Inpatriates and the role of interpersonal strongtruststrong - IESE Blog.pdf

DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE GLOBAL RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH STAFFING WITH INPATRIATE MANAGERS: THE ROLE OF INTERPERSONAL TRUST Michael Harvey, B. Sebastian Reiche, Miriam Moeller Version January 2011 To be published in Journal of International Management Copyright © 2008-2011 Michael Harvey, Sebastian Reiche and Miriam Moeller. All rights reserved. B. Sebastian Reiche, PhD Assistant Professor IESE Business School Department of Managing People in Organizations Ave. Pearson, 21 Barcelona 08034, Spain Tel: +34 93 602 4491 Fax: +34 93 253 4343 E-mail: sreiche@iese.edu 0 DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE GLOBAL RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH STAFFING WITH INPATRIATE MANAGERS: THE ROLE OF INTERPERSONAL TRUST Abstract International human resource managers are progressively encountering new challenges pertinent to the manageability of multiculturalism when staffing global positions. The literature indicates that trust in the global organization context increases subsidiary acquiescence to and cooperation with the headquarters, making this concept an important component in developing inpatriates’ relationships with the headquarters organization. The purpose of this article is to examine a range of antecedents to trust building, distinguish between two different types of trust, affective vs. competence-based, and examine key outcomes of inpatriates’ trust building in global organizations. Reference point theory is used as the foundation for an analysis of the deliberate choice of the inpatriate manager and parent organization alike to adjust to new organizational conditions. In addition, it provides guidance in examining the effects of assignment l