Host country national support to expatriates: a motivated information processing perspective

PurposeThe support of host country nationals (HCNs) is a key determinant of expatriate adjustment and performance. The purpose of this paper is to explore underlying motivations for their support to expatriates. Previous research has shown that HCNs with pro-social motivation are more likely to help expatriates. Drawing upon motivated information processing in groups (MIP-G) theory, the authors test whether epistemic motivation moderates the observed relationship between pro-social motivation and HCNs’ support toward expatriates.Design/methodology/approachThe authors ran two correlational studies (N = 267) in the USA (Study 1) and South Korea (Study 2). Across two studies, epistemic motivation and social motivation were measured using their multiple proxies validated in previous research. The authors also measured HCNs’ willingness to offer role information and social support to a hypothetical expatriate worker.FindingsResults lend support to our hypotheses that pro-social HCNs are more willing than pro-self HCNs to provide role information and social support to the expatriates, but this occurs only when they have high rather than low epistemic motivation.Originality/valueThe current paper contributes the literature on HCNs helping expatriates by qualifying the prior results that a pro-social motivation (e.g. agreeableness and collectivism) increases the willingness of HCNs to help expatriates. As hypothesized, this study found that that case is only true when HCNs have high, rather than low, epistemic motivation. Also, previous research on MIP-G theory has mainly focused on the performance of small groups (e.g. negotiation, creativity and decision-making). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is the first attempt to test MIP-G theory in the context of HCNs helping expatriates.

The effects of perceived organisational support on expatriate adjustment, assignment completion and job satisfaction

This study examines the influence of perceived organisational support (POS) on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment, assignment completion and job satisfaction in the sub-Saharan African context. While multinationals depend on expatriates to manage their foreign subsidiaries, successful expatriation is influenced by expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment to their host country’s environment. Survey responses from 229 expatriates were analysed using partial least squares path modelling. The results reveal that support from their organisations relates positively to expatriate adjustment, assignment completion and job satisfaction. The empirical results also demonstrate that expatriate adjustment partially mediates the relationship between POS and assignment completion and job satisfaction. Furthermore, findings suggest that assignment completion positively influences job satisfaction and partially mediates the association between POS and job satisfaction. The findings of this research have important theoretical and practical implications for multinational companies operating in sub-Saharan Africa.

The effects of cultural intelligence and Vietnamese proficiency on expatriate adjustment in Vietnam

The expatriate adjustment has been receiving more and more academic attention due to its increasing importance in globalization. There are many antecedents and outcomes of cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates. This research explores the relationships among Vietnamese proficiency, four dimensions of cultural intelligence, and expatriate adjustment. The study was conducted with data from 379 expatriates living/lived in Vietnam. The results reveal that Vietnamese proficiency and metacognitive cultural intelligence affect general adjustment indirectly through work and interaction adjustment. Meanwhile, cognitive cultural intelligence only a general adjustment but not the other two facets. The researcher also gives practical implications for corporations, international human resource management practitioners, and individual expatriates.

Mix and match: bicultural expatriates in multicultural Malaysia

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the expatriate adjustment experiences of “biculturals”, defined here as individuals who have internalised at least two cultural profiles, in a host-country setting that is itself also culturally diverse. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative approach was adopted, involving semi-structured interviews with a small number of bicultural expatriates working in Malaysia. Findings The findings here echo previous studies in demonstrating bicultural expatriates’ ability (and tendency) to switch cultural frames as part of their adjustment. Despite this, however, their professional and social networks appear to still be shaped by cultural factors, with expatriates drawn towards networks whose members mainly comprise certain ethnic groups whose values and norms are perceived as being more closely aligned with those of the expatriate. Originality/value Though the literature on bicultural expatriates continues to grow, little emphasis has been given to a host-country setting that is itself culturally diverse. The findings here suggest that in such a setting, professional and social networks serve as an aid in the adjustment. Importantly, however, these networks, rather than being culturally impartial, as it were, may primarily comprise certain ethnic groups who are considered culturally “closer” to the expatriate in question.

Expatriate Adjustment and Engagement with Host Country Gastronomy: Investigating The Role of Identity Projects

Research on expatriate consumer behavior suggests that expatriates can be attracted to host country gastronomy, but sometimes they also suppress themselves from engaging with it. To shed light on these inconsistencies, this study draws on cross-cultural adjustment literature and social identity theory to explore under what circumstances expatriates increase their tendency to visit restaurants offering host country cuisine. To test the proposed model, a survey was conducted among 289 expatriates living in the six countries of the Greater Middle East. The data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical regression. The findings show that general adjustment is a positive predictor of more frequent visits to local restaurants. However, the findings also indicate that this relationship is conditioned by an expatriate’s identity projects which are associated with cultural integration, cosmopolitanism, and international experience. Overall, novel extensions to the literature that investigates an expatriate’s engagement with a host country’s food and gastronomy is provided.

Thriving and retention of expatriates: Cultural intelligence and organizational embeddedness inputs

Drawing on Conservation of Resources theory and the socially embedded model of thriving, we examine the resource antecedents and retention outcome of expatriate thriving. Using two-wave panel data from 103 international teachers in the United States, we found that the personal resource of cultural intelligence directly influenced thriving, and thriving led to expatriate actual retention. In addition, the contextual resource of organizational embeddedness served as a boundary condition that augmented cultural intelligence’s positive effect on thriving. Applying the concept of thriving to explicate expatriate experiences, we go beyond the dominant emphasis in the expatriate literature on expatriate adjustment. In doing so, we highlight the joint contribution of both personal and contextual resources associated with global work experiences and pinpoint potential boundary conditions that enable thriving.

The Role of Self-Efficacy in Expatriate Adjustment: An Allegorical Perspective

This paper is unique among the articles written about expatriates in that it focuses on the importance of self-efficacy, on developing one’s cultural identity consciously, and on community building in order to facilitate adjustment. Well-adjusted expatriates build an array of strategies to overcome the many challenges they are faced with: awakening, overwhelmingness, culture shock, grief, uncertainty, communication issues, and identity loss. Most expatriates have had a wide array of experiences and thus can relate to characters with otherworldly experiences. James and the Giant Peach, a remarkable story by Roald Dahl, is used as a platform to illuminate the research literature as an invitation to reconceptualize expatriate adjustment creatively.

Managing Behavioural Outcomes of Repatriates through a Proactive Model

This study attempts to present a proactive model in explaining a mechanism which ensures behavioral outcomes of repatriates. A series of activities, which were already well researched in an isolated manner in different contexts were incorporated to develop this model. The literature based data compilation was done to develop this model. The key of pre-departure stage of expatriation, on-assignment stage of expatriation, post- assignment period of expatriation, expatriate adjustment, repatriate adjustment, behavioural outcomes of repatriates, social support for expatriates, social support for repatriates, organizational support for expatriate families, organizational support for repatriate families, and cross-over effect of expatriate adjustment were included to the Google Scholar search engine to find the articles.This model outlines logic on the necessity of being proactive on returnees’ post-assignment behavioural outcomes, by taking into account three time stages of pre-departure, on-assignment, and post assignment stages.

Factors Contributing to Expatriate Adjustment to Life in Malaysia

The objective of this study is to determine the factors contributing to expatriate adjustment to life in Malaysia. Drawing on the conservation of resources theory and previous research, the independent variables of cultural intelligence, language ability, open-mindedness, tenure in Malaysia, previous overseas experience and monthly income, are used in this study to predict expatriate adjustment. A survey questionnaire was developed and analysis done on 80 expatriates from four industries in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Results of regression analysis using the PROCESS software showed that cultural intelligence, language ability open-mindedness, tenure in Malaysia and gender explained 76.2% of the variance in expatriate adjustment in Malaysia. Furthermore, tenure in Malaysia moderated cultural intelligence. However, previous overseas assignments and monthly income did not have any relationships with expatriate adjustment. The applicability of the conservation of resources theory to explain expatriate adjustment is clearly established in this study as all the variables that are significant predictors of expatriate adjustment are resources.