ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIALIZATION IN TWO CULTURES: RESULTS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND HONG KONG

This study examined whether organizational socialization content areas are applicable across cultures. Data were gathered from 324 U.S. and 198 Hong Kong employees who completed a questionnaire assessing four socialization content domains (training, understanding of the job, coworker support, and future prospects within the company), five measures of job satisfaction, and three measures of organizational commitment. Based on the merged data from the two cultures, all four socialization domains played a significant role in predicting satisfaction and commitment. These socialization measures also were stronger predictors than a variety of demographic measures. Although there were some differences in the relative strengths of the socialization measures when the data were analyzed separately for each nation, the overall results support the idea that the socialization content areas tested are applicable across cultures. Implications for managing employees in the different cultures are discussed.

[1]  M. Bond,et al.  Upward and downward influence tactics in managerial networks: A comparative study of Hong Kong Chinese and Americans , 1991 .

[2]  J. Daniel Couger,et al.  Perceptions of equity, job satisfaction, and intention to quit among data processing personnel , 1985, Inf. Manag..

[3]  J. V. Maanen,et al.  Toward a theory of organizational socialization , 1977 .

[4]  Paul E. Levy,et al.  The role of perceived system knowledge in predicting appraisal reactions, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. , 1998 .

[5]  Richard T. Pascale,et al.  The Paradox of “Corporate Culture”: Reconciling Ourselves to Socialization , 1985 .

[6]  R. Taormina,et al.  Organizational Socialization: a Multidomain, Continuous Process Model , 1997 .

[7]  T. DeCotiis,et al.  A Path Analysis of a Model of the Antecedents and Consequences of Organizational Commitment , 1987 .

[8]  J. S. Hurlbert,et al.  Social Networks, Social Circles, and Job Satisfaction , 1991 .

[9]  Blake E. Ashforth,et al.  Socialization Tactics and Newcomer Information Acquisition , 1997 .

[10]  H. Klein,et al.  Organizational socialization: Its content and consequences. , 1994 .

[11]  P. Earley.  Self or group? Cultural effects of training on self-efficacy and performance. , 1994 .

[12]  J. Daniel Couger,et al.  Motivating IT professionals: The Hong Kong challenge , 1992, Inf. Manag..

[13]  S. P. Schappe,et al.  Bridging the Gap between Procedural Knowledge and Positive Employee Attitudes , 1996 .

[14]  Richard Whitley,et al.  Eastern Asian Enterprise Structures and the Comparative Analysis of Forms of Business Organization , 1990 .

[15]  Doo-Seung Hong,et al.  Dynamics of Asian Workplaces , 1997 .

[16]  E. Schein.  Career Dynamics: Matching Individual and Organizational Needs , 1978 .

[17]  R. Taormina,et al.  The Organizational Socialization Inventory. , 1994 .

[18]  Murray L Weidenbaum,et al.  The Chinese Family Business Enterprise , 1996 .

[19]  Tai K. Oh,et al.  Understanding Managerial Values and Behaviour among the Gang of Four: South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong , 1991 .

[20]  D. Ralston,et al.  Differences in Managerial Values: A Study of U.S., Hong Kong and PRC Managers , 1993 .

[21]  D. Randall,et al.  Exploring subcultural differences in hofstede's value survey: The case of the Chinese , 1991 .

[22]  Joseph Schwarzwald,et al.  A field study of employees' attitudes and behaviors after promotion decisions. , 1992 .

[23]  M. Nyaw,et al.  A comparative analysis of ethical beliefs: A four country study , 1994 .

[24]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[25]  G. McDonald,et al.  Ethical perceptions of Hong Kong Chinese business managers , 1988 .

[26]  Odd Nordhaug,et al.  Reward Functions of Personnel Training , 1989 .

[27]  Russell W. Belk,et al.  Becoming a Consumer Society: A Longitudinal and Cross-Cultural Content Analysis of Print Ads from Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan , 1989 .

[28]  L. Witt,et al.  Gender and the relationship between perceived fairness of pay or promotion and job satisfaction. , 1992, The Journal of applied psychology.

[29]  D. B. White.  New Realities in the Health and Human Service Sector in the 1990s Translate into New Opportunities and Challenges for O.D. , 1991 .

[30]  Tor Guimaraes,et al.  Antecedents and Consequences of Job Satisfaction among Information Center Employees , 1993, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[31]  Jennifer A. Chatman,et al.  Building organizational commitment: A multifirm study , 1990 .

[32]  John Van Maanen,et al.  People processing: Strategies of organizational socialization , 1978 .

[33]  R. MacCallum,et al.  THE APPLICATION OF EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS IN APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: A CRITICAL REVIEW AND ANALYSIS , 1986 .

[34]  Gareth R. Jones.  Socialization Tactics, Self-Efficacy, and Newcomers' Adjustments to Organizations , 1986 .

[35]  R. Taormina.  Employee Attitudes toward Organizational Socialization in the People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Singapore , 1998 .

[36]  M. Roznowski,et al.  Examination of the measurement properties of the job descriptive index with experimental items , 1989 .

[37]  Vernon D. Miller,et al.  INFORMATION SEEKING DURING ORGANIZATIONAL ENTRY: INFLUENCES, TACTICS, AND A MODEL OF THE PROCESS , 1991 .

[38]  C. Fisher.  Organizational socialization: An integrative review , 1986 .

[39]  M. Bond,et al.  The Confucius connection: From cultural roots to economic growth , 1988 .

[40]  Jacob Cohen,et al.  A power primer. , 1992, Psychological bulletin.

[41]  John P. Meyer,et al.  The measurement and antecedents of affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organization , 1990 .

[42]  Gordon Redding,et al.  The psychology of Chinese organizational behaviour. , 1986 .