The multicultural workplace: interactive acculturation and intergroup relations

Abstract

Purpose -The paper's aim is to introduce the interactive acculturation model (IAM) of Bourhis et al. to predict how disconcordance in acculturation orientations between host community and immigrant workers relates to the quality of intergroup work-relations. Design/methodology/approach -The sample consisted of 141 host community (Dutch) and 41 non-western immigrant workers of a postal service company who filled out a questionnaire. Methods of analyses include analysis of variance and multiple regression. Findings -In line with the IAM, results showed that a higher disconcordance in preferred acculturation orientations between host community and immigrant workers related to a poorer quality of intergroup work-relations. However, intergroup contact moderated this relationship differently for host community and immigrant workers. Research limitations/implications -Data are cross-sectional and collected in one organization. Future studies should replicate the findings to other organizational contexts, cultural groups, and collect longitudinal data to determine causal effects. Practical implications -Organizations should monitor disconcordance in acculturation orientations amongst host community and immigrant workers. A multicultural culture in organizations may reduce disconcordance in acculturation orientations between host community and immigrant workers. Originality/value -The paper helps to explain the mixed findings in cultural diversity research so far, by demonstrating that disconcordance in acculturation orientations relates negatively to intergroup work-relations in a multicultural workplace.

Immigrants: A Forgotten Minority

“…The third theme, particularly unique to immigrants, is acculturation strategies. Dutch research (Oerlemans & Peeters, ) showed that while local employees favored the full assimilation of immigrants into the local culture, immigrant employees preferred a dual orientation of partial adaptation to the host culture and partial retention of their original culture. The more local and immigrant employees disagreed on these acculturation strategies, the more it impeded their relations in the workplace, thus setting the stage for discriminatory treatment.…”

Personality characteristics and workplace trust of majority and minority employees in the Netherlands

“…A study in the Netherlands by Oerlemans and Peeters (2010) found that while minority (mostly first-generation) employees preferred a dual pathway of adapting to the host culture whereas maintaining their own cultural heritage (integration strategy), majority employees wanted "immigrants to completely adapt to the Dutch culture, without maintaining aspects of their heritage culture" (assimilation strategy, p. 472).…”

Finding the right mix: How the composition of self‐managing multicultural teams' cultural value orientation influences performance over time

“…Surface-level cultural diversity encompasses variations in demographic markers such as ethnicity or nationality (Jackson, May, & Whitney, 1995;Williams & O'Reilly, 1998), whereas deep-level cultural diversity involves differences in cultural attitudes, norms, and values (Jackson, Joshi, & Erhardt, 2003). Although most research thus far has focused on examining surface-level forms of cultural diversity (Oerlemans & Peeters, 2010), a growing body of research reports significant impact of deep-level forms of cultural diversity on work outcomes (Harrison et al, 1998;Harrison, Price, Gavin, & Florey, 2002;Vodosek, 2007). A recent meta-analysis of the impact of culture shows the influence of cultural values endorsed by team members to be strongest for emotional outcomes, followed by attitudes, behaviors, and, finally, performance, which has a small effect size (Taras, Kirkman, & Steel, 2010).…”