Impacts of information-providers’ perceived cultural backgrounds on information-seeking behaviors: Investigation of American employees’ information-seeking behaviors in a Korean multinational corporation in the US

This current study examined how employees’ perception of information-providers’ cultural backgrounds impact the patterns of seeking information from culturally different sources. For this examination, this study looked into the information-seeking behaviors in a Korean multinational corporation in the US. Results from paired t-tests and a series of hierarchical regression analyses showed the following meaningful findings: (a) American employees’ information-seeking behaviors were more strongly discouraged by the perceived power distance for Korean expatriates, compared to the influence of the power distance for American supervisors, and (b) after controlling for gender, organizational tenure, and team tenure, American employees’ monitoring of feedback information and their inquiry of task information from direct supervisors positively and significantly predicted communication satisfaction with the information source.