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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine expatriates' developmental networks in terms of their structure and content.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed in‐depth interviews with 64 expatriate professionals and managers in Singapore and China.FindingsThe study highlights the unique characteristics of expatriates' developmental networks in cross‐cultural contexts including the nature of cross‐border and culturally diversified network structures, the dominance of psychosocial support, and the importance of cross‐cultural transition support.Research limitations/implicationsExpatriates' self reports and retrospective sense‐making may suffer from hindsight bias and/or attribution bias. A longitudinal study that follows expatriates over time is necessary to examine relationship dynamics through different relocation stages.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest the necessity for companies to recognize the limited role of formal mentoring in expatriates' overseas adjustment and relocation success, and to encourage a wider range of developmental relationships that comprise expatriates' developmental networks.Originality/valueThis paper makes two main contributions to the mentoring, developmental networks, and expatriate literature. First, it highlights the necessity of using “network base” as a new structural dimension of developmental networks to examine expatriation and repatriation adjustment. Second, it points out the importance of psychosocial and cross‐cultural transition support in expatriates' relocation success.

We explore relational patterns of expatriates’ social networks and their impact on expatriates’ change in cultural identity while working abroad. We go beyond mono-cultural assumptions and highlight the importance of examining cross-cultural relational dynamics on maintenance and change in expatriates’ cultural identity. We argue that strong ties in dense networks are most conducive to helping expatriates stay attached to a national culture. Cultural diversity in a social network provides the impetus for cultural identity change. Cross-cultural interconnectedness within an expatriate’s social network contributes to the development of multiculturalism in one’s cultural identity. We also discuss the effect of cultural identity change on expatriation and repatriation adjustment, and provide some practical implications for individuals as well as organizations. Overall, we offer a cross-cultural social network perspective in theorizing about the expatriation experience.

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