“They Are Nothing More Than His Spies on the Floor”: Local Employees’ Sensemaking and Interpretation of Expatriates’ Roles and Responsibilities

Abstract

This study examines how local employees gain information and make sense of new expatriates’ roles and responsibilities in multinational corporations by applying Weick’s sensemaking theory. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews of 17 local employees working for a Japan-based automotive manufacturing company in a Midwestern U.S. city. Results revealed that local employees extracted cues from their environment to make sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities by communicating directly with others, observing expatriates communicating with others, and applying knowledge from previous experiences with expatriates. In making sense of the information, local employees compared their expectations for expatriates with their experiences and interpreted expatriates’ roles and responsibilities negatively when there was a discrepancy between them. This study provides valuable insights into the sensemaking process of local employees as they adapt to expatriates as part of their ongoing socialization process.

Keywords

expatriates local employees sensemaking socialization

Due to globalization, organizations have expanded their businesses to other countries and more employees are offered international work assignments (Stahl et al., 2002). Many employees accept these expatriate assignments (i.e., working for the same company at a facility outside their home country) because they believe it helps with career advancement (Stahl et al., 2002). As expected in many upper management roles, international experience leads to better pay and management experiences (Carpenter et al., 2001). As employees move to and work in another country, their relationships with local employees (i.e., host country nationals; HCNs) play an important part in their expatriate success (e.g., van Bakel, 2019).

Most studies of expatriates examine the expatriates’ experiences such as their cultural adjustment (e.g., Firth et al., 2014), the communication challenges they face (e.g., Chudnovskaya & O’Hara, 2016), their roles as expatriates (e.g., Kobrin, 1988; Riusala & Suutari, 2004), and the effects of training and mentoring before and during their assignments (e.g., Black & Mendenhall, 1990; Carraher et al., 2008). Although it is important to understand expatriates’ experiences during their assignments to help them overcome challenges and enhance their experiences, the experiences of the large number of local employees affected by expatriate assignments are a key to organizational success. Some research has examined local employees’ experiences (e.g., Chen et al., 2002; Deng & Xu, 2014; Toh & Srinivas, 2012). However, because studies on local employees are limited, scholars have called for paying attention to local employees in research regarding expatriates (e.g., van Bakel, 2019). This study takes a communication perspective, examining how local employees’ perceptions of and communication with expatriates affect their own and expatriates’ experiences and organizational outcomes.

In addition, most research in this area examines experiences of expatriates assigned to locations outside of the United States (e.g., Carraher et al., 2008; Chen et al., 2002) although some have combined expatriates assigned to the United States with those outside it (e.g., Feldman & Bolino, 1999). There are many foreign-owned multinational enterprises in the United States, including over 8,000 Japanese companies (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2018). These foreign-owned multinational corporations (MNCs) employ more than 7 million workers in the United States (U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2019). Each company may have multiple expatriates assigned from their headquarters. In turn, many U.S. workers interacting with expatriates from different countries may encounter challenges. Thus, examining how local employees respond to expatriates assigned to U.S. facilities can provide practical implications for MNCs attempting to enhance experiences of both local employees and expatriates.

Finally, expatriate assignments are part of the ongoing socialization in MNCs for both expatriates and local subsidiary employees (Kramer, 2010). When new expatriates arrive, expatriates are “newcomers” to the subsidiary who change or disrupt the routines of local employees. Newcomers create uncertainty for veteran employees by disrupting existing roles and relationships (Gallagher & Sias, 2009). When individuals experience disruptions in their routines, they must make sense of the situation (Weick, 1995). So, at the same time expatriates are making sense of their new roles and environment, local employees must make sense of new expatriates who disrupt their workplace routine. To address these issues, this study examined how local employees gain information and make sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities in multinational corporations as part of their ongoing socialization experiences in their organization by applying Weick’s sensemaking theory. By examining local employees’ experiences at a U.S. facility, this study contributes insights into how veteran employees (i.e., local employees) gain information and make sense of their experiences with expatriates.

Literature Review

Expatriates and Local Employees in Multinational Corporations

When employers request their employees transfer to foreign subsidiaries, many accept assignments believing the experience will help their future careers and that the personal challenges of living abroad will create positive learning opportunities (Stahl et al., 2002). These employees, called corporate expatriates (expatriates hereafter), are sent to another country by their organization to reside and work there for more than 12 months to complete tasks and achieve organizational goals (Shaffer et al., 2012). During their international assignments, a major role of expatriates is to manage the foreign subsidiary, obtain knowledge about the local environment, operations, and successes and then communicate that knowledge back to headquarters in their home country (Kobrin, 1988; Riusala & Suutari, 2004). Expatriates’ competence with knowledge transfer is associated with the knowledge the subsidiary receives, which affects its performance (Chang et al., 2012). In addition, to improve the effectiveness of local subsidiaries, expatriates learn about operations, manage the subsidiary (Kobrin, 1988), and train local employees with the shared values and norms of the headquarters (Harzing, 2001). In this way, expatriates contribute to organizational development (Kraimer et al., 2016).

Research on expatriates has mainly focused on challenges they experience during their assignments because expatriate failure rates have been estimated as between 5% and 20% (Harzing, 1995). One common challenge for expatriates is role ambiguity. Although corporations may communicate major roles and expectations to expatriates before their international assignment begins, expatriates tend to experience role ambiguity as they start working in the new environment. Role ambiguity negatively affects job performance and satisfaction (Harris et al., 2006), as well as creativity and intrinsic motivation (Coelho et al., 2011). Because role ambiguity is likely more salient in international assignments compared to domestic assignments (Black, 1988), it becomes a significant stressor for expatriates, negatively affecting their work adjustment (Black, 1988), job satisfaction (Kawai & Mohr, 2015), and self-efficacy (Lepine et al., 2005). If role ambiguity has negative effects on expatriates, local employees may experience similar negative effects adjusting to working with expatriates when they are uncertain about expatriates’ roles and responsibilities.

Scholars call for including local employees in studying expatriates because relationships with local employees positively affect expatriates’ success in foreign subsidiaries (van Bakel, 2019). Although still limited, scholarship has focused on how local employees’ perceptions and experience affect expatriates’ experiences. For example, Toh and Srinivas (2012) found that the greater local employees’ perceptions of task cohesiveness with expatriates (i.e., shared commitment toward mutual goals), the more local employees trusted and shared information with expatriates. This is critical, as information exchange among diverse group members plays an important role in overall group performance (Zheng & Wei, 2018). In addition, lack of trust between expatriates and local employees can lead to problems involving communicating ideas and building relationships in teams (Sriussadaporn, 2006). Moreover, local employees’ perceptions of expatriates are significantly and positively related to their willingness to provide social support for and work with expatriates (Sokro & Pillay, 2019). Therefore, how local employees perceive expatriates’ roles and responsibilities may affect work experiences of both local employees and expatriates.

Socialization in Organizations

Socialization research explores the process of individuals joining, participating in, and leaving organizations (Jablin, 1987, 2001; Kramer & Miller, 2014). Scholars typically describe the process using models that identify multiple phases or stages experienced by organizational members. For example, Feldman (1976) and Jablin (1987, 2001) proposed three similar stages of socialization. Stage one, the “getting in” or anticipatory phase, occurs before entering an organization. In stage two, the “breaking in” or encounter phase, individuals enter organizations and try to become members in their work groups by establishing relationships with coworkers and supervisors, learning new tasks, and negotiating their roles. In stage three, the “settling in” or metamorphosis phase, individuals tentatively resolve adjustment problems and feel like participating members rather than outsiders. Socialization is ongoing as individuals negotiate their roles and adjust to changes in the work environment throughout their organizational tenure.

Most socialization research has focused on newcomer experiences. For example, scholars have identified types of uncertainty newcomers experience (e.g., task and relational in Teboul, 1994) and how they seek information to clarify their roles (e.g., direct inquiry, third party, and observation in Miller & Jablin, 1991). However, due to the ongoing nature of socialization, scholars have occasionally focused attention on other transitions individuals experience during their organizational tenure. These might be due to domestic job transfers (e.g., Kramer, 1989, 1996) or organizational changes such as mergers and acquisitions (e.g., Bastien, 1992). These studies have focused primarily on individuals in transition (e.g., newcomers, transferees, or individuals whose company was acquired) rather than on other work group members who must adjust to the changes brought on by the transitions. Kramer and Miller (2014) urged scholars to study the impact of transitions on these other individuals.

A few studies have addressed this concern. For example, Kramer (1989) examined how individuals reacted to losing a coworker to a transfer and found the work group must make sense of the loss because it affects their work roles and status in the organization. Gallagher and Sias (2009) found veteran employees’ experiences when newcomers enter their group paralleled newcomer experiences. Specifically, veteran employees experienced similar types of uncertainty, such as referent (newcomers’ tasks) and relational (newcomers’ relationships with others). Further, veteran employees used similar information seeking tactics to reduce uncertainty about newcomers (overt questions, observation, and third parties). Thus, newcomers not only experienced their own uncertainty, but also created uncertainty for veteran employees. Recently, Benedict (2020) examined how workgroup members come to understand the departure of a fired employee as part of ongoing socialization.

In considering how work groups may respond to expatriates assigned to them, research suggests veteran employees may be reluctant to provide information to expatriates. Veteran employees often take a “wait and see” approach to newcomers or transferees where they wait for new group members to prove themselves as capable and trustworthy before providing insider information (Feldman, 1976; Kramer, 1996). In addition, veteran employees sometimes test newly promoted employees to determine if they deserve the position (Kramer & Noland, 1999). Given that expatriates are “newcomers” to the subsidiary and often have been simultaneously promoted, the manner in which veteran employees make sense of new expatriate colleagues can help or hinder the work group and expatriate’s adjustment.

Sensemaking

Sensemaking describes the process by which individuals assign meaning to understand their experiences (Weick, 1995). Sensemaking is most easily observed in situations where individuals experience ambiguity and equivocality after a disruption to their routines. During the sensemaking process, individuals attempt to address what is happening at the moment and assign stable meaning for acting in the future (Weick et al., 2005). Failure in sensemaking may cause negative consequences such as acting or behaving inappropriately, and individuals may question themselves or the world around them (Weick, 1995). Weick et al. (2005) claim that sensemaking is “an issue of language, talk, and communication” (p. 409), and that communication makes sensemaking possible. Thus, sensemaking is a communication process in which individuals collectively assign meaning to what happens around them by communicating with others (Weick, 1995; Weick et al., 2005).

Of the key components to sensemaking, three are particularly relevant in this study. First, sensemaking involves identity; the “establishment and maintenance of identity is a core preoccupation of sensemaking” because how individuals define themselves affects how they define what is out there or vice versa (Weick, 1995, p. 20). Second, sensemaking is focused on and occurs through extracted cues. People extract cues or specific events in their environment to use retrospectively as points of reference to make stories. Last, sensemaking is driven by plausibility not accuracy. It is not necessary for people to perceive and interpret events accurately; a plausible story can move them forward (Weick, 1995; Weick et al., 2005).

A few studies have examined the ways individuals make sense of their organizational roles. Kramer and Danielson (2016) revealed that zoo volunteers came to understand their role expectations through formal socialization (i.e., educational training and monthly meetings), as well as serial socialization with their mentors and veteran docents. In addition, Kramer (2009) examined the role negotiation process in a theater production and revealed that the interaction among theater participants helped negotiate their roles in relation to others. Although these studies examined how organizational members make meaning of their own roles through sensemaking, in the context of MNCs, local employees must also engage in sensemaking to understand expatriates’ roles in the subsidiary.

Research Questions

Black (1988) found role ambiguity was negatively associated with expatriates’ adjustment to job responsibilities. In other words, a clear understanding of their new workplace roles was crucial for expatriates’ work adjustment (Black et al., 1991). The same argument applies to local employees adjusting to the arrival of expatriates. Organizational structures, such as social and task structures, change when newcomers join organizations (Hess, 1993). When expatriates arrive in their workplace, local employees must make sense of these “newcomers” to their subsidiary, especially when they work closely with them, or when expatriates’ roles affect their job duties. Gallagher and Sias (2009) found that veteran employees experienced uncertainty regarding newcomers and tried to reduce it using certain strategies. Because sensemaking typically occurs when things are different (Weick et al., 2005), when new expatriates arrive, local employees need to engage in sensemaking regarding expatriates’ roles and responsibilities by interacting with expatriates as well as other local employees to reduce uncertainty. Understanding expatriates’ roles and responsibilities may help them share mutual goals and build trust in expatriates, which can lead to increased information sharing and group performance (Toh & Srinivas, 2012; Zheng & Wei, 2018). Because it is important for local employees to make sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities in order to adjust to the new workplace dynamics, two research questions were proposed:

RQ1: What strategies do local employees use to extract cues from their environment to make sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities?

RQ2: What meanings do local employees assign to expatriates’ roles and responsibilities through sensemaking?

Method

Research Context

A Japanese automotive manufacturing subsidiary in a Midwestern U.S. city was selected as the research site because expatriates from its headquarters in Japan are routinely transferred in and out of it. The company has multiple subsidiaries in North America and elsewhere. The first author used personal connections with the company to gain access and approval to conduct the study. At the time of the data collection, the subsidiary had four expatriates from Japan. One was the president, the head of the subsidiary; the other three were assigned manager level positions without anyone reporting to them. The subsidiary was structured into two departments: manufacturing and administration. Manufacturing was divided into five sections: production engineering, maintenance, production, quality control, and information systems. Administration also consisted of five sections: human resources, safety, business planning, production control, and material service. A manager led each department and section. The plant manager and other managers were all Americans except for the manager of business planning who was a Chinese immigrant.

Participants

A total of 17 local employees from various sections who worked closely with expatriates voluntarily participated in semi-structured, individual interviews. The first author recruited participants after acquiring information from the plant manager regarding the organizational structure and management team. Participants included 13 males and four females. Most held management positions: three were not managers but served in other salaried positions, and two were hourly employees. Participants ranged from 34 to 59 years old (M = 45). Most had worked for the company since the start of the subsidiary with tenure ranging from 10 months to 12 years (M = 8.6 years). Most participants had worked with Japanese expatriates since they started with the company and some had worked with Japanese expatriates in previous jobs. For example, one engineer only worked for this company for 10 months but had 19 years of experience working with Japanese expatriates at another Japanese manufacturing company.

Data Collection

The first author conducted semi-structured individual interviews with participants over one week. Interviews provided “opportunities for mutual discovery, understanding, reflection, and explanation” of participants’ lived experiences and perspectives (Tracy, 2013, p. 132) to understand how local employees made sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities through their descriptions of their experiences. After individuals agreed to participate, interviews were scheduled during work hours in a private conference room per agreement with the plant manager. Participants provided Institutional Review Board approved oral consent. In addition to the main interview questions, follow-up questions asked participants to clarify responses and “generate more detail” (Lindlof & Taylor, 2011, p. 204). Interviews lasted from 16 minutes to an hour (M = 28 minutes). Interviews were audio recorded with participants’ consent and transcribed resulting in 161 single-spaced transcript pages used in analysis.

Data Analysis

Data were analyzed using a modified version of constant comparative analysis involving three steps (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). First, for open coding (Charmaz, 2000), the first author read the data repeatedly and sorted it into categories with initial labels (e.g., information seeking, information received, formal meeting with expatriates, and informal conversation with expatriates). After completing open coding, the first author conducted focused coding. In this process, the initial labels from the first step were compared and grouped together to generate broader categories (Charmaz, 2000). In the third step, axial coding, the first author sought connections and interrelationships among categories related to the research questions (Charmaz, 2000). Processes of focused and axial coding fluctuated back and forth repeatedly until the categories offered comprehensive explanations of local employees’ sensemaking processes of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities.

Validation Strategies

Creswell (2007) recommends researchers employ two of the validation strategies he describes to demonstrate the rigor of qualitative research. In this study, we employed peer review and rich, thick description. Peer review involved having an expert in qualitative research conduct a review of the research process (Creswell, 2007). The expert helped refine the finding by pushing for clarity in the analysis and interpretation of the data. Next, we employed thick, rich description in the findings by providing contextual cues and direct quotes from participants so readers can evaluate the veracity of our interpretations. These strategies allow researchers to achieve transferability of the study, a goal of qualitative research (Creswell, 2007).

Findings

The analysis revealed five themes related to how local employees made sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities. Three themes involved the processes through which local employees extracted cues to gain the necessary information to make sense of the expatriates’ roles and responsibilities after their arrival. Two themes explained how local employees assigned meaning to the information they gained as they made sense of the expatriates’ positions.

RQ1: Extracting Cues for Sensemaking

The analysis revealed that local employees used three primary methods to extract information from their environment as they made sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities. These were direct communication, observation, and recalling previous experiences.

Direct communication

Local employees received and gathered information to understand expatriates’ roles and responsibilities during direct communication with corporate personnel, their supervisors and coworkers, and the expatriates before and after the expatriates’ arrival. For example, the plant manager, an 11-year veteran, stated “Takashi (pseudonyms used throughout) is supposed to be a production engineering specialist. That’s what I was told [by corporate]. I was told before Takashi arrived that he is an engineering specialist . . . here to help production engineering.” Higher rank employees, such as the plant manager, had direct communication with corporate personnel and were specifically told the expatriates’ titles and department assignments before their arrival. However, many employees expressed that they only learned of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities after their arrival at the subsidiary by interacting with supervisors and coworkers. For example, several participants described interactions with their supervisors.

I usually ask one of my superiors, hey, is this person helping us (the department) out with that and upper management would know pretty much. So, even if I don’t know [expatriates], instead of going directly to them, I usually just ask [supervisor], hey, what’s their thing. (Hourly employee, material control section, 11-year veteran, male)

I was more understanding of . . . as to why they were [here] because it was explained to me by my boss. (Coordinator, production section, 10.5-year veteran, female)

Local employees also asked their coworkers about expatriates. One male engineer (new models, 10 months) stated, “I think she (coworker) kind of filled me in on . . . who’s who.” Such coworker interactions offered information when employees were unaware of expatriates’ duties.

In addition to interacting with others, local employees extracted cues to aid in sensemaking of expatriates’ duties by communicating directly with them, both formally and informally. For example, a manager (production engineering, 11-year veteran, male) mentioned meeting regularly with an expatriate about projects each was working on and said the expatriate “will ask to have a meeting where we’ll have an interpreter and he’ll sit there and say, this is what we’re working on. This is what I need your help with.” This manager worked closely with one expatriate, and frequent meetings and discussions helped him understand the expatriate’s duties. Another manager (quality control section, 10-year veteran, male) explained that after an argument with an expatriate due to a lack of understanding regarding expatriate roles, “We sat down and talked about what my objectives were, and what Japan’s objectives were ….” Expatriates usually have specific agendas assigned by the Japanese headquarters, which affected their roles and responsibilities. By obtaining information about Japan’s objectives, this manager was able to understand the expatriate’s responsibilities. Moreover, instead of formal meetings, some local employees learned expatriates’ roles and responsibilities through informal conversations. A male manager (material control, 1.5 years) stated, “We used to do a morning walk every day . . . all the top managers. So . . . we had a lot of interactions between each other. Just in conversations.” Managers used conversations with expatriates during routine morning walk-throughs to help them understand what expatriates did.

In sum, local employees often extracted information for sensemaking through direct communication. Conversations with corporate personnel, bosses and coworkers, as well as formal and informal conversations with expatriates provided local employees with information for making sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities.

Observations

Local employees reported “observing” or “watching” expatriates communicating with others as another way to gain information on expatriates’ roles and responsibilities. For example, one manager (production engineering, 11-year veteran, male) stated that “I hear them reporting to [the president] what they’re working on and what information is coming back from Japan. So, from that I know what they’re working on.” Another respondent (Hourly employee, material control, 11-year veteran, female) said she gained information “through weeks of working with them, and you know, learning or just watching what they are doing.”

As these examples show, local employees frequently observed expatriates’ conversations with others, such as reporting progress on their projects in meetings and being requested to work on certain tasks in addition to directly communicating with others. This provided additional information concerning expatriates’ roles and responsibilities.

Knowledge of previous expatriates

Local employees sometimes used knowledge of previous expatriates in the subsidiary or expatriates with whom they worked with in their previous jobs. One participant recounted, “Usually they’ll say, like, Takashi is replacing Hideto. So, assuming it’s sort of, just a swap” (Section manager, production engineering, 11-year veteran, male). Another said, “I knew Takashi, what his responsibility was because I was in New Model at that time when Hideto transitioned out and Takashi came” (Hourly employee, material control section, 11-year veteran, female). Most often, new expatriates replaced previous ones. Thus, using knowledge of previous expatriates, local employees made sense of the new expatriates’ roles and responsibilities. However, an 8-year veteran male information systems section manager mentioned that “when you don’t know what they (previous expatriates) did, you don’t know what they’re (new expatriates) replacing.” In other words, if local employees are uncertain about previous expatriates, they were less likely to understand the new expatriates’ duties.

In addition, some employees had work experience with Japanese expatriates in previous jobs and applied that information to their current situation. A male administration department manager with a year of experience stated:

From my previous job . . . I know there’s a lot of specific reports and information they need . . . So, I know . . . the reporting piece back to Japan is big. I also know that Japan is where the company started originally, so their knowledge and expertise and everything is also a lot higher, than what ours is, in a lot of areas . . . so the other piece I think is for them to bring the expertise and knowledge here to help train and share with the American side, “here’s how we do it in Japan.”

When local employees lacked experience with expatriates in this specific subsidiary, some extracted information from previous job experiences concerning the broad job duties of expatriates. They expected new expatriates would have similar roles and responsibilities to the ones in their previous work.

Summary

To summarize RQ1 findings, local employees extracted cues for sensemaking using various strategies. They relied on direct communication with corporate personnel, supervisors and coworkers, and expatriates, as well as on observations of expatriates and by recalling previous experiences with other expatriates. Gathering this information enabled them to make sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities.

RQ2: Assigning Meaning to Expatriates’ Roles and Responsibilities Through Sensemaking

In making sense of the information they considered, local employees described two main themes. Some found consistency between what they expected and their understanding of expatriates’ job duties; however, others experienced discrepancies which resulted in negative interpretations by some local employees.

Consistency between expectations and reality

Many participants stated that they expected expatriates were sent from headquarters to “help them,” “help improve process flows and efficiency,” and “help them understand the why [when issues arise] and mentor them.” These expectations arose because of the expertise expatriates gained in their home country. A female production coordinator with 6.5 years of experience stated:

[Expatriates] take things that they have in Japan and help us in America …. My expectation is that they come here, and they see something they don’t like, they direct us to what we need to improve on …. I think they are here for guidance.

Through sensemaking, she interpreted expatriates as helping and providing guidance for local employees; therefore, her expectation and what expatriates were actually doing were consistent, leading to a positive evaluation of their roles.

Discrepancy between expectations and reality

Some local employees had higher expectations toward new expatriates because previous expatriates had worked with and helped them markedly to improve their overall efficiency. Further, local employees needed help with certain tasks and expected expatriates to assist them. However, as a result of sensemaking, some local employees came to believe that expatriates’ roles and responsibilities were actually different from what they expected.

An 11-year veteran male production section manager mentioned that he struggled with one expatriate who was not helping the team as much as the previous expatriate did. He stated:

Hideto was, for five years . . . top notch. And then, I got Takashi, for support, and maybe it’s just, he doesn’t know what to do. And Hideto, you know, he did all kinds of things on his own …. We don’t have like a written rule book on what expats should do, what they shouldn’t do . . . because we never had to . . . you know, the ones we had, they just did it.

This manager continued, stating that Takashi, a good guy with more knowledge, did not communicate much with American employees. Consequently, the manager struggled to understand what Takashi did. He expected Takashi to help him and his team as the previous expatriate did; however, he encountered the discrepancy between his expectation and what the expatriate actually did. Similarly, a 10-year veteran, female production coordinator stated:

My expectations are for them to be out there and help us figure out [problems] . . . instead of pointing fingers at us …. [I expect them] to really help us figure out what the problems are and to be open-minded and to listen to what we’re telling them because they don’t . . .

This participant was frustrated because she thought expatriates should help local employees, but she was not getting enough help from them. In addition, even the plant manager stated:

I struggle understanding what their role is here. I do because honestly, I don’t think they do anything …. Makoto’s supposed to be here for quality but honestly, you know, my expectation of quality is to get involved. Understand where our weak points are. Makoto sits at his desk and makes PowerPoints [for the president or Japan]. That doesn’t help me but then he gets angry when something’s not getting done. Well, guess what? You can do it too. Get off your butt and go out there on the floor and go look at something. So, that’s where I struggle kind of understanding what their roles and responsibilities are.

The plant manager’s comment expressed his struggle with understanding expatriates’ job duties due to the discrepancy between his expectation and what expatriates were actually doing. He continued:

I have my vision of what their roles should be but yet it’s sometimes . . . sometimes I feel like they’re told that they don’t have to listen to the American side. They are only here to do what the president asks them to do because if I ask for them to complete a task it doesn’t necessarily get done. There [are] even times where they feel like it’s okay to reprimand me like I work for them. It’s like, wait a minute. Where do you fall? So, it’s a very interesting dynamic here.

He explained that the subsidiary’s president gave him authority to assign tasks to expatriates, so he did so with one expatriate. However, the assigned task was never completed, leading the plant manager to think that expatriates do not listen to the local employees’ requests and causing him frustration.

Local employees’ sensemaking of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities resulted in discrepancies between their expectation and what the expatriates actually did. Consequently, such discrepancies caused them to evaluate expatriates negatively. For example, the administration department manager described expatriates as:

Loyal to [the president], um, sometimes I think they are scared . . . but I’ll call it being loyal, uh, to [the president] (laughter) . . . they, uh, will do whatever he tells them to do. And often, or I should say, rarely, rarely ever questioned. Whatever he tells them to do.

This manager’s comment indicated that expatriates are mainly responsible for whatever the president requests them to work on. Similarly, the manufacturing department manager mentioned:

The president [would say] “I expect you to do this or that,” you know what I mean? …. He gives them daily directions …. They are all so busy, I see them working on things, so in my head, I’m like, they are working on what [the president] told them to work on.

He continued that if he needed something from expatriates, he asked them and they helped, but he hesitated to ask because he knew they were always working on something for the president.

In addition to interpreting expatriates as working mostly for the president, the plant manager commented on how managers thought expatriates spied on local employees, stating:

You know, the American managers come to me when they’re frustrated. There are a lot of managers here that believe that the expatriates are nothing more than [the president’s] spies on the floor. They don’t do anything but see something wrong and go tell [the president]. They’re not here to support or to help or to try and fix anything.

That is, when local employees’ expectations that expatriates should help make improvements were unmet, they drew the conclusion that expatriates were there only to do what the president asked and report what was not working rather than actually helping. As a result, these local employees interpreted expatriates’ job duties negatively as spying, which likely harmed work relations with expatriates.

Summary

In summarizing RQ2 findings, local employees had certain expectations toward expatriates’ roles and responsibilities. Some responded positively when they saw consistency between their expectations and what expatriates actually did. However, some local employees found discrepancies, resulting in negative interpretations of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities in the subsidiary.

Discussion

This study examined how local employees gain information and then make sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities. Findings for RQ1 revealed local employees extracted information to make sense of expatriates’ job duties through direct communication with others, observation of expatriates’ communication, and recalling experiences with previous expatriates. RQ2 findings revealed that as local employees made sense of the information, there were often discrepancies between their expectations and experiences with expatriates, leading them to negatively conclude that expatriates were not there to support them but to work only for the subsidiary’s president. These findings have theoretical and practical implications.

Theoretical Implications

First, this study contributes to sensemaking research. Although previous research examined how organizational members make sense of their own roles (e.g., Kramer & Danielson, 2016), this study found that organizational members also engage in sensemaking to make meaning of the roles of other workgroup members, such that local employees made sense of their colleagues’ (i.e., expatriates’) organizational roles. To do so, they extracted information through direct communication with others, observation of expatriates, and by retrospectively recalling experience with previous expatriates, and used the information to make sense of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities (Weick, 1995). The similarity of these strategies to those used by newcomers to manage uncertainty (e.g., Miller & Jablin, 1991) supports a need to further examine the commonalities and distinctiveness of sensemaking and uncertainty management theories (Kramer, 2004).

Moreover, issues of identity explain the reason why individuals try to make sense of other organizational members’ roles and responsibilities. Issues of identity play a significant role in sensemaking because what is going on around us affects our identity (and vice versa), which affects our future action (Weick, 1995). In this study, local employees engaged in sensemaking because expatriates’ roles and responsibilities affected who they were and what they did as employees. In other words, it was necessary for local employees to make meaning of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities to accomplish their own duties as local employees. Thus, this study extends sensemaking by emphasizing that in order to establish or maintain their own identities, employees must make sense of other organizational members’ roles in relation to them (Weick, 1995) by gaining information through communication with others.

Through sensemaking, however, some local employees interpreted expatriates’ roles and responsibilities negatively. For local employees in this study, discrepancies between their expectations and their understanding of expatriates’ job duties led them to conclude expatriates were responsible for supporting the subsidiary’s president rather than supporting local employees or improving overall efficiency. Local employees expressed frustration due to their expectation that expatriates were supposed to be experts sent from headquarters to help them. Weick (1995) argues sensemaking is driven by plausibility, and people do not need to interpret or assign meanings accurately to events because plausible stories allow people to move forward. The local employees’ interpretation of expatriates is plausible, and their interpretation is not necessarily accurate. Expatriates may be trying to help local employees but communication between them or from organizational leaders may be inadequate for achieving such attempts by expatriates.

Local employees’ plausible interpretations let them move forward with their daily duties; however, their comments and tone of voice expressed dissatisfaction and distrust toward expatriates. For example, an information systems section manager stated in a tone suggesting skepticism, “I’m not saying they’re not doing stuff, but . . .” in explaining how he was not fully understanding expatriates’ job duties. Role ambiguity affects expatriates’ work adjustment (Black, 1988), job satisfaction (Kawai & Mohr, 2015), and self-efficacy (Lepine et al., 2005); however, participants’ comments in this study demonstrate that role ambiguity of expatriates can also cause negative effects on local employees. Trust is important for veteran and local employees in sharing information with newcomers or expatriates (e.g., Toh & Srinivas, 2012) and building relationships (Sriussadaporn, 2006). Moreover, lack of trust can lead to uncertainty, which result in lower job performance (Colquitt et al., 2012). In other words, local employees’ negative interpretation and expatriates’ ambiguous roles may prevent local employees from trusting expatriates and hinder relationships and overall organizational performance.

Although sensemaking among local employees resulted in their negative reactions toward expatriates, when sensegiving or sensebreaking is involved during changes, outcomes can be more positive. Sensegiving is “the process of attempting to influence the sensemaking and meaning construction of others toward a preferred redefinition of organizational reality” (Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991, p. 442) and plays an important role during organizational changes (Maitlis & Lawrence, 2007). Sensebreaking refers to “the destruction or breaking down of meaning” (Pratt, 2000, p. 464) and can be used to resist and disrupt existing meanings and construct alternative ones (Bisel et al., 2017). In this study, although local employees gained information through communication and engaged in sensemaking, some of them ended up having negative reactions toward expatriates because there was no clear communication (sensegiving) or disruption of those negative reactions (sensebreaking) from the organizational leader (i.e., the subsidiary president) during their sensemaking process. As a result, local employees assigned meaning of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities based on information they gained by themselves, which resulted in their negative feelings toward expatriates. Thus, this study contributes to sensemaking literature by demonstrating how sensemaking can lead to negative consequences without sensegiving and sensebreaking to help in creating meanings during organizational changes.

Next, this study contributes to research on the ongoing process of socialization. Most socialization research has focused on experiences of newcomers (e.g., Teboul, 1994), who are new to organizations. In this sense, expatriates are not newcomers because they transfer from the headquarters to a foreign branch of the organization. However, local employees categorized expatriates as “newcomers” and experienced changes in organizational structure upon expatriates’ arrival (Hess, 1993) causing them uncertainty (Gallagher & Sias, 2009) and inducing sensemaking (Weick et al., 2005). Employees needed to make sense of expatriates’ roles because what is happening out there affects their own identity and what they do. Thus, this study extends research on the ongoing socialization of veteran employees’ experiences with newcomers (e.g., Gallagher & Sias, 2009) by adding this unique context of expatriate-local employee relationships in multinational corporations.

In addition, because expatriates have more experience in the organization and are sent from headquarters to manage the subsidiary and achieve organizational goals, local employees may consider them as experts in certain fields and have higher expectations than they would of traditional newcomers. In this study, when local employees’ expectations did not align with what expatriates were actually doing, they reacted negatively to expatriates. Veteran employees’ expectations toward newcomers may play an important role in how they perceive the newcomers as a result of their sensemaking during their socialization process. This study contributes to the socialization research by emphasizing the importance of including more of veteran employees’ perspectives in understanding the ongoing socialization process and their experiences with new workgroup members.

Practical Implications

MNCs that send expatriates to foreign subsidiaries need to be aware that local employees are curious about new expatriates and attempt to make sense of who they are and what they do while expatriates themselves adapt to the new environments. Many corporations offer cross-cultural trainings for expatriates before their assignments, and these trainings are effective in improving cultural adjustment (e.g., Black & Mendenhall, 1990). Further, some organizations offer mentoring programs during expatriate assignments, contributing to better outcomes such as job performance, teamwork, and organizational knowledge sharing (e.g., Carraher et al., 2008). However, our findings indicate MNCs should also offer support to local employees. Many participants expressed that they usually do not get much information about new expatriates until they arrive. Management could actively provide as much information as possible regarding expatriates’ duties to reduce local employees’ uncertainty.

For example, MNCs could provide local employees clear explanations of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities and the outcomes they envision gaining from expatriates’ assignments. Role clarity and discretion positively influence expatriates’ work adjustment (Black et al., 1991), and local employees may also adjust to working with expatriates sooner with additional information. Moreover, clear information from management could help educate and mentor local employees in shaping their expectations toward expatriates (Sokro & Pillay, 2019) and thus avoid negative reactions from local employees due to the discrepancy between expectations and reality. Further, organizational leaders should be aware of the importance of sensegiving or sensebreaking during employees’ sensemaking process. As local employees engage in sensemaking to understand expatriates’ roles and responsibilities upon their arrival, organizational leaders should engage in sensegiving and sensebreaking using rhetorical strategies such as stories or metaphors (Fairhurst, 2011; Fairhurst & Sarr, 1996).

Even so, some local employees may end up having negative reactions toward expatriates. It may be challenging for MNCs to find out what local employees feel about expatriates; however, MNCs may conduct surveys periodically to acquire information about local employees’ perceptions of expatriates. In addition, MNCs may offer cross-cultural training and mentoring programs for local employees who work closely with expatriates to provide opportunities for them to discuss challenges they experience by working with expatriates and to create an open environment where both local employees and expatriates can feel safe to discuss their challenges. By doing so, both parties may be able to build relationships and work more effectively as a team.

Limitations and Future Directions

This study is not without limitations. First, participants provided retrospective accounts of their sensemaking process of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities through interviews; however, sensemaking is a social process (Weick, 1995), and observing actual conversations among local employees at the time of new expatriates’ arrival may provide better understanding of their sense making processes. Second, this study examined local employees’ experience in one U.S. subsidiary of one MNC. Local employees in other subsidiaries or other MNCs may have different experiences with expatriates; thus, future research may examine other subsidiaries and MNCs to acquire more comprehensive understanding of local employees’ sensemaking process of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities. This study emphasized that scholars interested in studying expatriates should take local employees’ experiences and perspectives into consideration in future studies in order to understand more broadly the experiences among expatriates and local employees in multinational corporations.

Conclusion

This study examined local employees’ experiences with MNC expatriates placed in the U.S. The findings revealed that local employees extracted information to make meaning of expatriates’ roles and responsibilities through direct communication, observations, and application of their knowledge of previous expatriates. As a result of the sensemaking, they often found difference between their expectations and experiences with expatriates which led to unfavorable evaluations of expatriates. Local employees in foreign subsidiaries are essential to organizational success in the global business world. Researchers should pay more attention to their experiences and perspectives in order to help MNCs enhance both local employees’ and expatriates’ work experiences while improving future organizational outcomes.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iDs

Mizuki H. Wyant

Michael W. Kramer

Author Biographies

Mizuki H. Wyant (M.A., Ball State University, 2015) is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on the intersection of intercultural and organizational communication, such as interactions between expatriates and local employees in multinational corporations.

Michael W. Kramer (Ph.D., Texas, 1991) is professor and chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma. His research focuses on employee transitions as part of the assimilation or socialization process for employees and volunteers. He also studies leadership and decision making in group settings.

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