Expatriates’ willingness to adjust their symbolic leadership abroad. An analysis of how culture affects expatriates’ use of symbolic interaction

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relation between perceived cultural distances and the willingness to adjust symbolic leadership by expatriates. Further, it is asked whether this adjustment has the potential to increase their acceptance as leader by the foreign workforce. Design/methodology/approach – The research derives testable propositions from symbolic leadership theory and the theory about cultural distance and transfers them into a structural equation model in order to identify the impact of cultural distance on expatriates’ adjustment effort. Therefore, an empirical investigation among German expatriates in the Philippines was conducted. Findings – The study contributes to the understanding of symbolic leadership in several unique ways. It is found that there is a relationship between perceived cultural distance and a willingness for symbolic leadership behavior in order to reduce social sanctions caused by unappropriated symbolism. The study shows that willingness to adopt foreign symbols does not lead to an increased acceptance. Originality/value – This research implies that the willingness alone is not sufficient if the appropriate cultural knowledge and required skills do not exist. Thus, this study points to the importance of expatriates’ cultural knowledge for the success of foreign assignments.