Elsevier

Journal of World Business

Volume 43, Issue 1, January 2008, Pages 109-126
Journal of World Business

Individual differences and expatriate assignment effectiveness: The case of U.S.-based Korean expatriates☆

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2007.10.005Get rights and content

Abstract

The paper examines the relationships among individual differences, cross-cultural adjustment, and expatriate assignment effectiveness, using a field survey of U.S.-based Korean expatriates. Overall, the findings are consistent with the literature and support previous findings. However, a unique and interesting pattern was found, revealing that how well the expatriates adjusted to the assignment was not related to their premature return intention. This finding is attributed to Korean society's tight cultural norms, expectancy for positive career outcomes when completing such assignments, and desire to provide diverse educational opportunities and life experiences for their children and family when staying in the preferred assignment destination. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Section snippets

Theoretical background and hypotheses

Individual differences refer to characteristics of personality, experience, ability, education, gender, and so forth. These have been found to influence diverse work-related attitudes and behaviors including job satisfaction, performance, and turnover (e.g., Barrick, Mount, & Judge, 2001). Among others, it is well known that particular personality types and abilities may hold greater predictive validity for a certain job or task. In an expatriate context, personality differences have been

Samples and procedures

Data were obtained from Korean expatriate managers and engineers using a structured survey questionnaire. The participants in the study were expatriates currently working in the U.S. The senior author personally contacted one senior manager at each company and explained the purpose and procedures of the study, the voluntary nature of the study and provided assurances of confidentiality. The locations included California, New Jersey, New York, and Texas. The participants worked in industries

Results

The descriptive statistics for all variables are presented in Table 1, along with the correlation matrix. Self-monitoring does not correlate with any cross-cultural adjustment and other outcomes, but it is correlated with English fluency and performance. Previous experience in the U.S. correlates to work and interaction adjustment and performance. English fluency is correlated to work and interaction adjustment and two outcome variables (i.e., job satisfaction and performance). Interestingly,

Discussion

The main purpose of this study was to examine how specific individual differences of U.S.-based Korean expatriates influence their interaction and work adjustments and job satisfaction and performance. Overall, the results show consistency with previous literature, other than the unique finding in the relationship between cross-cultural adjustment and premature return intention. Some questions are put forth for future research to enhance our knowledge about expatriate management.

We believe that

Conclusion

In conclusion, the research presented here contributes to knowledge of expatriate management practically, as well as theoretically. The results demonstrated in the study – the importance of local language skills and previous host country experience for international assignment outcomes – based on empirical testing, provide more confidence to Korean multinational corporations when selecting appropriate candidates for such assignments.

In addition, the argument and empirical support for the

Acknowledgements

This research is funded by a graduate student research grant from the Association of Former Students and the Office of Graduate Studies, Texas A&M University. The authors acknowledge the helpful suggestions of Don Hellriegel, David Lei and William Reisel.

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    ☆

    Portions of this paper were presented at the 65th meeting of the Academy of Management, Atlanta, GA, August 2006.

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