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INTRODUCTION
As multinational firms race for the future while racing for the world, motivated by the promise of scale economies in globalizing industries, they are doing so increasingly by means of cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) (Shimizu, Hitt, Vaidyanath, & Pisano, 2004; Stahl, Mendenhall, Pablo, & Javidan, 2005). Technological advancement, knowledge-scanning opportunities, and competitive pressures to consolidate industries and regions have all contributed to a recent surge in worldwide M&As (Hitt, Harrison, & Ireland, 2001a; Hitt, Ireland, Camp, & Sexton, 2001b; Vermeulen & Barkema, 2001). Of the different forms of foreign direct investment (FDI) throughout the world, Japanese investment in the United States has been among the most substantial (JETRO, 2007), even despite the Asian financial crisis. New Japanese FDI (with M&A being the main entry mode) has been in the range of $7 billion-$14 billion per year, and has been showing an increasing trend since the latter half of 2003. Cumulatively, over the last two decades, Japanese-owned investment in the United States has grown to reach a total of $148 billion.
Whereas there has been a significant amount of research on the economic motivations for and entry modes of Japanese FDI in the United States, the social, intraorganizational aspects of Japanese or any other incoming FDI has been inadequately studied (Bhagat, Kedia, Harveston, & Triandis, 2002; Hitt et al., 2001a, 2001b). On the other hand, there have been many compelling yet unsubstantiated accounts of working for foreign-owned firms (especially Japanese-owned ones) in the popular literature. While a few of these accounts are favorable, in particular those that report bottom-line profitability turnarounds in M&As, the majority tell of a darker social side to working for foreign-owned firms (Thiederman, 2003). For example, the 1990s surge in Japanese FDI spawned notorious reports of working for "Japan, Inc." in the popular business press, news media, and film - the satirical comedy Gung Ho being a poignant case in point. Chinese-owned FDI has come under similar scrutiny, with reports of unfavorable hiring biases, limited promotion opportunities, and the like (Wong, 1990; Yeung, 2000). Despite the negative press in regard to careers in foreign-owned companies, with very few exceptions (Brannen, 1994; Kleinberg, 1989; Peterson, Peng, & Smith, 1999), academic studies have not assessed individual-level outcomes of FDI. US academe...