Host Country National Quality of Interaction With Expatriates Antecedents Process and Outcome - Wang

The International Journal of Human Resource
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Host country national quality of interaction with

expatriates: antecedents, process, and outcome
Chun-Hsiao Wang & Soo Min Toh
To cite this article: Chun-Hsiao Wang & Soo Min Toh (2023) Host country national quality of
interaction with expatriates: antecedents, process, and outcome, The International Journal of
Human Resource Management, 34:8, 1619-1650, DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2021.2005659
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2021.2005659
Published online: 23 Nov 2021.
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The International Journal of Human Resource Management
2023, VOL. 34, NO. 8, 1619–1650
https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2021.2005659
Host country national quality of interaction with

expatriates: antecedents, process, and outcome
Chun-Hsiao Wanga and Soo Min Tohb
a
Graduate Institute of Human Resource Management, National Central University, Taoyuan City,
Taiwan (R.O.C.); bDepartment of Management, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga,
Ontario, Canada
ABSTRACT KEYWORDS
Little research examines host country national (HCN)- Host country
expatriate interaction from the HCN’s perspective. Our study national-expatriate
contributes to theory and practice by introducing the con- interaction quality;
cept of ‘HCN-expatriate interaction quality’, one that has host country
national-expatriate
received little attention in the literature. Drawing on the
interaction;
Intergroup Contact Theory, we examine the mediating role host country national
of HCN-expatriate interaction quality between the HCN’s prior international
on-the-job interaction with and support to the expatriate, experiences;
as well as two moderating effects: off-the-job interaction host country national
with the expatriate and perceived expatriate receptivity support;
towards support. Further, we examine how different types intergroup contact
of the HCN’s prior international experiences enhance inter- theory
action quality with and support to the expatriate. Using a
multi-wave design of HCNs in Taiwan, we find support for
most of our hypotheses.
Introduction
In today’s knowledge-intensive and fast-paced global business reality
faced by multinational corporations (MNCs), host country nationals
(HCNs) are critical of partners to expatriates who are dispatched to
host subsidiaries to fulfill strategic objectives of MNCs (for reviews, see
van Bakel, 2019; Kang & Shen, 2018). There are a number of HCN
characteristics in today’s MNCs that deserve special attention. As local
experts, HCNs provide a conduit of role information and social support
that can help expatriates to become adequately adjusted to their work
(Toh & DeNisi, 2007). Many HCNs are also increasingly seen as expa-
triates’ colleagues or supervisors, as opposed to simply subordinates
CONTACT Chun-Hsiao Wang wangch@cc.ncu.edu.tw Graduate Institute of Human Resource

Management, National Central University, No. 300, Zhongda Rd., Zhongli District, Taoyuan City 32001, Taiwan
(R.O.C.).
© 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
1620 C.-H. WANG AND S. M. TOH
(Kossek et al., 2017). Expatriates who seek advice from HCNs adjust to
their assignments better (e.g. Mahajan & Toh, 2014) and a recent
meta-analytic evidence suggests that HCN support matters more for
expatriate adjustment than support from other expatriates (van der Laken
et al., 2019). This is not surprising as expatriates often spent more time
interacting with HCNs in the workplace than with other expatriates
(Caligiuri, 2000; Liu & Shaffer, 2005). Moreover, HCNs today are not
only well-trained and well-educated, but also globally competent (i.e.
have studied or worked overseas; Tung, 2016). Building on these findings
and to fully make use of the important roles of HCNs, researchers and
practitioners are increasingly recognizing that frequent and high-quality
interactions are embedded in effective HCN-expatriate working relation-
ships, and such interactions should be examined from both HCN and
expatriate perspectives.
Current international human resource management (IHRM) research,
however, remains somewhat one-sided – more concerned with the expe-
rience of expatriates (see Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005, for a meta-analytic
review on expatriate adjustment), but not the HCNs, or more specifically
to the focus of this study, the HCN perspective in the HCN-expatriate
interaction (Maertz et al., 2016). More recently, researchers have also
argued that the processes of interactions between expatriates and HCNs
are among the most prominent adjustment events for those involved in
interactions (Kang & Shen, 2018; Maertz et al., 2016). We know that
cross-cultural adaptation is a bi-directional process that requires both
parties in the cross-cultural interaction to make changes in their behavior
and cognition as a result of the interaction over time (Berry, 1997;
Tseng & Yoshikawa, 2008). In the context of HCN-expatriate interactions,
this means both expatriates and HCNs adapt behaviors and attitudes
when they interact with each other. Toh and DeNisi (2005) have sug-
gested that a successful international assignment requires everyone
involved, meaning that both expatriates and HCNs need to be well
adjusted to their cross-cultural interactions. Yet, we still have limited
knowledge of the HCN perspective in these interactions. Drawing from
the above arguments, we emphasize in the present study that
HCN-expatriate interaction is a dyadic process that requires both the
participation and adjustment of the expatriates and HCNs, but one in
which the perspective of the HCN is not yet well-understood.
To do so, we introduce the concept of HCN-expatriate interaction
quality, that is the extent to which HCNs are psychologically comfortable
or adjusted to their interactions with expatriates. Interaction adjustment
from the expatriate’s perspective in the HCN-expatriate interaction is
well-established concept (Maertz et al., 2016). It concerns the extent of
which expatriates feel comfortable interacting with HCNs and is one of
The International Journal of Human Resource Management 1621
three aspects of adjustment that expatriates should gain to be effective

(Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005). With HCN-expatriate interaction as a
dyadic process, how much HCNs are adjusted to interacting with expa-
triates, i.e. HCN-expatriate interaction quality is of both theoretical and
practical importance, and worthy of study in its own right for a number
of reasons.
First and foremost, because HCN-expatriate interaction is a dyadic
process, it should come as no surprise that HCNs experience varying
degrees of interaction quality when they interact with expatriates, just
as expatriates experience different levels of adjustment when interacting
with HCNs (Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005). For instance, HCN respon-
dents in a unique qualitative study indicated that they often experienced
a sense of uncertainty and doubt about interacting with expatriates
(Heizmann et al., 2018). Second, a research gap that has been identified
in recent reviews of HCN-expatriate interaction literature pertains to
the need for studies that examine not only the frequency of interaction
but also the quality of interaction (Kang & Shen, 2018; van Bakel, 2019).
Furthermore, HCNs are often working in close proximity with expatriates
and providing expatriates with needed support through interactions. We
argue that introducing HCN-expatriate interaction quality should shed
additional light on why HCNs are willing to support expatriates because
HCN-expatriate interaction quality is likely to be more proximal to
HCN support than justice perceptions (see Kang & Shen, 2018 for a
conceptual framework). Finally, practically speaking, MNCs are increas-
ingly realizing the importance of close working relationships between
HCNs and expatriates, for instance, HCNs acting as expatriates’ mentors
and the benefits they provide (Wang & Varma, 2019). When there is a
low level of HCN-expatriate interaction quality, HCNs may be reluctant
to develop and maintain meaningful relationships with expatriates.
The present study draws on Intergroup Contact Theory (Allport,
1954) to understand HCN-expatriate interactions and propose a nomo-
logical network of HCN-expatriate interaction quality – testing anteced-
ents, moderators, and outcomes of HCN-expatriate interaction quality.
Prior research argues that HCNs are likely to view expatriates as out-
group members because of various differentiating group and organiza-
tional features in MNCs (Toh & DeNisi, 2005). When HCNs categorize
expatriates as outgroup members (for example, because of the nationality
of the expatriate), they may be less likely to offer social support and
share information with expatriates (Varma et al., 2006). To minimize
the problems associated with outgroup categorization of expatriates by
HCNs, a substantial body of evidence from the intergroup contact lit-
erature suggests that frequent interactions between the ingroup members
(i.e. HCNs) and outgroup members (i.e. expatriates) may be part of the
solution to promote de-categorization, reduce uncertainty, and increase

liking (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006; Toh & DeNisi, 2007). Grounded in
Intergroup Contact Theory (Allport, 1954), our study suggests that two
specific instances of intergroup contact-HCNs’ current contact with
expatriates, the frequency of on-the-job and off-the-job interaction with
the expatriate, and prior contact with other cultures, the length, number,
and type of prior international experience, respectively, are key factors
affecting HCN-expatriate interaction quality, and the level of subsequent
support offered by HCNs to expatriates.
In sum, this study aims to make the following three contributions.
First, recognizing the importance of HCN-expatriate interaction, we
follow calls to examine the effects of both frequency and quality of
interactions between HCNs and expatriates (Bonache et al., 2016; Maertz
et al., 2016; Toh & Srinivas, 2012). The current model draws on
Intergroup Contact Theory to propose that the frequency of
HCN-expatriates’ on-the-job interaction should relate to the quality of
interaction but that this relationship should also be moderated by
off-the-job interactions such that the relationship is stronger when
off-the-job interaction is low. We further introduce and highlight
HCN-expatriate interaction quality as an important mechanism linking
frequency of on-the-job interaction with the expatriate to HCNs’ support
for expatriates. The current literature lacks an understanding of mech-
anisms linking HCNs with expatriate outcomes (Fan et al., 2018;
Takeuchi, 2010). Moreover, our model argues that how much the quality
of interaction relates to the extent to which HCNs provide support
should depend on the extent to which expatriates are perceived to be
receptive to receiving support from HCNs. Again, we draw from the
theoretical and empirical tenets of Intergroup Contact Theory to hypoth-
esize that the relationship between HCN-expatriate interaction quality
and HCN support should be stronger when HCNs perceive expatriates
to be receptive to their support.
Second, given that HCNs today are increasingly likely to have more
international experience (Tharenou & Caulfield, 2010; Tung, 2016), our
model also suggests that HCNs’ prior international experience is both
a timely and theoretically meaningful antecedent of HCN-expatriate
interaction quality and HCN support. Existing work has demonstrated
that having prior international experience is significantly related to
adjustment for expatriates (see meta-analysis by Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al.,
2005), but has been relatively silent on how this may be potentially
important for HCNs to interact with expatriates (Heizmann et al., 2018).
We turn the spotlight on the HCN to shed light on how HCNs adjust
to HCN-expatriate interactions. Our study also extends existing work
on international experience that have tended to only consider the
number of experiences and the length of those experiences but not the
nature of the experiences (e.g. work, study, and travel; Takeuchi & Chen,
2013). This has caused the influence of prior international experiences
on the HCN-expatriate interaction to be under-theorized. Our study
fills this void.
Last but not least, our study site heeds recent calls to provide greater
study insights by focusing more on the importance of the societal con-
text in IHRM studies (see Cooke, 2018 for a detailed discussion of this
topic). With decades of rapid globalization, HCNs increasingly possess
significant international experiences from work, study, and travel. Hence,
their globally competence ought to be recognized and explored. Taiwan
is, thus, a suitable study site for three reasons. First, in 2019, Taiwan
had the 22nd and 37th largest foreign direct investment outflows and
inflows in the world, respectively (United Nation Conference Trade and
Development (UNCTAD), 2020), which make HCNs in Taiwan easier
to gain various forms of international work experiences. Second, in
2019, Taiwan had been the 7th largest international student population
in US colleges/universities for five years in a row and the number of
Taiwanese students increased by 4.1% from the previous year (Institute
of International Education, 2020). Third, in 2019, Taiwan is ranked in
the 14th place for the number of citizens visiting foreign destinations
(Mastercard, 2019) and stayed an average of 7.87 nights per trip (from
the public database in National Immigration Agency, Ministry of the
Interior, Taiwan). We elaborate on the theoretical foundations of our
model and hypotheses next.
Theoretical background and hypotheses

The intergroup contact theory and the HCN-expatriate interaction
The Intergroup Contact Theory proposed by Allport (1954) argued that
one of the best ways to reduce prejudice toward outgroup members is
through intergroup interactions. Interactions reduce prejudice because
they allow learning about the outgroup, reduce feelings of anxiety about
interactions with outgroup members, and increase empathy and per-
spective taking (see Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008 for a meta-analysis). Lower
interaction anxiety, in particular, also leads to more positive attitudes
about the outgroup. Although originally developed as a racial- or
cultural-oriented phenomena, frequent interaction, as shown in
meta-analytic evidence, is equally crucial in reducing prejudice in a
wide variety of outgroup types based on age, disability, and work groups
or functions (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006). The large meta-analysis of
Pettigrew and Tropp (2006) also confirmed the similar effects of inter-
actions in both collective (i.e. reduce prejudice toward the entire
outgroup directly involved in the interaction) and bilateral (i.e. reduce

prejudice toward the specific outgroup member directly involved in the
interaction) settings. The bilateral setting of intergroup contact applies
to this study because in practice the number of expatriates is much
smaller relative to the HCNs and expatriates work in close proximity
to the HCNs. Hence, we followed previous research in the HCN-expatriate
interaction literature (e.g. Leung et al., 2011; Mahajan & Toh, 2014) to
focus on the bilateral setting of intergroup contact－HCNs’ interaction
and relationship with one expatriate whom they have the most interac-
tion. In support of this, of the different forms of intergroup interactions
(e.g. collective settings such as interactions with different members of
the same outgroup or different outgroups), frequent interactions with
the same outgroup member (i.e. bilateral settings such as intergroup
friendships) were the most effective (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2006) and
quickest (MacInnis & Page-Gould, 2015) form of contact in reducing
bias toward the outgroup.
In sum, Intergroup Contact Theory (Allport, 1954; Pettigrew, 1998)
provides the theoretical basis for our model, examining how intergroup
contact at different points in time influence the current relationship
quality of HCN-expatriate interactions and the potential moderating
influences on the process. We examine how the frequency of on-the-job
HCN-expatriate interactions (current intergroup contact) and nature of
HCNs’ prior international experience (prior intergroup contact) influence
the quality of HCNs’ present interaction with the expatriate. We further
propose HCN-expatriate interaction quality as a mediator of the rela-
tionship between the frequency of on-the-job HCN-expatriate interaction
and the level of the HCN’s support for the expatriate. We further exam-
ine two boundary conditions of this relationship: the HCN’s off-the-job
interaction with the expatriate, and the HCN’s perception of the expa-
triate’s receptivity of the HCN’s support, that moderate the first-stage
and second-stage of the hypothesized mediating relationships, respec-
tively. In summary, we proposed a moderated mediation model that is
illustrated in Figure 1. We present our theoretical rationale for each
part of this model next.
On-the-job interaction with the expatriate as an antecedent of HCN-

expatriate interaction quality
A meta-analysis by Hechanova et al. (2003) supported that expatriates

acquired the appropriate cultural norms and behaviors through interac-
tions with HCNs which, in turn related to cross-cultural adjustment.
Furthermore, researchers found expatriates’ interactions with HCNs to
be positively linked to expatriate psychological well-being (Wang &
Figure 1. Proposed model.
Kanungo, 2004) and performance (Liu & Shaffer, 2005). In a qualitative

field study, van Bakel et al. (2015) found that those expatriates rated
as highest quality in their relationships with HCNs also had the highest
frequency of interactions with HCNs. However, the evidence gathered
has been taken from the perspective of expatriates, with expatriates
reporting on their interactions with HCNs and their own levels of out-
comes, while the HCN perspective remained largely ignored (Maertz
et al., 2016).
For HCNs, initial interactions with expatriates may be rife with uncer-
tainty (Heizmann et al., 2018). This is especially so if HCNs and expa-
triates have many attribute differences like ethnicity, values, and work
preferences that are salient for HCNs and cause HCNs to categorize
expatriates as members of an outgroup (Toh & DeNisi, 2007). According
to the meta-analysis by Pettigrew and Tropp on the main tenets of
Intergroup Contact Theory (2008), frequent interactions with outgroup
members reduce the anxiety and uncertainty that ingroup members have
about interacting with outgroup members. This finding can be explained
in part by how frequent interactions with the same outgroup members
make interactions more predictable and less stressful (MacInnis &
Page-Gould, 2015). According to the anxiety-uncertainty management
theory (Gudykunst & Nishida, 2001), individuals communicate better
when they are able to manage their anxiety and predict how encounters
will go. Contact allows for the shaping and sharing of beliefs and atti-
tudes between members of the groups, and provides opportunities to
learn and practice new communication behaviors (Meleady et al., 2020).
In the case of the HCN-expatriate context, because of the potential
differences in ethnicity and personal values, the HCN might initially
perceive interacting with the expatriate as stressful and unpredictable;
but subsequent interactions with the expatriate allow the HCN to learn
more and to develop greater knowledge about the expatriate (Toh &
DeNisi, 2007). Building on the explanations given above and existing

evidence from the intergroup contact literature, we argue that frequent
on-the-job interactions with the expatriate should provide opportunities
for the HCN to try out different communication and interpersonal
styles, and most importantly, to receive direct feedback on the effec-
tiveness of those styles, i.e. reducing anxiety and increasing the inter-
cultural competence needed in associating with the expatriate (Meleady
et al., 2020). As such, frequency of HCN-expatriate contact on the job
should lead to higher quality interactions with the expatriate.
Hypothesis 1: The frequency of a HCN’s on-the-job interaction with the expatriate
is positively related to his or her HCN-expatriate interaction quality.
Effect of on-the-job interaction with the expatriate on HCN support

through HCN-expatriate interaction quality
Intergroup contact theorists suggest that interactions between members

of different groups allows people to see others in individuated and
personalized ways, which ultimately leads to more positive attitudes
toward other groups (e.g. Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008). We theorize that
intergroup contact increases the support HCNs offer to expatriates in
two ways. First, along similar lines, Caligiuri (2000) and Church (1982)
suggest, in the HCN-expatriate context, that the more interaction a
person has with people of other cultures, the more positive his or her
attitudes toward that cultural group will be. More specifically, interac-
tions with the expatriate provide opportunities for the HCN to realize
that they have more in common than he or she once thought and rely
less on group identities as bases for their interactions, viewing the
expatriates as ‘one of us’ (Toh & DeNisi, 2007). Such an ingroup per-
ception has been found to be associated with higher HCN support to
expatriates (Varma et al., 2006). Second, greater frequency of on-the-job
interactions simply allows more opportunity for HCNs to provide sup-
port to expatriates that are needed in the course of their work. HCNs
should not just be comfortable with providing support, they should also
have the opportunity to do so (Heizmann et al., 2018; Toh & DeNisi,
2007). Contact provides HCNs the opportunity to observe expatriates’
need for support and provide it accordingly. Taking these arguments
and findings into account, we expect that frequent interactions with the
expatriate on the job should lead to greater HCN support for the
expatriate.
Hypothesis 2: The frequency of a HCN’s on-the-job interaction with the expatriate
is positively related to his or her support directed at the expatriate.
Applying stress management theories, Kraimer and her colleagues

(2001) suggested that expatriates who are poorly adjusted to interacting
with HCNs are more likely to experience psychological stress. This
experienced stress deprives expatriates of the energy needed for building
or maintaining constructive relationships with HCNs. Supporting this
claim, a number of studies demonstrate expatriates’ interaction adjust-
ment to be positively associated with a number of different
relationship-based performance in the host country (Bhaskar-Shrinivas
et al., 2005; Kraimer et al., 2001; Kraimer & Wayne, 2004). According
to the human informational process theory (Kanfer & Ackerman, 1989),
people have a limited amount of cognitive and attentional resources,
and when people have thoughts other than the task at hand, it requires
more of their cognitive and attentional resources. Applying these findings
to the HCN, we argue that HCNs who have higher quality interactions
with expatriates may be less likely to experience psychological stress
that diverts their cognitive and attentional resources from providing
support to expatriates. In contrast, HCNs who do not have high quality
interactions may have a restricted relationship with expatriates because
they have limited energy or a narrow focus of attention when interacting
with expatriates.
From the standpoint of Intergroup Contact Theory, interactions with
outgroup members are often associated with greater knowledge about
the member and fewer expectations of discrimination or rejection during
intergroup interactions (intergroup anxiety; Stephan & Stephan, 1985).
A meta-analysis by Pettigrew and Tropp (2008) has provided strong
evidence that the positive outgroup attitudes as the result of frequent
intergroup interactions is mediated by greater knowledge about the
outgroup member and reduced anxiety about intergroup interaction.
Given the above, we hypothesize that HCNs’ on-the-job interaction with
expatriates will have an indirect effect on HCN support through improved
HCN-expatriate interaction quality.
Hypothesis 3: HCN-expatriate interaction quality mediates the positive relationship
between the frequency of on-the-job interaction with the expatriate and support
directed at the expatriate.
Moderating role of off-the-job interaction with the expatriate
In the broader expatriate literature, Takeuchi et al. (2009) pointed out

that most studies have failed to distinguish between work and non-work
domains. Such understanding, as they have argued, increases our existing
knowledge of the condition when an antecedent can further effectively
promote any outcomes of interest in the literature. On the other hand,
owing to the increasingly important role of HCN to the expatriate

assignment, researchers in the HCN-expatriate interaction literature have
begun to pay attention to the non-work domain within which HCNs
interact with expatriates (e.g. Bruning et al., 2012; Heizmann et al.,
2018). For example, in a mixed method study of expatriates’ HCN net-
work, Bruning and her colleagues (2012) noted that twenty-eight percent
of expatriate respondents indicated HCNs as both a colleague and friend.
In the qualitative results, the authors found that expatriates who were
able to form both professional and social relationships with HCNs
reported greater adjustment and performance.
From the HCN perspective, HCN respondents in a qualitative study
by Heizmann et al. (2018) indicated that they found their initial off-the-
job interactions with expatriates that are unrelated to the job roles were
beneficial to their ability to exchange personal knowledge and feel com-
fortable in working with expatriates. In an intergroup context, Pagotto
et al. (2010) found that Italian hospital workers’ interactions with foreign
patients at work and with non-European Union immigrants outside the
workplace were both significantly related to reduced anxiety about inter-
acting with outgroup members. Therefore, in a situation where the HCN
has low frequency of off-the-job interaction with the expatriate, the
frequency of on-the-job interaction with the expatriate becomes more
relevant to HCN-expatriate interaction quality as those would be the
primary means by which the HCN can learn how to interact with
expatriates. Building on these qualitative and quantitative insights, we
expect that HCNs’ on-the-job interaction with the expatriate would have
a stronger positive relation with HCN-expatriate interaction quality when
HCNs’ off-the-job interaction is low.
Hypothesis 4: A HCN’s off-the-job interaction with the expatriate moderates the
relationship between on-the-job interaction with the expatriate and HCN-expatriate
interaction quality, such that the relationship will be stronger when off-the-job
interaction is low (vs. high).
Moderating role of perceived receptivity of the expatriate
The extent to which HCN-expatriate interaction quality leads to greater

support for expatriates should be moderated by HCNs’ perception that
expatriates would be receptive to HCNs’ support. As noted at the outset,
the HCN-expatriate relationship is a dyadic process. Not only is it
important to motivate HCNs to take the initiative to offer support to
expatriates (Toh & DeNisi, 2007), but also to get expatriates to be open
or receptive to HCNs’ support and ideas (Mahajan & Toh, 2014). In a
meta-analysis of the organizational support theory, Kurtessis and his
colleagues (Kurtessis et al., 2017) found that when employees perceive

that their contributions are valued, they reciprocate by engaging in more
citizenship behaviors. More specifically, researchers have also suggested
when employees perceive their supervisors are receptive to their sug-
gestions, they engage in more voice behaviors because they feel safe to
express their views (Detert & Burris, 2007).
Within the context of HCN-expatriate relationship, Leung et al. (2011)
found that HCNs were more likely to offer support to and feel satisfied
with expatriates when expatriates included them in the decision-making
processes. Heizmann et al. (2018) found that in HCN-expatriate dyads
that were identified as effective in two-way knowledge sharing, expatri-
ates were proactive in encouraging HCNs to not only share new ideas
but also challenge expatriates’ thinking without fearing negative conse-
quences or breaking social norms. Furthermore, the authors noted the
commonly inherent power imbalance between expatriates and HCNs
with expatriates usually the ones with higher power, and argued that
in order for expatriates and HCNs to be highly effective in knowledge
sharing, they should create an environment where HCNs are encouraged
to contribute and feel comfortable contributing as a peer. All of the
above signal expatriates’ receptivity to HCN support. Viewed this way,
we argue that by being seen as open to HCNs’ suggestions and ideas
makes providing support to expatriates more salient to HCNs, especially
those who reported interaction with expatriates to be positive. Thus,
we suggest that HCNs’ perceived receptivity of the expatriate will amplify
the positive effect of HCN-expatriate interaction quality on HCN support.
Hypothesis 5: Perception of an expatriate’s receptivity moderates the relationship

between HCN-expatriate interaction quality and HCN support to the expatriate,
such that the relationship will be stronger when perceived receptivity is high
(vs. low).
Taken together, our mediating hypotheses (Hypotheses 1 to 3) and

moderating hypotheses (Hypotheses 4 and 5) constitute one first-stage
and one second-stage moderated mediation models, respectively.
Specifically, we expect that the mediated effects are stronger for HCNs
with low levels of off-the-job interaction and high levels of perceived
receptivity.
Hypothesis 6a: The frequency of a HCN’s off-the-job interaction with the expa-
triate moderates the first stage of the mediated effect of a HCN’s on-the-job
interaction frequency with the expatriate and his or her support directed at the
expatriate through HCN-expatriate interaction quality. Specifically, the mediated
effect will be stronger when off-the-job interaction with the expatriate is low
rather than high.
Hypothesis 6b: A HCN’s perceived receptivity of the expatriate moderates the

second stage of the mediated effect of a HCN’s on-the-job interaction frequency
with the expatriate and his or her support directed at the expatriate through
HCN-expatriate interaction quality. Specifically, the mediated effect will be stronger
when the perceived receptivity is high rather than low.
Prior international experiences of HCNs as the antecedents of HCN-

expatriate interaction quality and support
Finally, we look beyond the current contact of the HCN with expatriates
in the present study. We hypothesize that HCNs’ prior international
experiences can enhance HCNs’ quality of interaction with expatriates
and support to expatriates. We offer the following three reasons. First,
intergroup contact theorists show that people who have more prior
friendships with members of other cultures are more likely to have
positive emotions towards those cultural groups (Emerson et al., 2002;
Pettigrew, 1998). These intergroup interactions/friendships may even
generalize to other cultural groups not involved in the situation (Pettigrew,
1998), and a meta-analysis confirms such associations (Pettigrew &
Tropp, 2006). Hence, people who have lived overseas are more likely to
have the opportunity to become friends with people of other cultural
backgrounds and HCNs who have had such exposure to other cultural
groups may be more likely to already have developed positive feelings
towards expatriates. Second, Black et al. (1991) argued from the social
learning perspective that expatriates who have prior international expe-
rience are likely to have gained a number of skills (e.g. intercultural
relational and cognitive skills) that would help them to interact with
HCNs more effectively. Meta-analytic evidence supports this view
(Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005). Third, living in a foreign culture often
requires one to adjust to the host culture (Berry, 1997). Researchers
suggest that HCNs who work closely with expatriates are more likely
to empathize with the adjustment of expatriates and provide support to
expatriates if they have undergone similar adjustment experiences of
their own (Farh et al., 2010).
Beyond the question of whether the length of time one had previously
spent in overseas influences his or her future attitude and behavior,
advancing our knowledge in the area of international experiences also
requires understanding of the nature of international experiences
(Caligiuri & Tarique, 2012; Takeuchi & Chen, 2013). Therefore, to fur-
ther examine the effect of HCNs’ prior international experience in the
HCN-expatriate relationship, we take a multidimensional approach to
examine HCNs’ prior international experiences. As previous study has
used multiple measurements (i.e. length and number) and dimensions
(i.e. work and study) of previous international experience and shown

them to affect expatriate adjustment differently (Takeuchi et al., 2005),
we examine both the length and number of each travel, study, and work
experience that HCNs have spent in overseas. We expect such differen-
tiation is worthy of attention. For example, Caligiuri and Tarique (2012)
confirmed that both prior non-work (e.g. travel and study) and
organization-initiated (e.g. expatriate assignment) international experi-
ences were positively associated with one’s cultural flexibility and toler-
ance of ambiguity. Moreover, Tarique and Takeuchi (2008) found the
positive effects of the length and number of prior travel experiences on
one’s ability to adapt when interacting with people from different cul-
tures were not the same. Furthermore, in a review of international
experiences for expatriates, Takeuchi and Chen (2013) suggested that
the effect of prior international experiences within the same domain
(e.g. prior work-related experiences to future work-related experiences)
is considered to be ‘near transfer’ (i.e. knowledge within the same
domain), so are more effective in facilitating subsequent adjustment
than prior international experiences from different domains (e.g. prior
travel-related experiences to future work-related experiences) that are
considered to be ‘far-transfer’ (i.e. knowledge across different domains).
In sum, we argue that through having prior travel, study, and work
international experiences, HCNs will be more likely to have gained the
necessary skills to befriend people of other cultures, experienced
first-hand the challenges associated with living in a foreign country, and
developed a greater sense of empathy for the challenges that expatriates
experience, and thus can have higher quality interactions with expatriates
and provide support to expatriates.
Hypothesis 7: The length of a HCN’s prior international (a) travel, (b) study, and
(c) work experiences, as well as the number of prior international (d) travel, (e)
study, and (f) work experiences are positively related to his or her HCN-expatriate
interaction quality.
Hypothesis 8: The length of a HCN’s prior international (a) travel, (b) study,
and (c) work experiences, as well as the number of prior international (d) travel,
(e) study, and (f) work experiences are positively related to his or her support
directed at the expatriate.
Methodology
Sample and procedures
The focus of this study is on HCNs and their interactions with expa-
triates. Thus, we invited HCNs who met the screening criteria: working
in the country in which he/she was born, and currently working with
an expatriate in his or her organization. Given that previous expatriate

studies often did not define clearly the expatriate type that was studied
(Tharenou, 2015), we focused on company-assigned expatriates and
defined expatriates as someone who was sent by the organization to
work in a foreign country. To test our hypotheses, we first searched
and obtained the contact information of human resource or public
relations representatives from the 350 largest foreign-owned companies
in Taiwan listed by China Credit Information Service, the largest credit
information agency in Taiwan. Then, we individually contacted these
company representatives and explained the purpose and procedure of
the study. A total of 93 company representatives from a wide spectrum
of industries agreed to participate and to forward the cover letter that
explained the survey process and contained the link to the first part of
the online survey to five randomly-selected HCNs in his or her orga-
nization who are currently working with an expatriate. The respondents
were assured of the voluntary and anonymity of their participation.
To minimize common method bias, our study design consisted of
multiple survey administrations, each separated by 2 months. Per
Intergroup Contact Theory (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008), antecedents,
mediator, and the behavioral outcome were measured at three waves of
surveys; that is, interactions (on-the-job and off-the-job) with the expa-
triate enhance HCN-expatriate interaction quality that in turn lead to
support to the expatriate. At Time 1, respondents reported their on-the-
job and off-the-job interactions with the expatriate, prior international
experiences, and demographic information. At Time 2, respondents
reported their quality of interaction with the expatriate, perceived recep-
tivity, and English ability. At Time 3, respondents reported their level
of support to the expatriate. A researcher-assigned identification code
was given to those participants that completed the Time 1 survey for
survey matching purposes. In line with previous studies that examined
HCN-expatriate relationships (e.g. Leung et al., 2011; Toh & Srinivas,
2012), the respondents were explicitly instructed during each survey
administration to identify one expatriate whom they work with the most
in the present organization and asked to refer to this particular referent
expatriate when answering the three surveys. In exchange for their
participation, they received a NT$150 (US$5) gift certificate and a
donation of NT$50 (US$1.67) to a modern pentathlon team of a high
school in the remote countryside of Taiwan for each part of survey that
was returned. A total of 214 HCNs responded to the Time 1 survey
(46%). Among them, 209 and 198 completed the Time 2 and Time 3
surveys, respectively. The final response rate was 43%. Females accounted
for 53.5% of the final sample. The average age and tenure were 38.98
and 6.85 years, respectively. Majority of them had graduate degrees and
above (50.5%) or bachelor degrees (48.5%). The referent expatriates

represented 29 different nationalities, and 25.8% of them were foreign
citizen of Chinese ethnicity.
Measures
All measures were independently translated from English to Traditional

Chinese using the translation/back-translation procedure (Brislin, 1980).
Three Taiwanese human resource professionals who are not part of this
study and work with expatriates on a daily basis reviewed the translated
survey to improve its readability. Unless otherwise stated, a 5-point
Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) was
used. We modified the items in the following measures such that the
referent referred to the expatriate.
We measured on-the-job and off-the-job interaction with the modified
four-item scale developed by McAllister (1995). The sample items are
as follows: ‘How frequently do you initiate work-related interaction with
the expatriates on the job?’ and ‘How frequently do you interact with
the expatriate socially off the job?’ For the two aspects of interaction,
respondents were instructed to complete one aspect of the interaction
at a time (e.g. on-the-job) and to refer to all forms of interaction, such
as face-to-face, telephone, email, and instant messaging. Respondents
indicated the extent to which they interacted with the expatriates using
a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always).
Cronbach’s alphas were .91 and .94 for on-the-job and off-the-job inter-
action, respectively.
We measured respondents’ prior international experience according to
Takeuchi et al. (2005) by asking the respondents to list the countries
they had traveled to and the length (in months) of each trip, starting
from the most recent. In order to distinguish different types of prior
international experience, respondents were also asked to identify the
nature of the international experience (e.g. work, study, and travel) and
were instructed to list up to ten experiences for each type of prior
international experience. Prior international experience for each type
was created by summing the length and the number of each reported
international experience.1,2
We measured HCN-expatriate quality of interaction with the three-item
scale used by Mallett et al. (2008). The three items are, ‘I was able to
make the interaction with the expatriate go smoothly’, ‘The expatriate
felt comfortable interacting with me’, and ‘I liked the expatriate’.
Cronbach’s alpha was .84. We measured perceived receptivity with the
five-item scale used by Grant et al. (2011). A sample item is, ‘The
expatriate was receptive to suggestions’. Cronbach’s alpha was .85. We
measured HCN support with the seven-item organizational citizenship

behavior-individual (OCBI) scale developed by Williams and Anderson
(1991). A sample item is, ‘I take time to listen to the expatriate’s prob-
lems and worries’. Cronbach’s alpha was .86.
As for the control variables, we controlled for a number of demo-
graphics of the respondents. Gender was dummy coded (0 = Female,
1 = Male). Age and tenure were measured in years. Education was mea-
sured by the highest education obtained (1 = technical or high school,
2 = bachelor degree, 3 = graduate degree and above). In addition to con-
trolling for these demographic variables, we also controlled for whether
the HCN respondent and the expatriate share the same ethnicity (i.e.
the expatriate was of Chinese ethnicity), as well as the English ability
of HCN respondent. The notion here is that researchers have previously
documented that HCNs might react differently toward ethnically similar
and dissimilar expatriates (Fan et al., 2018). Expatriate of Chinese eth-
nicity was dummy coded to indicate whether or not the expatriate was
of Chinese ethnicity (0 = No, 1 = Yes). The English ability of the HCN
respondent was controlled because often times expatriates have only
limited host country language ability (Zhang & Harzing, 2016), and thus
English becomes the lingua franca and highly critical in HCN-expatriate
interactions (Heizmann et al., 2018). English ability was measured with
five items adopted from Takeuchi et al. (2002). These items assess the
extent to which respondents feel confident in using English in writing,
speaking, reading, listening, and in general. Cronbach’s alpha was .93.
Results
The measurement model and descriptive statistics
Before testing our hypotheses, we first conducted a confirmatory factor
analysis (CFA) with AMOS 21.0 to examine the distinctiveness of the
key variables in this study. CFA was performed without any error cova-
riance. Results showed that our hypothesized six-factor model (on-the-
job interaction, off-the-job interaction, perceived receptivity,
HCN-expatriate interaction quality, HCN support, and English ability)
was a better fit to the data: x2 (335) = 647.79, p < .001; CFI = .92, TLI
= .91, RMSEA = .07, than alternative models: (a) five-factor model by
combining on-the-job interaction and off-the-job interaction into one
factor: x2 (340) = 1,030.46, p < .001; CFI = .82, TLI = .80, RMSEA =
.10; (b) four-factor model by combining perceived receptivity,
HCN-expatriate interaction quality, and English ability: x2 (344) =
1,361.91, p < .001; CFI = .73, TLI = .70, RMSEA = .12; and (c) one-factor
model by combining all variables into a single factor: x2 (350) = 2,509.31,
p < .001; CFI = .42, TLI = .38, RMSEA = .18. These CFA results showed
Table 1. Descriptive statistics and correlations.
M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
1. Gender 0.46 0.50
2. Age 38.98 7.48 0.15*
3. Education 2.49 0.52 0.13 0.28**
4. Tenure 6.85 6.13 0.20** 0.63** 0.14*
5. Expatriate of Chinese ethnicity 0.26 0.44 −0.02 0.13 −0.07 0.00
6. English ability 3.53 0.84 0.10 −0.02 0.27** −0.03 0.07
7. PITE – length 1.61 4.06 0.03 −0.02 −0.06 −0.09 0.12 −0.06
8. PISE – length 7.07 17.32 −0.02 −0.11 0.17* −0.06 −0.03 0.16* −0.09
9. PIWE – length 5.85 12.95 −0.11 0.00 0.12 −0.08 0.17* 0.23** 0.04 0.20**
10. PITE – number 2.13 2.63 0.12 0.09 −0.03 0.12 −0.07 0.03 0.36** −0.10 −0.05
11. PISE – number 0.44 0.78 −0.12 −0.15* 0.24** −0.21** 0.02 0.24** −0.08 0.67** 0.23** −0.04
12. PIWE – number 1.84 2.28 0.12 0.20** 0.18** 0.10 0.15* 0.22** 0.04 0.09 0.26** 0.24** 0.07
13. On-the-job interaction 3.44 0.81 0.08 0.13 0.16* −0.10 0.19** 0.25** −0.05 0.20** 0.20** 0.06 0.19** 0.27**
14. Off-the-job interaction 2.57 0.89 0.01 0.07 0.14* −0.13 0.07 0.19** 0.11 0.23** 0.15* 0.19** 0.15* 0.29** 0.53**
15. HCN-expatriate interaction quality 3.79 0.62 0.03 0.16* 0.21** −0.02 0.18* 0.25** 0.04 0.34** 0.31** 0.03 0.31** 0.31** 0.50** 0.50**
16. Perceived receptivity 3.72 0.64 −0.02 0.02 0.11 −0.10 0.00 0.27** 0.09 0.27** 0.12 0.01 0.22** 0.26* 0.39** 0.39** 0.50**
17. HCN support 3.89 0.54 −0.02 0.06 0.14* −0.06 0.15* 0.22** −0.05 0.33** 0.25** 0.02 0.22** 0.26** 0.34** 0.38** 0.46** 0.46**
Note. PITE = Prior international travel experience; PISE = Prior international study experience; PIWE = Prior international work experience.
N = 198; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01.
The International Journal of Human Resource Management
1635
Table 2. Regression results for HCNs’ prior international experiences.

HCN-expatriate interaction quality HCN support
Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2
Controls
Gender −0.01 0.02 −0.04 −0.04
Age 0.20* 0.22** 0.10 0.12
Education 0.13 0.04 0.10 0.04
Tenure −0.15 −0.13 −0.12 −0.16
Expatriate of Chinese ethnicity 0.15* 0.10 0.13 0.11
English ability 0.20** 0.10 0.19* 0.11
Predictors
Prior international travel experience 0.05 −0.08
– length
Prior international study experience 0.24** 0.35***
– length
Prior international work experience 0.15* 0.11
– length
Prior international travel experience 0.01 0.07
– number
Prior international study experience 0.08 −0.11
– number
Prior international work experience 0.16* 0.14
– number
F 5.00*** 6.35*** 3.05* 4.45***
R2 0.14 0.29 0.09 0.22
ΔR 2
0.16 0.14
Note. N = 198; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
that study variables were distinct from each other. Table 1 shows the
descriptive statistics and correlations for all variables in the study.
Hypothesis tests
We tested our hypotheses with multiple regression analysis. Table 2

summarizes the results for Hypotheses 7 and 8. Of the control variables,
age and expatriate of Chinese ethnicity were positively related to
HCN-expatriate interaction quality (β = 0.20, p < 0.05; β = 0.15, p < 0.05).
English ability was positively related to HCN-expatriate interaction quality
(β = 0.20, p < 0.01) and HCN support (β = 0.19, p < 0.05). Still, as shown
in Table 2, the length of prior international study experience was pos-
itively related to both the HCN-expatriate interaction quality (β = 0.24,
p < 0.01) and to HCN support (β = 0.35, p < 0.001), the length of prior
international work experience was positively related to HCN-expatriate
interaction quality (β = 0.15, p < 0.05), and the number of prior work
experience was positively related to HCN-expatriate interaction quality
(β = 0.16, p < 0.05), supporting Hypotheses 7 b, 7c, 7f, and 8 b.
Table 3 summarizes the results for Hypotheses 1 and 2, as well as
for the moderating effects specified in Hypotheses 4 and 5. As expected,
frequency of on-the-job interaction with expatriates is positively related
with HCN-expatriate interaction quality (β = 0.43, p < 0.001) and HCN
support (β = 0.28, p < 0.001), which supports both Hypotheses 1 and 2.
Table 3. Results of regression analyses.

HCN-expatriate HCN HCN-expatriate
interaction quality support interaction quality HCN support
Model 1 Model 1 Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2
Controls
Gender −0.04 −0.05 −0.03 −0.04 −0.02 0.00
Age 0.09 0.03 0.06 0.05 0.01 0.02
Education 0.10 0.08 0.09 0.10 0.05 0.06
Tenure −0.30 −0.05 0.01 0.00 −0.03 −0.04
Expatriate of Chinese 0.09 0.09 0.10 0.07 0.10 0.10
ethnicity
English ability 0.11 0.13 0.10 0.08 0.05 0.05
Predictors
On-the-job interaction 0.43*** 0.28*** 0.30*** 0.25** 0.31*** 0.32***
Off-the-job interaction 0.26*** 0.26***
Perceived receptivity 0.26*** 0.27***
Interactions
On-the-job x off-the-job −0.20**
interaction
HCN-expatriate interaction 0.07
quality x Perceived
receptivity
F 11.10*** 4.88*** 12.01*** 12.32*** 10.19*** 9.18***
R2 0.29 0.15 0.34 0.37 0.30 0.31
ΔR2 0.03 0.01
Note. N = 198; *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
Then, to examine the mediation hypothesis, we employed a bootstrap-

ping analysis technique. Preacher and Hayes (2008) argues that such a
resampling technique provides a more rigorous examination of the indi-
rect effect because it makes no normality assumptions. We found that
95% bootstrapping confidence interval based on 5,000 bootstrapping
sample lies between .05 and .17. Because zero does not fall within the
95% confidence intervals, we conclude that HCN-expatriate interaction
quality mediated the relationship between on-the-job interaction and
HCN support, supporting Hypothesis 3.
Regarding the moderating effects, the independent and moderator
variables were mean centered and the two mean-centered variables
were multiplied to create the interaction terms. The analyses, which
appear in Table 3, indicate that the interaction terms of on-the-job
interaction with off-the-job interaction (β= −0.20, p < 0.01) was sig-
nificant; the interaction between HCN-expatriate interaction quality
and perceived receptivity was positively but not significant (β = 0.07,
ns). Figure 2, plotted using one standard deviation above and below
the mean, show that when off-the-job interaction is low, the relation-
ship between on-the-job interaction and HCN-expatriate interaction
quality is positive and significant, but not when off-the-job interaction
is high. It also suggests that high level of off-the-job interaction sub-
stituted for low level of on-the-job interaction in predicting
HCN-expatriate interaction quality. Simple slopes tests indicated that
the relationship between on-the-job interaction and HCN-expatriate
Figure 2. The interaction of on-the-job interaction and off-the-job interaction predicting

HCN-expatriate interaction quality.
interaction quality was significant when off-the-job interaction was

low (t = 5.19, p < 0.001), but not significant when off-the-job interaction
was high (t = 0.66, ns). These results provide support for Hypothesis
4, but not Hypothesis 5.
Since we did not find support for Hypothesis 5, the moderating role
of perceived receptivity, which is one of the four conditions of moder-
ated mediation (Preacher et al., 2007), we dropped perceived receptivity
from subsequent analyses. To test the moderated mediation hypotheses,
we used the PROCESS macro for SPSS developed by Preacher et al.
(2007). According to Preacher et al. (2007), moderated mediation is
evident when the strength of mediation differs across the two levels of
the moderator. We operationalized high and low levels of off-the-job
interaction as one standard deviation above and below the mean. The
results show that conditional mediated effect was stronger and significant
under low level of off-the-job interaction (indirect effect = .10, SE =
.03, 95% CI [.04, .18]), but was not significant under high level of
off-the-job interaction (indirect effect = .02, SE = .02, 95% CI [-.02,
.07]). Therefore, these results demonstrated that off-the-job interaction
moderates the strength of the mediated relationship between on-the-job
interaction and HCN support via HCN-expatriate interaction quality,
such that the mediated relationship was stronger under low level of
off-the-job interaction.3 Thus, our results support Hypothesis 6a, but
not Hypothesis 6 b.
Discussion
The main objective of this study was to understand how the frequency
of current (on- and off-the job) and prior cross-cultural interactions
(travel, study, work experiences) allow HCNs to interact comfortably

with expatriates and in turn offer support to them. We contribute beyond
the traditional focus on the expatriate perspective in the literature to
examine the antecedents, process, and outcome of the quality of inter-
action with the expatriate from the HCN perspective. Using three waves
of surveys as guided by Intergroup Contact Theory, our results revealed
that the frequency of HCNs’ on-the-job interaction with the expatriate
was linked with establishing a high-quality interaction with the expa-
triate. In turn, the HCN-expatriate interaction quality mediated the
relationship between the frequency of HCNs’ on-the-job interaction with
the expatriate and support to the expatriate. Furthermore, we found
that the frequency of HCN’s off-the job interaction with the expatriate
functioned as a boundary condition on the mediating effect of
HCN-expatriate interaction quality in the on-the-job interaction with
and support to the expatriate relationship. Specifically, the magnitude
of the indirect effect was significant when off-the job interaction is low
but not when it is high. By contrast, our findings did not support the
moderating role of perceived receptivity-the coefficient of the interaction
of HCN-expatriate interaction quality with perceived receptivity was
positive but not significant. Our results also showed that the length of
prior international study and work experiences, and the number of prior
international work experiences of the HCN were associated with his or
her quality of interaction with the expatriate. The length of HCN’s prior
international study experience was also associated with his or her sup-
port towards the expatriate. These findings are based on a multiple-wave
research design, that allows for a less biased causal claim suggested by
the moderated mediation effect and provides a deeper understanding
of the development of HCN-expatriate interaction over time.
Theoretical implications
Our study contributes to the HCN-expatriate interaction literature in

several ways. First, we shed light on HCN-expatriate interaction quality
as a theoretically-meaningful concept, thus addressing the dearth of
research on HCN-expatriate interactions from the HCN perspective
(Maertz et al., 2016). We noted that although researchers have generally
agreed that it is critical to ensure that interactions between HCNs and
expatriates are frequent and of high-quality (Bonache et al., 2016; Maertz
et al., 2016; Toh & Srinivas, 2012), little research examines this inter-
action from the HCN perspective. We offer new insights into the inter-
personal dynamics of HCN-expatriate interaction by investigating both
the frequency of HCN’s on-the-job interaction with the expatriate and
HCN-expatriate interaction quality. This study shows that the more
frequently the HCN interacts with the expatriate on- or off-the-job, the
higher the perceived HCN-expatriate interaction quality will be for the
HCN. In doing so, we offer the HCN perspective (i.e. HCN-expatriate
interaction quality) to the well-established concept of ‘interaction adjust-
ment’ in the HCN-expatriate relationship.
Second, through an examination of the mediating role of
HCN-expatriate interaction quality between the HCN’s on-the-job inter-
action with and support to the expatriate, this study also contributes to
the HCN-expatriate interaction literature by applying Intergroup Contact
Theory from the social psychological literature. Using a multiple-wave
data as guided by theory, we suggested that HCN-expatriate interactions
can be seen as a dynamic process through which frequent on-the-job
interactions with the expatriate help the HCN to build high-quality
interactions with the expatriate, and ultimately influences the HCN to
offer greater support to the expatriate. Even more intriguing is that our
multiple-wave design suggested that interactions were able to enhance
the quality of interaction over a short period of time (2 months).
Moreover, the effects of interactions and interaction quality perceptions
on HCN support to expatriates persist over time in HCN-expatriate
working relationships (4 months). This can be crucial for expatriate
success because expatriate assignments typically are of great strategic
importance to MNCs and of prolonged durations that would require
greater reliance on HCNs both from the start of the assignment as well
as throughout the assignment. Finding this mediating process addresses
recent calls in the literature for additional investigation on how
HCN-expatriate interactions unfold over time, rather than the snapshot
view provided in much of the literature (van Bakel, 2019), the specific
mechanisms that affect how HCNs engage with expatriates (e.g. Fan
et al., 2018; Takeuchi, 2010), as well as the processes of cross-cultural
interaction from the HCN perspective that has so far been overlooked
in IHRM literature (Maertz et al., 2016). Moreover, the notion that not
all HCNs are equally capable of and willing to support expatriates has
been the subject of a number of conceptual papers (Farh et al., 2010;
Heizmann et al., 2018). Extending their logic, our results suggest that
HCN-expatriate interaction quality is one such dimension of the HCN’s
willingness and capability to support expatriates.
Third, our study contributes to the emerging HCN-expatriate inter-
action literature by identifying the boundary conditions associated with
HCN-expatriate interaction. We found that HCN’s off-the-job interaction
with the expatriate moderated the first-stage of the indirect effect.
Specifically, we found that on-the-job interaction helped HCN-expatriate
interaction quality when off-the job interaction was low; when it was
high, however, on-the-job interaction did not matter. This meant that
off-the-job interaction substituted for low on-the-job interaction in pre-

dicting HCN-expatriate interaction quality may be because these oppor-
tunities to interact and develop friendship with the outgroup members
(i.e. expatriates) are one of the essential, ‘not merely facilitating’ condi-
tions for positive intergroup interaction for the ingroup members (i.e.
HCNs), as intergroup contact theorists have argued (e.g. Pettigrew, 1998,
p. 76). It suggests that although on-the-job interaction with the expatriate
is critical in developing high HCN-expatriate interaction quality, off-the-
job interactions with the expatriate makes up for low on-the-job inter-
actions. This study illustrated the importance of examining the joint
impact of on-the-job and off-the-job interaction between the HCN and
the expatriate.
Finally, our study also sheds light on how different types of HCN’s
prior international experiences vary to enhance HCN-expatriate inter-
action quality. Our findings show that the longer the HCN had studied
and worked overseas and the greater number of times the HCN had
worked overseas, the higher the HCN-expatriate interaction quality.
These results offer a new and nuanced understanding of the factors that
influence the HCN-expatriate interaction quality (Heizmann et al., 2018),
that extends beyond the current interaction of interest, but draws on
the personal and professional history of HCNs. In keeping with prior
reviews of the literature (e.g. Takeuchi & Chen, 2013), we observe that
the effects of prior international study and work experiences on
HCN-expatriate interaction quality were greater than prior international
travel experiences. Indeed, it is likely that HCNs with greater study and
work international experiences may have experienced more intense con-
tact with people of other cultural backgrounds, which is more likely to
influence an employee’s cross-cultural skills than low intensity of inter-
action (e.g. Caligiuri & Tarique, 2009). Such a finding is especially useful
because more HCNs today are likely to have studied or worked overseas
(Tharenou & Caulfield, 2010; Tung, 2016). This knowledge allows for
a larger pool of possible HCN candidates who would be effective
co-workers and supporters of expatriates – a point we return to in a
later section.
We note that our hypothesis about the moderating effect of perceived
receptivity on the relationship between HCN-expatriate interaction qual-
ity and HCN support was not supported – HCN-expatriate interaction
quality was significantly related to HCN support regardless whether
perceived receptivity is high or low. One possible explanation is that
HCNs are more likely to perceive offering support as part of their jobs
(in-role), particularly to expatriates who are co-workers and subordinates,
instead of supervisors (Varma et al., 2011). Future research should take
hierarchical distance, as well as the extent to which support is viewed
as a requirement of the HCNs’ job, into consideration. Furthermore,

existing studies have mostly assumed the power dynamics in the
HCN-expatriate relationships, but few have actually examined how the
level of dependence between the two parties can affect the dynamics of
their working relationships. We encourage researchers to further probe
the role of perceived receptivity together with the power relations
between expatriates and HCNs. To illustrate, on one hand, when HCNs
perceive expatriates have more power (i.e. expatriates possess critical
resources like tacit knowledge from the headquarters that HCNs are
dependent upon), HCNs are then more likely to support expatriates
when perceived receptivity is high. On the other hand, expatriates have
found to be dependent on HCNs with high proficiency in English and
have studied or worked overseas (e.g. very much like the sample of our
study; Ang & Tan, 2016; Peltokorpi & Vaara, 2014) and feel competent
in their jobs, perhaps even more so than the expatriate because of their
local expertise. As such, whether HCNs provide support to expatriates
or not would be less sensitive to how much the expatriate is seen to
be receptive.
Practical implications
Our results indicate a number of important practical implications for

the management of HCN-expatriate relationships. First, researchers have
highlighted the increasingly important role of HCN support for expa-
triate success. As our findings show, HCN-expatriate interaction quality
was positively associated with their support to expatriates. MNCs that
wish to increase support for expatriates, should thus place a greater
focus upon HCNs’ ability to engage in effective and meaningful inter-
actions with expatriates.
They also show that providing opportunities for on-the-job and
off-the-job interactions between HCNs and expatriates improves the
relationship between the two groups. Because our results show that not
only do both forms of interaction (on-the-job and off-the-job) are pos-
itively associated with higher levels of HCN-expatriate interaction quality,
but the HCN’s off-the-job interaction with the expatriate also function
as a substitute for low on-the-job interaction with the expatriate in
predicting HCN-expatriate interaction quality. Thus, MNCs seeking to
increase HCN-expatriate interaction quality may consider encouraging
off-the-job interactions between HCNs and expatriates through
company-sponsored social events.
Our results show that selecting HCNs based on prior international
experiences can be useful. Specifically, our study indicates that those
HCNs with greater amount of prior international study and work
experiences will be more likely to report their interactions with expa-

triates as high-quality relationships. Therefore, if MNCs require an HCN
to be effective in his or her tasks (e.g. mentoring), it may be better to
select HCNs with such experiences. With international travel, studies,
and work increasingly commonplace in much of the world, MNCs have
an increasingly larger pool of possible candidates. If, however, HCNs
with such experience are lacking, training HCNs on effective cross-cultural
interactions could be adopted (Wang & Varma, 2019). HCNs may be
provided with language training (e.g. English training), vicarious learning
sessions (e.g. behavioral training) that are designed to allow HCNs to
understand what is acceptable behavior by observing and learning from
relevant models (i.e. HCNs who are best able to interact with expatri-
ates), as well as detailed training on the cultural knowledge, values, and
expected social behaviors of the expatriate, preferably before or upon
the arrival of the expatriate. In sum, MNCs should facilitate
HCN-expatriate interaction through careful use of job design and activ-
ities, as well as biodata on HCNs’ personal and professional experiences
(Breaugh, 2009).
Limitations and future research directions
Our study is subject to several limitations. First, although this study

followed a time-sensitive design of three wave, as guided by the inter-
group contact literature (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008), our design was not
longitudinal in nature and hence we cannot infer causality in the rela-
tionships reported. We also could not obtain ratings of HCN support
from the recipients, i.e. the expatriates. These methodological limitations
should be addressed in future research. Furthermore, we assessed only
the general form of HCN support (adapting the OCBI scale), future
research should examine other forms of specific HCN support to expa-
triates such as information sharing (Toh & Srinivas, 2012), as well as
indicators of expatriate effectiveness like expatriate performance and
premature return (Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005). We also believe that
it would be worthwhile to examine whether the effects that HCN sup-
port included in this study could allow expatriates to perceive their
working relationship with HCNs as supportive and then create norms
that foster high levels of mutual support between expatriates and HCNs.4
We chose to focus HCNs who are working in large foreign-owned
MNCs in Taiwan to increase our chances of obtaining a larger sample
size; however, it also limits the generalizability of the findings to other
contexts, such as small and medium-sized enterprises. This is likely to
be an interesting area for future research to consider all organizational
types because prior research had demonstrated that expatriates develop
their social network differently in large versus small and medium-sized

organizational type (Stroppa & Spieß, 2011). Moreover, to accomplish
our purpose of understanding more about HCN-expatriate interaction
quality, future research should also benefit by examining whether inter-
action quality can be enhanced with certain formal (e.g. local respon-
siveness strategy) and informal (e.g. buddy programs) organizational
structures. Future research can also extend our findings to the collective
setting of HCN-expatriate context (i.e. whether interaction quality and
support can be extended to entire expatriate outgroup). The generaliz-
ability to other cultures may also suffer because our findings could be
culturally bound. Future research should therefore conduct a
cross-cultural comparison study, preferably testing HCNs from countries
of different cultural backgrounds. On a related note, we focused on
company-assigned expatriates in this study, future research could focus
on understanding how our model would apply to other types of expa-
triates (Tharenou, 2015).
Finally, we believe future empirical studies would benefit greatly by
developing a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanisms and
boundary conditions of HCN-expatriate interaction, as indicated by the
intergroup contact literature (Pettigrew, 1998). For instance, although
our main focus in this study was on highlighting the mediating role of
HCN-expatriate interaction quality, future researchers should also exam-
ine whether there are underlying mechanisms other than HCN-expatriate
interaction quality, such as enhanced knowledge about the expatriate or
increased empathy toward the expatriate (c.f., Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008).
With regards to the boundary conditions, intergroup contact researchers
have found that the effects of intergroup interaction on reducing prej-
udice were highest when the so-called optimal conditions of common
goals, cooperation, equal status, and authority support were all present
at the same time (see Wang & Varma, 2018, for a review in the
HCN-expatriate context). Future research should explore these optimal
condition in the context of HCN-expatriate relationship with the use of
human resource practices.
Conclusion
HCNs are increasingly called upon to play a more critical role in sup-
porting the success of expatriates. Our study advances the dyadic per-
spective of the HCN-expatriate interaction by introducing the concept
of HCN-expatriate interaction quality which sheds light on the devel-
opment of effective HCN-expatriate interaction over time. We found
that, through frequent interactions with expatriates, HCNs become more
psychologically comfortable in their interactions with expatriates, which

subsequently increase their support to expatriates. HCNs’ prior interna-
tional experiences also matter in building high-quality interactions with
expatriates and influence whether HCNs would provide important sup-
port to expatriates to perform their jobs. Our findings suggest that
ultimately, effective HCN-expatriate interactions require both parties,
not just the expatriate, to be engaged. Research and organizations will
do well to pay attention to the experiences of HCNs in these interactions.
Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request
from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due
to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of
research participants.
Notes
1. Given that prior international experience variables were positively skewed, we trans-
formed the data using a square root transformation before conducting the anal-
yses, however, the findings were quite similar with those using the nontransformed
data, so we report the findings using nontransformed data, as has been noted
by Takeuchi et al. (2005).
2. We argued that each of prior international experience variables is fairly distinct and
examined prior international experience at the facet level, instead of an aggregate
measure because of two reasons: (1) the low intercorrelations among each of these
prior international experiences in type, length and number; and (2) a one-factor
solution was not found when we performed an exploratory factor analysis.
3. As a further analysis, we found a similar pattern for the moderated mediation when
off-the-job interaction was used as the independent variable and on-the-job in-
teraction was used as the moderating variable: conditional mediated effect was
stronger and significant under low level of on-the-job interaction (indirect effect
= .09, SE = .03, 95% CI [.04, .15]), but was not significant under high level of
on-the-job interaction (indirect effect = .01, SE = .02, 95% CI [-.02, .06]). We
thank an anonymous reviewer for suggesting this analysis.
4. We thank an anonymous reviewer for pointing out this insightful comment.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Funding
Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan.
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Host country national quality of interaction with

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Host country national quality of interaction with

CONTACT Chun-Hsiao Wang wangch@cc.ncu.edu.tw Graduate Institute of Human Resource

three aspects of adjustment that expatriates should gain to be effective

solution to promote de-categorization, reduce uncertainty, and increase

Theoretical background and hypotheses

outgroup directly involved in the interaction) and bilateral (i.e. reduce

On-the-job interaction with the expatriate as an antecedent of HCN-

A meta-analysis by Hechanova et al. (2003) supported that expatriates

Figure 1. Proposed model.

Kanungo, 2004) and performance (Liu & Shaffer, 2005). In a qualitative

DeNisi, 2007). Building on the explanations given above and existing

Effect of on-the-job interaction with the expatriate on HCN support

Intergroup contact theorists suggest that interactions between members

Applying stress management theories, Kraimer and her colleagues

Moderating role of off-the-job interaction with the expatriate

In the broader expatriate literature, Takeuchi et al. (2009) pointed out

owing to the increasingly important role of HCN to the expatriate

Moderating role of perceived receptivity of the expatriate

The extent to which HCN-expatriate interaction quality leads to greater

colleagues (Kurtessis et al., 2017) found that when employees perceive

Hypothesis 5: Perception of an expatriate’s receptivity moderates the relationship

Taken together, our mediating hypotheses (Hypotheses 1 to 3) and

Hypothesis 6b: A HCN’s perceived receptivity of the expatriate moderates the

Prior international experiences of HCNs as the antecedents of HCN-

(i.e. work and study) of previous international experience and shown

an expatriate in his or her organization. Given that previous expatriate

above (50.5%) or bachelor degrees (48.5%). The referent expatriates

All measures were independently translated from English to Traditional

measured HCN support with the seven-item organizational citizenship

Table 2. Regression results for HCNs’ prior international experiences.

We tested our hypotheses with multiple regression analysis. Table 2

Table 3. Results of regression analyses.

Then, to examine the mediation hypothesis, we employed a bootstrap-

Figure 2. The interaction of on-the-job interaction and off-the-job interaction predicting

interaction quality was significant when off-the-job interaction was

(travel, study, work experiences) allow HCNs to interact comfortably

Our study contributes to the HCN-expatriate interaction literature in

off-the-job interaction substituted for low on-the-job interaction in pre-

as a requirement of the HCNs’ job, into consideration. Furthermore,

Our results indicate a number of important practical implications for

experiences will be more likely to report their interactions with expa-

Limitations and future research directions

Our study is subject to several limitations. First, although this study

their social network differently in large versus small and medium-sized

psychologically comfortable in their interactions with expatriates, which

Data availability statement

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