Does It Really Work? Re-Assessing the Impact of Pre-Departure Cross-Cultural Training on Expatriate Adjustment

Cultural adjustment is considered to be a prerequisite for expatriate success abroad. One way to enhance adjustment is to provide employees with knowledge and awareness of appropriate norms and behaviors of the host country through cross-cultural training (CCT). This article analyzes the impact of pre-departure CCT on expatriate adjustment and focuses on variations in participation, length and the comprehensiveness of training. Unlike previous research, the study focuses on the effectiveness of pre-departure CCT for non-US employees expatriated to a broad range of host country settings. Employing data from 339 expatriates from 20 German Multinational Corporations (MNCs) the study finds CCT has little if any effect on general, interactional or work setting expatriate adjustment. However, a significant impact of foreign language competence was found for all three dimensions of expatriate adjustment. We used interviews with 20 expatriates to supplement our discussion and provide further implications for practice

Determinants of transnational social capital: opportunity–investment–ability perspective

This study suggests that it is critical for executives todeveloptransnational social capital(TSC), or professionalrelationships and ties that span national borders. We firstprovide a conceptual framework and careful operationaliza-tion of TSC that differentiates between bonding and bridg-ing forms of social capital. We then examine the effect ofthree key determinants—opportunity, investment and abil-ity—on the TSC of executives. Using detailed survey dataon 227 executives, our analysis suggests that internationalexperience, investment in communicating with cross-borderties and cosmopolitan ability have direct effects on overallTSC. We further demonstrate that international experienceand cosmopolitan ability affect both bridging and bonding,but that investment in cross-border communication onlyaffects bridging social capital. The study proposes thatsocial capital is becoming more and more transnational asconnections, interactions and transactions increasingly spannational borders, which has implications for internationalbusiness and human resource management. Given our find-ings, it would make sense for global organizations to paymore attention to these, if they would like their membersto develop this resource. We point out benefits to organiza-tions and individuals