University of Twente Student Theses
Cross-cultural Challenges and Creativity - A picture of Latin American self-initiated expatriates in Germany
Croon, Svenja (2015) Cross-cultural Challenges and Creativity - A picture of Latin American self-initiated expatriates in Germany.
|
PDF
1MB |
| Abstract: | Expatriation has become an increasingly important research field in accordance with growing globalization. At the same time, organizations can benefit from culturally diverse employees in order to gain competitive advantage from new inputs and mindsets. Diversity is especially crucial for creative and innovative businesses as idea generations are their key activity. It is however necessary to learn how to motivate expatriates to be creative. Whereas company-backed expatriates mostly receive special training prior to their stay in the host country, self-initiated ones, who are moving individually, often arrive with little knowledge about the new culture which entails several challenges to overcome. This study analyses the perceptions of self-initiated expatriates from Latin America who live and work in creative fields in Germany. It explores the cultural differences between the two regions that are experienced by them and the resulting advantages and challenges. Furthermore, effects from these aspects on the level of creativity and innovativeness are examined. Interviews were conducted with twenty Latin American expatriates. Findings show that the social interaction culture in Germany rather impedes creativity, mediated by the factor of adjustment. The German firm culture on the other hand was found to have positive influences on creativity. This study is part of a bigger research project that aims at exploring the perceptions about cultural differences between the host country and Germany and the relationship to creativity regarding self-initiated expatriates from different parts of the world. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 02 science and culture in general |
| Programme: | Business Administration MSc (60644) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/68777 |
| Export this item as: | BibTeX EndNote HTML Citation Reference Manager |
Show download statistics for this publication
Show download statistics for this publicationRepository Staff Only: item control page