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With limited intracultural ethical research in evidence this paper contributes to the theoretical discussion of expatriate ethical acculturation. Of particular interest to this study are the ethical attitudes of subcultural groups, particularly managers, who because of overseas assignment or immigration, are operating outside their usual national location. Research was undertaken to investigate whether ethical divergence or convergence, through acculturation, exists with ex patriate managers, and over what time period. Two locations, Hong Kong and Canada, were chosen for comparative study and the results indicated an interesting dichotomy. Ethical convergence, the adopting of host country ethical values, is evident with Hong Kong Chinese expatriate managers in Canada but did not occur with North American expatriates in Hong Kong. For the expatriate Chinese manager the research findings indicate that Hong Kong Chinese managers now residing in Canada develop a unique set of ethical attitudes that are significantly different from those of local managers in Hong Kong yet also significantly different from the attitudes held by local Canadian managers. A subtle form of ethical convergence is occurring. No significant relationship was found between ethical acculturation and the length of time being an expatriate Hong Kong Chinese manager in Canada except on two issues. For these issues the longer the time spent in Canada the greater the rise in ethical attitudes. A heterogeneous group of expatriate managers in Hong Kong was also evaluated and while predicate similarities existed between expatriates from China and Macau, statistically significant differences in ethical perceptions were found between the general population of expatriate managers (i.e. American, Australasian, British etc.,) and local Hong Kong Chinese managers.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between the facets of cultural intelligence (CQ) (cognitive, meta-cognitive, motivational and behavioural) and the dimensions of cross-cultural adjustment (interaction, general and work adjustment).

Interviews and questionnaire survey were carried out with British expatriates from the architectural, engineering and construction sector. A total of 191 respondents, with experience from 29 different countries, actively participated in this research. Structural equation model was subsequently developed to investigate the relationship between elements of CQ and cross-cultural adjustment.

Results of structural equation modelling revealed that collectively all the four aspects of CQ have significant influence on general, interaction and work adjustment, particularly motivational and cognitive CQ. Cognitive CQ which empowers the expatriates with in-depth knowledge about different cultures was a significant predictor of interaction and work adjustment, whereas, motivational CQ is a significant predictor for general and work adjustment. However, no support was gathered for meta-cognitive and behavioural aspects of CQ.

Globally, construction companies and projects are entering an era of increased internationalisation which has prompted the migration/promotion of British construction professionals to different parts of the world for their specialised capabilities and skills. Thus, it is of utmost importance that these professionals adjust to their new world of varied culture and still be productive in their work.

An understanding of these essential factors can actually help British construction organisations to select and mentor individuals and to provide necessary training for successful international assignments.

Whilst globalisation has led to increasing international mobility, the contemporary expatriate management literature has focused on managers and corporate executives who are sent on an overseas appointment by their employers. By comparison, self‐selecting expatriates remain an under‐researched group. Specifically, at a time when internationalisation is a major trend in higher education very little is known about expatriate academics as an example of self‐selecting expatriates. Drawing on a qualitative study of British academics, this article suggests that metaphor may be a useful tool for developing our understanding of self‐selecting expatriates. It then discusses the four metaphors, which have emerged from the study. Finally it shows how those metaphors can be used to facilitate better management practices not only for the growing number of expatriate academics but also for self‐selecting expatriates more generally.

To explore self‐directed expatriates' relationships with their home and host countries by drawing on an existing model of expatriate managers' allegiance to home and host organizations.

Using a qualitative methodology and thematic analysis, the study draws on interviews with 30 expatriate academics in four countries. Specifically, the paper draws on Black and Gregersen's model of allegiance to home and host organizations to explore the different dimensions and the strength and weakness of those relationships.

The findings suggest that, while the model of allegiance presents a useful starting‐point, further modifications are required in order to cater for the complexity and dynamism of relationships with home and host countries.

Whereas the paper focuses on UK expatriates, it may be that other nationals may experience different relationships with their home and host countries. Moreover, it may be useful to explore the relationships of other self‐directed expatriates such as managers and corporate executives, or medical personnel.

The specific value of the paper is that it explores a hitherto under‐researched theme and provides an insight into the identified dimensions of self‐directed expatriates' relationships with their home and host countries.

Globalisation has led to increasing international mobility amongst business and education professionals. Whilst expatriate management literature focuses on expatriate assignment of corporate executives, expatriate academics remain an under researched group. Higher education literature has focused on internationalisation of education systems, notably the growth in international strategic alliances between universities, and mobility amongst students. Therefore compared with what is known about the student body, very little is known about the experiences of internationally mobile academics. Drawing on a qualitative study of academics, this paper evaluates the use of metaphor for understanding the “motivation to go” overseas and the “experience” of expatriation. It evaluates four metaphors which have emerged from the study for expatriating and four others for the experience of expatriation. Finally it suggests that the voluntary, self‐selecting expatriate should be much more extensively researched.

In the study of expatriation and expatriate adaptation, there are limited studies that focus on issues faced by expatriates working in foreign countries with very distinct cultures. This study aims to explore this idea through the experiences of western expatriates working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Two research questions were posed to examine the cross-cultural issues and challenges faced by expatriates in the KSA, as well as the role of cross-cultural training in expatriate adjustment.

The study was guided by an interpretivism paradigm through a qualitative method by using a semi-structured in-depth interview approach. Interviews were conducted among 12 expatriates from the USA and UK who are currently working in KSA.

A coding technique and theoretical thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the data. The results of this study highlighted three key themes that had a considerable influence on expatriates’ adjustment, in particular: culture shock, lack of pre-departure training and the demand for an extensive cross-cultural training.

It is acknowledged that the existence of sub-cultures within the KSA would expose the respondents to varying cultural values within the community. Thus, future studies within a similar context should consider the influence of intra-cultural variations.

The findings of the study emphasized on the importance understanding the cultural gap between home and host country and the individual cultural awareness of the expatriate. It calls attention to the need for a tailored and extensive pre-departure, cross-cultural training and a collaborative effort between employees’ and managers to improve expatriates’ motivation and retention.

This paper aims to examine the critical role played by cultural flow in fostering successful expatriate cross-border transitions.

The authors develop and test a model on the interplay among cultural intelligence, organizational position level, cultural flow direction and expatriate adaptation, using a data set of 387 expatriate on cross-border transitions along the Belt & Road area.

The authors find that both organizational position level and cultural flow moderate the relationship between cultural intelligence and expatriate adaptation, whereby the relationship is contingent on the interaction of organizational position status and assignment directions between high power distance and low power distance host environments.

Previous research has shown that higher levels of cultural intelligence are positively related to better expatriate adaptation. However, there is a lack of research on the effect of position difference and cultural flow on such relationship. Our study is among the first to examine how the interaction between cultural flow and organizational position level influences the cultural intelligence (CI) and cultural adjustment relationship in cross-cultural transitions.

The purpose of this paper is to outline how the food acculturation of British expatriates in Toulouse (France) translates into their shopping behaviours. Having established this population’s specific food acculturation outcomes, mechanisms and motivations, it then studies their buying behaviours and shopping experiences.

This qualitative research is based on 70 semi-directive interviews of British expatriates in Toulouse. Specific emphasis was placed on facilitating respondents’ expression and analysing the wealth of their answers. The transcribed interviews were thus manually analysed.

This food acculturation process proves simpler than what seminal papers outlined, i.e. fewer acculturation outcomes, but also more complex: respondents show intertwined outcomes. The marketing channels and store formats respondents privilege in their food provisioning show discrepancies with French buyers’, and the retailers’ mix variables they particularly react to are identified, leading to managerial implications. Overall, both acculturated consumption and shopping practices display fluid behaviours.

This paper investigates a specific situation. Research on other populations or circumstances should confirm its results, especially migrants’ acceptance and satisfaction with local marketing channels and store formats.

Local retailers should address the shopping expectations of this affluent target through minor alterations to their operations without antagonising the locals.

This paper’s main contribution is to extend consumer acculturation literature in two dimensions. First, by studying wealthier migrants escaping “dominated acculturation”, the paper outlines respondents’ “embraced acculturation”. Then, by extending its scope beyond consumption, to shopping experience and store selection, it bridges the gap between consumer acculturation and retailing literatures.

This paper seeks to address two research questions: first, to what extent do highly skilled migrants intend to make personal business and financial investments in their home countries, and second, what factors influence them to invest in their home countries?

The results are based on face‐to‐face and telephone interviews which took place between September, 2008 and March, 2009 with 64 highly skilled British migrants working in Vancouver, Canada. Respondents were asked a combination of open‐ and closed‐ended questions.

The results of this study find that the vast majority of respondents are not investing in or intending to return to their home country, which indicates that they contributing to brain circulation in a limited extent.

The paper argues that governments and organisations in the home country can play an important role in facilitating brain circulation in Europe.

Much of the academic literature suggests that the brain drain has now transformed into brain gain. The findings of this study do not support this shift because most of the sample of British expatriates in Vancouver are not intending to invest in or return to Europe. This is significant because highly skilled migrants could be better utilised as resources by European governments and organisations.

The quest of globalizing business firms to find enough candidates with the requisite skills for foreign assignments may be met by former “third‐culture kids”. These are individuals who as adolescents have lived in a foreign country for a period of time. The cultural exposure, during their highly impressionable adolescence, may have made them absorb cultural and behavioral norms developing a cultural frame of references different from, but assembled by the cultures they have been exposed to; establishing a third culture. Testing this generally held belief empirically, characteristics of a group of British expatriate adolescents in Hong Kong were compared with those of local Hong Kong adolescents and local British adolescents residing in Britain. Controlling for the effects of age and gender, results showed that the British expatriate adolescents had distinct characteristics in terms of their perceptions of being international as well as their international mobility preferences and consequences. These findings support the claims and anecdotal evidence of the development of third‐cultureness. The potentially far‐reaching implications of these results for globalizing firms are discussed at length.