Japanese self-initiated expatriates as boundary spanners in Chinese subsidiaries of Japanese MNEs: Antecedents, social capital, and HRM practices

Furusawa, M. and Brewster, C. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5314-1518 (2018) Japanese self-initiated expatriates as boundary spanners in Chinese subsidiaries of Japanese MNEs: Antecedents, social capital, and HRM practices. Thunderbird International Business Review, 60 (6). pp. 911-919. ISSN 1520-6874 doi: 10.1002/tie.21944

Abstract/Summary

This article examines the potential boundary-spanning roles of Japanese self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) working at Japanese-affiliated companies in China. We show that, compared to Japanese assigned expatriates (AEs), Japanese SIEs have longer living and working experience in China and better linguistic proficiency in Chinese, and build a relationship of trust with Japanese AEs, Chinese employees, and the headquarters in Japan. We also find human resource management (HRM) practices that emphasize normative integration will lead to the nurturing of trust (social capital) among the parties concerned, and the social capital will enhance the boundary-spanning functions of Japanese SIEs. This research demonstrates the value of these SIEs as a new option to replace the dichotomy of AEs or host-country nationals and the importance of practices for normative integration and social capital, which can be expected to facilitate the boundary-spanning roles of Japanese SIEs.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/73101
Identification Number/DOI	10.1002/tie.21944
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Henley Business School > International Business and Strategy
Uncontrolled Keywords	Political Science and International Relations, Geography, Planning and Development, Business and International Management
Publisher	Wiley-Blackwell
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