The SIJ Transactions on Industrial, Financial & Business Management (IFBM), Vol. 2, No. 10, December 2014
Role of Family in Expatriate
Assignments: A Qualitative Study
Hsiu-ching Ko*
*Assistant Professor, Department of Mass Communication, Chang Lung Christian University, Tainan, TAIWAN.
Email: ching_khc{at}hotmail{dot}com
Abstract—Adopting a qualitative in-depth interview approach, this study aimed to explore family-related
factors impacting expatriate assignments. The data herein collected for this purpose suggest that spouse
adjustment, spouse support, children education and adjustment, and care for parents are main family-related
factors that have an impact on the decisions of expatriates to accept an international assignment and general
adjustment. Contrary to previous research, these four main family-related factors are found to have no negative
impact on expatriate performance. Based on the findings, this study suggests that multinational corporations
should incorporate spouses into cross-cultural training, provide expatriates with a clear picture of the education
system of the relocation country, and provide expatriates who have aged parents in the home country who need
care, with some support. Moreover, the issue of children shouldn’t be neglected by multinational corporations
and requires more empirical studies. Furthermore, future research should consider including the perspectives of
spouse and children on expatriate studies.
Keywords—Children Education and Adjustment; Care for Parents; Expatriate Assignment; Spouse
Adjustment; Spouse Support.
Abbreviations—English as a Second Language (ESL); Multinational Corporations (MNCs).
I.
T
INTRODUCTION
HE increase of economic globalization has driven a
demand for multinational corporations (MNCs) to
cultivate global leaders with the abilities to effectively
perform their assignments overseas, and further to maintain
global competitiveness. In order to compete in the global
market, many MNCs use some methods to attract and source
international managers and deploy some strategies, such as
selection system and training programs, to equip their
expatriate managers with cross-cultural competences. While
there is an increasing consensus among MNCs that expatriate
performance is central to MNCs global competiveness
[Caligiuri et al., 35; Dowling & Welch, 37], research
indicates that the ratio of expatriate failure is still high with
the figure of 15-50 percent [Scullion & Collings, 13]. Factors
relevant to expatriate failure are varied. One of the important
factors impacting the performance and adjustment of
expatriates is family-related problems, including the inability
of spouse to adjust [Briscoe & Schuler, 6; Scullion &
Brewster, 12; Tung, 40], lack of spouse’s career opportunities
[Kupka & Cathro, 4], children’s maladjustment and education
[Dowling & Welch, 37; Caligiuri et al., 38], parental demand
[Shaffer & Harrison, 26], and lack of support for expatriate
and family while on international assignments [Briscoe &
Schuler, 6].
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These findings demonstrate that family-related situation
plays a vital role in expatriate assignments. Research into
expatriate adjustment confirms that family support [Lee &
Kartika, 25; Takeuchi et al., 42], spouse support [Kraimer et
al., 28], and family adaptation have a positive impact on
expatriate adjustments. It is not surprising, despite MNCs
“appear reluctant to include the spouse/partner in the
selection process, treating it in a peripheral way” [Dowling &
Welch, 37], some research argued that taking family into
consideration in the selection and training practices is
important for MNCs [Briscoe & Schuler, 6; Dowling &
Welch, 37]. Given the important role that family system plays
in affecting an individual’s actions, it is imperative to
understand the specific factors of family situation that
influence expatriates’ assignments.
The complexity of an international assignment is ever
changing and challenging. Family-related factors to
international assignments are dynamic and often culturallybounded. Tung’s [41] pioneering study and Scullion &
Brewster [12] have shown that there were significant national
differences in the factors resulting in expatriate failure.
Waxin [30] has highlighted that country of origin moderates
cross-cultural adjustment and its antecedents. Moreover,
studies addressing expatriate experiences from Asian
countries are sparse [Dowling & Welch, 37]. Finally,
although literature lists family, especially spouse adjustment,
© 2014 | Published by The Standard International Journals (The SIJ)
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The SIJ Transactions on Industrial, Financial & Business Management (IFBM), Vol. 2, No. 10, December 2014
as top factor resulting in expatriate failure, evidence
supported from empirical studies is scant [Haslberger &
Brewster, 1; van Erp et al., 23]. Thus, this study recruited
Taiwanese expatriates in an attempt to answer the following
questions: (1) what are the major family-related problems
impacting international assignments?, and (2) what are the
effects of family-related factors on international assignments?
II.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1. Expatriate Assignment and the Global Competiveness
of MNCs
The advantages of using expatriates in host countries are
vary. Achieving important strategic objectives and enhancing
global integration [Evans et al., 36] are two main categories.
According to Evans et al., [36], MNCs employ expatriates as
a way to maintain control over overseas business and to
transfer know-how to overseas subsidiaries. They export
technologies and organizational culture to the locals [Bennett
et al., 43], thus enhancing global integration [Evans et al.,
36]. Bonache & Fernández [17] contend that control and
coordination of local operations and the transfer of
knowledge benefit from the use of expatriates. These facts
address the critical linkage between expatriate management
and the global competiveness of MNCs, suggesting the
importance of expatriate management to the global expansion
and success of MNCs.
Although advantages of using expatriates to supervise
overseas subsidiaries are discussed in the literature, not all
expatriate assignments are success stories. The ratio of
expatriate failure was widely discussed in the literature, with
the numbers varying, depending on the region of the world,
from between 16% and 40% [Employee Benefit Plan Review,
9; Tung, 40] and financial costs from US$200,000 to US$1.2
million dollars [Harzing & Christensen, 3; ChiotisLeskowich, 16]. The high ratio of expatriate failure and its
cost have caused serious concerns to the MNCs, leading
many researchers in the field to focus their studies on
exploring the factors influencing expatriate assignments.
Many examined expatriate adjustment and performance from
evaluating the effect of cross-cultural training [Osman-Gani
& Rockstuhl, 2; Ko & Yang, 11; Puck et al., 18]. Some
explored expatriate effectiveness via looking into expatriates’
cross-cultural competence [Caligiuri, 33; Caligiuri & Tarique,
34]. Others studied expatriate performance using the
dimension of culture-related issue, such as cross-cultural
uncertainty [Lee, 15; Stock & Genisyürek, 39] and cultural
disparities [Thomas & Inkson, 8; Zander et al., 45]. Most
recently, van Erp et al., [23] and Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al.,
[32] indicated that lack of spouse dissatisfaction and spouse
adjustment are most frequently mentioned reasons for
expatriate failure. As a result, there is an increasing
consensus among academic and MNCs that family situation
is very important to expatriate assignments and that needs
more attentions and research [van der Zee et al., 22; Dowling
& Welch, 37].
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2.2. Family Situation and Expatriate Assignments
Family situation refers to “the ability of the expatriate’s
family to adjust to living in a foreign environment” [Tung,
40]. The pioneering research examining expatriate failure
conducted by Tung [41] listed “the inability of spouse to
adjust” as top of reason leading to expatriate failure. From
then, many research confirmed that family situation is critical
to expatriate success or failure [Selmer & Lam, 21; Harvey,
27]. A number of studies revealed that spouse adjustment and
lack of spouse career development were most frequently
mentioned as factors relevant to expatriate failure in the
literature [van Erp et al., 23]. In addition, spouse
dissatisfaction was found to have an impact on expatriate
performance [Lazarova et al., 29; Adler, 31; BhaskarShrinivas et al., 32] and would affect expatriates’ morale
[Harvey, 27]. It is important to note that the spouse issue
seems to be most influential factor in expatiate assignments.
Thus, Franke & Nicholson [19] suggested that spouse support
is listed to be the most important criterion in selecting
expatriates.
Haslberger & Brewster [1] stated that family situation is
a complex and multi-faceted process which requires
awareness of organization. Following Tung’s study [41],
Harvey [27] incorporated the dimension of children into the
discussion of expatriate selection and adjustment. Scullion
[14] highlighted that the growing unwillingness to disrupt
children education is one of the important factors impacting
international mobility in many MNCs. Wan et al., [7],
investigating factors affecting Singaporeans’ acceptance of
international positions, found that the presence of schooling
children is negatively related to willingness to accept an
expatriate assignment. Lately, Schoepp & Forstenlechner [24]
concluded that children education plays an important role to
expatriates’ decisions to stay or to leave current international
positions.
The care of ageing parents is another important issue that
concerns expatriates. According to Scullion & Collings [13],
concern for ageing parents was one of major barriers for
expatriates to accept an international assignment in Asian
firms. Research indicated that parent demand is a stressor of
expatriates which may reduce their adjustment [Parasuraman
& Simmers, 44]. In contrast, in their empirical study, Lee &
Kartika [25] suggested that parental demand has significant
positive influence on expatriate adjustment. They argued that
this is because expatriates may consider parental demand a
good challenge which motivates them to work harder.
However, they contended that when the situation of parental
demand is overwhelming and beyond expectation, then
adjustment will deteriorate.
III.
METHODS
A qualitative in-depth interview approach was utilized in this
research to explore family-related factors influencing
expatriates’ international assignments, including adjustment
to living and working life in host country, willingness to
© 2014 | Published by The Standard International Journals (The SIJ)
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The SIJ Transactions on Industrial, Financial & Business Management (IFBM), Vol. 2, No. 10, December 2014
accept an international assignment, and performance. The
method was chosen for two main reasons. First, it allows
expatriates participated in this study to describe their
experiences and stories of cross-cultural adjustment and
cross-cultural interactions as much as possible. Second, it
enables the researcher to conduct “a guided conversations
with a goal of eliciting interviewee rich, detailed materials”
[Rossman & Rallis, 10].
3.1. Participants
By applying purposeful sampling 13 Taiwanese male
expatriates working for Taiwan-based MNCs were recruited.
Their ages range from 35-66 with 2-30 years of expatriate
experiences. Their assignments were in the United States,
Germany, Australia, Netherlands, Thailand, Malaysia, South
Korea, Singapore, and Japan (Table 1). Out of the 13
participants, eleven were married, eight were accompanied by
their spouses, six have children, and three brought their
children along.
Table 1: Participant Demographics
Number of
Accompanied
Children
with Spouse
0
YES
Age
Education
Case 1
35
Bachelor
Marital
Status
Married
Accompanied
with children
NO
Years of
Relocation
3
Case 2
49
Bachelor
Married
0
NO
NO
6
Case 3
Case 4
Case 5
50
33
33
Bachelor
Master
Master
Married
Single
Married
1
0
0
YES
NO
YES
YES
NO
NO
5
3
3
Case 6
63
Master
Married
2
YES
YES
27
Case 7
Case 8
Case 9
Case 10
38
52
66
63
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Bachelor
Married
Married
Married
Married
0
1
3
3
YES
NO
NO
YES
NO
NO
NO
YES
5
2
6
11.5
Case 11
50
Bachelor
Divorce
3
NO
NO
5.5
Case 12
52
Bachelor
Married
0
YES
YES
6
Case 13
56
Bachelor
Married
0
YES
YES
6
3.2. Data Collection
Data was collected via semi-structured interview. Each
interview was completed in two hours, following a guideline
of interview protocol designed to facilitate the interview
process. To best understand and elicit the views or concepts
of expatiates regarding the experience of how family-related
factors influenced their international assignments, the
interview questions centered on issues of cross-cultural
adjustment, willingness to accept an international assignment,
and performance. Marshall & Rossman [5] argue that
“studies making more objectivist assumptions would
triangulate interview data with data gathered through other
methods”. Consequently, in order to enhance the credibility
of this study, self-evaluation of performance and
demographics form were distributed to each participant
following and before each interview, respectively, Data
interviewed were audio-taped with the permission of the
participants, transcribed verbatim, and sent to all participants
for corrections and verifications to facilitate the development
of data analysis.
Self-evaluation of performance primarily evaluated
expatriate’s job-related performance on two open-ended
questions about overall performance and individual job
performance. 13 of 13 participants reported that they
successfully completed their international assignments both
in overall performance and individual job performance.
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Countries of
Relocation
Thailand
Germany
USA
USA
USA
Germany
Japan
Singapore
USA
Malaysia
Indonesia
Australia
USA
Singapore
S. Korea
USA
Japan
USA
Demographic information, including age, education, number
of children, marital status, years of relocation, and countries
of relocations, were collected before the interviews.
3.3. Data Analysis
This study adopted open coding and constant comparative
method in the procedure of analyzing data. Open coding was
the act of identifying, naming, and categorizing data. Starting
from breaking down and conceptualizing raw data by line-byline analysis, concepts pertaining to the same phenomena
were grouped into categories. Further, constant comparative
method was applied to systematically and carefully compare
and explore the similarities and differences within and among
categories so as to develop the main constructs that can best
understand and explain the research problems and achieve the
objective of the study.
IV.
RESULTS
The analysis of the data yielded four main constructs found to
be the major factors affecting expatriate assignments, namely:
(1) spouse adjustment, (2) spouse support, (3) children’s
education and adjustment, and (4) care for parents. These
four critical family-related factors have an impact on
expatriates’ adjustment or decisions to accept or reject an
international assignment.
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The SIJ Transactions on Industrial, Financial & Business Management (IFBM), Vol. 2, No. 10, December 2014
Most participants emphasized their concerns about
family members when receiving notice of their relocation
overseas. “What do I do with my family?” (Case 11) “What
do I do with my girl friend?”(Case 5) “What do I do with my
children?” (Case 11) These, plus the “fear of losing their
familiar connections” (Case 4 and 5), were the most common
reactions to their international assignments in terms of family
situations. Thus, making best arrangements for their family
became the most important issue before they departed for the
countries of relocation or while they were on international
assignments.
4.1. Spouse Adjustment
Loneliness, boredom, and helplessness are the terms
participants used to describe the difficulties of cross-cultural
adjustment of their accompanied spouses. Language barrier is
another factor leading to spouse’s maladjustment in a
different cultural setting. Spouse’s cross-cultural adjustment
is an issue frustrating some expatriates, impacting the
expatriate’s decisions to accept another overseas assignment.
However, over time, almost all accompanying spouses
gradually adjusted to the local environment and found ways
to live well in the new place. With this change, the spouse, in
turn, was transformed into a supporting power for expatriates.
Many participants, deciding not to bring their spouse
along, were concerned that their spouses might become a
burden if they came along. By contrast, Case 7 presented a
very different viewpoint on this issue. He thought his spouse
may become more of a “burden” if he left her alone with his
parents in the home country since his spouse and his mother
did not quite get along. He said, “It will become a burden
psychologically if I leave my spouse alone in Taiwan. I live
with my mother. Conflicts between my wife and my mother
will often occur when there is no husband or son to smooth
things out.”
Some participants stressed that they had more trouble
with cultural adjustment at the initial stage of international
assignments when they brought their spouses along because
they had to take care of their spouse’s difficulties of
loneliness, helplessness, boredom, and language barrier. One
participant (Case 10) noted that “basically, the life of an
expatriate’s spouse is very hard. In fact, she did not have any
friends there.”
Other participants pointed out that spouse maladjustment
has an impact on whether or not to accept a new offered
assignment overseas. Case 6 stated: “My first relocation was
in Japan. Because of language barrier, she suffered a lot. Her
situation complicated my decision-making on the acceptance
of another overseas assignment.” Another participant (Case
12), relocated to New York and Tokyo, emphasized that his
wife had “a very poor adjustment” during his first relocation
to New York because of no friends, and being totally
dependent on others. These made her reluctant to stay any
longer.
My wife is a person who is not very independent.
Life for her was very hard. I think the major problem
was that she had no friends, since she had just arrived at
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a culturally-different environment. Besides, I was too
busy with my work. Usually, I went out to work at
7:30am and returned home at almost 8:00pm. Therefore,
she stayed home alone the whole day. She did not have
any friends at first; she felt very lonely. No wonder,
then, that she had problems adjusting. Her pressure
index was much higher than mine. She, of course,
suggested we do not stay much longer. (Case 12)
Another participant described how his spouse had
suffered because of the language barrier. Her adjustment
problems triggered conflicts between him and his wife during
a certain stage of his first relocation to the United Stated:
For my wife, life in the U. S. was very difficult. She
was not proficient in English. I could not deal with a lot
of her problems because I had to work. Therefore, she
had to deal with them by herself, taking care of children,
even paying utility bills and making phone calls. These
were all big challenges for her. No wonder, then that she
felt so depressed for some time. We often quarreled.
The pressure was just too much at that time. It is really
too much. (Case 10)
Similarly, Case 1, who relocated to Thailand, described
that loneliness and boredom were terms can best illustrate his
spouse life in Thailand. He also admitted that his spouse
adjustment had an impact on his assignment for he always
worried about her loneliness. As he put it,
My wife’s English ability is very poor, not to
mention Thailand. Because of language barrier, she did
not dare to go out by herself. As a result, she almost
stayed at home, watched Korean drama all day, and
hoped me go home as early as possible, waiting me for
dinner at home… My company and my job were very
busy. I had to work until 8 or 9 pm. But because I
worried about her loneliness, I always brought tasks
home and worked at home after work.…. Although her
accompany comforted me a lot, for her joy and
happiness, sometime, I preferred she stay at Taiwan.
4.2. Spouse Support
Almost all expatriates with accompanying spouses credit and
appreciate their spouses’ devotion and support on taking care
of their life and facilitating their adjustments. Case 7 stated
that spouse support is an important source that gives him
“more accurate objectives” in life and offers him more joyful
hours in leisure life.
Similarly, all expatriates with accompanying children
were grateful to their spouses for all that they had done for
children and family. Case 10 stressed that “I will not be able
to concentrate on my work if there is no support and help
from my wife.” Case 3 also added that “although I worried
about my kid’s education and adjustment, but I believed that
my wife will take very care of them so that I can concentrate
on my work.” Both Case 10 and Case 6 attributed the whole
family’s well adjustment to their spouses’ virtue of bearing
hardship and hard work, a traditional value of Taiwanese
culture.
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The SIJ Transactions on Industrial, Financial & Business Management (IFBM), Vol. 2, No. 10, December 2014
4.3. Children’s Education and Adjustment
The impact of different educational system on the
development and well-being of children was another major
concern of the participants. This concern moderated the
expatriate’s decision on whether or not to accept an
international assignment. Language barrier and cultural
difference were challenges faced by expatriate’s children
when moving to a culturally different country with their
parents. Once the accompanying children adjusted to the
local culture and education system, the initial concern about
children’s future and development turns into appreciations.
The consistency of children’s education was the main
concern, and this may make expatriates reluctant to accept the
offered assignment. In particularly, expatriates who had
children under 16 worried about this issue most. Case 11
added,
I was nervous but exciting when receiving the
notice of my first overseas assignment. You are going
abroad for work not for fun. It is a big pressure…. What
is my direction? Beside, how do I do with my family? I
was only thirty-seven or thirty-eight…. My children
were only elementary school students. How can I do?
Can I accept this offered assignment if I go along…. It
took me very long to think about these.
Another participant who did not bring his children along
attested:
Personally, I did not bring my children with me
because I believe it is better for them to grow up in the
environment they belong to. They will suffer if you
relocate them along with you, and it will be very painful
for them. I have had my own personal problems
adjusting. The children’s difficulties with adjustment
will be much more serious. Some people think that
living aboard will enhance children’s views and
knowledge. I agree, but we cannot predict our next
relocation. And their education will become a big issue
when they come back from our overseas assignment.
(Case 8)
Case 10, by contrast, believed that it is important for
teenagers to stay with their parents. Taking this into
consideration, he decided to have his spouse and children
over during the third year of his first relocation in the United
Sates because he had been given notice that he would stay in
the U. S. for another three years. He noted that his children
“suffered tremendous pressure” right after moving to the U.
S. due to language problems and cultural differences and
“enjoyed their education and life” after gradually adjusting to
a new education system and being fluent in the local
language. He stated:
They were teenagers when they came over. They
suffered tremendous pressure because of language
ability and cultural difference. I was very worried about
their learning effectiveness and their adjustment at
school. I was really concerned a lot when my children
told me that it is not easy for them to get along with
their American classmates because they do not know
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how to interact with them….Over time, once they
gradually adjusted to the local culture and education
system as well as can speak English well, they enjoyed
their education and life in the United States….. I really
appreciated my company to give me the opportunity to
work overseas.
Similarly, Case 6, with 27-year expatriate experiences,
added that although his children suffered language barrier and
cultural shock when he relocated to the United State, but they
have been well-educated after gradually adapting to new
education system and local life via taking ESL programs and
making friends at school. Thus, he believes that the expatriate
experience is of great worth for it benefits him and his
children. Case 3 considered children education and
adaptability to be the most difficult situation faced by him
while on international assignments. Case 3 stated,
When I relocated to the United State, my kid was
ninth grade. He suffered language barrier at the
beginning. Then, he had difficulties in get along with
his classmates. This was probably a problem of cultural
differences. He was very frustrated when he came back
from school and even did not want to go to school. ….
The most difficult situation during my assignment was
my kid’s education and adaptability. He cried a lot when
faced with challenges from school’s homework or
cultural shock….for example, he even did not know
whom he can ask for if he had learning difficulties at
school.
4.4. Care for Parents
The care of aged parents, especially parents’ health
conditions, was another family issue many participants
mentioned as an inevitable concern. Many participants were
concerned that their parents are getting old. Case 11 clearly
expressed his concern: “I worried about my mother’s age.
She is getting old, she is over 70. Fortunately, her health is in
good condition.” Some worried about parents’ health
situation. Case 10 spoke of his grim “dilemma”:
The most difficult situation for us [expatriates] is to
deal with our family members. It is not an easy matter to
handle. I was facing a dilemma by going abroad. My
wife, my children, and I all lived together with my
parents. My father was 85 and my mother was 75 at the
time. I was the only male adult who could take care of
them and of the family’s children. So went I left, my
parents felt very helpless. I used to always drive my
father to the hospital when he had a heart attack. This
became my wife’s task while I was on international
assignment. It put an enormous pressure on her.
Sometimes she had to call a taxi at 2:00 am to drive my
father to the hospital because he had a heart attack.
(Case 10)
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The SIJ Transactions on Industrial, Financial & Business Management (IFBM), Vol. 2, No. 10, December 2014
V.
PROPOSITIONS
Integration of research results generated four main
propositions which explain the specific family-related factors
influencing expatriate assignments.
5.1. Spouse adjustment, children education and adjustment,
and care for parents and their health conditions are critical
family-related factors found to have an impact on expatriate
assignments.
5.2. Spouse adjustment concerns expatriates, but it does not
impede their mission and completion of their assignments.
5.2.1. The extent to which an expatriate goes in order to
facilitate the spouse’s adjustment to the local living
environment, will weigh on his/her decision to accept
another overseas assignment.
5.2.2. The more easily the accompanying spouse adjusts,
the more willing the expatriate is to accept a similar
assignment in the future.
5.2. Spouse support is critical to the success of expatriates on
overseas assignments.
5.3. The care of parents and their health conditions are major
concerns for expatriate candidates that may lead them to
refuse an overseas assignment.
5.4. Children education is an important concern of expatriates
and may impact expatriate’s decision to accept an offered
overseas assignment.
VI.
DISCUSSION
This study identified four dimensions of family-related
factors impacting expatriate assignments: spouse adjustment,
spouse support, children education and adjustment, and the
care of ageing parents. Spouse adjustment, children education
and adjustment, and the care of ageing parents appeared to
influence expatriates’ decisions to accept or reject an
overseas assignment as well as the overall adjustment in a
new environment. These results are in line with previous
studies, which assert family factors in expatriation play a
critical role for expatriate adjustment [Lee & Kartika, 25;
Takeuchi et al., 42]. In addition, the result showed that spouse
support is critical to the success of expatriate assignments.
This result is in conformity with those of previous research
which addresses spouse support accelerate the influence of
expatriate adjustment and operational capability on
performance [Lee, 15]. Moreover, the results of this study
suggest that family-related factors have no direct negative
influence on job performance. This can be explained from the
following reasons. First, perhaps this was because the
participants of this study underwent culture shock only in the
initial stage of their assignment. Second, the spouses of
expatriate played an important role in getting all family well
adjusted to local culture and environment so that expatriate
will be able to concentrate on their job. Apart from familyrelated factors, expatriates’ personality characteristics and
cross-cultural competencies may be other important factors
that can address this result.
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The finding indicated most accompanying spouses
suffered more serious culture shock than the expatriate before
being able to adjust. The major factors were the language
barrier and loneliness. This suggested that there is a need to
incorporate spouses into the cross-cultural training program
when this is available.
Another important finding is that traditional Taiwanese
culture has an impact on expatriate assignments. First, it
influences expatriates’ decision on the acceptance of an
offered international assignment. This can be best illustrated
from the stories of participants with ageing parents regarding
their concern about the care and health conditions of their
parents. Actually, no matter where they are, on international
assignments or not, the care of parents is always on their
minds. This is typically a case of the influence of a traditional
Taiwanese cultural value, namely, filial piety. In addition,
expatriates with accompanying spouses applauded their
spouses’ determination to get the whole family become
adjusted to the new environment despite their spouses
suffered cross-cultural adjustment. They credited their
willingness and devotion to the virtue of “bearing hardship
and hard work”, a traditional value of Taiwanese culture.
Although most accompanying spouses and children
suffered serious problems of adjustment in the initial stage of
the overseas assignment, and this situation caused concern for
the participants, these problems did not hinder their
determination to complete their assignments and pursue their
career development. This finding suggests that personality
characteristic is very important to the success of expatriate
assignments.
Children education and the adjustment problems were
the major concerns of expatriates with accompanying
children in the initial stages of the overseas assignment. Over
time, once the children had adapted well to the local living
conditions and the educational environment, these concerns
turned into appreciation. The expatriates were appreciative to
the companies for giving them the opportunity to work
overseas and also have their children get the opportunity to
study abroad, have a solid education and enhance their own
future careers. They also sounded very grateful for the
devotion of their accompanying spouses. From this
perspective, the researcher would argue that the children’s
education and adjustment problems became priorities for the
accompanying spouses, and their own difficulties were seen
as secondary or even trivial. The good of the children always
comes first. This finding suggests that children issue
shouldn’t be neglected by MNCs and requires more empirical
research.
VII.
RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1. MNCs
The findings of the study indicate that the accompanying
spouse makes contributions to the success of expatriate
assignments. However, it is very true that all accompanying
spouses in the study suffered very severe cultural shock.
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The SIJ Transactions on Industrial, Financial & Business Management (IFBM), Vol. 2, No. 10, December 2014
Children’s education and care for parents are the main
concern of the expatriates. Integrated with these issues related
to family situations, MNCs should incorporate spouses into
cross-cultural training programs, particularly language
training. MNCs should also provide expatriates who have
children accompanying them with a clear picture of the
education system of the country or city where they will be
relocated. Furthermore, MNCs should provide expatriates
who have aged parents in the home country who need care,
some support for this purpose.
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
7.2. Future Research
Future research should incorporate the perspectives of the
spouses of expatriates. Literature indicates that there is little
knowledge about the experiences of expatriate spouses
[Black et al., 20]. Having data collected from the spouses of
expatriate managers will enrich information about the context
or conditions influencing the success of expatriate
assignments. In addition, considering the findings of this
study regarding children education and adjustment as an
essential factor influencing the decision on expatriates’
willingness to accept an international assignment, future
research should consider including children as a research
sample, which has little been done in research on expatriate
studies.
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Hsiu-ching Ko earned her Ph.D. from University of the Incarnate
Word, San Antonio, TX. Currently, she is an assistant professor in
the Department of Mass Communication, Chang Jung Christian
University, Taiwan. Her research interests focus on international
human resource management, intercultural communication, and
political communication. Her research on exploring “The Effects of
Cross-cultural Training on Expatriate Assignments” was the only
paper published in International Communication Studies in 2011. In
recent five years, she attended at least 10 conferences, including
domestic and international. Paper presented in conferences primarily
focus on issues of cross-cultural competence, cross-cultural
leadership, cross-cultural training, political communication, media
management and media technology.
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