The aim of this chapter is to introduce the research. It is composed of the background of the study, statement of the problems, purpose of the study, research questions, research scope and limitations, and the definitions.
Background of the Study
The acceleration of globalization, the role of new digital technologies and industrial and social processes, has increased both virtually and physically the communication between individuals from different parts of the world. This global market has led to an increase in international businesses and multicultural corporations, where employees from different backgrounds, cultures and countries work together in a particular location or virtually in different areas (Carter-Thuilier & Moreno, 2017). This in return has promoted the exchange of knowledge, skills and abilities from these diverse individuality (Barabas, 2014). The cultural diversification on companies around the world has brought positive aspects to work but also an interesting phenomenon discussed, which is ingroup bias.
Groups are a prevalent part of our lives socially. A cultural group is a group of people who share a set of beliefs, behavioral norms, and behavioral expectations that is recognizably different from those of other groups (Efferson, Fehr, & Lalive, 2008). These norms, beliefs and expectations nonetheless, are sometimes hard to detect with simple observation. A great challenge that corporations, organizations, and societies are facing is that occasionally people form a more positive idea about an ingroup member than an out-group member (Rubin & Willis 2002). This favoritism or bias that occurs in direction of an individual’s ingroup may encourage the performance of their ingroup, that in response can lead to long-term benefits (Balliet, De Dreu, & Wu, 2014). This nonetheless can also lead to feelings of animosity within the outgroups and in return react with bitterness against the discriminating group. So, ingroup bias can be both positive and negative in a society, it can create secure ingroups yet it can also encourage stress, competition, and resentment.
Intercultural communication generally involves face-to-face communication between people from different national cultures, although the term also includes all aspects of the study of culture and communication (Gudykunst, 2003). Cross-cultural communication is very similar to the later which looks at how people from different cultures interact with each other
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and with other cultures. Social identity theory (SIT) postulates that each person belongs to a specific group (eg., social class, gender, nationality), this leads to a sense of belonging or sense of pride which increases each individual’s self-esteem (Tajfel & Turner, 1979). As stated by SIT, just by the classification of the social world as an ingroup or out-group can lead to a discriminatory result towards individuals of the out-group (Ciftci, Mertan & Rustemli, 2000).
An investigation taking place in the workplace encountered the existence of ingroup bias for people in the ingroup towards people in the outgroup (Ben-Ner, McCall, Stephane &
Wang, 2009). Discussing that some behavior that takes place in the workplace or in economic interactions, is not completely independent of identity. Showing the contrast between outgroups and ingroups can affect the interactions inside a company and the economic and social behavior. This study, however, focused on different categories of identity like political views, religion, body type and nationality. In this paper the identity category that is focused on is solely on nationality or region (Latin America).
Statement of Problems
In the present days, the world is more connected than it has ever been. Thanks to globalization, there are more possibilities for people to move around the world in search of better working opportunities in different countries (Carter-Thuilier & Moreno, 2017). People are more open to discover and travel in order to meet and understand societies different from their own. This phenomenon of moving around and coexisting with people of different cultures in the same place is called multiculturalism. While it can be rewarding, it could also lead to difficulties understanding people with different views and different ideas; when a company deals with ingroup bias, it can lead to marginalization of employees or unequal outcomes.
(Heyman, 2017).
There are some problems on managing diversification and the increase of people from different nationalities in a company. Not being able to understand the dynamics that a multicultural workforce can provide and free its potential, and to not act from personal prejudices. Examining the motives and causes of national ingroup bias is required because there is an ongoing geographical movement of people around the world. Due to this, people from a specific nationality in a multicultural organization could experience or observe national ingroup bias within the organization. For people from Latin America, living outside of their own country can be difficult due to their culture which values strong family roots and national
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values. Therefore, when living in a different country, they may search for people from their own country in the hope to feel that sense of belonging (Polanco, 2013).
A study showed that when managers or co-workers are biased towards other employees in a company, the job performance of the latter would decrease (Pallais, 2017). “When you are biased toward someone, you speak less to them, you are more hesitant to speak to them and you're less friendly toward them because you are uncomfortable with them.” (Pallais, 2017, p.
29). The findings of a study about the impacts of biases in the workplace found the following (Hewlett, Rashid & Sherbin, 2015):
a. Employees at large companies who perceive bias are nearly three times more likely to be disengaged at work.
b. Bias impacts retention. Those who perceive bias are more than three times as likely to say that they are planning to leave their current jobs within the year.
c. Bias impedes innovation. Those who perceive bias are 2.6 times more likely to say that they have withheld ideas and market solutions over the previous six months.
The management of today’s increasingly diverse workforce, is one of the most important challenges human resources managers and corporate leaders have to deal with (Ahraemi, Cho, & Mor-Barak, 2017). The impact of ingroup bias in multicultural organizations, could lead to dissatisfaction and decrease job performance. And as stated before, organizations should be aware of the impacts and have the knowledge and abilities to handle them. Since the word “culture” can portray different group identities, this study focused on national identity (country) or identity to a specific region (Latin America).
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
The purpose of this study is to analyze the experiences Latin American expatriates have related to ingroup bias, as well as the strategies that companies implement in their organizations to promote inclusion. This study could be used in the future in companies around the world to have a better understanding on how to deal with problems that might occur within the organizations in response to ingroup bias. The increase of diverse cultural individuals in Latin-America and around the world makes it imperative to have intercultural and cross-cultural interactions. This study can help provide a solution for intercultural relations in multicultural organizations. The analysis for this study was on individual, group and organizational level.
Firstly, individual-level focuses on the individual behavior of people in the organization (Judge
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& Robbins, 2019). Group-level refers to two or more employees interacting in order to reach a specific goal. This level could be formal groups, which are created by the organization for established tasks, or informal groups which are not formally structured and are the groups that meet the need for social contact (Judge & Robbins, 2019). The last level is organizational level, which refers to “a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations” (p.541). This specific focus led to the following research questions:
1. What are the experiences of ingroup bias in a multicultural organization of expatriates from Latin America?
2. What are some strategies implemented by managers to facilitate integration in a multicultural organization?
3. What are the determinants of national ingroup bias in a multicultural organization?
Research Scope and Limitations
The study involved Latin-American expatriate participants working fulltime in a company in The United States and Dominican Republic. The scope of the research was limited given that the participants are in different geographical areas of the world, leading to a lack of substantial engagement in an organization and lack of persistent observation. The duration of the study was of 5 months and was conducted among 18 participants; whom would have to be working in organizations that have other workers of the same nationality or the same region (Latin America). Another limitation of the study is evaluating whether or not an individual has national ingroup bias. However, as Latin-America is a racially diverse region, the ingroup phenomena could be at racial level instead of national level.
Definitions of Terms Expatriates
The most straightforward definition of expatriate is a person living outside of their native country (Oxford Dictionary of English, 2015) or that has been sent or exiled abroad (Collins Dictionaries, 2011). It is a person who is physically mobile across international borders, whether for professional or personal reasons, whether for short or long periods of time, whether organizationally sponsored or not, and regardless as to whether one is crossing an oceanor moving across land (Aycan & Kanungo, 1997; Green, 2009)
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Ingroup Bias
According to the American Psychological Association (APA) dictionary of psychology, ingroup bias is the “tendency to favor one’s own group, its members, its characteristics, and its products, particularly in reference to other groups”. An inclination towards the ingroup is generally more than nonacceptance of the outgroup (http://www.dictionary.apa.org).
Multicultural Organization
Organizations are becoming increasingly diverse in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality, etc (Cox, 1991). Multiculturalism is the recognition of the coexistence of different cultural groups, inside one national state (Barabas, 2014). In a multicultural organization, there are different social groups as well as cultural groups that interact with each other and are full participants of the organization environment. They all have collective or individual responsibilities and duties (Jackson, 2014).
Social Identity Theory
There is a basic need for positive self-esteem in order to induce perceivers to favor their ingroups in most comparisons with out-group. Social identity theory states that individuals are motivated to achieve or maintain a high level of self-esteem (Hogg & Reid, 2006). Personal identity relates to the beliefs an individual has about their own abilities, attributes or skills like intelligence or charisma. And social identity is defined as "that aspect of the individual’s self-concept which derives from their knowledge of their membership in a social group together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership"
(Tajfel, 1981, p. 255).
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