ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIALIZATION IN TWO CULTURES: RESULTS FROM THE UNITED STATES AND HONG KONG

This study examined whether organizational socialization content areas are applicable across cultures. Data were gathered from 324 U.S. and 198 Hong Kong employees who completed a questionnaire assessing four socialization content domains (training, understanding of the job, coworker support, and future prospects within the company), five measures of job satisfaction, and three measures of organizational commitment. Based on the merged data from the two cultures, all four socialization domains played a significant role in predicting satisfaction and commitment. These socialization measures also were stronger predictors than a variety of demographic measures. Although there were some differences in the relative strengths of the socialization measures when the data were analyzed separately for each nation, the overall results support the idea that the socialization content areas tested are applicable across cultures. Implications for managing employees in the different cultures are discussed.