Intercultural Experiences: Benefits & Challenges in Global Organizations

SUMMARY

This essay focuses on the challenges and benefits of working for an international company and the need for emotional intelligence and personality traits to adapt to intercultural experiences. The challenges for expatriates in cross-cultural adjustments (CCA) are personal, work, and non-work demands. Effective Expatriate Management (EM) is essential for successful diversity management in international corporations. Cultural diversity in multinational companies can lead to increased business profits, company image, and customer satisfaction. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and institutional theory are important frameworks in understanding intercultural experiences. Possessing cultural intelligence is crucial for better adaptation to differences in cultures. Failure to adapt effectively in the new organization or country may lead to divorce (McNulty, 2015) and negative work performance (Kraimer, Wayne & Jaworski, 2001). Therefore, successful expatriates or employees is usually associated with better adaptation with both work and non-work environments (Zhang, 2013). An individual will be interviewed through a casual Whatsapp conversation in order to analyze his experiences of working for an international company along with supporting arguments from reputable journals and articles.

INTRODUCTION

Human resources have been known to be an invaluable competitive advantage for companies. As a result, international corporations are increasingly seeking well-equipped human resources with the mobile ability to ensure cross-border operations are carried out successfully (Aracı, 2015). However, employees in international organisations especially expatriates face various challenges, especially in terms of cross-cultural adjustments (CCA) to the host environment or country (Aracı, 2015; Koveshnikov, Wechtler, & Dejoux, 2014; Richardson, Tan & Kiumarsi, 2018). Based on the Job Demands-Resources (JDR) by Bakker & Demerouti (2007) and Demerouti, Bakker, Nachreiner, & Schaufeli (2001), the challenges can be identified as personal demands, work demands and non-work demands (Shaffer, Kraimer, Chen & Bolino, 2012). Personal demands are mostly related to stress that arises from the organization or foreign culture, coping strategies and identity transformation. Work demands, on the other hand, comprise of career adjustment process as well as structural and perceptual barriers whereas non-work demands focused on family issues (Shaffer et al. 2012).

The increasing trend of expatriates employed in international companies have called for effective Expatriate Management (EM) in Human Resource Management (HRM) (Aracı, 2015). An effective EM system would result in successful diversity management within international corporations in which multicultural teams have been proven as beneficial in understanding market dynamics and promote innovation (Ehrenmann & Tekic, 2011). Based on the research by Köppel, Yan and Lüdicke (2007), cultural diversity could lead to an increase in business profits, company image and customer satisfaction (Velten & Lashley, 2018).

Hence, the objective of this assignment is to analyze the benefits and challenges of working for an international company critically based on the interview findings and supported further with empirical evidence from academic journals to strengthen the analysis. The assignment is structured with a literature review together with interview findings, analysis and conclusion.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Business culture focuses the culture mainly on economic level and the organizational culture (Kwantes & Sharon, 2017). The business personality can be seen through its organizational culture as it defines the regulations and serves as unique features that differentiate an organization (Taslim, 2011). Organizational culture is shaped by both “formal organizations” (specific tasks taken in the workplace) and “informal organizations” (network of relationship) (Meyer & Rowan, 1977, as cited in Kwantes & Sharon, 2017).

Hofstede’s cultural dimension is one of the renowned cultural theoretical frameworks in which it researched on comparative cross-cultural management studies (Minkov & Hofstede, 2012). Hofstede’s framework has six dimensions which are (1) power distance; (2) indulgence and restraints; (3) uncertainty avoidance; (4) time orientation; (5) masculinity and femininity; and (6) individualism and collectivism (Hofstede, Hofstede & Minkov, 2010). The framework assists in evaluating the range of cultural differences between each country through different dimensions.

Institutional theory have a strong connection to an organizational culture which represents more than tasks, but also the attributes, roles, and common understanding and results in the consensus of decision-making (Suddaby, Elsbach, Greenwood, Meyer & Zilber, 2010). An individual can be either a voluntary or involuntary member of organizational culture and the basis of the membership has real impacts on his or her adjustment and acceptance of the culture (Kwantes & Sharon, 2017). Leadership is also an integral part of shaping the organizational culture (Kwantes & Sharon, 2017). Culture develops from (1) the beliefs and values of the organization’s founder; (2) the knowledge acquisition of the member as the organization develop; and (3) new members and new leader’s beliefs and values (Schein, 2004). On top of that, organizational culture also indirectly reflects the personality traits of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) (Giberson et al., 2009).

Possessing cultural intelligence (CQ) or cross-cultural competence (3C) has been implied as imperative traits required in order for individuals to succeed in their international assignments. They can be defined as the skills to act appropriately in cross-cultural situations (Thomas, 2006, as cited in Kwantes & Sharon, 2017). Thomas (2006) stated that there are three factors required to operationalize CQ, which consisted of knowledge, mindfulness and behaviors. Although some elements of CQ or 3C can be learned in the classroom, it can only be successfully developed through cross-cultural experiences including interactions, awareness, interest and growth through experiences. In addition, one’s desire to enjoy intercultural experiences also lead in their openness to learn and try new foods and cultural activities. In short, it is more likely for an individual to become highly culturally intelligent as they have more intercultural experiences and they have higher awareness towards those experiences (Kwantes & Sharon, 2017).

INTERVIEW FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

Based on an interview with Mohd Alwi, a Malaysian expatriate in Germany working with Beck GmbH Druckkontrolltechnik in Steinenbronn as a mechanical engineer (R&D) from year 2009 to 2014, he has identified several benefits and challenges of working for an international company. One of the benefits is he managed to bring improvement and become a better version of himself over the years. On top of that, the working experience assists in developing his tolerance level. This is proven that expatriates will have better adaptation by understanding and comprehending cultural variations and similarities in a tolerant way (Rozaimie, 2018). Besides, due to his experience, he finds himself easily accepted in an international environment such as seminars involved with Germans and other foreigners. Besides, there is a higher tendency for the company to choose employees with more exposure to working with foreigners as compared to those who do not have any experience working with foreigners.

However, there will always be challenges specifically when there is a huge difference between the culture in German and Malaysia. He struggles to adapt to the unfamiliar culture in order to work better with the locals there. For example, as Germans are very particular in terms of punctuality hence, arriving at 8 AM for an 8 AM meeting is considered late although it is considered punctual in Malaysia. Despite that, non-work appointment such as dinner appointment has different kind of interpretation, in which if a dinner appointment is set at 8 PM, it is recommended to arrive at 8:15 PM. Another difference in Germans culture compared to most Asian countries is that Asian culture can work beyond the normal working hours but Germans culture is not allowed to do that. Once the working hour has ended, no work-related discussion, calls or messages will be entertained. Moreover, he finds it difficult to adapt, especially when the culture is not particularly aligned or in other words, against his religion or personal principle. In order to overcome the said challenges, he mentioned that being open-minded helped him to accept the culture better, and when a certain culture element is particularly unacceptable, clarifying the reasons behind it to the locals assists in avoiding unwanted displeasure or disapproval.

Being respectful of other cultures has turned out to be the most important thing when it comes to adjusting himself in the business. In addition, he mentioned that being highly tolerant in the workplace assists in familiarising with the organizational culture better. This emotional intelligence is particularly important in the success of cross-cultural adjustments (Koveshnikov, Wechtler, & Dejoux, 2014). Personal abilities which encourage him to overcome business-related challenges are preparation and education on the local’s tradition, language and culture as well as general knowledge such as the country’s culture and history. The preparation is extremely advantageous as the locals tend to become friendlier and respectful when an individual is more sensitive towards their culture. Moreover, it is strongly recommended to avoid starting conversations related to sensitive issues which are related mostly to religious and political issues.

Overall, he stated that there are several lessons which can be obtained from these experiences which is an individual who is open-minded and more accepting of others cultures is easily accepted within the society or organization. Additionally, the challenges of working in an international environment increase the endurance and the ability to be self-sustaining. Apart from that, there are moments when a cultural aspect in German is better as compared to Malaysia. For this instance, it is better to learn, adapt and mould it to become a part of himself for the sole reason of self-improvement.

CONCLUSION

To conclude, it is clear that working for an international company or environment brings about numerous challenges for employees in terms of adjustment and adaptation. A successful and well-adjusted employee is vital in order to produce positive work performance and gain valuable experiences for self-improvement. Nevertheless, acquiring the right attitude and knowledge helped to support the adaptation process and support in overcoming the obstacles and challenges. Regardless, undergoing diverse intercultural experiences and paired with open-mindedness, sensitivity towards other cultures as well as awareness, and a keen attitude to learn is the ideal method in achieving cultural intelligence and be well-adjusted expatriates or employees in an international company.