Management and Marketing - Research Publications
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ItemThe benefits of being understood: The role of ethnic identity confirmation in knowledge acquisition by expatriates(Wiley, 2018-01)In this article, we propose that the concept of ethnic identity confirmation (EIC), the level of agreement between how expatriates view the importance of their own ethnic identity and how local employees view the importance of expatriates' ethnic identity, can explain why expatriates who are ethnically similar to host‐country employees are sometimes less effective than expected when working overseas. Multinationals often choose ethnically similar expatriates for international assignments, assuming these expatriates can more effectively acquire knowledge from local employees. Thus, understanding the specific challenges that endanger the realization of this potential is crucial. Our survey, administered to a sample of 128 expatriate–local employee dyads working in China, reveals that both ethnically similar and ethnically different expatriates acquire more local knowledge when EIC is high. However, the association between ethnic (dis)similarity and knowledge acquisition is direct for ethnically different expatriates, whereas for ethnically similar expatriates it is indirect via their perception of local employees' trustworthiness. We discuss this study's important implications and provide recommendations for multinationals on how to provide tailored support to expatriates who face different identity challenges.
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ItemHow you see me, how you don’t: ethnic identity self-verification in interactions between local subsidiary employees and ethnically similar expatriates(Taylor & Francis (Routledge), 2020)Multinational corporations often assign expatriates who share an ethnicity with host country employees (termed ethnically similar expatriates) to work on international assignments. Although sharing an ethnicity with local employees can be an advantage, it also creates a unique identity challenge. In this article, we develop the argument that ethnic similarity might in fact threaten expatriate-local employee interactions if the two parties hold divergent views towards the importance of expatriates’ ethnic identity in their interactions. Drawing on self-verification theory, we explain why people desire to achieve congruence between how they view their own identity and how others view this identity. Subsequently, we identify key cultural and personal constraints affecting expatriates’ efforts to achieve ethnic identity self-verification. We also illustrate how unfulfilled ethnic identity self-verification affects ethnically similar expatriates, local employees and their interactions. Our study, thus, introduces a new angle to understand expatriate-local employee interactions and advances self-verification research by demonstrating the challenges in achieving ethnic identity self-verification when two social parties share an ethnicity.
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ItemA Google Scholar h-Index for Journals: An Alternative Metric to Measure Journal Impact in Economics and Business(WILEY, 2009-01)Abstract We propose a new data source (Google Scholar) and metric (Hirsch's h‐index) to assess journal impact in the field of economics and business. A systematic comparison between the Google Scholar h‐index and the ISI Journal Impact Factor for a sample of 838 journals in economics and business shows that the former provides a more accurate and comprehensive measure of journal impact.
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ItemThe language barrier and its implications for HQ-subsidiary relationships(Emerald, 2008-02-08)Purpose This paper intends to open up the debate on the influence of language on the way multinational companies manage their subsidiary operations. Design/methodology/approach The authors explain the importance of the field and expose a dearth of prior research. Subsequently, they define the “language barrier” and elaborate on the causes underlying this barrier, drawing on social identity theory. Findings The authors we propose an integrative model that consists of two coupled vicious cycles: the communications cycle – composed of the eight aspects of the language barrier – and the management cycle. Research limitations/implications This contribution to an otherwise ignored field of business study should be considered only a first step in opening up a new research agenda. Specialists in each of the fields touched upon are invited to make a contribution to the debate. Practical implications The management cycle suggests implications of the language barrier for various aspects of the HQ‐subsidiary relationship: strategic decision‐making, organization and personnel selection, global integration strategies, and autonomy and control procedures. Originality/value This paper uses socio‐linguistic theory to define and elaborate on the construct of the language barrier, a construct which is believed will be helpful in furthering research on the impact of language‐difference on multinational management.
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ItemArbitrary decisions in ranking studies: A commentary on Xu, Yalcinkaya, and Seggie (2008)(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2008-12-01)
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ItemGeographical distance and the role and management of subsidiaries: The case of subsidiaries down-under(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2006-06-01)
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ItemKnowledge-sharing and social interaction within MNEs(PALGRAVE MACMILLAN LTD, 2009-01-01)
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ItemThe role of international assignees' social capital in creating inter-unit intellectual capital: A cross-level model(PALGRAVE MACMILLAN LTD, 2009-04)
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ItemThe effect of corporate-level organizational factors on the transfer of human resource management practices: European and US MNCs and their Greek subsidiaries(ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2007-12)
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ItemResponse styles in cross-national survey research: A 26-country study(SAGE Publications, 2006-12-01)Studies of attitudes across countries generally rely on a comparison of aggregated mean scores to Likert-scale questions. This presupposes that when people complete a questionnaire, their answers are based on the substantive meaning of the items to which they respond. However, people's responses are also influenced by their response style. Hence, the studies we conduct might simply reflect differences in the way people respond to surveys, rather than picking up real differences in management phenomena across countries. Our 26-country study shows that there are major differences in response styles between countries that both confirm and extend earlier research. Country-level characteristics such as power distance, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and extraversion all significantly influence response styles such as acquiescence and extreme response styles. Further, English-language questionnaires are shown to elicit a higher level of middle responses, while questionnaires in a respondent's native language result in more extreme response styles. Finally, English-language competence is positively related to extreme response styles and negatively related to middle response styles. We close by discussing implications for cross-national research.