Journal of International Business Research (Print ISSN: 1544-0222; Online ISSN: 1544-0230 )

Reviews: 2022 Vol: 21 Issue: 3

The Moderating Impact of the Host Nation Context on Knowledge Sharing

Joseph Sakala, University of Lusaka

Citation Information:  Sakala, J. (2022). The moderating impact of the host nation context on knowledge sharing. Journal of International Business Research, 21(3), 1-2.

Abstract

Using goal-setting theory (GST) to investigate how institutionally assigned expatriates' level of psychological empowerment is impacted by organisational culture in a foreign assignment to impact their job performance, this study draws on the interconnection debate in internationalisation. It also looks into the role of language competence in the host country as a moderator in this relationship. According to the findings, psychological empowerment plays a positive and partial mediating function in the orientation and organizational and job performance, which is consistent with GST. The findings also revealed that an expatriate's capacity to communicate in the host country can help them perform better at work. The study's significance and contribution have been examined in relation to international human resource management (IHRM) and international management (IM). Throughout collectivism, a proxy for host countries' informal openness to foreigners, appears to facilitate the value of CQ as a prediction of expatriates' organisational embeddedness, according to cross-level interaction analyses. CQ, on the other hand, was shown to have no interaction with the surrogate for host countries' formal openness to outsiders, namely national immigration policies. We discovered that CQ is positively related to information sharing and that organisational embeddedness has an indirect influence, as predicted. The ramifications for philosophy and practise are discussed.

Keywords

Organizational Culture, Job Performance, Psychological Empowerment, Host Country Language Ability, Organization-Assigned Expatriates.

Introduction

The link between the immigrant and the host nation environment is an important aspect of the expatriation experience. Expats must overcome a number of hurdles in order to integrate into their new surroundings, including making any sense of and comprehending the foreign world. In this regard, early anthropological research on expatriates compared being exposed to a foreign culture to being dragged out of the ocean. Due to the growing use of international assignees by multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the increased permeability of national job markets for qualified foreign labour, cross-cultural management research has focused on the elements that assist expatriates find their place in a foreign setting (Lauring et al., 2019).

Cultural intelligence is a significant aspect that has arisen in the previous two decades (CQ). CQ has been defined as an individual's ability to engage effectively across cultural contexts and with culturally diverse individuals. It has been postulated that CQ enables individuals to understand, adapt, and shape the cross-cultural context in which they work. While CQ research has grown significantly since its start, numerous key questions remain. This disorder stems mostly from a lack of understanding of CQ's usefulness in different country contexts, as well as an overemphasis on CQ as a driver of (reactive) adjustment rather than proactive construction and integration into the foreign environment (Lee & Donohue, 2012; Lefever et al., 2007).

Finally, we don't know much about when and how foreigners can use CQ to help them integrate into enterprises. The current study proposes a multi-level model of how CQ permits expatriates' embeddedness in the host organisation and how the significance of CQ in doing so varies depending on the peculiarities of the host nation environment to provide answers to these critical questions. Individuals' opinions of how deeply they are immersed in the host organisation are captured by organisational embeddedness, which is the result of expatriates' purposeful actions to alter, shape, and construct their surroundings (Locke & Latham, 2019).

As a result, it differs with cross-cultural adaptation, which is more of a reaction to the pressures of living in a foreign country. Following this line of reasoning, our research alters the conventional paradigm from expatriates being constrained to just reacting to their surroundings to expatriates being proactive agents who can not only adapt but also gain power on their condition in the organisation (Peltokorpi & Froese, 2012).

Conclusion

This research added to our knowledge of how the impacts of expatriates' CQ are influenced by host nation settings. This study used a novel fine-grained approach to the utility and constraints of CQ by discriminating between formally and informally host country contexts. As a result, it provides food for thought in terms of a more nuanced assessment of host nation boundary circumstances in international assignment research in the area and CQ in particular. This research will contribute to trait activation theories by adding another layer of examination and utilising the theory's explanatory power to be further developed.

References

Lauring, J., Selmer, J., & Kubovcikova, A. (2019). Personality in context: effective traits for expatriate managers at different levelsThe International Journal of Human Resource Management30(6), 1010-1035.

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Received:  02-May-2022, Manuscript No.  JIBR-22-12061; Editor assigned: 03-May-2022, PreQC No. JIBR-22-12061 (PQ); Reviewed: 17-May-2022, QC No. JIBR-22-12061; Revised: 20-May-2022, Manuscript No. JIBR-22-12061 (R); Published: 27-May-2022

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