Local Co-workers Research Articles

Effect of outgroup social categorization by host-country nationals on expatriate premature return intention and buffering effect of mentoring

Outgroup social categorization by host-country nationals (HCNs) is a common challenge for expatriates and it has received inadequate scholarly attention in expatriate research. This study explores how outgroup social categorization affects expatriate intention to terminate international assignments prematurely and how this adversity can be lessened through organizational mentoring interventions. We theorize that outgroup social categorization by HCNs results in social isolation for expatriates, which triggers expatriates' early return intentions, and mentoring mitigates this indirect effect. The hypotheses were supported by the analyses of multisource data collected from expatriates and their local co-workers in multinational enterprises operating in China. Theoretical and practical implications of the research findings are discussed.

Bringing “A Different Femininity”: Immigrant Women from Bulgaria and Local Co-workers on a Factory Floor in Turkey

This article draws on life-course interviews with a group of Turkish immigrant women from socialist Bulgaria and locals who shared the same factory floor for approximately two decades starting from the late 1970s in the city of Bursa, Turkey. It examines the relational processes that simultaneously shaped both the immigrant and local gendered understandings of employment. The contrasting norms that immigrant women and local co-workers attributed to work evolved into everyday contestations on the factory floor. Through these interactions, the work-oriented image of women embodied by immigrants placed pressure on understandings held by co-workers, specifically regarding women’s paid labor as secondary to men’s. However, the immigrants could not entirely change institutionalized gender expectations, and therefore simultaneously reworked their public conceptions of work to better accommodate their new situations. The findings contribute to the literature on gender and immigration by showing that immigrants selectively adopt gender norms present in their new destinations and, distinctively, that immigrants may simultaneously shape receiving gender contexts.

Experiences and challenges in the health protection of medical teams in the Chinese Ebola treatment center, Liberia: a qualitative study

BackgroundHealth care workers are at the frontline in the fight against infectious disease, and as a result are at a high risk of infection. During the 2014–2015 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, many health care workers contracted Ebola, some fatally. However, no members of the Chinese Anti-Ebola medical team, deployed to provide vital medical care in Liberia were infected. This study aims to understand how this zero infection rate was achieved.MethodsData was collected through 15 in-depth interviews with participants from the People’s Liberation Army of China medical team which operated the Chinese Ebola Treatment Center from October 2014 to January 2015 in Liberia. Data were analysed using systematic framework analysis.ResultsThis study found numerous bio-psycho-socio-behavioural risk factors that directly or indirectly threatened the health of the medical team working in the Chinese Ebola Treatment Center. These factors included social and emotional stress caused by: (1) the disruption of family and social networks; (2) adapting to a different culture; (3) and anxiety over social and political unrest in Liberia. Exposure to Ebola from patients and local co-workers, and the incorrect use of personal protective equipment due to fatigue was another major risk factor. Other risk factors identified were: (1) shortage of supplies; (2) lack of trained health personnel; (3) exposure to contaminated food and water; (4) and long working hours. Comprehensive efforts were taken throughout the mission to mitigate these factors. Every measure was taken to prevent the medical team’s exposure to the Ebola virus, and to provide the medical team with safe, comfortable working and living environments. There were many challenges in maintaining the health safety of the team, such as the limited capability of the emergency command system (the standardized approach to the command, control, and coordination of an emergency response), and the lack of comprehensive international protocols for dealing with emerging infectious disease pandemics.ConclusionsThe comprehensive and multidisciplinary measures employed to protect the health of the medical team proved successful even in Liberia’s resource-limited setting. The global health community can learn valuable lessons from this experience which could improve the safety of health care workers in future emergencies. These lessons include: establishing capable command systems; implementing effective coordination mechanisms; providing adequate equipment; providing training for medical teams; investing in the development of global health professionals; and improving research on ways to protect health care workers.

Learning from Coworkers: Peer Effects on Individual Investment Decisions

We use unique data on employee decisions in the employee stock purchase plans (ESPPs) of U.S. public firms to measure the influence of networks on investment decisions. Comparing only employees within a firm during the same election window and controlling for a metro area fixed effect, we find that the local choices of coworkers to participate in the firm’s ESPP exert a significant influence on employees’ own decisions to participate. Local coworkers’ trading patterns also disseminate to colleagues through the network. In the cross-section, we find that some employees (men, younger workers) are particularly susceptible to peer influence. Generally, we find that more similar employees exert greater influence on each other’s decisions and, particularly, that high (low) information employees are most affected by other high (low) information employees. However, we also find that the presence of high information employees magnifies the effects of peer networks. We trace a value-increasing investment choice through employee networks. Thus, our analysis suggests the potential of networks and targeted investor education to improve financial decision-making.

Conducting communication assessments with school aged aboriginal children in the Kimberley region of Australia

Speech pathology assessment within cross-cultural contexts, where the assessor and client differ in their cultural backgrounds, can create many challenges for assessment usage and implementation. With Australia being home to people from many cultures, this isa particular challenge for speech pathologists working in this country. This paper outlines the development of an assessment specifically for Aboriginal children living in a discrete region of the Kimberley in Western Australia. This assessment was developed in collaboration with local language experts as well as speech pathologists experienced in the area of assessment with Indigenous children. Nearly all parts of the assessment were administered by a local co-worker in the children’s first language, Kimberley or Fitzroy Valley Kriol. The paper outlines the specific components of the assessment as well as the approaches taken to ensure fair and accurate assessment of children’s communication skills. It highlights the benefits of collaborating with local co-workers and provides those working with Indigenous children in Australia with practical activities to consider.

Profiling intercultural competence of Indonesians in Asian workgroups

There have been numerous intercultural competence studies; yet, only a few of them have examined the dynamics of intercultural competence among non-westerners in international contexts. This study attempts to identify specific intercultural competences for Indonesian sojourners and local co-workers in Indonesian-Chinese and Indonesian-Singaporean work groups. We propose a holistic approach that incorporates perspectives of both Indonesians and their Asian co-workers to elaborate their cross-cultural experiences. Eighty-one in-depth interviews were conducted in Indonesia and China using Indonesian sojourners and locals (N=47) as well as their Chinese and Singaporean co-workers (N=34). A grounded theory data analysis was conducted using atlas.ti software. A model of Indonesian intercultural competences in international work groups was developed to depict four core intercultural competences: motivating leadership, personable mediation, climate management and multiculturalism. Three potential synergy and problematic areas are identified: the meaning of work, communication style, and perception of competition versus harmony. Future research directions and practical implications to improve intercultural effectiveness among these three cultures are discussed.

Impact of importing foreign talent on performance levels of local co-workers

When skilled labour is imported to work in a creative industry, local workers may benefit, in terms of their own level of skill, through contact with new techniques and practices. European basketball offers an opportunity to investigate the reality of this general claim. For a panel of 47 European countries observed over more than twenty years, we model probability of qualification for, and subsequent performance in, Olympic Tournaments and World and European Championships. We demonstrate that, consistent with the spillover hypothesis, an increase in the number of foreigners in a domestic league tends to generate a subsequent improvement in the performance of the national team (which has to be comprised only of local players).