Discussing how to prepare expatriates for a successful stay abroad, it has to be asked: how exactly is success defined?
[p.431]
Ones and Sinangil present the three-factor model introduced by Hawes and Kealey (1979)to define success in expatriate missions as a combination of
Thus Ones and Sinangil divide the research on expatriates' success:
· expatriate satisfaction and early returns
Premature returns have called researchers' interest because they are so expensive for the sending organization. McGoldrick (1997) estimates the costs for expatriates to be 2.5 half times more than for locally hired workers. The direct costs for sending are estimated to be $220,000 (Birdseye&Hill, 1995).
Interestingly enough, European Expatriates show a much lower return rate than expatriates with North American origin (Brester, 1991; Selmer, 1999; Price Waterhouse, 1997).
Alampay, Beehr & Christiansen (2000) found that for expatriate the same set of variables indicates job satisfaction as it does for domestic workers. These variables include:
[p.432 conclude with a part I didn't quite understand, thus as quote]
"Garonzik et al. (2000) studied non-work-related outcomes and perceived procedural fairness as predictors of premature expatriate departures. In two studies, expatriates were likely to think seriously about prematurely departing when their non-work outcomes (i.e., non-work adjustment) were unfavorable. However, all current favorability and early turnover intentions were more strongly related when perceived procedural fairness was low. In other words, organizations can focus on their institution's procedural fairness in their attempts to curb premature returns. There appears to be value to using findings from the literature on psychological contracts in understanding expatriate behaviors (Guzzo et al., 1994)."
What is procedural fairness? What are psychological contracts? What's the purpose of them?
· expatriate adaption and adjustment
Ones and Sinangil define adaption as a construct of "adjustment, identification with hosts, cultural competence, and role acculturation (Briody & Beeber Crisman, 1991; Taft, 1977)". Recent studies (e.g., Aycan & Berry, 1996; Berry, 1992; Searle & Ward, 1990; Ward, 1996) additionally define adaption as "outcome of the acculturation process [signifying] changes in the expatriate in response to environmental demands".
Adjustment on the other hand is understood as "psychological comfort expatriates feel with regard to the host culture in within which they are operating" (Gregersen & Black, 1990). Based on Black and Stephens (1989) the authors differentiate adjustment into three fields:
Ones and Sinangil argue that, nevertheless, adjustment cannot be the main criterion for success. "Adjustment is not an end in itself, but rather a part of a process that allows the expatriate to be able to focus on and carry through the tasks of the job that he/she has been sent to perform." Thus, they understand adjustment to be only a determinant not a reason for early returns and/or expatriate job performance.
· expatriate job performance
Though, as mentioned earlier, being an expatriate means to be on a job-related mission, little research has been conducted on the field of job performance and the influencing criteria. Based on the provided findings and relating to the recent industrial-organizational psychology literature Ones and Sinangil introduce a working model of expatriate job performance with the following dimensions:
[p.434]
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[p.431]
Ones and Sinangil present the three-factor model introduced by Hawes and Kealey (1979)to define success in expatriate missions as a combination of
- intercultural interaction,
- professional effectiveness,
- family/personal adjustment and satisfaction.
Thus Ones and Sinangil divide the research on expatriates' success:
· expatriate satisfaction and early returns
Premature returns have called researchers' interest because they are so expensive for the sending organization. McGoldrick (1997) estimates the costs for expatriates to be 2.5 half times more than for locally hired workers. The direct costs for sending are estimated to be $220,000 (Birdseye&Hill, 1995).
Interestingly enough, European Expatriates show a much lower return rate than expatriates with North American origin (Brester, 1991; Selmer, 1999; Price Waterhouse, 1997).
Alampay, Beehr & Christiansen (2000) found that for expatriate the same set of variables indicates job satisfaction as it does for domestic workers. These variables include:
- task self-efficacy,
- job level,
- skill variety,
- little role ambiguity,
- task identity,
- task significance,
- role discretion,
- feedback and
- mentoring.
[p.432 conclude with a part I didn't quite understand, thus as quote]
"Garonzik et al. (2000) studied non-work-related outcomes and perceived procedural fairness as predictors of premature expatriate departures. In two studies, expatriates were likely to think seriously about prematurely departing when their non-work outcomes (i.e., non-work adjustment) were unfavorable. However, all current favorability and early turnover intentions were more strongly related when perceived procedural fairness was low. In other words, organizations can focus on their institution's procedural fairness in their attempts to curb premature returns. There appears to be value to using findings from the literature on psychological contracts in understanding expatriate behaviors (Guzzo et al., 1994)."
What is procedural fairness? What are psychological contracts? What's the purpose of them?
· expatriate adaption and adjustment
Ones and Sinangil define adaption as a construct of "adjustment, identification with hosts, cultural competence, and role acculturation (Briody & Beeber Crisman, 1991; Taft, 1977)". Recent studies (e.g., Aycan & Berry, 1996; Berry, 1992; Searle & Ward, 1990; Ward, 1996) additionally define adaption as "outcome of the acculturation process [signifying] changes in the expatriate in response to environmental demands".
Adjustment on the other hand is understood as "psychological comfort expatriates feel with regard to the host culture in within which they are operating" (Gregersen & Black, 1990). Based on Black and Stephens (1989) the authors differentiate adjustment into three fields:
- work adjustment (concerning adjustment towards work role, tasks and responsibilities),
- interaction adjustment (regarding interaction with host country nationals) and
- general adjustment (concerning the new environment including housing, food, shopping, ...).
- General adjustment correlates highly with spouse general adjustment but also with interpersonal skills, general self-efficacy, social efficacy, discretion, frequency of interactions with host country national, and spouse interaction adjustment.
- Interaction adjustment correlates highly with frequency of interactions with host country nationals but also with general self-efficacy, number of months on assignment, spouse interaction adjustment, and spouse general adjustment.
- Work adjustment is closely related to general self-efficacy, role discretion, little role ambiguity, and little role conflict. It is also related to frequency of interactions with host nationals, frequency of interactions with home headquarters, and family adjustment.
Ones and Sinangil argue that, nevertheless, adjustment cannot be the main criterion for success. "Adjustment is not an end in itself, but rather a part of a process that allows the expatriate to be able to focus on and carry through the tasks of the job that he/she has been sent to perform." Thus, they understand adjustment to be only a determinant not a reason for early returns and/or expatriate job performance.
· expatriate job performance
Though, as mentioned earlier, being an expatriate means to be on a job-related mission, little research has been conducted on the field of job performance and the influencing criteria. Based on the provided findings and relating to the recent industrial-organizational psychology literature Ones and Sinangil introduce a working model of expatriate job performance with the following dimensions:
[p.434]
- establishing and maintaining business contacts (in order to achieve desirable ends),
- technical performance (fulfilling the given tasks),
- productivity,
- communicating and persuading (concerning how information is gathered and transmitted),
- personal discipline (extend to which counterproductive behaviors at work are avoided),
- interpersonal relations (how is team performance facilitated; how does the expatriate support and champions others in the organization and unit),
- management and supervision (proficiency in delegating jobs and roles), and
- overall job performance.
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