Reducing inpatriate managers’ ‘Liability of Foreignness’ by addressing stigmatization and stereotype threats

Michael Harvey, University of Mississippi
Milorad M. Novicevic, University of Mississippi
M. Ronald Buckley, University of Oklahoma
Helen Fung, Al Akhawayn University, Morocco

Abstract

The acceptance of ‘others’ in an organization can be a long and protracted process that can take years. Seldom is there a smooth assimilation into the corporate ranks for outsiders. Given the increasing number of inpatriate managers arriving in the domestic organizations of many global organizations, the issues impacting the acceptance of inpatriate managers by home-country managers will invariably increase. The purpose of this paper is to prescribe a program/process designed to suppress the stigmatization and stereotyping of inpatriate managers located in the home-country organization, as stereotype threats may impact not only the performance of the inpatriate managers but also the performance of an organization that is attempting to globalize its operations. ©2005 Published by Elsevier Inc.