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]

abstract: The purpose of this mixed methods research study was to assess the impact and influence of a pre-international experience course on Arizona State University (ASU) students before they study or intern abroad. Currently, the study abroad pre-departure orientation for ASU participants consists of online modules and a two-hour face-to-face orientation. In this action research study, the practitioner-researcher re-designed an ASU School of Politics and Global Studies (SPGS), one-credit course that focused exclusively on cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity. A needs assessment was distributed to a sample of 800 returning study abroad participants and was used to influence the study, along with an extensive literature review and two cycles of action research. The dissertation research and study was conducted during the ASU fall 2013 semester. Quantitative data and qualitative data were collected using eight different measures. To better understand the impact of a pre-international experience curriculum for ASU study abroad and international internship participants before they go abroad, this research study investigated the following research questions: (1) What cultural impact does a pre-international experience course have on students who complete the course before studying or interning abroad? (2) What specific cultural competencies are gained by the participants after participating in the pre-international experience course? (3) How has developing the curriculum, teaching the curriculum and implementing the innovation influenced and informed my practice as an international educator and the Assistant Director of the Arizona State Study Abroad Office? The following five assertions were identified within the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the collected data to answer the three research questions: (1) Students are more confident in their abilities to cross cultures after successfully completing taking the new course; (2) Students are more aware of other cultures and their own culture after successfully completing taking the new course; (3) Students gained important knowledge about understanding others' worldviews after successfully completing taking the new course; (4) Students gained general openness toward intercultural learning and to people from cultures different from their own after successfully completing the new course; (5) Developing and implementing a pre-international experience course changed me as a leader, instructor and researcher. Implications for future implementation and research are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2014

International borders are dissolving as a result of globalization, and cross-cultural interactions are becoming a regular part of modern business. Many firms are expanding internationally, necessitating the need to send workers, known as expatriates, abroad. Being able to operate and adjust in a foreign country requires certain skills and traits. Not being able to adjust well in the host country has many times led expatriates to fail their international mission, which negatively affects the expatriate as well as the firm. Previous studies suggest that by selecting and offering a proper cross-cultural training (CCT), expatriates should have an easier time adjusting in the country they move to. Thus, leading to a successful international assignment.  Research on selection and CCTs has predominantly focused on creating frameworks and finding variables that contribute to expatriates’ adjustment. However, there are still unclarities and disagreements regarding the effects of selection and CCT on the expatriates’ in-country adjustment. Therefore, it is important to understand whether expatriates perceive these processes helpful for their adjustment. Moreover, studies that have implemented these frameworks and variables into practicality for Asian or African host countries, thus leaving a gap in Europe and its emerging countries. As such, this study will contribute to this gap to further understand how selection and CCT affect the expatriate’s adjustment in Greece.   A literature is presented with the relevant theories that exist in the field of expatriate selection, cross-cultural training and adjustment, and additionally cultural shock theories. With the aim of collecting data for this study, a qualitative method was approached, where 12 in-depth interviews were conducted on expatriates working in Greece. The interview covered topics of how they perceive their selection process, the CCT they received before their mission and their adjustment in the host country. General findings were that the classical selection and CCT theories and processes are still applicable up to this day. An additional finding to these theories was that the expatriates do not favor CCT processes. Moreover, it was observed that the perceived cultural differences between the home and host country of the expatriate is the main factor that is affected by the selection and CCT. Finally, the researchers suggest further research to be conducted for several factors concerning the in-country adjustment.

Expatriates’ adjustment to the host-country culture is a dynamic and gradual process. This process can be facilitated by cross-cultural training. The relationship between cross-cultural training and crosscultural adjustment has been explored to a great extent in the literature, however scholars have mainly put focus on how this relationship unfolds in the context of MNCs offering CCT in-house. Consequently, this leaves an interesting uninvestigated gap in terms of how fully integrated relocation service companies work with cross-cultural services and how their work can facilitate cross-cultural adjustment. This qualitative case-study therefore aims to examine the relationship between crosscultural training provided by a relocation service company and the expatriate adjustment process. An extensive review on existing theories concerning cross-cultural adjustment, cross-cultural training and cross-cultural learning are presented. After this, the case study examines how Nordic Relocation Group (NRG), a relocation service company in Sweden, operates in terms of providing cross-cultural services. The findings indicate that the relocation service company’s services are divided into different phases, whereby the timing and content of services offered varies as the expatriates’ international assignment develops over time. This form of tailoring the cross-cultural training and the content of their services supports the notion of sequential training, which within IHRM literature, is proposed as optimal in order to facilitate the expatriate’s adjustment process. Moreover, the results further indicate that the way in which NRG works with cross-cultural services, in terms of strategy, sequential order, and specific CCT activities offered, promotes effective cross-cultural learning. Consequently, the CCT strategies offered by the relocation service company can be viewed as being aligned with best practice.

The aim of the current project was to improve the cross-cultural clinical competence of mental health staff in Victoria’s Crisis Assessment and Treatment Teams (CATTs) by developing, delivering and evaluating a training program in Cross-Cultural Psychiatric Assessment (CPA). The project was guided by a program logic framework. A literature review demonstrated cross-cultural differences in manifestations of mental disorders and disparities in mental health service provision to racial and ethnic groups, suggesting clinician bias, unfamiliarity with cross-cultural manifestations, or delayed help-seeking by ethnic groups. No research has been identified into crisis service provision to ethnic communities. (For complete abstract open document)

Aim – The aim of the study is to investigate the way trust and relationships can be affected by Cross-Cultural Training, which will ultimately enhance intercultural business performance. Methodology – Qualitative data is gathered by conducting semi-structured interviews which provide deep responses on Cross-Cultural Training among Japanese companies operating in Sweden. Based on secondary data, theoretical discussions are grounded serves as a foundation for the study. Findings – The study resulted in two categories of companies in which one applies Cross-Cultural Training in order to build and maintain trust and relationships when developing intercultural business practices among Japanese companies and Swedish subsidiaries. Whereas the other type of companies have a different type of International Organizational Structure in which Cross-Cultural Training is redundant and relationships and trust are preserved since they do not interact directly with the Japanese- Headquarters or employees. Limitations – The research is solely based on an extensive qualitative study. Thus, a quantitative study should be conducted in order to support these findings to provide more rigidity and reliability. A complementary study from a Japanese perspective would clarify the reasons behind the decisions made in Sweden. Implications – Academicians can extend this study in order to understand the deeper reason on why some companies decide to work with an organisational structure which differs from the traditional working behaviours and dimensions of national culture. Furthermore, the study provides implications for business managers to anticipate different cultures when conducting international business. It furthermore forms a basis for academicians to conduct future research on Cross-Cultural -business and –training. These implications are generalizable across a manifold of industries since the study is based on a multiple case study.

Increasingly, government and educational institutions are turning to study abroad programs as one of the primary means of providing students with important cross-cultural and linguistic skills. However, because of constraints on time and financial resources most students participate in short term programs lasting approximately two months. Additionally, research regarding students’ linguistic and cultural growth in study abroad shows that some students gain far more from their participation than others. The purpose of this study was to examine the cultural and linguistic learning that takes place in short-term programs and discover some of the factors that predict students’ growth while abroad. This study examined the relationship between important factors such as students’ level of cultural sensitivity, students’ relationship with their host family, motivation to learn the language, the amount of time students’ spent interacting with native speakers, as well as students’ oral language skills during a seven-week study abroad program. Surveys were used to measure each of the variables except for students’ oral language skills. To measure changes in oral skills, the researcher created an innovative instrument in which native speakers rated clips of student speech in the target language from before and after their time abroad. As found in previous research, students varied greatly in the amount of progress made in oral language skills and cultural sensitivity while abroad. However, students generally demonstrated small, but significant improvements in their oral language skills, despite the brief nature of their program. Further, the instrument created to measure growth in oral language skills showed high reliability. Interestingly, students’ level of cultural sensitivity prior to going abroad predicted changes in oral language skills. These results provide support for students’ participation in short-term study abroad programs since students generally experience noticeable improvements in language skills. They also suggest that students who are more culturally sensitive may have an advantage in language learning during study abroad programs. These results could be helpful for administrators in determining who may benefit most from such programs and may suggest that helping students gain cultural sensitivity could also aid students’ language learning. / text

International assignment failures cost an organization roughly 3 to 4 times an expatriate's annual salary with the most expatriate failures cited for work assignments in China. Previous scholarly research identified cultural intelligence (CQ) as being influential to expatriate work outcomes. The purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationships among a subset of CQ predictor variables and work outcome related dependent variables. Quantitative analysis regarding the relationship between CQ and work outcomes for U.S. nationals working in China does not currently exist in the scholarly research. Improvement of expatriate work outcomes and reduction of failed assignment costs is the intention. The study included self-reported measurements collected via online surveys from 88 U.S. nationals with work experience in China. Pearson correlation test results and multiple linear regression analysis indicated significant predictive relationships between CQ and work performance (F(4, 83) = 8.202, p < .001, adjusted R2 = .249) and between CQ and job satisfaction (F(4, 83) = 3.522, p < .05, adjusted R2 = .104). Motivational CQ had a statistically significant predictive power for work performance and job satisfaction. These findings suggest that the CQ construct may help to assess expatriate assignment readiness. The social change implications of this study include the utilization of CQ in better identification, selection, and training of employees for international assignments; improvement of expatriate work outcomes; reduction of expatriate turnover; and reduction of expatriate assignment costs.

The primary emphasis in the field of expatriate adjustment has focused on the experiences of the person working overseas on assignment. Research that includes the experiences of the accompanying partner of the working expatriate frequently positions this person as an antecedent to the working partner's adjustment process. Understanding the adjustment process from the accompanying partner's perspective is underrepresented in the literature. In this qualitative research project eight expatriate couples were interviewed to examine in detail their experiences of adjusting overseas on assignment in order to identify the critical adjustment factors, the resources that are available to assist the adjustment process, and what personal characteristics aid a successful intercultural experience while living overseas. Recommendations are provided for both the employer and the accompanying partner to assist the adjustment process.

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