past studies regarding CQ have seldom studied Southeast Asian migrant workers and the impact of motivational CQ on job burnout and work engagement. This study fills this gap and provides empirical evidence that may prove helpful for international human resources and organizational leaders.
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Minna Jukka, Kirsimarja Blomqvist, Peter Ping Li and Chunmei Gan
The purpose of this paper is to explore how Chinese and Finnish managers in cross-cultural supply-chain relationships evaluate their business partners’ trustworthiness and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how Chinese and Finnish managers in cross-cultural supply-chain relationships evaluate their business partners’ trustworthiness and distrustworthiness.
Design/methodology/approach
Representatives of two Finnish companies and their Chinese and Finnish suppliers were interviewed to collect qualitative data from 23 managers.
Findings
The Chinese managers emphasized relationship-specific, personalized trustworthiness. They highlighted personalized communication and benevolence, which manifested in respect and reciprocity, rooted in the Chinese notion of “guanxi” as personal ties. In contrast, the Finnish managers’ view of trustworthiness was more associated with depersonalized organizational attributes. They emphasized the dimension of integrity, especially promise-keeping. In addition, tentative signs of trust ambivalence, as a balance between trust- and distrust-related factors, were identified for both the Chinese and the Finns.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the exploratory nature of this study the validity of the findings is limited to these data and context. Future studies could explore other national contexts as well as the effects of industry, market position, and position in the supply chain.
Practical implications
The findings of this study bring a valuable understanding of the potential pitfalls and unique challenges in cross-border inter-firm transactions. These can enhance inter-firm trust building in a cross-cultural context.
Originality/value
This study enriches the view of trust as a holistic process of simultaneous evaluation of both trustworthiness and distrustworthiness. In this process, trust ambivalence could serve as the intermediate construct between trust and distrust. These two contrary yet complementary opposites constitute a duality to be managed from the perspective of yin-yang balancing.
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Pervez Ghauri and Veronica Rosendo-Rios
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine organizational cross-culture differences in public-private research-oriented relationships. More precisely, it focusses on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine organizational cross-culture differences in public-private research-oriented relationships. More precisely, it focusses on the analysis university-industry collaborations partnering for research agreements with the aim of fostering the transfer of knowledge and innovation. It analyzes the key organizational cross-cultural differences that could hinder the successful performance of these agreements from a relationship marketing (RM) perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a comprehensive literature review of organizational culture and RM, a quantitative study was carried out and a structural equation model was proposed and tested.
Findings
Cross-cultural organizational differences in private-public sectors are proved to negatively influence relationship performance. Market orientation difference appears as the most significant barrier to relationship performance, followed by time orientation difference and to a lesser extent flexibility difference.
Originality/value
By integrating organizational culture and RM literatures, the main contribution of this paper is the cross-cultural analysis of private-public relationships (in this case university-industry relationships) from the perspective of RM. Hence, this research will inform management seeking to develop successful public-private collaborations by enhancing their understanding of cross-cultural factors underlying relationship success and failure.
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Angelica C Cortes and Arturo Vasquez-Parraga
This paper aims at advancing research on the identification and the first test of the primary steps companies follow to generate and maintain enablers of long-term marketing…
Abstract
This paper aims at advancing research on the identification and the first test of the primary steps companies follow to generate and maintain enablers of long-term marketing relationships in cross-cultural business. To achieve the objective, the authors first identify the communication difficulties in generating and maintaining long-term relationships in bi-cultural or multi-cultural settings. They then develop the building blocks, or enablers, that are needed to form and maintain enduring relationships. They finally illustrate the suggested process by describing the use of enablers in two contrasting cultures, the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin, using samples from the United States and Chile, respectively.
Janice M. Payan, Göran Svensson, Gabriel Awuah, Svante Andersson and Joe Hair
The purpose of this paper is to develop a cross‐cultural RELQUAL‐scale in supplier‐distributor relationships in Sweden and the USA.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a cross‐cultural RELQUAL‐scale in supplier‐distributor relationships in Sweden and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The Swedish and US sampling frames consisted each of a random sample of 600 owners and managers of distribution firms of specialty tools and fasteners. A total of 161 usable surveys were returned from the US‐survey, for a response rate of 27 percent, while 121 usable surveys were returned from the Swedish survey, for a response rate of 20 percent. An overall response rate of 24 percent was achieved across both countries.
Findings
The paper provides support for the dimensional distinctiveness of cooperation, coordination, specific assets, satisfaction, trust, and commitment. Four of the dimensions are reflective of relationship quality or the “cross‐cultural RELQUAL‐scale” (cooperation, coordination, trust, and commitment) and relationship quality was found to be associated with relationship‐satisfaction with suppliers. A test of metric invariance confirmed the RELQUAL‐scale is appropriate for cross‐cultural research.
Research limitations/implications
Examining the tested in other industrial and cultural contexts and countries in other inter‐organizational settings could help establish the generality of findings beyond Sweden and the USA and that beyond the context of the distributor‐supplier relationship of fasteners and specialty tools.
Practical implications
The “cross‐cultural RELQUAL‐scale” is of interest to business practice as it provides a structure of dimensions to be considered in the organizational effort of maintaining satisfactory levels of relationship quality with suppliers.
Originality/value
The paper focuses on two different cultural contexts, which is an approach rarely seen in inter‐organizational research. The focal constructs are frequently included in inter‐organizational research, but have previously not been included in the same empirical study of RELQUAL.
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Yifeng Chen, Dean Tjosvold and Sofia Su Fang
Given the susceptibility of cross‐cultural interaction to misunderstandings and disagreements, conflict management may be especially useful for helping employees develop quality…
Abstract
Given the susceptibility of cross‐cultural interaction to misunderstandings and disagreements, conflict management may be especially useful for helping employees develop quality leader relationships with their foreign managers. One hundred and eleven Chinese employees from various industries in Shanghai were interviewed on specific incidents where they had a conflict, defined as incompatible actions, with their Japanese manager or American manager. A qualitative analysis of the incidents and statistical tests of the data supported the hypotheses that a cooperative approach to conflict, rather than competitive or avoidance approaches, help Chinese employees and their foreign managers strengthen their relationship and improve their productivity. Cooperative conflict management may be an important way to overcome obstacles and develop an effective leader relationship across cultural boundaries.
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Paul A. Herbig and Hugh E. Kramer
The art of negotiation has been explored in a number of bestsellersover the last decade. With the advent of a truly global economy,international and cross‐cultural relationships…
Abstract
The art of negotiation has been explored in a number of bestsellers over the last decade. With the advent of a truly global economy, international and cross‐cultural relationships are forming out of necessity. The potential for error when talking between cultures is considerable and many negotiations have failed owing to cross‐cultural communications breakdown. Pointers are presented of the pitfalls to watch out for when undergoing cross‐cultural negotiations and how to avoid them so as successfully to complete agreements with those from other cultural backgrounds.
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Michael T. Rehg, Michael J. Gundlach and Reza A. Grigorian
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between cultural intelligence (CQ) and specific self‐efficacy (SSE), and the effect of training on CQ and SSE.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between cultural intelligence (CQ) and specific self‐efficacy (SSE), and the effect of training on CQ and SSE.
Design/methodology/approach
Pre and post‐test surveys were administered to 110 US government contracting trainees, in four separate training settings, to measure the effects of training on mean CQ and SSE scores. Two administrations included pre and post‐test surveys. One was designed as a post‐test only, while the fourth was taken from 25 contracting officers in a recurring training setting. Statistical analyses were performed through the use of t‐tests to measure the significance of the change in means across training classes.
Findings
It was found that training using a lecture format significantly improved mean levels of CQ on the cognitive and behavioral dimensions, while less significantly improving motivational CQ. SSE scores from pre‐ to post‐training were also only marginally improved. An additional finding showed significant positive correlations between CQ and SSE, but only in post‐ training samples.
Practical implications
These findings indicate that managers can use cultural training as an effective tool to increase the cognitive and behavioral dimensions of their employees' CQ, helping employees to be more effective in overseas assignments. In addition, improving employees' SSE on a task to be performed in a cross‐cultural situation may help to improve levels of CQ, and thus cross‐cultural performance.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates the link between SSE and CQ, and shows that CQ and SSE can be improved through training. The relationship among these variables had not been empirically tested in past research, especially involving samples of public sector employees.
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Sharon Purchase and Antony Ward
This research investigates cross‐cultural business networks between Australian engineering consultants and their Thai customers. A qualitative research study was conducted into…
Abstract
This research investigates cross‐cultural business networks between Australian engineering consultants and their Thai customers. A qualitative research study was conducted into business relationships, gathering data on different aspects of actors' perceptions of their relationships. The theoretical foundation of the research was the actors‐activities‐resources model, a western model developed by members of the Industrial Marketing and Purchasing Group. The results prompted an adaptation to the original model through the addition of two new constructs: network constraint and actor bond negative. A detailed description of the models’ constructs and their antecedents is given, thus contributing to the richness of data on cross‐cultural business relationships. The modified model adds to the development of a universal model of business relationships that can form the basis for applications in both western and eastern business cultures.
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