Ambivalent Multiculturalism in Organizations: The Case of SafeHarbor International

Abstract

Multiculturalism remains a desirable, yet challenging, dream to realize in the modern workplace. Field research was conducted to investigate multicultural dynamics at a multinational, multilingual organization, headquartered in Japan. This ethnographic case study documents sensemaking cues U.S.-based subsidiary employees used to understand the meaning of their own cultural identity status within the multinational organization’s culture. Findings revealed that subsidiary employees perceived conflicting cues from the organization, which created an ambivalent sensemaking environment with both “Green Lights” (indicating support for multiculturalism) and “Red Lights” (indicating resistance to it). The study offers insights into a liminal stage that can exist between pluralism and multiculturalism within a single organization, documenting ambivalent cues, and advancing research on sensemaking in multicultural contexts.