The second phase is the most important phase in the adjustment process because it impacts the decision of expatriate to stay or leave the host country and it decides the success of assignments. Many expatriate assignments were unsuccessful due to the inability of adjusting to the new environment, especially the adjustment of their spouses (Lau, 2007). According to some studies, there are from 25 per cent to 40 per cent of failure American expatriations, depending on the location assignment (Fortune, 1995). Moreover, some research about the expatriation in Asia found that the expatriate failure rates ranged from 4-15 per cent (Tung, 1981), 16-40 per cent (Black, Mendenhall and Oddou, 1991), 25-40 per cent (Relston, 1995), 20-50 per cent (Morley, Burke and Finn, 1999) and about 70 per cent (Shay and Bruce, 1997). Nevertheless, these figures had a myth of high expatriate failure rates and the most reliable researches are those done by Tung (1981) and Forster (1997), the range of 4-15 per cent and 0-18 per cent respectively (Harzing, 2002). Vamer and Palmer (2002) found that if an expatriate failure happened, organisations could be lost from US$ 250,000 to US$ 1,000,000. Therefore, in order to avoid expatriate failure, it is very useful for companies to provide their staffs a preparation before sending them overseas for international assignments. Cross-cultural training or pre-departure training programs are the good solution for expatriates regarding to this issue.
The effectiveness of pre-departure training
The main purpose of pre-departure training is to facilitate the expatriate’s adjustment in working and living demands in a foreign country (Downling, Festing, Engel, 2008, p149).
The pre-departure training programs can include the following components: cultural awareness programs, preliminary visits, language training and practical assistance (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1986). In addition, according to the different learning process, type of job, country of assignment and the time available, Tung (1981) identified five categories of pre-departure training i.e. environmental briefing and cultural orientation, culture assimilators, language training, sensitive training and field experiences.
Cultural awareness programs prepare practical knowledge and understanding about the host-country culture for the expatriate so that she or he can have appropriate behaviour to coping patterns (Downling, Festing, Engel, 2008, p141). It helps expatriates interact effectively with people from another culture, and prompts them to a quick adjustment in a new environment (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1991).
Preliminary visits offer employees a preliminary trip to the host country, so that they can gather information about the country where they will live and work in a period of time. It is very useful for them to evaluate their adaptabilities in the overseas assignment. In 1997, the result of a European survey showed that about 53 per cent of organizations always provided preliminary visits for their staffs. (Downling, Festing, Engel, 2008, p144).
Language training is an enviable program of pre-departure training. It improves the ability of expatriates to communicate with citizens in the host country. English is the primary language which is most necessary for expatriates. In the recent time, English is considered as the international language which is spoken all over the world. English training is especially important in non-English-speaking countries, such as India or China. However, in English-speaking countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia or the USA, most of organizations found English training is not necessary. (Downling, Festing, Engel, 2008, p145). That is the reason why Hurn (2007) mentioned about language training as “This is an obvious, but much neglected area”. In 2002, the ORC Worldwide poll reported that 59 per cent of the responding companies provided pre-departure training before the departure and 74 per cent provided language training while their staffs were on assignment (Downling, Festing, Engel, 2008, p145).
Practical assistance is another program of pre-departure training. This program promotes the adaptation of expatriates and their families when they move to a new environment.
By providing these programs, pre-departure training is very useful and effective to bring a good preparation for expatriates before their departure. It will make their lives easier in the host country.
How companies provide pre-departure training programs for their employees.
An expatriate’s adjustment is one of the most important factors makes international assignments success or failure. Understanding the important role of cross-cultural training, many multinational corporations offer pre-departure training programs to their employees prior to an overseas assignment. The number of MNCs which are offering a cross-cultural training has increased over period of time. For instance, in early 1980s, there were about 32 per cent of MNCs offered cross-cultural training (Tung, 1982). In 1998, almost twenty years later, 70 per cent of the 177 MNCs surveyed by Global Relocation Trends Survey Report provide cross-culture of at least one day’s duration (Windham International & National Foreign Trade Council, 1998). However, the number of companies providing pre-departure training is different regarding to nationality. According to Tung’s study (1982), MNCs in USA conducted pre-departure training for expatriates less than MNCs in Europe and Japan. There were only 32 per cent of US MNCs in comparison with 69 per cent of European MNCs and 57 per cent of Japanese MNCs. A recent survey in 150 companies from USA and Western countries found that 69 per cent of the participated companies offer at least a one-day cross-cultural programme and the average of participation rate of expatriates is 67 per cent (Global Relocation Services, 2002).
Robert Bean (2006) have done some surveys on cross-cultural training in Australia and reported that more than 60 per cent of participants want more cross-cultural training and 88 per cent recommend that it should be compulsory for all employees in customer contact positions. By doing surveys of the effectiveness of cross-cultural training on 515 training participants in 39 groups from 31 government and community organisations, Bean (2006) found that 28 per cent responded positively. There are five types of cross-cultural programs of which 51 per cent in cultural awareness, 22 per cent in specialized training, 16.2 per cent in cultural diversity, 7.4 per cent in working with interpreters and 3.5 per cent in training of trainer (TOT). In comparison between the poll results in 2005 and 2006, there is a significant increase of three areas such as 12.3 per cent increase in understanding of organisational policies and issues regarding cultural diversity, 17.1 per cent increase in knowledge of cross-cultural communication skills, and 16.7 per cent increase in knowledge and understanding of the customs, values and beliefs of diverse cultures (Bean, 2006).
A case study of Ericsson.
To understand deeply about how companies implement the pre-departure programs for their staffs, Ericsson is a good example. Ericsson is a Swedish telecommunication company which has 78,000 employees from 71 varied nationalities and working in 110 different countries. Ericsson has been providing cross-cultural training for its employees since 1978 (Ericsson Internal, 2009a). Currently, there are totally 1,615 expatriates who are working in Ericsson and about 1,492 of them, accounting for92 per cent, are men. In the first quarter of 2009, the number of expatriates who are in Sweden, the host country is 152, takes 9 per cent (Ericsson Internal, 2009b).
An international long-term assignment in Ericsson lasts at least one year; normally it lasts two or three years (Hanberg and Ostedahl, 2009). Ericsson always provides a pre-departure training to employees before departure. The main purpose of the pre-departure training is to facilitate cultural assimilation of the expatriates (Hanberg and Ostedahl, 2009).
In Sweden, before the departure, employees are offered to join a one-day briefing session while expatriates from other countries are informed about this session via a DVD. In addition, before attending the pre-departure training course, expatriates receive information via email and Internet in order to investigate and prepare important things for their departures (Hanberg and Ostedahl, 2009). There are about 5 to 18 people join each briefing session, including expatriates and their partners. In this session, the participants are given information about policies, practices, insurance, security, health issues and an overview of the cultural adaptation process (Ericsson Internal, 2009a). Expatriates are instructed how to cope with difficulties in the new environment as well as solving cultural problems. They also are informed about the adaptation issues and phases in the adjustment process. The expatriates are encouraged to find out as much as possible information about the country where they will live and work (Hanberg and Ostedahl, 2009).
The pre-departure course includes interaction training when returned expatriates shared their experiences with the participants. However, interaction training should be given after the expatriates have arrived in the host country (Brewster, 1995, p. 64).
Ericsson provides expatriates at least 20 hours of language training prior to departure. This training focuses on the host country’s business language. It helps expatriates improve their abilities to communicate in new location. Moreover, the expatriates are recommended to travel to the country beforehand in order to evaluate what they will face during their international assignment (Hanberg and Ostedahl, 2009).
By doing all these things, Ericsson was so successful in their international assignment. The number of expatriates who had to return earlier before finishing their assignment makes up only one per cent and the main reason is due to health problems (Hanberg and Ostedahl, 2009). Through interviewing Hanberg and Ostedahl (2009) realized that Ericsson is very good at caring its employees. In their story, one family that did not want to stay in Egypt was moved to Tunisia where they felt more comfortable and the expatriate could work well in the same assignment. As a result, Ericsson’s staffs are always promoted to fulfil their tasks and contribute as much as possible to the success of the company.
Pre-departure training is necessary or not?
Many multinational corporations offer pre-departure training programs to their employees prior to overseas assignment while other MNCs do not consider this training as an essential. They have several reasons to find that providing pre-departure training does not make benefit. In USA, there was a decrease in the number of organizations which provide pre-departure training though 1980s. In 1984, a research of one thousand US multinational companies resulted only 25 per cent of those offered pre-departure training (Baker, 1984). Five years later, in 1989, this figures dropped to 13 per cent (Feldman, 1989).
While doing a research about pre-departure training for expatriates who will go to China, Lau (2007) was so surprised to find out that more than half of the respondents were not offered pre-departure training programs, although all of them were working for multinational organisations. She found some reasons for this issue. The first one is that expatriates have been to China before, so they had experience about the Chinese culture as well as the living environment there. Nevertheless, there were only a half of expatriates who did not receive pre-departure training had already been to China (Lau, 2007). Another reason could be that the expatriates had been on the other overseas assignments before. For that reason, the organizations found that it is not necessary for them to take a pre-departure training program. According to Waxin and Panaccio (2005), international experience is a moderator which effects cross-cultural training. However, whatever the expatriates are familiar with the Chinese culture or not, they feel pre-departure training programs very useful. Consequently, multinational firms should give pre-departure training for expatriates.
The decision whether to offer a pre-departure training or not is also depending on the specific circumstances of the company (Selmer, 2006). If the company is implementing effectively and profitably, the expatriate will have more opportunities to receive pre-departure training programs prior to his or her international assignment. In contrast, if the company’s financial status is not good enough to offer the pre-departure training programs, the company will have to accept some risks in its international assignments.
According to the research above, there is a fact that most of multinational corporations want to give pre-departure training programs to their employees. However, because of some specific situations, they can not do that. How to improve the pre-departure training to make it more effective and convenient to the multinational companies? There should be some further research in this question.
Conclusion
In the current context of globalization and competitive market environment, international assignments play a key role in corporations’ business activities. The international assignments significantly contribute to a success and profitability of the company. It is hardly to ensure sustainable development of the companies if their overseas assignments are unsuccessful. Carefully preparation for employees prior their departure through pre-departure training programs proved to be a very effective and efficient modality to ensure a success of overseas assignments. . By doing this, companies could restrict the challenges which their expatriate employees will cope in the host country and they will have more chances to make their assignment successful.
This study contributes the literature which supports the modality of providing the pre-departure training for employees who will do their assignment abroad. The study covers a number of researches about what challenges the expatriates have to face and how the pre-departure training can help them to reduce these challenges. The study also includes some research on a number of organizations which offer this training to their staffs as well as several reasons why some companies do not find it necessary.
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