The key factors that constitute the expatriate acculturation process would aid personnel directors in the design of (a) selection instruments that are predictive of expatriate acculturation and (b) acculturation training programs that would address the relevant factors of acculturation and train the expatriates in the necessary skills relevant to those factors (Mendenhall & Oddou 1985). The field of expatriate selection and training, then, currently suffers from two basic problems: (a) an inadequate understanding of the relevant variables of expatriates’ acculturation and (b) the use of inappropriate selection and training methods.
A review of empirical studies that directly investigated the overseas adjustment of expatriate managers revealed four dimensions that were related to successful expatriate acculturation. There are (a) self-orientation, (b) others-orientation, (c) perceptual skills, and (d) cultural toughness. The study’s implications for expatriate selection and training procedures in multinational corporations are discussed.
Self-orientation refers to the activities and attributes of a person that strengthen his/her self-esteem and confidence. Specifically, they propose that expatriates who can (a) find substitutes for their native interests and activities in the new culture, (b) effectively deal with stress, and (c) are high in work and social self-efficacy will be able to adjust more quickly to the foreign environment. The other-orientation dimension refers to the person’s ability to develop relationships with host nations. They specifically propose that expatriates who can develop mentorship ties with host nationals will adjust more quickly at work.
Furthermore, relationship development is largely dependent on the expatriate’s confidence and willingness to use the host country’s language. Perceptual dimension refers to being non-evaluative and non-judgmental. They propose that expatriates who are high in perceptualness will become adjusted more quickly because they are more willing to update their beliefs to fit with the foreign culture. Finally, cultural-toughness refers to the living standard of the foreign country and it is suggested that the larger the discrepancy in living standards between the home and foreign country, the more difficult the adjustment process.
This four-dimensional model of expatriate acculturation has provided expatriate researchers with a strong theoretical grounding for examining individual differences and a contextual factor that influences the expatriate adjustment process. Individual who are high on self-orientation and others-orientation tend to achieve higher degrees of adjustment. Additionally the degree of cultural-toughness does influence expatriates’ difficulties in adjusting to the foreign assignment. However, the model has two primary weaknesses: (a) it does not incorporate factors related to the work and organizational environment, and (b) it focuses exclusively in international adaptation; this cannot be generalizable to domestic work transitions.