Does culture matter? Re-examining cultural distance, conflict, and socio-cultural adaptation in MNCs in southwestern China

This study examined aspects related to intercultural distance and conflict dynamics effecting local employees who work with multinational companies (MNCs). The traditional view is that conflict arises out of national cultural differences manifested in nearly all management aspects within such MNCs. However, the mechanism of how cultural differences bring about or reduce conflict has not been clear. Communication expectancy violation (EV), an acknowledged critical link in this mechanism, has been under-studied. Hence, this study focused on EV as a potential link between cultural distance and conflict. In addition, how cultural distance, conflict, and conflict management styles, as well as expectancy violations predict socio-cultural adaptation is investigated. To narrow down intracultural differences, given the vast area that China occupies, a survey was carried out among 216 Chinese employees specifically in MNCs located in two leading southwestern inland cities of Chengdu and Chongqing. The findings reveal that (1) socio-cultural adaptation was predicted by three factors: EV, cultural distance (in terms of the company’s home country), and the confrontational conflict management style, and that (2) conflict was also predicted by EV. However, (3) the connection examined between conflict and socio-cultural adaptation was not supported. The study thus casts new light on a seldom studied multicultural context in inland China and reports new findings downplaying the usual role attributed to cultural distance and instead highlighting the significance of EV. The study also provides evidence for the institutional theory of organization, showing that how conflict is handled within MNC contexts is more important than the conflict itself, predicting a less-considered way toward better adapting to shared corporate culture.