Business expatriates' cross‐cultural adaptation and their job performance

Abstract

While a positive relationship between the cross-cultural adaptation and job performance of business expatriates is widely assumed and intuitively plausible, empirical studies do not consistently confirm this relationship. The current quantitative study investigated expatriates sent to and from China, two hitherto neglected but increasingly important groups. The sample of more than 800 participants is considerably larger than in previous studies of other types of expatriates. The study, in the Chinabased contexts, confirms the existence of links between cross-cultural adaptation, job performance and other factors. It is also shown, among other relationships reported on here, that expatriates accompanied by their partners or family members display better cross-cultural adaptation and job performance. Length of assignment is shown -counter-intuitively -to be only weakly related to adaptation and performance, and, surprisingly, expatriation experience -often regarded as predictive of expatriate effectiveness -to be unrelated to cross-cultural adaptation and job performance. The implications of the findings for expatriate selection, training, and assignment management are discussed. Key points1 Relationship between business expatriates' cross-cultural adaptation and job performance is studied in China-based contexts. 2 The business expatriates' job performance is strongly correlated with their psychological adjustment and sociocultural adaptation. 3 Job performance and adaptation are strongly correlated with job position and presence of family. 4 They are weakly or not correlated with age, gender, length or times of assignment. 5 The findings have implications for selecting, training and managing business expatriates in cross-cultural contexts. 195presence/absence of family, length of assignment, and expatriation experience. Based on the discussion on each of these factors, the hypotheses of this research are put forward. Cross-cultural adaptationBefore reviewing the literature on cross-cultural adaptation, there is a need to clarify a number of terms. Spencer-Oatey and Franklin (2009,(51)(52)(53) point to the inconsistency in the use of the terms 'intercultural' and 'cross-cultural' in their discussion of intercultural interaction competence. They make clear that neither the conceptual nor the empirical literature here supplies a clear distinction between the two terms when used with respect to competence. The present study selects the term cross-cultural to describe the nature of the sociocultural and psychological changes expatriates undergo during their assignments in other countries because intercultural seems to suggest a greater integration into the host culture than the business expatriate may typically achieve. Cross-cultural seems on the other hand to capture better the contrast between the expatriate's own culture and the host culture. The second group of terms consists of 'adjustment' and 'adaptation' . In most cases, adjustment and adaptation are used interchangeably. As adaptation seems to be used with a...

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“…Our empirical research results indicate particular problems peculiar to expatriation to China (Shi and Franklin 2014). China is one of the most important countries as both a low-cost manufacturing site and an emerging market for Japanese MNCs.…”

“…Whatever the reasons for the expatriation, it is clear that none of them will be achieved unless the expatriate is able to adjust to their new environment and to perform well at work (Shi and Franklin ). Any failure of expatriation will bring a substantial loss, directly or indirectly, to the organization (Black et al.…”

“…Whatever the reasons for the expatriation, it is clear that none of them will be achieved unless the expatriate is able to adjust to their new environment and to perform well at work (Shi and Franklin 2014). Any failure of expatriation will bring a substantial loss, directly or indirectly, to the organization (Black et al 1999;Copeland and Griggs 1985;Tungli and Peiperl 2009) and this must be especially true for Japanese MNCs, which are, compared with their western (North American and European) counterparts, heavily dependent on expatriates for managing foreign subsidiaries (Kawai and Strange 2014).…”

Effects of Primary Stakeholders’ Support on Expatriate Adjustment and Performance in Malaysia

“…In addition, Lauring and Selmer (2010) postulated that married expatriates are more successful than singles in securing high chances of assignment success. A previous research by Shi and Franklin (2013) presented that if the spouse adjusts favourably, it will assist expatriates in focusing on their job. Spouses can search for information about a general environment in the host country to improve expatriates' general adjustment (Kraimer et al 2001).…”

Managing Successful Overseas Assignments in Malaysia: Social Competencies, Emotional Competencies, Job Performance and Cultural Adjustment

“…The relationship between job performance and cultural adjustment has been studied by several researchers (e.g., Shi & Franklin, 2014). Wang and Tran (2012) found that an expatriate's interaction and work adjustment have significant impacts on job performance.…”