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In response to the somewhat paradoxical combination of increasing diversity in the global workforce and the resurgence of nationalism in an era of global mobility, this chapter aims to uncover how employees on international assignments respond to exposure to new cultures. Specifically, the study aims to explicate the underlying psychological mechanisms linking expatriates' monocultural, multicultural, global, and cosmopolitan identity negotiation strategies with their responses toward the host culture by drawing upon exclusionary and integrative reactions theory in cross-cultural psychology. This conceptual chapter draws on the perspective of exclusionary versus integrative reactions toward foreign cultures – a perspective rooted in cross-cultural psychology research – to categorize expatriates' responses toward the host culture. More specifically, the study elaborates how two primary activators of expatriates' responses toward the host culture – the salience of home-culture identity and a cultural learning mindset – explain the relationship between cultural identity negotiation strategies and expatriates' exclusionary and integrative responses. The following metaphors for these different types of cultural identity negotiation strategies are introduced: “ostrich” (monocultural strategy), “frog” (multicultural strategy), “bird” (global strategy), and “lizard” (cosmopolitan strategy). The proposed dynamic framework of cultural identity negotiation strategies illustrates the sophisticated nature of expatriates' responses to new cultures. This chapter also emphasizes that cross-cultural training tempering expatriates' exclusionary reactions and encouraging integrative reactions is crucial for more effective expatriation in a multicultural work environment.

This paper has analysed the impact of the South East Asian crisis on the recruitment strategies of multinational hotel companies. In the paper a brief review of expatriate recruitment is conducted. From this review a number of strategies of recruitment are identified. The paper proceeds to use the method of environmental scanning to analyse how the South East Asian economic crisis may affect the usefulness of these strategies. In conclusion the paper introduces a process of expatriate recruitment and shows how the process could help address some of the difficulties that may arise as a result of the crisis.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an instrument to measure the dimensionality of Indian expatriate adjustment.

In an effort to measure the dimensionality of Indian expatriate adjustment in the USA, Black's instrument was used in this paper.

The factor analysis gave a different factor structure from that proposed by Black. Expatriate scores did not merge into three dimensions of expatriates' adjustment; rather they merged into two dimensions. Unlike Black's study, interaction with host nationals was not found to be a separate dimension. A possible explanation is that linguistic skills and the presence of Indian diaspora support Indian expatriates during their interactions with Americans.

The exploratory character of this study with its small convenience sample of Indian expatriates makes the findings tentative.

The paper is a useful source of information for students planning to make a career in international business and practitioners already engaged in international business activities.

This paper fulfils an identified information need and offers help in expatriate adjustment.

This article reviews the established understanding of the concept of expatriate failure, discusses its associated problems and presents a more sophisticated and comprehensive understanding of the concept. The article argues that it might well be time to abandon the concept of expatriate failure altogether and instead draw on the general human resource literature to analyse problems related to turnover and performance management in an expatriate context..

The purpose of this paper is to find out if Australian project managers who are working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) receive cross‐cultural training and if this training helps them to adapt to the new environment and perform better.

The information on which this paper is based was obtained through semi‐structured interviews conducted with Australian expatriates who were working the UAE in 2009.

The findings suggest that cross‐cultural training is very important in that it helps minimise, although not eradicate, misunderstandings and inappropriate behaviours. Specific cross‐cultural training provides expatriates with information and guidance that is relevant and particular to the culture in which they will be working. The information provided should be on the destination country and its people and that country's specific culture, values, attitudes and appropriate behaviours.

Providing expatriates with the appropriate cross‐cultural training is only useful if the expatriate is receptive and willing to learn. The best training in the world is useless if the expatriate is unwilling to learn. This research did not look at the selection criteria for expatriates. Selecting the right people, who are willing to learn and who enjoy new and sometime challenging environments, is paramount to the success of cross‐cultural training.

By providing expatriates with cross‐cultural training, expatriates are more likely to adapt to the new culture faster, which will in turn help the expatriates to perform at their full potential.

The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model explicating the development of expatriate social capital and its influence on expatriate effectiveness in terms of knowledge transfer and adjustment. Drawing upon social capital theory and weak tie theory, we elucidate the process through which expatriate social capital facilitates expatriate knowledge transfer and adjustment via greater access of role information and social support.

This study reviews and distills research on expatriate social capital development and proposes a conceptual model of expatriate effectiveness and suggests potential research avenues for global mobility scholars.

This study contributes to the understanding of the development of expatriate social capital in the host country and its impacts on expatriate effectiveness as a process. With regard to expatriates’ social capital accumulation, this study also highlights the important but less-known role of accompanying spouse/family members as expatriates’ weak tie enablers. We articulate a framework that outlines the sources of social capital for expatriates and the processes through which social capital transmits (via expatriates’ access to role information and social support) and then enhances expatriate effectiveness. This conceptual model aims to establish a basic “roadmap” for use by practitioners and researchers.

Before the proposed conceptual model can be theoretically refined or extended by future research, its veracity needs to be tested empirically. Although we do not incorporate “time,” “personal characteristics” and “context” in our model, we recognize their potential importance and urge future researchers to incorporate them in studying the role of social capital on expatriate effectiveness.

A conceptual model is presented that enables multinational corporations (MNCs) to map their current (and future) strategies to enhance expatriate effectiveness by further strengthening the expatriate social capital.

Drawing upon social capital theory and weak tie theory, this paper links various sources of expatriate social capital to expatriates’ access to role information and social support in supporting expatriate effectiveness. From this, several avenues of future research are drawn.

The extant literature on expatriate adjustment primarily highlights the role of host country nationals (HCNs) in supporting expatriates during international assignments. However, there is a dearth of research exploring the expatriates’ socialization process in establishing interpersonal relationships with HCNs. Additionally, the pivotal element of expatriates seeking credible HCN sources, fundamental for fostering these relationships for adjustment, remains largely unexamined in the context of expatriate literature. Thus, this study addresses these gaps by proposing a conceptual model to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the expatriate adjustment process.

This conceptual paper draws upon the theoretical framework of social identity theory to elucidate how socialization processes initiated by the parent organization and the expatriate shape the expatriate’s perception of HCN credibility. This perception, in turn, serves as the foundation for building a robust support system, ultimately leading to expatriate adjustment.

The proposed model explores the nuanced dimensions of expatriate adjustment, emphasizing the complex dynamics between expatriates and host country nationals during individualized socialization. This model aims to assess the credibility of HCNs in the eyes of expatriates and understand the role of the institutionalized socialization process. Further, the model investigates the influence of perceived similarity traits in the examined relationship, shedding light on the interplay of these factors and their impact on the expatriate’s adjustment to the international assignment.

The study’s findings offer practical insights for organizations looking to enhance their support systems for expatriates, emphasizing the importance of nurturing interpersonal relationships and the credibility of HCNs.

This study contributes to the expatriate literature by shedding light on the often-overlooked interpersonal relationship between expatriates and HCNs. Doing so opens new avenues for further research, offering a fresh perspective on the expatriate adjustment process.

Integrating anxiety and uncertainty management (AUM) theory and theory of organizing, this study aims to contribute to the knowledge management literature by examining the interdependent and bidirectional nature of knowledge transfer between expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs). Specifically, the authors investigate how receivers’ cognitive response to senders’ behaviors during their interactions becomes an important conduit between senders’ behaviors and the successful transfer of knowledge.

The authors used the actor partner interdependence model to analyze data from 107 expatriate-HCN dyads. The authors collected the responses of these expatriate-HCN dyads in Shanghai, Taipei, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India.

Receivers’ interaction anxiety and uncertainty, as a response to senders’ relationship building behaviors, mediate the relationship between senders’ relationship building behaviors and successful knowledge transfer. When senders are expatriates, senders’ communication patience and relationship building behaviors interact to reduce the direct and indirect effects of both receivers’ interaction anxiety and uncertainty. However, when senders are HCNs, the moderation and moderated mediation models are not supported.

The study contributes to the knowledge management literature by investigating knowledge transfer between expatriates and HCNs using an interpersonal cross-cultural communication lens. The authors make refinements to AUM theory by going beyond the sender role to highlighting the interdependence between senders and receivers in the management of anxiety and uncertainty which, in turn, influences the effectiveness of cross-cultural communication. The study is also unique in that the authors underscore an important yet understudied construct, communication patience, in the successful transfer of knowledge.

Purpose — The purpose of this chapter is to provide knowledge and insights gained into Canadian expatriates' perspectives of living and working in Indonesia and to enhance the reader's understanding of the lived experience of being immersed in another culture.

Methodology — A descriptive phenomenological qualitative method was employed, which uncovered paradoxes that were lived by Canadian expatriate managers.

Findings — The following paradoxes are presented using participants' words and lived experiences of the authors: powerful-powerless, understanding-not understanding, being supported-not supported, belonging-not belonging and freedom-restriction.

Research limitations — While the qualitative findings may not be ‘generalisable’ according to a quantitative viewpoint, they are certainly applicable to others' experiences as demonstrated by the authors' description of their own experiences.

Practical implications — Enhanced understanding of this lived experience will spark improved expatriation strategies and lead directly to significant improvement in the overall performance of international organisations because an effective expatriate will be more capable of facilitating the two-way sharing and blending of the local and exogenous knowledge, therefore fulfilling a key role in knowledge transfer.

Social implications –– The importance of being open to others' lived experiences and supporting others who are immersed in another culture has universal appeal from a social perspective.

Originality/value of chapter — This is a unique research chapter describing research findings and joining participants' words and experiences with the authors' experiences. As well it is hoped that readers will relate to the paradoxes.

This chapter will discuss the extent to which existing models on expatriate functions within the international business literature, still effectively capture the roles currently performed by expatriate managers. It analyse the Edstrom and Galbraith (1977) typology and present a conceptual framework on the roles currently performed by expatriate managers within MNCs. To do this, it will draw inspiration from the resource-based view (Barney, 1991; Peng, M. W. (2001). The resource-based view and international business. Journal of Management, 27, 803–829. Wernerfelt, 1984), and the organisation capability view (Grant, 1996). Following several propositions about managers’ key functions within MNCs, challenges of creating an all-encompassing framework on expatriate functions, and suggestions for future research and theoretical development will be identified.

This chapter will present a conceptual framework on expatriate functions.

Four decades since Edstrom and Galbraith’s seminal work, international developments have continued to impress upon the way MNCs organise and manage their worldwide activities. Yet, as the business environment progresses, theoretical models examining how international development impact the functions undertaken by expatriate managers within MNCs individuals are still relatively scarce. Hence, this chapter aims to contribute to the theoretical advancement in the area of expatriate functions by highlighting possible changes and expansion of expatriate managers within the current global business context.