Cultural distance and expatriate job satisfaction

Despite its strong impact in domestic settings on job performance, organizational commitment, stress, and turnover intentions, job satisfaction has received little attention in the literature on expatriates. This paper analyzes the predictors of job satisfaction that may arise in an expatriate context. Drawing on the cultural distance perspective, we propose that the national cultural distance, supervisor's nationality, host-country language proficiency, expatriate type, and company nationality are important determinants of expatriate job satisfaction. Survey results from 148 expatriates in Japan demonstrate that national cultural distance, supervisor's nationality, and expatriate type have a statistically significant influence on expatriate job satisfaction. Theoretical and practical implications are provided.     

Ibasho and the adjustment, satisfaction, and well-being of expatriate spouses

Success of the expatriate spouse has been repeatedly identified as a key to overall expatriate assignment success. However, little is known about how to increase the expatriate spouses’ adjustment to an overseas assignment. This study examines this problem from an occupational health viewpoint, looking at the relationships of stress with various outcomes related to success: satisfaction, adjustment, and well-being. In addition, the current study tests the effects of social support and a new construct, Ibasho, briefly defined as a sense of comfort and psychological security that a person feels in specific locations they regularly visit, as moderators of stressor–outcome relationships. Results suggest that stress is highly related to all outcomes measured. In addition, initial support for the independence and importance of the construct of Ibasho is established. Ibasho showed significant bivariate relationships with all of the measured variables. In addition, Ibasho accounted for unique variance in the prediction of general adjustment, personal adjustment, satisfaction, and depression above and beyond demographic control variables and social support. Finally, Ibasho interacted with stressors in order to significantly predict perceived stress.     

Cross-cultural training,expatriate self-efficacy,and adjustments to overseas assignments: An empirical investigation of managers in Asia

This paper presents the findings of an empirical study that investigated the relationship between cross-cultural training (CCT) effectiveness, self-efficacy, and adjustment of expatriate managers in Asia. Responses of 169 managers from four different national backgrounds, all currently on overseas assignments in Asia, indicate that the relationship between CCT effectiveness and adjustment is mediated by an increase in self-efficacy. Implications of the findings for professional practice and for future research are discussed.     

MNC commitment, OCB role definition and intent to leave in subsidiary top managers: The moderating effect of uncertainty avoidance values

The current paper analyses in depth and expands on the study of the consequences of organisational commitment in the MNC setting. To that end the moderating effect of uncertainty avoidance as a personal cultural value is studied and two consequences of MNC commitment are analysed: intent to leave and organisational citizenship behaviour. The empirical analysis carried out on a cross-organisational sample of 101 top managers of MNC's subsidiaries located in Spain confirms the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance for the affective and normative commitments, as well as its moderating effect on the influence that organisational citizenship behaviour role definition exerts on intent to leave. Implications for management theory and practice are discussed.     

Intercultural communication problems as perceived by Saudi Arabian and American managers

Research on Saudi Arabian communication patterns is inadequate. The present study reviews the literature on Saudi Arabian cultural and communication patterns and reports the results of data collected in Saudi Arabia on the perceived problems of Saudi Arabian businessmen when communicating with Americans. While large differences exist in the perceptions of the communication problems, both the Saudi Arabians and the Americans targeted differences in the patterns for organizing ideas as a major intercultural problem. Implications for intercultural training are provided.     

Cultural similarity and adjustment of expatriate academics

The findings of a number of recent empirical studies of business expatriates, using different samples and methodologies, seem to support the counter-intuitive proposition that cultural similarity may be as difficult to adjust to as cultural dissimilarity. However, it is not obvious that these results also are applicable to other groups of expatriates. To explore this eventuality, an electronic survey was directed towards expatriate academics in 34 universities in five European countries. For the purpose of this study, they were sorted into two groups, expatriate academics from EU countries and non-EU countries. Results showed that although the perceived cultural similarity between host and home country for the two groups of investigated respondents was different, there was neither any difference in their adjustment nor in the time it took for them to become proficient. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Women as androgynous managers : A conceptualization of the potential for American women in international management

Women in international management, where are they? While many female managers appear to have the qualities necessary for international management, they have been implicitly and explicitly excluded from overseas assignments.This paper will begin by describing some of the dimensions on which the international business environment is different from the domestic United States environment. Research on the attitudinal and behavioral skills found to be associated with success in the international environment will be presented. It will be suggested that this list of international management skills goes beyond those characteristics generally associated with either the male or the female role in North America. The Model of the Androgynous International Manager will be introduced as a way of conceptualizing an appropriate orientation for the role of the international manager. The need for future research is delineated.The scope of the discussion is limited to the role of American 1 women working in multinational business settings around the world.     

International cooperation and the expatriate manager: A study of the Japanese executive in Canada

A model is presented in this paper for studying attitudes toward international cooperation among expatriate business executives. A lest of the model is provided with data from a survey of Japanese executives on foreign assignment in Canada. In general, it was found that an executive's support for Japanese-Canadian cooperation in a number of policy areas is related to the economic interests he develops as a result of the geographical work orientation of his corporate position. In turn, the geographical scope of his business role was found to be directly related to the type of market-export relative to domestic-his subsidiary services. General internationalist ideology was also considered as a possible determinant of specific international attitudes but was found to play a minor role compared to economic interest.     

Schema adjustment in cross-cultural encounters: A study of expatriate international aid service workers

Based on a schema perspective, this study discusses the adjustment process of expatriate workers through their cross-cultural experiences. Employing a qualitative, semi-structured interviewing method, this study collected data from 22 interviews with Taiwanese expatriate workers for an international aid service and analyzed critical incidents faced by these workers during their international service. Extending the existing schema theory for cross-cultural encounters, the author found that cultural shocks help enhance expatriate workers’ awareness of their existing schemas. In addition, through mental tension, mental dialogue, and information regarding culturally relevant others, cross-cultural workers gradually modify their perspectives and interpretative frameworks to adapt to local situations in a different culture.     

An analysis of friendship networks, social connectedness, homesickness, and satisfaction levels of international students

International students continue to grow in number worldwide, prompting researchers to look for ways to make the study abroad experience more fruitful. One avenue of research has focused on friendship formation, the significant role it plays in the study abroad experience, and the unique friendship combinations made possible by the study abroad experience. International students form friendships with individuals from their own country, from other countries, and from the host country. Research has found that international students often have more friends from their home country; however, research has also demonstrated a relationship between having more host country friends and satisfaction, contentment, decreased homesickness, and social connectedness. The current study looks to further explore these relationships through a social network lens by examining friendship network ratios, strength, and variability of the three friendship groups. A friendship network grid was developed to assess where international students’ friends are from and how strong those friendships are. Eighty four international students completed a survey examining the relationship between friendship networks, social connectedness, homesickness, contentment, and satisfaction. Contrary to prior research, international students did not report having a higher ratio of individuals from their home country in their friendship networks. However, international students with a higher ratio of individuals from the host country in their network claimed to be more satisfied, content, and less homesick. Furthermore, participants who reported more friendship variability with host country individuals described themselves as more satisfied, content, and more socially connected. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

International relocation of inpatriate managers: assessing and facilitating acceptance in the headquarters organization

The shortage of qualified managers to assign to overseas positions has necessitated rethinking of the viable candidates pools. A relatively new group of global managers have emerged, inpatriate managers. These are foreign nationals and third-country nationals who are relocated to the organization's domestic headquarters to serve as a “linking-pin” to the global marketplace. This paper examines challenges to effectively incorporating these inpatriate managers into the domestic organization. The various issues with inpatriate manager adjustment to the domestic macro and organizational culture are examined. In addition, the necessary social support in work and non-work contexts is discussed.