Cross cultural diversity and the need for expatriates training Abstract: Globalization and privatization has increased

the presence of multinational companies in almost all the countries of the world. This has also lead to increase in the multicultural work force working within an organization. However, the differences across the nations are so vast that people who live in different countries are different in each and every aspects of life. These differences are mainly because of difference in language, culture, values, belief system etc. Due to globalization, the multinational companies have presence in number of different countries. The companies send their Expatriates to take care of the companys affair in other countries. These expatriates face adjustment problems because of the presence of altogether different environment in the host country. The objective of the paper is to analyze the different types of adjustment problems faced by expatriates and the ways to cope with these problems. It also discusses what causes culture difference and how the expatriates should be trained so that they can easily adjust with the host country environment. Key Words: Expatriates, cultural differences, Expatriate training, Culture Shock. Introduction Cultures difference occurs across the whole worldfrom country to country and from market to market. One thing that may be quite acceptable in one culture may not be preferred in other countries and cultures. Since the culture comprises of number of factors which are result of interactions at home and outside world. Thus, the behavior that is proper and polite in one culture may be rude, offensive and unacceptable in other culture. The most adverse effect of culture differences are faced by Expatriates. Expatriates are citizens of one country who are working in another country. Companies spend lot of money in expatriates selection, training and sending them to host country. Expatriate failure represents the failure of firms selection process different cultural environment of host country. Therefore, they need to be selected and trained very cautiously so that they can adjust themselves in

In the field of international management, there are four types of orientations, which organizations choose to apply.the companies in international business generally subscribe to one of these orientations (Bartol & Martin, 1998). the orientations are as follows: Ethnocentric orientation: Here the orientations of the managers are generally towards home country. They believe that whatever the practices they follow in the home country will suit to other countries also. This orientation sometimes causes lots of problems to managers, since they ignore the cultural differences that exist among various nations. Polycentric Orientation: Here the companys attitude is towards host country. They believe that the organizations located in one particular country should have employee of that country only and should be operated as per the host country environment. Regiocentric orientation: Here the company thinks in terms of particular region. If any subsidiary of the company is located in particular region, than it should be dealt by the practices followed in that particular region only. Geocentric orientation: Here the company has a global perspective. It does not divide its organization in terms of regions or areas. The company thinks that what so ever be the best solution should be applied in various subsidiaries of the company. By understanding the type of orientation practiced by an organization, it will help us in finding the level of responsibilities and specific roles that an expatriate plays in an organization. Literature Review Many global managers and their families experience adjustment difficulties when they are sent on overseas assignment. Estimates are that nearly one in five US expatriates have such difficulties adjusting that they return home early, at a cost to their company of over $150,000 per person (Black, Gregorson & Mendenhall, 1992). With the growing influence of foreign markets and increasing growth prospects for multinational business models, it is of high importance that companies prepare their employees to be fit for global assignments. (Pandey &Krishnan, 2006) At the organizational level, pre and post departure training, language

training cross-cultural training are needed to be implemented and they should be regularly monitored. At the individual level, expatriates should be supported by the family and friends. (Koteswari & Bhattacharya, 2007). Literature on expatriation shows that individuals from different cultures may encounter difficulties in comprehending each other's values and behaviour towards another. Thus, this may lead to cultural clash (Elashmawi & Harris, 1993). Those who fail to recognize the potential for divergent behavior may find the actions of their superiors and subordinates who come from a different culture to be confusing, and perhaps even frightening. The result may be failure -- either ineffectiveness in the position, the loss of the position, or both. Therefore, to work effectively in a culturally mixed environment, it is necessary to understand the forces that motivate individuals from other cultures as well as the tactics that they use to attain their goals within the organization ( Ralston et al.) To minimize adverse consequences associated with expatriation, successful management of expatriation process need to be adopted with the help of careful human resource management strategy such as selection, training, compensation, etc. (Koteswari & Bhattacharya, 2007) Determinants of cultural differences There have been many attempts to define cultures and what differentiates them. The study by Hofstede (1981,in Hofstede, 2001) defined and differentiated between cultures on various dimensions viz. collectivism vs. individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs. feminism and long vs. short term orientation. The author classified a number of countries on these parameters. These parameters can be defined as: 11. Power distance: degree of inequality in power between a less powerful individual and a more powerful one in which they belong to same social system. 22. Masculinity vs. feminism: refers to the distribution of emotional roles between the genders. It opposes a tough masculine to tender feminine society. 33. Uncertainty avoidance: is the extent to which a culture programs its members to feel either comfortable or uncomfortable in unstructured situations. 44. Individualism vs. collectivism: is the degree to which individuals are supposed to look after themselves or remain integrated into groups usually around the family

55. Long term vs. short-term orientation: refers to the extent to which a culture programs its members to accept delayed gratification of their material, social and emotional needs. In his study Hofstede found that people from the Philippines, Venezuela and Mexico had the highest level of acceptance of Power Distance; in contrast Austria, Israel and Denmark has lowest level of acceptance. Hofstedes study also found that, in terms of individual vs. Group orientation, people from US, Austria and Great Britain had the highest individual orientation, while the people from Venezuela, Colombia and Pakistan had the highest Group orientation. Culture shock The heterogeneous organizations may face certain problems like culture shock. Differences of race, color, religion etc may arouse people in the organization to anxiety and fear. Its physical manifestations are clear and measurable. Unfortunately, while the term Culture Shock is recognized by most, its underlying process is understood by many few. The culture shock persists unless the organization and the people in the organization confront and openly breakthrough it. They can not cope up with work environment. The 40% of expatriates are distinguished by their job performance but complaints of home sickness particularly during festival seasons; make them count the days before the end of their assignments. The culture shock cycle is depicted in figure 1. When an expatriate leaves home country, he is excited for the foreign assignment but at the same time nervous also. He leaves Family and Friends for his foreign assignment. Therefore, feeling of loneliness started as he leaves his home country. The time he arrived at foreign land, he is again excited as new country, new environment and challenges he has to face. For the period of stay at foreign land he is homesick, at the same time faces cultural adjustment problem, different language, different people attitude etc. The culture shock cycle is continued even after completion of foreign assignment. Problems may even arise if an expatriates reaches to his home country head quarter, the people their may find that you have not accomplished much during you foreign assignment

Fig 1: Culture Shock Cycle

Need for Expatriate Training Different reasons are identified in different countries associated with expatriate failures. However, most of studies conducted in different countries identified that one of the most common factor for expatriates failure is inability of spouse to adjust in another countries environment. Since, Expatriate who visits foreign country attends training session where he is pre-informed about the challenges that he might face in foreign land. In addition to this, he is also preoccupied with his office work during his foreign assignment. While the spouse neither has work nor friends as in different environment s/he faces language and cultural adjustment problems. Other important factors for expatriate failures are family concerns, inability to adapt, poor job performance etc. (See Figure 2)

Source: Global relocation trends 2003/2004 survey report

Fig 2: Reasons for Expatriates failure

Most of countries spend heavily on expatriate training but they do not realize that its not only expatriate who is going in another country but along with him his family is also going who also need to adjust emotionally and mentally in another environment. It put a lot of pressure on expatriate and his work in another country. Therefore, when a country select an expatriate, a person of high emotional stability, work oriented, others oriented, perceptual ability, extent of cultural toughness should be selected and trained and than he should be allowed to go to other country. Another point to be considered here is apart from giving him cultural, language and practical training his spouse should also be trained in all the aspects. Caudron (1991) highlights some specific dimensions which cultural training can help in reducing costly expatriate failure and increase the effectiveness of their assignment: Negotiation styles. Expatriates should be made aware that negotiation styles vary widely from country to country. For example, in Russia negotiations are conflict oriented. However, in Asian cultures, more of a consensus-oriented negotiating style is more appropriate. Communication. In the USA, business associates have a tendency to address each other by first names right after being introduced. However, in France it may take three to six months before business associates feel comfortable addressing each other without a formal title. Nonverbal cues can also be barriers to effective communication. For example, standing too far from a Middle Easterner or standing too close to a Spaniard can be interpreted by both as a lack of interest. Social relations. Americans tend to place a high value on informality as away of creating a comfortable environment. Conversely, Europeans tend to be more formal, both in dress and demeanor, while conducting business or entertaining guests. As a result, Europeans may interpret the informal environment as a sign of disrespect. On the other hand, Americans may interpret European formality as stiff and unfriendly.

Family lifestyle adjustment. Concerns associated with everyday lifestyle adjustment in another country, such as where to shop, how to get the kids to school, and how to decode the public transportation system can be quite stressful for expatriates and their families. Assessing the training needs The length and intensity of training is dependent on the individual assignment. Tung (1998) suggests that assignments to countries where the cultural distance is great require more rigorous training. Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou (1987) on the other hand, developed a model which allows companies to determine training needs according to the length of the assignment (see figure 3). This study suggests the consideration of both factors is crucial in assessing training needs.

Source: Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou (1987) cited in Gooderham and Nordhaug (2003, p311)

Fig 3: Model for Training needs

Design of cross-cultural training The cross-cultural training should have components related to both general orientation and specific skill development (Harrison, 1994). The component of general orientation here consists of self assessment (dealing with change, stress management and identifying attributes) and cultural awareness (general dimensions, national values and work place incidents). The specific development on the other hand consists of knowledge acquisition (area studies, language studies and host attitudes) and skills training (case studies, area simulation and behavior modeling). Hence the training should focus on providing trainee the knowledge about national cultures and attitudes in the host country in the first phase while in second phase the trainee should be made to go through a rigorous process of handling the situations in a simulated environment. This will help the trainee to acquire hands-on experience. The training should emphasize on the following: Self assessment It should include training sessions on how much a person is able to adjust in different situations, how much flexible he is, how he works in stressed situations. A person with high emotional integrity, flexibility, able to mould him/her self in different situations, high tolerance level etc. should be selected for foreign assignment. Cultural awareness Cultural awareness is very important. As person who is aware of culture of other countries can only adjust and adapt him/her in host country environment. Here, the person who earlier visited different countries should be given preference. If the person has earlier not visited any foreign country, than he should be sent for short period assignment. Using right Language Communication difficulties through language come in two forms:

Use of inappropriate language Language carries with it subliminal meanings and messages transmitted through vocabulary, stress and tone. The wrong use of words or emotions hidden behind phrases can send messages that affect staff self-perception, confidence and attitude. Critical language causes poor interpersonal relationships and low self-confidence whereas supportive language and tones has the opposite effect. Foreign Languages These days, offices may have native speakers of over 50 languages all under one roof. It is important that the main language of the office is established, whether it be English, French or Spanish. Once this is constituted all employees should only converse in the main language. This avoids exclusion of staff who can not understand other languages. In addition, a company should ensure that all its employees are fully conversant in the main language. Language tuition should be seen as a necessity not a luxury. Effective communication Effective communication can simply be seen as the ability to convince other people more quickly, so that they fall in with your own plans as quickly as possible. Communication involves looking at situations from the viewpoint of other people, and understanding what they are looking for (See figure 4). It means understanding obstacles to change. It means presenting relevant and practical options, and it means telling people what the effect is of the choices they make .This is true in the international arena when seeking funds or political commitment or when convincing people about the product you are selling in their market.we have already this before that people in different countries are different they think differntle, they act differently, they use different languages, they have different taste and preferences etc. so when a person from different coutry enter in their culture they have xenophobic
Depends ss you. on g attitude, they are not ready to listendepends And if you are not agood communicator then you on on Depends on Depends on Success Effectivene Communicati Understandin

can not survive in such a dynamic environment.

Being aware of how other people think

Fig. 4: Effective communication Conclusion Since company spend so much time and money in expatriate training, it is very essential that people who are selected for foreign assignment should undergo rigorous training. Besides training for expatriates, some adjustment sessions for family should also be conducted so that the spouse who will be accompanying expatriates should not face any adjustment problems. Number of earlier studies has indicated that, in majority of case the spouse adjustment problem is much more as compared to expatriates adjustment problem which leads to expatriates failure. While designing a training programme for expatriates, the other expatriates who have earlier visited the same country should also be consulted. It is very essential that the expatriates should be well informed in advance about the challenges that they might face in foreign country. References Charles W L Hill (2004).International business competing in the global market place. McGraw-Hill College Koteswari V B K and Bhattacharya M S. (2007) Managing Expatriate Stress. Delhi Business Review X Vol. 8, No. 1 (January - June 2007)

Muralidhar S. (2008). Managing the People Dimension of Globalization. Conference on Global Competition & Competitiveness of Indian Corporate, IIM Lucknow Neil Payne (2001). Hurdles to cross cultural business communication. Ezine publisher Richard R. Gesteland (2002) .Cross cultural business behavior. Copenhagen business school press P Amit and Krishnan S K. (2005). Expatriation: The cross-cultural issues and design of training for coping. Human Resource Development: Challenges and Opportunities. Richard R. Gesteland (2004).Spanning the chasm of culture gap. General management review Robert L. Minter (2008). Preparation Of Expatriates For Global Assignments: Revisited Journal of Diversity Management Second Quarter 2008 Volume 3, Number 2