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This study investigates the influence of cross-cultural stable and dynamic competencies on expatriate adaptation and outcomes.

This study surveys 10 expatriates in Taiwan and conducts qualitative analysis based on the newly collected original data.

The study's results confirm that cross-cultural stable and dynamic competencies improve expatriates' cross-cultural adaptation, enhancing expatriate outcomes in cross-cultural environments.

This study contributes to cross-cultural management research by clarifying the characteristics and action mechanisms of cross-cultural stable competencies (including cultural empathy, emotional stability, social initiative, open-mindedness and flexibility) and cross-cultural dynamic competencies (including relational skills, general self-efficacy and non-ethnocentrism) in the international business context. The study's findings suggest future research directions in the empirical investigation of the antecedents, characteristics and results of cross-cultural competencies, cross-cultural adaptation and expatriate outcomes.

This study aims to focus on an interplay of brand stereotypes (Brands as Intentional Agents Framework [BIAF]) with an aspect of culture and its impact on behavioral intentions in an individualist culture (Norway) and a collectivist culture (Thailand).

This study incorporates a survey conducted in two cultures (Norway: N = 177 and Thailand: N = 288).

In both cultures, competence had a stronger effect on purchase intentions toward a brand than warmth. There was a stronger effect on brand purchase intentions of competence found for an individualist versus a collectivist culture, and we found a stronger effect of warmth on purchase intentions in a collectivist versus an individualist culture. The direct joint effect of warmth and competence on purchase intentions was brand-specific in Norway. Admiration mediated this joint effect in the collectivist but not in the individualist culture.

This study’s results point to cross-cultural variability of some of the effects of brand perceptions on behavioral intentions.

These findings suggest that international brand managers should consider both the cultural universality and the cultural variability of BIAF.

Despite extensive research on BIAF, studies on brand perceptions from the cross-cultural perspective are few. This investigation sheds some light on the differential effects of the framework across a collectivist and an individualist culture.

Given the rising expansion of Western multinational companies (MNCs) to the African contexts, the development of expatriates and local employees has become increasingly important to the human resource management of these MNCs. This paper aims to provide critical lessons on cross-cultural communication competences for Western expatriates working in the sub-Saharan Africa business environment.

This paper is a qualitative phenomenology that makes use of lived experiences of senior expatriate staff working in Ghana in the form of direct interviews.

Results showed that cross-cultural communication competence is very important for Western expatriates’ functioning in sub-Saharan Africa. The findings also established a plethora of cross-cultural communication skills that are essential for Western expatriates’ successful adaptation and work outcomes in Africa.

This research argues that there is the need for the appreciations of the differing cultural patterns of expatriates and local staff, and this provides the underlying assumptions of intercultural and cross-cultural communication in global business.

A critical perspective of international business that has scarcely been studied offers lessons for Western expatriates working in sub-Saharan Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the human capital (HC) expatriates require and develop during an international assignment (IA) to work effectively and live contentedly in a host country.

Qualitative research entailing interviews with 78 expatriates and repatriates across the globe, investigating the competencies they developed and the HC they gained during their IAs.

Five interrelated competence clusters were derived: cultural competence (CC); interpersonal competence; intrapersonal competence; global business competence; global leadership competence, each containing competencies crucial for expatriate success.

This study relied on self-reports by expatriates and repatriates. Future research should also include senior/line managers and chief human resource officers from a range of organizations across the world to gather their assessments on the competencies and HC of expatriates and repatriates.

Line/HR managers can use the designed “Expatriate/Repatriate Human Capital model” to assess an individual's overall readiness and capacity to perform effectively in a foreign country and culture and consecutively identify and select the right candidates to undertake IAs.

This paper contributes to the literature by presenting a HC model called the “Expatriate and Repatriate Human Capital Model; the body of competence”. The model identifies and defines the competencies/knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs) required for intercultural effectiveness and expatriate success and serves as a tool for the selection, training, development and performance evaluation of expatriates and repatriates, in order to aid the accomplishment of individual and organizational objectives.

Cross‐cultural training is fast becoming a recognizably important component in the world of international business. This paper discusses the effectiveness of cross‐cultural training in facilitating the process of acculturation, and in developing the culture‐specific and culture‐general skills needed to increase the sociocultural and psychological adjustments of sojourners and expatriates when they encounter a foreign culture. A new cross‐cultural training model is created by integrating acculturation and training effectiveness models. This new model suggests that providing two different types of training program prior to cultural contact will help recipients to effectively modify existing culture‐general and culture‐specific skills. As a consequence, they will achieve a higher degree of sociocultural and psychological adjustment. Experiential training should trigger affective and behavioral responses, which are the basis of intercultural effectiveness skills, and thus enhance psychological adjustment. By contrast, cognitive training should trigger cognitive responses, especially cultural awareness and interpersonal skills, and enhance sociocultural adjustment.

Research on expatriation and global leadership has been characterized by wide variations in defining what constitutes intercultural competence. Greater progress can be achieved if a comprehensive definition of the intercultural competence domain can be established, particularly with regard to the specific context of global leadership. This paper aims to focus on the issues.

The authors conduct an extensive review of the global leadership and expatriation literatures, integrating and synthesizing prior theoretical and empirical efforts to develop a comprehensive domain definition for intercultural competence in the context of global leadership.

The domain of intercultural competence in the context of global leadership comprised three dimensions – perception management, relationship management and self management. Each dimension is characterized by facets that further delineate aspects of intercultural competence.

The domain definition of intercultural competence for global leadership appears to be well supported in prior theoretical and empirical work focusing on expatriation and global leadership; however that work was fragmented in nature. A test of the comprehensive model, i.e. all three dimensions and 17 facets, is called for, as well as the validation of an instrument that measures them.

The paper integrates and synthesizes the extensive body of theoretical and empirical work related to intercultural competence and clearly establishes the content domain, thereby enhancing the efficacy of future theoretical and empirical efforts.

The “adult third culture kid” (ATCK) is an individual who has spent significant periods of childhood living outside his or her parents’ culture(s). Research is needed to identify specific experiential variables responsible for the development of components of cross-cultural competencies (CC) in ATCKs. The goal of this study is to gain insight into these relationships and provide a foundation for continuing investigation by examining how early international experience and personality variables impact CC in ATCKs. Specifically, the study examines how four components of early international experience and two characteristics of stable CC impact three dynamic characteristics of CC.

Study participants (159) had spent their childhood years living in one or more foreign countries. In all, 54 percent of the sample was women, and the average age was 22 (SD=1.52). None of the subjects had any international work experience, allowing us to look at the impact of non-work experience without the confounding effect found in other research of this type. Data were collected at the beginning and end of a three-week period.

There are five important predictors of CC in ATCKs: variety of early international experience (number of different countries lived in), language diversity (the number of languages they speak), family diversity (the number of different ethnicities in their family's background), and the personality trait of openness to experience.

The generalizability of study findings is limited by the nature and size of the sample. In addition, the single source sample of this study is also a limitation, as single source samples are subject to common method bias. We reduced this potential bias by using a time lag (Podsakoff et al., 2003) to create a temporal separation between the measurement of the predictors and the dependent variables, a procedural remedy suggested by Podsakoff et al. (2003).

The practical uses for the findings of this study by human resource management (HRM) professionals are in the areas of hiring and assignment of expatriate managers. Study findings provide HRM professionals with an initial set of criteria to assist in the process of identification and training of expatriate managers. Global organizations have traditionally used training to increase the pool of effective global managers. This study provides initial evidence that identification of individuals with early international experiences should prove a useful addition to the process of selecting candidates for foreign assignment.

The practical uses for the findings of this study by HRM professionals are in the areas of hiring and assignment of expatriate managers. Study findings provide HRM professionals with an initial set of criteria to assist in the process of identification and training of expatriate managers. Global organizations have traditionally used training to increase the pool of effective global managers. This study provides initial evidence that identification of individuals with early international experiences should prove a useful addition to the process of selecting candidates for foreign assignment.

To the best of our knowledge this is one of the first studies to empirically examine ATCKs and provides a starting point for future researchers in this area. Obtaining a sample of ATCKs is extremely challenging.

This article intends to explore the Sub-Saharan African students' perceptions on their cross-cultural adaptation to the Moroccan society by probing into their adaptive strategies adopted in order to overcome day-to-day challenges as well as factors impeding their adaptation processes. To this end, three central research questions are advanced: (1) what are the factors that influence Sub-Saharan students' cross-cultural adaptation to the Moroccan society? (2) How do Sub-Saharan students perceive the role of host communication competence, host interpersonal relationship, ethnic proximity, host receptivity and personality type in facilitating or hindering their adaptation? And (3) how do they undergo their cross-cultural adaptation to the Moroccan society?

The main aim of this article is to explore African Sub-Saharan students' perceptions on their adaptation to Moroccan society as well as factors affecting their adaptive experiences. Due to the complex nature of this research, opting for mixed-methods research, the combination of both qualitative and quantitative, would best serve the objective of this study. For this purpose, qualitative methods (interviews) are used to collect non-numerical data about factors that facilitate or hinder the cross-cultural adaptation of Sub-Saharan students in Morocco in the first phase, and then quantitative methods (questionnaires) are used to collect numerical data about their perceptions of their adaptation in the Moroccan society in the second phase.

The results of the present study revealed that a large number of Sub-Saran African students are well adapted to the Moroccan culture, but with discrepant degrees. Their adaptation is mainly influenced by an array of intersected factors. Firstly, the participants showed that the more they were aware of the Moroccan culture and language, the more likely they would be able to function properly and effectively in different social settings. Secondly, it was found that establishing social ties with the host members was perceived as significant for easing their adaptation due to the cultural, emotional and academic support these ties provided. Thirdly, host receptivity was perceived as an important factor that facilitated the students' cross-cultural adaptation. With the case of some participants, host receptivity, however, hindered their adaptation because they were subject to different types of discriminatory and racist behaviours by some Moroccans. Lastly, intercultural personality traits displayed in flexibility, prior cross-cultural move and intercultural empathy were found to contribute to the students' overall functional fitness in the

This is the first research to tackle the issue of Sub-Saharan African students' cultural adaptation in Morocco.