Immigrant Bloggers and Sensemaking: Technology Mediated Acculturation and Cultural Brokerage

Abstract

Millions of people are engaged in work abroad every year either through migration, expatriation or short overseas assignments. Understanding how people deal with foreign cultures and contexts is of key importance for individuals and organizations employing them, and has been the focus of management research since the late 1970’s (see Black, Mendenhall & Oddou, 1991 for a review). A common theme in the expatriate and cultural adjustment literature is the importance of cultural training and cultural translators in facilitating the transition into new cultures (e.g. Soloman, 1994; Janssens, 1995; Steers, Nardon & Sanchez-Runde, in press).