Talk, trust and information flow: work relationships between Japanese expatriate and host national employees in Indonesia

Abstract

This paper broadens the understanding of work relationships between expatriate and host national employees in transnational organisations/corporations, who have tended to be investigated separately. By exploring interpersonal interactions between expatriate and host national employees, this paper highlights the importance of their relationships in the implementation of organisational activities. With a focus on both Japanese expatriate and host national employees in a Japanese organisation in Indonesia, this ethnographic study examines the ways in which they worked in unfamiliar circumstances, managed differences and provided essential support for each other. Their transnational connections, characterised by what Granovetter calls ‘the strength of weak ties’, function to diffuse information and knowledge effectively. I argue the significance of ‘talk’, particularly small talk, as an initial action that supports such information flow and builds trust. This paper attempts to demonstrate the vital roles of expatriate and host national employees as mediators, by using network analysis as a framework. Finally, I conclude that both expatriate and host national employees, the latter often seen merely as backseat players, are in fact keys to the successful activities of transnational organisations/corporations.

Keywords::

• ethnography
• expatriates
• host national employees
• talk
• trust
• weak ties

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Assistant Professor Gregory Acciaioli for providing invaluable comments and advice upon earlier drafts. I also appreciate the anonymous reviewers of the journal.