Fostering Inter-Cultural Relationships: The PCN Japanese Expatriate-American Local Experience

Abstract

I use the context of parent country national (PCN) expatriation to study inter-cultural relationships. Within US subsidiaries of Japanese firms, I study the cultural and individuated strategies PCN expatriates can use to foster the benevolent assessments of their American local colleagues as well as the receptivity of these American colleagues to the various strategies. In the main analysis I use random coefficient modeling to analyze data collected from 46 Japanese PCN expatriates and 112 of their matched American local colleagues. I find that PCN expatriate adaptation, helping and out-of-work interaction are positively associated with local assessments of expatriate benevolence. I also find that a local's need-to-belong strengthens the positive association between adaptation and benevolence while a local's neuroticism weakens the positive association between helping and benevolence. Areas of future research and practical implications are also discussed.