Although much research in the 1960s and 1970s was devoted to crosscultural issues such as expatriate employment, researchers moved away from doing cross-cultural research in order to direct their efforts toward the hot topics of the time. However, the past few decades have seen an exponential increase in the globalization of our economy, and this ever-increasing globalization has made the need for cross-cultural research salient once again. In the past decade alone, there has been an explosion of research examining the components and effectiveness of cross-cultural training (CCT) for expatriate preparation. Thus, the ultimate purpose of this literature review is to present the past 25 years of CCT research relevant to expatriate preparation by examining the following: the need for CCT research, the deficiencies in past research, typical training components, training delivery, theory pertaining to CCT, potential moderators of the relationship between CCT and expatriate performance, the effectiveness of CCT in enhancing expatriate performance, suggestions for future research, and strategies for improving CCT implementation and research. After reviewing the past 25 years of CCT research, it is evident that CCT is effective in facilitating success on expatriate assignments. However, additional empirical research is needed on moderators, expatriate selection, training program at FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIV on June 18, 2015 hrd.sagepub.com Downloaded from

Fatigue has often been viewed as a simple variable that is positively correlated with time on task in the workplace and is produced mainly by physical activity. However, shiftwork researchers have demonstrated time-of-day differences for variables including sleepiness and mood, thereby challenging this notion of fatigue. Using a within-subjects design, the present study advances this research by searching for differences in time-of-day interactions in firefighters' sleep length, sleepiness, and mood ratings as a function of shift. We examined reductions in sleep length associated with shiftwork and used sleepiness and mood scales to assess the effects of these reductions. Participants completed surveys throughout a complete cycle of their shift schedule. The study showed that firefighters working on a rotating 8-h shift schedule will sleep less and will report lower positive mood scores, higher negative mood scores, and greater sleepiness ratings on the night shift. Additionally, it was shown that over the course of a shift (two weeks), firefighters were unable to adapt to changes in their sleep schedule. Finally, the significant interactions that were observed challenge the historical, singular notion of fatigue.

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A current trend in alternative work schedules is to increase the length of the workday while decreasing the number of days in the work week. These “compressed” work schedules are popular amongst shiftworkers, in part because of longer periods of non-work days. The current research is an attempt to add to the short list of long-term evaluations of compressed work schedules. A change in work schedules from an 8 hour rotating shift schedule to a rotating 10 hour day/14 hour night operating schedule in a fire department was studied. Multiple measures were used to address a variety of outcomes associated with the new schedule. From the significant increase in satisfaction with their work schedule, it is clear that the new shift schedule is well liked by the fire fighters. Reasons for the satisfaction include significant changes in usual sleep length, a decrease in being tired or sleepy at work and an increase in free time benefits. Other results are discussed in the paper. In conclusion, the use of a compressed work schedule is beneficial when workers are allowed to sleep on the job, however, generalizations to other workplaces must be limited. Use of these popular work schedules should be limited to applications which incorporate a systematic evaluation of the new work schedule.