2017 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Japan's International Human Resources - Individual's Culture-Specific Skills and Roles in MNCs
| Project/Area Number |
15K13041
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| Research Institution | Nihon University |
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Principal Investigator |
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
内田 亨 新潟国際情報大学, 情報文化学部, 教授 (50453460)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
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| Keywords | IHRM / boundary spanner / bicultural / multicultural / SIHRM / role / foreigner / human resource |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
We started this research project assuming that people with a given set of demographics (individuals with bi/multicultural background) would also also possess a set of skills (boundary spanning across national cultures), that, in turn, would benefit any company in its international expansion. Specifically, we focused on individuals with Japanese culture competency associated with a second culture competency.
Research done during the last three years led us to adopt a contingency theory approach (as a parallel can be drawn with Situational Leadership Theory). In other words, bicultural individuals' skills need a matching situation, a breeding ground, a favourable environment for their potential to be realized, to be brought into full play.
One salient contingency factor we have identified is the organization and its culture. In turn, the organization's culture is the product of a set of elements such as national culture, size, founders and present top managers, but also the associated founding principles and present policies (e.g.: diversity management, corporate language...) and internalization strategies (e.g.: internationalization of sales, production, R&D, top management, human resources...). It is therefore toward the links between these organization-level components and the individual-level performance (in terms of leveraging multicultural competencies) that we are now focusing our research efforts.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
Interviews we have conducted gave us a number of insights. These insights led to the tentative approach explained above in the "Summary of Research Achievements". However we are still struggling with the modelization of a comprehensive framework that we could test through a quantitative survey.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
We plan to fill the gaps that prevented us until now to draw a comprehensive model, through more interviews and further literature review. If possible, the model will be tested through a survey. In any case, it will be presented at academic conferences (for instance, the 2019 national conference of Japan Academy of International Business Studies) and papers (for instance in the Research Bulletin of Nihon University College of Economics).
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| Causes of Carryover |
Expenses linked to interviews (including transcripts), survey, and travel (both for research and for presentations at conferences), and required to advance and complete the research.
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