An integrative review of acculturation perspectives in management research: the role of HRM

Abstract

Acculturation is becoming an increasingly important and discussed topic in management research, with important implications for human resource management (HRM). However, although current managerial and organizational reviews include the concept of acculturation, little research has explored the concept of acculturation itself. Different perspectives on acculturation seem to exist, suggesting that the topic of acculturation has not grown uniformly in the field, and these differences have not been fully explored. This paper conducts an integrative review to examine the main perspectives of acculturation at the individual and organizational levels in management research, along with the strategic role HRM has played in them. Individual-level perspectives include a nonwork-cultural perspective, a work-cultural perspective, and a work-nonwork perspective. Organizational-level perspectives include a merger-fit perspective, a merger-integration perspective, an organizational-distance ­perspective, a diversity-management perspective, and an organizational-socialization perspective. We identify similarities, gaps, and limitations of research on acculturation at both the individual- and organizational-levels and discuss implications for future research.