While it is well-known that cross-cultural conflict management is a common problem in multinational joint ventures. The cooperation parties come from different countries and regions, and their social, political and legal systems and cultural backgrounds are different, which leads to the differences in business philosophy, decision-making thinking preferences and management communication modes. The conflict of managerial values caused by cultural differences will inevitably affect the management concept and mode of joint ventures, which will permeate the whole process of enterprise management activities. Employees from different cultural backgrounds may have different acceptance of the rules and regulations of the joint venture or different understanding of the work tasks, which may cause employees′ uncertainty or anxiety and ultimately affect their work innovation behavior and enterprise performance. 

However, a fact that can not be ignored is that managers of joint ventures do not know much about cultural differences, the impact of communication modes and how to influence employees′ work innovative behavior. Managers need to manage cultural conflicts and differences between the two countries and even more countries in order to maximize cultural integration and enhance working enthusiasm and creativity of employees. So, this study attempts to reveal the deep-seated impact mechanism of cultural differences between parent company and subsidiary companies and management communication modes on employees′ work innovative behavior. And we also hope to explore the optimal communication mode in cross-cultural conflict management of joint ventures, so as to provide experience for cross-cultural conflict management of joint ventures.

This paper took 211 employees of 12 automobile joint ventures as the research object. Cultural differences perceived by employees were viewed as the independent variable, and communication modes between managers and subordinates were regarded as both independent variables and moderating variables. The theory of anxiety/uncertainty management was adopted to analyze the effect and mechanism of employees′ perceptions of cultural differences on their work innovative behavior. The theory and techniques of Transactional Analysis were used to classify the communication modes between managers and subordinates. The hierarchical regression method was conducted to analyze the samples and compare the impact of different communication modes on employees′ innovative behavior. 

Through empirical research, this study mainly draws the following conclusions: (1) Joint venture employees′ perceptions of cultural differences between parent and subsidiary companies affects their innovative behavior. The more cultural differences perceived by employees between parent and subsidiary companies, the more difficult it is for employees to understand the rules and regulations and normative requirements of joint ventures, thus enhancing the risk defense mechanism of employees and curbing their creative and innovative motivation in the process of work. (2) Manager-employee value conflict caused by cultural differences runs through the communication modes between managers and employees, thus affecting the innovative behavior of employees. The three dimensions of communication mode (complementary transactions, crossed transactions and covert ulterior) affect the direction and intensity of employees′ innovative behavior differently. Among them, complementary transactions positively affects employees′ innovative behavior, while crossed transactions and covert ulterior negatively affect employees′ innovative behavior. (3) Different communication modes adopted by manager-employee in the process of communication can moderate the impact of cultural differences perceived by employees on their innovative behavior. Among them, complementary transactions can weaken the negative relationship between employees′ perceptions of cultural differences and their innovative behavior, while covert ulterior strengthens the negative relationship between employees′ perceptions of cultural differences and their innovative behavior, while crossed transactions has no obvious moderating effect.

The theoretical contributions of this study are mainly embodied in the following aspects. Firstly, this study confirms the impact of employees′ perceptions of cultural differences and communication modes between managers and employees on employees′ innovative behavior. Different communication modes between managers  and employees will not only directly affect employees′ innovative behavior, but also moderate the relationship between employees′ perceptions of cultural differences and their innovative behavior. Secondly, this study reveals the complex mechanism of the relationship between employees′ perceptions of cultural differences and their innovative behavior, and identifies the important moderating role of different communication modes. Thirdly, this study enriches the application fields of the anxiety/uncertainty theory, and expands the research fields of the theory and techniques of Transactional Analysis.

The results of this study have important reference significance for the management practice of joint ventures. Based on the results of this study, the employees′ perceptions of cultural differences are important factors to affect employees′ innovative behavior. Therefore, we put forward the following management suggestions for joint ventures. Firstly, it is suggested that joint ventures should attach great importance to alleviating the uncertainty and anxiety caused by employees′ perceptions of cultural differences, strive to create a safe and harmonious working environment for employees, so as to stimulate their innovative potential and improve their work enthusiasm and creativity. Secondly, joint ventures should popularize the theory of Transactional Analysis and the techniques of Interpersonal Communication Interaction Analysis in the process of human resources training. In addition, managers and employees of joint ventures should choose appropriate communication modes. When communicating, both managers and employees should give priority to complementary transactions, avoiding the use of crossed transactions and covert ulterior.

However, this study still has the following limitations: (1) This study took the employees of automobile joint ventures in China as research object. The representativeness of the samples needs to be improved. The universality of the research conclusions needs to be confirmed further. (2) There are some inconsistencies between self-evaluation and supervisor-evaluation of employees′ innovative behavior. The supervisor-evaluation data did not verify all the theoretical hypotheses. (3) The richness of the models needs to be strengthened. This study used the theory of anxiety/uncertainty management to explain the main effect of perceptions of cultural differences on employee innovative behavior, and tested the moderating effect of communication modes, but did not explore and test the mediating effect of the relationship between perceptions of cultural differences and employee innovative behavior. We will further explore the mediating variables and effects in the future study.