Acculturation profiles based on the self‐oriented, others‐oriented, and perceptual dimensions of acculturative adjustment were derived for MNC employees of American, Canadian, Indian, Japanese, Latin American, Carribean and Nigerian origin. Our finding of significant, target‐specific, intercultural differences is of paramount importance in delineating areas of predeparture expatriate training and development.

In an investigation of the impact of automation on job characteristics, we found that coordination, job autonomy, and work pace were reinforced by automation, while new skill requirements, job security and exertion remained unaffected. Job satisfaction correlates revealed the existence of elements that were both reinforced by automation and unrelated to job satisfaction. These elements are of paramount importance to supervisors as they represent sources of operator indifference to the benefits of automation, or satisfaction gaps. The elements include interdepartmental task coordination, discretion in making production decisions, confidence to complete tasks without supervision, the achievement of career goals, perceptual skills, security of records, and longer work hours in the post-automation period. We consider the sealing of these satisfaction gaps to be a major supervisory challenge.

Builds on prior research into the impact of automation on job characteristics, which found that co‐ordination, job autonomy, and work pace were reinforced by automation, while new skill requirements, job security and exertion remained unaffected. Job satisfaction correlates reveal the existence of elements both reinforced by automation and unrelated to job satisfaction. Such elements represent sources of operator indifference to the benefits of automation or satisfaction gaps, and they include interdepartmental task co‐ordination, discretion in making production decisions, confidence to complete tasks without supervision, the achievement of career goals, perceptual skills, security of records, and longer work hours in the post‐automation period.

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