Cross‐cultural conflict and expatriate manager adjustment

Abstract

A key reason for the return of expatriates before the official end of their foreign assignment is the uncertainty and frustration resulting from poor cross-cultural adaptation. The literature provides this general, normative view without much to say about the interpersonal conflict expatriates experience in the workplace abroad caused by cultural differences. Our exploratory study finds that conflicts with co-workers in host countries occur frequently causing high stress and discomfort, and provides three specific sources of conflict as recounted by sample managers. The implications of our findings include: selecting expatriate managers with high emotional intelligence, providing extensive pre-departure cultural training that consists not only of cultural facts but also interpersonal skills such as active listening, conflict management, and ethical reasoning, utilizing sensitivity training techniques to better prepare managers for new situations, and sending the expatriate on one or two pre-sojourn visits to familiarize themselves with the host culture and workplace norms even before the actual expatriate assignment begins. An additional implication is training the host-country workers, particularly those who will work most closely with the expatriate manager, on home country cultural beliefs and workplace norms. We aim to stimulate managerial thinking and further research on the workplace conflicts that challenge expatriates managers.When expatriate managers return before the official completion of their overseas assignments, the stress and low job-satisfaction resulting from culture shock is often blamed (Newman et al., 1978). Many who stay until completion also reportedly struggle with cross-cultural adaptation and operate at decreased capacity (Cavusgil et al., 1992). This results in lowered return on investment for the firm, and lowered self-esteem and slower career development for the expatriate (Yavas and Bodur, 1999). Why does this happen? From what is currently written, one of the principal causes seems to be the inability of expatriate managers to deal with cross-cultural adaptation -a broad term that includes issues related to differences in culture and language, living conditions, uprooting spouses and families, and working harmoniously with co-workers with different cultural backgrounds (Yavas and Bodur, 1999).Our recent study of expatriates suggests that while a host of cross-cultural issues are important, none is more important than issues of interpersonal conflict arising from cultural differences. The general notions in the literature about the impact of cross-cultural adaptation fail to reflect this reality.

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