Liaising with Malaysians: Expatriate experiences with the liaison role

The present paper focuses on the Host Country National Liaison (HCNL) role. Through an exploratory study, including eleven interviews with both company-sent and self-initiated expatriates in Malaysia, experiences with the HCNL role model are mapped. All five role components: cultural interpreter, communication manager, information resource broker, talent manager, and internal change agent were recognized. The role is not tied to a single individual, to a particular host country national employee or manager. A variety of actors deliver different role components - some were even undertaken by fellow expatriates. Our paper has various contributions. First, it is the first empirical examination of the HCNL-role, what its components are and how the corresponding behavioral functions work. Second, it further develops the HCNL-model by discussing several challenges to the model that emerge from practice. Third, it offers a deeper examination of the working relations between Western expatriates and Malaysian host country nationals.