Expatriate Adjustment of Spouses and Expatriate Managers - Case Study Example

Expatriate Adjustment of Spouses and Expatriate Managers Question 1One of the problems experienced was the work-family interface. For the couples that had children, adjusting to the new country was a tricky affair. It was further aggravated by the age of the children, for those couples married with kids. Differences were, therefore, evident in families that adjusted from the beginning and those that adjusted over time. One family says, “…both children were born abroad. That means they are not teenagers…left their friends behind.

Both speak German and have German friends at the kindergarten” while another opines that “our daughter was four…we took the language from her. There were times when she used to cry and we tried to support her during that time and be close to her…it was difficult for all of us” (Andreason, 2008). The problem, in my opinion, despite the pressures of children getting by in a foreign country, zeroes down on the language barrier (Andreason, 2008). The problems could have been handled by taking beginner and proficiency courses in the individual languages before they left home.

As Andreason (2008 p. 382) points out, another problem is the perceived lack or presence of organizational support. For some expatriates and repatriates, the countries they were situated in could make or break their stay, resources, and performance. One British male says, “the expat thing, they help you how to find a house…sort out the bits and the balls as it is daunting and very time consuming to do it in a different language…compensation, additional support one receives, housing agencies and a trip home every year” (Andreason, 2008).

It is in itself an opportunity. But in its absence, the person suffers as shown in another expatriate who says “.Little support in making the transition. No formal program to.put you in an apartment, orient you in the city…that was irresponsible” (Andreason, 2008). How to solve this before the expatriates left home was to familiarize themselves with the terms and conditions of the job (Andreason, 2008). If all these services were not provided by the host countries and companies, they would have contracted companies providing such to avoid frustrations when they arrived.

Andreason (2008) concurs that, cultural bias could be another problem with expatriates. In Germany, for example, the model of the male being the bread-winner for the family is quite predominant. In this case, any female expatriate would expect perceptions about them in respect to organizational support or the work-family conflict to be biased in a German context before even moving to the country. As observed, this could be fueled by the prevailing societal values in the western countries which tend to impede on women’s careers like the negative attitude towards working mothers and the eminent belief that the practice of childcare by another person other than the mother will harm the child (Andreason, 2008).

It, thus, makes balancing work and family responsibilities hard for the women. While there’s no concrete solution or prior preparation for this problem, it is important that couples stand by each other, embrace and respect the roles played by each other irrespective of the prevailing cultural barriers. Question 2Access to the internet surely mitigates some problems which are here today. For example, expatriates are able to use the internet to enquire and know much about the living conditions in the host countries, books for hotels, and apartments before they leave their countries as opposed to Vietnam in the mid-1990s.

The interlinking of the businesses such as cloud computing also makes business easy and sometimes doesn’t require expatriation at all. Where this is the case, Skyping, emailing, and other modes of online communication can help people connect and communicate even when they are miles apart. In conclusion, therefore, the adoption of e-business may revolutionize international business management as it is known today as well as its dynamics (Andreason, 2008). ReferenceAndreason, A. W. (2008). Expatriate adjustment of spouses and expatriate managers: an integrative research review.

International Journal of Management, 25(2), 382-395.