A longitudinal investigation on the factors affecting newcomers' adjustment: evidence from Japanese organizations

Abstract

Using the longitudinal survey data of newcomers working for Japanese firms, this study demonstrates that the socialization tactics used by Japanese firms were positively related to the degree of socialization of newcomers, which eventually correlated positively with the time-series differences in organizational commitment and achievement motivation from the first year (T1) to the second year (T2) of their organizational entry, and negatively with the longitudinal change in turnover intention from T1 to T2. In addition, the results show that the newcomers' attitudes toward their pre-entry job search efforts, as with their entry (T1), had a negative influence on the change in value commitment from T1 to T2, indicating that those who rated their past job search activities as successful tended, as of their entry into the organization, to diminish their level of acceptance of their organization's values over a year. Findings are used to discuss how firms can effectively manage their entry-level employees to facilitate their adjustment and retention.

Skilled Migrants Employed in Developed, Mature Economies: From Newcomers to Organizational Insiders

“…SMs make heavy investments in job search (e.g., Guerrero & Rothstein, 2012; McCoy & Masuch, 2007; Sardana, Zhu, & van der Veen, 2016) and they are frequently underemployed relative to their own qualifications (Shirmohammadi et al, 2019; Syed, 2008). These characteristics lower a newcomer’s motivation to adjust to the organization (Simon, Bauer, Erdogan, & Shepherd, 2019; Takeuchi & Takeuchi, 2009). Further, the socialization of SMs may take significantly longer than the socialization of other newcomers, extending beyond the onboarding activities that employers usually deploy at organizational entry.…”

“…Lu et al (2011) found that it was a combination of high levels of English proficiency and social support from the supervisor that enabled Chinese SMs to integrate into Australian workplaces. Takeuchi and Takeuchi (2009) emphasize the importance of role modeling in the socialization process, so the SM’s line manager needs to model inclusive behavior within the work group. Indeed, our review shows that SMs are more likely to thrive in environments where their supervisors promote inclusion through empathic supervision and team development (e.g., Hoppe, Toker, Schachler, & Ziegler, 2017; van Riemsdijk et al, 2016), especially when supervisors are migrants themselves (Rajendran et al, 2017).…”

“…Human capital has an enormous impact on learning and task mastery, but its role has been underemphasized in the socialization literature (Bauer & Erdogan, 2014). Future research should be particularly mindful of the role that human capital plays in the socialization process: A shortfall of capital may lead to an intensive job search, and intense job searches can be harbingers of socialization resistance (Takeuchi & Takeuchi, 2009). Without sufficient capital and credentials, socialization progress will be hindered by repeated organizational and career changes.…”

Nordic expatriates in the US: The relationship between cultural intelligence and adjustment

“…Cross cultural adjustment has been found to be positively related to performance on the assignment and negatively related to the premature termination of the assignment (Black, 1988;Caligiuri, 1997) and as a result researchers have examined a variety of factors which might influence and predict increased adjustment. In practice, the general belief has been that an expatriate that is successful in one assignment is more likely to be successful in another, regardless of the destination (Takeuchi & Takeuchi, 2009). The expatriate will have gained experience in intercultural communication, relocation, and cognitive skills, all of which should have a positive influence on the expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment in the new location (Black, Mendenhall, & Oddou, 1991;Selmer, 2002;Shaffer, Harrison, & Gilley, 1999).…”

Organizational socialization tactics: determining the relative impact of context, content, and social tactics

“…Institutionalized tactics are collective, formal, sequential, fixed, serial, and investiture, as opposed to individualized tactics that are individual, informal, random, variable, disjunctive, and divestiture. Previous studies have found that institutionalized tactics (Jones, 1986) were positively related to a large number of outcome variables including job satisfaction and organizational commitment (e.g., Ashforth, Sluss, & Saks, 2007;Saks et al, 2007;Takeuchi & Takeuchi, 2009). Six dimensions are used to characterize socialization tactics, that can be grouped into three categories that include context, content, and social tactics (Jones, 1986).…”