Migrants, Expatriates, and Nationals: How Do They Acculturate in a Cosmopolitan Organization?

Abstract

We investigate acculturation strategies enacted by migrants, expatriates, and nationals in a multicultural organization in which the migrants and expatriates significantly outnumber the nationals, and multiple (often opposing) cultural values and business practices coexist in equilibrium. Drawing on the data collected from participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, we conceptualized four types of acculturation strategies that variously affect individuals’ status in the organization: cosmopolitanizing, brokering, assimilating, and separating. Our analysis revealed that the social boundaries marked by migration status and origin country set a clear and visible social hierarchy in the organization. Concurrently, through different acculturation strategies, individuals distinguish themselves from other members within their social groups, which creates another layer of symbolic boundaries and invisible status hierarchies in the organization. Our analysis further suggests that the adoption of a specific acculturation strategy may be constrained by cultural resources available to the individual. Our research advances current theorizations of migrant (and non-migrant) acculturation by revealing how different acculturation strategies affect the status hierarchies in an organization characterized by extreme cultural diversity.