Cross-cultural Adaptation 3
Introduction
Today the business environment around the world is increasingly more global. Many companies
are dispatching their employees, particularly managerial and professional employees, on overseas
assignments to implement their global strategies and to control and coordinate their subsidiaries (Black,
Gregersen, & Mendenhall, 1992).
According to the Conference Board survey report (1992), half of 130 Multinational Companies
had more than 50 high level managers currently on international assignments, and 25% of the
organizations had between 200 to 2,000 managers on international assignments. In addition, the survey
of 177 multinational companies indicated that the number of expatriate assignments had increased, and
63% of this sample believe that this growth would continue in the future (Windham International, 1998).
The expatriate becomes the classic example of a "sojourner,” since multinational organizations
move around the world continuously and the organizations become more deeply integrated into the global
economy. The expatriate leaves his home country with the intent of an eventual return. The expatriate
immerses himself in a new cultural environment that may be unfamiliar and unpredictable in almost
every dimension imaginable. Furthermore, expatriate executives have to perform in an unfamiliar work
context and they must deal with a different way of life than in their own country and experience profound
personal transformation.
While multinational organizations recognize the significant position of expatriates and their
performance in international assignment, it has been reported that fearing identity loss and unable to cope
with a myriad of new stressors, nearly 40 percent of American expatriates return early (Kealey, 1996).
This retention failure of the expatriate in overseas assignment has incurred serious costs to the company
and to the expatriate himself. Recent studies show that the early termination of just one expatriate costs
U.S. firms as much as $1 million (Shannonhouse, 1996). In addition, non-financial costs of failure
include damaged company reputation, lost business opportunities and lost market or competitive share
Convention