The Intercultural Adjustment of Expatriate Family Members in Foreign Assignments - Research Paper Example

Intercultural Adjustment Name Course Tutor Date Outline I Abstract II Introduction A. Research Background B. Problem Statement C. Research 1. Objective D. Research Questions E. Significance of Study III Literature Review A. Research Framework IV Methodology Abstract This is a presentation paper addressing the study of the concepts of intercultural adjustment as well as adaptation of expatriates and also the families, both the spouse as well as the children of the expatriates in India. The situation in India is to a large extent comparable to the situation in Malaysia but the paper looks at the issue of intercultural adaptation and adjustment in the Indian Context. This is one of the countries with high numbers of expatriates due to the diversity of the work. There is a consideration of the cross cultural interactions in the foreign country and how the expatriates and the family members are in a position to adapt to the new environment. The lack the achievement of a positive understanding in the initial stages of interaction is a feature in the process of intercultural adaptation. The proposed models to be applied during the study have been clearly elaborated in the paper. The participants of the study have been selected in a manner that the most relevant piece of information is in a position of being sort. This is the reason why the expatriates whose length of stay is less than six months have been left out of the study. Likewise the age bracket of the children intended to participate in the study has been restricted to between 8 years to a maximum of 18 years. Introduction The increase in the global competition has been responsible for the escalation to the systems of human resources that are responsible for the promotion as well as successful application of the global competences on an individual capacity (Paul & Lillian 231-67). The importance attached to the global assignments has been responsible for the mutual growth of the career of an individual as well as the success of the organization in the context of the globe. It is due to this noble fact that there have been a lot of efforts for the purpose of ensuring success in the global assignments. There has been identified a requirement for the improvement of the ability of prediction of success in as far as the overseas assignments are concerned. The importance of this issue has been to the fact of the recorded failure in the majority of the global assignments. There is a record of premature termination of foreign assignments by the expatriates. For the purpose of the explanation of this trend, the expatriates argue that there is a poor adjustment as well as adaptation across various cultures (Paul & Lillian 153-96). They also impute this premature termination of the assignments to problems that are family related. These problems include the failure of the spouse as well as the children to adapt to the culture of the country that is hosting them, the instability in the family, inadaptability as well as lack of skills related to the use of language (Paul & Lillian 102-54 and Landis & Bhagat 213-54). Research Background In general terms, the cross-cultural adaptation has been a concept of the degree related to the psychological comfort in as far as the various aspects of the host country are concerned (Shaules 56- 85). Majority of the articles dealing with the assignments of the expatriates as well as managerial development on a global perspective are usually picture expatriates that are separated individuals who lacks spouses, friends as well as families. It is through research that was conducted in the recent past that it has been identified that the presence of spouses is a major determinant fact in as far as the success or the failure of the expatriates in India is concerned (Shaules143-91). The success that may be achieved in as far as the assignment is concerned is a factor of the adaptation that the expatriate is exposed to with regard to the new conditions of living. Consequently, the adaptation of the spouses as well as the members of the family of the expatriate is a determinant factor in success of the expatriate. It therefore implies that the studies conducted on the members of the family of the expatriate should take account of the cultural adaptability being equally important as is the process of conducting the study in as far as the expatriates themselves are concerned (Dan, Janet, & Milton 321-67). Problem Statement The majority of the studies that have so far been conducted have made the examination of the determinants of the success of the expatriates. It has however been noted that those studies that focuses their interest in the spouses as well as the children of the expatriates have got relatively low instances of intercultural adaptation. Empirical research has identified some important as well as positive relationship that exists between the spouses and the adjustments of the expatriates especially in India. There has been in the past some several studies that have been conducted in connection to the examination of what determines the success of the expatriates. It is however unfortunate that the study whose principle focuses is on the intercultural adaptation of the spouse as well as the children of the expatriates is of relatively low magnitude (Gudykunst & Mody 67-126).There has some form of empirical research that has so far been conducted with the revelation of the possible important as well as positive relationship occurring between the spouses in relation to the adjustment of the expatriate. The importance of the spouse together with the children of the expatriates cannot be compromised. It is in view of this fact that the intercultural adjustment there has been a success of a high magnitude in as far as the foreign assignments are concerned despite the scarcity of the most crucial study that is a chief contributor to the issue. It has therefore become imperatively important for the assignment of priority in as far as the future research in this field is concerned (Dan, Janet, & Milton 282-342). Research Objectives For the purpose of the identification of the solution to the questions that arise above, it is important to formulate some objectives for the research. The objectives are as follows The investigation of the determinants responsible for the achievement of success in the family members of appointed expatriate in as far as intercultural adjustment is concerned. The determination of the existing linkage with regard to the cultural distance in relation to the successfulness of the intercultural adjustment of the family members of the expatriates. The investigation of additional factors that is responsible for the success in as far as the foreign assignments are concerned. Research Questions The questions of concern to be investigated in this study have been outlined hereunder. Which are the determinant issues in the success of intercultural adjustments in the family members of the expatriates? Is there a possibility of the existence of an important relationship with regard to the cultural distance to the cultural adaptability of the souses of the expatriates as well as their children in the country that is hosting them? Is there a possibility of the existence of other determinant factors of important contribution to the success of the assignments of the foreign expatriates? Significance of Study As a result of the scarcity of the most appropriate text of literature addressing the issue of intercultural adjustment of the spouse as well as the children of the expatriates in India, there is a requirement to conduct more intensive research for the purpose of the identification of the factors that are crucial for the achievement of success in the issues of intercultural adjustment of the family members of the expatriates. The majority of the studies that have so far been conducted in this field had a tendency of disregarding the spouses as well as the children of the expatriates in their active participation. In stead there was a tendency of the use of the expatriates as being the informants. In addition the earlier studies had the indication of the presence of important relationship joining the intercultural adjustments of the members of the family of the expatriates to the issue of the success of the overseas assignments (Dan, Janet, & Milton 413-56). It is the aspiration of this study that the findings that will be obtained will be highly resourceful to the international companies whose responsibilities is sending of the staff together with the members of their families to attend to foreign assignments. The other aspiration of the study is the provision of a clear insight to the current as well as the future expatriates in the situation that they have been assigned some duty overseas. This will consequently illuminate some light in as far as the most appropriate procedures to be followed by the members of their families in the process of the adjustments as well as the adaptations with regard to the diverse forms of environment that they are bound to be exposed to. The study also aspires at the filling of the gaps in as far as the existing literature is concerned. Further, of importance is familiarization with the methods that are influential with regards to addressing the potential problems that are related to, the expatriate’s intercultural adaptation. The study is also aimed at addition of new findings as pertains the critical issues related to intercultural adaptation of the family members of the expatriates especially in the context of India (Dan, Janet, & Milton 138-57). Literature Review Dan, Janet, & Milton (156-86) gave a definition of expatriate in terms of an employee sent by an organization to a foreign country for the purpose of working in that particular country while residing there. It therefore applies that the family members of the expatriates include the spouse as well as the children who move along with the expatriate as they move to the destination of business assignment in international context. The concept of intercultural adjustment also known as intercultural adaptation has the reference to the changes that occur to people or groups of people who are in the process of responding to the demands of the environment as a result of geographical relocation (Dan, Janet, & Milton 212-67). According to Dan, Janet, & Milton (213-56) intercultural adaptation is taken to imply to the outcome of the exposure to the situation of coping together with adjusting interculturaly to the environment in the host country in consideration of meeting the needs of an individual. This goal is met in a simultaneous manner to the collective needs of the entire members of the family. The response to the needs as well as the demands of diverse cultural environments of the country hosting the expatriate is also of crucial importance. Further study has been responsible to the laying of emphasis on the significance of the cross-cultural adaptations as well as adjustments of the family members of the expatriate in relation to the completion of the assignments in the foreign countries in a successful manner (William & Bella 135-75). Ten key criteria has been identified by William & Bella (74-85) with regard to the success of the expatriate based on interviews held with reputable Human Resources Managers of the most reputable multinational companies. This study had the revelation of the fact that the stability of the family members together with their adaptability to the local environment was ranked in the third position with regard ton the ten criteria. The study also revealed that in the majority of the ways, the expatriates cross-cultural adaptation as well as adjustments together with their family members is associated with difficulty in comparison to the situation affecting the expatriate. There is an absolute requirement for the expatriate to change the physical location and at the same time keep the contact with the stability of the culture of the organization that the expatriate is used to which is a reflection of the home country of the expatriate. The issue of the continuity of the usual trend of work has to persist as is the network from the friends who are supportive in the accomplishment of the duties of the company. This situation is different for the family members of the expatriate. They lack the continuity that is offered by the organization and they are exposed to a situation of the disruption of their day to day life. They are also exposed to a deficiency in assistance with regard to addressing the demands of the family in the circumstances that are unfamiliar (Landis & Bhagat 163-87). Research Framework For the purpose of the identification of the rest of the determinants of intercultural adjustment of the family members of the expatriate in India in a successful manner, it has been necessary to conduct the study as per the model that has been proposed. This has the reference to the intercultural adaptation model of the family members of the expatriates as has been suggested by William & Bella (125-65). The study also focuses on two most crucial theories; The Framework of International Adjustment of Black, Mendenhall & Oddou (1991) together with The Model of Intercultural Adjustment of Parker & McEvoy. As a result of the deficiency in the number of studies that have so far been conducted in this field, in was imperative to design a model that is a combination of the model by Parker addressing the issue of intercultural adaptation and the theoretical model under proposal relating to the adjustment of the members of the family in conjunction to the adjustments of the expatriate in the work place. Theorized by Ting-Toomey (Ting-Toomey 96-112). The aim of this model is the achievement of an empirical test of the model proposed by William & Bella (155-75). This is in conjunction to the identification of the determinants of the acceptability by the local people as suggested by Dan, Janet, & Milton (113-56). In addition to the model of culture distance which is a suggestion of Paul & Lillian (273-96). There will be some independent variables in as far as this study is concerned that will be represented by the personality characteristics of the family members of the expatriate, the characteristics of the family as well as the characteristics of the working life of the expatriate. The identified modeling variable has been identified as the culture distance, the difference in culture between the home country of the expatriate and the foreign country where the expatriate is to be based and settle while working (Landis & Brislin144-71). Methodology The population to be used for the purpose of this sty shall include the members of the family of the expatriates who are living and at the same time residing in India. The sampling of the research will be at random for the purpose of selection of the spouses of both genders together with the children of the expatriates. The list of these people shall be derived from the immigration department and the companies of the foreigners but situated in India. The units to be considered in the analysis are composed of the spouses together with their children of the expatriates who have a record of residing in India for the last six months and above. The importance attached to the primary six months duration of stay is to avoid the effect of the honeymoon stay associated to the first 4- 6 months of stay as explained by the U-Curve Theory responsible for Adjustment and Culture. It is at this particular phase that the expatriate together with the rest of the family members are under the influence of excitements as a result of the new interesting offerings from the country that is hosting them. The feelings of the expatriate as well as the family members resemble the feelings of a tourist (Dan, Janet, & Milton 124-56). It is out of this situation that it has been found unsuitable to select the sample out of this group as the true effects of relocation has not affected them. Their views and opinions may therefore lack the reflection of the real environment related to intercultural adjustment. For the purpose of the achievement of the intended objectives with regard to the study, the application of quantitative as well as qualitative measures has been considered. The application of Likert Scale questionnaires, structured as well unstructured in-depth interviews as well as documentation sources will have application in this study throughout the period of the study. It has also been found worthwhile to make use of the questionnaire that was used in an earlier study by Paul & Lillian (256-96). With an incorporation of the features of Multicultural Personality Questionnaire (Dan, Janet, & Milton 413-56) for the purpose of the reflection of intercultural adaptation of the family members of the expatriates as a preliminary step. After an interval of about one year, there will be a need to conduct a longitudinal study in consideration of the same set of respondents who took part in the completion of the questionnaire during the preliminary stage of the study. The purpose of the proposal of the longitudinal study is the examination of the longitudinal effects with regard to the model variables of the family members of the expatriates and their intercultural adaptation. In as far as the children of the expatriates are concerned; the most significant targets are those that are in the age bracket of 8 and 18 years. This is the category that is in a position to supply a feedback that is relevant. The analysis of data will consequently be based on statistical standards and in a manner that is coherent for the purpose of addressing all the objectives of the study. Works Cited Dan, Landis, Janet, Bennett, & Milton J. Bennett Handbook for intercultural training Oxford: Oxford Printing Press, 2003. Gudykunst, William & Mody, Bella. Handbook of international and intercultural communication SAGE, 2002. Landis, Dan & Bhagat, Rabi. Handbook for intercultural training. NY: Sage Publications, 1996. Landis, Dan & Brislin, Richard. Handbook for Intercultural Training: Issues in theory & design Pergamon Press, 1983. Shaules, Joseph. Deep Culture: Hidden Challenges of Global Living NJ: Multilingual Matters, 2007 Paul T. P. Wong &Lillian Chui Jan Wong. .Handbook for multicultural perspectives in stress & Coping NY: Springer, 2006. Ting-Toomey, Stella. Communicating across cultures Washigton: Publisher Guilford Press, 1999. William, Gudykunst & Bella Mody. Handbook for international & intercultural communication NY: SAGE, 2002. Read More