The impact of language barrier and communication style in organizational culture on expatriate’s working performance

Abstract

This research explores the impact of organizational culture on expatriate's working performance at Universiti Malaysia Perlis. The factors that affect expatriate's job performance are important in enabling expatriates to acquire essential competencies that allow them to complete their tasks in workplace. This research was a survey (questionnaires) method. Data were gathered from 150 respondents consist of expatriates who were academicians and non-academician of legal age 18 and above on random basis from several academic schools in UniMAP. The analysis of the study uses Microsoft Excel and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Software Version 16.0. The data were analyzed using descriptive analysis and multiple regression analysis. According to the results presented, language barriers and communication style were found to have significant effects on expatriate's working performance. Therefore, from the results of two hypotheses tested there are meaningful relationships between language barriers and communication style toward expatriates working performance at Universiti Malaysia Perlis. This research has accumulated an empirical knowledge base which concentrates on coping behaviors for foreign staffs in higher education institution contexts. The findings of this research will help the management of UniMAP understand the impact of organizational culture's factors on expatriates working performance. The results of the present study showed that it could set up the right organizational culture and ultimately further improve the organization performance.

The Impact of Language Barriers and Discrimination Issues on Work Productivity of Foreign Workers

“…The result for Pearson Correlation Coefficient is 0.738, which shows a strong positive linear relationship. A prior study conducted by Ramlan et al (2018) stated that understanding the relationship between language barriers and social identity patterns of an expatriate is important to determine work performance. This shows that the respondents mostly agreed that language barriers somehow play a massive role in the work productivity of the workers.…”

“…According to the Cambridge dictionary, language consists of sounds, words, and grammar. Language is a communication system that helps people convey important messages and express feelings and knowledge (Ramlan et al, 2018). Two-way communication is essential when dealing with expatriates.…”

“…However, when there is a language barrier, communication becomes difficult. Language barriers are a common issue when working with foreign workers (Ramlan et al, 2018). Often, the person's way of speaking creates a barrier towards effective communication, not their accent (Javadpour & Samiei, 2017).…”

“…There are four hypotheses to be discussed: (1) the relationship between language barriers and work productivity; (2) the relationship between discrimination issues and work productivity; (3) the relationship between miscommunication and work productivity; and (4) the relationship between language barriers and discrimination issues on work productivity. Based on a study conducted by Rubin and Rubin (2011) in the article of Ramlan et al (2018), 65% of the companies have language barriers problem that existed among the top management as well as the employees, and 40% noted that the work productivity decreased due to language barriers. The impact of language barriers on the work productivity of foreign workers is that they may struggle in expressing their needs or replying to requests from other co-workers if they do not articulate in the primary language used in the workplace (Habas, 2020).…”

How Cultural Divergence Influences Expatriate’s Performance in Malaysia

“…In an organization, the employees' work culture influence their job performance and working styles, especially for expatriates. Previous researchers believed that it is vital for a leader in a company to understand the importance of culture in his organization (Ramlan, Abashah, Samah, Rashid, & Radzi, 2018). Unlike the legal environment and political views, cultural borders cannot be easily removed.…”