06/20/2019
HAYS, Kan. – Two former Fort Hays State University professors attended the recent Global Conference on Business and Finance in San Jose, Costa Rica, where their presentation won the Distinguished Research Award as the top paper in management and marketing research.

“Intercultural Willingness to Communicate: Selection of Expatriate Employees for Foreign Work Assignments,” was presented by Dr. Carrol Haggard, professor emeritus of communication studies, and Dr. Margaret Butcher, assistant professor communication at the University of Arkansas, formerly of Fort Hays State, and Dr. Patricia Lapoint, professor of management at McMurry University, Abilene, Texas.

Their presentation focused on the critical role of communication in the selection of employees by multi-national companies for work assignments in China.

“Since there is a 70-percent failure rate in United States employees who are assigned to work in China, the selection of employees who are likely to be successful in an assignment to China is critical for MNCs to save the expense of training employees who are unlikely to be able to adapt to their foreign assignment,” said Haggard

“Intercultural willingness to communicate proved to be an important element in being able to predict which employees are likely to be successful in the assignment of United States employees to work in China by MNCs, confirming the important role of communication in international business,” he said.