Knowledge Sharing and its Management in an International Work Environment: Drivers, Challenges, and Consequences

As organizations are becoming increasingly multicultural in their composition and global in their focus, we set out to zero in on extant dialog around creating, sharing, and managing knowledge in an international work environment with this special issue. With this objective in mind, we inform on a range of contributions to provide perspective on meaningful future research opportunities in this exciting domain

Institutional discrimination of women and workplace harassment of female expatriates

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate workplace gender harassment of female expatriates across 25 host countries and consider the role of institutional-level gender discrimination as a boundary condition. Further, the study investigates the effects of workplace gender harassment on frustration and job satisfaction and general job stress as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach The sample is comprised of 160 expatriates residing in 25 host countries. The authors test the model using partial least-squares structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that female expatriates experience more workplace gender harassment than male expatriates. This effect is particularly pronounced in host countries with strong institutional-level gender discrimination. Moreover, the authors found significant main effects of gender harassment on expatriates’ frustration and job satisfaction. Further, the authors identified a significant association between frustration and job satisfaction. No significant moderation effect of general job stress was found. Research limitations/implications The study’s data are cross-sectional. Future studies are encouraged to use longitudinal research designs. Further, future studies could center on perpetrators of harassment, different manifestations of harassment, and effective countermeasures. Practical implications The study raises awareness on the challenges of harassment of female expatriates and the role of the host country context. Further, the study shows the detrimental effects of gender harassment on female expatriates’ job satisfaction which is a central predictor of variables crucial to international assignments, for example, performance or assignment completion. Originality/value The study is among the first endeavors to include institutional-level gender discrimination as a boundary condition of workplace gender harassment of female expatriates, and therefore puts the interplay between macro- and micro-level processes into perspective

Best of both worlds: How embeddedness fit in the host unit and the headquarters improve repatriate knowledge transfer

Knowledge transfer within multinational enterprises is a source of competitive advantage. However, we know little about repatriates’ role in reverse knowledge transfer upon their return to headquarters (HQ). Using an organizational embeddedness perspective, we conceptualized how embeddedness fit – individuals’ perceived match between their knowledge and skills and the job requirements – during the expatriation assignment and upon repatriation predicts repatriate knowledge transfer. To test the hypotheses, we collected multi-wave survey data from 129 repatriates and their supervisors and developed a repatriate knowledge transfer scale. The results show that perceived organizational support from HQ positively influences embeddedness fit, both in the host unit during expatriation and in the HQ upon repatriation. Further, embeddedness fit in the HQ upon repatriation has a direct effect, while embeddedness fit in the host unit during expatriation has an indirect effect on repatriate knowledge transfer via increased communication frequency with the former host unit. In addition, we found that knowledge transfer is particularly pronounced for repatriates with both high levels of embeddedness fit in the HQ upon repatriation and frequent communication with colleagues in their former host unit. Our results highlight the critical importance of helping expatriates increase their perceived embeddedness fit for reverse knowledge transfer to occur

Culture matters: the influence of national culture on inclusion climate

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model in order to increase the understanding of the influence of national culture on the relationship between organizational diversity and inclusion management and inclusion climate. Design/methodology/approach – Based upon a comprehensive review of diversity and inclusion management literature, the authors develop a conceptual model. Findings – The model delineates how national culture influences the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion management practices in establishing an inclusion climate. In particular, the authors propose that low power distance, high collectivism, low uncertainty avoidance, low masculinity, high long-term orientation, and high indulgence cultures serve as a fertile context for creating an inclusion climate. Furthermore, the authors discuss how cultural tightness-looseness amplifies or attenuates the effects of national culture. Research limitations/implications – The paper extends the understanding of the antecedents and boundary conditions of creating an inclusion climate. Future research could provide empirical evidence for the proposed relationships. Practical implications – The model creates an awareness of the ease or difficulty of establishing an inclusion climate through diversity and inclusion management practices across cultures. Recommendations for developing inclusion climates in various cultural settings are provided. Originality/value – The multi-level model enhances the understanding of how the cultural context, i.e. national cultural values and cultural tightness-looseness, influences the emergence of an organizational inclusion climate which is further suggested to positively influence organizational innovation

The influence of expatriate cultural intelligence on organizational embeddedness and knowledge sharing: The moderating effects of host country context

This study advances our understanding of the contextualization of the effects of cultural intelligence (CQ). Drawing from trait activation theory and institutional theory, we develop a multi-level model showing how host countries’ informal and formal openness towards foreigners facilitate or constrain the importance of expatriates’ CQ in becoming embedded in the host organization. Furthermore, this study positions organizational embeddedness as a mediator in the association between expatriates’ CQ and a central element of expatriates’ jobs – knowledge sharing in the foreign workplace. Results from a cross-lagged survey of 1327 expatriates from 100 different nations residing in 30 host countries combined with secondary data indicate expatriate CQ relates positively to organizational embeddedness. Cross-level interaction analyses further suggest that in-group collectivism, the proxy for host countries’ informal openness towards foreigners, facilitates the importance of CQ as a predictor of expatriates’ organizational embeddedness. In contrast, CQ was not found to interact with the proxy for host countries’ formal openness towards foreigners, i.e. national immigration policies. Consistent with predictions, we identified that CQ relates positively to knowledge sharing and that organizational embeddedness carries an indirect effect. We discuss the implications for theory and practice

When the going gets tough: the influence of expatriate resilience and perceived organizational inclusion climate on work adjustment and turnover intentions

Despite the strong evidence for the beneficial influence of resilience for employee stress resistance in domestic settings, the construct has not received much attention in the expatriation literature, where stress is considered a major factor for expatriates’ poor cross-cultural adjustment and turnover. Drawing upon conservation of resources theory, the present study examines resilience as an antecedent of expatriate work adjustment and turnover intentions. Furthermore, this study investigates the moderating role of perceived organizational inclusion climate as a resource-protecting organizational factor. Results from a survey of 175 expatriates in South Korea indicate that resilience is positively related to expatriate work adjustment and that these positive effects are more pronounced when expatriates perceive their organizational climate to be highly inclusive. Furthermore, findings suggest that work adjustment mediates the effects of resilience on turnover intentions and that this mediation is moderated by a perceived organizational inclusion climate. Implications for theory and practice are discussed

Architecture consistency: state of the practice, challenges and requirements

Architecture Consistency (AC) aims to align implemented systems with their intended architectures. Several AC approaches and tools have been proposed and empirically evaluated, suggesting favourable results. In this paper, we empirically examine the state of practice with respect to Architecture Consistency, through interviews with nineteen experienced software engineers. Our goal is to identify 1) any practises that the companies these architects work for, currently undertake to achieve AC; 2) any barriers to undertaking explicit AC approaches in these companies; 3) software development situations where practitioners perceive AC approaches would be useful, and 4) AC tool needs, as perceived by practitioners. We also assess current commercial AC tool offerings in terms of these perceived needs. The study reveals that many practitioners apply informal AC approaches as there are barriers for adopting more formal an