“We Work in International Companies”: Affordances of Communication Media in Chinese Employees’ Organizational Socialization

ABSTRACT

This research examined how Chinese employees in international companies perceived and enacted affordances of communication technologies, including social media, during organizational socialization. An analysis of interview data from 25 Chinese employees working in international companies in China revealed that social media affordances contributed to diversification of Chinese newcomers’ organizational learning and deepened as well as constrained their workplace social connections. Furthermore, social media affordances of visibility, persistence, and association fostered development of unique identities as international company employees through their experiences of organizational culture, distinguishing them from employees in other types of Chinese organizations.

KEYWORDS:

• Communication technologies
• organizational socialization
• social media affordances
• Chinese international companies
• identity
• qualitative interviews

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yijia Guo

Yijia Guo (Ph.D. University of Oklahoma) primarily researches organizational and intercultural communication in business. She is particularly interested and specialized in identity development and strategic negotiation in various international organizational contexts. Her research has appeared on top-tier journals that examined topics such as organizational culture, conflict management, emotion management, communication technology use in business (e.g., social media, mobile), and leadership communication. Prior to academia, Dr. Guo held program and event coordinator positions in Chinese and U.S. multinational companies, specializing intercultural business communication.

Sun Kyong Lee

Sun Kyong Lee (Ph.D., Rutgers University) researches on human-machine communication and organizational communication networks. Her research examines socio-cultural antecedents and outcomes of communication technology uses such as mobile and social media, and interactions with artificial intelligence-based agents. Lee also studies various ethnic and religious immigrants’ organizational communication networks as sources of social capital, and their associations with intercultural development and civic/political engagement. Her published work can be found in journals such as Communication Research, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Computers in Human Behavior, and International Journal of Human-Computer Studies.

Michael W. Kramer

Michael W. Kramer (Ph.D., University of Texas) is Professor Emeritus and retired chair in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma. His research primarily focuses on employee and volunteer experiences as part of the socialization/assimilation process. He also has examined leadership and decision making in various contexts including interorganizational collaborations.