West Meets East? Identifying the Gap in Current Cross-Cultural Training Research

Abstract

The purpose of this article was to examine current cross-cultural training (CCT) research, using the lens of "East Meets West." The two research questions guiding our inquiry are (a) What are the major themes discussed in the existing CCT literature? and (b) What are the emerging issues that need to be addressed? Using the integrative literature review method, we first identified four themes: theories/ conceptual frameworks, expatriate adjustment, CCT methods, and the effectiveness of CCT. We found that previous CCT research lacks the "East Meets West" perspective. Four issues need to be incorporated into future CCT research, namely, family factors, cross-cultural assessment, domestic versus international assignments, and trainer quality. This article purports to make three major contributions to the existing literature: (a) identify gaps in the literature, (b) expand the perspectives of CCT research from the lens of "East Meets West," and (c) generate implications for research and practice.On a trip around the world several years ago, Geert [Hofstede] bought three world maps. All three are of the flat kind, projecting the surface of the globe on a plane. The first shows Europe and Africa in the middle, the Americas to the west, and Asia to the east. The terms, the West and the East were products of a Euro-centered worldview. The second map, bought

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