Would you trust your foreign manager? An empirical investigation

Abstract

This study examines how similarity of nationality influences the interpersonal trust relationship between managers and their superiors in MNCs. Two groups were studied. The first group was composed of managers who shared the same nationality with their superior in a nationally homogeneous setting; the second group was composed of a nationally heterogeneous group of managers in that managers either did or did not share the same nationality as their superior. Similarity in nationality offered a mixed explanation for the trust between managers and their superiors. In nationally homogeneous settings, host-country nationals (HCNs) reported high levels of trust for their same-nationality superiors. In nationally heterogeneous MNC settings, however, trust between managers and their superiors was not different for managers and their same or different nationality superior. Implications for MNC staffing policy are discussed.