Impact of Cross Cultural Factors on Expatriates’ Effective Execution of International Assignments

Expatriates' successful assignment has brought very complex and challenging issues currently faced by multinationals. Failed assignments are reported to be very high among expatriates. In light of this, this study provides new empirical evidence of recent expatriation management practices among oil and gas multinationals, and in particular, of the sources of successful performance factors among expatriates. The majority of the expatriates were dissatisfied with their living conditions and wanted an improvement in cross-cultural training. The major factors influencing expatriates' low performance at work were security, expatriates' maladjustment and culture shock experience. Furthermore, majority of the expatriates reported that they were provided with host country's culture and language training and therefore did not experience so much culture shock, but content analysis evidence showed that they did actually experience adjustment issues and culture shock and more focus was to be put in host country preparation. In conclusion, some recommendations for best practice were made