"We Work in International Companies": Affordances of Communication Media in Chinese Employees' Organizational Socialization

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 re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communication studies 2021-09, Vol.72 (5), p.788-806
Main Authors: Guo, Yijia, Lee, Sun Kyong, Kramer, Michael W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Business
Chinese international companies
Communication technologies
Companies
Employees
identity
Learning
Mass media
Organization development
Organizational communication
Organizational culture
Organizational research
Organizational socialization
qualitative interviews
Social media
social media affordances
Social networks
Socialization
Telecommunications
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1051-0974
1745-1035
DOI:10.1080/10510974.2021.1972019