Expatriate adjustment: considerations for selection and training

Performing in diverse settings: A diversity, equity, and inclusion approach to culture

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are being built into the fabric of today’s organizations, and utilizing such a lens is vital to understanding cross-cultural performance. Yet, most of the culture and diversity literature has grown in silos and is therefore not leveraging the many benefits that their integration could provide. To counter this gap, we advance a theoretical framework featuring a new definition of cross-cultural performance (CCP) from a DEI perspective, as a new angle for doing work across cultures. Specifically, CCP is defined as the integration of multiple cultural perspectives of individuals who work together with the goal of enabling a diverse, inclusive, and equitable work environment. By applying the DEI lens to CCP, we elevate the meaning of performance due to added consideration of compositional differences, the possible barriers to employees’ success, and the extent to which others’ perspectives are indeed valued. Accordingly, our framework identifies three main components of CCP: catalyzing cultural differences, taking part in engaging communication, and promoting allyship activities. Furthermore, we specify emotional management as the glue of these three components, and key outcomes at different levels of analysis. Last, we discuss the implications of our framework to both theory and practice as well as directions for future research.

The Impact That Different Types of Organizational Cultures Have on the Adjustment of Self-Initiated Expatriates

This paper investigates the adjustment of self-initiated expatriates, with a particular emphasis on organizational culture. One hundred and twenty-five self-initiated expatriates around the globe participated in the online survey. We examined the impact that organizational culture has on self-initiated expatriate work and non-work-related adjustment using multiple linear regression analysis. Four types of organizational culture (clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy) were explored. The results revealed that Clan culture has a positive effect on the work and non-work-related adjustment of self-initiated expatriates.

Self-initiated expatriate adjustment: South Korean workers in Vietnam

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to identify how young South Korean self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) have adjusted to their work and to verify the role of workplace learning activities as work adjustment processes in the relationship between work adjustment resources and outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a mixed-method approach, beginning with a qualitative study, followed by a quantitative study.

Findings

The main findings of the qualitative study indicated two types of SIE personal characteristics (ability to embrace cultural differences and entrepreneurship), their participation in training programs and that a supportive work environment which facilitates their work adjustment. Workplace learning, which led to role clarification within their organizations, is also critical for adjustment. Based on these findings, the quantitative research study examined the effects of personal and contextual factors on workplace learning and adjustment (n = 120). The quantitative part of the study found cultural intelligence (CQ), entrepreneurship, training programs and supportive environments were positively related to sociocultural adjustment through the work adjustment process.

Research limitations/implications

As work adjustment is an important predictor of increased sociocultural adjustment among SIEs, organizations should build learning-supportive climates to promote workplace learning and seek people with appropriate characteristics for expatriation. Further studies should expand participant sample sizes to represent a wider population of SIEs.

Originality/value

Extant literature on SIEs mainly explored their performance and management. This study explores their adjustment processes through the perspective of workplace learning.

Expatriate time to proficiency: individual antecedents and the moderating effect of home country

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct impact of individual variables (cultural openness, social orientation, willingness to communicate, confidence in own technical abilities, active stress resistance, prior international experience) on expatriate time to proficiency (TTP); and the moderating effects of the home country on the relationships between these individual variables and expatriate TTP.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a quantitative, self-administered questionnaire to gather data from assigned expatriates from different countries in India, analysed through partial least squares.

Findings

The findings show that, first, four individual variables, i.e. social orientation, willingness to communicate, confidence in technical abilities and active stress resistance reduce expatriate TTP in the global sample. Second, the individual antecedents of expatriate TTP vary significantly across home countries.

Research limitations/implications

The results confirm the importance of individual antecedents in explaining expatriate TTP and the importance of context in the study of expatriates’ cross-cultural effectiveness. The authors also propose new, shorter measures for the individual antecedents.

Practical implications

The practical implications for HRM professionals relate mainly to selection and cross-cultural training. Expatriates may also get a better understanding of the individual and contextual variables that impact their TTP.

Originality/value

The authors show that individual antecedents interact with context, here home country, to predict expatriate TTP in an under-researched host country, India.

A model of the dark side of expatriate–host country national relationships

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a nomological model of the dark side of expatriate–host country national (HCN) relationships by identifying and explaining the development and the types of expatriate–HCN disruptive relationship behaviors (DRBs), their antecedents and consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted semi-structured interviews (n=27) with both expatriates and HCNs, focusing on DRBs that they exhibit toward each other, the factors preceding them (antecedents) and the mechanisms through which they affect the relationship between expatriates and HCNs, as well as the outcomes of such behaviors.

Findings

The findings show that relational dysfunction emanates from multilevel differences between expatriates and HCNs, and these differences induce workplace conflicts. These conflicts increase relational (emotional, social, instrumental and opportunity) costs that render both dyadic members to evaluate their relationship and socially categorize each other negatively, thus, detaching from the relationship. This detachment then leads to disruptive relational behaviors that amplify the conflicts and detachment dynamics and worsen interpersonal and intergroup dynamics, ultimately resulting in relational breakdown.

Research limitations/implications

This study possesses methodological (e.g. relatively small number of interviewees) and conceptual (e.g. high degree of comprehensiveness) limitations. However, these offer implications for further research as they open a multitude of promising research avenues that could enhance the proposed model.

Originality/value

This is the first study the authors are aware of that focuses on discovering and explaining the nomological network of the dark side of expatriate–HCN relationships. The use of interdependence theory to understand cross-cultural relationships is novel. As such, it delivers theoretical and empirical contributions and fosters further research efforts.

Global human resources: a key to mission accomplishment

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors needed for the development of global human resources for leadership assignments in foreign subsidiaries. The paper aims to find an answer to enhance expatriate mission accomplishment rate at subsidiaries abroad.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines the development of global human resources. In-depth face-to-face interviews were employed to collect data from eight senior HR managers in three financial institutions in Taiwan, while data from 28 expatriates in the overseas subsidiaries were obtained from asynchronous e-mail interviews. Conventional content analysis was used to code categories directly from the data.

Findings

The results of the study revealed that organizational policies do not focus on developing global human resources. To portray a global image, the focus is on staffing overseas subsidiaries with foreigners and Taiwanese that can speak English. Development to prepare staff for expatriation is limited to pre-departure training that focused mainly on language and cultural awareness training. However, organizational support during expatriation and repatriation is important. Expatriates view security briefing crucial and familiarization visit helps them to decide whether or not to accept expatriation. Organizational policies favor those that were not expatriated in terms of career progression deter managers from accepting international assignments.

Originality/value

It highlights some best practices in developing global human resources taking into consideration the herd mentality and social perspective. Social support, social learning and social capital are instrumental in developing global human resources as these hasten cultural adjustment.

Linking international experience and cultural intelligence development

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine the literature on the relationship between international experience (IE) and cultural intelligence (CQ) development, and advocate for the utilization of theory to explain this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach

On the basis of the premise that CQ can be developed through IE, the authors review existing empirical research in regards to this relationship. The authors conducted a search of the main business, education, and psychology databases for articles published from 2003, the year when the CQ construct was introduced, through 2017. The search focused on studies where CQ was tested as a dependent variable or as a mediator between IE and a dependent variable, and resulted in 15 empirical articles and three book chapters.

Findings

A critical analysis of the relationship between IE and CQ reveals considerable variation and inconsistencies among findings within the extant empirical literature. The authors argue that this is mainly because most studies fail to apply a theory to explain the link between these two constructs. The authors draw from social learning theory (SLT) to illustrate how it can be utilized to detail the relationship between IE and CQ development. The authors also suggest how future research can advance the understanding of this relationship, and outline the implications of such examinations for practice.

Originality/value

While substantive knowledge has been generated to understand CQ as an antecedent, the authors investigate CQ development as the dependent variable. The critical review of this literature identifies a specific weakness within previous research and the authors offer a way to resolve it. SLT, which views learning as being affected by both observation and experience, and includes attention, retention, and participative reproduction, is one potentially powerful tool that can explain why and how IE can lead to CQ development. This is a far more fine- grained and detailed approach to understanding and explaining the relationship between the two constructs than provided by previous studies.

Coping with Fear of and Exposure to Terrorism among Expatriates

This paper examines existing research on the impact of terrorism on expatriate coping strategies. We consider pre-assignment fear of terrorism, in-country coping strategies, and anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) associated with repatriation. The extant research is small but growing. Our model for expatriate coping at the pre-departure, in-country, and repatriation stages includes strategies specific to each stage. Preparation using proactive coping, systematic desensitization, problem and emotion focused coping, social support, and virtual reality explorations are recommended. Selecting expatriate candidates who are well-adjusted, emotionally intelligent, and possessing good coping skills is essential for successful assignments in terror-prone regions.

Mentorship of expatriates in transnational companies

Purpose

– Due to a number of reported failures of expatriation assignments, a growing body of literature is exploring the possible roles of mentors in supporting expatriates in critical phases while working in another culture. The purpose of this paper is to expand upon the research of mentoring based on a literature review and an empirical study of mentoring expatriates in three transnational companies.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper is based on findings from three case companies based in Denmark. In total, 37 semi-structured interviews were conducted with expatriates, managers and vice presidents at the three home organizations and their subsidiaries.

Findings

– Several empirical studies, including the study presented in this paper, indicate that ethnocentrism in the home-company is a main constraint for cross-cultural learning mediated by the expatriates. It is suggested that the HR department in the home-company should create specialized professional training programs and recruit employees with practical knowledge about expatriation. However, personal and relational mentoring should be conducted by experienced and motivated individuals who are supported and recognized, but not controlled, by the HR department.

Research limitations/implications

– This research is focused on Danish companies and further research is needed to test the theories in other cultural settings.

Practical implications

– This research can help companies and expatriates gain a more successful expatriation period.

Originality/value

– The value and role of mentorship is detailed from a theoretical and practical perspective, which adds to the body of literature on expatriates and mentorship.

The professional lives of expatriate academics

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide clarity around the notion of the expatriate academic (EA), a construct that is increasingly essential to theories of expatriate management and higher education management. A review of the literature on academic mobility showed that terms such as “international academic” and “foreign faculty” provide highly variable definitions and results, while those papers that self-consciously used the term “EA” were more likely to provide consistency across definition and findings. This allowed for analysis of the characteristics of this unique group.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study appropriates a meta-narrative approach to literature review, analysing 23 papers about EAs to develop a more comprehensive conceptualisation of this term and to identify key-related themes.

Findings

– By reviewing 23 papers identifying with the term, a carefully constructed definition of the EA is provided, distinguishing EAs from other types of internationally mobile academic and demonstrating characteristics that EAs display in their professional lives. Recommendations are made to researchers, universities and EAs themselves for how these findings may affect the EA employment cycle. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Originality/value

– This is the first paper to aggregate the results of literature on EAs, putting forward a clear definition and description to aid future research and clarify the research stream.