Culture Of Host Country Research Articles

Adaptação de Cônjuges e de Expatriados e sua relação com o Desempenho em Designações Internacionais

A adaptação de um expatriado é função de diversos fatores, e questões familiares têm sido apontadas como possíveis influenciadores nesse processo. Entretanto, pouco se sabe sobre o efeito existente do papel do cônjuge na adaptação do expatriado. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho é avaliar a relação entre a adaptação de expatriados e seus cônjuges com o desempenho do expatriado. Trata-se de um estudo quantitativo, realizado com 217 casais com um dos cônjuges tendo ocupado a posição de expatriado. Os resultados não mostraram uma relação significante entre a adaptação do cônjuge e o desempenho do expatriado, mas revelaram que a adaptação do expatriado modera a relação entre essas variáveis. Esses resultados sugerem que a adaptação do cônjuge pode exercer uma influência indireta no desempenho do expatriado, via sua adaptação. Esses achados suportam a ideia de que deve-se investir em suporte organizacional para facilitar um melhor ajuste do expatriado e seu cônjuge à cultura do país de destino e promover um desempenho individual superior.

Emotional intelligence and British expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment in international construction projects

Today’s internationalized business demands global mindset, intercultural sensitivity and the ability to skilfully negotiate through cross-cultural interactions. Therefore, the overall aim was to investigate the influence of emotional intelligence (EI) on cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) of British expatriates working on International Architectural, Engineering and Construction assignments in Sub-Saharan Africa, China, Middle East and Indian Sub-Continent. Specifically, the causal relationship between EI and three facets of CCA i.e. work, general and interaction adjustment was explored. A sequential exploratory mixed methods design was adopted. These include extensive review of existing literature, eighteen unstructured interviews, and questionnaire survey of 191 British expatriates operating in 29 different countries from the four regions under investigation. Structural equation modelling was used to assess the causal relationship between EI and CCA. Results show that EI accounted for 91, 64 and 24% of the variance in work, interaction and general adjustment respectively. Overall, the model was able to explain 60% variance in CCA, suggesting that EI competencies play a huge role in facilitating an expatriate understand and adapt to host country culture. The findings would help decision-makers (HR managers) during expatriate selection process, in understanding that along with technical skills, it is the emotional competencies that are crucial in assisting expatriates adjust to foreign way of life.

The Influences of Multinational Corporation’s Headquarters and Host Country Cultures on Foreign Subsidiaries’ Management Styles

The approach of the traditional top down total directives from an international (or, multinational, global or transnational) corporation’s corporate headquarters to its foreign subsidiary units about the choice of the unit's management styles and organizational culture and internal practices is not effective. Instead, international firms must allow the units to develop their own management styles and organizational culture to suit their respective host country environments, religion, social, work and operating cultures. Please see Notes 1 and 2 for definitional issues. Host country cultures have strong influences on a foreign subsidiary unit’s organizational culture in as much as the headquarters’ influence can be somewhat blended and tempered. Host country nationals employed in the foreign subsidiary unit, while they are loyal to the generalized, core global corporate philosophy and values from the headquarters, they can be expected to be more intense in their feelings of their national patriotism and values. The foreign subsidiary’s management styles and organizational culture are more likely to closely adhere to the host country’s values and temperament. The moral of the issue is that the headquarters must delegate to the foreign subsidiary the choices of management style, method of management and the internal organizational culture and processes that pervade its internal workings. The corporate headquarters’ influences are likely to hold stronger for the specific values, processes and norms of industry, technical, commercial, and administrative so long as they do not conflict with the host country’s core cultural values, norms and tradition and practices.

Making difficult decisions: Immigrants’ experiences of employment preparation and participation

Immigrants engage in complex integration processes that are mediated through daily occupations. A central element of socio-economic integration relates to labor market preparation and participation, including job searching, learning cultural values in the workplace, pursuing credential recognition and engaging in volunteering roles and paid employment. To examine how immigrants experienced occupations relating to preparing for, seeking, and gainingemployment. A secondary analysis using whole text analysis and line-by-line coding of twenty verbatim transcripts from interviews held with ten recently arrived immigrants to London, Ontario, Canada. Sessions consisted of a narrative interview, creation of an occupational map and a semi-structured follow-up interview. The participants' employment related occupations were characterized by the overarching theme of 'making difficult decisions'. This main theme was connected to four related sub-themes: 1) mechanisms of exclusion, 2) learning the host country's culture, 3) the influence of one's outlook on the decisions made, and 4) accessing support. This study identifies factors influencing immigrants' experiences of labor market preparation and participation. 'Making difficult decisions' was faced by all participants throughout the process of becoming part of the Canadian workforce and, ultimately, society at large.

Relationship between Acculturation Attitude and Translation of Culture-Bound Texts

<p>Acculturation attitudes, referred to as “sojourner reactions to adaptation into new language and cultural communities” (Culhane, 2004: 51), can be a predictor of translators’ level of intercultural competence during educational sojourns. Intercultural competence, defined as a “complex of abilities needed to perform effectively and appropriately when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself” (Fantini 2006: 12), can accordingly be a predictor of translation quality. To assess the actual relationship between acculturation attitude and quality of translation of culture-bound texts, the current study was conducted on 82 Iranian postgraduate students of Master of English translation at universities in England. The East Asian Acculturation Measure (EAAM), developed by Berry (2001), was adapted to assess translation students’ level of acculturation attitudes toward English culture. Some news excerpts adopted from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were also selected to assess the quality of translation of culture-bound texts. The analysis of Spearman rank order correlation (rho) revealed the significant positive relationship between acculturation attitude and quality of translation of culture-bound texts. The pedagogical implications of the findings suggested encouraging and providing language learners with opportunities to assimilate or integrate into the host country culture to be able to develop their intercultural competence to an optimal level.</p>

Host country responses to Black African migrants and refugees living with HIV

HIV has never respected national borders. In the context of displaced Africans the pan- demic takes on increased significance. This article reports findings from an exploratory study of Black African migrants and refugees living with HIV in New Zealand. While the issues are specific to this country and these participants, they have relevance to all coun- tries hosting newcomers; the need for a shift in meeting a changing demographic will be true for countries experiencing the African diaspora and resulting increase in HIV disease. Thirteen semi-structured interviews highlighted the importance of both African culture and host-country culture on experiences of stigma and decisions to access services. Participants’ African heritage played a crucial role in their decision to disclose while the host country culture was reflected in immigration requirements and participants’ experiences of care. Findings have relevance for shaping services to meet the needs of the increasing population of migrants and refugees globally.

Is resistance futile? Acculturation and disadvantage theory in immigrant entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial opportunity often has origins in demographic shifts, such as those caused by immigration, but disadvantage theory suggests that for cultural reasons, incongruence often exists between immigrants' economic aspirations, and the opportunities available in host countries. Thus, in the context of entrepreneurship, this paper investigates the acculturation strategies of immigrant entrepreneurs in their host countries and how these may manifest in entrepreneurial action. Berry's (1997) five acculturation strategies of integration, assimilation, separation/segregation, and marginalisation are considered. The paper also considers the influence of disadvantage theory and cross-vergence theory (Ralston et al., 1993a, 1993b) in strengthening and weakening the relationship between acculturation strategy and the foci of entrepreneurial ventures. Investigating the interaction between home and host country cultures, as manifest in entrepreneurial action, should provide a deeper understanding of immigrant populations' entrepreneurial experience. Implications for future research, policy, and practise are advanced and discussed.

Impact of U.K Business Culture in India

Business culture plays a vital role in any organization especially in multinational and international companies. It is important to learn the importance and impact of business culture on the culture of host country's organizations. Thus the present study aims at analyzing the impact of cultural dimensions of U.K Multinational's corporations on the business culture of India. The objectives of the study include 1)how are the various cultural dimensions of Hofstede's model impact on companies working in India 2) how business culture of U.K affects the business culture of India 3) analyze the cultural changes. The current research is completely based on the primary data collected from the company on the basis of five dimensions of Hofstede's model. Factor analysis has been used to meet the objective of the research. Interpretation and conclusion are based on the data analysis.

A global health elective for US medical students: the 35 year experience of the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, School of Public Health.

The School of Public Health at the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center has sponsored a 6–8 week global health elective for fourth year medical students since 1980. The purpose of this elective is to provide students with an opportunity to observe the health care and public health delivery systems in low-income countries, provide medical service and have a cross-cultural experience. Over the course of the past 35 years, 388 students have participated in this global health elective in more than 41 low-income countries. The most popular sites include the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, India, Kenya and Thailand. Overall, interest in this elective has persisted throughout the course of time, sometimes temporarily increasing or decreasing with outside factors, such as the events of 11 September 2001 and the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Asia. Recent annual applications for this elective have been as high as 44 out of a class of 200 students. Over the past 10 years, annual acceptance rates have varied, ranging from a low of 32 % in 2007–2008 to a high of 74 % in 2010–2011 and 2013–2014. Careful screening, including a written application, review of academic records and personal interviews has resulted in the selection of highly mature, adaptable and dedicated students who have performed well at overseas sites. Student rated satisfaction levels with this elective are almost universally high, with most rating it the best experience of their medical school years. Students undergo extensive preparation prior to their travel overseas, including a review of individual health and safety issues, travel and lodging, and the nature of the host country culture, health care system and assignment site. Downstate medical students are especially experienced in cross-cultural understanding because of the unusual diversity of the patient population in Brooklyn, and the diversity of local hospital staff and the medical school class. The Alumni Fund of the College of Medicine has steadfastly supported this elective with both a philosophical commitment and financial grants to help defray costs since the very early years. The Dr. Michael and Lona B. Kennéy Endowment, the Joshua H. Weiner endowment, and the LSK Foundation have also provided financial support for this elective. Throughout the course of this elective, overseas preceptors have willingly given of their time and institutional resources to make these experiences available and meaningful for our students.

Impact of Host Country Culture on Glocalisation of Corporate Websites

Internet has become a hybrid means of sales, service, and communication channel. Its penetration and acceptability in areas of e-commerce across cultures have given it a growth rate of 566 percent in the time period 2000-2012. Internet helps a marketer to reach target customers across cultures and borders. Therefore, the Internet or its usability in a business environment could not avoid the continuous debate of standardization versus localization. This debate revolves around the argument that people live within a traditional core cultures and that these cultures affect communication messages and peoples perceptions toward those messages. Therefore, a globally designed website might reduce the cultural acceptability of a website. Practically, more than often the globalization of content might reduce a companys target audience to a much smaller group in terms of its way of life, customs and religious beliefs. Literature indicates that another significant element in making websites effective is to realize the importance of content and its understanding the users. One of the important issue is the relationship between culture and feature and content of a corporate website. Evidence from the emerging body of literature on the cultural dimensions of website design and content attributes cuts both ways on the assumption of culturally-neutral, web-based communication. The present study was undertaken with an objective to examine cultural differences and similarities between the content of existing corporate websites from the three countries i.e. India, China, and Denmark, across Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Websites of 24 companies from each host country were analyzed. The results of the study were more supportive of localization of content.

Sun exposure and vitamin D status as Northeast Asian migrants become acculturated to life in Australia.

Vitamin D deficiency is more common in Northeast-Asian immigrants to western countries than in the local population; prevalence equalizes as immigrants adopt the host country's culture. In a community-based study of 100 Northeast-Asian immigrants in Canberra, Australia, we examined predictors of vitamin D status, its association with indicators of acculturation (English language use; time since migration) and mediators of that association. Participants completed a sun and physical activity diary and wore an electronic ultraviolet radiation (UVR) dosimeter for 7 days. Skin colour was measured by reflectance spectrophotometry. Serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and cardio-metabolic biomarkers were measured on fasting blood. In a multiple linear regression model, predictors for 25(OH)D concentration were season of blood collection, vitamin D supplementation, UVR exposure, body mass index, physical activity and having private health insurance (R(2) = 0.57). Greater acculturation was associated with lower risk of vitamin D deficiency (de-seasonalized 25(OH)D level <50 nmol L(-1)) (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR): 0.22 [95%CI 0.04-0.96]); this association was statistically mediated by physical activity and time outdoors. Vitamin D deficiency was associated with higher total cholesterol levels (>5.0 mmol L(-1)) (AOR: 7.48 [95%CI 1.51-37.0]). Targeted public health approaches are required to manage the high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in migrants retaining a traditional lifestyle.

Migrant Acculturation and the Workplace

Berry's (1997; 2001) migrant acculturation theory has emerged as one of the more prominent theoretical frameworks to shed light on the patterned dynamics characterising the experience of migrants - regardless of country of origin or country of settlement. For Berry (2001, p. 621) ‘acculturation’ refers to the process of psychological change in a person (the migrant) resulting from contact and involvement with representatives of other cultures (usually and typically the host country culture). It invariably entails relinquishing elements of the person's culture of origin (‘culture shedding’) and adopting and internalising elements of the host country culture (‘culture learning’). Adjustment to the host culture is a function of those situations and incidents where the migrant interfaces with representatives of the host culture i.e. social contexts/settings. Acculturation, being a consequence of social encounters through which migrant integration and absorption into the (host) community is ‘achieved’, occurs when the migrant, for example, participates in sport, religious and/or other community-based activities. It is through these social encounters that the migrant becomes aware of (’learns’) about culture... own culture of origin and other or host culture and detects similarities and differences relative to his/her expectations about the host culture. It is also at this stage that unanticipated or under-acknowledged features of the host culture would induce ‘culture shock’. Drawing on the work of several scholars, Brown and Holloway (2008, p. 34) defines ‘culture shock’ as “…anxiety that results from losing the familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse, and their substitution by other cues that are strange” – a phenomenon therefor firmly rooted in the social more so than the physical context. In as much as the community and the neighbourhood (as social context) are primary drivers of migrant acculturation that may facilitate or constrain acculturation, so too does the work setting serve as a supportive or constraining social context. For those migrants who secure some form of employment relatively early in their settlement in the host country, the work setting becomes a proxy for ‘community’ by virtue of its social character and dynamics, with the difference that the focus and nature of social relationships are framed by the fundamental purpose of the institution, the nature of work to be performed, the dependence relationship between employer and employee, as well as the very clear power relationships (and power differentials) that characterise and inform organisational functioning and hence direct employee behaviour in the workplace. It is consequently a natural extension of acculturation theory to posit that the workplace would facilitate but potentially also constrain migrant acculturation and adjustment in his/her adopted country. It can be further argued that because of the heightened significance of work and working to the migrant (cf. Matejicek, 2008), the workplace will assume a far more prominent position as an acculturation context than may be generally acknowledged. Some support for this line of reasoning is suggested, for example, in work with expatriates that found that perceived organisational support directly impacted on expatriate adjustment and consequently expatriate performance (Kraimer et al., 2001).

Expatriate skills: cases studies of portuguese multinationals firms

The starting question of this study is what kind of skills make an employee candidate to international assignment and potentially impact on his/her success? Literature suggests that both technical skills and personality traits are critical and affect international assignments. For instance, Hammer et al., (2008) report cross-cultural skills. Black et al., (1999) in their study emphasized the cultural flexibility, the ability to develop interpersonal relationships, the skills of conflict management and leadership style. Van der Zeen and Van Oudenhoven (2000) mentioned the cultural empathy, the openness of mind, a cultural initiative, the emotional stability and flexibility. Despite the lack of consensus around the set of skills, the common perception is that an appropriate balance between soft and technical skills in addition to non-ethnocentric traits may prevent expatriation failures. The goal of this paper is to contribute to such debate by identifying expatriate critical skills and abilities. For this purpose, our research focuses on the selection practices and tries to ascertain the criteria and procedures applied for the selection of expatriates. We would therefore to answer to the following research questions: how firms select employees for expatriation? What are the core or transversal skills required to an for expatriate? That is, are some skills that are needed for any international assignment? Or otherwise, the skills are specific or functional? Empirical research is based on three Portuguese multinationals case studies operating in different countries and in different sectors. The company from food setor has about 6,600 employees and operates also inPoland. The company of computer setor has about 1200 workers and operates also inSingapore,U.S. andUK and the third company from metal construction has 3000 workers and began its internationalization process forRomania,Angola,Brazil,Mozambique. The information was collected from face-to-face interviews with human resource managers. Additionally, some general statistics on expatriate socio-demographic characteristics were gathered. Empirical evidence suggests that leadership and result orientation skills seem to be required by all firms in the sample. Furthermore, the results indicate that employers privilege industry-specific and occupational-specific skills. Regarding other individual characteristics, the expatriates from the firms in our sample are employees aged between 30 and 50 years. While organizations select younger employees to promote the development of skills, older employees are selected on the basis of their experience and ability to adapt to host country culture and people. Organizations are also aware of other factors that influence successful expatriation. For instance, the vast majority of expatriates are married. This finding suggests that firms may use criteria not related to skills and abilities but are utmost relevant. Despite the higher costs of expatriates with family responsibility, the firms have learnt that family matters may affect expatriate performance.

French

Acculturation: the effects of subcultures of the country of origin and cultural distance The satisfaction of specific needs of migrating populations is a challenge facing companies. This article focuses on the acculturation of consumers changing their cultural environment by migrating from the same country but belonging to different subcultures. A qualitative study was conducted. It showed that the cultural distance between the subculture of origin and the host culture is a mediating variable between subcultures and acculturation modes. Study results also add to the existing acculturation literature that acculturation could be compulsory or selected. They highlight the existence of a new acculturation direction which is the mix of cultures. They show how psychosocial moderator variables might influence acculturation and how moderator variables play different roles according to the cultural distance between subcultures and host country culture.

The effect of host country long term orientation on subsidiary ownership and survival

This paper examines the role which the long term orientation (LTO) dimension of host country culture plays in transforming multinational corporations’ (MNCs’) focus from transaction cost to transaction value in the context of MNC subsidiary ownership and survival. We used a sample of 10,236 overseas subsidiaries established by 1,291 Japanese MNCs in 29 host countries with varying levels of LTO to test our hypotheses. Results first showed that LTO has a direct positive effect on ownership levels. Second, we observed that there were positive interactions between LTO and cultural distance, and between LTO and geographic distance, on ownership levels. Third, we found that there were positive interactions between LTO and subsidiary ownership level, and between LTO and cultural distance, on subsidiary survival. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in terms of the vital role LTO plays in determining whether transaction value or transaction cost considerations prevail in MNCs’ ownership strategies, and how MNCs can better take advantage of host country LTO and improve the survival likelihood of their subsidiaries.

Evolutionary dynamics of nationalism and migration

I present a dynamic evolutionary game model to address the relation between nationalism against immigrants and assimilation of the latter into the host country culture. I assume a country composed of two different large polymorphic populations, one of native citizens and the other of immigrants. A native citizen may behave nationalistically or may welcome immigrants. Immigrants may have an interest in learning the host country language or not. Evolution is modeled using replicator dynamics (RD). I also account for the presence of an enclave of immigrants in the host country. In the RD, the latter represents the immigrants’ own population effect, which contribution to fitness is controlled using a parameter ρ, 0≤ρ≤1, that represents the enclave size. In line with the empirical literature on migration, the existence of an enclave of immigrants makes assimilation less likely to occur. For large values of ρ, complete assimilation may not occur even if immigrants and natives share very close cultures and norms. Government policy regarding nationalism is modeled both exogenously and endogenously. A single or multiple asymptotically stable states exist for all cases studied but one in which the dynamics is similar to that found in the predator–prey model of Lotka–Volterra for competing species.

When culture and learning styles matter: A Canadian university with Middle-Eastern students

Transnational branch campuses of universities are a growing phenomenon, particularly in the Middle-East. The cultures of home institutions and host countries are often foreign to each other. The result is a cultural and learning style gap between faculty and students impacting students’ learning and teachers’ effectiveness. A pilot study of the University of Calgary, at its Canadian branch campus located in Qatar, looks at the differences in learning styles between faculty who are predominantly from Canada and students predominantly from Qatar.

Interactive effects of personality and separation as acculturation style on adolescent antisocial behaviour

The primary aim of this study was to assess the interaction between personality and acculturation variables in predicting antisocial behaviour among adolescent immigrants living in Spain. Previous studies have shown that the acculturation style referred to as separation (rejection of the host country's culture, and a strong desire to preserve the culture of the country of origin) was strongly related to antisocial behaviour among immigrants. A further aim of this study was to examine if the relationship between separation and antisocial behaviour was moderated by personality variables, in particular impulsivity, sensation-seeking, and personal competence. Self-reported data of a sample of 750 adolescent immigrants living in Galicia's and Madrid's regions (Spain) were gathered using previously validated scales. The results revealed that both separation and personality variables were significantly related to antisocial behaviour. Moreover, hierarchical regression analysis with the interaction terms entered found significant moderating effects i.e., the relationship between separation and antisocial behaviour was significantly amplified when impulsivity or sensation-seeking were high. The results underscore the need to examine the effects of personality, acculturation, and the interaction between both on antisocial behaviour among adolescent immigrants.

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost: Examining the Impact of Sojourner Adjustment and Drinking Motives on Alcohol Consequences Experienced by Americans Studying in Foreign Countries

American students studying in foreign countries represent a unique group at risk for increased and problematic drinking. Examination of risk and protective factors for negative alcohol-related consequences can lead to the development of efficacious preventive interventions for reducing high-risk drinking while abroad. The present study examined the relationship between sojourner adjustment (i.e., the sociocultural and psychological adjustment of short-term residents in foreign environments), drinking motives, and alcohol-related consequences. Participants were 248 college students (81% women) who recently completed study-abroad trips and completed online surveys about their drinking motives and behavior, alcohol-related consequences, and sojourner adjustment. In general, positive sojourner adjustment (i.e., social interaction with host nationals, language development and use, and host culture identification) was protective against negative consequences, whereas negative sojourner adjustment (i.e., social interaction with co-nationals and homesickness/feeling out of place) was associated with increased reporting of consequences. Unexpectedly, the positive sojourner adjustment factor of cultural understanding and participation was associated with greater alcohol-related consequences. Social motives for drinking also predicted consequences. Drinking motives moderated several of the relationships between sojourner adjustment and consequences. Interest in and adoption of the host country culture may protect against problematic alcohol use; however, this may vary based on students' reasons for drinking. These findings support the need for further examination of sojourner adjustment in college students abroad and indicate potential areas for development of preventive interventions.

International Exchange as a Transformative Learning Experience: A Case Study

This study examines the role of international exchange programs on the transformative learning of English-speaking students. A student exchange program at a South Korean university is used for this case study. It explores how learning experiences are translated by participants onto their perceptions about the host country. An analysis of a pre- and postsurvey suggests that transformative learning of the students is reflected in two overarching themes: (1) intercultural understanding and (2) global perspectives. Through their participation in the program, students developed a deeper understanding of their own and the host country's cultures and an enhanced appreciation for broadening their global perspectives. This study concludes that international exchange programs have a fundamental importance in educating students to become global citizens and leaders.