Antecedents and Consequences of Employees’ Adjustment to Overseas Assignment: A Meta‐analytic Review

Abstract

La recherche sur les antécédents et les conséquences de l'ajustement des expatriés a été revue de façon qualitative et avec la méthode quantitative de méta-analyse. Les prédicteurs individuels, environnementaux, reliés au travail et reliés à la famille, de l'ajustement général, interactionnel et au travail ont été analysés. L'efficacité personnelle, la fréquence des interactions dans le pays hôte, et le soutien familial ont prédit les trois types d'ajustement. De plus, des compétences élevées en relations interpersonnelles ont été associées à un meilleur ajustement à l'environnement en général. Les résultats ont égale-ment démontré que la variable "conflit de rôle" était corrélée négativement avec l'ajustement au travail alors que l'ambiguïté du rôle et la discrétion ont été associés avec l'ajustement au travail. Un modèle d'équations structurelles a été développé avec les corrélations agrégées pour illustrer les relations causales possibles impliquant un facteur général d'ajustement et les résultats des tensions au travail, la satisfaction au travail, l'engagement organisationnel, l'intention de quitter, ainsi que la performance au travail. L'hypothèse était que l'ajustement influencerait les tensions et la satisfaction au travail et que ces deux dernières variables auraient un effet sur l'engagement organisationnel, la performance et l'intention de quitter. Le modèle a bien correspondu aux données.Research on the antecedents and consequences of expatriate adjustment was reviewed using meta-analytic methods. The antecedents and outcomes of three facets of adjustment were examined. Self-efficacy, frequency of interaction with host nationals, and family support consistently predicted all three types of adjustment. In addition, better interpersonal skills were associated with greater adjustment to general environment. Greater cultural novelty was associated with less interactional adjustment. Role conflict, ambiguity, and discretion were also strong predictors of work adjustment. A structural equations model that illustrated causal relationships involving expatriate adjustment and outcomes of job strain, job satisfaction, organisational citizenship, intent to turnover, and job performance generated a good fit with the data.

Host country language ability and expatriate adjustment: the moderating effect of language difficulty

“…Although this widely used scale has been criticized for being merely a statistical construct with elements that are not well-defined or discrete, this measure has been consistently validated (cf. Bhaskar-Shrinivas, et al, 2005;Hechanova, Beehr & Christiansen, 2003, Shaffer, Harrison & Gilley, 1999. Furthermore, it has been found to be structurally equivalent with a good fit when applied on culturally dissimilar samples providing evidence of its construct validity (Robie & Ryan, 1996).…”

Enhancing Social Integration and Work Performance: The Role of Expatriates’ Significant Other

“…Nevertheless, Shin, Morgeson and Campion (2007) found explicit support in the expatriate literature for the fundamental assumption that expatriates need to adjust to new cultural environments by adapting their behavior to fit the host country's cultural norms and values in order for them to be successful at work. Similar supports come from meta-analyses that show that expatriate adjustment is an important predictor of performance (Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al, 2005;Hechanova, Beehr & Christiansen, 2003). As is the case with many supposed relationships between variables in the expatriate management domain, to date there is no data to back the claim that spousal adjustment is critical to expatriate job performance, perhaps it should be gathered more conscientiously and deserves more thorough attention to form possible conclusion (Kraimer et al, 2001).…”

Enhancing Cross-Cultural Training Efficacy on Expatriate Adjustment through Emotional Intelligence and Social Capital

“…As part of the adjustment process, psychological adjustment will be pertinent to psychological problems such as stress, anxiety, or fatigue or disruption, poor mental health (Hechanova et al 2003). In addition, a new environment in which an expatriate lives generates psychological pressures because conditions or the way things occur may be different from what expatriates face in their home countries.…”