The contents of this chapter included five sections to give an overview of this research. Section one presented background information of the research and related studies have been done before. Section two describd the significance of the study which derived from the research background. Section three and four proposed research purpose and respondent research questions. Finally, section five provided definition of key terms.
Background of the Study
In a globalized world, the ongoing expansion of business activities has been taking place. The international marketplace has made people from different cultural and linguistic background come into contact in a greater varied settings and more frequently (Poncini, 2003). Businesses, as a result, encounter bringing professionals together from several cultures and that becomes a reality in enterprises. Accordingly, dealing with employee diversity has become a daily task for a substantial part of the business community (Lauring, 2011).
The rise of the internationalized business environment and the intensification of global competition have led to an increasing number of people traveling across cultural and linguistic boundaries (Griffith, 2002; Lauring, 2011). The literature on international business and management showed the success of multinational corporations is frequently linked to the work of expatriates sent by headquarters to ensure the communication to subsidiaries (Harris & Kumra, 2000; Harzing, 2002). Ideally, expatriation has often been viewed as an effective way to bridge communication and maintain knowledge sharing between the different parties in a multinational corporation (Cheng & Lin, 2009;
Holopainen & Bjorkman, 2005; Marschan-Piekkari, Welch, & Welch, 1999a).
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Due to the development of internationalization, the understanding of intercultural communication has gained importance in doing business internationally (Lauring, 2011;
Jameson, 2007). The dependence on efficient dissemination has become increasingly critical for secure the competitive advantage (Dhir, 2005; Marschan-Piekkari, Welch, &
Welch, 1999b; Van den Born & Peltokorpi, 2010). The ability to coordinate people, activities, and resources on a global scale involves the management of communication across national boundaries (Tange & Lauring, 2009). In fact, future successful international managers may be the ones that are able to manage communication in culturally and linguistically diverse contexts (Henderson, 2005; Varner & Beamer, 2005).
Scholars (Barner‐Rasmussen & Björkman, 2005; Du-Babcock & Babcock, 1996;
Fredriksson, Barner-Rasmussen, & Piekkari, 2006; Lauring, 2011; Marschan-Piekkari, Welch, & Welch, 1999a; 1999b; Welch, Welch, & Piekkari, 2005) described expatriates face cultural and language barriers in communicating with local staff. Hofstede (1983) proposed the notion of cultural differences was a barrier to doing business abroad. Similarly, Peltokorpi (2007) stated how differences in cultural values created barriers between Nordic expatriates and local employees in Japan. On the other, Selmer (2006) proved the proficiency in the Chinese language may promote the adjustment of foreign business expatriates in China. Björkman and Piekkari (2009) also found the language barriers may prevent the headquarters from understanding the local subsidiary context. Such empirical studies attributed differences in cultural and language are important obstacles to manage expatriate communication.
However, compared to cultural and language have been widely studied within international communication field, the response of communication strategies for expatriates has received relatively little specific attention in the literature. There was a noticeable absence of research in seeking expatriates’ responses in encountering intercultural communication challenges. Furthermore, practitioners especially in the area
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of multinational management, also eager to know what challenges remain in intercultural communication in the business community.
Significance of the Study
This research focuses on Taiwanese expatriates in intercultural communication context. Previous studies focused on expatriates who were native English speakers (Selmer, 2006), Nordic (Andersen & Rasmussen, 2004; Peltokorpi, 2007; Tange, 2009), or a combination of native English speakers, European and Nordic (Barner-Rasmussen &
Aarnio, 2011; de Groot, 2012; Fredriksson, Barner-Rasmussen & Piekkari, 2006; Tang &
Lauring, 2009). Recently, more and more recent researches have focused on Asia and Asian expatriates (Harzing & Pudelko, 2013; Sriussadaporn, 2006). This study plays an essential part of understanding intercultural communication challenges of Asian expatriates, especially Taiwanese expatriates.
This study gives recommendations for managers who are in charge of making the policy and expatriate affairs in Taiwanese multinational corporations. For multinational corporations, communication among units is necessary in daily operations, but challenges occur because of geographic distance, cultural difference, and language diversity (Barner‐
Rasmussen & Björkman, 2005; Lauring, 2011; Marschan-Piekkari, Welch, & Welch, 1999b). Recommendations may prevent Taiwanese multinational corporations from getting into inefficient or even counterproductive intercultural communication situations.
Recommendations for practitioners, especially in the area of intercultural communications, gives common practices for future Taiwanese expatriates. Future expatriates are suggested to refer to the systematically analyzing findings and recommendations of this study for information. Results of expatriates’ challenges and responses in intercultural communication will be divided into several dimensions which are leaded by interview questions. Still, the design of interview questions respond to
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research questions and purposes.
Research Purposes
The purpose of the study is to investigate Taiwanese expatriates’ communication challenges with local employees. In order to get richer communication contexts, interview questions were designed to collect expatriates’ reflections on intercultural communication.
By analyzing communication contexts which expatriates interact with local employees, expatriates’ answers to interview questions help providing insight knowledge of challenges that Taiwanese expatriates meet and responses to intercultural communication situations.
The specific aims in this study are to identify
1. Communication challenges between Taiwanese expatriates and local employees 2. Taiwanese expatriates’ responses for communication challenges
Research Questions
In view of filling research purposes which already outlined, findings of this study are structured according to the following research questions:
1. What communication challenges between Taiwanese expatriates and local employees?
2. How Taiwanese expatriates responded to communication challenges?
In accordance with research questions, interview questions are organized for collecting Taiwanese expatriates’ intercultural communicative reflections through the interviews.
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Definition of Terms
Intercultural Communication
Intercultural communication is defined as communication among people with dissimilar cultural backgrounds (Bennett, 1998; Jandt, 2012). In this research, adopted Bennett’s (1998) and Jandt’s (2012) definition, intercultural communication is identified as communication between Taiwanese expatriates and local employees.
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than the person's upbringing country. In the present research, an expatriate refers to an individual moves to other countries temporarily for business. When he accomplishes his overseas assignments, he moves back to the original place where he was brought up.
Challenge
The situation being faced with needs great mental or physical effort in order to be done successfully. Challenges imply Taiwanese expatriates met difficult situations in communicating with local employees in the existing research.
Response
A reaction to the situation that has happened. Within the research, the response is usually the reaction Taiwanese expatriates reply to communication with local employees.
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