Royal Holloway, University of London
School of Management

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

By: September 2010

Supervisor: Dr. Yu Zheng

This dissertation is submitted as part of the requirement for the award of the Master’s degree MSc in International Human Resource Management

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Acknowledgements
In the name of God, most gracious, most merciful. I would like to take this as an opportunity, to owe my deepest gratitude to all who have made this dissertation possible. Firstly, I am heartily thankful to my supervisor Dr.Yu Zheng for her unlimited advice, guidance and support throughout this journey. Secondly, a big Thank you to my lovely family, for their encouragement, and constant support. Thirdly, a great appreciation should not be forgotten, to my friends who have helped me during this challenging year.

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Executive Summary
This research endeavours to investigate the management of international assignments in a European and a Middle Eastern airline. In-depth qualitative interviews are conducted to get a clearer picture of the motives behind sending out expatriates, the selection procedures and training programs of each airline. Also to find out the role HR department plays towards the preparation of expatriates and their adjustment abroad. Another aim is to tackle any obstacles expatriates face, and determine their degree of significance, hence, draw some conclusions to ease the transition and the whole expatriation journey for the manager and the family involved. A questionnaire is used to address this issue. Results of the investigation show that both companies are advised to seriously consider the advantages of offering cross cultural training especially to expatriates assigned to areas where there is a big culture gap. Also, to provide a comprehensive training program, before departure, on assignment and not to ignore preparation for repatriation. Expatriation is regarded as one of the most expensive staffing strategies for MNCs, therefore it should be handled more effectively and alternatives should be investigated.

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Contents
Abbreviations: .............................................................................................................................. 6 Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................... 7 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Context and Background of The Study ........................................................................... 7 Motives, Aims and Objectives:........................................................................................10 Research Approach and Questions.................................................................................13 The Structure of The Dissertation..................................................................................13

Chapter 2: Literature Review .....................................................................................................14 2.1 2.2 Motives for International Transfers ...............................................................................14 Expatriate Selection.......................................................................................................17 Selection Criteria ...................................................................................................18 The influence of Spouse .........................................................................................18 Expatriate Selection in Practice..............................................................................19 Dimensions of Expatriate Acculturation.................................................................20

2.2.1 2.2.2 2.2.3 2.2.4 2.3

Expatriate Training .......................................................................................................22 Cross-Cultural Training.........................................................................................22

2.3.1 2.4 2.5

Problems Faced by Expatriates ......................................................................................25 Expatriate Adjustment ...................................................................................................27

Chapter 3: Methodology and Data ..............................................................................................30 3.1 3.2 3.3 Research Perspective and Type ......................................................................................30 Research Context and Participants ................................................................................31 Research Methods .........................................................................................................33 Questionnaires:......................................................................................................33 Semi- Structure Interviews .....................................................................................35

3.3.1 3.3.2 3.4 3.5

Obstacles Faced. ............................................................................................................36 An Overview of Data Analysis........................................................................................37

Chapter 4: Discussions and Findings...........................................................................................38

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4.1 Interview Data Analysis .................................................................................................38 Interview results (M) company: ..............................................................................39 Interview results (E) company:...............................................................................44

4.1.1 4.1.2 4.2

Questionnaire Data Analysis..........................................................................................49

Chapter 5: Conclusion.................................................................................................................54 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................56 Appendix Abbreviations..............................................................................................................64 Appendix (A) ..............................................................................................................................66 Appendix (B): Interview questions ..............................................................................................67 Appendix (C): Interview Transcribing (E) ..................................................................................71 Appendix (D): Interview Transcribing (M).................................................................................84 Appendix (E): Emails ..................................................................................................................89 Appendix (F): Questionnaire.......................................................................................................90 Appendix (G): Company (E) comments ....................................................................................103 Appendix (H): Company (M) comments ...................................................................................108 Appendix (I): Comparison between (E) & (M)..........................................................................110 Appendix (J): Sources of stress..................................................................................................120 Appendix (K): (Company (E) data collection)..........................................................................121 Appendix (L): (Company (M) data collection) ..........................................................................128

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Abbreviations:
• • • • • • CCT: Cross-Cultural Training HCNs: Host Country Nationals HRM: Human Resource Management MNCs: Multinational Companies PCNs: Parent Country Nationals EU: European Union

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Chapter 1
Introduction:
This dissertation is a report of a comparative study on selection, training and adjustment of international staff in the airline industry. This first chapter presents the context and background of the study, definition of key terms, the significance of the topic, the research focus, and an overview of the dissertation structure.

1.1 Context and Background of The Study

During the last few decades, business has developed to become much more international. Many multinational corporations believe that intensity of competition, ambitious targets, the greater international image and the drive for success, lies in expanding their businesses abroad combined with successful cross-cultural assignments. Crossing national boundaries, entering new markets and integrating with people from different cultural backgrounds have become the target of many international organizations (Lee, 2005). It has been suggested that ‘every type of international issue is either generated by people or solved by people. Therefore, arranging the appropriate personnel in the proper positions is the key to the development of internationalization’ (Duerr, 1986, in Kreng & Huang, 2009: 1488). The literature has divided international staffing policies into three standard categories these are: an ethnocentric approach, a polycentric approach, and the geocentric approach (Perlmutter, 1969). Later, in 1979, Heenan and Perlmutter provided a fourth category, named regiocentric approach ( Harzing& Van Ruysseveldt, 2004).
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An ethnocentric approach is conducted when Multinational companies mostly allocate parent country nationals to manage key positions abroad; executives at headquarters believe that the national identity of the firm is affirmed by employing home nationals to manage their business abroad and by dominating the flow of communication from headquarters to subsidiaries (Perlmutter, 1969). Expatriates fit into this approach, thus being the root of this study. The term expatriation often refers to ‘the process of international transfer of managers’ (Harzing & Van Ruysseveldt, 2004: 252), in general, the term expatriate could mean any employee who is working outside his/her home land. Throughout this research expatriates are referred to parent country national employees who are transferred abroad by MNCs to manage overseas subsidiaries, for a specified period of time, usually ranging between 2-5 years (Harzing & Van Ruysseveldt, 2004). The selection of expatriates is different from the selection of locals. There are additional managerial, technical, behavioural and soft skills an expatriate is expected to have (Tung, 1981, Adler, 1986, Black and Mendenhall, 1990, Caligiuri, 2000). It has been suggested that a successful expatriate should possess the following skills: ‘Ideally, it seems, he (or she) should have the stamina of an Olympic swimmer, the mental agility of Einstein, the conversational skill of a professor of languages, the detachment of a judge, the tact of a diplomat, and the perseverance of an Egyptian pyramid-builder. And if he is going to measure up the demands of living and working in a foreign country he should also have a feeling for culture, his moral judgements should not be too rigid; he should be able to merge with the local environment with chameleon-like ease and he should show no signs of prejudice’. (Phatak, 1974, in Forster, 1992: 609).

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Expatriates are considered to be an asset to the company (Brett, Stroh & Reilly, 1993, in Borstorff , Harris and Giles, 1997), hence, the company should prepare them properly so they can carry out their role effectively, and not turn into a liability. It is imperative not to ignore the fact that ‘a Failed expatriate assignment can be a catastrophic waste of money and time for both, the manager in question and their company’ (Edwards & Rees, 2006 : 195). Expatriation is a transitional stepping stone and gateway to a person’s life and career, where the spouse and/or family are often included. One of the most widely discussed areas which the training literature has focused on when it comes to expatriation has been “cross-cultural training” which refers to any intervention aiming to increase an individual’s ability to cope and work in a new foreign environment (Earley, 1987). However, not all training programs turn out to be effective, it has been argued that the content, mode of communication, methods used and rigor of training, may impact its success or failure (Osman-Gani, 2000, in Shen, 2005). The idea behind the significance of training relies on the positive relationship between training and adjustment (Earley, 1987). The consequences of selecting the right person with the right criteria and providing the necessary training are paramount enabling a quicker adjustment. Scholars believe that adjusted people are those who feel psychologically comfortable, and familiar with the host environment (Black, 1988). Kim (2001) has provided a comprehensive definition explaining the process of cross-cultural adaptation, She states, it is ‘a dynamic process by which an individual- a ‘stranger’- who relocates to new, unfamiliar or changed cultural environments establishes or re-establishes and maintains relatively stable, reciprocal and functional relationships with those environments’ ( Kim, 2001, in Siljanen and Lamsa, 2009: 1472) . From this definition, it is crucial to stress the point that expatriates are expected to be confronted with some obstacles. They should have the ability to deal with

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stress, reduce the level of uncertainty, break the ice and interact effectively with the new environment. In reality, whether organizations pay attention to such skills or not will be later revealed. An attempt to combine what the literature suggests and what is happening on the ground is essential, in order to nourish the knowledge and draw realistic practical conclusions. This is expected to benefit companies and individuals in the area of International Human Resource Management. Preparing expatriates for their new role varies between companies. However, what remains the same is the nature of such assignments which entails the move from home to a new environment. This research will focus on managing expatriates in the airline industry. The aspects covered are the selection, training and adjustment of expatriates. The study is based on a comparative analysis between a European and Middle Eastern airline. Based on the results, selection seems to be handled according to the suggested criteria in the literature, but still may be subject to further improvements. Much has been written about the effect of cross-cultural training, however, it appears, the two companies do manage to survive without offering that comprehensive set of training recommended in the literature, this is not to undermine its significance, but try to investigate, understand, and convince the what, how and why things are the way they are. Also try to remove any limitations.

1.2 Motives, Aims and Objectives

Expatriation is a fascinating subject; it is a significant area of study in relation to the researcher’s master’s programme (MSc International Human Resource Management). Three out of six courses in the programme have addressed that topic from different perspectives, these were: Managing across borders, International Human Resource Management and

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organizational learning, change and innovation. This has enhanced the researcher’s knowledge about the subject. Adler (1983, in Harzing & Van Ruysseveldt, 2004). Stated that what differentiates a domestic company from a multinational company lies in two elements: multiculturalism and geographical dispersion. This raises a crucial question: how to effectively manage people, whose job requires interaction with others from diverse cultural backgrounds, in different geographical areas. Adler’s description of multinational firms is to a considerable extent believed to be applicable to airline companies in this research. The airline industry is a booming sector, with worldwide connections. Their business is on demand and they tend to rely a lot on international expansion to increase their profit, reputation and penetrate new markets. This would constantly call for the need of human resources to manage their business abroad. Furthermore, the researcher has chosen the airline industry because of convenient access to data. The empirical side of the study would not have been possible without such access. The main objective of this study is to examine in a “real-life” setting the implementation of some ideas in the field of selection, training and adjustment of expatriates. Despite the wide range of literature on those aspects, an area has been identified which is still in need of indepth investigation. That is: ‘the clear issue is that strategy (the what) is internationalizing faster than implementation (the how) and much faster than individual managers and executives themselves (the who)’.Therefore, the challenge is to investigate how to manage human resources that are geographically dispersed (Hedlund, 1990, in Adler and Bartholomew, 1992: 52). In addition, most studies have generally been based on a specific number of locations and were restricted to expatriates from a specific nation (e.g, Black, 1988, 1990; Nicholson &
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Imaizumi, 1993 as cited in Shaffer, Harrison & Gilley, 1999). Mostly, Americans, Japanese and Europeans. Scullion points to the need of conducting more research on British firms, he states ‘There is little empirical research on the international human resource management issues associated with the management of managers in British and Irish international firms, especially in comparison to the considerable literature on international human resource management in U.S. firms’ (1994: 87-88). Also, it has been argued that the majority of previous literature on international adjustment has been ‘anecdotal in nature, and few scholars have rigorously investigated the phenomenon, empirically or theoretically’ (Adler, 1983, Black & Mendenhall, 1990; Kyi, 1988; Schollhammer, 1975 in Black et al., 1991: 293). Another objective is to test the validity of previous theories, because most of them are old. Nowadays things have changed; technology has facilitated communication between people and between companies. So how does this fit in with the present research? The extent to which expatriation remains the same as tested before, will be investigated. Finally, as discussed earlier, the research is conducted on a leading airline company in Europe (UK), and another growing airline company from the Middle East. Both companies share the same industry and alliance, but one is in a developed country and the other is in a developing one. The aim of the research is to investigate how each airline prepares its expatriates. Furthermore, very little research has been carried out in the Middle East regarding expatriates, which makes this study worth doing. Studies on UK firms found that the culture gap is greater between the UK and the Middle East (Scullion, 1994), therefore many European companies prepare their international staff by providing cross-cultural training. However, vice versa requires more investigation.

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1.3 Research Approach and Questions

This study takes the approach of testing theories that are known in the selection, training, and adjustment domain of expatriates (i.e. Edstrom & Galbraith, 1977, Harris& Brewster 1999, Black et al. 1989, 1990, 1991, Torbiorn, 1982).Hence generating conclusions accordingly. The main questions addressed in this research are: 1. 2. How do airlines select and train expatriates? What problems do expatriates face? What can HR do to eliminate those problems and ease the adjustment?

The subject is investigated from two angles, from expatriate’s perspective and from HR’s. This way, a link is created between both perspectives and a clearer picture will be generated.

1.4 The Structure of The Dissertation

This dissertation research has been organized in the following way. First, the study gives a brief overview of the state of knowledge available in the area of expatriation. Key theories, authors and debates regarding motives for international transfer, selection of expatriates (Formal or informal), cross-cultural training and adjustment are discussed. Next, chapter (3) explains the methodology used, highlights the benefits and drawbacks of the research design. Furthermore, it shows sources of data, participants, matters of confidentiality and the way data was gathered. Chapter (4) reports the results and provides an in-depth discussion. Finally, chapter (5) concludes the study.

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Chapter 2

Literature Review

With the expansion of business and the internationalization of firms, it is not surprising that many MNCs place a great emphasis on their international staffing policies. A large body of literature on the management of the expatriation provides the foundation for the present study. This chapter begins by explaining the rationale for expatriating employees. Next, a critical review of key studies in selection, training and the adjustment of expatriates, is presented. Then, problems faced by expatriates are highlighted. Critical gaps that set the base for this dissertation research are also included.

2.1 Motives for International Transfers

It is crucial to understand the rationale for using expatriates from headquarters’ view as this will affect the selection and training offered to expatriates which in turn may have an impact on their adjustment in the host country. Shay and Baack (2004) have empirically

demonstrated that reasons why expatriates are sent on an assignment may impact their job performance, adjustment, and the effectiveness of their role. For example, if an expatriate is mainly sent out for coordination and control purposes, he/she should possess good

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communication and management skills. Also, if an expatriate is mainly sent for filling a specific position he/she should have the necessary skills to carry that role (Harzing, 2004). One of the major studies in this field is by Edstrom and Galbraith (1977). Borg described their study perfectly by noting the following ‘The study of Edstrom and Galbraith (1977), which is very often quoted in both articles and textbooks, seems to be the only one which theoretically explains why international transfers of managers occur’ (Borg, 1988: 41). They found three general motives. The first was filling a position which is important for developing countries, where there is a lack of qualified local nationals; making it difficult to find the suitable person with the required qualifications, in this situation, technical and managerial knowledge is transferred by expatriates (Edstrom & Galbraith, 1977) in the words of Pucik (1992, in Scullion & Collings, 2006) it is a “demand driven assignment”. The second motive was management development, which aims to help managers gain international experience; develop global competence, hence, benefiting the company with their skills. The third motive is related to organizational development, mainly consisting of socialization of expatriates and local managers in order to achieve a positive relationship between them and for commitment purposes, also, to create a verbal information network that provides a link between headquarters and subsidiaries. Pucik (1992) classified management development and organizational development as “learning driven assignments” ( Pucik, 1992 in Scullion & Collings, 2006). It is imperative for expatriates themselves to understand the rationale for their assignment as this helps them focus on achieving the right goals (Black & Gregersen, 1999). However, one question that needs to be asked is whether Edstrom & Galbraith’s study is still relevant today. Expatriation is expensive, and some argue that expatriates expenses are soaring, they are two to three times one’s annual salary back home, and a full package may

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cost the company from $300,000 to $ 1 million annually (Black and Gregersen, 1999). Therefore organizations need to be cautious when selecting expatriates and invest as much as possible in training them. It is crucial to know that most international assignments nowadays have more than one single purpose (Sparrow, Brewster and Harris, 2004 in Scullion & Collings, 2006) Originally, international assignments were carried out for specific tasks, due to lack of confidence in local staff and were not used mainly for achieving strategic goals, Nowadays, companies are using international assignment to achieve their strategic objectives (Black, Gregersen, Mendenhall and Stroth, 1999 in Scullion & Collings, 2006). Later, in the discussion chapter, motives behind sending expatriates by the two studied airlines will be revealed. In an attempt to go beyond identifying the main reasons for expatriation and their benefits, Harzing’s (2001) study shows that, functions of international transfers vary in different circumstances, for example, position filling is believed to be more important in subsidiaries of British multinational companies. Transfer for reasons of coordination and control tend to have a greater significance in countries with a higher culture novelty compared to the culture in the home country. However, there are limits to how far this particular motive was measured; using two questionnaires to measure the control and coordination function requires more attention to be paid for a reliable interpretation of the results. (Harzing, 2001b). Another major study to investigate further the control mechanisms undertaken by headquarters towards their subsidiaries was conducted by Harzing, in her thorough study, she has managed to demonstrate the significant positive correlation between the level of expatriate presence and the three types of control, using a very descriptive metaphor for each type, she called expatriates who are used to provide direct control as ‘bears’ due to their dominant role and those who are sent for socialization purposes as ‘bumble-bees’ and those who are used for

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informal communication as ‘spiders’. Furthermore, she concluded that those types of control vary in their effectiveness in different circumstances, but she failed to study systematically the situations in which each one proves to be the most effective type of control (Harzing, 2001c).

2.2 Expatriate Selection

A preliminary study in the area of selection of personnel for international assignments was carried out by Tung (1981), she developed a contingency framework that identified factors which contribute to a successful international assignment, and these are: technical

competence on the job, personal traits, ability to cope with environmental variables and the family situation. Results based on a questionnaire from 80 American international corporations has led to the following conclusions, greater emphasis should be paid to the selection and training of international staff, the carried task should be carefully analyzed to examine the degree of interaction with locals, also the extent to which the host country is different from the home, the personality characteristics of the family in terms of spouse’s ability to live and work in a foreign environment should not be forgotten. Furthermore crosscultural training programmes should be tailored according to the previously mentioned factors; however, there are limits to how far these findings are applicable to other than U.S assignees, another major drawback is that this study is more than 25 years old, if the same questionnaire were to be distributed to American international staff nowadays, results may not be exactly the same. There is no doubt that in order for expatriates to be successful internationally, a higher level of skills is required because they are expected to be confronted by a wider range of responsibilities either in the work or social domain.
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2.2.1

Selection Criteria

A considerable amount of literature has been published on selection criteria for example: Torbiorn (1982) has identified eight criteria: Level of education; adaptability; language; social manners; family adaptability; status of the job; medical status and motivation. Hailey (1996) points to the significance of the personality attitudes of individuals, those expatriates who are outgoing, relaxed and are ready to work within the local management style were expected to adapt more successfully than their inflexible counterparts. Webb and Wright suggest that ‘successful individuals draw on a combination of functional and technical skills, along with personal characteristics that enable them to adjust to any new assignment’ (1996: 39). Based on the findings of the empirical study, it would be interesting to know the basis under which each airline select their expatriates.

2.2.2

The influence of Spouse

A number of authors have recognized the effect a spouse may have on the outcome of an international assignment (e.g. Tung, 1981, 1982, Mendenhall et al. 1987, Harvey, 1996, Borstorff et al. 1997). Black & Stephens (1989) have examined the influence of spouse on American expatriate adjustment, results found that a favourable opinion by the spouse is positively related to the spouse’s adjustment, and the novelty of foreign culture was negatively related to the spouse’s adjustment, furthermore the adjustment of the spouse was highly correlated to the adjustment of the expatriate manager. Research found a positive relationship between adjustment and the performance of an expatriate (Earley, 1987). One of the problems is that candidates who might be suitable for the international assignments are reluctant to accept the offer, as they do
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not want to hamper their partner’s job (Forster, 2000). From the above, it is crucial not to undermine the effect a spouse may have when selecting expatriates. A major limitation of studies on spouse is that they failed to implement practical solutions to help overcome any obstacles. Some argue that spouse should be included in the interview (Black & Gregersen, 1991) also spouse and children should be assessed on the same criteria as expatriates (Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou, 1987) and included in training programmes (Bauer & Taylor, 2001) , (applicable to organizations offering training in the first place). Others see that this is a very sensitive issue, as there is a fine line between assisting expatriates and an intrusion into their private lives (Forster, 1992). The way by which each company deals with family issues will be addressed latter.

2.2.3

Expatriate Selection in Practice

In practice, most MNCs rely on technical skills, knowledge and familiarity with the system of the company as the major selection criteria, (Barham & Devine, 1990, Brewster, 1988, Harvey, 1985, Mendenhall et al., 1987, Miller, 1972, Tung, 1981 in Harzing & Van Ruysseveldt, 2004). The logic behind that can be for the following reasons. Firstly, cross cultural and personal skills are soft skills which are difficult to identify and measure. Secondly, selectors think knowledge of job specific attributes will prevent failure; therefore they tend to believe that such selection criteria will minimize the risk of selecting candidates who may fail (Miller, 1972). It has been argued, that the selection process in some companies may take the form of an informal practice, where many decisions are based on recommendations made by others, neglecting important criteria, even sometimes, ideas are generated when having a chat between executives, during a coffee break (Harris & Brewster, 1999). This may lead us to

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look further into the role HR plays in the expatriation process, Halcrow (1999) believes that ‘In most organizations, HR has a limited (or nonexistent) role in expatriate selection, management and repatriation.’ (1999: 43). Harris and Brewster (1999) have developed a typology on international manager-selection systems, four ways were identified: open, closed, formal, and informal. Formal or informal (depending on how clear the criteria/ measures for the job were and the degree of training offered to selectors), Open or closed (based on whether the selection was made by open advertising to any suitable candidate either internally or externally or only depending on nominations by others.

2.2.4

Dimensions of Expatriate Acculturation

In 1985 Mendenhall and Oddou published an article called ‘The Dimensions of Expatriate Acculturation: A Review.’ They tend to go beyond the popular practice of selecting international staff based only on their successful history at work .They also oppose the use of “The domestic equal overseas performance” equation (1985: 39). Four essential dimensions have been identified: - First, the self oriented dimension, it refers to the ability of the expatriate to discover ways that would satisfy their interests, reduce the stress associated with relocation, and try to make their experience a pleasure. Secondly, the others –oriented dimension, which refers to their ability to build up new relationships and communicate with, host nationals. The third dimension is the perceptual dimension, it refers to ‘the ability to understand why foreigners behave the way they do’ (Mendenhall & Oddou, 1985: 42). Last but not least is the cultural – Toughness dimension, it is believed that the cultures of some countries are more difficult to adjust to than the culture of others. Torbiorn (1982) found that expatriates were more annoyed in their overseas assignment to The Middle
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East, India and Africa.

It is crucial not to ignore such dimensions; the self oriented

dimension would give an indication of the degree of self –esteem an international manager has, the only thing which is still ambiguous is the difficulty of measuring these skills. Expatriates are used as, means of socialization (Edstrom & Galbraith, 1977) they represent their country, and therefore, choosing a person who is willing to communicate is important. People vary in their behaviour, one cannot expect that others have the same values, attitudes and mentality; this is a reality. A landmark study in this field was carried out, by Hofstede, from 1967 to 1973. He managed to build a framework for understanding national culture; he developed a system that analyzed national culture along four categories: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism vs. Collectivism and Masculinity vs. Femininity. Later, Hofstede and Bond added a fifth dimension, Long - vs. Short - Term Orientation (Hofstede, 2001). It is essential for expatriates to understand the cultural dimensions before their posting as it will help reduce uncertainty and any forthcoming misunderstandings (Mendenhall& Oddou, 1985), but the question is who holds the responsibility for that? The majority of studies have focused on Americans, Japanese and Europeans, most of these nationals face difficulties adapting to The Middle East, however, the other way round was not given the attention it requires. Also, it is important to discover what each company does in order to address the culture-Toughness dimension. This will lead to the following question, how can expatriates expand their knowledge about the culture of the country which they will be transferred to? A wide range of literature on training will be discussed in the following section.

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2.3 Expatriate Training

Training is an integral part in the preparation of expatriates for international assignments. A comprehensive program is needed to assist expatriates in their role and help MNCs manage their global staff more effectively, such programmes should focus on the whole cycle of expatriation, starting with pre-departure preparation activities, then assistance during the assignment and ending with preparation for repatriation (Mendenhall et al., 1987). The literature has divided the types of international training into three main categories, these are: preparatory training for expatriates, post-arrival training for expatriates, training for host country nationals (Shen, 2005). The first two are relevant to this study. Preparatory training refers to the training offered to expatriates before their post to a new area, this kind of training is important to make sure an expatriate has the necessary skills to work abroad effectively. Post-arrival training refers to the training which is provided to expatriates after they arrive in the host country, it aims to help expatriates adjust by familiarizing them with the new environment (Shen, 2005).

2.3.1

Cross-Cultural Training

In recent years, there has been an increasing amount of literature on one of the crucial types of international training, which is, cross-cultural training. Scholars have demonstrated that an expatriate’s success in the host country depends a lot on his/her cross-cultural adjustment (Black & Mendenhall, 1990, Kealey & Protheroe, 1996). Cross-cultural training can be defined as ‘any intervention aimed at increasing the knowledge and skills of individuals, so as
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to help them cope better personally, work more effectively with others, and perform better professionally’ (Kealey&Protheroe, 1996, 145). Three kinds of skills are crucial to expatriate workers: Adaptation skills, which aim to assist the individual, his/her spouse and family to cope with the stress of relocation. Cross- cultural communication skills which aim to ease interaction with host nationals, build up trust to avoid misinterpretation and enhance cultural empathy and Partnership skills, which focus on the ability to work with others. (Kealey&Protheroe, 1996). In order to prove the necessity of providing cross-cultural training, it is crucial to show the beneficial aims of such intervention. As Harrison puts it ‘A major purpose of CCT is to develop more cosmopolitan managers who better understand cultural differences and who can apply this knowledge in cross-cultural situations’ (1994 : 19). The objectives of CCT are threefold. First, it helps prepare expatriates at an early stage; make them aware of the appropriate behaviours in the host country, and the suitable ways of getting a specific job task done (Black & Mendenhall, 1990). Secondly, it will assist the coping mechanisms of expatriates, especially when they face unexpected situations and actions (Earley, 1987). The third objective is to create accurate, realistic expectations which would assist expatriate’s adjustment abroad (Black & Mendenhall, 1990). An empirical study by Caligiuri, Phillips, Lazarova , Tarique and Burgi (2001) has investigated the third goal of CCT , they concluded that the more relevant CCT the greater the accurate expectations will be, and therefore the greater the individual’s adjustment. But their study had some limitations the sample was mainly composed of US expatriates which has limited the generalization of results and it was based on several industries rather than focusing on a single one (Caligiuri, et al., 2001) .

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After reviewing the goals, the following section provides a suggested framework for an appropriate training design. The structure of CCT should consist of two stages, general cultural orientation and specific cultural development. General orientation is designed to prepare expatriates in general towards a cross cultural experience; this can be achieved by providing trainees with information about the purpose of the assignment, the benefits and the types of training they will receive. Furthermore, it aims to help expatriates manage stress, increase their awareness about different cultures and recognize specific national values (Harrison, 1994). The goal of the specific cultural development is to assist expatriates, by enhancing their knowledge about the area which they will be assigned to e.g., appropriate behaviours, language, history, demography, climate, and attitudes at work (Harrison, 1994). Tung (1982) has classified training programmes offered by MNCs in preparing expatriates for international assignments as follows, (1) environmental briefing, (2) culture orientation, (3) culture assimilator, (4) language, (5) sensitivity training, and (6) field experience. There are different methods of training, referring to the modeling process in Social learning theory; two types have been revealed: symbolic modeling, such as verbal factual briefing, lectures, seminars, books, films, videos and role modeling. The second type is called participative modeling, in this case, trainees physically participate, like being involved in case studies, discussions, interactive language training, field trip and simulations. Each method is associated with different degree of training rigor, ranging from low rigor at the factual stage (i.e. books, area briefings) , medium rigor at the analysis stage (i.e. case studies) and high rigor at the experiential stage (i.e. role plays and simulations) (Black & Mendenhall, 1989). It has been argued that three factors affect the degree of rigor required for a successful training program, these are, the degree in which the expatriate’s culture is different from the host countries culture, the degree of interaction with host country nationals and the extent to which

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the new job tasks differ from previous ones ( Black & Mendenhall, 1989). In this empirical study, types and methods of training each company offers will be shown.

2.4 Problems Faced by Expatriates

International assignments are stressful; they disrupt employees lives, therefore the whole expatriation experience starting from pre-departure and ending with repatriation should be handled adequately. When expatriates and their families enter a new environment, they may face what is known to be a culture shock, this is a normal expected phenomenon, which occurs after the so called “honeymoon” phase of excitement expires, they start recognizing the differences between home and host culture, they feel surprised, lost, depressed and confused. Stress may include language difficulty, healthcare in the host country, change in work responsibilities, feeling unsettled due to changing residence and frequent moves, home sickness, questionable feeling of security, unreliable services, etc. (Perkins & Shortland, 2006). Expatriates who have a family are expected to face greater obstacles than single employees’ .The problem of dual –career is a major source of stress. As Forster notes ‘It is often relocating partners who have the most to lose from a move abroad-particularly if this means they have to give up work or...put their careers on hold’ (2000:131). There is no sufficient information on the effect of international assignments on expatriate’s children. A recent in-depth qualitative study with UK- based Royal Air Force personnel has investigated the impact of family on relocation; findings reveal that relocation has both positive and negative effects on the family. The negative impact of international assignments on children was greater than the positive one. For example having children being confronted to different educational systems, with different standards had a negative effect. On the other hand, the positive impact of relocation stems from the experience children will gain by
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meeting new people, interacting with different cultures, becoming independent, receiving better education if the company provides support for children’s’ education, (Le, Tissington and Budhwar, 2010). However, this study has some limitations; a military sample is an extreme, unique case, where international staff may confront additional obstacles due to the nature of such job (Moskos, Williams and Segal, 2000 in Le at al., 2010). Therefore, this may limit the generalizability of the results, also the sample size was quite small and interviews were done with employees without their families. Furthermore, it is recommended to test the findings on the private sector to make the results more reliable (Le at al., 2010). An overlooked variable in the family relocation is the impact of the assignment on bringing up children with a balanced culture between home and host. It will be gripping to hear from expatriates of both companies if this issue matters and why. This is a missing variable in the limited literature on family adjustment. Therefore, the present study attempts to investigate it. Some argue that the satisfaction of the expatriate’s family may have an impact on the expatriate’s effectiveness abroad (Black, Gregersen & Mendenhall, 1992, Adler, 1997 cited in Bennett et al., 2000) . Obstacles facing children may have a spill over effect on each family member, they may lead to an unstable equilibrium of the family and hence; ruin the whole expatriation experience (Caligiuri et al., 1998). Repatriation is the final stage in the international assignment cycle; obstacles faced by expatriates at this stage may include the following: loss of authority, uncertainty about the new job role or position (Howard, 1973 in Mendenhall et al., 1987). Returning employees may encounter a ‘reverse culture shock’ and adaptation problems, it has been suggested that repatriation problems can be minimized if the company starts planning in advance how to tackle these issues (Forster, 1994). Based on analysing responses from the interviews and questionnaires, findings will highlight the previous problems and any possible solutions.

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The next section will highlight the main theories related to adjustment. It is important to discuss this issue because poor cross –cultural adjustment is a common reason for expatriate failure (Tung, 1981).

2.5 Expatriate Adjustment

Adjustment to cross-cultural situations generally refers to ‘the process and end state of being familiar and comfortable while interacting in the host culture’ (Black & Mendenhall, 1990: 124). Research suggests that there are three main aspects of international adjustment, adjustment at work, adjustment to interacting with host nationals, adjustment to general environment (Black&Stephens, 1989, Black, 1988, in Black, Mendenhall and Oddou, 1991). There are two key theories in the field of cross-cultural adjustment; you can hardly find any literature on adjustment without these theories. First, in 1990, Black and Mendenhall used social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) to explain how pre-departure cross-cultural training is effective; they suggest that ‘cross cultural training enables the individual to learn both content and skills that will facilitate effective cross-cultural interaction by reducing

misunderstandings and inappropriate behaviours’ (Black & Mendenhall, 1990: 120). This would increase the level of confidence and help expatriates behave properly. A crucial question, is do organizations realize those benefits? Surprisingly, the two airlines in this study do not offer a comprehensive, formal cross-cultural training program. The second study is for Black, Mendenhall and Oddou (1991), they provided a comprehensive model on expatriate adjustment. Based on a review of both domestic and international adjustment literature, they found that there are two phases of expatriate adjustment, anticipatory adjustment and in-country adjustment. Anticipatory adjustment can

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positively influence the in-country adjustment. It is positively affected by expatriate’s accurate expectations, his/her previous international experience and cross-cultural training. The goal is to reduce the level of uncertainty and culture shock, which in turn can facilitate the adjustment process. The second phase of adjustment is based on the following: (1) Individual characteristics (i.e. relational skills will be positively related to the level of incountry adjustment), (2) job factors (i.e. role clarity and role discretion will be positively associated with international adjustment, especially work adjustment.), (3) organizational culture and socialization, (4) non work factors (i.e. the degree of culture novelty and spouse or family adjustment) (Black et al., 1991). The previous model was tested by Shaffer, Harrison and Gilley (1999); results support the empirical findings of Black et al., (1991) model, furthermore, Shaffer et al., (1999) have extended the model by adding two moderating variables, they argue that ‘previous international assignments and fluency in the host country language will facilitate all three dimensions of expatriate adjustment’ (Shaffer et al., 1999: 562). In an attempt to investigate further the impact of interaction with host nationals on expatriate’s cross-cultural adjustment, surveys were sent to American employees working in 25 different countries, results suggest that a greater contact with host nationals will have a positive impact on cross-cultural adjustment when the expatriate has the personality

characteristics of openness and sociability. Nevertheless, one major drawback of this study is that it fails to show how cross-cultural adjustment is facilitated by host national contact. Also it does not describe the actual process of contact nor the type of host nationals involved (e.g., colleagues, friends, shop keepers, etc) (Caligiuri, 2000).

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To conclude, the literature reviewed has addressed the essential aspects for managing international staff, ranging from selection and training to obstacles faced, and the adjustment experience.

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Chapter 3
Methodology and Data
The aim of this chapter is to explain the methods used in carrying out the study.

3.1 Research Perspective and Type

There are two types of research strategies, quantitative and qualitative. (See appendix (A) for differences between both). As discussed in section 1.2, the purpose of this research was to investigate further the way by which airline companies select and train expatriates. Also find out the role HR department plays in facilitating the adjustment of expatriates. Due to the nature of this topic in real life practice, a qualitative perspective has been adopted. A basic feature of the qualitative research is that it ‘usually emphasizes words rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data’ (Bryman and Bell, 2007: 28), which serves as an integral element to foster the understanding of behaviours, attitudes and procedures. It has been argued that a qualitative research can be used to study in a thorough and detailed way, people’s life and their every day behaviour. (Silverman, 2006). A case study research design has been utilised in this research. To make things clearer, a useful definition of case studies will explain the logic behind selecting this particular method. As defined by Yin ‘ A case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary

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phenomenon within its real life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple source of evidence are used’ (1989, in Glatthorn & Joyner, 2005: 43). The empirical aspect is derived from the nature of the study, which is based on the collection and analysis of data from the field. The investigation aspect is presented by the aim of the study, which was to investigate further how airlines prepare, and help expatriates adjust. The contemporary phenomenon is the expatriation process. The boundaries between the expatriation process (ranging from selection and training to living in the host country) and an effective adaptation in the new environment either at work, or with host nationals or for the family, requires more investigation. A case study was used to provide a holistic picture, looking at the expatriation issue from more than one angle, providing an in-depth elucidation for the whole process. Two cases were involved; each airline company and its expatriates represented a case. A comparative design study was implemented in order to better understand specific aspects and the unique contexts of each case, also to compare and contrast findings. The aim can be described as follows ‘to seek explanations for similarities and differences or to gain a greater awareness and a deeper understanding of social reality in different national contexts’ (Bryman & Bell, 2007: 66).

3.2 Research Context and Participants

The study took place at the headquarters of each airline company. For confidentiality reasons, a fictional name was assigned to each airline and managers involved. To make it easier, the letter (E) was given to refer to the European airline. And the letter (M) was given to refer to the Middle Eastern airline. Telephones and E-mails requesting access to carry out the

primary research for dissertation were done in February. Confirmation emails were received in June. A contract was prepared to ensure clarity.
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At company (E) the interview was held with John who works as a Performance and Reward Adviser on the 5th of August 2010. Another staff member was scheduled to attend the meeting but unexpected circumstances occurred, resulting in his absence. At company (M), interviews were conducted on the 27th of July 2010, with two participants, Sara who works as the H.R Manager and Ali who holds the position of Director of Quality Assurance and Outstations. Furthermore, approval from interviewees to send out the questionnaire to their expatriates was obtained. Moving on to the sampling strategy: The population was all outstation staff in (E) and (M). The sample was expatriates in each company. At the beginning interviewees were asked to forward it to all expatriates, however, one of the companies did not do so, therefore, to ensure consistency in the sample size a sample of 40 was selected. The sample frame was, those expatriates who were sent from home, and hold home nationality (PCNs), all age groups, male and female, and hold the following positions: In airline (E): Engineers, Accountants, Sales Managers, Cargo, and Airport Managers. In airline (M): Area Managers, Airport Managers, Accountants, and Engineers. The sampling method was Probability sampling-stratified random, as the sample was stratified according to certain criteria (geographical areas, greater culture novelty areas, newly sent expatriates or expatriates with greater experience). John in (E) airline sent the

questionnaire to newly posted expatriates or those who have just come back to the UK. The reason behind that was that it would be still fresh in their minds the problems they have encountered. Ali from (M) airline, sent the questionnaire to expatriates who were assigned to areas with different culture than the PCNs culture, the reason behind that was to ensure that the sample was representative as much as possible and to get feedback from those international staff who experienced greater culture novelty . The logic behind that was that
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expatriates who were assigned to Saudi Arabia for instance will probably have had faced different obstacles, and different ways to adjust, than those assigned to Paris. Also, many questions used in the questionnaire have followed the same approach, which was, giving respondents the chance to answer according to each assigned geographical area. After offering a brief description about data sources, the next section will explain the methods used to gather data.

3.3 Research Methods

Primary data was collected by using two methods, Questionnaires and interviews. Using more than one method can increase the richness of data and make results more reliable (Bryman & Bell, 2007).

3.3.1

Questionnaires

‘Surveys are administered to assess opinions, perceptions, and attitudes’ (Glatthorn & Joyner, 2005: 45). Opinions of expatriates were one of the foundations of this research, their attitude towards the assignment and others, their perception about different cultures and new work environments. A word document questionnaire was forwarded by email to interviewees. Initially, they were asked to circulate the word document questionnaire to expatriates, to enable them to complete it manually, scan it, and email it back to the researcher. However, this did not turn out to be practical. Because of the busy nature of managers, engineers and accountants work, especially during the summer period, one of the busiest periods for airline staff. Also, due to the lack of time the researcher had. Another obstacle was the holiday season.

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A postal questionnaire was not a good choice as many developing countries lack having a reliable postal system. Therefore, a self-completion on-line questionnaire was sent to expatriates. It was set up by using Google docs; this proved to be the most convenient method to gather data from expatriates who are geographically dispersed. Furthermore, targeted recipients in this way were more easily reachable. This was done as an attempt to increase the response rate. A combination of both closed and open questions was used, but mostly closed. These took the form of scale, list, category, grid and rank. The logic behind using these types was to assess how respondents strongly agree or disagree with some findings or relations discussed in the literature review, also to measure the relative importance of specific aspects from the point of view of each mobile staff in each company. Many optional fields were added so respondents can make comments. The aim of the questionnaire was: to investigate whether problems faced by expatriates, and their family, and the smooth/difficulty of adjustment was dependent on the company’s selection and training procedures. An extraneous factor, such as national culture of expatriates, was taken into consideration as it might have affected some variables. Some

questions from previous existing literature were adapted and developed to fit the nature of the dissertation. A pilot study was carried out before the main circulation, with friends and family members, who experienced living abroad. Amendments were implemented according to their advice. A cover letter explaining the significance and purpose of the study was enclosed. However, using questionnaires was not free of limitations. The possibility of having biased answers or mistakenly, choosing any fixed answer, which does not explain the accurate situation may have occurred. Another disadvantage was that respondents might have felt irritated from some questions which had geographical classifications. Hence, if expatriates
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were interviewed, this might have given a clearer picture; however, that was not possible due to the distance factor. Therefore a survey was considered to be the most appropriate method.

3.3.2

Semi - Structure Interviews

It has been suggested that ‘semi-structured interviews may be used in order to understand the relationships between variables, such as those revealed from a descriptive study’ (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2003: 248). Also, it is believed that managers favour interviews as opposed to questionnaires, especially when the topic is related to their role and when they feel that the study will benefit their business (Saunders, et al., 2003). The purpose of choosing this method was due to the nature of research. The aim was to hear from relevant respondents, gather valid and reliable data, discuss certain themes, understand meanings of specific practices and provide a comparison between the two companies. This method proved to be consistent with the type of questions addressed in the study. The purpose was to explore each airline’s selection and training procedures and more importantly understand or explain the rationale for such practices. A pilot study was conducted with a family member who is an expatriate, the purpose was to check clarity and rectify the length of the interview. Permission was obtained to hold interviews with representatives working in HR department by email. A list of questions to be covered was sent by email prior to the scheduled meeting. Questions were structured in a coherent way, they covered three aspects: Strategy and motives, Selection and Training. However, during discussion, new questions and ideas were generated which required elaboration, so more issues were covered. One of the disadvantages of semi-structured interviews could be the possibility of missing out information, or the loss of focus when
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discussion requires a change in the sequence of questions. Hence, ideas and matters explored may differ from one interview to another depending on the flow of discussion and the time available (Hussey & Hussey, 1997). Each interview lasted for about one hour and thirty minutes. Interview with airline (E) took place in London. Interview with airline (M) took place in a country in the Middle East; to complete this, travelling was required; which made the face to face interview costly. This can be considered one of the limitations of using interviews (Saunders et.al, 2009). Also, a main difficulty confronted, was transcribing interviews, it was time consuming. The majority of questions were open questions, derived from the literature, in order to link previous studies with practical issues. Permission was obtained for recording the interview prior to the meeting. At (M) company the interview did not take place in a meeting room as it did in (E) company, which lead to constant interruption by phone calls and each time the recording was put on pause. A source of bias could be derived from being a family member of an expatriate manager who is working for (M) airlines, by having an idea of what the company offers to expatriates especially towards the family. Hence an advantage could be the access to data at (M) which was greater than access to data in (E) airline. Documentary secondary data was obtained; this took the form of some types of training courses and selection requirements adopted by (M). As noted by Saunders, et al., (2003) a qualitative research may include the use of organizational documentation.

3.4 Obstacles Faced

The absence of the second interviewee in (E) resulted in missing data .the person in charge was contacted several times by email and telephone but without success. (See Appendix (E)).

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3.5 An Overview of Data Analysis

According to Yin (1994), one of the strategies for qualitative data analysis encounters the use of existing theory to formulate the research questions, and the device of theoretical propositions prior data collection, which would help build up a framework by identifying the main themes and issues (Yin, 1994 in Saunders et al., 2003). This approach was followed in the present study. At the beginning, it was proposed that massive differences will be found when comparing a company from a developing country with another company from the same industry from a developed country, however, this turned out not to be the reality. The previous chapter has provided an overview of the methodology used. The next chapter will present the discussion and reveal the findings obtained by those methods.

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Chapter 4
Discussions and Findings
As stated in Chapter 1, the study reported here, examined extensively, a comparison between two airline companies, on one hand, regarding their selection and training procedures towards expatriates, on the other, regarding obstacles faced by their international staff, hence, their adjustment. This chapter displays the data collected from questionnaires and interviews carried out particularly for this research. It is organized in terms of two research methods, by which each, provides an answer to the following. Question 1: How do airlines select and train expatriates? Question 2: What problems do expatriates face? What can HR do to eliminate those problems and ease the adjustment? It is crucial to point out that both questions are linked, as the discussion proceeds; it will be clear how they complement each other. In an attempt to provide a structured analysis, each method will be discussed on its own, and findings will be revealed accordingly.

4.1 Interview Data Analysis

This type of qualitative data analysis adheres to the process of “framework analysis” as defined by Ritchie & Spencer (1994) it is ‘an analytical process which involves a number of distinct though highly interconnected stages’ (Ritchie & Spencer, 1994, in Rabiee, 2004:

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657). The following five steps, which took the same approach of Ritchie & Spencer, 1994,( as described in Rabiee, 2004) were followed in analysing data gathered from interviews. Firstly, as discussed earlier, interviews were semi-structured; a predefined list of questions was arranged. Hence during the meeting, interviewees were asked to elaborate on some points which allowed for the generation of rich data. After the interview, the recorded discussion and notes taken were typed. Next, “data familiarization” was gained by listening several times to the recorded discussion, also by reading and checking transcripts and notes. Secondly, the “identification of a thematic framework” was achieved by ideas which formed the foundations of the study (i.e. rationale, training, selection, adjustment). To ease this process, while reading transcripts, several comments and memos were prepared; this permitted the development of several categories for each major theme. Of course, these themes were also derived from the literature and from the research questions which have set the road map for the study. Thirdly, a process of highlighting the main quotes from participants was carried out “indexing”, this has allowed for a comparison between each case. Fourthly, quotes and ideas were arranged in a structured way “Charting”. Finally, an “interpretation” process for the collected data was conducted, in order to: make sense, try and link findings to the previous literature, and establish explanations as applicable.

4.1.1

Interview results (M) company:

A crucial starting question was to understand the motives behind expatriation. Interviewees in (M) company believe that expatriation is their first choice especially for area and accounts managers. They tend to be a little flexible with airport managers, if they find a suitable local with the necessary skills and requirements. Sara (The HR Manager in (M)) stated the
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following: ‘we send expatriates because we need people who are loyal to the company, who have the experience, who know the companies procedures and understand practices’. This means that they tend to believe that sending an expatriate who is immersed in the organizational culture is the most appropriate especially for important positions. Ali (Director of Quality Assurance and Outstations at (M)) has considered ‘trust and culture issues’ as being important. Their motives can be mostly aligned with the “organizational development” function of Edstrom &Galbraith (1977) and as means to ‘ensure homogeneous practices in the company’ (Pausenberger and Noelle, 1977 in Harzing, 2001: 260). The second theme of interest was how does (M) airline select expatriates? A description of HRM in the Middle East (Tayeb, 2005), states some of the Arab cultural characteristics, ‘a lack of relevant human resource management policies and management development and planning’ (Tayeb, 2005: 77). ‘Wasta 1: face to face interaction, wide spread use of personal networks, connections and coalitions’ (Tayeb, 2005: 77). Also, it has been noted specifically in a description of HR practices in the country of (M) company that ‘the process of recruitment and selection is hardly objective or systematic and is never based on ability and merit.... Acts of nepotism and tribalism are normal practice’ (Al-Rasheed, 2001, in Budhwar& Mellahi, 2006:153). This would lead to the following proposition: it was expected that airline (M) might select expatriates on an informal basis, based on recommendations by others (as in the coffee machine). But, from the discussion with interviewees, and by reading the companies procedures, it was interesting to confirm, that was not the case. The researcher was impressed with the prerequisites for selection. There are clear selection criteria such as: nationality, educational qualifications, previous experience, age, language, marital status and medical status (company (M) procedures, 2010). These were aligned with some of the criteria specified by Torbiorn (1982).In addition; Ali has emphasized the importance of behavioural 1

An Arabic word which refers to nepotism

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characteristics, like selecting expatriates who are ‘flexible, outgoing and emotionally stable’. This was in line with the personality characteristics addressed by (Hailey, 1996). Potential candidates should pass an interview carried out by the assessment committee 2, where their personal abilities, leadership skills, and attitudes are examined, using a variety of techniques, ranging from tests, evaluation questionnaires and personal interviews. After passing the interview, potential candidates are subject to more tests (i.e. English, general knowledge, I.Q tests), based on the results, final judgement is made (Company (M) procedures, 2010). One major drawback is that (M) company does not pay attention to candidates cross cultural skills or awareness, as they do not take into consideration the extent to which host country differs from home. As revealed by Sara: ‘selection process is not based on each area, once we have a vacancy for a certain job, (e.g. area manager) there is a development program for a group of people which we can consider as a talent pool, let’s say we have 10 to 20 candidates who undergo certain programs, they are prepared in general for a role regardless of the area, once there is an opening for a certain job we select from this pool’ .At the same time, the company does not neglect some essential issues like language training and work permits (Ali, 2010). Interviewees were asked to describe the company’s selection system. According to Harris and Brewster’s typology (1999), (M) company adopts a formal, open selection system. It appears that graduates were not given a great chance to participate in international assignments in (M). According to interviewees, graduate selection for such a role did not turn out to be successful, due to lack of experience. The third theme was training, Findings reveal that company (M) has a tailored training programme for each single job (i e, Area manager, Accounts manager, Airport manager and which is composed of the Vice President of Administration and Purchasing, Vice President of Marketing and Sales and the Director of Human Resources and Research
2

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Engineers), Once candidates have been selected, the company checks their past training record, decides what needs to be taken and provides training accordingly. The approximate duration is 15 months; this gives an indication of its intensity. It takes the form of on- the jobtraining, course training, in-house and outside. The aim is to develop the necessary technical, commercial and managerial skills so expatriates can carry out their role effectively. Also there is a minimum period of work at headquarters before sending an expatriate to represent the company. Moving on to the methods used in training, these range from handout material, films, lectures, projects and coaching. (Company (M) procedures, 2010). Some limitations could be that the company adopts only a pre-departure training, and neglects a formal in-country and repatriation training. Also, the spouse is not included in the preparation phase, it might be due to the culture, as described by interviewees it is a very private issue, and this is consistent with Forster (1992) as shown previously. Another drawback might be the standard training for all areas, which contradicts with Tung’s study, as she notes that, given differences in the required level of contact with the local culture, varying degrees of differences between home and host cultures and different periods of stay in the foreign culture, there is ‘no one selection criterion that could be emphasized and no one training program that should be used regardless of the task and environment’ (1982: 70). Culture is a very soft aspect but, extremely crucial especially when the job involves interaction with new people and living in a new environment. It was proposed that (M) does not believe in CCT effectiveness, and therefore would not offer it, however, after discussing its benefits, the first reaction from the HR manager was the assertion that the company should seriously consider offering CCT. The fourth concept was adjustment. Interviewees in (M) were asked to explain how the company contributes towards expatriates and his/her families coping mechanisms in the new
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environment. From discussion, it turned out that the company prepares expatriates, by providing crucial information which they should be aware of, these include: their pay scale, rules and regulations in the host, legal advice, and labour law. Also, advice on technical issues as Ali uttered: ‘we provide advice like airport handling, catering, hotel agreements and fuel. However, culture wise, nothing’. Not having CCT may lead to miss out the advantages of CCT (as discussed in literature review.) Once the expatriate is in the host country, enormous pressure is on the departing expatriate, to make the new person and his/her family aware of work and social issues in the new environment. According to interviewees and expatriates, (M) depends a lot on the handling over period as a source of organizational support. As discussed by Black et al. (1991) organizational support includes both social and logistic support. The social is mainly related to work issues in the new subsidiary. Logistic support is related to residence, education and shopping. (Black et al.1991 in Kreng & Huang, 2009). Ali stated that: ‘the company pays hotel for two weeks when candidates are transferred, also the company pays commission for real estate agent that candidate may hire so as to find accommodation’. Furthermore, their pre-departure preparation may include language courses to those going to non native English speaking areas; this shows strong evidence to Shaffer et al., (1999) moderating adjustment variable. Finally, interviewees were asked to elaborate on HR’s role, Ali believes that the ‘Human Resource department is the heart of any organization’. Also from discussion; it appears that HR in airline (M) has a vital role; the department sets selection criteria and evaluation, training and development programs, career path for expatriate jobs, rules and regulations that control all expatriate issues. Also, screening, testing, and selection of candidates with concerned departments.

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In addition to processing visas, tickets, and related paper work. This contradicts with Halcrow (1999) who believes that HR has a limited role. No formal training is provided on repatriation, however, the company is planning for a new program, they are looking into returning expatriates to headquarters for a period of time, before sending them again on a new post, this is to get them immersed again at HQs as a way to keep strong ties, and benefit from their knowledge /experience they gained abroad. (M) Has 72 expatriates worldwide; they decided to limit the number of posts for each person in order to offer a greater chance for other employees. (Ali, 2010). In addition, due to the high cost of expatriates, the company is trying to reduce the number of expatriates, according to Ali it has dropped from 93 to 72.

4.1.2

Interview results (E) company:

The rationale for using expatriates in airline (E) tends to be aligned with all three motives described by Edstrom and Galbraith (1977), as explained by John (Performance and Reward Adviser in (E) company), ‘we needed expatriates for areas where markets are not really developed, also for security purposes, and places where the sort of culture is a little different, or when the company feels control would not be in place with locals’. However, John has emphasized that due to the huge cost of expatriates, the company aims towards reducing the number of expatriates. And has done so recently. According to John: ‘The number of expatriates was reduced quite considerably, about 50% markedly’. He believes this was due to better communication, and because more locals are trained. As stated by John, a crucial question which sets the base for their new emphasis is: ‘Do we really need expatriates there? Is it the best person for that role’?

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But, this is not to totally dismiss them, he believes, there will always be a need for expatriates, as he uttered: ‘We will always have expatriates for development purposes, the right person with the right skills and knowledge; we need people who understand procedures, rules, and the culture of the organization. We also have development role for somebody who has newly joined, like graduate role. Or maybe somebody who is moving up in the organization, quite near the top’. An apparent aspect in comparing the two companies was the greater chance offered to graduates by (E). They do take some graduates for such positions, once graduates enter the company, they are put on a graduate training programme, there may have the opportunity to go overseas as part of the development program, this may range from 12 to 15 months depending on replacements and projects offered (John, 2010). From the researcher’s point of view, the reason behind that could be for management development, it could be considered as an investment, what might facilitate this is that most of them are parent country nationals, so let’s presume that they are sent to Europe, where work permits and culture gaps are not an issue. According to the interviewee, the nature of expatriation has changed, previously, they had career expats who worked as expatriates for almost all their lives, whereas nowadays, expatriation has become part of a development programme such as for graduates, or for others who want to gain experience outside then return to base and move up the ladder. Next, the interviewee was asked about the organizational support offered to expatriates, As in (M), HR at home offers the first support by explaining the type of package, benefits, allowances and tax issues associated with each package. Also, HR provides support in moving their belongings. However, what differs from (M) is that company (E) may allow expatriates to go on a familiarization trip, also a significant source of support stems from the
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information offered on the company’s internet, each country has a profile, all what expatriates need to do is to click on the icon, and view information about the country of assignment (i.e. Climate, geography, history, culture, accommodation, schools and motoring). In addition to that, the company sends out a guide explaining policies and making reference to links / websites which may include valuable information for the expatriate and the spouse. Furthermore, the country profile enriches expatriates knowledge about the business culture in the host, and colleagues at the host county are expected to help (John, 2010). Once in the new country, support is offered by the HR department there, as stated by John: ‘we would put them in touch with the HR person over there who would help them with any visa requirements, any local issues they may have, rules and regulations, somewhere to live’. However, as noted by John, although they offer help, it is not considered to be a formal CCT. It is essential not to ignore the fact that (E) is larger than (M), with many connections and offices around the world, probably that might explain their extra support. It seemed from the discussion that the company is not keen on offering a comprehensive set of CCT, as it is costly, previously, they had cases where they sent expatriates to a one day course offered by a professional CCT company and it cost them about £1000. Additionally, Internet provides adequate information. Regarding the support offered to spouse, John states: ‘We just provide guidance support regarding rules for permission to work and also I am sure there (in the host country) they will help’. Also the spouse is welcomed to join the briefing offered by the company.

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John has addressed the issue of dual career, as more and more spouses nowadays are having jobs. He sees it as not being a big issue in developed countries were rules and regulations are quite flexible towards spouse’s work especially within the EU. In an attempt to see whether the company offers any training specifically for language, John stated: ‘We do not do anything centrally. And if we do, it would be done locally’. Which means they do not have formal training, as he thinks this issue is taken into consideration in the selection process, however the company might pay for evening courses but not on a formal basis and in the host country, so it is rare and case by case (John, 2010). An explanation may be derived from the fact that English is an international language. According to John, the majority of areas where (E) company has offices speak English. Moving to repatriation, as it was the case in (M), also (E) company does not offer any formal training apart from general advice; help with their personal matters and sometimes with housing if needed. As John uttered: ‘Our department makes sure they come back, they get paid any allowances which may be due and they are very much left to their own devises... basically that’s it’. Culture wise, they do not prepare them against any possible reverse culture shock. John admits it is an area which they need to further look into, he states: ‘It is an area that we know we need to look at and sort of tighten up in putting a more formal process because a lot of people go overseas and they are a big fish in a small pond and when they come back here they are a small fish in a big pond and so they feel as though they are not appreciated to the value they have’.

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As mentioned in the literature review, a comprehensive training system should be offered at all stages. John sees that it is a full circle; he stresses the importance of linking it to the rational, he states: ‘we are trying to draw that full circle, so actually what are the jobs available overseas for development and then drawing the circle back, when they come back what sort of role they ideally have and how can we draw on their skills’. A core practice incorporates reviews to track the performance of employees. As explained by John, line managers are responsible to carry out these reviews, the HR department in (E) company acts as a business partner, making sure reviews are done and providing the necessary plan to improve the performance, whether that was behavioural, managerial, leadership teamwork or profit wise. (E) Company also has an open formal selection system. John points out to the selection system as follows: ‘In general, the vast majority of jobs are advertised internally, and then you go through the selection process, interviews to get the right person you want’. Jobs are advertised on the company’s internet, anybody who meets the criteria and requirements can apply. But John believes that there might be some restrictions for some areas, for example having a work permit would be an extra advantage. He also highlighted the probability of reluctance to accept the offer from those who have children at school age as they do not want to disrupt their lives. Generally, John clearly states that the selection is purely on merit. The next part provides the results of the questionnaire

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4.2 Questionnaire Data Analysis

As the aim of the questionnaire was to underpin some of the obstacles faced by expatriates’ and give them a chance to provide feedback regarding training and selection. The nature of the study was towards a qualitative analysis. Three steps were followed. Firstly, raw data from each airline was inputted in a spread sheet on excel (See Appendix (K) & (L)). Questions with a huge amount of data were put into groups. Secondly, a comparison sheet of descriptive statements and percentages was prepared (See Appendix (I)). Thirdly, ideas and notes for analysis were generated. Following that, main ideas with distinct differences were highlighted for further investigation which had lead to the final stage of interpretation. The response rate from (E) company was 37.50% and the response rate from (M) company was 35%. Starting with the attributes of expatriates in each company, it seems that (E) employs more females as expatriates than (M), and has an overall younger age group. The former can be explained by variation in each culture towards women, a European perspective on women going out on an international assignment is believed to be more flexible than a conservative Middle Eastern one. The age attribute is supported by the opportunities offered by each company. From the interviewee it was clear that (E) offers greater chance to younger people than (M). As explained earlier, adjustment has three facets, work, interaction with others and living. Difficulties in adjusting to work by (E) expatriates were found to be highest in Africa and the Arabian Gulf; percentages were 50% and 100% respectively. One of the main challenges expatriates face, is coping with the social aspect of their work, and the need to build up trust with host country nationals (Feldman & Tompson, 1992 in Scullion & Collings,2006).

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Furthermore, all expatriates who were assigned to Africa see honesty when dealing with people as being an issue. Expatriates at airline (M) tend to have difficulties in adjusting at work in Africa and Asia. 43% from those assigned to Africa in (M) reported they faced difficulties with issues ranging from: Time keeping, teamwork, Integrity and honesty, commitment, rules and regulations. This difficult adjustment might be due to the differences in values and attitudes of each nation. An expatriate in airline (E) has indicated he had extreme difficulty interacting with host nationals from the Arabian Gulf. This can be interpreted by the large culture gap between Europeans and Arabs; hence, he did not establish close relationships with them. Adjustment in Africa seems to be dominating the difficulties, all respondents sent to Africa by (E) revealed that living conditions were difficult; the same was reported about India. This might be explained by them coming from a developed country, and going to a developing country which has affected their coping mechanisms. The previous results were aligned with Torbiorn (1982) who found that expatriates were more annoyed in their overseas assignment to The Middle East, India and Africa. Therefore it is recommended that both companies should offer CCT at least to expatriates who will be posted to areas where studies confirmed adjustment to be difficult. In an attempt to look at the other half of the picture, an investigation was carried out to see whether employees in each company were satisfied with the offered training and how clear/unambiguous their role was. The majority in (E) reported that their role was made clear pre posting, however they did not receive full training. 20% in (E) claimed nothing was clear

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and they had to work harder. The majority in (M) claimed they were trained on any weaknesses prior posting; however 31% claimed they did not receive full training. Turning now to expatriates sources of stress, a descending order of extremely stressful obstacles in each airline is presented in appendix (J) .It was divided into eight levels. Disruption to children’s education and social life tends to be the most severe source of stress in (E), a reason for that might be that the company has introduced a “local package” for expatriates assigned to developed countries, in this package, the company does not provide an allowance for education (John, 2010) , therefore this might act as an explanation for some unsatisfied (E) expatriates with their children’s schooling abroad. However, it is the third on the list in (M). This might be due to the higher quality of school education, especially concerning those assigned to developed countries. According to Ali the company provides education allowances to all areas. On the other hand, it was clear that half of expatriates in (M) view the difficulty of bringing up children with a balanced culture as the most stressful issue, but it was number 6 in difficulty on the list of obstacles for (E) expatriates. This might be explained by the greater tendency of Middle Easters not to let go of their traditions, as Mona points out ‘the nationals of these countries have a common bond: a strong feeling of identity and commonality’ with remaining strong ties of religion, language and history (1980 in Tayeb, 2005: 76). (See comment 4(M) in appendix (H). Cost of living has been reported to be the second most stressful issue for both expatriates in both airlines. It is recommended that both companies should review this issue. Another obstacle is spouse’s loss of job. Half of expatriates in (E) see it to be the third most difficult obstacle, although the company does offer some guidance, however they might consider the option of providing more help. In contrast with results from (M), spouse’s loss
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of job was not believed to be a big issue (6th on the list). This might be elaborated by the following: the questionnaire results show that male gender is dominant, it is expected that wives are in most cases thought to go automatically with their husbands, as men in the Middle East are predominantly the breadwinners. Some expatriates viewed the role as being enjoyable but hectic, (see comment 1(E)). Others have reported financial difficulties (see comment 2(E)). Two females have addressed the problem of “female expatriates” (see comment 3(E), 5(E)). Finally two reported obstacles with accommodation (comment 10(E) and 5(E)). (See appendix (G)) An expatriate in (M) concluded the experience by stating: It is not easy to move from the country of origin to another country, at first, but with time, we get used to it and it is a matter of the beginning only in both ways when you leave and when you come back (Expatriate 10,M company, 2010). A true fact which was aligned with the self oriented dimension explained by Mendenhall & Oddou, 1985, was apparent in comment 7(E). Also the limited assistance on repatriation was confirmed by expatriate 7 (see comment 6(E)) Unfamiliar environment or (culture shock) and change in work responsibilities were reported to be on the fifth level of difficulties at (E). Change in responsibility was also on the fifth in (M). However, surprisingly, culture shock was on the seventh level. This may raise the question; do expatriates really need cross cultural training? In Airline (E): 23% stated strongly agree, 38% agreed, 31% said neither agree nor disagree, and 8% disagreed. Those who said neither agree nor disagree, their choice might be due to them being from a European country and the majority of them were posted to a culturally similar area, which might explain their neutral response. In airline (M) 31% stated strongly agree,
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38% agreed, 23% neither agree nor disagree, and 8% disagreed. A reason for having greater number of expatriates who recommend strongly and agree that the company should offer CCT could be explained by the very limited information given to expatriates on an informal basis and /or the culture gap between the Middle Eastern culture and other cultures in the world. From this, difficult adjustment was noted. So the majority in both companies were in favour of receiving CCT. With regards to repatriation, In Airline (E): 53% believe that they might lose the authority and freedom they were enjoying abroad, this is aligned with what John said about them when they return they are a small fish in a big pond. 60% believe that they may have difficulties readjusting back home which gives an indication of the necessity of preparing them on repatriation. In airline (M) even more (71%) believe they may encounter loss of authority. 50% feel they might face a reverse culture shock. In an attempt to measure the most important selection criteria, from expatriates point of view. The striking difference in responses was in the selection based on educational level, in (M) 100% agree it’s extremely important, whereas in (E) only 33%. But both agreed on the significance of adaptability skills.

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Chapter 5
Conclusion
One of the main goals of organizations is to ensure that their employees are performing their job effectively, recruiting and selecting the right person for the right position is a challenging role for many multinational companies (Dowling, Welch, & Schuler, 1998). This dissertation has investigated the expatriation journey in the airline industry. An in-depth comparison between a European airline and a Middle Eastern one has been undertaken to determine the way each company selects and trains its expatriates, also to tackle any obstacles on the way while reaching the adjustment stage. The study has generally found that, companies have clearly defined selection criteria and specific requirements for sending a person on an international assignment. It was also shown that potential staff undergo intensive training prior posting, however, one significant finding to emerge was that both companies fail to provide a comprehensive Cross-Cultural Training. A feedback from expatriates themselves expressed the significance of such programs to ease the adjustment abroad. Another aspect was highlighted, regarding an overlooked source of stress for the relocating family when bringing up their children in a new environment; Difficulties were faced in blending in with the culture of the host whilst preserving their own cultural values. Companies may wish to consider this obstacle to avoid any spill over effects. Finally, the significance of preparation for repatriation and its consequences was addressed. This study was not free of limitations. Firstly, with a small sample size, caution must be applied as the sample might not represent others who were not included. Secondly, the questionnaire used did not take into consideration each job category, as each may require
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different selection criteria and levels of training. Thirdly, the response rate was low which may limit its generalizability. Fourthly, it is limited to two nations, therefore more needs to be studied about others. Finally, the possibility that the level of adjustment within the same region may vary, of course it was impossible to divide the questions according to countries, however, other studies may attempt to do so. In contrary, to belief that there is an increased demand for expatriates (Porter, 1989 in Baruch & Altman, 2002), both companies are trying to reduce the number of expatriates in order to limit the cost. However, this does not mean that forthcoming studies on expatriates are not valuable. A crucial fact is that maladjusted expatriates will lead to loss; therefore companies may wish to seriously think about managing their expatriates more effectively. Also they are advised to benefit from previous expatriate’s experiences as it is a cost effective way of passing on valuable information to outgoing staff. Expatriates will always be there to

perform strategic roles, they cannot be totally dismissed. Hence, more studies are needed to facilitate the improvement of expatriation and tackle any problems. Also to decide which of the expatriate’s positions in the airline industry can be filled by locals from the host or can be performed by staff at headquarters, considering the contemporary technological advancement in programmes and communications.

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Appendix Abbreviations

Adj work: Adjustment at work. Adj interaction: Adjustment to interaction with host country nationals. Adj living: Adjustment to living conditions. Bringing up children: The difficulty of bringing up children with a balance culture between home and the host country without ignoring your own values (e.g. language, religion, and attitudes). Unsettled: feeling unsettled due to changing residence and frequent move. Work resp: Change in work responsibility. Elderly/relatives: care of elderly/relatives back home. Building trust: building trust and dealing with co workers. Cost: cost of living. Clear role/ training: the extent to which your role, responsibilities were made clear and unambiguous. Relationship: relationship with host country nationals. Language: using the language of the host country. Children: the reaction of children towards the international assignment. Impact: the impact the international assignment had on children.

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Factors: factors crucial for success in an international assignment. Deal with others: the ability of the expatriate to deal effectively with his/her superiors, peers business associates and clients. Family: the ability of the family to adjust. New culture: experiencing new cultures. New environment: the ability to cope with a new environment. Return home: expected difficulties on repatriation Imp CCT twds adj: the impact of Cross-Cultural training towards adjustment. Methods: methods used in training Internet: can the given information nowadays easily be provided through the internet?. Reduce shock: CCT has minimized the culture shock and helped gain a realistic expectation of jobs and life in the foreign country Mng effectiveness and negotiations: CCT has increased managerial effectiveness in worldwide operations with regards to Cross- Cultural negotiations. Positive experience: CCT has prepared the expatriate and family for a positive CrossCultural experience.

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Appendix (A)

Quantitative data Based on meanings derived from numbers Collection results in numerical and standardised data Analysis conducted through the use of diagrams and statistics

Qualitative data Based on meanings expressed through words Collection results in non-standardised data requiring classification into categories Analysis conducted through the use of conceptualisation

Table 1: Differences between quantitative and qualitative data

Source: Developed from Dey (1993); Healey and Rawlinson (1994); authors’ experience cited in Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, (2003: 378)

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Appendix (B)
Interview questions

The questions below cover three aspects, first, it is important to understand the rationale for international staffing strategies from the HR’s perspective in each airline, and the role HR plays, secondly, the selection process, thirdly the training.

1.

What are the motives for international transfers? Why does the company send expatriates to manage its overseas business?

2.

Expatriates are expensive they cost the company three to four times one’s domestic salary, does the company think about alternatives to expatriation or it mainly depends on expatriates?

3.

To be effective a firm's human resource strategy should be integrated with its business strategy. What role does the HR play in the airline industry specifically towards its international strategy? The literature suggests that a successful expatriate should possess the following skills “Ideally, it seems, he (or she) should have the stamina of an Olympic swimmer, the mental agility of an Einstein, the conversational skill of a professor of languages, the detachment of a judge, the tact of a diplomat, and the perseverance of an Egyptian pyramid-builder. And if he is going to measure up the demands of living and working in a foreign country he should also have a feeling for culture, his moral judgements should not be too rigid; he should be able to merge with the local environment with chameleonlike ease and should show no signs of prejudice”
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4.

What do you think? Is it possible to find a person with these skills? Do expatriates in your company have such skills?

5. 6.

Which selection system does the company use? (Formal/ informal/open/closed)? It has been argued that many companies follow an informal selection process which is based on recommendations by others without making sure that the selected person does possess the necessary capabilities to be able to work in a particular foreign country (known as the `coffee machine’ because decisions are made while executives are having a coffee break ). To what extent does your company rely on recommendations made by others?

7.

To what extent do you agree with what is known as the domestic equal’s overseas performance equation? Which means that a person who performs well domestically will definitely perform well internationally?

8.

Selecting the right person for the right position is the key to a successful international assignment. How does the company select expatriates? What are the criteria you look for? How do you determine the criteria?

9.

What are the activities undertaken to generate a supply of potential candidates?

10. How does the company measure the expatriate’s ability to carry out the assignment? 11. Do you prefer to select candidates with experience or fresh young candidates? And why? 12. Rank in order of importance the following selection criteria: Technical ability Professional managerial ability,

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Cross cultural ability, Experience in the company Adaptability Educational level. 13. To what extent do you believe that personality characteristics are essential for expatriate’s success? 14. What kind of organizational support does the company offer to expatriates (work and social)? 15. How does the company contribute towards the adjustment process of the expatriate and his/her spouse and family in the host country? 16. Training aims to improve the current work skills and behaviour, development aims to increase abilities in relation to future positions. A truly global manager needs a set of context -specific abilities. What training does the company offer? And when? 17. For how long is the training? 18. What are the methods used in training? 19. How does the company identify the training needs for expatriates? 20. What does the company do in order to increase the expatriate’s knowledge about the country of assignment, its culture, increase awareness of skills and behaviour needed for the expatriate to be successful in another culture? 21. In case the company does not offer cross cultural training, what is the reason?

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22. Having a good selection process leads to reducing the risk of selecting the wrong person, also having a tailored training system that minimizes the weaknesses of expatriates and develops the necessary skills needed abroad is important , because any shortage may lead to failure. How does the company define expatriate failure? 23. Repatriation, the final stage in the expatriation process when the expatriate returns back home, how does the company deal with it?

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Appendix (C)
Interview Transcribing
Company name: Airline (E) Interview date: 5th August, 2010 Interview place: At the company’s headquarters. Participants: John : Performance and Reward Adviser

Researcher: I am interested in knowing how do you prepare your international staff, I have chosen the airline industry because from its nature it is international, the company is expected to expand overseas, penetrate new markets, deal with new customers, new rules and regulations. Also managing an expatriate is very risky, and difficult. It is total different from managing local staff. I am interested in knowing basically your selection and training programs, how do you prepare expatriates? Question (1): What are the motives for international transfers, why does the company send expatriates? Mr. John: Within the company previously we had expatriates, I would think since the company started, from my knowledge, it has been very much led by UK people, going out to places where we needed them, for areas where markets were not really developed. Those range from engineers, through to people at the airport, country managers, cargo, finance, going all over the world. From the last 10 years or so, the number of expatriates have reduced quite considerably, about 50% markedly, as you know communication is getting better, local people have been trained and taken over, so we do not need so many people to be sent overseas . Our aim is to reduce
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the number of expatriates (1) because they cost huge amount of money (2) the aim is to get local people where we can train them and these would grow within the job in the company. This is not totally dismissing the importance of people based in here, there are various roles, developing roles overseas which we like our people to go to. The emphasis has changed, previously, it was demand led, we need someone to fill a role and we have somebody here so we send them. Whereas now, we far more emphasize, we ask ourselves do we need expatriates there, is it the best person for that role, we look for the best person. Researcher: does that mean that you look for the best person regardless if he/she is a PCN or HCN? Mr. John: yes, but this does not always happen, it is difficult, there are some places where you still need an expatriate, the company says we need our people there, for security purposes, important stations, where the sort of culture is a little different and where you feel the controls would not be in place with locals. But this I am not saying that we completely dismiss local people, it time we hope those places to have locals, we will always have expatriates for development purposes, the right person with the right skills and knowledge, we need people who understand procedures, rules, the culture of the company. We also have development role for somebody who has newly joined the company like graduate role. Or maybe somebody who is moving up in the organization, quite near the top, so we give him overseas experience. Researcher: do you have a specified time for each assignment? Mr. John: normal assignments are between 2 to 3 years, engineers are the only ones who are sent for 4 years, but they can vary, we say approximately 2 to 3 that would give the company

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and the individual both the flexibility, maybe we see someone who is actually doing a really good job and we tell him we would like you to move there, or an individual saying oh I have done this and I feel I did a good job and I want to move somewhere else. The only ones which are fairly strict are engineers and graduates. Researcher: so you take graduates specifically for this role? Mr. John: we take graduates within the company, they are called needed for business and they are sort of general management graduates on a management training scheme, various areas of the organization put in and say we like a graduate to do this job then they go through a selection process then through training for around 12 to 15 months but normally 12 months and it can be extended to project. With all our graduates, you know they come in to the organization on a graduate training programme while they are on that training programme there may be an opportunity for them to go overseas. But not every graduate gets the chance to go overseas; it depends on replacement and projects going on at that time. It was demand led previously, there will always be we need somebody immediately, it is now moving towards these opportunities, they do cost us money, they should be towards developed within the organization that is the way it is moving. Question (2) :Expatriates are expensive they cost the company three to four times one’s domestic salary, does the company think about alternatives to expatriation or it mainly depends on expatriates? Mr. John: yes, they are expensive, as I said the number of expatriate reduced. We have the traditional expatriate package which is called tax equalized package, which is basically you get paid your home country salary and then you get added on to that any cost of living, location allowance, hosing, utility paid for, if you have children you get education allowance as well. You only pay the tax that you would have to pay in the home country.
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That is the most expensive way of sending someone overseas and that is a traditional package. About 10 years ago the company introduced what we called a local expat package, again this was to reduce cost and for somebody would go to a developed country say within Europe, the states, Australia, actually, from UK there is not much difference, standards of living, infrastructure, facilities, family living, or if someone going from France to US, there is not much difference, obviously for France the culture might be different but not a big gap. So we said ok, fine those people going there, we just pay them a local salary, like if you are going to the US , you would be paid US salary , pay your own tax, we would not any housing allowance, or education allowance because standards are the same, they have public education. The only people which we put on slightly different package would be graduates, part of the development program, we put them on tax equalized be they would go for a short period; it is difficult to break any tax residency here, so it would be easier to apply tax equalized. And also very senior we give them a reasonable package they would be on traditional tax equalized. 2 to 3 years ago, over years because we reduced the amount that we paid for allowances and things like that, to reduce the cost of tax equalized package, we found it was very hard to get senior people to go overseas because senior managers would be on tax equalized pay, anybody else would be on local and so people who were not quite senior managers but very highly regarding managers and because the company has reduced the number of managers and senior managers you may have only 1 or 2 people who may do the role. So we introduced what we call an expat light package, which is in half way between, so we tax equalized them but only give them the goods and service allowance, there is no location allowance, they
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would be going to a country without location allowance so that did not matter, we would also pay them something towards the accommodation and if they have children we might also pay something towards their education. But it was mainly the housing; if their job demanded a car we get a car but we would not automatically get a car, it depends on the country, most places have reasonable public transport, most of our people go to the states go to New York, so the transport infrastructure is good. It would also be to those countries where we would send people on a local package it would be to developed countries. They ask or say I am going to be worse, if I go there what is the point (expats think this way) So we have three main packages, basically to reduce costs. Somebody going to a developing country, Africa, The Middle East, Indian Subcontinent, so ok fine senior managers would get that package any way because the company would be sending you to that place rather than it being your choice. And then the local expatriate package is for those that are managers in developed countries, it varies, these packages were driven (1) by cost, also expatriate light was driven by the lack of demand or lack of pool of people Researcher: So you have tried to make packages to fit everybody. Yes, before we introduced expatriate light we were almost doing individual packages for each one which was time consuming. We got advice from outside. So yes they are expensive. We now got a system to do cost deductions especially for tax equalized you send a person overseas for 3 years, he will cost you half a million pounds and their salary is only 100,000 pounds, so the manager can say what are we going to get out of this as a company, are we going to get half a million worth of benefits?
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People within the organization gradually are becoming much more aware of the cost and process of sending people overseas. Question No (3): What kind of organizational support does the company offer to expatriates (work and social)? To begin with, there is the support they get from our self and other people in the team, before they go, explaining what the package is, what benefits they get, support with moving their stuff, whether they want to go on a familiarization trip there , where they can go to look for information about the country they are going to which is on our internet, it comes from an outside company, and then within that we send out a guide for details of policies, allowances they get, the country profile, we have a link within our internet all countries come up and you click on the icon and the country you want to see ,everything will come up like geographical area, climate, bit of history, culture, more details about accommodation, schooling, motoring . We do have offices in all countries where we send expatriates so we have links, local office mainly people go to main areas hubs, we would put them in touch with the HR person over there who would help them with any visa requirements, any local issues they may have, rules and regulations, somewhere to live, advising them the good areas, within the company profile there is accommodation sector, explains which is the best area, which is a good area, and a rough guide of prices. Also within the guide we send out there are sort of websites to look at cultural links or things like that, especially if you are going with your partner so you can find something about partner’s job. Researcher, I would consider this as part of CCT, because when I asked expatriates by the survey , if the company offers CCT, surprisingly they said no.

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Mr. John. Not formal, in a broader sense there is some help but not formally. Because previously say a manager going say to China then we would send them to an organization called Farnham castle which does CCT, we ring them up, send them, and a day would cost 1000 pounds. It is expensive. Because one would have local people over there working for the airline, most people don’t really need it, also there is an awful lot on the internet. Question (4): How does the company contribute towards the adjustment process of the expatriate and his/her spouse and family in the host country? Mr. John: If we know somebody is going out with their spouse/partner we do invite the partner to join the briefing, we do put in the guide we send out there are links to websites that the partner can go and look at. Previously, when spouses went overseas would not or could not do any job, or only do voluntary work, whereas nowadays, there is more pressure on the partner, maybe they have a career here and wants to continue working. OK within the EU that is fine you can go and find a job in the states, you have to go through a process and the spouse then can apply to work. More and more countries are going in that rote, especially developed countries. I think Australia and New Zealand are the same like in the UK. If a person has a work permit, then the spouse can look for a job and can work. Researcher: but as (E) airline do you look for the spouse for a job? Mr. John: No, we just provide guidance, support regarding rules for permission to work and also I am sure there (in the host) they will help Researcher: What about the language? If they were transferred to a country which they do not speak English, does the company offer support regarding this issue? Mr. John: well, I would think the selection process looks for somebody who speaks the language but this is not always the case, we do not do anything centrally , I would have to
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check, but if say we would pay for it we would do it here. In the past we used to pay, but we do not do it for every expatriate it is case by case, it would be done locally like evening classes but not centrally in the UK. Question (5): What does the company do in order to increase the expatriate’s knowledge about the country of assignment, its culture, increase awareness of skills and behaviour needed for the expatriate to be successful in another culture? Mr. John: There again it is going back to the country profile, it gives various bits about companies culture and business culture as well, and also we would expect the local office to help and to prepare the expatriates, for example; if somebody puts up their feet, do not be surprised, or if somebody turns up three hours late that is normal for some cultures. Other cultures are changing Question (6): Repatriation, the final stage in the expatriation process when the expatriate returns back home, how does the company deal with it? Mr. John : Repatriation, yes, when somebody finishes their assignment, normally, the job is advertised, people apply and you go through a selection process, then you select somebody and send them out to where it is and then like any other job within the company, there is no time limit to that job, even if you say approximately 2 to 3 years and during that time the person may say , ok fine, I have got the skills to do this job, it is time I move on , so they start looking for another job within the company and then they see one back in the UK where their home base is their then they apply, if they are successful for that role, when they are successful the manager says we need to bring them back and then our department makes sure they come back, they get paid any allowances which may be due and they are very much left to their own devises. When they come back, we bring them back and basically that’s it. There is no sort of formal interview at the end of the assignment, it is an area that we know we need
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to look at and sort of tighten up in putting a more formal process because a lot of people go overseas and they are a big fish in a small pond and when they come back to the UK they are a small fish in a big pond and so they feel as though they are not appreciated to the value they have, are they being used by the company to the value they feel they have, their knowledge, skills and experiences gained overseas is not been used when they come back or been drawn and then going back to why we send people overseas, we are trying to draw that full circle, so actually what are the jobs available overseas for development and then drawing the circle back, when they come back what sort of role they ideally have and how can we draw on their skills . It is something that is being looked at and the company needs to look into, because we know from past experiences e.g. if a person comes back they had four years overseas and they come back then within two years they leave the organization, it is very disappointing. Researcher, you might use them to give an advice to other expatriates Mr. John, yes as mental We are looking into repatriation. Researcher: what about reverse culture shock? Mr. John, when they come back they face reverse culture shock as I said we make sure they are back we provide help with their personal things, or if they need advice, also we might provide housing for a short time if they need. The nature of expatriates within the airline has changed, previously we had what we call career expats who were moving from one place to another or they hardly come back to the UK, this was their job, they go to a small country then to a bigger country they get to a certain level they may spend 25 years with the company and 20 overseas. But now, it is very
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different you get some people who go overseas as part of development a person may say ok I have done 3 or 4 years overseas and now I want to go back and move up the ladder and the only place I can see myself do that is in the UK Others mainly who go to developed countries like US they go out for four years and then decide they want to settle there so what we do is we localize them, they may have gone on an expat then they have got the right to live and work there indefinite leave so we see what are the plans maybe those got married there, have families, so we localize them Researcher: Do you have a limited number of assignments for each person? Mr. John, no as it goes These expatriates they are sent to fill different positions, sales, engineers, cargo, finance but not so many, because most of it is done from here. And graduates. No country managers, we would have head of sales, head of airport. We have two main area general managers, the most senior one is based in the states and then we have two based here in the UK, one looks after Europe, and the other looks after Africa, Asia pacific so those are three main heads, under them we have people in charge of sales operations and then customer service, operations. That is the structure. Also there may be an expatriate in charge of the commercial side or airport but they may not always be expatriates we may have a local or an expatriate. We do performance review by line managers, the HR department would be a business partner aligned to each of the areas, in conjunction with line managers we make sure performance reviews are done, they review any people who are not performing correctly, but the line manager will be doing the performance review but obviously supported by business partners,

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then depending on their performance one would put in a plan to make sure their performance is improving. Performance criteria is not just about money it is your behaviour, customer focus, how your team performs if you are in charge of a team The researcher, do you get involved in the selection process? Mr. John, not really, I was hoping my colleague, should have joined us by now, he has more hands on knowledge as he is part of one of the business partners Question (7): What are the activities undertaken to generate a supply of potential candidates? Generally any role that is coming up overseas is advertised within the company, on the company internet, so anybody within the company can apply internally. And so there maybe various restrictions to certain criteria like to do a job in France you need a work permit to work in France that would immediately restrict. Second part: In general, the vast majority of jobs are advertised internally, then you go through the selection process, interviews to get the right person you want. Regarding international assignments, I mean in the time I have been doing it, there has been very few cases that I knew about that have failed. But there again, not having on the repatriation sort of formal interview and especially after a short period of time, why you are coming back, which would then if you know why they are coming back then you should know reasons behind that is it culture, is it they were not helpful, is it being a female in a certain country, completely against the culture there so it was very difficult going to meetings then you could say ok fine if we do send somebody there we need to send out somebody who is completely culture aware, make sure they are fully briefed and perhaps we need to get a formal CCT.
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Being a global company we have people all around the world if somebody in a certain country has the skills we want we give them the chance, we do not sort of turn it down, The researcher: so you broaden your search, obviously with the vast majority of employees with in the UK we can get the majority of applicants from the UK. There is really no specific activities, I suppose the only one on a formal basis is graduates , they are on a 3 years The researcher: Do you provide specific training? Engineers need to go through formal training, they need to have certificates for each aircraft they will be working on, with regards to others sales and marketing would say they need to have experience I am sure they do send them on training in various departments, there are courses for sales people, Engineers used to be 60 now we only have 8, we trained local people. We find it very difficult in the M E , you know E airline has a good reputation high standards of training, and everybody wants to benefit, Middle Eastern airlines offer huge amount of money we have had difficulty retaining people it is a local issue which we had to work on as a reward department here to retain people, that is a downside for having local people because they can move around Question (8): Do you prefer to select candidates with experience or fresh young candidates? And why? Now, we are not looking for somebody who has international experience, whereas previously, we may have said we want somebody who has been an expatriate before, we would not look at somebody’s age and disqualify him , this is illegal

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We look at applicants on merit, obviously individual circumstances may limit, if someone is married and has children at school maybe they do not want to take them out of school, put them in a new country, or maybe children have left home so you say ok. Whereas you may have young couple or person in mid 20s who they would want to start their career. So basically the selection is purely on merit.

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Appendix (D)
Interview transcribing
Company name: Airline (M) Interview date: 27th July, 2010 Interview place: At the company’s headquarters. Participants: Sara: HR Manager & Ali: Director of Quality Assurance and Outstations

Question (1): Why do you send expatriates, do you look for other alternatives?

Sara: It

depends on the position, if you are talking about area manager’s position or account manager, we send expatriates because we need people who are loyal to the company, who have the experience, who know the companies procedures and understand practices. We do not only look for those who know procedures, but also those who know the culture of the organization. I don’t know if Mr. Ali agrees with me regarding this point, we normally do not have a problem with station (airport) managers; we can be flexible about employing locals if they have the necessary skills, however, the main problem is with area managers and accounts managers who we prefer to send expatriates to cover these positions. Mr. Ali replied: actually, we focus on the culture, trust issues, language issues, being aware of the company’s rules and regulations, we consider all alternatives, sometimes we face problems with nationals travelling to countries where they do not speak English or the countries language, and we need somebody who speaks the language and can understand, communicate with others. We sometimes do send people on language course. Ms. Sara: by the way, the cost of expatriates is higher than the cost of locals. The researcher: yes they cost the company three to four times one’s annual salary back home.

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Mr. Ali: It depends on the country, because of tax issues. Question 2: What role does the HR department play? Is it limited, I mean selecting a person for an international assignment differs than selecting for a local position? In an international company with worldwide connections how do you select expatriates, based on what criteria? Mr. Ali: There are prerequisite criteria and conditions for each job, there are courses,

programs they must attend also we take their behaviour into consideration, the person should be clear security wise, a committee concerned with these issues sit and meet, then interview the candidate. The researcher: so it is a joint decision. Ms Sara: Yes. Also we have development programs for area and station managers, we have certain criteria for selection, for applying for those positions, we have tests, like English language and I Q tests, customer service tests if required. Then candidates are interviewed by HR Department and related departments. Question (3): Do you have a pool of potential candidates? Ms. Sara: talent pool? Mr Ali: I think what you are talking about is potential appraisals. Mr. Ali, not really, because changes occur from time to time, we assign people when the need arise for replacement, however, we do keep an eye on people working in the field but not in a structured way. Question (4): So how do you describe your selection system? Is it open, closed? Mr: Ali, it is open

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The researcher: open even to outsiders? Ms. Sara: for sure no. it is open to internals within the company. Mr. Ali, open in our terminology means internal. (Anybody with the necessary skills, requirements within the company can apply) Question (5): do you depend on recommendations made by line managers or others for selection? Mr. Ali: there is appraisal on annual basis and assessment sheets evaluating the performance, Ms. Sara: so performance evaluation rating is considered when selecting expatriates. The researcher: Do you base your evaluation specifically on the area? Ms Sara: the selection process is not based on each area, in general, once we have a vacancy for a certain job, (e.g. area manager) there is a development program for a group of people which we can consider as a talent pool, let’s say we have 10 to 20 candidates who undergo certain programs, they are prepared in general for a role regardless of the area, once there is an opening for a certain job we select from this pool. The researcher: so all undergo the same training regardless of the area. Mr Ali. But we take into consideration other factors like we have in mind to offer a language course for someone moving to Paris for example. The researcher: yes but this is costly, Mr. Ali: Another issue is work permit; we sometimes prefer to select people who have the nationality if available.

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Ms. Sara, if available, sometimes it is difficult to find people who speak the language, but we have examples of people who have the nationality of the country which they are working in, The researcher: This makes it easier. Question (6) The researcher: I will read a description of expatriates, now in the U.K and U.S.A, they might be exaggerating, but I think this describes a typical expatriate. “Ideally, it seems, he (or she) should have the stamina of an Olympic swimmer, the mental agility of Einstein, the conversational skill of a professor of languages, the detachment of a judge, the tact of a diplomat, and the perseverance of an Egyptian pyramid-builder. And if he is going to measure up the demands of living and working in a foreign country he should also have a feeling for culture, his moral judgements should not be too rigid; he should be able to merge with the local environment with chameleon-like ease and should show no signs of prejudice”. (Phatak, 1974, cited in Forster, 1992: 609). What do you think, does you company have such people? Mr. Ali: yes as you said at the beginning, they exaggerate, how many people are line Einstein? The researcher, yes, there is only one Einstein. Researcher: I got an idea about selection, can we move on to the training now? How do you offer training? Mr. Ali: We do have prerequisites, qualification and skills needed for each position, when ever changes occur, people will undergo the training needed for a new position. Area

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managers do not come for one year, work in the company then after one year they are sent out, (he means it does not work out this way) most of the time they spend 10 to 20 years in service, so by that time, they have taken so many training, but we still check the gap before the company decides to send that person abroad, and we try to compensate and eliminate the gap by providing the necessary training. Ms. Sara, Also we have development programmes, a list of certain training programs before being posted, practical training and theoretical training. As part of the development programme. You can show her an example. Ms Sara. Excuse me I can see everything is ok; I can leave you with Mr. Ali. Mr. Ali: Yes, we can go to my office, can you please switch off the recorder. The researcher: yes sure.

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Appendix (E)

.

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Appendix (F)
Questionnaire
Managing Expatriates in the Airline Industry 1‐ Gender? Male Female (Please circle your answer) 2‐ What is your age category? (Please circle your answer) Less than 30 years 30 to less than 40 40 to less than 50 50 to 60 years 3‐ Please list countries/ cities of international assignments ................. ................. .................. 4‐ Number of children if any? (Please circle your answer) 1 2 3 more than 3 none 5‐ Adjustment is a crucial process which expatriates go through, to be fully adjusted; an expatriate is expected to feel comfortable and become familiar with the new environment. How difficult was this process in each of the following?

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(Please tick the box according to each area you were assigned to) a‐ Adjustment at work? Area/degree of Extremely difficulty difficult Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America

difficult

moderate

Easy

b‐ Adjustment to interaction with host country nationals? Area/degree of difficulty Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America Extremely difficult difficult moderate Easy

c‐ Adjustment to living conditions? Area/degree of difficulty Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America Extremely difficult difficult moderate Easy

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6‐ An international assignment is stressful, rate the following problems from 1 to 5 Circle number (1) for the most stressful and number (5) for the least stressful for each of the following obstacles. • Unfamiliar environment (Culture shock) 1 • Separation from spouse/ partner and or children or family members 1 • The difficulty of bringing up children with a balanced culture between home and the new host country without ignoring your own values (e.g. language, religion and attitudes). 1 • Feeling unsettled due to changing residence and frequent move. 1 • Spouse/ partner loss of job/ pension. 1 • Disruption to children’s education or social life. 1 • Healthcare in the host country. 1 2 3 4 5 92 2 3 4 5 Not applicable 2 3 4 5 Not applicable 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 Not applicable 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5

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• Change in work responsibility. 1 • Care of elderly or relatives back home. 1 • Building trust and dealing with co workers. 1 • Home Sickness 1 • Cost of living. 1 Please add any comments about any specific obstacle which you have encountered while on assignment. (Open/ optional)...................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 Not applicable 2 3 4 5

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7‐ Rate the following selection criteria you think airline companies should use when selecting expatriates. Circle number (1) for the most important criteria and number (5) for the least, for each of the following: • Experience in the company. 1 • Adaptability. 1 • Educational level. 1 • Technical knowledge of business. 1 8‐ Does your company offer cross cultural training before posting? (Please circle your answer). Yes No 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5

If the company offers cross cultural training, please complete section A. If the company does not offer cross cultural training, please complete section B.
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Section A (If the company offers cross cultural training) 1‐ How do you rate the importance of cross cultural training towards the adjustment in the host country? (Please circle your answer) Extremely important Important Moderate Did not benefit 2‐ Please circle any of the methods used in such training (you can select more than one answer). ‐Seminars/ books/ brochures, which provided very basic information. ‐Watching videos and films. ‐Case studies and guided discussion afterwards. ‐Total dependency on hand over/takeover process from departing expatriate. ‐Not applicable 3‐ If you have only selected the first choice in the previous question, do you think that the

given information nowadays can be easily provided through the internet? Yes 4‐ How do you describe the benefits received from the training? (Please circle your answer for each of the following) a‐ Minimized culture shock and gained realistic expectation of the work and life in the foreign country? 95 No

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Highly benefited b‐ Increased managerial effectiveness in worldwide operations with regards to cross cultural negotiations? Highly benefited c‐ Prepared the expatriate and the family for a positive cross cultural experience? Highly benefited moderate low not applicable moderate low not applicable moderate low not applicable

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Section B (If the company does not offer cross cultural training) 1‐ Why do you think the company does not offer cross cultural training? (Please circle your answer; you can select more than one answer). ‐Lack of time ‐Temporary nature of such assignment ‐Doubts of the effectiveness of such training programs ‐Because it is costly ‐Others please specify (optional)............ 2‐ Do you think the company should offer cross cultural training? As it will help minimize the culture shock and increase the expatriate’s (and his/her family’s) knowledge about the culture in the host country. (Please circle your answer). Strongly agree Agree Neither agrees nor disagrees Disagree Strongly disagree
3‐ Please specify the sources/ ways you used to increase your knowledge about the host country? 9‐ With regards to adjustment at work, to what extent do you think your role/ responsibilities were made clear to you and were unambiguous? (Please circle your answer).

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‐Everything was made clear and I was trained on any weaknesses before posting ‐It was made clear but I did not receive full training ‐Nothing was clear and I had to work harder to cope with the new responsibilities 10‐ How easily were you able to adjust to your workplace while dealing with local staff and business circles concerning the following issues? (Please tick the box according to each area you were assigned to) a‐ Time keeping Area/degree of difficulty Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America b‐ Teamwork Area/degree of difficulty Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America

difficult

moderate

Easy

difficult

moderate

Easy

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c‐ Rules and regulations Area/degree of difficult difficulty Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America d‐ Integrity and honesty Area/degree of difficulty Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America e‐ Commitment to doing the job Area/degree of difficulty Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America 99 difficult moderate Easy difficult moderate Easy

moderate

Easy

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11‐ Describe your relationship with host country nationals? (Please tick the box according to each area you were assigned to)

Area/type relationship Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America

of I developed long Formal lasting relationships relationships

I did not establish close relationships

12‐ How keen are you in using the local language in communicating with the locals? (Please tick the box according to each area you were assigned to) Area/using the I do that all the I try as much as I am not interested as time possible long as they speak local language English or my language Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America

13‐ If you have children, what was their reaction towards the assignment? (Please tick the box according to each area you were assigned to) Area/ children’s reaction Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America Delighted Neutral Not in favour 100

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14‐ If you have children, what impact did the international assignment have on your children? (Please tick the box according to each area you were assigned to) Area/ children’s reaction Africa Asia Arabian Gulf Australia Europe Middle East North America South America Please add any further comments about children’s experience? (Open/ optional).......................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................... 15‐ Please number each of the factors listed below in order of importance to you in your choice of crucial factors for success in an international assignment. circle number (1) for the most crucial and number (5) for the least for each of the following: a‐ Technical competence on the job. 1 b‐ The ability of the expatriate to deal effectively with his/her superiors, peers, business associates and clients. 1 c‐ Experiencing new cultures. 1 2 3 4 5 101 2 3 4 5 2 3 4 5 Positive Negative Neutral

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d‐ The ability to cope with the new environment. 1 16‐ If you are to return to your home country after the completion of an international assignment, do you expect you will have difficulties in the following? (Please circle your answer; you can select more than one answer). ‐I might lose the authority I had and the freedom I was enjoying abroad. ‐I might have difficulties readjusting back home (reverse culture shock). ‐My children may have difficulties readjusting at home country. ‐Not applicable. 17‐ Please add your comments about your international experience and any problems you or any member of your family may have encountered which were not covered by this questionnaire. Please feel free to make any suggestions in order to ease the adjustment process. (Open question/ optional) 2 3 4 5

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Appendix (G)
Comments from expatriates (E) airline

Comment (1) (E) Expatriate (1)

It's a great experience, but it doesn't suit everyone. There is also a perception from UK colleagues that you are living a charmed existence, which actually compared to local employee is probably true. You have to be contactable a 24/7/365 days a year existence, as even when you are on leave, you will sometimes have to respond to enquiries.

Whilst your questionnaire asks for a list of countries worked in, your other questions only ask for one answer, and it doesn't allow definition of each experience in each different country, which can vary widely within Africa.

Comment (2) (E) Expatriate (2)

In both of my international moves, there was a significant short term financial adjustment with the loss of double income as well as long term in terms of building retirement funds. I believe in both cases it would have been beneficial to have professional financial council. I am also of the opinion that there would be significant value to the employee and his/her family to have experienced council available to ensure there is a full understanding of expatriate life and the return to host country/job/life. I don't believe an expatriate lifestyle is for

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all, but I would not have missed either opportunity. Personal growth, the benefit to my children and the chance to experience life and culture that many will only read about has been a wonderful thing, in spite of the minor hardships

South Asia would be one of the most difficult areas and you didn't list a choice Comment (3) (E) It isn't a case of not wanting to learn the language; everyone is English Expatriate (3) Never mentioned if gender was an issue. One of the most difficult things is adjusting to not much support from friends. It is very much a man's world of working for expats and being a woman means you are never in one box. Most of the women are here with children and therefore never meet at times when you are free and always in child environment. speaking so there was not a need. for this.

The men feel uneasy being with women expats as it can be misconstrued.

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Comment (4)(E) Expatriate (4) I only based my feedback on my current assignment and my children are now of an age where I did not have to worry about education issues

Comment (5)(E) Expatriate (6)

The international experience is heavily dependent on the host office to provide a welcoming experience, with help and guidance. Often you arrive with no friends or family in the host country, and there is a heavier reliance on colleagues to provide that extra level of support. I had support from the HR department with phone calls to the local HR manager, and met with the UK HR team before departing.

I believe it would be useful for the local HR manager to brief the team on the role that the expat will fulfil, and formally introduce the person on arrival. I was nervous about meeting the team before I arrived.

I struggled with finding a suitable suburb to live in. It is not possible to know the 'good' and 'bad' areas of the city, and as a single female, felt that an overview of the main suburbs with transport links would have been very useful.

Jet lag can play a large factor in the initial adjustment period as well.

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Comment (6)(E) Expatriate (7)

After years away from headquarters and generating significant profit and gains, there appeared to be only a small amount of assistance in gaining sufficient support in securing a position at the main base. Only my direct manager has offered assistance, and working closely with him has made things a little easier. In his comment about the new expatriate who will take over he stated: My replacement has already started to show how difficult things will be in positioning himself in the new role. Insufficient time has been as yet offered to them (the new expatriate and his/her family) to move and adjust prior entering into a busy work period. In his comment about sources of data he states We have offices all over the world; we could do more to use the knowledge of foreign employees to assist our expatriates.

Comment (7)(E) Expatriate (8)

It’s an experience of a lifetime and opportunity that only comes once. I have learnt lots and will always remember these days. I have had good and bad but lots more good. Belgium is very different to the world and people here are not the most out going so hard to find friends. My saying is “make your posting what you want it to be " and it will be good fun.

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Comment (8)(E) Expatriate (10)

My son who was age 4 when I accepted my assignment, initially had difficulty in not having me nearby, we have made efforts to see each other monthly either at home or in my new host country, video chat has played a crucial role in bridging the gap between visits and we touch base daily to minimize the impact of my absence.

Comment (9)(E) Expatriate (11)

Only to note that experience within regions may be very different than by country, for example my experience with rules and regulations, culture, language, in Thailand was very different to that of Hong Kong.

Comment (10)(E) Expatriate (15)

The only significant difficulty I encountered was that accommodation had not been arranged for when I first arrived, I had to arrange my own hotel the night before leaving the UK and temporary accommodation was not available until one week into my assignment I also did not have a signed offer letter before I left the UK Full research using internet and speaking with other colleagues recognising a move overseas can be stressful, I decided to chose a country where the conditions , language etc are similar to the UK to help migrate some of the stress , I believe the responsibility for obtaining information on the host country is the employees not the employer

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Appendix (H)
Comments from expatriates (M) airline:
Comment (1)(M) Expatriate (3) The family should have a good idea about the country they visit, its culture, etc.

Comment (2)(M) Expatriate (4)

Relocation is the major problem, accommodation arrangements, and transportation.

Comment (3)(M) Expatriate (7)

All what I can say is without the management and the family support; it is too difficult to get the targeted success. But International assignments make a distance in the family relations

Comment (4)(M) Expatriate (9)

Living in a foreign country means adjusting in the society, and work environment. Differences in cultures and backgrounds are current, but this should not affect our own identity, each country has foreigners living in, they melt in a new life style, been

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respected by the locals as a new comer, the mixture of cultural backgrounds is normal and natural.

Comment (5)(M) Expatriate (10)

It is a good thing for children to learn about new cultures It is not easy to move from the country of origin to another country, at first, but with time, we get used to it and it is a matter of the beginning only in both ways when you leave and when you come back

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Appendix (I)
A comparison between (E) airline and (M) airline questionnaire
Attributes (E) Company:

Respondents in E:

15

Gender

9 male

60%

6 female

40%

Age Number expatriates percentage

Less than 30 of 1 & 7%

30 to 40 years 6 40%

40 to 50 years 6 40%

50 to 60 years 2 13%

Attributes (M) Company:

Respondents in M:

14

Gender

12 male

86%

2 female

14%

Age Number expatriates percentage

Less than 30 of 0 &

30 to 40 years 4 28.5%

40 to 50 years 4 28.5%

50 to 60 years 6 43%

Airline (E) tends to employ more females as expatriates than airline (M). This can be explained by cultural differences. Airline (E) tends to employ younger age groups than airline (M).

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Adjustment at work

•

Expatriates at airline (E) tend to have difficulties in adjusting at work in Africa 2 expatriates were sent to Africa 1 found it difficult (an example of expatriate 1 who has been to four areas in Africa), the percentage 50%. Another area was the Arabian Gulf; one person has been sent there and found it difficult. 2 responses out of 2 who were assigned to Africa see honesty when dealing with people being an issue. 100%

•

Expatriates at airline (M) tend to have difficulties in adjusting at work in Africa and Asia.

7 were assigned to areas in Africa, 3 found it difficult to adjust to work, 43% 3 out of 7 respondents assigned to Africa believe that it was difficult to deal with the following in Africa: Expatriate 1: Time keeping, teamwork, Integrity and honesty, and commitment Expatriate 3: commitment Expatriate 8: Rules and regulations 4 were sent to Asia, 2 found it difficult to adjust at work, the percentage 50%, 1 person out of the all 4 found problems with rules & regulations, honesty and commitment 25%

A different angle has been addressed, which may have considered affecting the adjustment of expatriates at work. They were asked to indicate the extent to which their role/responsibilities were made clear to them. • In airline (E): Everything was clear with training on any weaknesses & 3 out of 15 20% Role was made clear without full training 9 out of 15 60% Nothing was clear and had to work harder 3 out of 15 20%

Role clarity

Number percentage

The majority believed that their role was made clear but without receiving full training.

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•

In airline (M): Everything was clear with training on any weaknesses & 9 out of 13 69% Role was made clear without full training 4 out of 13 31% Nothing was clear and had to work harder 0

Role clarity

Number percentage

(13 because one did not answer) The majority are satisfied with the preparation offered before posting and the clarity of explanation of their role.

Adjustment to interaction with host nationals: • An expatriate in airline (E) had extreme difficulties in interacting with Arabian Gulf, he also did not establish close relationships,. • Expatriates in airline (M) had 3 out of 7 respondents who were sent to Africa 43%, found it to be difficult. No report of any extremely difficult • In an attempt to see whether they interact with host nationals, respondents were asked to describe their relationship with host nationals. (Relationship with host nationals and adjustment & (vice versa)

From those 7 who were assigned to Africa 3 out of 7 established formal relationships 43 % 4 out of 7 established long lasting frienships57%

Adjustment to living conditions: • Company (E), Again, adjustment in Africa seems to be dominating the difficult areas, 2 respondents out of 2 100%said living conditions were difficult in Africa. In addition to 1 out of 1 100%in India. This might be explained by them coming from a developed country and going to a developing country which has affected their coping mechanisms.

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•

In company (M), 2 out of 7 29% who were assigned to Africa believe living conditions were difficult

Sources of stress(Obstacles): grouped into three categories: • • • any responses ranging from (1 to 2) inclusive was interpreted as extremely stressful obstacle any responses ranging from (3 to 4) inclusive was interpreted as medium stressful obstacle any responses for number 5 was interpreted as less stressful obstacle Airline (E) Airline (M) medium low extreme Medium low 7 out of 2 out of 3 out of 6 out of 5 out of 15 15 14 14 14 47% 13% 21% 43% 36% 6 out of 4 out of 6 out of 4 out of 4 out of 15 15 14 14 14 40% 27% 43% 29% 28% 6 Out 4 out of 2 out of of 12 12 12 50% 33% 17%

Obstacles Level of stress 1.Unfamiliar environment (Culture shock) 2.Separation from spouse , partner and/or children or family members

extreme 6 out of 15 40% 5 out of 15 33%

1 out of 2 out of The rest 3. The difficulty of 3 3 12 either bringing up children 33% 67% they did with a balanced culture not have between home and the children new host. or their children did not join or were old enough 4.Feeling unsettled due 5 out of 9 out of 1 out of to changing residence 15 15 15 and frequent move 33% 60% 7% 5. Spouse/partner loss 3 out of 3 out of Others of job/pension 6 6 were 50% 50% N/A as their spouse did not have a job 6. Disruption to 4 out of others others children’s education or 4 either either

7 out of 14 50% 2 out of 8 25%

4 out of 3 out of 14 14 29% 21% 6 out of Others 8 were 75% N/A as their spouse did not have a job 5 out of 4 out of 3 out of 12 12 12
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social life

did not have children or had children but were not at school age 7. Healthcare in the host 7 out of 7 out of country 15 15 47% 47% 8.Change in responsibility

100%

did not 42% have children or had children but were not at school age

33%

25%

1 out of 7 out of 2 out of 5 out of 15 14 14 14 6% 50% 14% 36% 4 out of 14 28.5% 4 out of 11 37% 4 out of 14 28.5% 5 out of 11 45% 6 out of 14 43% 2 out of 11 18%

work 6 out of 6 out of 3 out of 15 15 15 40% 40% 20% 9.Care of 4 out of 4 out of Other 7 elderly/relatives back 8 8 did not home 50% 50% have elderly so answered N/A 10.Building trust and 4 out of 8 out of 3 out of dealing with co workers 15 15 15 27% 53% 20% 11.Home sickness 2 out of 10 out 3 out of 15 of 15 15 13% 67% 20% 12.Cost of living 8 out of 5 out of 2 out of 15 15 15 54% 33% 13%

4 out of 14 28% 2 out of 14 14% 6 out of 14 43%

5 out of 5out of 14 14 36% 36% 5 out of 7 out of 14 14 36% 50% 7 out of 1 out of 14 14 50% 7%

Selection criteria • • • any responses ranging from (1 to 2) inclusive was interpreted as extremely important any responses ranging from (3 to 4) inclusive was interpreted as medium any responses for number 5 was interpreted as less important

Selection importance Experience in the company

Airline( E) criteria Extremely medium low 8 out of 7 out of 0 15 15

Airline (M) extreme medium low 12 out 2 out of 0 of 14 14
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53% 47% 86% Adaptability 15 out of 0 0 13 out 15 of 14 100% 93% Educational level 5 out of 8 out of 2 out of 14 out 15 15 14 of 14 33% 53% 14% 100% Technical knowledge of 10 out of 5 out of 0 14 out business 15 15 of 14 67% 33% 100% Does the company offer CCT? YES Airline (E) 2 out of 15 13% 13 out of 15 87%

14% 1 out of 14 7% 0 0

0

0

Airline (M) 1 out of 14 7% 13 out of 14 93%

NO

•

Airline (E): an expatriate who reported that the company offers CCT, believes that the training offered by the company only provided very basic information which can be easily offered via the internet, also the effectiveness of training ranged from moderate to low.

The other one who said yes the training took the method of seminars, books, etc and total dependency on hand over take over process. She believes that it is extremely important and the overall satisfaction was moderate also she believes that information cannot be easily provided on the internet. •

Airline (M): the person who reported that the company offers CCT believed that the training offered by the company only provided very basic information which can be easily offered via the internet and the effectiveness of training ranged from moderate to highly beneficial. Expatriates, who answered that the company does not offer CCT, see that reasons behind that may be the following:

•

Airline (E):

2 out of 13 reported it is due to lack of time 15% 2 out of 13reported it is due to doubts of the effectiveness of such programmes 15%
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5 out of 13 reported it is due to the temporary nature of the assignment 38% 5 out of 13 reported it is due to cost 38% One expatriate noted that it could be due to cultural similarities 8% One answered I am not sure 8% •

Airline (M):

4 out of 12 reported it is due to lack of time 33% 5 out of 12 reported it is due to doubts of the effectiveness of such programmes 42% 2 out of 12 reported it is due to the temporary nature of the assignment 17% 4 out of 12 reported it is due to cost 33% One answered do not know 8% 12 because one did not answer Another one answered because it was not included in the programme 8% Furthermore one of the respondents noted that it could be due to lack of knowledge, and a good way of transferring information is during the handover period.8% One reported they do not know what we go through.8%

Respondents were asked to indicate whether the company should offer CCT. • Airline (E):

3 out of 13 respondents stated (strongly agree) 23% 5 out of 13 respondents stated (agree) 38% 4 out of 13 respondents stated (neither agree nor disagree) 31% 1 out of 13 respondents stated (disagree) 8% 31% has chosen neither agree nor disagree this might be due to them being from a European country and posted to a European country or America, Australia. • Airline (M):

4 out of 13 respondents stated (strongly agree) 31% 5 out of 13 respondents stated (agree) 38% 3 out of 13 respondents stated (neither agree nor disagree) 23% 1 out of 13 said disagree 8% 13 because total respondents for this question was made by 13 people

A reason for having greater number of expatriates who recommends strongly and agrees that the company should offer CCT could be explained by the very limited information given to expatriates on an informal basis and /or the culture gap between the Middle Eastern culture and other cultures in the world
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Impact on children •

Airline (E) positive 4 out of 6 67% Negative 2 out of 6 33%

Impact on children percentage

•

Airline (M)

Impact on children Percentage

Positive 14/25 56%

negative 3/25 12%

neutral 8/25 32%

Respondents were asked to put in order factors crucial to success • • •

any responses ranging from (1 to 2) inclusive was interpreted as most crucial any responses ranging from (3 to 4) inclusive was interpreted as medium any responses for number 5 was interpreted as least crucial

Factors crucial to success Technical competence on the job

The ability of the expatriate to deal effectively with his/her superiors, peers, business associates and clients. The ability of the family to 10 out of 4 out of 1 out of 11 out 2 out of 1 out of adjust 15 15 15 of 14 14 14 67% 26% 7% 79% 14% (family
117

Airline( E) Extremely medium 11 out of 3 out of 15 15 73% 20% 13 out of 2 out of 15 15 87% 13%

Airline (M) low extreme medium low 1 out of 13 out 1 out of 0 15 of 14 14 7% 93% 7% 0 14 out 0 0 of 14 100%

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Experiencing new cultures

12 out of 3 out of 0 15 15 80% 20% The ability to cope with the 13 out of 2 out of 0 new environment 15 15 87% 13%

did not join) 7% 12 out 2 out of 0 of 14 14 86% 14% 12 out 2 out of 0 of 14 14 86% 14%

•

analysis for extremely important In airline (E) it appears that the ability to cope with the new environment is believed to be the most crucial factor for success, with the ability of the expatriate to deal effectively with superiors and business associates then the desire to experience new culture then technical competence and last the ability of the family to adjust.

Analysis for moderate importance was the ability of the family to adjust then, technical competence and experiencing new cultures stand on the second level then last the ability of the expatriate to deal effectively and the ability to cope with the new environment Family ability to adjust was considered to be on the third level among others

•

In airline (M) it appears that technical competence on the job and the ability to deal effectively with superiors & business associates are more crucial than the soft aspect of experiencing new cultures and the coping mechanism of the new environment. At the third level comes the ability of the family to adjust.

Family wise expatriates in (M) have more children than expatriates in (E) so they were expected to encounter family problems which make them think that family coping is essential

As an attempt to hear from expatriates what do they expect when they return home, also in order to measure whether this aspect is important to be covered by HR department of each company. Respondents were asked to choose from problems which they may encounter on repatriation. • In Airline (E):

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8 out of 15 believe that they might lose the authority and freedom they were enjoying abroad 53% 9 out of 15 believe that they may have difficulties readjusting back home. 60% 1 out of 6 who has children feels that his children might encounter difficulties readjusting back home.17% 4 out of 15 answered N/A 27% •

In airline (M):

10 out of 14 may lose the authority and freedom they were enjoying abroad 71% 7 out of 14 believe may encounter difficulties adjusting back home50% 4 out of 12 believe their children may have difficulties adjusting back home 33% 4 out of 14 answered N/A 28%

Sources of ideas: Expatriates from both airlines used one or all of the following to increase their knowledge about the host countries culture. Internet, books, magazines, previous expatriates, local staff in the host office, HR department in the host country.

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Appendix (J)
Sources of stress in a descending order according to the most difficult obstacles faced by( E) airline’s expatriates 1- Disruption to children’s education or social life 100% 2- Cost of living 54% 3- Spouse/partner loss of job/pension. 50% Care of elderly/relatives back home. 50% 4- Healthcare in the host country 47%. 5- Change in work responsibility 40%. Unfamiliar environment (Culture shock) 40%. 6- Separation from spouse, partner and/or children or family members. 33% The difficulty of bringing up children with a balanced culture between home and the new host 33%. Feeling unsettled due to changing residence and frequent move 33%. 7- Building trust and dealing with co workers 27%. 8- Home sickness 13%.

Sources of stress in a descending order according to the most difficult obstacles faced by( M) airline’s expatriates 1- The difficulty of bringing up children with a balanced culture between home and the new host. 50% Feeling unsettled due to changing residence and frequent move 50% Healthcare in the host country 50% 2. Separation from spouse , partner and/or children or family members 43% Cost of living 43% 3. disruption to children’s education and social life 42% 4. Care of elderly/relatives back home 37% 5. Change in work responsibility 28% Building trust and dealing with co workers 28% 6. Spouse/partner loss of job/pension 25% 7. Unfamiliar environment (Culture shock) 21% 8. Home sickness 14%

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Appendix (K):

(Company (E) data collection)
Q 5A Adj work Q5B Adj interaction Q5C Adj living

Attributes (Q 1, 2, 3, 4) Male, 50-60 years, 3 children Lagos, Nigeria (wife and children remained in UK) Luanda, Angola(accompanied by wife only).Nairobi, Kenya (wide only children grown up. Male, 40-50 years, 2 children Germany Female, 40-50 years, no children .India Male, 40-50years, 2 children Nigeria Female, 40-50 years , 1 child USA Female, less than 30 years No children, Australia Male, 30 to 40 years, 1 baby Hong Kong, Dubai, Paris

Expatriate (1)

Africa/ difficult

moderate

difficult

Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6)

Europe/Easy India/moderate Africa/easy North America/Very easy Australia/easy Asia/ moderate Arabian Gulf/difficult Europe/moderat e Europe/ moderate Europe / moderate Europe/ moderate Asia/moderate North America/easy Asia/easy Europe / Easy Europe/moderat e USA/ easy

moderate Easy Moderate Moderate Moderate Asia/difficult Arabian Gulf/extremely difficult Europe/difficult Europe/difficult

moderate difficult difficult difficult easy Asia/difficult Arabian Gulf/moderate Europe/moderat e Europe / moderate Europe/ moderate Europe/ Easy Asia/difficult North America/easy easy easy easy easy

Expatriate (7)

Expatriate (8)

Expatriate (9)

Expatriate (10)

Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14) Expatriate (15)

Male, 30 to 40 years, 2 children did not join, Belgium Male, 40 to 50 years,No children Bulgaria,Poland,Belgium Male, 30 to 40 years, Spouse and 1 child did not join, Frankfurt Male, 30 to 40 years, No children USA, Thailand Female, 30 to 40 years Hong Kong Male, 30 to 40 years, no children France, Netherlands Female, 50 to 60 years Albania, Cyprus 1 adult Female, Unaccompanied. USA 40-50 years

Europe/ moderate

Europe/ moderate Asia/difficult North America/easy Moderate Moderate Difficult Moderate

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THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q6 Culture shock Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8) Expatriate (9) Expatriate (10) Expatriate (11) 2 5 2 2 5 4 3 2 4 3 3 Seperation from spouse 1 2 1 3 5 4 5 3 5 2 2 bringing up children N/A 4 N/A N/A 4 N/A 2 N/A N/A N/A N/A Spouse loss of job 4 1 N/A N/A 1 N/A 1 3 3 N/A N/A Children's education N/A 2 N/A N/A 1 N/A 1 N/A N/A N/A N/A work responsibi lities 1 5 2 4 5 4 3 3 4 2 2 Elderly/ relatives 3 2 N/A N/A 2 N/A 2 3 N/A N/A N/A Building trust 3 4 3 4 5 4 3 2 5 3 2 Home sickness 4 4 2 4 5 4 3 3 5 3 3

Unsettled 3 2 3 5 4 2 2 3 4 4 2

Healthcare 2 1 4 1 1 3 4 3 3 2 3 5 (she said the company offers full coverage 4 2 2

Cost 3 1 5 3 1 4 1 2 4 2 1

Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14) Expatriate (15)

1 4 2 3

5 3 4 4

N/A N/A N/A N/A

4 4 2 3

N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A 2 N/A

2 2 3 5

3 N/A 3 2

5 2 1 3

2 3 3 5

2 4 1 4

122

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q7 Experience 3 3 2 2 3 3 Adaptability 1 1 1 1 2 1 Educatio n 2 3 3 4 5 4 Technical 2 2 4 4 1 3 B1(why )no CCT Temp doubts unknown Temp doubts costly lack of time Temp , also cultural similarities costly Temp lack of time also cost Costly

Does not offer CCT B2(should it offer CCT) agree neither agree or disagree agree agree strongly agree neither agree or disagree B3 Sources

Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6)

Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8) Expatriate (9) Expatriate (10)

3 2 2 3

1 1 1 2

2 2 3 3

4 2 2 1

strongly agree neither agree or disagree agree Internet, other expats colleagues who have formerly been resident in the host country, locals who work in office previously lived, internet, books Internet, colleagues

3 Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14) Expatriate (15) 2 2 2 2

2 1 1 2 1

3 5 2 2 4

2 3 2 2 2

strongly agree

not sure Temp Costly

neither agree or disagree agree disagree

123

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q9 Clear Role? /training? Time Keeping Clear, without full Africa/ training moderate Germany/ nothing was clear moderate Clear, without full training India/ moderate Clear, without full training Africa/ moderate nothing was clear easy Clear, without full Australia/ training moderate Asia/ easy Arabian Clear, without full Gulf/moderate Europe/difficult training clear with training Europe/difficult clear with training Europe/easy clear with training Europe/ easy Asia/moderate Clear, without full North America/easy training Clear, without full training Asia/ easy Clear, without full training Europe/ easy Nothing was clear I had to work harder on Europe/ my own moderate clear with training USA/ easy Q10 Teamwork moderate moderate moderate moderate easy moderate difficult moderate moderate moderate easy moderate moderate moderate moderate easy Rules difficult moderate moderate moderate easy difficult easy moderate moderate moderate moderate easy difficult easy easy easy Honesty difficult easy difficult difficult easy easy easy easy easy difficult moderate easy easy easy moderate easy Commitment moderate easy easy moderate easy easy easy moderate difficult easy easy moderate moderate easy moderate easy Q11 relationships long lasting long lasting long lasting long lasting long lasting formal relationships Asia/formal Arabian Gulf/not close Europe/formal Europe/formal Europe/ long lasting Europe/ long lasting Asia/long lasting North America/long lasting Asia/formal long lasting try try not interested as long as they speak E not interested as long as they speak E try not interested as long as they speak E not interested as ... not interested as ... try try try try Q12 language

Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6)

Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8) Expatriate (9) Expatriate (10)

Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13)

try do all time not interested as ... do that all the time

Expatriate (14) Expatriate (15)

difficult easy

moderate easy

difficult easy

moderate easy

long lasting long lasting

try as much as possible try as much as possible

124

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q 13

Q14 factors/ tecnical competence 2 4 5 3 1 2 2 deal with others 1 3 4 1 1 1 2

Q15

Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7)

Children neutral neutral N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

impact negative positive N/A N/A positive N/A N/A

Comments(family)

family 3 1 3 2 2 5 1

New culture 2 2 2 4 2 3 2

new envir 1 1 1 3 1 2 2

Expatriate (8) Expatriate (9) Expatriate (10) Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14) Expatriate (15)

neutral N/A neutral N/A N/A N/A delighted N/A

positive N/A negative N/A N/A N/A positive N/A

My child is 9 months old They both still live in South Africa and visit us in Belgium very often they like doing both

2 2 1 2 4 2 2 2

1 2 2 1 1 1 1 2

1 2 1 2 2 3 1 3

2 2 2 2 4 1 1 2

2 2 2 1 3 1 1 2

125

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q16 return home Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) I might have difficulty readjusting back N/A N/A might lose authority might lose authority, I might have difficulty readjusting back, children might have difficulty might lose authority, I might have difficulty readjusting back might lose authority, I might have difficulty readjusting back N/A I might have difficulty readjusting back Expatriate (10) Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14) Expatriate (15) I might have difficulty readjusting back might lose authority, I might have difficulty readjusting back might lose authority might lose authority, I might have difficulty readjusting back N/A might lose authority I might have difficulty readjusting back see comment 10 in sheet See comment 8 in sheet See comment 9 in sheet see comment 5 in sheet see comment 6 in sheet see comment 7 in sheet comments see comment 1 in sheet see comment 2 in sheet see comment 3 in sheet see comment 4 in sheet

Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8) Expatriate (9)

126

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Offer CCT A4 A3 reduce internet shock

A1 IMP CCT twds adj Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8)

A2 methods

Mng effectiveness & negotiations

positive experience

Expatriate (9)

seminars/l ectures / important books brochures, basic inf

yes

moderate

low

low

Expatriate (10) Expatriate (11) seminars/l ectures, books / brochures, extremely basic inf, important total dependens y on hand over

Expatriate (12)

No

moderate

moderate

moderate

Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14) Expatriate (15)

127

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Appendix (L): (Company (M) data collection)
Attributes (Q 1, 2, 3, 4) Male, 50 to 60 years, more than 3, Sierra Leone, Oman, Qatar, Egypt, UK. Female, 30 to 40 years, no children UK, USA, and Italy Male, 40 to less than 50,Libya, yemen, 3 children Male, 30 to 40 years, no children Oman, Austria Male, 50 to 60 years, 3 children Tunis, Holland Female, 40 to 50 years, 2 children Spain, UK Male, 50 to 60 years, 3 children Dubai, Tehran, Kuwait and Colombo Male, 50 to 60 years, 3 children Oman, Libya, Turkey Male, 30 to less than 40, 3 children Greece, Austria, Italy Male, 50 to 60 years. Asia,Africa, Gulf. More than 3 children Male, 40 to less than 50 years 1 child, Belgium. Male/ 30 to less than 40, Saudi Arabia, Austria,Spain, 1 child Male/ 50 to 60 years, 2 children , Tunis, Indomesia, Italy and USA Male/ 40 toless than 50 / 3 children Pakistan/ Srilanka, Tunisia. Q 5A Adj work Q5B Adj interaction Q5C Adj living

Expatriate (1)

difficult Africa /difficult Africa / difficult Africa/ Gulf/ easy Europe/ Gulf/ easy Gulf/ easy moderate Europe /moderate Europe/ moderate Europe/easy USA/easy Africa/ difficult M E/ moderate Gulf / easy Europe/ moderate Africa/easy Europe/easy Europe/moderate Gulf/ easy Asia/difficult Gulf/easy Africa/moderate Europe/moderate easy easy difficult moderate Gulf/ easy Europe/ easy Africa/easy Europe/moderate Europe/difficult Easy easy Difficult difficult Gulf/ moderate Europe/ difficult Africa/easy Europe/moderate Europe/ difficult

Expatriate (2)

Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7)

Expatriate (8)

Gulf/easy Asia/easy Gulf/moderate Africa/moderate Europe/moderate

Gulf/easy Asia/easy Gulf/moderate Africa/moderate Europe/moderate

Expatriate (9)

Expatriate(10)

Europe/easy Asia/Difficult Africa/Difficult Gulf/ moderate

Europe/moderate Asia/moderate Africa/easy Gulf/moderate

Europe/easy Asia/ moderate Africa/ easy Gulf/ moderate

Expatriate (11)

Europe/ Moderate Europe/moderate Gulf/easy Africa/easy Asia/easy Europe/easy America/easy Africa/ easy Asia /easy

Europe/moderate Europe/moderate Gulf/moderate Africa/easy Asia/easy Europe/easy America/easy

Europe/moderate Europe/easy Gulf/easy Africa/moderate Asia/easy Europe/easy America/easy

Expatriate (12)

Expatriate (13)

Expatriate (14)

Africa/ difficult Africa/ easy Asia /easy Asia /moderate

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THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q6 Separation from spouse 4 1 (most) 3 5 2 1 1 3 5 1 3 5 5 2 bringin g up Unsettle children d 3 N/A 2 N/A 2 3 2 4 4 1 2 1 5 5 3 3 1 2 4 1 2 2 5 2 5 2 5 3 Spous Children' e loss s of job education Healthcare 4 3 3 N/A N/A N/A 4 N/A 4 1 1 4 N/A N/A 3 N/A 1 N/A 3 1 4 1 4 1 5 1 5 5 3 5 2 2 2 5 2 1 5 2 5 2 3 5 Buildi ng trust 2 2 2 3 3 3 2 5 5 5 5 4 5 3

Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8) Expatriate (9) Expatriate(10) Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14)

Culture shock most stressful 1 5 (least) 2 3 4 3 2 4 5 5 5 4 5 3

work responsibilities 2 5 2 3 5 3 2 4 5 4 1 5 5 5

Elderly/ relatives 3 5 1 4 3 N/A 1 N/A 5 1 4 2 N/A 3

Home sickness 4 5 2 5 4 5 4 5 5 1 5 4 5 4

Cost 2 3 2 3 4 1 1 2 4 1 5 3 3 3

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THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q7 Adapt Educ ability ation 3 2 1 2 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 Does not offer CCT Tech nical B1 (why)no CCT B2(should offer CCT) B3 Sources doubts they do not know what we go 1 through Stronly agree neither agree nor 1 doubts+ no time+ temp disagree Internet, previous mngs freinds , relationships, travel agents , internet, 2 no time agree customers reading about history culture, get involved with locals 1 No idea agree on daily life 2 Doubts, Temp, cost neither agree nor dis No answer 2 Going through same manners carefully. merging with the nationals to understand their needs study each country rules . 1 was not included in programme Strongly agree Attitude of people rules and regulations politics and 1 doubts agree economics lack of time, lack of knowledge neither agree nor mainly, embassies staff and leaving colleagues is handovers are good methods to trf disagree sharing this important but it differs from country to another I think info among arriving expatriates to information course there is no training all countries, as each has its own 1 new stations from leaving colleagues which could cover style, culture, rules & identity To know such things through the internet and through 1 lack of time, costly Strongly agree friends and seeking to read books, news papers speaking with other employees who had previous 1 doubts agree postings, internet internet, local colleagues at work, books magazines 1 Costly Strongly agree advertisements about that country 1 Costly Disagree no answer 2 no answer agree internet, talking to people in the office and outside

Experi ence Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) 2

3 1 2 2 1 2

Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8)

1 2

2 1

1 1

Expatriate (9) Expatriate(10) Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14)

1 1 1 2 1 3

2 2 1 1 1 2

1 2 2 2 1 1

130

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q9 Clear Role?/training. Expatriate (1)

Q10 Rules N/A easy difficult Easy easy moderate easy Honesty difficult easy moderate easy easy moderate moderate Commitment difficult moderate difficult Easy easy difficult moderate

Q11 relationships Africa/ formal Gulf/ not close Europe/ formal long lasting long lasting Africa/long lasting M E/ long lasting

Q12 language try do all the time do all the time do all the time do all the time do all the time

Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3)

Time Keeping Teamwork Africa/ difficult Difficult Clear, without full Gulf/easy Europe/ easy training difficult moderate everything clear and I was trained on Europe/easy easy weaknesses USA/easy easy everything clear and I was Africa/moderate easy trained on weaknesses M E/moderate easy

Expatriate (4) No answer Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7) Clear, without full training Clear, without full training everything clear and I was trained on weaknesses everything clear and I was trained on weaknesses everything clear and I was trained on

Gulf/ moderate easy Europe/ difficult moderate Africa/easy Europe/moderate Europe/ difficult Gulf/easy Asia/easy easy moderate moderate easy easy

moderate moderate easy difficult difficult moderate difficult moderate difficult moderate easy

moderate moderate moderate moderate moderate easy difficult

difficult moderate easy easy difficult easy difficult

do all the time not interested/they Gulf/ long speak E lasting Europe/ not interested/they speak E formal do all the time not interested/they Africa/formal Europe/ formal speak E Europe/ formal Gulf/long lasting Asia/not close Gulf/formal Africa/long lasting Europe/formal Europe/long lasting do all the time

do all the time try try do all the time do all the time try 131

Expatriate (8)

Gulf/ moderate easy Africa/ moderate moderate Europe/moderate easy Europe/ easy easy

moderate moderate easy moderate moderate moderate easy easy

Expatriate (9)

THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

weaknesses Expatriate(10) everything clear and I was trained on weaknesses everything clear and I was trained on weaknesses Asia/Moderate Africa/moderate Gulf/Moderate easy easy easy easy moderate easy easy easy moderate easy easy easy Asia/formal Africa/long lasting Gulf/formal do all the time do all the time do all the time

Expatriate (11)

Europe/ easy

easy

easy

easy

moderate

Expatriate (12)

Clear, without full Europe/moderate training Gulf/easy

moderate moderate

moderate moderate

easy moderate

moderate easy

Expatriate (13) everything clear and I was trained on weaknesses everything clear and I was trained on weaknesses

Africa/ moderate Asia/easy Europe /easy America/easy Africa/ Asia/easy

moderate easy easy easy

moderate easy easy easy easy easy

moderate easy easy easy moderate moderate

easy easy easy easy moderate moderate

Expatriate (14)

easy moderate easy

Europe/ formal Europe/long lasting Gulf/long lasting Africa/ long lasting Asia/long lasting Europe /long lasting America/long lasting Africa/ formal Asia / long lasting

try

try do all the time

no answer no answer no answer no answer try try

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THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q 13 Children Delighted Delighted Delighted N/A N/A not in favour Neutral N/A N/A not in favour Neutral Neutral Delighted not in favour Neutral Neutral Delighted not in favour Delighted not in favour impact positive positive positive N/A N/A positive positive N/A No answer negative positive Neutral Positive Neutral positive Neutral Positive negative positive negative neutral neutral neutral positive positive positive positive nuetral nuetral Q14 Comments(family) factors/ technical competence 1 2 2 2 1 1 makes a distance in family relations 1 2 1 It is good they learn about new cultures 1 2 3 Q15 deal with others 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 2 family 2 2 2 5 2 2 3 1 1 3 2 1 New culture 2 3 2 2 2 1 3 2 1 2 2 2 new envir 2 4 2 2 2 1 3 1 1 2 2 2

Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8) Expatriate (9) Expatriate(10) Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12)

Expatriate (13)

delighted delighted delighted delighted

1

1

1

1

1

Expatriate (14)

1

2

2

1

1

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THE MANAGEMENT OF EXPATRIATES WITHIN EUROPEAN AND MIDDLE EASTERN AIRLINES

Q16 return home comments Lose authority+ Readjusting + Children difficulty Lose authority+ Readjusting Family should have a good idea about the country they visit, its culture...etc Lose authority Re allocation is the major problem Accommodation arrangements, transportation Lose authority+ Readjusting (Car) N/A Lose authority+ Readjusting + Children difficulty All what I can say that is without the management and family support it is too difficult Lose authority to target success N/A living in a foreign country means adjusting in the society and work environment differences in cultures and backgrounds are current but this should not affect the own identity each country has foreigners living in they melt is a new life style, been respected by the locals as new comers, mixture of cultural backgrounds abroad is normal and natural enjoy each post N/A It is not easy to move from country of origin to another country at first but with time we get used to it and it’s a matter of the beginning only in both ways when you leave and when you come back. lose authority Lose authority+ Readjusting + Children difficulty Lose authority+ Readjusting + Children difficulty N/A Lose authority+ Readjusting

Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2)

Expatriate (3)

Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) Expatriate (6)

Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8)

Expatriate (9)

Expatriate(10)

Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12)

Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14)

134

Offer CCT A1 IMP CCT twds adj Expatriate (1) Expatriate (2) Expatriate (3) Expatriate (4) Expatriate (5) important Expatriate (6) Expatriate (7) Expatriate (8) Expatriate (9) Expatriate(10) Expatriate (11) Expatriate (12) Expatriate (13) Expatriate (14) seminars/lect ures books / brochures, basic inf yes can be provided by internet moderate Highly benefited Highly benefited A4 reduce shock mng effectiveness & negotiations

A2 methods

A3 internet

positive experience

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