Premium
‘Am I Still One of Them?’: Bicultural Immigrant Managers Navigating Social Identity Threats When Spanning Global Boundaries
Author(s) -
Kane Aimée A.,
Levitalia
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/joms.12259
Subject(s) - boundary spanning , identity (music) , social identity theory , immigration , context (archaeology) , sociology , public relations , boundary (topology) , business , social group , political science , knowledge management , social science , geography , physics , archaeology , computer science , acoustics , law , mathematical analysis , mathematics
We examine the practice of nominating bicultural immigrants to manage knowledge‐intensive projects sourced from their host to their home countries. We focus on their actions vis‐à‐vis global collaborators and unpack psychological processes involved. Managers in these positions have to navigate the workplace social identity threat that arises from being associated with the home country group – a lower status group in this context. How they navigate this threat shapes the way they use their bicultural competencies and authority as managers. When they embrace their home country identity, immigrant managers tend to enable knowledge‐based boundary spanning through actions empowering home country collaborators, such as teaching missing competencies, connecting to important stakeholders, and soliciting input. Instead, when distancing from their home country identity, they tend to hinder collaborators by micromanaging, narrowing communication channels, and suppressing input. We develop theoretical implications for the study of global boundary spanning, bicultural managers, and workplace social identity.