Is cultural similarity misleading? The experience of Australian manufacturers in Britain

The effect of ethnic diversity on expatriate managers in their host country

“…Revelations about the idea of being an Australian in Malaysia, included being less status conscious, of having flatter organisational structures, greater degree of openness, approachability, and the need for proactive empowerment of co-workers. These perceptions of participants are consistent with other studies about Australian expatriate managers (Fenwick et al, 2003). One informant described it as follows:…”

“…Similarly, Fenwick, Edwards, and Buckley (2003) found diversity dynamics most regularly present in the form of language and communication barriers, and impact leadership and management style. Studies suggest that people in ethnically diverse workplaces may have strong feelings about the use of non-English languages at work, which increases the comfort levels of non-English speakers, but can create mistrust among native English speakers (Freeman and Browne, 2004;Lauring, 2008;Ogbonna & Harris, 2006).…”

“…Studies suggest that people in ethnically diverse workplaces may have strong feelings about the use of non-English languages at work, which increases the comfort levels of non-English speakers, but can create mistrust among native English speakers (Freeman and Browne, 2004;Lauring, 2008;Ogbonna & Harris, 2006). Fenwick et al (2003) found that even very experienced Australian managers operating in the United Kingdom (UK), may fail to understand the subtle nuances and differences in communication style, and inter-personal interactions with authority and power in the foreign workplace. These studies suggest the need for greater understanding of expatriate's demographical issues in foreign settings and, specifically, more clarity on the impact of management style and personality traits on organisational processes.…”

The antecedents of psychic distance

“…As suggested by O'Grady and Lane (1996), the relationship between perceived and real distances is a further area worthy of research. The fact that such perceptions are not symmetrical suggests that the 'psychic overconfidence' may be a more important issue for firms from some countries than from others (Evans & Mavondo, 2002;Fenwick, Edwards & Buckley, 2003;Pedersen and Petersen, 2004).…”

“…As a result scholars have started to point to a number of fundamental theoretical and methodological problems in the way that country differences have been conceptualized and operationally measured in the literature (Brewer, 2007;Harzing, 2004;Kirkman,Lowe and Gibson, 2006;Lu, 2006;Shenkar, 2001;Sousa and Bradley, 2004;Stöttinger and Schlegelmilch, 1998;Tihanyi, Griffith and Russell, 2005;Zhao, Luo and Suh, 2004). It has been pointed out, for example, that decision-makers may systematically underestimate 'real' differences to countries perceived to be very similar to the home country (O'Grady and Lane, 1996;Fenwick, Edwards and Buckley, 2003), that perceptions among two nations are not necessary symmetrical and that they may change both with experience and over time (Shenkar, 2001).…”