Success Across National and Cultural Borders : Four Stages Model for Expatriates’ Cross-Cultural Preparation

The globalization of business has opened up and accelerated the use of expatriation as a mean to control and coordinate foreign subsidiaries. However, several problems arise along the process. Failed overseas assignments, resulted from inability to complete or fulfill the expectation from supervisors, are not unusual for expatriations. Unsuccessful assignments damage companies financially and strategically. Through literature review, cultural difficulties had been found to be a major hindrance for successful overseas assignments. This study aimed to identify necessary cross-cultural adjustments for expatriates to successfully perform their assignments, and established a comprehensive model for expatriates’ cross-cultural preparation. This research followed documentary research method by extensively reviewing articles in scholarly journals, and other publications related to expatriate’s cross-cultural preparation. Classic, contemporary and acknowledged theories, practices and experiments related to expatriate management had been thoroughly examined to analyze and conceptualize key issues, as well as framework for this study. Significant attributes relating to higher tendency of successful overseas assignments had been identified, classified and chronologically organized as a model for training purpose. A model for cross-cultural preparation includes four stages; assignment commitment stage, pre-arrival stage, expatriation stage, and repatriation stage. This model deals with expatriates’ cross-cultural preparation from the early phrase of assignment commitment, host country’s cultural orientation, communication across language and cultural barriers, settling down in unfamiliar environment, through the final phrase of fluid repatriation