The Adjustment of Japanese Expatriates to Living and Working in Britain

Abstract

Ninety-one Japanese managers and professionals on international assignments in the London offices of trading houses and insurance companies responded to a wide-ranging survey on work and non-work adjustment. Dependent variables included standardized measures of adjustment, well-being, mental health and modes of adjustment (personal change and role innovation). In comparisons with samples from other studies, the expatriates experienced lower work well-being and mental health, and, compared with a sample of United Kingdom domestic job changers, engaged in less role innovation but recorded higher personal change, especially in their values. Predictor variables, including predeparture experience, family factors, self-rated job performance, self-efficacy, worknon-work spillover, social interaction and perceived company purpose in the assignment, were found to be differentially related to outcome measures. A new method of retrospectively recording changes in feelings over time in the work and non-work domains was also applied, supplying tentative evidence for a negative shift in affect on arrival, especially in the non-work domain, and a further fall after arrival, especially in the work domain. In most cases, this latter dip was followed by a recovery, providing some evidence in favour of the U-curve hypothesis. Implications for theory and practice are reviewed. ObjectivesOne consequence of the increasing globalization of business is a high desire on the part of companies to know how to minimize the costs and maximize the benefits of intercultural exchange. One can find, in response to this need, a swelling literature of descriptive accounts, checklists for selecting and managing expatriates, and suggested training methods to aid the adjustment process (Copeland and Griggs, 1985;Harris and Moran, 1987;Fontaine, 1989). These are constructive, and are to be welcomed for raising companies' awareness of their responsibilities and for identifying ways of providing tangible support for expatriates.However, the research record is relatively insubstantial, and is often based on data from Western expatriates and job migrants. In the present paper, we look at a little studied group, Japanese staff expatriated to assignments in the West. Our aim is to examine qualities of their experience and determine whether these are predicted by factors consistent with previous research and conventional wisdom about expatriation. Data analyses extend to exploring the usefulness of a new technique for retrospective reporting of how experience changes over time. Three general issues influenced our choice of variables for study and analytical approach.First, considering expatriation as a species of transition (Nicholson, 1984;Black et al., 1991) we need to be aware that the umbrella concept of 'adjustment' potentially invokes a wide range of personal consequences. Much writing on the subject has been interested only in degrees of distress, under the pervasive influence of so-called 'cultureshock' notions (Oberg, 1960;Bock, 1970;Barna, 1983;Furn...

Facets and dimensions of cross‐cultural adaptation:refining the tools

“…Taylor and Napier (1996a, p. 68) reported that "previous experience abroad did not strongly affect work adjustment of the foreign women professionals". Nicholson and Imaizumi (1993) even found an inverse relationship between previous overseas PR 34,1 experience and the adaptation of Japanese expatriates in Britain. They suggest that "lack of experience may actually be beneficial, presumably because it is more likely to convey to the assignment the benefits of being a completely new and exciting experience" (Nicholson and Imaizumi, 1993, p. 128).…”

“…Theoretical discussions have, for a long time, included previous expatriate experience as relevant for the adaptation process (Nash, 1967;Church, 1982;Black and Stephens, 1989;Black and Gregersen, 1991c;Nicholson and Imaizumi, 1993;Brewster and Pickard, 1994;Taylor and Napier, 1996a;Aycan, 1997). Yet empirical evidence, particularly when focused on the length of exposure, has been weak.…”

Personal characteristics and adjustment of Chinese mainland business expatriates in Hong Kong

“…For example, in studying the adjustment of Japanese expatriates in the United Kingdom, Nicholson and Imaizumi (1993) made a distinction between work-and non-work-related well-being. Subjective well-being was also examined in two large-scale studies, one of Swedish expatriates worldwide (Arnetz and Anderzen, 1992) and the other of expatriates in UKbased companies (Forster, 1997).…”

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

“…Translating the latter definition to the realm of expatriates, a definition for expatriate effectiveness is the extent to which the expatriate's job performance reflects behaviors that are relevant to the organization's goals. Research on expatriates has found mental well-being to be positively correlated with all three dimensions of expatriate adjustment (Nicholson & Imaizumi, 1993;Selmer, 1998) suggesting that individuals who are poorly adjusted may be experiencing psychological stress. Borman and Motowidlo (1997) divide the performance domain into a contextual and a task domain.…”