The Concepts of Expatriation and Cultural Intelligence

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.        Introduction        

2.        The concepts of expatriation and CQ        

2.1        Expatriates        

2.2        Oberg’s Phases of Adaptation        

2.3        Cultural Intelligence(CQ)        

2.4        David Livermore: 4-tier model of CQ        

3.        Theoretical Perspective        

3.1        Supporting practices for expats & cross cultural adjustment        

3.2        CQ, expatriates supporting practices and adjustment        

4.        Empirical Research        

4.1        Data Collection method        

4.2        Validity and reliability        

4.3        Interview Report        

5.        Conclusion        

1. Introduction

Globalisation has led to the creation of an ever increasing need for companies to remain competitive on the international level today. As a result, it is imperative to transfer knowledge and skills across borders. The number of expatriates have significantly increased during the past few years due to a sharp rise in the number of overseas assignments resulting from international operations and the pursue of growth. Sending expatriates to work on international assignments brings in a lot of benefits to the company, however the failure of expatriate’ assignments is very common in multinationals. The expatriate process is hence complex and needs to be carefully arranged. This report will focus on explaining the concepts of expatriation and cultural intelligence (CQ) through different theoretical framework. It goes on further to discuss about the theoretical perspective and hypotheses in respect to expatriation and CQ and cross cultural adjustment. The analysis of the findings of the interview conducted has been reported and discussed equally. Finally, the essay shall conclude upon its findings.

1. The concepts of expatriation and CQ

1. Expatriates

According to InterNations, the term “expat” is taken from the the Latin prefix ex which indicates out of and from the noun patria which means home or native country. A repatriate, can be defined is a returning expatriate. Generally, the word “expat” is used to refer to individuals who are living and working in a different country than their home country for more than a year period. Expatriation and repatriation have now become an essential part of the operations of multinational companies today where overseas assignments are used extensively to develop global talent together with increasing human capital and staying competitive and ahead of competitors. The expatriation process which involves taking care of all the steps from pre departure of selected employees till repatriation should be carefully planned. However, when such employees go for work outside their home country, they require special support to aid them in adjustment to the new environment.