The Dark and the Light Side of the Expatriate’s Cross-Cultural Adjustment: A Novel Framework Including Perceived Organizational Support, Work Related Stress and Innovation

Abstract

The new context of the Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development has reached the attention of the scientific community in recent years, due to its comprehensive approach aimed at enhancing the sustainability of interpersonal and intrapersonal talent, as well as of groups and communities. In this scenario, research on employee cross-cultural adjustment (CCA) is considered a key theme in human resource management. It is known that psychological support in the host country may alleviate distress and facilitate the integration of the expatriate workers. However, there is a lack of research investigating expatriate adjustment as an antecedent of the perceived organizational support. The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship among cross-cultural adjustment (CCA), perception of organizational support (POS), work-related stress (WRS), and innovation, considering these factors as a part of a unique innovative framework. A cross sectional study was performed using a sample of 234 expatriate workers of a multinational organization. Data were collected through a monitoring survey for the assessment of work-related stress risk factors of their expatriate staff. The results showed a positive correlation between CCA, POS, and innovation. On the other hand, a negative correlational effect of CCA and WRS, CCA and POS on WRS, and POS and WRS was found. Finally, POS was found to be a significant antecedent of CCA. These findings have implications for both international human resource management researchers and practitioners.

Fear of Non-Employability and of Economic Crisis Increase Workplace Harassment through Lower Organizational Welfare Orientation

“…This scale was included at the end of the above-mentioned stress questionnaire [20]. Recent studies using this scale have reported Cronbach's alphas ranging from 0.72 to 0.77 [35,36].…”

Identities Hidden in Challenges: The Sequential Mediation of Thriving at Work and Employee Investment

“…Huang et al (2018) explored the role of challenge stressors as a mediator between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and employee engagement, which showed the direct linkage of both. Giorgi et al (2020), in their study on expatriate employees' cross-cultural adjustment, found the degree of adjustment to be negatively related to work-related stress.…”

A Moral Theory of Public Service Motivation

“…Even within Western societies, public institutions in cosmopolitan cities and provincial towns could rely on different sets of moral foundations to moralize public service. Exploring these differences, within and across countries, can help PSM theory to become more applicable in explaining public service beyond Western democratic societies, and shed some light on how to manage "culture wars" within the public domain in a more and more ideologically polarized society (Rosenbloom, 2010; for cross-culture adjustment in workplace, see also Giorgi et al, 2020).…”