Examining Multiculturals’ and Multilinguals’ Paradoxical Bridging Behaviors in Overcoming Cultural and Language Barriers in Organizations

Abstract

Research has identified the usefulness of multicultural and multilingual employees in overcoming cultural and language barriers in international work contexts, but still needs to clarify why and how these employees engage in bridging behavior. Based on in-depth analyses of 154 interviews, we inductively develop a comprehensive model of bridging behaviors with novel and counterintuitive insights. We show that bridging behaviors are not only based on individual strengths, which multiculturals and multilinguals possess, but also—paradoxically—on their weaknesses. Multiculturals’ and multilinguals’ strengths and experience with weaknesses result in different determinants and enactments of bridging. Grounded in our inductive theory building, we propose four bridging behaviors: cultural teaching, language teaching, cultural facilitating, and language facilitating. Multiculturals and multilinguals cycle between these bridging behaviors depending on their capabilities and motivations in specific situations. We provide theoretical and practical implications of our findings.