Background Expatriate failure can be a devastating consequence for both an enterprise and the expatriate himself. An expatriate is a person who resides outside his native country for working purposes. Moving to a foreign country implies many challenges and problems. One of the challenges is the new culture. Culture shock and problems with the acculturation process can jeopardize the international assignment: adaptation problem for expatriates is one of the reasons for expatriate failure. Nevertheless, culture shocks can be provided against by preparing the expatriate for the new culture. Knowledge about the other culture will increase the expatriate’s cultural competence, and hence facilitate the adaptation process, which will provide against expatriate failure. Purpose The thrust of this Bachelor Thesis was to analyze which important cultural differences a Swedish expatriate can encounter in Spain on an international assignment. The aim was to establish a check-list for future Swedish expatriates who are going to Spain, in order increase their cultural competence. We approached the cultural differences from a Swedish expatriate’s point of view. Methodology A qualitative study was conducted. The empirical data was collected through five semi-structured interviews with Swedish expatriates that are, or have been, working in Spain. All the interviewees work at companies who operate within the high-tech business trade. A frame of reference was elaborated in order to interpret and analyze the results obtained from the empirical data. Conclusions We found relevant cultural differences for Swedish expatriates going to Spain within four cultural aspects. Organization: organizations in Spain are more hierarchical and the manager more authoritarian compared to Sweden. The purpose of meetings is to inform or make decisions, rather than discuss and decide by consensus. Long working days are normal, and efficiency is not highly prioritized. Small talk before meetings is used more extensively than in Sweden. Time: Spaniards perceive time as fluid, which leads to less rigid agendas and schedules. Punctuality is a minor issue since time is approximate. Communication: The culture is expressive. Spaniards are emotional in their way of communicating, which is classified as an expressive culture. Moreover, frequent interruptions are seen as commitment to, and engagement in, the conversation. Indirect language is preferred over the direct, the context is more important than the words used. Social life: Spaniards prefer to meet up outside. The Spaniard’s private zone is bigger and includes more persons, compared to the Swede’s. Furthermore, respect is only shown people the Spaniard knows and cares about.

Adjustment to a new culture is a slow and step-wise process, which can be facilitated by cross-cultural training. First, a comprehensive review of current theories about cross-cultural adjustment and different training techniques is presented. Then, the study looks at the preparation and training of expatriates at Ericsson in relation to these theories. In-depth interviews with two Area Managers at Ericsson have been carried out in order to establish how the company’s training program is structured. We found that Ericsson follows a sequential model with both pre-departure and post-arrival training, mainly didactic in nature. The pre-departure training is very culturegeneral, whereas the post-arrival training is more specific for the host culture. The post-arrival training is, however, not offered in all host countries. Language training is also offered, and expatriates are encouraged to visit the host country prior to the departure. Many components in Ericsson’s training program are supported by theory,but several other techniques described in the theory are not in use. A suggestion is made to further formalize the post-arrival training and make the overall training more culture-specific.

Att verka på en global marknad innebär kulturella skillnader, tidsskillnader och annorlunda arbetsmetoder som ställer speciella krav på medarbetare och deras kompetens. Att sända anställda på utlandsuppdrag eller så kallad expatriering innebär för företagen att omlokalisera sådan kompetens utomlands. Flytta och arbeta utomlands innebär förutom många möjligheter också många problem för både företaget och den anställde med familj. Ett växande problem som identifierats av flera författare är att omlokaliseringen av par med varsin karriär blir allt svårare eftersom expatriering ofta innebär att den medföljande partnern tvingas ge upp/ta paus i sin karriär. Det finns även tidigare forskning som visar att par med varsin karriär är extra vanligt just i de nordiska länderna. Våra resultat bygger därför på en kvalitativ studie som undersöker hur några stora svenska företags strategier ser ut vid expatriering av par med varsin karriär. För att nå dessa resultat har vi genomfört fem stycken fysiska djupintervjuer och en telefonintervju som sedan har analyserats mot tidigare litteratur på området. Den litteratur vi använt härstammar främst från områdena International Human Resource Management och Expatriate Management. Företagen som ingår i studien är alla verksamma inom olika branscher som: Bank, Bygg, Försvar, Vitvaror, Telekom och Fordon. Studiens resultat visar bland annat på att företagen är duktiga på att inkludera den medföljande partnern under rekryteringsfasen för att på så sätt minska risken att han/hon inte anpassas till den nya kulturen. Karriärsupport och karriärassistans är några av de saker som företagen gör för att underlätta för den medföljande att få arbete. Dock verkar få utnyttja dessa vilket vi tror beror på att partnern inte vill eller inte kan arbeta. Problem med att få arbetstillstånd och/eller att den medföljande ser chansen att vara hemma med yngre barn kan vara två av anledningarna. Dyster konjunktur och de höga kostnaderna som förknippas med expatriering ökar trycket på företagen att spara in på förmåner eller att sända färre expatrierade i framtiden vilket troligtvis inte ökar antalet expatrierade par med varsin karriär. Sist men inte minst har vi kunnat se att sättet som företagen rekryterar anställda till utlandsuppdrag bidrar till att par med varsin karriär sällan uppmärksammas hos företagen och följaktligen tas liten hänsyn till dessa. Detta tillvägagångssätt tror vi skapar ett stort mörkertal av individer som skulle vara en stor tillgång för företag under en utlandsstationering, men som omedvetet exkluderas från dessa uppdrag på grund av att för lite hänsyn visas hans/hennes partner som också gör karriär.

Although several scholars have argued that the spouses failure to adjust is one of the main reasons expatriate employees return prematurely from international assignments, research about spouse adjustment is scarce, and existing research about the phenomenon was conducted almost two decades ago. Therefore, our research was conducted in order to empirically examine theoretical variables that historically relate to host country adjustment of the spouse in order to see if these variables are still valid today. The present study focused on personality, family characteristics and anticipatory and in-country adjustment variables of the intercultural adjustment of expatriate spouses. Among a sample of 105 expatriate spouses it was shown that the variables measuring time in host-country, positive pre-move opinion held by the spouse, living conditions at least equal to home, cultural novelty, personality traits, and family cohesion were significant moderators of the adjustment to the new country of the spouse. We could also show that the adjustment of the spouse affects the adjustment of the expatriate, thus increasing the relevance for companies to aim more attention to the spouse well-being. An area for future research could be to investigate more closely if there is different effectiveness of different types of training.

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to find out which personal-related factors are influencing on the task performance and the contextual performance of expatriate managers. Design/Methodology/Approach This research adopts a qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews with key-information from the managers taking international assignments. Findings The findings indicate that there is a series of significant associations between personal-related factors (personality traits, competences/skills, self-willingness and previous experience) and the performance of expatriates’ assignments. Research limitations/implications One suggestion for further research is to explore deeper and more comprehensive on other less important factors or the important factors which we are overlooking; it also could be more comprehensive on the factors that relate to the performance of expatriates. Practical implications We present a table of the relationship between personality traits, competences/skills, self-willingness, previous experience and the job performance of expatriates’ assignments. Thus, HR departments can follow this guidance when selecting expatriates to manage overseas assignments. Furthermore, individuals can take this model as a reference when making decisions for their career lives. Keywords Expatriate assignments, personality traits, self-willingness, competences/skills, previous experience, job performance, task performance, contexture performance Paper type Master Thesis

This reserch aims to investigate the realtionship of expatriate's cross-cultural competence with his entrepreneurship. By building an integrative framework, we identify three constructs, big-five personality, cultural intellegance and cross-cultural adjustment, which were encompassed in cross-cultural competence to have associations with expatriate's entrepreneurship. Using SEM model to analyzed sample of 230 expatriates, our findings reveals that expatriate's personality has positive associations with expatriates' entrepreneurship. In addition, expatriate's personality will affect the ability to cross-cultural adjustment and cultural intelligence for entrepreneurship in their expatriate assignments to MNC's subsidiary. In short, this research proposes a cross-cultural framework to illustrate how expatriate's personality affects their cultural intelligence and cross-cultural adjustment, which act as mediators in the relationships between personality and entrepreneurship. Moreover, cultural difference is found to be an important moderator among all the relationships above entrepreneurial spirit for business performance at host.

Organizacijų darbuotojai, atlikdami pavestas tarptautines užduotis, dažnai susiduria su įvairiomis problemomis, kurios gali turėti lemiamos reikšmės užduoties įvykdymo sėkmei. Nebuvo aptikta duomenų, kad Lietuvoje buvo atliktas tyrimas, kuris nagrinėtų į užsienio šalis išsiųstų organizacijos darbuotojų problemas ir siūlytų problemų sprendimo būdus. Darbo problema. Kokiomis tarpkultūrinės vadybos priemonėmis būtų galima sumažinti ekspatriantų kultūrinę atskirtį? Darbo tikslas. Remiantis tarpkultūrinės vadybos teorijomis, sukurti modelį, kuris padėtų ekspatriantams lengviau adaptuotis tarpkultūrinėje darbo aplinkoje. Uždaviniai: 1. Atlikti kultūros, vadybos bei tarpkultūrinės vadybos teorijų analizę. 2. Išanalizuoti tarpkultūrinės vadybos modelius. 3. Ištirti tarpkultūrinių ciklų stadijas bei jų svarbą organizacijoms. 4. Išanalizuoti ekspatriantų pasirinkimo ir apmokymų modelius. 5. Pasiūlyti naują tarpkultūrinį modelį, mažinantį ekspatriantų kultūrinę atskirtį. Tyrimo objektas – Lietuvos piliečiai, dirbantys tarptautinių ryšių turinčiose organizacijose bei vykdantys, besiruošiantys vykdyti ar jau vykdę organizacijos paskirtas tarptautines užduotis. Keliamos hipotezės: Hipotezė Nr. 1.: Ekspatriantų kultūrinę atskirtį mažina intensyvūs tarpkultūriniai apmokymai. Hipotezė Nr. 2.: Organizacijos pagalba tarptautinės užduoties vykdymo metu padeda sumažinti ekspatriantų kultūrinę atskirtį. Tyrimo metodai. Siekiant išsiaiškinti tarpkultūrinės vadybos įtaką ekspatriantų kultūrinei... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Business globalization trends raise the new priorities for management theory and practice. Furthermore, being the member of European Union provides new opportunities for Lithuanian companies to reach foreign markets. This situation increases the need of expatriates doing international assignments and working in foreign cultural settings. The goal of this work is – to create an international assignment model based on cross-cultural management theories and practices, which could help expatriates to adopt better to foreign organization cultures. The objectives are: 1) to make the analysis of culture, management and cross cultural management theories; 2) to analyze cross cultural models; 3) to examine the international assignment models; 4) to analyze expatriate training models; 5) suggest new cross cultural model, which minimizes cross cultural gap of expatriates. The object of the research is expatriates working in International organizations who are going to make, making or made International assignments. For research the author used such methods: 1) the analysis of scientific literature; 2) the empirical research; 3) data analysis. The first part of the work, discloses major theoretical issues of cross cultural management and organizational culture. In the second part it is made the review of expatriates International assignment models. In the third part it is given the analysis of available services of consultancy companies working in cross-cultural training business and... [to full text]

隨著商業競爭全球化與資訊科技的進步，知識管理也成為各大企業欲保有長期競爭優勢必要的策略。過去許多文獻指出，外派人員為組織學習不可或缺的要角，其在外派任務所獲取的知識與經驗，不僅有助於企業管理全球化的營運規模，也可針對地區性差異擬定最適策略，但文獻中也指出，多數企業依然無法妥善利用這些投入大筆資金所換取而來的資源。 近年來，國內外陸續有學者將外派領域的探討焦點由適應問題等延伸至知識移轉的績效與相關影響因素，但研究範圍多以國內母公司將知識移轉至海外子公司為主，對於從海外子公司移轉回國內母公司的外派或回任知識的相關研究相當少。 至今，知識移轉方面的議題仍屬於探索式的研究，質化研究相當有限，故本研究選擇以兩位外派人員與一位回任人員做為個案探討對象，將國內母公司定義為知識接收者，海外子公司為知識教授者，探討兩者之間的知識移轉概況與影響因素。 本研究發現，就個人層面而言，教授者的教授能力、教授動機是知識是否能成功移轉的第一步。過去學者將教授能力分為位階權力與專業能力並個別探討，但本研究發現此兩者間有相輔相成的綜效存在，隨著外派資歷的累積，可促進教授者的教授能力。不過位階權力要能發揮，還需該職務具有相當的重要性，組織才有知識移轉的需求。除了教授者被動的提供知識外，強烈的分享動機則可促使知識移轉主動地發生，倘若教授者與接受者間有良好的關係，更可促進教授者的動機。 但成功的知識移轉還需仰賴接受者能否確實將所學內化並善加利用，故接受者的學習意願、吸收能力、過往經驗的豐富程度與跨文化經驗等都會影響其內化程度。 就組織層面而言，母公司的技術保護策略會降低知識回傳的可能性，但當母公司與子公司間的營運項目差異愈大，甚至呈現互補式的分工，則知識交流會愈趨頻繁。此外，當海外營運據點在組織架構中的策略重要性越高時，母公司對該營運據點也就越關切，越可促使知識移轉的發生。

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center; full text release delayed at author's request until 2007 Nov 22

Background: Today the world is getting more globalized, which has led to multinational companies sending out expatriates on foreign assignments. Mostly expatriates’ responsibilities are to transfer knowledge from the headquarters to the subsidiary and to improve the communication between the headquarters and the subsidiary. Expatriate assignments have a high failure rate and are costly. Nordic companies are sending out a growing number of expatriates today. Furthermore, Swedish people are argued to be comfortable acting in a global context. Problem: When the expatriate moves to a new country, it is crucial for him or her to adjust in order for the expatriate assignment to become successful. Good expatriate adjustment is likely to lead to completing the assignment as well as performing well during the assignment. Existing research in the field states that there is need for more research about expatriate adjustment. Furthermore, few researches have been conducted about Swedish expatriates, and research conducted about expatriates from other nations might not apply to Swedish expatriates. Purpose: Considering the increased globalization and the growing number of expatriates, along with the research gap and the complex adjustment process, the purpose of this thesis is to examine which factors influence the adjustment process of Swedish expatriates going to East Asia Pacific. Method: Exploratory research was used to explore the factors influencing the adjustment process of Swedish expatriates who went to East Asia Pacific. With an abductive approach deeper knowledge about the adjustment process was gained. Empirical data was collected through a qualitative research consisting of eight in-depth interviews, which was analyzed by making use of qualitative content analysis method. Conclusion: The major conclusion of this research is that factors influencing Swedish expatriates’ work, general, and interaction adjustment in East Asia Pacific are cross-cultural training, language ability, adjustment of the spouse, and role clarity.