Completed: 【KAKEN】An Empirical Investigation of Bridge Individuals and Bridging Roles in Multinational Companies
Research Category
Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
Project Period
2019-08-30 – 2021-03-31
Principal Investigator
Senior Lecturer Ting LIU
Outline
【Outline of Research at the Start 】 Using quantitative methods, the current research investigates bridge individuals and their bridging roles in multinational companies (MNCs). The main objective is to develop the framework, test the affecting factors, and gather the potential consequences of bridging roles. Specifically, this research investigates the underlying dimensions, identities, attitudes, behaviors, and cognitive characteristics of bridge individuals and examines the functional and linguistic perspectives of bridging, as well as interpersonal and emotional issues surrounding bridge individuals. 【Outline of Annual Research Achievements】 This research project aims to develop and test the theoretical model of the factors affecting bridging roles and the consequences of bridging roles. As the first year of this research project, I first conducted the theoretical study. I started from the literature review, with the research question of "What are the essential nature and underlying dimensions of bridging roles performed by bridge individuals in MNCs? " Integrating with the insights from the literature review and interviews I conducted in my previous research project, I completed two conference papers regarding the locally recruited parent country nationals (PCNLs) in Japanese subsidiaries. These two papers were presented at one domestic conference and one international conference. I also presented one study regarding bridging roles in the best paper session of Academy of Management (AOM) 2019 annual meeting and published in the Best Paper Proceedings of AOM. One book chapter based on this topic was also published in the Hiroshima City University Business Research Series in April 2020. Another two papers were accepted by two international conferences and will be presented in the competitive sessions. Through the first year of research activities, I further explored the new concept of PCNLs and their bridging resources in the context of MNCs. I also demonstrated a theoretical framework concerning the negative consequences of performing bridging roles by PCNLs. This adds significant value to the deeper understanding of the bridging role and bridge individuals in MNCs from the PCNL's perspective.