Expatriate International Career Cycle

1
Expatriate International Career Cycle

• Recruitment, Orientation, and Reentry Criteria
  for the Expatriate Assignment

2
Cross-Cultural Studies Focus on

• Behavior of employees
• Trains people to work in a multi-cultural
  environment
• Describes and compares organization behavior
  across cultures and
• Outlines ways to interact within a multi-cultural
  workforce.

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Definition of Culture

• Something that is shared by all or almost all
  members of some social group
• Something that the older members of the group try
  to pass on to the younger members and
• Something (e.g., morals, laws, customs) that
  shapes behavior, or structures ones perceptions
  of the world.

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Six Dimensions of Cultural Orientations in
Societies

• Individuals
• Relationship to nature and the world
• Relationship to other people
• Activity Doing or Being
• Orientation in time
• Orientation in space
• Source Nancy J. Adler

5
Edward Hall

• High Context Culture
• Low Context Culture
• How much information is enough?

6
Space

• Territoriality
• Personal space
• Multisensory spatial experience

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Time

• Monochronic
• Do one thing at a time
• Time commitments?
• Low-Context
• Rules of privacy
• Respect for property
• S-t relationships
• Follow plans

• Polychronic
• Do many things at once
• Are highly distractible
• Time commitments?
• High-context
• Relationships
• Change plans

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Stages of Expatriate International Career Cycle

• Home Country Assignment
• Recruitment
• Selection
• Orientation
• Foreign Country Assignment
• Debriefing
• Reentry
• Return

9
Typical First-Year Cost of a U.S. Expatriate
(Married, Two Children) in Tokyo, Japan

• Direct Compensation Costs
• Base Salary 100,000
• Foreign Service Premium 15,000
• Goods and Services 73,600
  Less U.S. Housing Norm (15,400)
• U.S. Taxes (17,200)

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Company-Paid Costs

• Schooling (two children) 15,000
• Annual Home Leave 4,800
• Housing 150,000
• Japanese Income Taxes 84,000
• Transfer/Moving Costs 38,000
• Total Company Costs 447,800

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Selection Criteria for the International
Assignment (Gonzalez and Negandhi)

• The study surveyed 1,161 U.S. Expatriates in 40
  Countries
• Survey asked expatriates to list the ideal
  background for an overseas career

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Ideal Background for an Overseas Career

• Adaptability of the Family 20
• Leadership Ability 19
• Knowledge of the Job 14
• Knowledge of the Host Country 13
• Well-educated 13
• Respect for Foreigners 12

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Ideal Background for an Overseas Career

• Previous Overseas Experience 4
• Desire to Serve Overseas 4
• Miscellaneous 1
• Total 100

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Desirable Skills and Attributes

• Technical Competence
• Written and Verbal Competence
• Common Sense
• Assertiveness
• People-Oriented
• Fair
• Energetic
• Sense of Humor
• Source Stephen Heumann, The West Co.

15
Educational Background

• Broad-based course of study
• Liberal arts blended with technical skills
• Foreign language
• Travel
• Understanding cultural and religious differences
• Reading foreign journal/newspapers
• Source Stephen Heumann, The West Co.

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Are You Right for the Job Outside of the U.S. ?

• Do I have the necessary skills for the position?
• Does my family favor living overseas and are we
  able to adapt to new situations?
• Is our current family life stable?
• If a family member has a health problem, can it
  be treated in the host country?

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Are You Right for the Job Outside of the U.S.?

• Will this experience provide general career
  advancement?
• Where will I be when we return home? Will I have
  an immediate position with my sponsor or another
  organization?
• Since many expatriate spouses are not able to get
  work permits, is my spouse willing to interrupt a
  career?

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Are You Right for the Job Outside of the U.S.?

• Does my firm offer sufficient support and
  financial compensation to expatriates?

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Selection Methods

• Tests
• California Test (the indirect scale of
  ethnocentrism)
• Personal Interviews
• Assessment Centers

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Training Techniques for Expatriate Preparation

• Informational Training Lectures, Reading
  Material, Video Tapes
• Overall Purpose Area Studies
• Experiential Workshops Cultural Assimilator,
  Role Playing
• Overall Purpose Learning via experience

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Training Techniques for Expatriate Preparation

• Sensitivity Training Communication Workshops,
  Outward Bound Trips
• Overall Purpose Communication style, empathy,
  and listening skills
• Language Skills Classes, Tapes
• Overall Purpose Interpersonal communication

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Training Techniques for Expatriate Preparation

• Field Experiences Meeting with former
  expatriates, short-term visits to host country
• Overall Purpose Customs, values, non-verbal
  communication skills
• Source S. Ronen, Training the International
  Assignee, in Training and Career Development,
  1st edition, San Francisco Jossey-Bass, 1989,
  p. 438)

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Ten Ways to Prepare for the Overseas Assignment

• 1. Read and Learn About the Culture.
• 2. Learn the Language.
• 3. Study Maps.
• 4. Practice the Currency.
• 5. Learn Measurements.
• 6. Meet Someone from the Host Country.

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Ten Ways to Prepare for the Overseas Assignment

• 7. Talk to someone who has been
  there.
• 8. Prepare as a Family.
• 9. Arrange Good-Byes.
• 10. Take What You Need to Make a Home.
• Source Copeland and Griggs, Going International

25
Four Stages of Culture Shock

• Initial Euphoria
• Irritation and Hostility
• Adjustment
• Reentry--Reverse Culture Shock

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Ten Ways to Cope When the Going Gets Rough

• 1. Review and Renew.
• 2. Look for the Local Logic.
• 3. Make a Friend.
• 4. Avoid Complaining Americans.
• 5. Do Not Neglect Your Partner.
• 6. Use the Time.
• 7. Do Not Deny Reality When Things Are Bad.

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Ten Ways to Cope When the Going Gets Rough

• 8. Do Not Make Comparisons With Home.
• 9. Do Not Get Hung Up on Being Liked.
• 10. Be Careful About the Culture Shock Cures You
  Choose.
• Source Copeland and Griggs, Going International

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Three DCs as a Rule of Thumb

• Do not Compare
• Do not Complain
• Do not Criticize
• Source Infogram, The International Family,
  David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies

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Why U.S. Employees Fail in Foreign Assignments

• Inability of the managers spouse to adjust to a
  different physical or cultural environment
• The managers inability to adapt to a different
  physical or cultural environment
• Other family-related problems

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Why U.S. Employees Fail in Foreign Assignments

• The managers personality or emotional
  immaturity
• The managers inability to cope with the
  responsibilities posed by overseas work
• The managers lack of technical competence and
• The managers lack of motivation to work overseas.

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The Degree of Reverse Culture Shock Depends On

• How long you have been away
• Whether you were immersed and comfortable in the
  host country culture or remained a visitor
• Whether you had a difficult time adjusting to
  your host culture
• Whether you kept up-to-date on trends and events
  at home

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The Degree of Reverse Culture Shock Depends On

• Whether you had a mentor relationship with
  someone within the home organization and
• What type of living conditions you experienced or
  witnessed in the host culture.
• Source Infogram, Coming Home Again, David M.
  Kennedy Center for International Studies, Brigham
  Young University.

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How to Cope with Reverse Culture Shock

• Be prepared to acknowledge that you have changed.
• Find a mentor within your organization.
• Communicate often with family and co-workers.
• Research returning to the home country.
• Re-adjust your expectations of the ideal place
  to live.

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How to Cope with Reverse Culture Shock

• Do not expect people to listen to your
  cross-cultural experiences.