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Cultural Adjustment:
Going and Coming
John R. Baldwin, Ph.D.
Illinois State University
Normal, IL 61790-4480
USA
[email protected]
+1 (309) 438-7969
Shannon O’Donnell, MA
Chestnut Global Partners, NFP
Bloomington, IL 61701
USA
[email protected]
+1 (309) 820-3557
An Increasingly Global Community
Consider
Colgate-Palmolive operates in 190 countries. 75% of its
annual sales are from overseas markets
AT&T has over 55,000 employees working in 105
countries
ALCOA has 70% of its workforce outside the U.S.
Caterpillar and its dealers operate in over 100 countries.
About 50% of their workforce is outside the U.S., up from
only 27% ten years ago.
The U.S. is the #1 expatriate destination in the world
40,000 multinational companies employee 75 million
people worldwide
Importance of Repatriation
 75% of Multi-national companies (MNCs)
have an expat recall rate greater than
10%.
Harzig, 1995.
 22% of U.S. expatriate employees
turnover within the first year of
repatriation.
GMAC GRS – NFTC –
SHRM Global, 2003.
 50% turn over within 3 years.
Black and Gregersen, 1991.
A Question Before We Start
• Make this practical!
• What would the following material (in this unit)
suggest practically regarding:
– Employee selection (including yourself)?
– View towards adjustment?
– Behaviors traveler or others can engage in to reduce
cultural adjustment difficulty?
– Organizational training/policy?
Cultural Adjustment: definitions
• What is “culture shock” (TT&C, p. 115-116?
• Types of “cultural adjusters”
– Sojourners
– Immigrants
– NOT Tourists
• Aspects of culture shock (Oberg, in TT&C)
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–
–
–
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Identity loss, deprivation
Identity strain
Identity rejection
Identity confusion (role ambiguity, unpredictability)
Identity powerlessness
• Culture shock, or cultural transition? (p. 118)
Culture shock: Symptoms
• The ABC’s of culture shock symptoms:
– A:
•
•
•
– B:
•
•
•
–C
•
•
•
Culture shock: Factors
• What are the Influences? (Will some people
adjust better than others?)
–
–
–
–
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Cultural Adjustment: The Process?
The “U-Curve”
Stage-Models of Adjustment
• The stages GOING (TT&C)
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–
–
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Initial adjustment (“honeymoon stage”)
Crisis (fight/flight): slump, hostility
Effective/Adjustment/Flex (“humor”)
Stability (“in-sync adjustment”)
Theory on RCA: Psychological Model
• The research
– Church, 1982: Summary of 150 studies (Rev of Lit)
– Kealy, 1989; Ady’s approach (next slide)
– Tanaka et al., 1994
• Domains of adjustment:
– Colleen Ward’s work; Website
• Psychological
• Sociocultural
CONCLUSION RE: U-Curve/Stage Models
High
Psychological
wellbeing
Interpersonal
Adjustment
Degree of
Adjustment
Ability to get around
Organizational
Performance
Low
Time
Can You Go Home?
“Are you in pain, Frodo?”
“Well, yes, I am. . . There is no real going back.
Though I may come to the Shire, it will not
seem the same, for I shall not be the same. I
am wounded with knife, sting, and tooth, and a
long burden. Where shall I find rest?”
Gandalf did not answer.
--Return of the King
Coming Home: Re-entry Shock
• The Stages (W-curve)
– Ambivalence stage
– Re-entry culture shock stage
– Resocialization stage
• The symptoms? (ABC)
• The reasons? (TT&C pp. 134-135)
–
–
–
– Clyde Austin: #1 reason: ____________________
• YOUR EXPERIENCES?
Coming Home…It could be worse
than you think…
W-curve
http://www.iastate.edu/~learncommunity/appendixa.pdf
Entry into New Culture
Preliminary
State
Spectator
State
Adaptation
State
Shock
State
Participant
State
Re-entry into Own Culture
Preliminary
State
Spectator
State
Adaptation
State
Shock
State
Participant
State
Coming home: Possible
approaches
• Adler (1997, in TT&C): 3 patterns:
– Resocialized returnee
– Alienated returnee (think militant ex-smoker)
– Proactive returnee
• Martin et al: Students’ closeness to friends
and family: Findings? Why?
• Wilson (1985): Becoming a “mediating
person”—that is, a bridge.
Day 1: Strategies!
• Strategies for going?
–
–
–
–
–
• Strategies for returning?
–
–
–
• Who has the responsibility?!
Cultural Adjustment: The Process?
Readings for Next Class Period:
• Is this how culture shock works? Is it
all bad?
• What is the role of communication in
alleviating culture shock (Kim, Ch. 26
in MN&F)
• What are some things you can do
before you go, while you are there,
and when you return home? (Smith,
Ch. 27, in MN&F)
Berry’s model of XC Adjustment
-
Re-adaptation of Host-Cultural Identity
Assimilation
Integration
Marginalization
Separation
+
+
Maintenance of Cross-Cultural Identity
-
Culture Learning Theory
• Smith, 1998
• People have to relearn
their cultures
• Aspects of identity: scope,
salience, avowal,
ascription, and the
everyday negotiation of ID
• Extensions by Sussman
(2000)
Theory on RCA: Psychological Model
• Young Yun Kim’s Interdisciplinary Approach
– Aspects of the Person
• Gender, age, religion, ethnicity, SES
• Openness, strength, positivity
• Preparedness for change
– Aspects of the Culture and Context
• Support system
• Conformity pressure
• Host (home) culture receptivity!
– The role of Communication:
• Own group & New Group
• Interpersonal & Mediated
Adaptation
Growth over
Time
Stress
Building Bridges: Success Strategies
Organization
Before
During
After
School
Individual/
Family
Building Bridges: Success Strategies
(Based on conference discussion groups’ answers)
Organization
Before
•Careful employee selection/screening
•Provide training for the trip on culture & adjustment
•Talk with someone who has gone & done similar work
During
•Training for return on realistic expectations
•Counseling support
•Pair up expatriate with home country/host country people
After
•Develop network group of people who have lived abroad
•Counseling support
•Honor/highlight/exchange experiences abroad
•Integrate into performance goals
•Professional development opportunities
•Use participants in future recruiting
•Financial incentive/benefits to keep employees
Building Bridges: Success Strategies
(Based on conference discussion groups’ answers)
School
Before
•Foster relationships between students who have returned
from a country to ones going there
•Provide literature on adjustment
•Provide literature to family
•Encourage hobbies/ways that could help share stories/
experiences upon return
During
•Encourage students to stay in contact with the person they
met that had gone to that country
•Send packages, letters, photos, etc.
•Initialize housing process for return
After
•Provide opportunities to share experience (photo gallery on
global living)
•Offer the chance to mentor another student
•Encourage student to be a mentee to someone who has lived
abroad
Building Bridges: Success Strategies
(Based on conference discussion groups’ answers)
Individual/ Family
Before
•Extended family/friends handbook on what the person abroad
may be going through and what it may be like when they
return
•Plan on visiting
•Find peers for children to talk with before leaving
During
•Maintain contact w/ home culture/family
•Discuss with experienced peer
After
•Attend re-entry orientation/training/parties
•Maintain web-based connections in former country
•Seek support
•Try to avoid expectations
•Continue doing activities from former country (for example,
eat Thai food once every week or so)
Some sources with tips and models
for Return Culture Adjustment:
• Martin, J. N., & Harrell, T. (2004). Intercultural reentry of
students and professionals: Theory and practice. In D.
Landis, J. M. Bennett, & M. J. Bennett (Eds.), Handbook
of intercultural training (pp. 309-336). Thousand Oaks:
Sage.
• Smith, S. L. (2002). The cycle of cross-cultural adaptation
and reentry. In J. N. Martin, T. K. Nakayama, & L. A.
Flores (Eds). Readings in intercultural communication:
Experiences and contexts (pp. 246-259). Belmont, CA:
Mayfield.
• http://www.iastate.edu/~learncommunity/appendixa.pdf
Success Strategies – Education
 Devise a way to meet with
students when they return
 Encourage students to take
things one day at a time.
 Clearly define the students
education goals. Use books
such as Study Abroad: How
to Get the most out of your
experience -Dowell and Mirsky
 Discuss the challenges of
repatriation before the student
leaves.
 Establish a peer-mentor
program
 Encourage students to get
involved when they return in
international ways.
 Work with students to recruit
future study abroaders.
 Introduce students to globally
minded-jobs
 Keep international media(s)
available in the study abroad
office
 Suggest talking with a
counselor if problems arise
When is Repatriation Addressed
• 44% Pre-Departure
• 21% 6 months or more
before repatriating
• 23% Under 6 months
before repatriating
Not soon enough
Success Strategies - Business
 Make sure the right people are
going abroad.
 Clearly define the expat’s
career goals before the
assignment begins and make
sure the goals reflect your
company’s overall objectives.
 Discuss the challenges of
repatriation before the
employee leaves.
 Encourage expats to make
regular visits to the home
office through a home-leave
policy.
 Understand and educate
management on the
challenges of repatriation.
 Find positions and activities
that use repats’ new skills.
 Provide support to the entire
family.
 Encourage repats to approach
repatriation similarly to
relocating overseas.
 Once repats have returned
home, offer a counseling
program.
 Create a mentor program for
the entire process.
Workforce, July 2002, pp. 40-44
Example: Colgate-Palmolive Co.
HR Magazine v.47 p.101-104, 107
Global Succession-Planning Database
 Data on each manager’s experience with or awareness of a
particular culture
Extended overseas career track
 40% of the 300 expatriates have had four or more global
assignments
 75% of the 300 expatriates have had two or more global
assignments
www.colgate.com
Example: AT&T Safety Net
Workforce, July 2002, p. 43
Three-part program
1)
Proactive outreach to the employee & family pre-departure and
throughout the sojourn
2)
Mentor program with colleagues at their home office; predeparture meeting before returning home
3)
“Welcome Home” seminar one month after returning: Group
counseling, individual check-ups
www.att.com
The Cost
An effective repatriation program costs
between $3,500 and $10,000 per family
– Laura Herring, CEO of The Impact Group
ROI Strategies
Effectiveness
Investigations
Benchmarking
Accountability
Reports
Satisfaction &
Feedback Surveys
Cost-Benefit
Studies
Case Studies
Outcome
Evaluations
Research
Pre and Post
Measurement
Questions?
John R. Baldwin, Ph.D.
Illinois State University
Normal, IL 61790-4480
USA
[email protected]
+1 (309) 438-7969
Shannon O’Donnell, MA
Chestnut Global Partners, NFP
Bloomington, IL 61701
USA
[email protected]
+1 (309) 820-3557