Running head WORKFLOW ANALYSIS1Deliverabl.docx

Running head: WORKFLOW ANALYSIS 1
Deliverable One: Memorandum and Workflow Analysis Flow
Chart
Rasmussen University Online
LaToya T. Benson
Healthcare Strategic Planning and Marketing
October 23, 2022
Memorandum
To: Professor Dawn Ide, Chief Executive Officer
From: LaToya T. Benson, Strategic Planning Manager
Date: 10/23/2022
Re: Business Planning and Strategic Planning
Confidential
Business and Strategic planning are necessary to increase
revenue and address potential risks that can negatively affect
client relationships. Both can also help healthcare organizations
prepare for future disruptions or crises.
A business plan is a framework of strategies and initiatives to
start a new business. It outlines the services planned to be

provided and how you intend to run your company ("Business
plan vs. strategic plan," 2022). It details the financial aspects of
the healthcare organization, such as its revenue streams,
operational procedures, and resource allocation ("Business plan
vs. strategic plan," 2022). It specifies when and how the
organization plan to see a benefit from the investment. A
business plan has short- or mid-term goals that define the steps
necessary to achieve them. It usually lasts up to 12 months.
A strategic plan, in contrast to a business plan, details the
objectives of an organization and the steps it will take to
achieve those objectives. ("Business plan vs. strategic plan,"
2022). A strategic plan is a business framework that existing
companies implement when they want to improve their business
processes and streamline their operations ("Business plan vs.
strategic plan," 2022). It defines your organization's future,
setting goals that will move you toward that future and
determining the major projects you'll take on to meet those
goals. It also includes sustaining that strategy focus over three
to five years.
Adopting telehealth and telemedicine services is a focus area in
the healthcare industry that could help our company increase
revenue and client satisfaction. More outstanding
communication with our clients' patients through telehealth and
telemedicine services can lead to improved revenue cycle
management, increasing revenue (Adepoju et al., 2022). One
way to do this is through virtual check-ins, a messaging
function within a telehealth platform, or video visits with
patients that can save time and avoid unnecessary office visits.
The benefits of telemedicine go beyond offering convenience to
patients and reducing revenue loss for the clinic. Telemedicine
is a promising investment that may prove to be worthwhile in
reducing overall healthcare costs (Adepoju et al., 2022)
To ensure a strategic telemedicine plan is adopted in the

organization, the following questions below must be considered
and addressed appropriately:
· Is our telehealth strategy embedded in our organizational
strategy? ("Strengthening your telehealth," n.d.)
· Do we understand patient needs and preferences around virtual
care, including differences by population segment?
("Strengthening your telehealth," n.d.)
· What is our plan to educate and engage patients and monitor
their experience and satisfaction?
· How will we research vendor products and technology relevant
to desired telehealth applications? ("Strengthening your
telehealth," n.d.)
· What is our plan to monitor and track performance?
· How are we aligning measurement with other quality
improvement initiatives?
· Which of our current systems support integration with
telehealth?
· What is our plan to address interoperability issues?
· What do we know about telehealth's payment and incentive
structure now and in the future?
· In which specialties or sub-specialties do we need to build
capacity for telehealth services?
· How will we conduct operational training for physicians, other
relevant providers, clinical staff, or patients? ("Strengthening
your telehealth," n.d.)
A strategic plan that addresses the listed questions can deliver
the destined vision for the organization.

Workflow Analysis Flow Chart
This work analysis flow chart shows the communication
hierarchy through the organization concerning the project. The
CEO will be responsible for figuring out how all the pieces fit
together, implementing a plan, executing it, and overseeing the
organization's operation following its overarching strategy
(Hayes, 2022). The CEO will also be responsible for managing a
company's overall operations (Hayes, 2022). These operations
will include delegating and directing agendas, driving
profitability, managing company organizational structure, and
process, and communicating with the board (Hayes, 2022).
The Account Manager's role is to identify those key customers
that generate maximum revenue and profitability compared to
regular accounts. They will act as a bridge between the
company and stakeholders on the customer side. Build and
maintain strong relationships with key business clients. They
regularly communicate with clients, resolve queries, and
increase revenue by promoting product innovation.
The Strategic Manager will develop and direct the
organization's strategic and long-range goals, including
proposals to enter new markets and expand existing market
presence. The Strategic manager will also oversee this process
within the organization (“What does a strategic marketing
manager do”, 2020).
The Project Manager is responsible for developing efficient
project management methods to achieve the highest customer
satisfaction and gain more revenue resources for the business.
They will analyze the current market trends, perform data and
statistical analysis, and generate opportunities to close more
business partnerships.
The Financial Analyst will be responsible for analyzing
financial statements and predicting the company's future
performance (“Financial analyst job description”, 2022).

Including forecasting future revenues and expenditures,
modeling capital structure, and budgeting. They will be
responsible for keeping track of a company's financial plan
(“Financial analyst job description”, 2022).
The Marketing Manager will be responsible for developing,
implementing, and executing strategic marketing plans for an
entire organization to attract customers and retain existing ones.
Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and
market analysis to identify new marketing opportunities,
producing sales forecasts and risk analysis, overseeing the
budgets and schedules, determining customer needs, and setting
goals in adherence to the company's vision and mission
(“Marketing manager job description”, 2022
).
References
(n.d.).
Blackboard learn. Retrieved October 21, 2022, from
https://learning.rasmussen.edu/ultra/courses/_120375_1/outline/
edit/document/_12360870_1?courseId=_120375_1.
Adepoju, O. E., Angelocci, T., & Matuk-Villazon, O. (2022).
Increased Revenue From
Averted Missed Appointments Following Telemedicine
Adoption at a Large Federally Qualified Health Center. Health
Services Insights, 1–4.
https://doi.org/10.1177/11786329221125409
Business plan vs. strategic plan. BDC.ca. (2022, October 14).
Retrieved October 22, 2022, from
https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/business-strategy-
planning/define-strategy/business-plan-vs-strategic-plan-whats-
difference
Financial analyst job description. Corporate Finance Institute.
(2022, April 23). Retrieved October 23, 2022, from
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/jobs/fina
ncial-analyst-job-description/

Hayes, A. (2022, October 21).
Chief executive officer (CEO): What they do vs. other
chief roles. Investopedia. Retrieved October 23, 2022, from
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/ceo.asp
Lhh. (2022, February 3).
Marketing manager job description. LHH. Retrieved
October 23, 2022, from https://www.lhh.com/us/en/insights/job-
descriptions/marketing-manager/
Strengthening your telehealth strategy - pbgh.org. (n.d.).
Retrieved October 23, 2022, from https://www.pbgh.org/wp-
content/uploads/2021/02/2021-01-28_Telehealth-
Strategy_Summary.pdf
What does a strategic marketing manager do. Zippia. (2020,
October 2). Retrieved October 23, 2022, from
https://www.zippia.com/strategic-marketing-manager-jobs/what-
does-a-strategic-marketing-manager-do/
image1.tmp
PLEASE READ CAREFULLY
- Please cite your work in your responses
- Please use APA (7th edition) formatting
- All questions and each part of the question should be answered
in detail (Go into depth)
- Response to questions must demonstrate understanding and
application of concepts covered in class,
- Use in-text citations and at

LEAST 2 resources per discussion from the school
materials that I provided to support all answers. -
The use of course materials to support ideas is HIGHLY
RECOMMENDED
- Responses MUST be organized (Should be logical and easy to
follow)
- Include at least 2 references and include in-text citations.
“USING REFERENCES FROM THE CLASS MATERIALS IS A
MUST. IF YOU CAN’T, THEN DON’T ACCEPT THIS OFFER”
Please refer to the attached "
Case Study" and complete Part 2 ONLY.
Minimum 3 full pages
Part 2 of the Case Study allows you to demonstrate mastery of
several course outcomes, including:
ging
globalized workforce in order to implement effective human
resource practices.
practices, and functions in order to meet an organization's goals
and objectives while maintaining the values and traditions of
the local culture.
MUST WATCH THESE 3 minutes VIDEO FOR MORE
GUIDANCE FROM THE TEACHER:
Assignment 2 Guidance
https://umgc-edu.zoom.us/rec/play/G-KunBV4ybGKi-
dU6xiqcjFt0CswGy-
raW_rLZQLISzSaeNaYyViYXLkUlWTMhyU9p2ilB-
iTID0u30Y.WfrZCcghFBvst7P5?continueMode=true&_x_zm_rt
aid=r8Uouv7cS7SGimS3JNICpA.1668810201917.2a833fcc5886
4a8c243f5ce568d01294&_x_zm_rhtaid=768
Rubrics to get an A for this assignment:
· Demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of the topic(s) and
issue(s) (goes beyond the superficial and simply repeating what

the literature says). Shows analysis and synthesis of
information.
· Makes appropriate and powerful connections between the
issues identified and the strategic concepts studied in the
reading (relevant connections back to the literature and
supported by facts).
· Presents an insightful and thorough analysis of all issues
identified. Explains in own words how evidence supports
specific connections. Does not just restate the quote or
summarize the readings.
· Presents detailed, realistic, and appropriate recommendations
clearly supported by the information presented and concepts
from the reading.
· Writing demonstrates a sophisticated clarity, conciseness, and
correctness; includes thorough details and relevant data and
information; extremely well organized. Includes cover page and
alphabetized bibliography.
Staffing Internationally
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Be able to explain the three staffing strategies for
international businesses and the advantages
and disadvantages for each.
2. Explain the reasons for expatriate failures.

One of the major decisions for HRM when a company decides to
operate overseas is how the overseas
operation will be staffed. This is the focus of this section.
Types of Staffing Strategy
There are three main staffing strategies a company can
implement when entering an overseas market,
with each having its advantages and disadvantages. The first
strategy is a home-country national strategy.
This staffing strategy uses employees from the home country to
live and work in the country. These
individuals are calledexpatriates. The second staffing strategy is
a host-country national strategy, which
means to employ people who were born in the country in which
the business is operating. Finally, a third-
country national strategy means to employee people from an
entirely different country from the home
country and host country. Table 14.4 "Advantages and
Disadvantages of the Three Staffing Strategies" lists
advantages and disadvantages of each type of staffing strategy.
Whichever strategy is chosen,
communication with the home office and strategic alignment
with overseas operations need to occur for a
successful venture.

Table 14.4 Advantages and Disadvantages of the Three Staffing
Strategies
Home-Country National Host-Country National Third-Country
National
Advantages
Greater control of organization
Language barrier is
eliminated
The third-country national
may be better equipped to
bring the international
perspective to the business
Managers gain experience in
local markets
Possible better
understanding of local rules
and laws
Costs associated with hiring
such as visas may be less

expensive than with home-
country nationals
Possible greater understanding
and implementation of business
strategy
Hiring costs such as visas
are eliminated
Book: UMGC (n.d.). Staffing Internationally.
Link:
https://learn.umgc.edu/d2l/le/content/721593/viewContent/2910
2369/View
Home-Country National Host-Country National Third-Country
National
Cultural understanding
Morale builder for employees
of host country
Disadvantages
Adapting to foreign
environment may be difficult

for manager and family, and
result in less productivity
Host-country manager may
not understand business
objectives as well without
proper training
Must consider traditional
national hostilities
Expatriate may not have
cultural sensitivity
May create a perception of
“us” versus “them”
The host government and/or
local business may resent
hiring a third-country
national
Language barriers
Can affect motivation of

local workers Cost of visa and hiring factors
HUMAN RESOURCE RECALL
Compare and contrast a home-country versus a host-country
staffing strategy.
Expatriates
According to Simcha Ronen, a researcher on international
assignments, there are five categories that
determine expatriate success. They include job factors,
relational dimensions, motivational state, family
situation, and language skills. The likelihood the assignment
will be a success depends on the attributes
listed in Table 14.5 "Categories of Expatriate Success
Predictors with Examples". As a result, the
appropriate selection process and training can prevent some of
these failings. Family stress, cultural
inflexibility, emotional immaturity, too much responsibility,
and longer work hours (which draw the
expatriate away from family, who could also be experiencing
culture shock) are some of the reasons cited
for expatriate failure.
Table 14.5 Categories of Expatriate Success Predictors with
Examples

Job Factors
Relational
Dimensions Motivational State
Family
Situation Language Skills
Technical skills
Tolerance for
ambiguity Belief in the mission
Willingness of
spouse to live
abroad
Host-country
language
Familiarity with host
country and
headquarters
operations Behavioral flexibility

Congruence with
career path
Adaptive and
supportive
spouse
Nonverbal
communication
Managerial skills Nonjudgmentalism
Interest in overseas
experience
Stable marriage
Administrative
competence
Cultural empathy and
low ethnocentrism
Interest in specific
host-country culture
Interpersonal skills

Willingness to
acquire new patterns
of behavior and
attitudes
Source: Adapted from Simcha Ronen, Training the International
Assignee (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
1989), 426–40.
Most expatriates go through four phases of adjustment when
they move overseas for an assignment. They
include elation/honeymoon, resistance, adaption,
andbiculturalism. In the elation phase, the employee is
excited about the new surroundings and finds the culture exotic
and stimulating. In the resistance phase,
the employee may start to make frequent comparisons between
home and host country and may seek out
reminders of home. Frustration may occur because of everyday
living, such as language and cultural
differences. During the adaptation phase, the employee gains
language skills and starts to adjust to life
overseas. Sometimes during this phase, expatriates may even
tend to reject their own culture. In this
phase, the expatriate is embracing life overseas. In the last
phase, biculturalism, the expatriate embraces

the new culture and begins to appreciate his old life at home
equally as much as his new life overseas.
Many of the problems associated with expatriate failures, such
as family life and cultural stress, have
diminished.
Host-Country National
The advantage, as shown in Table 14.4 "Advantages and
Disadvantages of the Three Staffing Strategies",
of hiring a host-country national can be an important
consideration when designing the staffing strategy.
First, it is less costly in both moving expenses and training to
hire a local person. Some of the less obvious
expenses, however, may be the fact that a host-country national
may be more productive from the start, as
he or she does not have many of the cultural challenges
associated with an overseas assignment. The host-
country national already knows the culture and laws, for
example. In Russia, 42 percent of respondents in
an expatriate survey said that companies operating there are
starting to replace expatriates with local
specialists. In fact, many of the respondents want the Russian

government to limit the number of
expatriates working for a company to 10 percent. [1] When
globalization first occurred, it was more likely
that expatriates would be sent to host countries, but in 2011,
many global companies are comfortable that
the skills, knowledge, and abilities of managers exist in the
countries in which they operate, making the
hiring of a host-country national a favorable choice. Also
important are the connections the host-country
nationals may have. For example, Shiv Argawal, CEO of ABC
Consultants in India, says, “An Indian CEO
helps influence policy and regulations in the host country, and
this is the factor that would make a global
company consider hiring local talent as opposed to foreign
talent.” [2]
Third-Country Nationals
One of the best examples of third-country nationals is the US
military. The US military has more than
seventy thousand third-country nationals working for the
military in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
For example, a recruitment firm hired by the US military called
Meridian Services Agency recruits
hairstylists, construction workers, and electricians from all over
the world to fill positions on military

bases. [3] Most companies who utilize third-country national
labor are not new to multinational
businesses. The majority of companies who use third-country
national staffing have many operations
Figure 14.2 Phases of Expatriate Adjustment
already overseas. One example is a multinational company
based in the United States that also has
operations in Spain and transfers a Spanish manager to set up
new operations in Argentina. This would be
opposed to the company in the United States sending an
American (expatriate) manager to Argentina. In
this case, the third-country national approach might be the
better approach because of the language
aspect (both Spain and Argentina speak Spanish), which can
create fewer costs in the long run. In fact,
many American companies are seeing the value in hiring third-
country nationals for overseas
assignments. In an International Assignments Survey,[4] 61
percent of United States–based companies
surveyed increased the use of third-country nationals by 61

percent, and of that number, 35 percent have
increased the use of third-country nationals to 50 percent of
their workforce. The main reason why
companies use third-country nationals as a staffing strategy is
the ability of a candidate to represent the
company’s interests and transfer corporate technology and
competencies. Sometimes the best person to
do this isn’t based in the United States or in the host country.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
international business. First, in the home-
country national strategy, people are employed from the home
country to live and work in the
country. These individuals are called expatriates. One advantage
of this type of strategy is easier
application of business objectives, although an expatriate may
not be culturally versed or well
accepted by the host-country employees.
-country strategy, workers are employed within that
country to manage the operations
of the business. Visas and language barriers are advantages of
this type of hiring strategy.
-country national staffing strategy means someone

from a country, different from home
or host country, will be employed to work overseas. There can
be visa advantages to using this
staffing strategy, although a disadvantage might be morale lost
by host-country employees.
EXERCISES
1. Choose a country you would enjoy working in, and visit that
country’s embassy page. Discuss the
requirements to obtain a work visa in that country.
2. How would you personally prepare an expatriate for an
international assignment? Perform
additional research if necessary and outline a plan.
[1] “Russia Starts to Abolish Expat jobs,” Expat Daily, April
27, 2011, accessed August 11, 2011, http://www.expat-
daily.com/news/russia-starts-to-abolish-expat-jobs/.
[2] Divya Rajagorpal and MC Govardhanna Rangan, “Global
Firms Prefer Local Executives to Expats to Run Indian
Operation,” Economic Times, April 20, 2011, accessed
September 15,
2011, http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-04-

20/news/29450955_1_global-firms-joint-ventures-
investment-banking.
[3] Sarah Stillman, “The Invisible Army,” New Yorker, June 6,
2011, accessed August 11,
2011,http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/06/06/110606fa
_fact_stillman.
[4] “More Third Country Nationals Being Used,” n.d., SHRM
India, accessed August 11,
2011,http://www.shrmindia.org/more-third-country-nationals-
being-used.
http://www.expat-daily.com/news/russia-starts-to-abolish-expat-
jobs/
http://www.expat-daily.com/news/russia-starts-to-abolish-expat-
jobs/
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-04-
20/news/29450955_1_global-firms-joint-ventures-investment-
banking
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-04-
20/news/29450955_1_global-firms-joint-ventures-investment-
banking
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/06/06/110606fa_fact
_stillman
http://www.shrmindia.org/more-third-country-nationals-being-
used

Chapter 2
Expatriate Adjustment and Expatriate
Learning
2.1 International Assignments
2.1.1 Definition and Classification of International
Assignments
International work experience is one of the major requirements
for promotion to
higher-level managerial positions. International assignments are
a powerful mech-
anism through which managers acquire new business skill sets,
international per-
spectives, and basic cross-cultural assumptions (Furuya et al.
2009). The topic of
international assignments (IAs) has an established pedigree in
the international
management literature and has in particular dominated the
research agenda of
international human resource management (IHRM) for over
three decades (Collings
et al. 2007; Stahl and Bjorkman 2006). It has been argued that
entrepreneurs have
recognised the importance of physically relocating managers to
foreign locations
where business operations are based since approximately 1900
B.C. (Collings et al.
2007). Owners of international organisations realised the
benefits of utilising people
known to them and socialised into the organisation in
minimising the agency
problems associated with managing spatially diverse
organisations from an early

stage. This is because these individuals had built a level of trust
with their superiors
and thus were considered to be more likely to act in the best
interests of the
organisation, relative to local managers from the host country
who were largely an
unknown quantity. Thus, international assignments were used as
a means of
addressing agency issues as a result of the separation of
ownership and management
and their amplification through distance.
The most widely recognized and long-standing typology of
international
assignments is that of Edstrom and Galbraith (1977). Edstrom
and Galbraith (1977)
proposed a distinctive three-fold subdivision of international
assignments based on
assignment purposes: fill positions, develop organization, and
develop managers.
© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016
Y. Li, Expatriate Manager’s Adaption and Knowledge
Acquisition,
DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-0053-9_2
7
Firstly, fill positions refers to when suitably qualified host
country nationals were
not available. Secondly, as a means of organisational
development, aim at
increasing knowledge transfer within the MNC and modifying
and sustaining

organizational structure and decision processes. Thirdly, as a
means of management
development, aim at developing the competence of the
individual manager.
Although it is important to note that assignments generally have
more than one
rationale (Sparrow et al. 2004), Edstrom and Galbraith’s (1977)
typology provides a
useful point of departure for the consideration of why MNCs
use international
assignments and expatriates. Hocking et al. (2004) argue that
Edstrom and
Galbraith (1977)’ classification of international assignments
lack a strong concep-
tual framework to explain the underlying strategic significance
of the categories and
their relationships. They reclassify the principal strategic
purpose of international
assignments and present the underlying relationships. According
to Hocking et al.
(2004, 2007), international assignments’ principal purposes
comprise three cate-
gories: business applications, organization applications, and
expatriate learning. In
particular, expatriate learning refers to either business- or
organization-related
knowledge acquisition by the expatriate, which equivalent to the
two knowledge
application categories: business applications and organization
applications.
Alongside the conventional international assignment (usually
more than one year
and involving the relocation of the expatriate), there is the
emergence of a portfolio
of alternatives to the traditional international assignment,

referred to as a
non-standard international assignment including: short-term
assignments (SIAs);
commuter assignments; international business travel; and virtual
assignments
(Brookfield Global Relocation Trends 2005; Collings et al.
2007). Research sug-
gests there is little evidence of a significant decline in the use
of long-term (tra-
ditional) international assignments but does identify the
growing use of alternative
forms of international assignments (Collings et al. 2007). A
recent survey by
Brookfield Global Relocation Trends (2005) reported that 62 %
of respondents
suggested that their organizations were seeking alternatives to
long-term assign-
ments. This suggests that what is happening is the emergence of
a portfolio of
international assignments within the MNC (Roberts et al. 1998).
The most popular form of non-standard assignments appears to
be the short-term
international assignment (SIA). Compared to traditional
assignments, SIA has three
key advantages: flexibility; simplicity; and cost effectiveness.
Long-term IAs had
uncertain benefits and potential drawbacks. Many expatriates
felt that they had to
work harder to preserve the home network and their social
capital suffered through
the traditional IAs. Short-term international assignment seems
to be a better choice
(Tharenou and Harvey 2008). Managers can be assigned to some
challenging tasks
in a foreign country. They are not away from the headquarters

for a long period of
time and can be assigned to several different countries before
they are appointed to
some important managerial position. Such an approach
optimizes the economic
efficiency of human resources—providing required skills and
developing interna-
tional capabilities simultaneously (Tharenou and Harvey 2008).
However,
Yamazaki and Kayes (2007) claim that if MNCs expect their
expatriates to perform
successfully within their assignment periods, they may need to
provide the
8 2 Expatriate Adjustment and Expatriate Learning
expatriates with at least a three-year tenure. Therefore, this
study adopts a pseudo
longitudinal research method that examines expatriates with
different lengths of
assignment tenure to investigate whether short-term
international assignments are as
effective for expatriate adjustment and learning as traditional
long-term interna-
tional assignments.
2.1.2 Expatriates and International Assignments
An expatriate is the person that MNCs assign to an international
assignment.
Expatriates usually are home country nationals or third country
nationals. Edstrom
and Galbraith (1977) define expatriates as individuals who,
irrespective of their

national origin, are transferred outside their native country to
another country
specifically for employment purposes. Expatriates are usually
classified into three
broad categories based on their national origin relative to that
of the parent com-
pany (Shaffer et al. 1999). Parent country nationals (PCNs) are
expatriates who are
from the home country of the MNC; third country nationals are
non-PCN immi-
grants in the host country (e.g., those transferred between
foreign subsidiaries);
inpatriates are employees from foreign subsidiaries who are
assigned to work in the
parent country. There are several reasons why MNCs select
various types of
expatriates. For example, parent country nationals facilitate
communication
between corporate and foreign offices, while third country
nationals tend to be more
sensitive to cultural and political issues.
Harzing (2001) identified three specific control roles of
expatriates, namely: the
bear, the bumble-bee, and the spider. Bears act as a means of
replacing the cen-
tralisation of decision-making in MNC and provide a direct
means of surveillance
over subsidiary operations. The title highlights the degree of
dominance these
assignees have over subsidiary operations. Bumble bees fly
‘from plant to plant’
and create cross-pollination between the various ‘offshoots’
(Harzing 2001:369).
These expatriates can be used to control subsidiaries through
socialisation of host

employees and the development of informal communication
networks. Finally
spiders, as the name suggests control through the weaving of
informal communi-
cation networks within the MNC. Significantly, Harzing (2001)
argues that
although expatriates generally appear to perform their role as
bears regardless of the
situation, the study suggests that their roles as spiders and
bumble bees tend to be
more contexts specific. Specifically, the bumble bee and spider
roles appeared to be
more significant in longer established subsidiaries (longer than
50 years) while the
bumble bee role appeared to be important in newly established
subsidiaries also.
Besides, the level of localization of subsidiary operations and
further lower levels of
international integration (the subsidiary was not greatly reliant
on the headquarters
for sales and purchases) were positively related to the
likelihood of expatriates
performing the bumble bee and spider roles.
2.1 International Assignments 9
2.1.3 Cultural Differences Between Nations
2.1.3.1 High-Context Versus Low-Context Cultures
Hall (1977) claims a cultural classification of high-context
culture and low-context
culture based on how, in each individual, identity rests on total
communication

frameworks. In high-context cultures, surrounding situations,
external physical
environments, and non-verbal behaviours are all important for
its members to
determine the meanings of messages conveyed in
communication. Covert clues in
these contexts make differences to the members and are used to
search for a real
meaning beyond verbal messages. In a high-context culture, its
members tend to be
related to each other in relatively long lasting relationships. For
their effective
communications, high-context culture requires its members to
become sensitive to
immediate environments through feelings. Yamazaki (2005)
contends that the
communication patterns in high-context cultures are
conceptually associated with
the Concrete Experience learning mode. Chinese, French,
Japanese, and Arabic
countries are classified as high-context cultures (Hall 1977).
In a low-context culture, on the other hand, surrounding
situations, external
physical environments, and non-verbal behaviours are relatively
less important in
generating and interpreting meanings, whereas explicit verbal
messages are crucial
in communication (Hall 1977). Most information is conveyed in
explicit codes and
therefore, explicit communicative styles in logical forms are
placed with high
importance. In low-context culture, interpersonal relationships
last for a relatively
shorter period. The communication patterns of low-context
cultures focus less on

interpersonal relationships while more on rationally detached
analyses. Yamazaki
(2005) contends that the communicative traits of low-context
culture are consonant
with the characteristics of the Abstract Conceptualization
learning mode and
thereby, individuals in low-context culture are likely to learn by
logical thinking and
analytical cognition. The United States, the United Kingdom,
Canada, Australia,
Germany, and Switzerland are classified as low-context cultures
(Hall 1977). In the
present research, the sample of western expatriates constitutes:
35.5 % of the sample
comes from the United Kingdom, 29.8 % from the United
States, 21.5 % from
Canada, 9.1 % from Australia, and 4.1 % from other countries.
Basically, western
expatriate managers participated in this research are assigned
from countries with
low-context cultures to a country with high-context culture,
China.
2.1.3.2 Collectivism Versus Individualism Cultures
Hofstede (1997) proposes five dimensions of cultural
differences: individualism
versus collectivism, masculinity versus feminity, long-term
orientation versus
short-term orientation, power distance, and uncertainty
avoidance (see Fig. 2.1).
This section begins with a discussion of the dimension
collectivism versus
individualism.

Hofstede (1997) defines the collectivism and individualism
cultural dimension as
‘the degree to which a society reinforces individual or
collective achievement and
interpersonal relationships’. The fundamental issue addressed
by this dimension is
the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its
members. It has to do
with whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of ‘I’ or
‘we’. A high score on
individualism indicates that individuality and individual rights
are paramount
within the society. In individualistic cultures, individuals tend
to form a large
number of looser relationships and they are supposed to look
after themselves and
their direct family only (Hofstede 2010). On the other hand, a
low score on indi-
vidualism, or a high score on collectivism, indicates that the
society has a more
collectivist nature with close ties between individuals. In
collectivist cultures, the
society reinforces extended families and collectives and
everyone takes responsi-
bility for fellow members of their group. Markus and Kitayama
(1991) examined
the culturally different self-construal and proposed two
classifications:
interdependent-self and independent-self, each of whose
attributes differs among
cultures. Interdependent-self is represented as the self-construal
of people in Asian,
African, Latin American, and many southern European cultures,

while
independent-self is exemplified as the self-construal of those in
American culture as
well as many western European cultures (Markus and Kitayama
1991). Triandis
(1995) and Hofstede (1997) categorized this cultural dimension
of
interdependent-self versus independent-self as analogous to that
of collectivism
versus Individualism. Anderson (1988) supports this cultural
dimension from a
cognitive perspective. He illustrates that Eastern cultures are
holistic, relational, and
field-dependent, while Western cultures are analytical and field-
independent.
People with collectivism cultures have the strong sense of
belongingness to
social contexts and relationships (Hofstede 1997). Markus and
Kitayama (1991)
claim that individuals with interdependent-self tend to base the
relationship with
others as a crucial and functional unit of conscious reflection
and, they have a
strong tendency to seek information about others’ perception
about self in the
relationship. In contrast, independent-self, the American and
western European
Cultural differences
Power distance
Uncertainty
avoidance

Individualism vs.
collectivism
Masculinity vs.
feminity
Long-term
orientation
Fig. 2.1 Hofstede’s 5 cultural dimension model
notion of self, is seen as separate from context (Markus and
Kitayama 1991). There
is a widespread belief that people are inherently detached and
distinct in individ-
ualistic cultures where the cultural norm is to become
independent from others and
to express one’s uniqueness. Collectivistic cultures, such as the
cultures of most
Asian countries, emphasize a communication style in which
‘most of the infor-
mation is either in the physical context or internalized in the
person’ (Hall 1976:
79), whereas individualistic cultures, such as those of the
United States, Germany,
and the United Kingdom, use a ‘low-context’ communication
style (Hall 1976).
Chinese and Japanese are classified with high collectivist
culture, while the North
American and most western European countries are classified
with individualistic
cultures (Hofstede 2010). According to the national culture

comparisons of
Hofstede (2010), China is a highly collectivist culture where
people act in the
interest of the group and not necessarily of themselves. In-
group considerations
affect hiring and promotions with closer in-groups (such as
family) are getting
preferential treatment. Whereas relationships with colleagues
are cooperative for
in-groups, they are cold or even hostile to out-groups. In China,
personal rela-
tionships prevail over task and organization (Hofstede 2010).
In the present research, western expatriate managers are
assigned from countries
with individualistic cultures to a country with a high collectivist
culture, China. As
we can see, the collectivists’ cultural characteristics of China
may present a major
obstacle for western expatriates. The researcher suggests that an
awareness of the
history, culture, and behaviour of Chinese people would reduce
expatriates level of
frustration, anxiety, and concern.
2.1.3.3 Power Distance
Hofstede (1997) defines power distance as ‘the degree of
equality, or inequality,
between people in the country’s society’. Power distance refers
to ‘the extent to
which the less powerful members of institutions and
organisations within a country
expect and accept that power is distributed unequally’ (Hofstede
1997). High scores
on a Power distance index indicate that inequalities of power

and wealth have been
allowed to grow within the society. These societies are more
likely to follow a caste
system that does not allow significant upward mobility of its
citizens. Low scores
on a Power distance index, on the other hand, indicate that the
society deempha-
sizes the differences between citizen’s power and wealth. In
these societies, equality
and opportunity for everyone is stressed.
According to the national culture comparisons in Hofstede
centre (Hofstede
2010), China sits in the higher rankings of his Power Distance
Index, i.e. a society
that believes that inequalities amongst people are acceptable.
The
subordinate-superior relationship tends to be polarized and there
is no defense
against power abuse by superiors. Individuals are influenced by
formal authority
and sanctions and are in general optimistic about people’s
capacity for leadership
and initiative. People should not have aspirations beyond their
rank. On the other
hand, the United State, the United Kingdom, and most western
European countries
are classified with low power distance cultures (Hofstede 2010).
Within organi-
zations in low power distance societies, hierarchy is established
for convenience,

superiors are always accessible and managers rely on individual
employees and
teams for their expertise. Both managers and employees expect
to be consulted and
information is shared frequently. At the same time, the
communication is informal,
direct, and participative. In the present research, western
expatriate managers are
assigned from countries with lower power distance cultures to a
country with a high
power distance culture, China.
2.1.3.4 Strong Uncertainty Avoidance Versus Weak Uncertainty
Avoidance Cultures
Hofstede (1997) defines uncertainty avoidance as ‘the extent to
which the members
of a culture feel threatened by uncertain or unknown situations’.
Furthermore,
uncertainty avoidance index refers to the level of tolerance for
uncertainty and
ambiguity. High scores on uncertainty avoidance index indicates
that the country
has a low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity and is a rule-
oriented society that
institutes laws, rules, regulations, and controls in order to
reduce the amount of
uncertainty. On the other hand, a low score on the uncertainty
avoidance index
indicates that the country has less concern about ambiguity and
uncertainty and has
more tolerance for a variety of opinions. A society with weak
uncertainty avoidance
culture is less rule-oriented and more readily accepts change.
The characteristics of
strong uncertainty avoidance are reflected in Chinese culture

(Hoppe 1990). The
main concern of the society is to control everything in order to
eliminate or avoid
the unexpected. As a result, the society does not readily accept
change and is risk
adverse.
Organizational members in strong uncertainty avoidance
countries have a feeling
of anxiety or fear when encountering unfamiliar risks, deviant
ideas, or conflicts in
their work place. Those members need to take time for action
until they acquire
enough knowledge and information to reduce or resolve unclear
and unstructured
situations. In contrast, organizational members in weak
uncertainty avoidance
countries tend to feel less uncomfortable in unclear and
unstructured circumstances
and are more likely to take risks in unfamiliar situations when
encountering deviant
or innovative ideas and behaviours (Hofstede 1997). Self-
actualization in a weak
uncertainty-avoidance work place functions as a great
motivational factor, while no
failure is the main concern in a strong uncertainty-avoidance
work place. Hoppe
(1990) tested the relationship between the strong/weak
uncertainty avoidance cul-
tural dimension and Kolb’s (1986) learning styles. He examined
a sample of 1544
adults from 19 countries: 17 European countries (Great Britain,
Germany, France,
Italy, and so on), the US, and Turkey. His results showed that
people from strong
uncertainty avoidance cultures tend to learn through the

reflective observation
learning mode, while those from weak uncertainty-avoidance
cultures tend to learn
through the active experimentation learning mode.
Japanese, South Korea, and Germany are classified with strong
uncertainty
avoidance cultures; Chinese is classified with medium to strong
uncertainty
avoidance culture; the United State, the United Kingdom,
Australia, and Denmark
are classified with weak uncertainty avoidance cultures
(Hofstede 2010). In the
present research, western expatriate managers are assigned from
countries with
weak uncertainty avoidance cultures to a country with a medium
to strong uncer-
tainty avoidance culture, China.
2.1.3.5 Long-Term Orientation
Hofstede (1997) defines Long-term orientation as ‘the degree to
which a society
embraces, or does not embrace, long-term devotion to
traditional, forward thinking
values’. High scores on a Long-term orientation index indicate
that the country
prescribes to the values of long-term commitments and respect
for tradition. This is
thought to support a strong work ethic where long-term rewards
are expected as a
result of today’s hard work. In a society with a long-term

orientation, businesses
may take longer to develop, particularly for an ‘outsider’. Low
scores on a
Long-term orientation index, on the other hand, indicate that the
country does not
reinforce the concept of long-term, traditional orientation. In a
society with this
culture, change can occur more rapidly as long-term traditions
and commitments do
not become impediments to change.
According to the national culture comparisons in Hofstede
centre (Hofstede
2010), China is a highly long-term oriented society in which
persistence and per-
severance are normal. Resources and investment tend to be in
long-term projects,
such as real estate. The United States, on the other hand, is
classified as a short-term
culture. American businesses tend to measure their performance
on a short-term
basis, with profit and loss statements being issued on a
quarterly basis. This also
drives its people to strive for quick results within the work
place. In the present
research, western expatriate managers are assigned from
countries with relatively
short-term orientation cultures to a country with a highly long-
term oriented culture,
China.
2.1.3.6 Masculinity Versus Feminity
Hofstede (1997) defines the Masculinity/Feminity cultural
dimension as ‘the degree
to which a society reinforces, or does not reinforce, the

traditional masculine work
role model of male achievement, control, and power’. High
scores on the
Masculinity index indicate that the country experiences a high
degree of gender
differentiation. Males dominate a significant portion of the
society and power
structure, with females being controlled by male domination. On
the other hand,
low scores on the Masculinity index indicate that the country
has a low level of
differentiation and discrimination between genders. Females are
treated equally to
males in all aspects of the society. In the present research,
western expatriate
managers are assigned to a country with a slight Masculinity
oriented culture,
China.
In summary, Chinese culture is highly contrasted with western
(American and
Western Europe) cultures. China is distinct different from most
other countries.
From a western perspective, China ‘is seen as the most foreign
of all foreign places.
Its culture, institutions, and people appear completely
baffling—a matter of absolute
difference’ (Chen 2001: 17). Also, companies in different
cultures have different
ways of conducting business. There is a wealth of evidence that
cultural differences

can act as important barriers for business expatriates. According
to Torbiorn (1988),
the more dissimilar, foreign, or strange a situation appears, the
more negative the
expatriates’ attitudes towards those situations. Psychological
cultural barriers are
typically associated with negative reactions towards another
culture, norms of the
other culture appear as less familiar, less normal, less good, and
so forth than those
to which the individual is acculturated (Selmer 2004). A
psychological cultural
barrier is said to be more obvious when two cultures are
different in terms of
language and other cultural norms (Selmer 2004).
2.2 Expatriate Adjustment
International assignments involve significant changes in the job
the individual
performs and the corporate culture in which responsibilities are
executed. It also
involves dealing with unfamiliar norms related to the general
culture, living con-
ditions, weather, food, health care, daily customs, and political
systems. It is esti-
mated that 20–40 % of all expatriates sent on foreign
assignments return home
prematurely. McGinley (2008) suggests that expatriate failure
rates vary from
country to country. National Foreign Trade Council (2006)
demonstrates that the
rate of early return from expatriate assignment was
approximately 21 %. However,
failure rates are said to increase further when repatriation
failure (expatriates who

return from overseas assignments but then leave their firms
within one year) rates
are considered (McGinley 2008). Expatriate failure is a
significant issue for MNCs
due to the high costs of expatriate failure which are both direct
(e.g. salary, training
costs, travel and relocation expenses) and indirect (damaged
relations with host
country organizations and loss of market share). Research
suggests that the latter
should be considered as the most significant costs by MNCs, as
damage to repu-
tation in key strategic foreign markets could be highly
detrimental to the prospects
of successfully developing international business in particular
regions. Expatriate
failure also bears considerable costs for managers themselves,
including loss of
self-esteem, self-confidence, and reputation. In summary, the
literature indicates
that the failure rate of expatriates has been reported to range
from 10 to 80 %,
costing MNCs from $40,000 to $1million for each failed
assignment. The inability
of expatriates to successfully adjust to foreign environments has
been cited as one
of the most frequent reasons for unsuccessful international
assignments (Black et al.
1991; Shaffer et al. 1999; Takeuchi et al. 2005; Okpara and
Kabongo 2010).
Liu and Lee (2008) contend that management researchers have

largely failed to
study systematically the psychological, social and behavioural
concerns of
managing overseas operations. In order to advance the research
on expatriate failure
and increase our understanding on expatriate adjustment,
additional research is
needed, particularly from a non-western context like China,
because the majority of
the researches conducted on these issues have been done in the
west (Black et al.
1991; Grainger and Nankervis 2001; Selmer 2004).
Expatriate adjustment is generally described as a process where
a manager
leaves a familiar cultural environment and enters an unfamiliar
one. It is the per-
ceived degree of psychological comfort and familiarity an
expatriate has working
with the new culture (Black et al. 1991). Scholars have only
focused their research
efforts on the problem of expatriate adjustment and
effectiveness since the late
1970s (Black et al. 1991). Previous to that time, some research
had been conducted
on Peace Corps volunteers and foreign exchange students, but
little work was done
on expatriate managers (Church 1982, cited in Black et al.
1991). Selmer (2004)
contends that psychological adjustment is a main component of
expatriate adjust-
ment. Psychological adjustment connotes subjective well-being
or mood states (e.g.
depression, anxiety, tension, and fatigue), emphasizing
attitudinal factors of the
process of adjustment. The theoretical concept of subjective

well-being is associ-
ated with the psychological aspects of international adjustment
(Selmer 2004).
The concept of socio-cultural adjustment has been proposed and
defined in the
literature on international adjustment (Searle and Ward 1990;
Ward and Searle
1991). Research on international assignments highlights
psychological or
socio-cultural adjustment as the vital construct underlying the
rewards and costs of
expatriate experiences to individuals, their families, and their
firms
(Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al. 2005). Socio-cultural adjustment
relates to the ability to
‘fit in’ or effectively interact with members of the host culture
(Ward and Kennedy
1992). Socio-cultural adjustment has been associated with
variables that promote
and facilitate culture learning and acquisition of social skills in
the host culture
(Selmer 2006). The socio-cultural notion of adjustment is based
on cultural learning
theory and highlights social behaviours and practical social
skills underlying atti-
tudinal factors (Black and Mendenhall 1991). Selmer (2006)
claims that Black
et al.’s (1991) theoretical framework of international adjustment
covers
socio-cultural aspects of international adjustment. A significant
amount of existent
empirical research supports a positive correlation between
expatriates’ international
adjustment and their work performance (Caligiuri 1997; Selmer
2006).

2.2.1 Expatriate Adjustment Dimensions and Process
Black (1988) contends that expatriate adjustment to the cross-
cultural environment
can be viewed as having three primary dimensions: degree,
mode, and facet.
Degree of adjustment can be viewed as both a subjective and
objective concept.
Subjectively, it is the degree of comfort the expatriate feels in
the new role and the
degree to which he/she feels adjusted to the role requirements.
Objectively, on the
other hand, it is the degree to which the expatriate has mastered
the role require-
ments and is able to demonstrate that adjustment via his/her
performance (Black
1988). Mode of adjustment refers to the manner in which the
expatriate adjust to the
new role, i.e. expatriates can adjust by altering the new role to
match better
themselves or by altering their own attitudes and behaviours to
match better the role
expectations or altering both to compromise. Black (1988)
proposes that there are at
least two facets of expatriate adjustment: work adjustment and
general adjustment.
Black and Stephens (1989) further extended this framework and
suggest that there
are three specific facets of expatriate adjustment: adjustment to
work, which

encompasses supervision, responsibilities, and performances;
adjustment to inter-
acting with host nationals; adjustment to the general
environment, which encom-
passes life conditions in the foreign country. Several
researchers have confirmed
this typology (Black and Gregersen 1991; Shaffer et al. 1999;
Okpara and Kabongo
2010).
Expatriate adjustment is the process of adaptation to living and
working in a
foreign culture. Torbion (1988) proposed that cross-cultural
adjustment occurred in
four phases which is often referred to the U-curve. It depicts a
progression of
adjustment through four sequential stages: honeymoon, culture
shock, adjustment,
and mastery. The trajectory of adjustment over time resembles a
U-curve: initially
rising during the honeymoon, falling when culture shock occurs,
recovering as
adjustment take place, and stabilizing during mastery.
Black and Mendenhall (1991) explained the U-curve in terms of
social learning
theory. The first phase occurs during the first few weeks after
arrival. At this time,
the new arrival is fascinated with the new and different aspects
of the foreign culture
and country (Torbion 1988). During the initial stage, the person
has not had suf-
ficient time and experience in the new country to discover that
many of his/her past
habits and behaviours are inappropriate in the new culture. This
lack of negative

feedback and the newness of the foreign culture combine to
produce the ‘honey-
moon’ effect. Once the newcomer begins to cope seriously with
the real conditions
of everyday life, the second phase of cross-cultural adjustment
begins. This stage is
characterized by frustrations and hostility toward the host
country and its people
(Torbion 1988). This is because the person discovers that
his/her past behaviours
are inappropriate in the new culture but as yet has not learned
what to substitute.
Torbion (1988) argues that culture shock generally occurs at the
transition between
phase two and phase three when the person has received the
maximum amount of
negative feedback but as yet has very little idea about what the
appropriate beha-
viours are. The third stage begins as the person acquires some
language skills and
adaptive ability to move around on his/her own. In the third
phase, the person
begins to learn not only how to get around but also some new
appropriate beha-
viours. By the third phase, the person also has developed some
proficiency in
performing the new set of behaviours (Black 1988). In the
fourth phase, the per-
son’s adjustment is generally complete and the incremental
degree of adjustment is
minimal. In this stage, the person now knows and can properly
perform the nec-
essary behaviours to function effectively and without anxiety to
cultural differences
2.2 Expatriate Adjustment 17

(Black 1988). Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al.’s (2005) Meta-analyses,
using data from
8474 expatriates in 66 studies, provided support for the U-
curve, or sideways
S-shape, to expatriate adjustment’s trajectory.
Integrating the international and domestic adjustment
literatures, Black et al.
(1991) propose two major components (including seven
dimensions) of the expa-
triate adjustment process. Figure 2.2 presents Black et al.’s
(1991) International
adjustment model. The first component, anticipatory
adjustment, describes issues
that exist before expatriates leave their home countries; the
second component,
in-country adjustment, deals with issues that become relevant
after the expatriates
arrive at their foreign assignments. Anticipatory adjustment
includes three dimen-
sions: pre-departure training, previous overseas experience, and
organizational
selection mechanisms. In-country adjustment, on the other hand,
includes four
dimensions: individual skills, job-related factors, organizational
factors, and
non-work factors. Shaffer and Harrison (2001) propose that an
expatriate’s language
skills should also be considered in anticipatory adjustment.
Black (1988) explains
that in both domestic and international adjustment literatures,
an individual leaves a
familiar setting and enters an unfamiliar one. However, because

international
adjustment usually entails greater disruptions of old routines
than domestic adjust-
ment, the magnitude of uncertainty is usually higher in
international versus domestic
adjustment. In general, the domestic adjustment literature has
focused on pre- and
post-entry adjustment variables, especially those related to the
job and the organi-
zation, whereas the international adjustment literature has
focused on individual and
Anticipatory
adjustment
Previous
international
experience
Cross-cultural
training
Selection
mechanism and
criteria
In-country adjustment
Individual
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Self-efficacy
Relation skills
Perception skills
Job
Role clarity
Role discretion
Role novelty
Role conflict
Organization
Organization culture
novelty
Social support
Logistic support
Non–work

Family adjustment
Culture novelty
Expatriate adjustment
Work adjustment
Interaction adjustment
General adjustment
•
•
•
Fig. 2.2 Black et al.’s (1991) International adjustment model
non-job variables and on degree of adjustment (Black et al.
1991). Black et al. (1991)
further suggest that general adjustment and interaction
adjustment may be much
stronger predictors of organizational commitment, intent to
leave, or turnover in the
case of international adjustment versus domestic adjustment.
Hechanova et al.
(2003) argue that the adjustment model proposed by Black et
al.’s (1991) has
instigated and galvanized a large body of evidence. While Tan
et al. (2005) argue
that Black et al.’s (1991) cross-cultural adjustment model is

mainly descriptive and
needs to be more prescriptive, Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al. (2005)
produced evidence
that strongly supported the model, through meta-analyses using
data from 8474
expatriates in 66 studies. They contend that Black et al.’s
(1991) model is the most
influential and often-cited theoretical treatment of expatriate
experiences.
2.2.2 Factors Influencing Expatriate Adjustment
The present research will discuss the factors that influence
expatriate adjustment
from four aspects: individual factors, job-related factors,
organizational factors, and
non-work factors based on Black et al.’s (1991) International
adjustment model (see
Fig. 2.2). It should also be noted that different adjustment
influencing factors may
have different impacts on each facet of expatriate adjustment
(general adjustment,
work adjustment, and interaction adjustment).
2.2.2.1 Individual Factors
The present research will discuss the individual factors that
influence expatriate
adjustment from two aspects: individual characteristics
(including self-efficacy and
interpersonal skills) and previous international experience.
1. Individual characteristics
Black (1988) reviewed the individual factors that were
hypothesized to facilitate

expatriate adjustment and reported a summary of these which
includes: (1) the
individual’s desire to adjust; (2) technical or managerial
competence (Hays 1971,
cited in Black 1988); (3) a person’s social relation skills
orientation (Ratiu 1983);
(4) an individual’s tolerance for ambiguity or open mindedness
(Ratiu 1983); (5) an
individual’s self-confidence. Mendenhall and Oddou (1985)
reviewed the individ-
ual skills necessary for a manager to be effective in a cross-
cultural setting. They
categorized all these skills into three dimensions: the self-
dimension, which
encompasses skills that enable the expatriate to maintain mental
health, psycho-
logical well-being, self-efficacy, and effective stress
management; the relationship
dimension, which constitutes the array of skills necessary for
the fostering of
relationships with host nationals; and the perception dimension,
which entails the
cognitive abilities that allow the expatriate to correctly perceive
and evaluate the
host environment and its actors (Mendenhall and Oddou 1985).
Ones and
Viswesvaran (1997) confirmed the appropriateness of using
individual traits and
temperaments for understanding differences in how managers
respond to expatriate
and repatriate experiences. More recently, Mol et al. (2005)

conducted a quanti-
tative review of the Big Five personality factors and found that
they were as
predictive of expatriate performance. However, Tan et al.
(2005) contend that
expatriates’ emotions should also be considered as an important
individual factor in
the international adjustment model. They claim that expatriates’
emotions play a
major role in cross-cultural success, especially for
individualists working in col-
lectivistic culture for long periods of time. They further suggest
that emotional
demands caused by cultural differences in expatriate encounters
impact negatively
on their experience. Klein and Lee (2006) found that certain
personality traits, such
as openness, increased expatriate adjustment and their learning.
Despite criticisms
such as these, Okpara and Kabongo (2010) contend that Black et
al.’s (1991)
international adjustment model is a well-established theoretical
model and allows
for further inclusion of related factors on each level.
‘Self-efficacy’ was initially conceptualized as a belief in a
person’s ability to
succeed in the enactment of a specific task (Bandura 1977).
Sherer et al. (1982,
cited in Shaffer et al. 1999) explored the concept of general
‘self-efficacy’ and
defined it as ‘an individual’s past experiences with success and
failure in a variety
of situations which should result in a general set of expectations
that the individual
carries into new situations’. In case of expatriate adjustment,

‘self-efficacy’ refers to
the ability to believe in one self and one’s ability to deal
effectively with the foreign
surroundings, even in the face of great uncertainty (Mendenhall
and Oddou 1985).
Bandura (1977) first explored the impact of the concept ‘self-
efficacy’ in social
learning. Bandura (1977) suggests that individuals with higher
levels of
self-efficacy tend to persist in exhibiting new behaviours that
are being learned
longer than do individuals with less self-efficacy. Based on this,
Black et al. (1991)
propose that high level of self-efficacy would drive the
expatriate to persist in
exhibiting new behaviours which, in turn, would facilitate
his/her degree of
adjustment. They contend that expatriates with high overall
self-efficacy persist in
exhibiting newly learned behaviours despite negative feedback;
they use the
resulting learning to improve their adjustment.
Relational skills, or interpersonal skills, refer to a repertoire of
tools and tech-
niques that facilitate the formation of one’s interpersonal ties.
Through those ties,
expatriates obtain necessary information and behaviour-relevant
feedback in host
cultures (Black et al. 1991). Interaction with host nationals is
another important
adjustment facilitating factor. Because interaction with host
nationals can provide
cues concerning appropriate behaviour in the new culture,
greater interaction with
host nationals would reduce novelty and positively affect

adjustment.
Black et al. (1991) propose that the accuracy of the expectations
held by
expatriates is a key to effective international adjustment. The
more accurate
expectations expatriates can form, the more uncertainty they
will reduce and the
better their adaptation will be. Relational skills, or interpersonal
skills, provide an
important means of increasing the cues expatriates receive
about what is expected
and how they are doing regarding the expectations. In summary,
interpersonal skills
have two main beneficial impacts on expatriate adjustment.
First, the greater
expatriates’ interpersonal skills, the easier it is for them to
interact with host
nationals (Mendenhall and Oddou 1985). Second, the more
expatriates interact with
host nationals, the more information they can receive about
what is and what isn’t
appropriate in the host culture and how they are doing. Black
(1988) found a
significant positive relationship between percentage of time
spent with host
nationals and general international adjustment. Bhaskar-
Shrinivas et al. (2005)
claim that relational skills allow the expatriates to gain
familiarity with what is
acceptable and/or unacceptable in the host cultures.

2. Prior international experience
Prior international experience refers to individuals’ prior
experience in living and/or
working abroad. Prior international (working and/or non-work)
experience that
expatriates possess is likely to influence their adjustment to a
host country (Okpara
and Kabongo 2010). Previous international non-work
experiences, such as travel-
ling and studying, are likely to be associated with the extent to
which expatriates
adjust to foreign cultures (Okpara and Kabongo 2010). When
people travel to
foreign countries, they learn the behaviors, customs, and norms
of those cultures
through direct experience or through observation of the host
nationals’ behaviours
(Bandura 1977). Past international experience provides
expatriates with direct
opportunities to learn a variety of skills. Intercultural
communication, relocation,
and adaptive skills will be gained, all of which should have a
positive influence on
the expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment (Black et al. 1991;
Selmer 2002, 2004;
Shaffer et al. 1999). Black (1988) suggests that the experience
of a prior expatri-
ation lowers the difficulties related to work adjustment. Black
et al. (1991) suggest
that previous international experience is an important source of
information from
which accurate expectations can be formed and the accuracy of
the expectations
held by expatriates is a key to effective international

adjustment. Yamazaki (2005)
argue that previous experience may change how expatriates
adjust by allowing
them to ignore what had not worked for them in the past and to
concentrate on what
did work. Research examining the extent of prior international
working experience
(Black 1988; Okpara and Kabongo 2010) has generally
indicated a slightly positive
association with adjustment, especially with work adjustment.
However, Torbiorn
(1988) found that specific length of previous overseas
experience was not related to
higher levels of adjustment. Therefore, quantity of prior
international experience
does not seem to necessarily relate to current international
adjustment. These
inconsistent findings indicate that exactly how previous
influences expatriate adjustment and what factors inhibit or
magnify the impact of
previous experience needs to be comprehensively investigated.
Selmer (2002) explored the possibility that prior international
experience mod-
erated the relationship between current assignment tenure and
adjustment, studying
western expatriates in Hong Kong. His results showed that the
impact of prior
Asian experience on the novice group (less than one year on an
international
assignment) was significant, but prior international experience
outside Asia was not
significant for either group. In the light of Selmer’s (2002)
research results,

Takeuchi et al. (2005) organized previous international
experience along two
dimensions (domain (work/non-work) and cultural specificity)
and examined the
effects of expatriates’ current past international experience on
their cross-cultural
adjustment. They targeted 243 Japanese expatriates working in
the United States
and their results indicate that past international experience
moderates the relation-
ship between current assignment tenure and both general and
work adjustment.
Takeuchi et al. (2005) made explanations to previous
inconsistent research findings
regarding the impact of prior international experience: the
interaction effects of
previous international experience differed depending on the
measurement mode
being used. The interaction figures for the length-based
measures of prior inter-
national experience illustrated both direct and indirect effects,
while the
number-based measure of prior international experience only
exhibited the medi-
ating effects. Takeuchi et al. (2005) further conclude that
previous international
experience acts as a moderator rather than as an antecedent to
expatriates’
cross-cultural adjustment. Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al. (2005) also
examined the
mediating influences of prior overseas assignments. They
suggest that time spent on

current assignment may enhance the effect of previous
international experience on
work adjustment and expatriates may leverage past experiences
better as they stay
on assignments longer. As their assignments progress,
expatriates may be better
able to pick out the experiences that best enable them to adjust
to their work
surroundings.
2.2.2.2 Job-Related Factors
Black (1988) reviewed the job-related factors that were
hypothesized to influence
(facilitate or inhibit) expatriate adjustment based on both
international adjustment
and domestic adjustment literature and proposes four job-related
factors that can
increase the uncertainty, uncontrollability, unfamiliarity, or
unpredictability of the
new work role and consequently inhibit the adjustment. These
four adjustment
inhibiting job-related factors are: role novelty (role novelty
involves the difference
between the past role and the new role), role ambiguity, role
conflict, and role
overload. Moreover, he proposed three job-related factors that
have the potential for
reducing the uncertainty and facilitating expatriate adjustment:
role discretion,
previous transfer or previous overseas work experience, and
pre-departure
knowledge.
International assignments are often associated with policy and
procedural con-

flicts with parent companies (Gregersen and Black 1992).
Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al.
(2005) further explain that role clarity refers to exact
understanding of position
requirements; role discretion refers to decision-making
autonomy; role novelty
refers to differences between host and native country work
roles; and role conflict
refers to incompatible cues regarding job expectations. These
four job-related
factors are likely to influence expatriates’ ability to adjust to
the new environment.
For example, role clarity may reduce the ambiguity associated
with foreign work
surroundings, whereas role discretion may enable expatriates to
use previously
employed behavioural mechanisms to minimize that ambiguity.
Bhaskar-Shrinivas
et al.’s (2005) meta-analyses using data from 8474 expatriates
in 66 studies pro-
vided support for a significant correlation between job role
clarity and work
adjustment. Obviously, the uncertainty regarding objectives and
role requirements
are the strongest stressors in expatriates’ overseas work
environments.
(a) Current assignment tenure
Black (1988) also found a significantly positive relationship
between the length of

current assignment tenure and work adjustment. It is reasonable
to argue for a
positive relationship between the length of time in a current
work assignment
(current international assignment tenure) and expatriate
adjustment. When expa-
triates initially arrive in the host country, they face considerable
uncertainty about
many different aspects of both life and work. However, over
time, they are likely to
acquire information that enables them to function more
effectively in the new
environment. With prolonged exposure to the differences of the
host culture,
expatriates are likely to become more familiar with the general
surroundings and
find more suitable standards and become better adjusted
(Takeuchi et al. 2005).
Takeuchi et al. (2005) examined the effects of current
assignment tenure on
expatriate adjustment, studying 243 Japanese expatriates
working in the United
States. Their results showed that current assignment tenure had
significant rela-
tionships with expatriates’ general and work adjustment.
Takeuchi et al. (2005)
propose that the time spent in an international assignment is
very important for
expatriates’ work adjustment and suggest researchers adopt a
time perspective for
understanding expatriate adjustment. Longer tenure increases
opportunities for
expatriates to learn appropriate work behaviours through direct
as well as vicarious
modelling (Bandura 1977). In addition, an extended period of

time is also required
before expatriates are fully accepted by their peers and develop
work relationship
with their peers. Accordingly, the length of current assignment
tenure is related to
an enhanced understanding of the culture of a host country and
an increased ability
to adapt to the host country (Takeuchi et al. 2005). Black and
Mendenhall (1991)
define ‘time to proficiency’ as the period it takes an employee
in a new job to reach
an acceptable performance level. The time expatriates take to
become proficient
after transfers may have several important implications both for
themselves and
their organizations. Typically, the total costs for an
organization of an international
assignment will exceed the total contribution an expatriate
makes for some time
during a post-entry period of settling-in. Hence, the longer the
time to proficiency,
the greater the balance of costs will be to the organization. It
would be in the
interest of both the expatriate and the assigning organization to
keep the time to
proficiency as short as possible.
2.2.2.3 Organizational Factors
Organizations’ selection criteria and mechanisms are also
important expatriate
adjustment influencing factors. Black et al. (1991) claim that
the closer the selected

expatriate matches the needs of the organization, the easier the
expatriate’s
adjustment after entering the international assignment. Also, the
greater the dif-
ference between the organizational culture of the subsidiary
organization in the
foreign country compared to the organization in the home
country (i.e. high
organizational culture novelty) the more difficult the expatriate
adjustment would be
(Black et al. 1991).
Moreover, logistical support from the organization, parent firm
assistance with
day-to-day living, such as help with housing, schools, grocery
stores, and so on,
could potentially reduce uncertainty associated with
international assignments and
therefore facilitate expatriate adjustment (Black et al. 1991).
Social support from
co-workers and logistical support from the parent company can
play important roles
in easing adjustment. By providing expatriates with information
about culturally
suitable norms and behaviours in their work context, social
support from
co-workers reduces uncertainty emanating from an expatriate’s
new circumstances.
Logistical support, on the other hand, could assist adjustment by
making critical
resources available to the expatriate at times of necessity and
thus, meeting the
demands of the new environment. In a study by Guzzo et al.
(1994), expatriates’

judgments of sufficiency of employer benefits and their
perceptions of support were
significant predictors of organizational commitment and
intention to leave.
Organization’s social support, defined in terms of the sources
and quality of helping
relationships, acts as a stress buffer and has an indirect effect
on strains such as job
dissatisfaction.
2.2.2.4 Non-work Factors
The present research will also discuss the non-work factors that
influence expatriate
adjustment from two aspects: expatriate’s family’s adjustment
and host culture
novelty.
(a) Expatriate’s family’s adjustment
Poor cross-cultural adjustment of a spouse is likely to inhibit an
expatriate’s
adjustment. In Tung’s (1982) survey of American MNC
executives, she found that
these executives believed that a spouse’s inability to adjust to
the foreign host
culture was the number one reason for expatriate failures. Tung
(1982) further
claims that an expatriate’s family’s inability to adjust is the
biggest reason for the
expatriate’s inability to make the transition. Black (1988)
contends that the expa-
triate’s family’s ability to adjust to the new culture/country has
a significant impact
on the expatriate’s transition at work and adjustment. Black and
Stephens (1989)

investigated a large sample of American expatriates on
assignment in several dif-
ferent countries and their spouses. They found positive and
significant relationships
between expatriates and spouse cross-cultural adjustment. In a
recent study by
Black and Stephens (1989), family situation was rated by
expatriates as the most
important contributor to successful international assignments.
Bhaskar-Shrinivas
et al.’s (2005) meta-analyses using data from 8474 expatriates
in 66 studies pro-
vided support for the idea that there is a strong correlation
between spouse and
expatriate adjustment.
(b) Culture novelty
There is a wealth of evidence that cultural differences can act as
important barriers
for business expatriates. As we discussed in Sect. 2.1.3
(‘cultural differences
between nations’), Chinese culture is highly contrasted with
western (American and
Western Europe) cultures. Western expatriate managers
experience high culture
novelty when they work in China. Mendenhall and Oddou
(1985) refer to culture
novelty as culture toughness and suggest that some countries,
like China, seem to
be more difficult to adapt to than others. They claim that the

greater the difference
between the cultures of the host country compared to the home
country, i.e. high
culture novelty, the more difficult would be the expatriate
adjustment. Torbiorn
(1988) noted that culture novelty has its largest impact on
expatriates during the
first two years of their assignments. After that, the impact of
culture novelty
diminishes somewhat. Some authors such as Pires and Stanton
(2005) question the
efficacy of culture immersion strategies. They contend that
cultural values and
norms in the individual typically are not changed by simply
living in, or learning
the language of another culture.
According to Selmer’s (2002) study of 36 UK-based companies,
he found that
respondents from similar cultures (e.g., USA) were as likely to
report adjustment
problems as expatriates assigned to more dissimilar cultures
like China. He con-
cluded that the degree of cultural novelty of the country does
not seem to have any
correlation with the outcome of the international assignment.
Based on in-depth
interviews of ethnic Hong Kong Chinese business managers
assigned to China,
Selmer and Shiu (1999) found that the perceived cultural
closeness seemed to build
up expectations of easy and quick adjustment, which could, if it
was not accom-
plished, result in frustration and withdrawal. Furthermore,
comparing the adjust-
ment of western and overseas Chinese business expatriates in

China, Selmer (2002)
found that although the westerners perceived a higher degree of
culture novelty than
the overseas Chinese, they were better adjusted in work
environment. More
recently, Selmer (2006) examined 165 western business
expatriates assigned by
western firms to China to find out whether the culture novelty is
a relevant factor in
assessing the adjustment of business expatriates. Their results
showed that there
was no significant relationship between culture novelty and
expatriate adjustment.
A possible explanation for this is that an expatriate from a very
different culture,
may be tolerated and given the benefit of the doubt going
through the process of
trying to adjust to a new culture. An expatriate from a similar or
presumed identical
culture, on the other hand, could be treated with less patience
and given less latitude
for culturally deviant behaviours (Selmer 2006). Expatriates,
overlooking any
possible cultural differences that may exist in foreign locations
with a similar
culture, exhibiting even minor inappropriate behaviours, will
most probably be
unfavourably assessed. Hung (1994) argues that in China, Hong
Kong Chinese may
be judged by different standards and more harshly than a

westerner for any mistake
made because he/she is presumably knowledgeable about
Chinese etiquette and
manners and would be expected to fully understand the
appropriate social protocol
and behave accordingly.
2.2.3 Adjustment of Expatriates in China
Since the introduction of the ‘Open Door’ policy in the late
1970s, China has
undergone enormous social and economic transformations. In
1979, when China
opened up for foreign investment, foreign businesses started to
move into claim a
share of the country’s vast markets. China continues to attract
more foreign direct
investment than any other developing country. However, many
parts of the Chinese
mainland still have the character of a developing country. China
has enjoyed an
average annual growth rate of 9 per cent since 1980, partly
because of a huge inflow
of foreign direct investment (FDI). The country’s entry into the
World Trade
Organization has accentuated its importance as a current and
potential market for
Western and other international business firms. China has
emerged as the world’s
most desirable market (Selmer 2006).
Selmer (2006) indicate that wholly owned subsidiaries in
mainland China per-
form better if the companies have subsidiaries elsewhere in
Greater China. The area
‘Greater China’ encompasses mainland China, Hong Kong,

Singapore, and Taiwan
(Selmer 2006). In doing so, business firms may accumulate
substantial benefits in
terms of enhanced experience of their expatriate staff that may
facilitate their
eventual entry into mainland China. Selmer (2006) examined
the comparative
adjustment of expatriates in Greater China and their empirical
findings suggest that
adjustment of business expatriates is better elsewhere in Greater
China than in
mainland China. He further proposed an expansion strategy for
the international-
ization of an organization that using other Greater China
locations, like Singapore
or Hong Kong, as a stepping-stone and source of experience in
the ultimate quest to
enter mainland China.
Obviously, interpersonal interactions are relatively difficult in
China in the
absence of a common language. The official language of China
is Mandarin, but,
beside that, local dialects are spoken in different regions.
Business expatriates in
China tend to see language differences as a fundamental
obstacle to interaction
adjustment. The language barrier is substantial, despite the fact
that the level of
English proficiency is generally rising in China. Accordingly,
there is reason to
believe that western expatriate managers in China have a lower
degree of inter-
action adjustment than their general adjustment. Many western
business expatriates
found their assignment in China frustrating (Selmer 2006).

General adjustment for
western expatriates in Beijing and Shanghai, China should be
relatively easy. Both
Beijing and Shanghai are highly dynamic cities with a good
provision of modern
conveniences. Living conditions in general are good, with ample
supply of Western
and Asian food, excellent shopping, good housing conditions,
good health care
facilities as well as modern entertainment facilities and
opportunities. With regard
to anticipatory adjustment, it has been argued that previous
may be an important source from which accurate expectations
can be formed
(Church 1982) and that ‘several previous international
adjustment experiences
would provide more information from which uncertainties could
be reduced and
accurate expectation formed’ (Black et al. 1991, p. 306).
Empirical evidence has
also shown that prior international experience facilitates an
individual’s ability to
function and work effectively (Takeuchi et al. 2005; Selmer
2002) and the more
contact assignees have had with the host culture, the greater
their cross-cultural
adjustment. This leads to the present research’s first hypothesis:
Hypothesis 1 Duration of managers’ international experiences in
the host culture

will positively influence their adjustment to the current
international assignment.
2.3 Experiential Learning Theory
Experiential learning theory (ELT) is a learning theory that is
characterized by six
basic propositions (Kolb 1984).
1. Learning is best conceived as a process, not in terms of
outcomes (p. 26).
2. Learning is a continuous process grounded in experience (p.
27).
3. The process of learning requires the resolution of conflicts
between dialectically
opposed modes of adaptation to the world (p. 29).
4. Learning is a holistic process of adaptation to the world (p.
31).
5. Learning involves transactions between the person and the
environment (p. 34).
6. Learning is the process of creating knowledge (p. 36).
Despite the wide acceptance of Kolb’s experiential learning
theory, there are
salient issues concerning the structure and validity of its use.
Kolb’s theory has
been criticized for logical inconsistencies in theory construction
and for the psy-
chometric properties of the learning style inventory. In the
1970s, critical analysis
began to emerge regarding the theoretical limitations of Kolb’s
theory. Critics
mainly questioned the psychometric properties of its measure.
In response to these
criticisms, Kolb redesigned the inventory in 1986 (Mainemelis

et al. 2002).
Research results indicated that the updated versions largely
addressed earlier con-
cerns related to measurement validity (Mainemelis et al. 2002).
However,
researchers still pointed out several issues concerning data
validity and ipsative
measurement of the revised model of the learning style
inventory. Reynolds (1997)
claim that Kolb’s experiential learning theory is in
decontextualizing learning the
concept of style which may provide a discriminatory basis for
dealing with dif-
ference in gender or race. DeCiantis and Kirton (1996) argue
that Kolb’s theory
conflated three unrelated elements (cognitive style, cognitive
level and cognitive
process) and attempted to measure all three using a single
instrument. They further
contend that the experiential learning model is unrelated to style
but rather is a
‘map’ of the learning process (DeCiantis and Kirton 1996). De
vita (2001) claims
that the cognitive nature of Kolb’s theory over-emphasizes the
role of the individual
and dedecontextualizes the learning process. Kolb (1999)
responded to this critique
by saying that this critique has been more focused on the theory
than the instrument
examining the underlying assumptions of the experiential
learning theory; however,

if the role of the learner is disproportionate to the process,
results from the measure
instrument would not have consistency and validity. Kolb’s
experiential learning
theory emphasizes the central role of the experiences and the
individual. Since the
experiential learning theory (ELT)’s first statement in 1971
(Kolb 1971, cited in
Kolb 1986), there have been many studies using ELT to advance
the theory and
practice of experiential learning. The July 2005 update of the
Experiential Learning
Theory Bibliography (Kolb and Kolb 2005) includes 1876
studies. Because
Experiential Learning Theory is a holistic theory of learning
that identifies learning
style differences among different academic specialties, it is not
surprising to see that
ELT research is highly interdisciplinary, addressing learning
and educational issues
in many areas. An analysis of the 1004 entries in the 1999 ELT
bibliography (Kolb
et al. 2001) shows that 207 studies in management, 430 in
education, 104 in
information science, 101 in psychology, 72 in medicine, 63 in
nursing, 22 in
accounting, and 5 in law. About 55 % of this research has
appeared in refereed
journal articles, 20 % in doctoral dissertations, and 10 % in
books and book
chapters.
2.3.1 Experiential Learning Process and Cycle
Kolb (1984) defines learning as ‘the process whereby
knowledge is created through

the transformation of experiences’. According to ELT, learning
requires people to
resolve a dialectic confrontation both when they grasp
experience and when they
transform experience. The learning processes lie in the bases of
four adaptive
learning modes that create the experiential learning cycle
(Mainemelis et al. 2002).
These four adaptive learning modes are concrete experience,
reflective observation,
abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation
respectively. Zull (2002)
supported ELT’s learning cycle from a biological perspective of
human brain
mechanisms, based on the examination of left-brain functions
that correspond to the
four adaptive learning modes.
2.3.2 Learning Style
According to ELT, an effective learner is required to use each
of the four funda-
mental learning abilities at the base of these four adaptive
modes (Kolb 1984).
Kolb’s learning style that he proposed in his Experiential
Learning Theory (1984) is
influential in explaining aspects of individual differences in
modes of adaptation
and adjustment in learning. Yamazaki (2005) illustrates that
learning styles refer to
cognitive, affective, and physiological behaviours that perform

as relatively stable
indicators of how people perceive, interplay with, and respond
to their outside
environment in learning situations. In Kolb’s learning model,
concrete experience
(CE) abilities call for being involved in experiences and dealing
with immediate
human situations in a subjective manner; in contrast, abstract
conceptualization
(AC) abilities require using logic, ideas, and concepts.
Reflective observation
(RO) abilities require understanding the meaning of thoughts
and situations by
carefully watching and listening; in contrast, active
experimentation (AE) abilities
demand actively influencing people and changing situations.
A combination of two learning abilities constitutes an
associated learning style
(Kolb 1984; Kolb and Fry 1975). Learning style denotes an
individual’s general
preference for using two sets of learning abilities over other
two. The diverging
learning style specializes in the two modes CE (feeling) and RO
(reflecting), while
the converging learning style specializes in AC (thinking) and
AE (acting). The
assimilating learning style specializes in AC and RO, whereas
the accommodating
learning style specializes in CE and AE. It should be noted that
the names quoted to
these learning styles were originally diverger, converger,
assimilator, and accom-
modator. To emphasize the dynamic nature of learning style, the
latest version of
the learning style inventory has changed the style names from

diverger to diverging,
from converger to converging, from assimilator to assimilating,
and from accom-
modator to accommodating accordingly (Kolb and Kolb 2005).
Individuals with diverging learning styles are best at viewing
concrete situations
from many different points of view (Kolb 1984). The style is
labelled ‘diverging’
because a person with it performs better in situations that call
for generation of ideas,
such as a ‘brainstorming’ session. People with diverging
learning styles have broad
cultural interests and like to gather information. They are
interested in people and tend
to be imaginative and emotional. On the other hand, an
individual with a converging
learning style is best at finding practical uses for ideas and
theories (Kolb 1984). They
have the ability to solve problems and make decisions based on
finding solutions to
questions or problems. People with converging learning styles
prefer to deal with
technical tasks and problems rather than with social and
interpersonal issues.
Individuals with assimilating learning styles are best at
understanding a wide
range of information and putting it into concise, logical form
(Kolb 1984). People
with assimilating learning styles are less focused on people and
more interested in
ideas and abstract concepts. An individual with an
accommodating learning style is
best at doing things, carrying out plans and tasks, and getting
involved in new

experiences. They prefer to solve problems in a trial-and-error
manner, relying on
their own intuition or other people for information, rather than
their own analytic
ability. People with accommodating learning styles are inclined
to learn from pri-
marily “hands-on” experience. Accommodating learning style is
important for
effectiveness in action-oriented careers where one must adapt
oneself to changing
circumstances (Armstrong and Mahmud 2008). People with
accommodating
learning styles tend to pursue careers in organizations and
businesses where they
can bring to bear their competencies in acting skills:
Leadership, Initiative, and
2.3 Experiential Learning Theory 29
Action (Kolb et al. 2001). Diverging, assimilating, converging,
and accommodating
learning styles are the four fundamental learning styles in
theory. Figure 2.3 describes Kolb’s experiential learning style
model.
Recent theoretical and empirical work shows that the original
four learning
styles can be expanded to nine distinct styles (Kolb and Kolb
2005). Learning styles
appear as an individual’s preference for a particular region of
the learning space that
enables us to discriminate the individual preference in more
detail. Kolb (1984)

identified four additional learning styles, which they identified
as Northerner,
Easterner, Southerner, and Westerner. Kolb and Kolb (2005)
describe and develop
these styles in more detail based on Hunt’s analysis, which
emphasizes the impact
of the style’s weakest learning mode on the learner’s learning
process.
The Northerner specializes in CE while balancing AE and RO,
in which feeling
serves as an integrative link between acting and reflecting
dialectic modes. People
with northern learning styles learn by involving themselves in
new and challenging
situations while being comfortable in the outer world of action
and the inner world
of reflection. The Easterner specializes in RO while balancing
CE and AC, in which
reflection and observation serve as an integrative link between
feeling and thinking
dialectic modes. People with eastern learning styles learn by
deep reflection as well
as the ability to be both feeling oriented and conceptual. The
Southerner specializes
in AC while balancing AE and RO, in which thinking serves as
an integrative link
between acting and reflecting dialectic modes. People with
southern learning styles
excel in inductively developing a particular concept or idea and
deductively eval-
uating the validity and practicality of that concept or idea by
testing them in the real
world. The Westerner specializes in AE while balancing CE and
AC, in which
acting serves as an integrative link between feeling and thinking

dialectic modes.
People with western learning styles combine the ability of
questions or problems based on their technical analysis as well
as by relying on
people and immediate concrete situations as sources of
information. The balancing
learning style (Mainemelis et al. 2002) refers to individuals who
position
Fig. 2.3 Kolb’s learning styles
themselves in the central region. People with balancing learning
style integrate CE
and AC and RO and AE. They are equally comfortable in
moving across two
dialectic modes in a balanced manner. Overall, Fig. 2.4
describes Kolb’s
Nine-Region Learning Style Type Grid.
2.3.2.1 Influence of Culture on Learning Style
Among learning theories, Kolb’s experiential learning model
has received special
attention to the examination of cross-cultural activities (Hoppe
1990). In examining
cross-cultural differences in learning styles and other learning
programs, Kolb’s
learning model has been extensively applied in the field of
cross-cultural and
international studies (e.g., Katz 1988; Hoppe 1990; Yuen and
Lee 1994; Jackson

1995; Auyeung and Sands 1996; Fridland 2002; Barmeyer 2004;
Yamazaki and
Kayes 2007, etc.). Learning styles are determined by the
interplay between people
and their environment (Kolb 1984). Kolb (2001) further
explains that such interplay
shapes learning styles at five levels (Kolb et al. 2001):
psychological type, edu-
cational specialization, professional career, current job, and
adaptive competencies.
In addition to these five levels, Yamazaki and Kayes (2004)
indicate that the culture
of the country around people is the sixth level of interplay that
shapes learning
styles. The continuity and development of a certain learning
situation fitted to each
country relates to the way in which learning styles vary among
cultures. Culture as
an environmental characteristic has a great influence on
learning styles. Certain
learning styles within one country tend to developed in learning
environments that
are influenced by its particular culture. Many researchers have
examined the
interplay between the person and the environment at the cultural
level. Hayes and
Allinson (1988) suggest that the culture of a country may be one
of the powerful
NW
Feeling-Acting
Accommodating
N

Feeling
Acting-Reflecting
Northerner
NE
Feeling-Reflecting
Diverging
W
Acting
Feeling-Thinking
Westerner
C
Feeling
Acting + Reflecting
Thinking
Balancing
E
Reflecting
Feeling-Thinking

Easterner
SW
Thinking-Acting
Converging
S
Thinking
Acting-Reflecting
Southerner
SE
Thinking-Reflecting
Assimilating
REFLECTIVE
OBSERVATION
CONCRETE EXPERIENCE
ABSTRACT CONCEPTUALIZATION
ACTIVE
EXPERIMENTATION
Fig. 2.4 Kolb’s nine-region learning style type grid

socialization agents that have a great impact upon the
development of individuals’
learning styles. Hofstede (1997) contends that a country’s
culture shapes its peo-
ples’ preferred modes of learning through their socialization
experiences. Pratt
(1991) also argues that learning styles may be distinguishable
across cultures
according to his comparative study of self-conceptions between
China and the
United States. Furthermore, Yamazaki (2005) conducted a
comprehensive analysis
on which culture is related to which learning style or learning
ability. He con-
centrated on a theoretical and empirical comparative analysis
between Kolb’s
learning styles and six cultural typologies (high context vs. low
context cultures,
shame vs. guilt cultures, strong uncertainty avoidance vs. weak
uncertainty
avoidance cultures, M-type organizations vs. O-type
organizations,
interdependent-self vs. independent-self, and field-dependent
vs. field-independent
cultures) in three research areas: Anthropology, Cross-cultural
management, and
Cross-cultural psychology. Yamazaki (2005) proposes a close
examination between
the cultural component and the other five levels of factors (i.e.
psychological type,
educational specialization, professional career, current job, and
adaptive compe-

tencies) to further explore how individual learning styles are
shaped and developed
in a particular culture.
Kaze (1988, cited in Yamazaki 2005) examined the learning
styles of 821 Israeli
undergraduates with different majors by using Kolb’s original
9-item learning style
inventory. She suggests that the interplay between the typical
Israeli culture and
learning style is evident in the orientation toward the AE mode.
She also made the
cross-cultural comparison of learning styles between Israel and
the US revealed that
the Israeli are far more orientated toward the active mode than
the American. Smith
and Kolb (1985) examined 1446 American samples and suggest
that the overall
American subjects are shifted more toward the AC and AE
mode. Therefore, they
concluded that the converging learning style may be a typical
learning style of the
American samples as a whole. Yuen and Lee (1994) investigated
1032 Singapore
undergraduates with eight different majors and compared the
learning styles of
Singapore students with those of the American undergraduate
students in Ruble’s
research (Yuen and Lee 1994). Their study reveals that the
Singapore students are
more abstract and reflective than the American students are.
McMurray (1998)
investigated the learning styles of 160 Japanese undergraduates
with economics and
science majors. He found that the learning preferences of
Japanese subjects were

stable during two consecutive semesters and were orientated
toward the CE and RO
modes, which is different from the American subjects that are
orientated toward AC
and AE modes (Kolb 1984; Smith and Kolb 1985). Barmeyer
(2004) examined
learning styles of 132 French students, 98 German students, and
123 Quebecois
students in business administration and found that French and
Quebecois students
are significantly more concrete than German students; German
students are sig-
nificantly more abstract and active than French and Quebecois
students. French
students are significantly skewed toward the reflective
observation learning mode.
Focusing on the learning style distribution of these students, the
dominant learning
styles of French students and Quebecois students are both
Assimilating and
Diverging, while that of German students are Assimilating and
Converging.
More recently, Yamazaki (2005) summarized five research
studies about
learning styles on American subjects: Smith and Kolb (1985),
Kolb and Fry (1975),
Geiger and Pinto (1991), and Boyatzis and Mainemelis (2000)
and concluded that
American subjects possess more abstract and active learning
modes and tend to
prefer the converging learning style. Pratt (1991) conducted a

comparative study of
self-conceptions between Chinese and Western societies and
claimed that learning
styles are distinguishable across these two cultures. Therefore,
there is a variation of
learning styles among different countries and societies. The
relationship between
the learning style and countries and societies suggest that a
dominant learning style
in one country will be indicative of learning characteristics in
that country at a
macro environmental level. Existing research has demonstrated
cultural distinctions
between Western countries and China on several important
dimensions. As we have
discussed in the section ‘cultural differences western expatriates
experienced in
China’, Chinese culture tends to be a high-context culture
whereas Western
countries tend to toward a low-context culture (Hall 1976).
Chinese culture is more
collective and the Western culture is more individualistic
(Hofstede 1997).
2.3.2.2 Chinese Learning Style Versus Western Learning Style
Auyeung and Sands (1996) examined the relationship between
the
Individualistic-Collective cultural dimension and Kolb’s (1984)
learning style.
They analyzed learning styles from a total of 303 Australian
accounting students,
whose country is representative of Individualism culture, and
172 accounting stu-
dents from Hong Kong and 157 accounting students from
Taiwan, whose country is

representative of Collective culture. Their results illustrated
that Individualistic
culture is more linked with the Active learning mode, while
Collective culture is
more associated with the reflective learning mode. Students
from Chinese cultures
are significantly more reflective and abstract and less active and
concrete than are
the Australian students. Fridland (2002) examined learning style
difference between
Chinese teachers (N = 100) of English as a foreign language and
American teachers
(N = 105) of English as a second language and reported that
Chinese learning styles
were distributed more at the diverging learning style (42 % of
the Chinese teachers
is the diverging learning style, 28 % is the assimilating style, 18
% is the con-
verging style, and 12 % is the accommodating style), while
American learning
styles stayed more at the accommodating learning style. With
regard to the dif-
ferences in learning abilities, Fridland (2002) contends that
Chinese are oriented
more toward the reflective observation and less toward the
active experimentation,
while Americans’ learning orientations are quite opposite to
Chinese ones.
Japanese culture derives from Chinese culture and Confucian
ethics is rooted
into both of them. It is reasonable to agree that Chinese and
Japanese have similar
learning preferences. Considering Japanese learning style also
supports the present
research’s main hypothesis that Chinese learning preferences

are oriented toward
the concrete experience and the reflective observation learning
modes. McMurray
(1998 cited by Yamazaki 2005) investigated the learning styles
of 160 Japanese
undergraduate students with economic and science majors and
found that the
learning preferences of Japanese participants were highly
skewed toward the con-
crete experience and the reflective observation learning modes.
In light of American learning style, several studies in the field
of management
learning are harmonized with their results, which indicate that
American managers
are inclined toward the abstract conceptualization and the active
experimentation
learning modes (Boyatzis and Mainemelis 2000). Boyatzis and
Mainemelis (2000)
claim that American managers’ learning styles are mostly
associated with the
Converging and the Assimilating learning styles. Yamazaki and
Kayes (2007)
examined cultural differences in learning styles between
Japanese managers
(N = 267) and American mangers (N = 126) within the same
Japanese MNCs
operated in the US. They concluded that Japanese managers are
more concrete and
reflective, whereas American managers are more abstract and
active. They proposed

that the dominant learning style of Japanese managers is the
diverging learning
style and that of American managers is the converging learning
style.
Learning styles are affected by the interplay between people and
their envi-
ronment (Kolb 1984) and according to Kolb et al. (2001) such
interplay shapes
learning styles at five levels: psychological type, educational
specialization, pro-
fessional career, current job, and adaptive competencies (Kolb
1984; Kolb et al.
2001). Yamazaki and Kayes (2004) later extended Kolb’s model
to account for
cultural influences on the process of learning and learning
styles. Previous
researchers have also argued that cultures have an influence on
how people learn
(e.g. Hayes and Allinson 1988). With regard to cultural
differences in learning
styles, Smith and Kolb (1985), Kolb and Fry (1975), Geiger and
Pinto (1991), and
Yamazaki and Kayes (2007) all concluded that American
subjects possess more
abstract and active learning modes and therefore tend to adopt a
converging
learning style. Research has also demonstrated cultural
distinctions between
Western countries and China with regard to preferred ways of
grasping experience.
For example, Hall (1976) claimed that Chinese culture tends to
be a high-context
culture whereas Western countries such as the USA tend to
toward a low-context
culture. The former requires its members to be sensitive to

immediate environments
through feelings, and long lasting interpersonal relationships
are crucial for deter-
mining the meanings of messages conveyed in communication.
Yamazaki (2005)
reasoned that these high context cultures (e.g. China) are
associated with the CE
learning mode where members tend to grasp experience through
feeling in proxi-
mate contexts. Conversely, in low context cultures, the
immediate environment and
non-verbal behaviours are less crucial in generating and
interpreting meanings,
whereas explicit verbal messages are more important in
communications (Hall
1976). Yamazaki (2005) reasoned that these low context
cultures (e.g. USA) are
conceptually associated with the AC mode where abstract and
symbolic presenta-
tion in a logical manner forms the central method of
communicating with others.
Other comparative studies of Chinese and American societies
also demonstrated
that learning styles are distinguishable across these two cultures
(Pratt 1991). In
particular, Yamazaki (2005) re-analysed the data from a number
of previous studies
of learning styles across cultures to determine which country or
culture is related to
which learning style. With regard to transforming experience

during the learning
process (AC-RO), he concluded that Chinese culture is highly
contrasted with
American culture reporting that ‘Chinese are oriented more
toward reflective
observation and less toward active experimentation, while
Americans’ learning
orientations are quite the opposite to Chinese ones’ (pp. 538).
Summarising the literature reviewed above, it can be concluded
that Chinese are
generally oriented more toward RO than AE and more toward
CE than AC.
Conversely, Westerners’ learning orientations are generally
more toward AE than
RO and more toward AC than CE. This leads to one exploratory
question regarding
the influence of culture on learning styles.
Exploratory Question 1: To what extent do Western expatriate
managers differ from
host Chinese managers with regard to learning styles?
2.3.2.3 Influence of Environmental Change on Learning Style
The change of environmental demands also accrues the shift of
learning style. The
longer the exposure of the environmental demands, the greater
the tendency for a
person to specialize more in the learning style that is matched
with such demands.
This is similar as a socialization process in which individual
learning style as a
personal attribute grow to more closely match the environmental
demands (Kolb
1984). Zhang (2001) contends that styles can change with

situations, time, and
demands and therefore, it is possible to provide avenues for
change to match needs
or effectiveness.
Gyen (1980, cited in Kolb, 1984) examined learning style
transitions/adaptations
in two professional careers: engineers and social workers. His
study illustrated that
a change of job demands directs the orientation of learning
styles over their career
paths. The engineers’ dominant learning style was the
converging orientation, but
they developed concrete experience and reflective observation
learning modes after
they participated in managerial jobs. On the other hand, the
diverging learning style
was the typical learning style of social workers, but they
developed abstract con-
ceptualization and active experimentation learning modes after
they held respon-
sibilities for management and administration. The study of Gyen
(1980) illustrated
the influence of changing environmental demands upon learning
styles: learning
styles will change according to changes in the environment.
It could be inferred that expatriates’ learning styles may change
according to the
learning orientation that is demanded by the host country.
Environmental change
may also cause expatriates’ learning styles to be shifted towards
the ones matched
with the demands produced by new environments in the host
country. The transi-
tion of learning styles is likely to occur in accordance with the

amount of contin-
uous time the expatriates have spent in the host country.
Expatriates’ learning styles
may evolve from one place to another in keeping with the
consistency of their
environmental change direction (Yamazaki and Kayes 2004). In
this study, the
researcher will examine western expatriate managers’ learning
style transitions over
time when they working in China.
2.3.3 Learning Skills
While learning styles involve four learning abilities and refer to
generic adaptive
competencies to the environment, learning skills reflect more
situational, specific
competencies required for effective performance on a variety of
tasks (Kolb 1984).
Because of the more explicit form of adaptive competencies in
response to job
demands in more confined environmental boundaries, learning
skills may be easily
discernible and detectable. The concrete experience (CE) mode
encompasses three
interpersonal skills: relationship building, leadership, and
helping and under-
standing people. The reflective observation (RO) mode involves
three perceptual
skills: sense making, information gathering, and information
analysis. The abstract

conceptualization (AC) mode involves three analytical skills:
theory integration,
quantitative, and technology skills. Finally, the active
experimentation (AE) mode
includes three behavioural skills: goal setting, action, and
initiative taking.
Figure 2.5 presents the relationship between the four
experiential learning modes
and learning skills.
Yamazaki (2005) outlines a taxonomy of skills necessary for
cross-cultural
learning based on Kolb’s experiential learning theory (1984).
He identifies 73
learning skills that cluster into 10 thematic cross-cultural
learning competencies. He
also suggested that the difference between expatriates’ cultural
backgrounds may be
reflected in the variation of expatriate adaptation strategies:
which specific inter-
cultural skills based on the ELT need to be developed for their
intercultural
adaptation.
2.3.3.1 The Relationship Between Learning Skills and Learning
Styles
In terms of understanding the relationship between learning
styles and learning
skills, Curry’s (1983) three layer onion model which is built
upon her study of 21
cognitive and learning style instruments provides us with a
useful heuristic (see
Fig. 2.6). Curry (1983) proposes a heuristic model to organize
the theory, resem-
bling layers of an onion in which she places individual

difference constructs. In the
outer layer, Curry (1983) places what has been labelled as
‘Instructional Preference’
which refers to the individual’s choice of environment in which
to learn. She
explains that the outer layer of the onion model is the most
observable and interacts
most directly with outward learning environments. This layer
seems to be most
related to the concept of the learning skills of experiential
learning theory because
interplay between individuals and their situational environments
makes a direct
difference to the outer layer. Such interplay produces specific
skills that can be
greatly observed on the external surface where people perform
in order to meet
particular demands derived from their environments.
The middle layer of the onion model, labelled as ‘Information
Processing Style’,
is regarded as an individual’s approach to assimilating
information. Due to its
relative de-coupling from the environment, it is believed to be
more stable than the
outer layer, though it can still be modified to a degree by
learning strategies. The
second layer represents information processing dimensions as a
set of processes that
function at the intersection between fundamental personality
levels/individual dif-

ferences and environmentally provided learning format choices.
Experiential
learning styles would be managed within this middle layer
(Curry 1983, p. 11). The
innermost layer of the model is labelled as ‘Cognitive
Personality Style’, defined as
an individual’s approach to adapting and assimilating
information, which does not
interact directly with the environment and is believed to be a
relatively permanent
personality dimension. The innermost layer of the onion model
concerns cognitive
personality dimensions (such as cognitive style) that are
characterized as reflective
of the underlying and relatively permanent personality (Curry
1983, p. 14).
Concrete experience
Abstract conceptualization
R
eflective
observation
A
ct
iv
e
ex
pe
ri

m
en
ta
ti
on
Interpersonal skills
Analytical skills
Inform
ation skills
A
ction skills
Relationships
Help
Sense making
Info. Gathering
Info. analysis
Theory
Quantitative
Technology
Goal setting
Action

Initiative
Leadership
Fig. 2.5 Experiential learning modes and learning skills
2.3.4 Adaptive Flexibility
Based on the work of Piaget et al. (1984) in experiential
learning theory suggests
that adaptive flexibility is related to the degree that one
integrates the dual dialectics
of the learning process—conceptualizing/experiencing and
acting/reflecting. Unlike
learning style, which refers to more generic adaptive
competencies to the world,
and learning skill, which refers to more specific and situational
competencies,
adaptive flexibility describes the relatively stable changes that
occur as individuals
learn to adapt to changing circumstances over time. Adaptive
flexibility describes
how an individual learns to manage competing demands and
deal with environ-
mental complexity.
Kolb (1984), Boyatzis and Kolb (1993) suggest several
strategies to increase
adaptive flexibility. First, increase our ability to ‘read’ the
situations and to use
various learning styles in response. This can be accomplished

through practice.
When confronted with a situation, try to envision different
approaches, i.e. learning
styles, and the possible advantages of each. Second, strengthen
our association with
others who have a facility with the styles we are ‘weakest’ in.
Including these
people in our development process and utilizing their skills in
dealing with unclear
situations. Moreover, use our strengths to develop our weak
areas. For example, a
person can use his/her Active Experimentation style to set a
priority to develop
Reflective Observation skills; use his/her Concrete Experience
style to solicit input
from people high in Abstract Conceptualization.
2.3.4.1 The Relationship Between Adaptive Flexibility
and Self-development
Individual self-development is the dialectic process that is
reaching toward a
higher-level synthesis between social specialization and
individual integrative ful-
filment. It is attained through a dialectic process of adaptation
to the world.
Adaptive flexibility and the mobility it provides are the primary
vehicles of indi-
vidual self-development (Kolb 1984).
Learning strategies
(Learning skills)
Cognitive styles

personalities
Learning
styles
Fig. 2.6 Curry’s three layer onion model
There have been many empirical studies about the relationship
between adaptive
flexibility and self-development. Kolb (1984) investigated the
adaptive flexibility as measured by the Adaptive Style
Inventory (ASI) and the level
of ego development as measured by Loevinger’s sentence
completion instrument.
In his study, there was a significant positive relationship
between total adaptive
flexibility and ego development level. Moreover, most of this
co-variation in
adaptive flexibility occurred in reflective observation and
abstract conceptualiza-
tion. Kolb (1984) also examined the relationship between
adaptive flexibility as
measured by the ASI and the level of self-direction as measured
in a self-assessment
workshop. The relationship between total adaptive flexibility
and the person’s
degree of self-directedness was significantly positive in this
study. In this research,
the co-variation in adaptive flexibility was determined primarily
in active experi-
mentation. This suggests that those at higher levels of adaptive

flexibility are more
self-directed and display that directedness through wide
variation of their active
behaviour in different situations.
The development in experiential learning theory describes
affective development
in concrete experience as a process of increasing complexity in
one’s conception of
personal relationships, resulting from integration of the four
learning modes. As a
result, experiential learning theory (1984) predicts that
increasing adaptive flexi-
bility, particularly in the realm of concrete experience, would
be associated with
increased richness in construing one’s interpersonal world. A
major component of
internal structural complexity is the constructions which can be
called upon to
describe and manipulate one’s thoughts and interactions with
the interpersonal
environment (Kolb 1984, p. 220). Kolb (1984) examined the
adaptive flexibility as measured by the ASI and the level of
cognitive complexity in
relationships as measured by the total number of constructs a
person used to
describe his or her interpersonal world, which is also known as
a cognitive mapping
method. The result showed that total adaptive flexibility is
positively correlated
with individual cognitive complexity in relationships, especially
in the area of
concrete experience adaptive flexibility. Taken together, Kolb’s
results (1984,
1975) above suggest that overall adaptive flexibility and

adaptive flexibility in the
four adaptive modes are meaningful indicators of self-
development. Total adaptive
flexibility is significantly related to the level of ego
development, to self-direction,
and to the level of cognitive complexity in relationships.
Mainemelis et al. (2002) adds further construct validity for the
hypothesis that
individual adaptive flexibility is predictive of highly integrated
and complex levels
of adult development in their study through testing the
balanced/specialized learning styles and adaptive flexibility.
Their study also sug-
gests that learning style that balances experiencing and
conceptualizing shows
greater adaptive flexibility in responding to experiencing and
conceptualizing
learning contexts. In this study, the researcher will examine the
influence of
international assignment experiences on the development of
western expatriate
managers’ adaptive flexibility as well as the beneficial effects
of adaptive flexibility.
2.4 Managerial Tacit Knowledge
As discussed in Sect. 2.2, learning is the process of creating
knowledge (Kolb
1984). Formal learning alone is insufficient for the development
of managers. What

matters is the learning that takes place on the job (Wagner and
Sternberg 1987).
Practical intelligence is related more to managerial success than
academic intelli-
gence is, and therefore, the ability to learn informally on the job
is a critical
determinant of managerial success. The need to participate in
informal forms of
learning, such as expatriate learning, is linked to a form of
knowledge mostly
associated with experts and successful people: tacit knowledge.
Oxford English
Dictionary (1933) described tacit knowledge as the knowledge
that usually is not
openly expressed or stated. Tacit knowledge is believed to be
one essential factor
that distinguishes successful managers from others (Armstrong
and Mahmud 2008).
The ability to acquire tacit knowledge informally on the job is a
hallmark of
managerial success (Wagner and Sternberg 1987).
2.4.1 Nature and Characteristics of Tacit Knowledge
The term ‘tacit knowledge’ evolved from multi-disciplinary
studies such as the
philosophy of science by Polanyi (1966), ecological
psychology, and organisational
behaviour (Schon 1983). It has been utilised to describe
knowledge that is obtained
from daily experience which has an implicit and un-codified
quality. The origin of
tacit knowledge is often attributed to Michael Polanyi who
described it in his
famous quote, ‘we can know more than we can tell’ (1966: 4).
In Polanyi’s (1966)

book, he classified two types of knowledge: tacit knowledge and
explicit knowl-
edge. Anderson (1983) distinguished between procedural
knowledge and declara-
tive knowledge by referring to the former as knowledge about
how to do
something, and to the latter as knowledge about something.
Declarative knowledge
is consciously formed, controlled, and articulable, while
procedural knowledge is
identified as unconscious with automatic learning, which guides
actions and deci-
sions without being in our field of consciousness (Anderson
1983). Based on
Anderson’s work, Sternberg and Horvath (1999) defined tacit
knowledge as
‘knowledge that is grounded in personal experience, and is
procedural rather than
declarative in structure’. Wagner further defined tacit
knowledge as ‘Work-related
practical know-how that usually is not openly expressed or
stated, and that usually
is not directly taught’ (1993, p. 19). Sternberg and Grigorenko
(2001) argued that
all tacit knowledge is a subset of procedural knowledge.
Nonaka (1994) holds that there are two types of tacit
knowledge: technical tacit
knowledge and cognitive tacit knowledge. Technical tacit
knowledge is created
through actions and needs to be experienced to be learned and
therefore, does not
need language as the intermediary. In the technical dimension,
the term
‘know-how’ is commonly used to describe the skills and crafts
acquired in relation

to mastery of work (Nonaka 1994). Expertise is associated with
this technical tacit
knowledge: the ability to demonstrate flawless execution of
tasks yet finding dif-
ficulty in articulating the principles behind it (Baumard 1999).
On the other hand,
mental models, perspectives, and beliefs make up the cognitive
tacit knowledge and
are deeply ingrained in the mind to the extent that they exist at
the subconscious
level and affect how individuals perceives the world. These pre-
established cog-
nitive patterns will act as a filter to incoming information,
resulting in the formation
of knowledge that is unique to an individual (Baumard 1999).
Cognitive tacit
knowledge can be transmitted through interaction or
socialization involving the use
of language. Beside these two types, Baumard (1999) suggests
that implicit
knowledge is another form of tacit knowledge. He claims that
implicit knowledge is
known and can be explicated, but rarely occurs because the
knowledge often lies
deep in our mind.
Choo (1998), along the same line as Nonaka, classifies tacit
knowledge into
cognitive and technical components. Moreover, he included the
individual and
collective perspectives in his stance on tacit knowledge.

Individual tacit knowledge
is knowledge that is acquired through experience, context-
specific, and action
oriented. Choo, however, contended that there is also another
form of tacit
knowledge which he called ‘collective tacit knowledge’,
accrued by virtue of shared
practices and tacit understandings in groups that work together
(pp. 118–119).
Collins (2001) contends that tacit knowledge is more diverse by
indicating five
different tacit knowledge types: concealed knowledge,
mismatched knowledge,
ostensive knowledge, unrecognised knowledge, and
uncognized/uncognizable
knowledge. Concealed knowledge refers to knowledge that is
obscured either
intentionally as a secret or unintentionally when the individual
did not notice the
existence of it. Mismatched knowledge refers to the group level,
as it occurs when
different groups focus on different problems, because the
groups are not observing
each other’s work. Ostensive knowledge is knowledge that is
inexpressible through
verbal language. However, it can be articulated through
pointing and showing.
Unrecognisable knowledge is generated through imitating
critical behaviour with-
out noticing the importance. Uncognizable knowledge is typical
in language, such
as human’s ability to speak in their native language without
awareness of how they
do it.
According to Sternberg and his colleagues (Sternberg 1997;

Sternberg and
Horvath 1999; Sternberg et al. 2000), the concept of tacit
knowledge comprises
three main features: procedural, practically useful, and without
others’ direct
assistance. Firstly, tacit knowledge is procedural. Tacit
knowledge is closely con-
nected to action. It takes the form of ‘knowing-how’ as opposed
to ‘knowing-what’.
This kind of ‘knowing how’ is called procedural knowledge: it
is the knowledge
that has a precise application (Winograd 1975, cited in
Sternberg et al. 2000) or it
can be stated that it is condition-action pairs of a general form
(Nonaka 1994;
Sternberg et al. 2000). Anderson (1983) suggests that tacit
knowledge is a subset of
life relevant procedures found in individual experience. This
type of knowledge
provides guidance for individual action and behaviour even
though it is hard to
transfer. Second, tacit knowledge is practically useful. Tacit
knowledge is a
2.4 Managerial Tacit Knowledge 41
‘vehicle’ that enables people to achieve valued objectives. A
highly valued
objective requires a higher level of knowledge for it to be
successfully achieved,
hence this knowledge becomes very valuable (Sternberg 1997).
Third, tacit
knowledge is generated without direct assistance from others.
Basically, tacit

knowledge is attained personally by the individual when they
are able to sort out the
key lessons from their experiential learning and be able to
identify crucial
knowledge (Sternberg et al. 2000). Normally, individuals
accumulate their tacit
knowledge by means of personal experience of certain
circumstances, or by trial
and error, and it will gradually become their own unique
knowledge that cannot be
imitated by others. Individuals who learn knowledge formally
do not accumulate
levels of knowledge that are equivalent to the levels of
knowledge accumulated by
individuals who learn through experience or experiential
learning. For the purpose
of this research, the definition of tacit knowledge will be taken
to be ‘knowledge
that is grounded in personal experience, and is procedural rather
than declarative in
structure’ (Sternberg and Horvath 1999; Armstrong and
Mahmud 2008).
2.4.2 Tacit Knowledge and Practical Intelligence
Practical intelligence is one of the concepts that have been
researched as an
alternative to traditional views of intelligence. Traditional
views suggest that the
variety of competencies required for achievement can be
integrated as general
intelligence. Recently, however, several researchers contend
that general intelli-
gence presents a limited perspective of an individual’s ability to
thrive in a suc-
cessful life. For instance, Goleman (1995) and Mayer et al.

(2000) propose
emotional intelligence. Sternberg (1985, 1997) indicates a
concept of creative and
practical intelligence.
The concept of practical intelligence emerged from the tests
traditionally used to
measure intelligence. These measures were essentially related to
academic rather
than practical ability (Wagner and Sternberg 1986). Practical
intelligence refers to
the individual ability to identify optimal fit between themselves
and needs of
environment via adapting to the situation, or choosing a new
environment in the
quest of personally-valued goals (Sternberg et al. 2000). It is
different from other
kinds of intelligence. Practical intelligence involves not just
adapting to environ-
ments, but also the shaping and selection of environments. The
workplace is the
best place to see practical intelligence in action. Most of the
crucial rules of the
workplace are unspoken. A few people excel at acquiring this
type of knowledge.
Sternberg and colleagues (Sternberg 1985; Wagner and
Sternberg 1986)
extended the distinction in order to determine which attributes
would differentiate
academic and practical issues. Academic issues were identified
by the following
attributes: (1) formulated by others, (2) well-defined, (3)
providing complete
information, (4) characterised by having only one correct
answer, (5) characterised

by having one approach to the correct answer, (6) disembodied
from ordinary
experience, and (7) lacking or without intrinsic interest.
Conversely, practical issues
(occurring with work-related problems) were identified by the
following attributes:
(1) unformulated or required reformulation, (2) inadequate
information required for
solution, (3) linked to daily experience, (4) weakly defined, (5)
characterised by a
variety of correct answers, each with liabilities as well as
assets, (6) of personal
interest, and (7) characterised by a variety of approaches for
choosing problem
solutions. It is logical to assume that the differences between
academic and practical
environments will mean that someone who is proficient in
problems in one environment may not be able to transfer these
skills to problem
solving in the other environment. In addition, Sternberg and
Wagner (1993) note
that academic intelligence is accessed via conventional tests. In
contrast to this
approach, practical intelligence tests look at the relevant norms
involved in the
process of knowledge acquisition: informal context, commonly
tacit, learned
through observation and modelling, and not necessarily
recognised at school.

The present study focuses on the concept of practical
intelligence as it underlies
the acquisition and utilisation of tacit knowledge (Wagner and
Sternberg 1986;
Sternberg and Horvath 1999; Sternberg et al. 2000). Tacit
knowledge is one of the
tools that can be used to measure the ability to learn from
experience. Tacit
knowledge reveals what individuals learn in everyday life that
cannot be formally
taught or conveyed. Scores that measure levels of practical
intelligence are pre-
dictive of an ability to learn to solve practical problems at
work. Nevertheless, they
are less predictive of an ability to solve academic problems at
school (Wagner and
Sternberg 1986).
2.4.3 The Structure of Managerial Tacit Knowledge
A substantial amount of research has been undertaken into the
nature of tacit
knowledge in a variety of professions, such as nursing,
education, medicine,
accounting, law, management and so on (Armstrong and
Mahmud 2008). These
studies provide a valuable insight into the working of tacit
knowledge in these
various professions. Sternberg’s work into the nature of tacit
knowledge in various
professions is particularly noteworthy (e.g., Sternberg et al.
1993; Sternberg et al.
2000; Sternberg and Grigorenko 2001; Sternberg and Wagner
1993; Wagner and
Sternberg 1986, 1987) because it provides a framework and a
sound method-

ological basis from which tacit knowledge can be studied.
In the business and management domain, the difference between
academic and
practical approaches can be clearly demonstrated. Existent
research has revealed
that successful managers hardly ever refer to specific rules of
thought in their
approaches to problem solving (McCall and Kaplan 1985). They
substituted this
with an action-oriented approach at the initial problem solving
stage by utilising
analyses and action based on personal experience. Schon (1983)
suggests that a
significant amount of competent managerial behaviour appears
as action that is
almost spontaneous, based on intuition rather than rationality. It
is ‘ordinarily tacit,
implicit in our patterns of action’ (Schon 1983). In Wagner and
Sternberg’s (1987)
study of the role of tacit knowledge in the domain of business
management, it
became clear that there were significant variations in the level
and content of tacit
knowledge within business managers. These variations are
believed to exist because
the managers go through their experiences differently, and at
different points in time
and context. Wagner (1987) described tacit knowledge as
having particular
importance for managerial success and broke it down into three

categories based on
the content of managerial tacit knowledge:
• managing self: tacit knowledge about managing self refers to
knowledge about
self-motivational and self-organizational aspects of managerial
performance;
• managing others: tacit knowledge about managing others
refers to knowledge
about managing one’s subordinates and how to interact with
one’s peers and
superiors;
• managing tasks: tacit knowledge about managing tasks refers
to knowledge
about how to do specific tasks well.
Managing self, others, and tasks defines the scope of managerial
tacit knowledge
based on the content of a situation. Managerial tacit knowledge
in managing self
concerns self-motivation as well as the self-organisational
aspects of managerial
performance. For example, what is the best way to handle a
problem caused by
procrastination? In this case, individuals need time management
skills in order to
organise, prioritise, and complete their workloads. This will
minimize the problems
caused by procrastination. Self-management can be perceived as
the ability to
increase productivity on a daily basis. Effective managing-self
individuals are able
to set a priority of a numbers of tasks and as a result, their time
is allocated

accordingly. Sometimes this means that deadlines for low-
priority tasks are missed
or that extra responsibility is delegated to subordinates
(Sternberg et al. 2000).
Managerial tacit knowledge in managing others resides in
people management
skills: the skills to manage subordinates, co-workers, and
superiors. An example of
this type of tacit knowledge can be seen in the art of persuasion:
the power to
convince a doubtful superior to accept a good idea. Another
example is knowledge
about how to assign tasks that will utilise the capabilities of a
subordinate whilst
downplaying their weaknesses (Wagner and Sternberg 1986).
Managing others is
the key to remaining on the executive fast track, because an
inability to manage
others is the main reason for derailment. To act openly to the
ideas and opinions in
a particular task is also considered highly important in
managing others (Sternberg
et al. 2000). Managerial tacit knowledge in managing tasks
concerns performing
specific managerial tasks successfully. An example of managing
tasks is knowing
how to communicate to others the main point in a presentation
(Wagner 1987).
Wagner (1987) extended the scope of managerial tacit
knowledge to also include
the context and the orientation of tacit knowledge. The context
of managerial tacit
knowledge refers to whether the knowledge concerns short-term
or long-term
accomplishments; while the orientation of managerial tacit

knowledge refers to
whether the knowledge concerns the ideal quality or
practicality. A local context is
regarding a concern with the short-term accomplishment of a
given task, which is
limited to the task at hand; a global context, on the other hand,
is regarding a
concern with long-term accomplishment, which focuses on how
the present situa-
tion fits into the bigger picture. Managerial tacit knowledge
with an idealistic
orientation refers to a focus on the ideal quality of an idea; on
the other hand,
managerial tacit knowledge with a pragmatic orientation refers
to a focus on how
workable an idea is without regard to its ideal quality. This
allows the managerial
tacit knowledge framework to be constructed on a three-
dimensional basis as
illustrated in Fig. 2.7.
2.4.4 Acquisition of Managerial Tacit Knowledge
Wagner and Sternberg (1987) contend that there are three
mental processes
instrumental in the acquisition of managerial tacit knowledge:
selective encoding,
selective combination, and selective comparison. Selective
encoding is the first
process. It is used to filter information from the environment. In
particular, selective

encoding involves separating relevant information in one’s
experience from
information that is irrelevant to one’s purposes; selective
combination is the second
process. It is used to put together the information that is
selectively encoded as
relevant for one’s purposes. This process involves
understanding how relevant
information interrelates and forms a pattern; the third process is
selective com-
parison. It is used to relate previously known information to
new information. This
process involves drawing upon one’s existing knowledge in
order to incorporate
new knowledge. Wagner and Sternberg (1987) propose that
these three mental
processes of acquisition of managerial tacit knowledge should
be used interactively
in order to maximize one’s learning on the job. Managers need
to make fairly
continual use of all three processes in order to make sense of a
new situation and to
re-evaluate old situations.
Baumard (1999) holds that managerial tacit knowledge is
generated in the
intimacy of lived experience. The major source of tacit
knowledge is experience
and there exist differences between individuals in the level and
content of tacit
knowledge acquired (Wagner and Sternberg 1987). The
differences in the level and
content of managerial tacit knowledge can largely be attributed
to the different ways
in which people learn from experience. This is affected by both
the context of the

learning environment and the differences in the way individuals
prefer to engage in
Content (self, others, tasks)
Context (local, global)
Orientation (idealistic, pragmatic)
Fig. 2.7 Wagner’s three-dimensional framework of managerial
tacit knowledge
the learning process. The present study will then investigate the
source of differ-
ences in the levels of accumulated managerial tacit knowledge
from these two
perspectives: learning environment and individual learning
preferences.
2.4.4.1 Learning Context in the Acquisition of Managerial Tacit
Knowledge
Nonaka (1994) argues that the generation and accumulation of
tacit knowledge is
determined by the ‘variety’ of an individual’s experience and
the individual’s
commitment and involvement in the ‘context’ of the situation.
Lots of existent
research studies point out the differences in learning as the
source of differences in
the level and content of tacit knowledge. Experience alone,
despite exhibiting
prominence in relation to the acquisition of tacit knowledge,

would not suffice. First
of all, the learning process has been highlighted as one
important reason why some
people are less adept at acquiring knowledge from experience
than others and an
important part of a learning process is the learning environment.
Compared with
formal learning environments, Sternberg and Grigorenko (2001)
suggest that
informal or implicit learning environments, such as learning on
an International
Assignment, do not adequately support the knowledge
acquisition process for some
individuals. In informal learning environments, learners have to
rely on their own
capability to acquire knowledge from experience. Sternberg
(1988) contends that
formal learning environments support knowledge acquisition by
facilitating the
process of selective encoding, selective combination, and
selective comparison,
which are essential features of the learning process for many
people. Informal
learning environments, on the other hand, often fail to provide
these features.
Sternberg and Grigorenko (2001) contend that tacit knowledge
is context-specific
knowledge about what to do in a given situation or class of
situations. Tacit
knowledge is gained primarily from working on practical
problems that are specific
to their particular domain. The consequence of drawing on or
using one’s tacit
knowledge is also likely to be context-dependent because tacit
knowledge does not
always transfer effectively from one professional context to

another (Choo 1998).
Tacit knowledge needs to be relevant to be useful.
Moreover, different learning contexts contain different
supportive ways for
individuals to acquire knowledge. To match the preferred ways
of learning
demanded by an external environment with that of the
individual is likely to
improve the acquisition of managerial tacit knowledge
(Sternberg et al. 2000;
Armstrong and Mahmud 2008). There is widespread evidence to
suggest that when
learners are involved in environments that are matched with
their unique learning
styles, they achieve significantly higher learning outcomes
(Kolb and Kolb 2005;
Armstrong and Mahmud 2008). Conversely, a mismatch between
learning style and
learning context is likely to impede the process of learning and
knowledge
acquisition. An individual with a strong orientation toward the
converging learning
style, for example, would tend to be less focused on people and
more concerned
with technology and problem solving. They would therefore be
less suited to an
interdependent context, such as Chinese business environment,
because learning
opportunities in an interdependent context would be congruent
with the diverging

learning style.
2.4.4.2 Individual Learning Preferences in the Acquisition
of Managerial Tacit Knowledge
In addition to the context of the learning environment,
individual differences in
preferred ways of organizing and processing information and
experience are likely
to have a profound effect on the acquisition of tacit knowledge.
A person’s aptitude
to learn is another differentiating factor (Wagner and Sternberg
1987). Sternberg
et al. (2000) regard tacit knowledge as a subset of procedural
knowledge depicted
as paths ‘Episodic Memory-Procedural Memory’ and ‘Personal
Experience—
Procedural Memory’. This knowledge, unsupported by direct
instruction, may well
lead to a performance advantage for the individual because ‘it is
likely that some
individuals will fail to acquire it’ (Sternberg et al. 2000: 117).
Individuals differ in
the way they perceive, conceptualise, organise, and process
information and these
differences depend on several attributes unique to the
individual. People tend to
learn in different ways from their experiences as a result of
their pre-established
learning structures, which influence the way they perceive,
conceptualise, organise,
and process information (Zhang 2001). In explaining the
differences in the level and
content of tacit knowledge across individuals who appear to
show similar abilities
and experiences, Kolb (1984) and Kolb and Kolb (2005) suggest

that it is due to the
different learning styles of individuals. Unique attributes of an
individual, such as
learning style, may account for these differences and this may
contribute to the
variations in tacit knowledge between different people.
Furthermore, all tacit knowledge is a subset of procedural
knowledge and it is,
therefore, unconsciously formed with automatic learning outside
our field of con-
sciousness. Being automatic and outside the field of
consciousness, the acquisition
of tacit knowledge depends largely on a person’s preferred way
of learning. People
will usually learn, especially without formal instructions, in
their preferred mode of
learning, expressed in the notion of learning style. Learning
style is believed to
represent the interface between cognitive style and the external
learning environ-
ment, and hence contextualizes individual differences in
learning. The concept of
style is used as a construct in psychology and is used for
studying individual
differences in learning and behaviour. Style is believed to
constitute a preference to
do things, irrespective of their ability to do it (Zhang 2001).
Several researchers
have explored the role of style in affecting learning outcomes
(Zhang 2001). Zhang
(2001) contend that styles can change with situations, time, and
demands and
therefore, it is possible to provide avenues for change to match
needs or effec-
tiveness. Therefore, we can propose that differences in learning

styles will result in
differences in learning outcomes, and consequently in the level
of accumulated
managerial tacit knowledge. In this study, the researcher will
investigate the rela-
tionship between western expatriate managers’ learning styles
and their levels of
accumulated managerial tacit knowledge as well as the effects
of learning style
transitions on the accumulation of managerial tacit knowledge.
2.4.5 Managerial Tacit Knowledge and Performance
Tacit knowledge tests have been found to predict performance
and utilise a number
of criteria in various domains. Tacit knowledge scores are found
to be significantly
associated with salary increases (Wagner and Sternberg 1985;
Wagner 1987),
performance ratings of bank managers (Wagner and Sternberg
1985). Research on
tacit knowledge associated with auditors revealed that senior
staff had higher levels
of managerial tacit knowledge than the novice staff, and the
managers with higher
levels of tacit knowledge received higher performance
evaluations (Tan and Libby
1997). In comparing the predictive validity of tacit knowledge
tests and conven-
tional ability tests, Wagner and Sternberg (1990) found that
tacit knowledge scores

of business executives explained 32 % of the variance in
performance on man-
agerial simulation beyond scores on traditional IQ test. In the
case of military
leaders, tacit knowledge scores accounted for 4–6 % of
significance variance in
leadership effectiveness beyond scores on tests of verbal
intelligence. These studies
provided evidence that tacit knowledge caters for variance in
performance that is
not accounted by traditional tests of abstract, academic
intelligence. Similarly, a
study conducted by Colonia-Willner (1998) found that bank
managers’ levels of
managerial tacit knowledge significantly predicted an index of
managerial skills,
whereas psychometric and verbal reasoning did not. In a study
conducted by
Armstrong and Mahmud (2008), it was found that there is a
significant association
between tacit knowledge and the innovative performance of a
firm.
An important criterion for evaluating the validity of managerial
tacit knowledge
is an ability to explain individual differences in work
performance. In other words,
individuals who learn successfully from personal experience
will be more likely to
be excellent at their work. Furthermore, managerial tacit
knowledge as a component
of practical intelligence should explain work performance.
Sternberg and Wagner
(1993) outline several major research findings on the role of
managerial tacit
knowledge in job performance research. Firstly, managerial

tacit knowledge will
increase when job experience increases provided that the person
uses the experience
to acquire and use tacit knowledge. Secondly, managerial tacit
knowledge is not
significantly correlated to IQ. Thirdly, tacit knowledge was the
best single predictor
in performance simulations. Sternberg and Wagner (1985)
provide three samples of
evidence regarding tacit knowledge and real world pursuits: (1)
academic psy-
chologists versus graduate and undergraduate students with a
major in psychology;
(2) business managers versus graduate and undergraduate
students with a major in
business; (3) local bank managers. They found that tacit
knowledge moderately
predicts job performance such as salary, performance appraisal
ratings, and number
of publications in the research.
Moreover, tacit knowledge is difficult to imitate, communicate,
and transfer;
therefore, it becomes the asset that underlies sustainable
competitive advantage.
This is because tacit knowledge can become the asset that
enables an organisation
to remain superior to its competitors. Tacit knowledge is a
‘differential ability’ that
is diverse across organisations, exclusive, and imperfectly
imitable (Conner 1994).
Baumard (1999) argues that organisations normally neglect tacit

knowledge. As a
result of recognising that tacit knowledge is the source of
competitive advantage,
the organisation should retain the tacit knowledge of its own
employees.
Knowledge in the organisation should be readily transferred
within the organisation
in order for the organisation to be competitive. Knowledge that
cannot be spread
will remain the property of employees and this will restrict the
benefit or value
gained by the organisation. However, knowledge that is spread
inter-organisation is
not regarded as the source of competitive advantage. As a
result, the underlying
core competency of the firm, organizational tacit knowledge, is
the key to com-
petitive advantage and requires effective transmission within
the organisation.
2.4.6 Measuring Managerial Tacit Knowledge
The three categories of managing self, others, and tasks has
become the core feature
in the development of the Tacit Knowledge Inventory for
Managers (TKIM).
Wagner and Sternberg (1986) combined two research methods:
the critical-incident
technique and the simulation approach, and developed the tacit
knowledge inven-
tory for managers. The critical-incident technique requires
asking participants to
describe several incidents they handled particularly well and
several they handled
particularly poorly. The simulation approach requires observing
participants when

they handle tasks that simulate job performance. Wagner and
Sternberg’s (1986)
approach of developing TKIM differs from one based on the
critical-incident
technique in that they do not assume that participants can and
will relate incidents
that are in some way critical. Rather than that, Wagner and
Sternberg (1986) asked
participants to describe typical situations and possible
responses to them, and then
adopt a variety of item-discrimination procedures to identify
important items sta-
tistically. One characteristic that Wagner and Sternberg (1986)
shared with the
simulation approach is that they resemble the tasks encountered
on the job.
Wagner and Sternberg (1985) describe their approach in
developing the tacit
knowledge inventory for managers (TKIM) as follows. First,
they interviewed
experienced and highly successful managers by asking them to
describe
work-related situations/incidents, which they had experienced
and had handled
either particularly well or poorly (Wagner and Sternberg 1985),
incidents that can
influence a task’s success or failure allowing identification of
competencies
required by a particular job. Critical incident technique and
work on managerial job
competency formed the basis for elicitation of these incidents
and identification of
work-related situations to use as scenarios (Wagner 1987).

These successful managers or managerial experts were also
asked about their
responses to the incidents. Wagner and Stemberg (1985) then
carefully identified
these incidents to determine which of the responses were based
on knowledge that
was tacit in nature and learned from personal experience, which
could not be
formally acquired (Sternberg and Grigorenko 2001). Key
responses were then
identified through item discrimination procedures. They then
assembled these
scenarios, with each scenario associated with alternative
possible responses for
dealing with that problem. The situations simulate specific
incidents in the work-
place, incidents that require use of tacit knowledge in order to
solve (Sternberg and
Grigorenko 2001). Acting as observable indicators of tacit
knowledge, these inci-
dents can help mitigate the problems of articulating tacit
knowledge in the
respondents. The methodology does not require that individuals
articulate their
decision processes; it only requires that they rate possible
actions to scenarios. The
measures developed using this method define and investigate
tacit knowledge
unique to the management domain. A list of sub-construct and
details of the Tacit
Knowledge Inventory for Managers (TKIM) are shown in Table
2.1.

2.5 Expatriate Learning
Expatriate learning refers to how expatriates learn and develop
based on their
international assignments. Since international assignments
provide intensive envi-
ronmental change and intercultural experiences, expatriate
learning on international
assignments becomes an important approach and organizational
intervention for
manager development, especially in the area of global
management ability. This
study draws on Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory
(ELT) and cross-cultural
research to illustrate a process model of how expatriates learn
and develop based on
their international assignment experiences.
The research adopts the ELT framework as the basis of an
expatriate learning
model for three reasons. First, ELT is an adult learning theory
which highlights the
critical role experience plays in affecting learning and change.
This fits quite well
with the main characteristic of expatriate learning. Expatriates
work and live in an
environment that ‘forces’ them to experience various
uncertainties and complexi-
ties. These intensive international experiences are expatriates’
learning sources and
Table 2.1 List of constructs in TKIM
Question Construct Definition Items
Part A Managing

oneself
Knowledge about self-motivation and self-organizational
aspects of performance in work related situation
30
Part B Managing
tasks
Knowledge of how to do specific work related tasks well 30
Part C Managing
others
Knowledge about managing supervision, subordinates or
interactions with peers
31
wealth. Second, ELT emphasizes learning is the interaction
between individuals
and their environments. This is consistent with the context of
expatriate learning.
Expatriate learning is built on the interaction between the
expatriate and the outside
environment during his/her international assignment. Third,
ELT emphasizes
changes in learning. This fits well with the developmental
objective of expatriate
assignments. Expatriates learn from their international
assignment experiences to

develop global management ability and become qualified global
managers. They
recreate themselves in response to external changes to gain a
new appreciation of
the world. Therefore, this research proposes that experiential
learning theory
(ELT) is a robust and effective lens through which to view
expatriate learning and
development.
2.5.1 Expatriate Learning Process
Expatriate learning is a continuous process in a dynamic cycle,
which consists of
every learning experience during the international assignment.
This study integrates
four streams of research: international assignment and cross-
cultural research,
cognitive dissonance studies, knowledge acquisition and
management research, and
experiential learning theory (ELT), to propose that expatriate
learning processes can
be portrayed as four learning phases in a dynamic learning cycle
based on ELT.
These four learning phases are (1) exposure to diversity and
dissonance experience
(concrete experience), (2) self-reflection (reflective
observation), (3) integration
across diverse cultures and markets (abstract conceptualization),
and (4) modifica-
tion and self-development (active experimentation). The
researcher will now
elaborate further on these four phases.
2.5.1.1 Exposure to Diversity and Dissonance Experience

Exposure to diversity and dissonance experience is the first
phase on the expatriate
learning cycle. Expatriates work and live in cross-cultural
environments that are full
of novelties and diversities (Mendenhall and Oddou 1985;
Shaffer et al. 2006). In
order to successfully complete their international assignments,
they need to actively
learn different cultural and business norms as well as develop
positive contacts with
host nationals in the host country. They have to learn and
execute local appropriate
behaviours to reduce adaptive stress. As a result, expatriates
will experience several
cross-cultural and global-local dissonances. Some negative
arousal and discomfort
feelings will then arise during international assignments
(Maertz Jr. et al. 2004).
Scher and Cooper (1989) describe that dissonance is aroused
whenever beha-
viour is inconsistent with societal normative standards for
competent or moral
behaviour, creating aversive consequences. In their model, these
societal standards
are internalized or otherwise used as evaluative standards in
judging one’s own
behaviour. Further, the dissonance is motivational in that it
impels the individual to
2.5 Expatriate Learning 51
attempt to reduce and eliminate it (Maertz Jr. et al. 2004).
During international

assignments, expatriates undergo two primary kinds of
dissonance: one is cultural
dissonance due to cultural and national diversity and the other
is strategic disso-
nance due to global integration and local responsiveness.
Maertz Jr. et al. (2004)
defined cultural dissonance as: anticipating or currently
perceiving inconsistencies
between one’s behaviours, executed or condoned in order to
conform to the host
culture situation, and one’s VABNs (values, attitudes, beliefs,
and behavioural
norms). On the other hand, strategic dissonance refers to:
managing complex
operations and integrating geographically distant and
strategically diverse busi-
nesses while simultaneously responding to local conditions.
2.5.1.2 Self-reflection
After expatriates seek and grasp every concrete international
experience, they move
on to the second phase of the expatriate learning cycle: self-
reflection or articulation
of current mindsets. Our current mindsets shape our
observations and interpreta-
tions of the world around us, which in turn affect whether or not
our mindsets
change or remain unaltered. Unless this iterative process allows
for new learning, it
is easy to get trapped in our old mental models (Nonaka 1998).
A powerful way to
reduce the likelihood of this entrapment is to articulate one’s
current mindsets.
Reflective observation is the process that helps people to

describe the situation
objectively and cultivate an articulation of own current
mindsets (Kolb 1984). This
phase of expatriate learning cycle occurs when expatriates think
about experiences
and reflect critically on their assumptions and beliefs. Doing so
requires accepting
the possibility that our view of the world is just one of many
alternative interpre-
tations of reality and allows us to consider different
perspectives or views of the
situation. When expatriates reflect on their international
experiences by gathering
and analyzing information, it becomes possible to change the
mindsets that guide
their future actions. Maertz Jr. et al. (2004) support this phase
of expatriate learning
from a cognitive perspective. They claimed that expatriates will
use different kinds
of cognitive dissonance reduction methods to maintain the self-
concept against
threat from cognitive dissonance experiences during
international assignments.
Expatriates who regularly adopt perceptual modification, which
search for and
reflect on the deeper attribution and empathetic understanding,
as the method of
cognitive dissonance reduction are supposed to be better at
achieving integrative
development.
2.5.1.3 Integration Across Diverse Cultures and Markets
After expatriates reflect on their international experiences by
gathering and ana-
lyzing information, they move on to the third phase of the

expatriate learning cycle:
integration across diverse cultures and markets. The third stage
emphasizes the
importance of building general theories using scientific, as
opposed to intuitive,
approaches. This stage requires learners to distil their
reflections into more general
concepts that can guide their future actions, and emphasizes
thinking, rather than
feeling (Kolb 1984). Research in cognitive psychology has
shown that experts
conceptualize problems more efficiently and effectively because
they have more
organized knowledge structures with stronger linkages among
domain-related
concepts. In contrast, novices are less efficient because their
knowledge represen-
tations tend to be based on salient surface elements. In addition,
novices are often
less effective in their knowledge acquisition because of their
lack of pre-organized
schemas that provides efficient classification of knowledge.
Integration across
diverse cultures and markets enable expatriates to translate their
insights from a
particular experience into more general concepts and
interpretations that can be
applied to future challenges and other cultural and business
contexts. Integrating
across diverse cultures and markets, expatriates will have more
organized and

elaborated knowledge structures that facilitate their information
processing as well
as identification of relevant principles.
Hocking et al. (2007) proposed that expatriates can develop
integrative capacity
to become qualified global managers through a cumulative
understanding of both
corporate practice and local environment contexts during
They claimed that integrative capacity can be cultivated through
a two-phase
process of cross-border knowledge adaptation. The first phase
requires that expa-
triate managers funnel corporate knowledge gained from their
former experience
and modify it to fit their specific host-country environment; the
second phase
involves a reinterpretation of locally accessed knowledge and
its subsequent
expansion to fit a broader corporate contextual framework. In
other words, the
conversion of context-specific knowledge into context-generic
knowledge enriches
expatriates’ integrative capacity, which can enable expatriates’
next international
assignment experience to be more readily understood and
assimilated. Levy et al.
(2007) argued that expatriates with higher cognitive complexity
will be more
accurate and effective in developing general ideas and
conceptual interpretations of
culture based on their international assignments.
2.5.1.4 Modification and Self-development

After expatriates integrate reflections into more general
concepts and interpretations
across diverse cultures and markets, they move on to the fourth
phase of the
expatriate learning cycle: test and modification of changed
mindsets and further
development of self. This stage both completes the cycle of
expatriate learning and
ensures that the cycle begins anew by assisting the creation of
new experiences.
During this phase of the expatriate learning cycle, expatriates
may consciously plan
for opportunities to verify their insights (for example, whether
an authoritarian
leadership style or a participative leadership style is more
effective in this new
environment) and then carry out their plan (give different
directions to subordi-
nates). Expatriates therefore gain experiences based on real
interactions with others
and then gather self-correcting and self-development. Ng et al.
(2009) claimed that
active experimentation facilitates development of a wide range
of flexible leadership
behaviours for expatriate managers. Figure 2.8 illustrates the
expatriate learning
process model. In Fig. 2.8, expatriates learn in a dynamic cycle
based on their
international assignment experiences and then obtain several
learning outcomes.
Expatriate learning outcomes will be discussed respectively in

Sect. 2.5.2.
2.5.2 Expatriate Learning Outcomes
Learning, defined as the process of creating knowledge based on
the transformation
of experience, is a multifaceted construct with implications for
multiple learning
outcomes. In thinking about implications of international
assignment experiences
on expatriate learning, this study identifies expatriate learning
outcomes in four
aspects: learning style transition, managerial tacit knowledge,
adaptive flexibility,
and global mindsets.
2.5.2.1 Learning Style Transition
(a) Concrete experience as primary learning mode for expatriate
learning
Kolb (1984) proposed that individuals with an orientation
toward concrete expe-
rience learning mode are open to new experiences, emphasize
feeling rather than
Expatriate learning
outcomes:
Learning style
transition;
Adaptive flexibility;
Global mindsets;
Managerial tacit

knowledge
Concrete experience
A
ctive experim
entation
M
odification and self-
developm
ent
Integration across diverse
cultures and markets
Exposure to diversity
R
eflective observation
Abstract conceptualization
Self-reflection
International
Assignment
Experiences
Fig. 2.8 Expatriate learning process model

thinking, and function well in unstructured situations. Yamazaki
and Kayes (2004)
conducted a literature review on expatriate adaptation and
suggested that concrete
experience is a primary learning skill for successful expatriation
because it is related
to valuing another culture and to developing positive
interactions with the host
nationals. Yamazaki and Kayes (2007) conducted an exploratory
study of how
Japanese expatriates adapt to working in the United States over
time. Their research
suggested that Japanese managers become more concrete in
their learning styles
over time spent in the USA. They also suggested that expatriate
adaptation requires
learning in the concrete mode above the other three learning
modes and expatriates
as foreign nationals in the host country require more concrete
learning than the host
nationals. Ng et al. (2009) proposed that expatriates with a
preference for concrete
experience learning mode will actively seek cross-cultural
experiences during their
international assignments, which is important for leaders to
translate their inter-
national assignment experiences into learning outcomes that are
critical for global
leadership development. Shaffer et al. (2006) suggested that
expatriates with a
learning goal orientation will actively seek intercultural
experiences during their
Western expatriates confront huge cultural and business
differences in China. It

is important for them to value Chinese culture and actively
build up positive
contacts with local Chinese people (colleagues inside their
organization, colleagues
outside their organization, friends in their daily life and so on)
to gain successful
expatriation. Expatriates with longer international assignment
tenures have greater
degrees of cross-cultural involvement, thus improving the
amount and quality of
concrete international experiences they could learn from. Li and
Scullion (2010)
argued that local knowledge in emerging markets, such as
China, has a significant
special nature: undiffused, highly tacit, and fast-changing, and
that very nature
determines the need for intensive socialized activities in these
markets. Hocking
et al. (2007) emphasize that local knowledge access is a
significant contributor to
expatriate learning. Therefore, this study proposes a second
hypothesis that the
concrete experience mode of western expatriate learning is
positively related to the
length of international assignment tenure in China.
Hypothesis 2a The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
International assignments in China, the more they will show
their learning pref-
erences for concrete experience over abstract conceptualization.
(b) Cross-cultural impacts on learning styles
As discussed in section in 2.2.2, culture is an important
environmental characteristic

that has a great influence on learning styles and learning styles
will change
according to the environmental change. Moreover, the longer
the time that indi-
viduals have spent in a certain environment that accentuates a
particular learning
style, the more they tend to specialize even more in this
learning style (Kolb 1984;
Hayes and Allinson 1988).
This study is based on the assumption that typical Chinese
learning styles have a
preference for reflective observation over active
experimentation, which is different
from Westerners (as discussed in 2.2.2). Auyeung and Sands
(1996) postulated that
students from Chinese cultures are significantly more reflective
than are Western
students based on their research of testing the relationship
between individualism
and collectivism, RO and AE learning modes. Western
expatriates tend to differ in
the degree of learning orientation that is accentuated in China.
The environmental
differences may cause Western expatriates’ learning styles to be
shifted towards the
ones matched with the demands produced by Chinese business
environments. The
transition of learning styles will occur in accordance with the
amount of continuous
time the Western expatriates have spent in China. Therefore,
this study proposes the

second hypothesis that the reflective observation mode of
Western expatriate
learning is positively related to the length of international
assignment tenure in
China.
Hypothesis 2b The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
their learning pref-
erences for reflective observation over active experimentation.
Hypothesis 2c The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
International assignments in China, the more balancing their
learning styles will be.
2.5.2.2 Managerial Tacit Knowledge
Nonaka (1994) argues that the generation and accumulation of
tacit knowledge is
determined by the ‘variety’ of an individual’s experiences and
the individual’s
commitment and involvement in the ‘context’ of the situation
(pp. 21–22).
Sternberg et al. (2000) refer to tacit knowledge as experience
based on the
knowledge required for solving practical problems (pp. 104–
105). Baumard (1999)
argues that managerial tacit knowledge is generated in the
intimacy of lived
experience.
The growing emphasis on international assignment experiential
approaches to
manager development can be attributed to the importance

accrued to international
experience. Existent research demonstrates that firms led by
CEOs with interna-
tional experience perform better financially. In addition, global
managers them-
selves find international assignments beneficial for their
personal and professional
development. In research conducted by Dickmann and Doherty
(2008), most
managers reported that living and working abroad was the most
powerful experi-
ence in developing their career capital. The role of experience
in the acquisition of
tacit knowledge has been widely acknowledged within the
literature on tacit
knowledge. However, previous studies have revealed mixed
results on the rela-
tionship between length of experience and tacit knowledge
(Armstrong and
Mahmud 2008; Colonia-Willner 1998; Wagner 1987; Wagner
and Sternberg 1985,
1986). It has been argued that learning from experience results
in a form of
knowledge that is tacit in nature (Nonaka and Takeuchi 1995;
Nonaka 1994). If
learning from experience should lead to the accumulation of
tacit knowledge,
therefore, it follows that the longer the length of experience a
person has, the more
the opportunity they have to learn from it, resulting in a higher
level of tacit

knowledge acquired. This gives rise to the following hypotheses
that there is a
significant relationship between the lengths of western
expatriate managers’ inter-
national assignment experience and their levels of accumulated
managerial tacit
knowledge. In this study, the researcher investigates western
expatriate managers’
accumulation of managerial tacit knowledge in two aspects:
managing self and
managing others. The study proposes the hypotheses regarding
how Western
expatriate managers accumulate managerial tacit knowledge
during their interna-
tional assignments.
Hypothesis 3a The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
International assignments in China, the greater their levels of
accumulated man-
agerial tacit knowledge in managing self.
Hypothesis 3b The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
accumulated man-
agerial tacit knowledge in managing others.
2.5.2.3 Adaptive Flexibility
As discussed in Sect. 2.3.4, adaptive flexibility describes how
an individual learns
to adapt to changing circumstances over time and it is an
indicator of the level of
individual development. Thus, if individuals show systematic
variability in their

response to different environmental demands, we can infer they
own higher levels
of adaptive flexibility and individual development. Yamazaki
and Kayes (2007)
proposed that expatriates use different modes of adaptation and
develop greater
adaptive flexibility to adapt to a new culture. International
assignments are full of
challenges and uncertainties, especially in a host country with
significant diversi-
ties. The complex and ever-changing global environment
requires international
managers to be flexible. As a result, expatriates need, and are
forced, to develop
their adaptive flexibility to obtain successful expatriation.
Therefore, this study
proposes the hypothesis that expatriate’s adaptive flexibility is
positively related to
the length of international assignment tenure.
Hypothesis 4 Duration of western expatriate managers’
engagement in interna-
tional assignments in China will positively influence their
adjustment to the host
culture via adaptive flexibility.
2.5.2.4 Global Mindsets
Expatriates on international assignments are expected to
broaden the horizon and
foster global mindsets through working and living in a distinct
culture and system.

A number of disciplines have attempted to define global
mindset, resulting in lots of
definitions, which is the mark of a relatively young research
field. The vast majority
of existent studies conceptualize global mindsets in relation to
two salient aspects of
the global environment: (1) cultural and national diversity
and/or (2) strategic
variety and complexity associated with globalization (Levy et
al. 2007).
(a) The definition of global mindset
The core properties of global mindsets are described in three
relatively distinct
perspectives: attitudinal perspective, behavioural perspective,
and cognitive per-
spective (Levy et al. 2007). Studies within the attitudinal
perspective describe
global mindsets using terms such as ‘attitude’, ‘state of mind’,
and ‘orientation’.
Perlmutter’s (1969) ground-breaking tripartite typology of
managerial mindsets in
MNCs serves as a conceptual anchor for the attitudinal
perspective. Perlmutter and
his colleagues (1969) offer a typology of MNCs that is
explicitly based on the
mindsets of senior executives. He originally distinguished
among three primary
attitudes or states of mind toward managing a multinational
enterprise: ethnocentric,
polycentric, and geocentric. Perlmutter’s notion of geocentrism
serves as an
underlying construct for many of the contemporary
conceptualizations of global
mindsets that focus on the challenge of overcoming ingrained

ethnocentrism and
transcending nationally entrenched perceptions (Maznevski and
Lane 2004). For
example, Bouquet (2005) defines global mindsets as attention to
global strategic
issues, arguing that attention is the core element and a primary
manifestation of
global mindsets. He finds empirical support for the
hypothesized relationships that
the firm’s decision environment influences attention structures,
which, in turn, affect
top management team (TMT) attention to global strategic
issues. Studies within the
behavioural perspective define global mindsets in behavioural
or
competency-related ability. Beechler and Javidan (2007)
defined the critical com-
ponents of global mindsets as intellectual capital, psychological
capital, and social
capital. Even though all of these three capitals are regarding
ability and competence,
Beechler and Javidan (2007) mentioned that cognitive attributes
are also in the
properties of global mindsets.
Studies within the cognitive perspective define the core
properties of global
mindsets in cognitive structure and cognitive complexity. Most
of them concep-
tualize global mindsets both in the context of cultural and
strategic diversity (Levy
et al. 2007). Rhinesmith (1992) described global mindsets as
entailing high levels of
cognitive capabilities, especially scanning and information-
processing capabilities,
as well as the ability to balance competing realities and

demands and to appreciate
cultural diversity. Govindarajan and Gupta (2001)
conceptualized global mindsets
as a knowledge structure characterized by both high
differentiation and high inte-
gration. Arora et al. (2004) described global mindsets as the
tension between
‘thinking globally’ and ‘acting locally’. Arora et al. (2004)
found in their empirical
study of 65 managers in the textile industry that managers are
better in conceptu-
alization (thinking globally) than in contextualization (acting
locally). Levy et al.
(2007) emphasized that cognitive properties are the most
fundamental building
blocks of global mindsets. Elaborating on their definition,
global mindsets are
characterized by three complementary aspects: an openness to
and awareness of
multiple spheres of meaning and action, complex representation
and articulation of
cultural and strategic dynamics, and mediation and integration
of ideals and actions
oriented both to the global and local.
Obviously, this diversity of terms and perspectives on global
mindsets presents a
considerable challenge for theoretical integration in this field.
This study agrees
with Levy et al.’s (2007) perspective that cognitive properties
are the most fun-

damental components of global mindsets, and emphasizes that
cognitive properties
of global mindsets refer to individual higher level of cognitive
structure and cog-
nitive complexity.
(b) Expatriates cultivate global mindsets during international
assignments
Expatriate assignments are the most common ways that MNCs
adopt to develop
managers’ global mindsets (Govindarajan and Gupta 2001;
Gupta and
Govindarajan 2002; Levy et al. 2007). Govindarajan and Gupta
(2001) proposed
that expatriation can be used to cultivate managers’ global
mindsets. Arora et al.
(2004) presented evidence to suggest that international
assignment experience has a
statistically significant impact on managers’ global mindsets.
Nummela et al. (2004)
through their empirical findings offer tangential evidence on the
hypothesis that top
management team’s (TMT) international work experience is
positively related to
global mindsets.
2.5.2.5 The Relationships Among Expatriate Learning Outcomes
(a) Learning style and managerial tacit knowledge
Tacit knowledge is believed to be a product of learning from
experience that affects
performance in real-world settings (Nonaka and Takeuchi
1995). It is recognised as
an essential element of expertise and has been shown to be

important for success of
individuals (Nestor-Baker 1999) and for competitive advantage
in organisations
(Prahalad and Hamel 1990). Previous authors (e.g. Baumard
1999) attribute the
origin of the construct to the science philosopher Polanyi who
captured the meaning
of tacit knowledge in his famous remark “we can know more
than we can tell”
(1966, p. 4). Managerial tacit knowledge is believed to be
generated in the intimacy
of lived personal experience (Baumard 1999; Sternberg and
Horvath 1999), guides
actions and decisions without being in our field of
consciousness (Anderson 1983)
and is believed to be an essential factor that distinguishes
successful managers from
others (Armstrong and Mahmud 2008; Argyris 1999; Wager and
Sternberg 1987).
Whilst studies have consistently demonstrated differences in
level and content of
tacit knowledge between expert and novice groups (Wagner et
al. 1999; Patel et al.
1999; Tan and Libby 1997; Nestor-Baker 1999; Williams 1991),
few have
accounted for why or how these differences occur. We are
informed, however, that
differences can be attributed to the context of the learning
environment and dif-
ferences in the way individuals prefer to engage in the learning
process (Sternberg

et al. 2000).
Peoples national culture (Yamazaki 2005; Yamazaki and Kayes
2004), work
environment (Choo 1998; Sternberg and Grigorenko 2001) and
individual learning
styles (Kolb and Kolb 2005; Armstrong and Mahmud 2008)
have all been shown to
influence the acquisition of tacit knowledge. When peoples
learning styles are
matched with their work environment it has been demonstrated
that they achieve
significantly more learning outcomes in an educational context
(Dunn and Griggs
2003) and higher levels of managerial tacit knowledge in a
management context
(Armstrong and Mahmud 2008). Conversely, a mismatch
between learning style
and work context is likely to impede the process of learning and
knowledge
acquisition. Elaborating further on this person-culture
congruence theory, individ-
uals with a strong orientation toward the converging learning
style would rather
deal with technical tasks and problems than with social and
interpersonal issues
(Kolb 1984). This style is more suited to Yamazaki’s (2005)
definition of a low
context culture (e.g. USA). This is opposite to the diverging
learning style asso-
ciated with a preference for working in groups to gather
information, listening with
an open mind, and receiving personalised feedback (Kolb 1984).
This style is more
suited to Yamazaki’s (2005) definition of a high context culture
(e.g. China). This

leads to the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 5a Western expatriate managers’ learning styles will
differentiate
between levels of managerial tacit knowledge accumulated
during their interna-
tional assignments in China.
The category of managerial tacit knowledge labelled managing
others (Wagner
1987) refers to knowledge about interacting and communicating
effectively with
one’s subordinates, peers and superiors. Success in
interpersonal interactions and
communications of this nature is consistent with characteristics
associated with the
CE mode of grasping experience according to Kolb’s (1984)
theory (ELT). ELT suggests that people with CE learning
preferences: have broad
cultural interests; are interested in people; rely heavily on
people for information
rather than on their own technical abilities to solve problems.
They have also been
described as being more adept at establishing personal
relationships, communi-
cating effectively, and helping others (Kolb et al. 2001).
Yamazaki (2005) contends
that in high context cultures (e.g. China) people rely on CE
abilities to acquire tacit
knowledge that serves to distinguish covert cues for effective
communication and
successful interpersonal relationships. This leads to the
following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 5b Western expatriate managers with learning

preferences for concrete
experience over abstract conceptualisation accumulate higher
levels of managerial
tacit knowledge related to managing others during their
international assignments in
China.
The category of managerial tacit knowledge labelled managing
self (Wagner
1987) refers to knowledge about self-motivational and self-
organisational aspects of
managerial performance. Acquisition of tacit knowledge
associated with self
depends on the ability to reflect on one’s own behaviours in
order to understand a
wide range of information, see things from different
perspectives, and develop an
understanding of internal incompatibilities between specific
behaviours and
expected performance (Sternberg and Grigorenko 2001;
Sternberg et al. 2000).
Success in reflecting on one’s own behaviours of this nature is
consistent with
characteristics associated with the RO mode of transforming
experience according
to Kolb’s (1984) experiential learning theory. ELT suggests that
people with RO
learning preferences: learn by reflecting, making careful
observations before
making judgements; look inward for meaning and view things
from different per-
spectives. In Yamazaki’s (2005) definition of high context

cultures (e.g. China), it
has been suggested that people rely on Reflective Observation
abilities for trans-
forming experiences (Kolb and Kolb 2005; Yamazaki 2005;
Fridland 2002). This
leads to the following hypothesis:
Hypothesis 5c Western expatriate managers with learning
preferences for reflective
observation over active experimentation accumulate higher
levels of managerial
tacit knowledge related to managing self during their
international assignments in
China.
2. Learning style and adaptive flexibility
Kolb (1984) hypothesised that learning styles are determined by
the interplay
between people and their environments. As a consequence
learning styles have
been shown to differ from one culture to another (Yamazaki
2005), and expatriate
managers’ learning styles have been shown to change over a
period of time in
response to cultural demands (Yamazaki and Kayes 2007).
Propensity for changes
of this nature, however, will depend on the extent to which
individuals are able to
learn to adapt to changing circumstances over time-otherwise
known as ‘adaptive
flexibility’ (Boyatzis and Kolb 1993; Kolb 1984).
Flexibility of a person’s learning style is related to the degree
to which one
integrates the dual dialectics of the learning process—

conceptualizing/experiencing
(AC-CE) and acting/reflecting (AE-OR) (Kolb 1984). Kolb
(1984) hypothesised
that individuals with balanced learning profiles on these
dimensions will be more
sophisticated (adaptively flexible) learners than those with
specialised learning
styles. Mainemelis et al. (2002) provided empirical evidence of
this and concluded
that ‘the more balanced individuals are on the dual dialectics of
learning, the more
they will show adaptive flexibility’ (p3). Whilst they confirmed
this for both
dimensions of the learning process, their results were stronger
for the
conceptualizing/experiencing dimension than the
acting/reflecting dimension.
Adaptive flexibility then, refers to the degree to which one
changes learning style to
manage competing demands and deal with environmental
complexity. This leads to
the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 6a Western expatriate managers with learning
preference for concrete
experience over abstract conceptualization develop higher
levels of adaptive flex-
ibility during their International assignments in China.
Hypothesis 6b Western expatriate managers with learning
preference for reflective
observation over active experimentation develop higher levels

of adaptive flexi-
bility during their International assignments in China.
Hypothesis 6c Western expatriate managers with balanced
learning styles
demonstrate higher levels of adaptive flexibility during their
International assign-
ments in China.
2.5.3 Expatriate Learning and Expatriate Adjustment
Understanding how expatriates adapt to new cultural
circumstances appears to be
very important for MNCs and their expatriates. This study will
contribute to such
understanding in light of learning perspectives. The successful
adaptation of
expatriates hinges on how well they learn from experiences in
foreign operations
(Ratiu 1983; Ng et al. 2009). Expatriates’ learning from
experience produces
acquisition of essential skills and knowledge demanded for
effective managerial
behaviour in numerous transitional situations. According to the
qualitative study of
Ratiu (1983), expatriates’ way of learning from cross-cultural
experiences results in
discrimination between ordinary managers and outstanding
managers who perform
well in intercultural environments. Shaffer et al. (2003) contend
that well-adjusted
expatriates will have greater reserves of personal resources (like
time, effort, and
emotional investment) available to spend on the behaviours that
facilitate their job
performance and learning. Selmer (2006) contends that there is

a positive rela-
tionship between an expatriate’s learning ability and his/her
extent of adjustment. If
an individual cannot learn how to adjust in a novel cultural
context, relevant pieces
of information are likely to be unidentified or their importance
overlooked. On the
other hand, well-adjusted expatriates, attuned to the local socio-
cultural environ-
ment, may be able to identify relevant knowledge and correctly
assess its impor-
tance for various business decisions (Selmer 2006). Furuya et
al. (2009) contend
that learning on international assignments is influenced directly
by three antecedent
factors: organizational support from the firm, intercultural
personality characteris-
tics of the expatriate, and the self-adjustment encountered by
the expatriate during
the overseas experience. They propose that international
assignments provide great
opportunity for expatriate learning and the nature of the
assignment given and how
it is framed within the organization context will affect what is
learned. The orga-
nization’s attitude toward its international operations (e.g., the
company maintains a
positive attitude about being a global company; the company
emphasizes the
importance of global work experience) may broadly frame how
managers view the

expatriate assignment and what they are expected to take away
from such assign-
ments. Furuya et al. (2009) examined 305 repatriates, who had
been recently
repatriated to the home office after a 1 to 2 year first-time
overseas assignment, and
they found a positive relationship between expatriate self-
adjustment and their
global management competency learning. They further propose
that expatriate
learning would lead to heightened employee job motivation and
to higher levels of
general work performance.
Yamazaki’s (2005) recent theoretical study about expatriate
adaptation argues
that there may be different learning strategies for effective
adaptation in accordance
with their home countries. Hocking et al. (2004)’ empirical
studies regarding the
differentials between assignment purposes and assignment
outcomes argues that
expatriate learning is an inevitable emergent outcome of the
expatriate knowledge
transfer process, which indicates that expatriates place a greater
emphasis than the
company on the relevance of their self-learning as an
assignment purpose. These
studies have directed our attention to the importance of
experiential learning for the
successful adaptation and high performance of expatriates.
While the great
importance of this area of expatriate study is beginning to be
understood, we do not
know empirically much about what kinds of learning strategies
expatriates tend to

adopt for cross-cultural adaptation in intercultural business
contexts. Though it is
commonly held that expatriates engage in extensive learning
while on assignment,
there is scant empirical research on what they have learned or
on what factors may
affect their learning (Furuya et al. 2009).
From the preceding discussions, it can be postulated that
western expatriate
managers with learning preferences that matched with the host
culture will adapt
better in the host country; adaptive flexibility will be an
important component of
successful cross- cultural adjustment; and levels of managerial
tacit knowledge
accumulated in the host culture will positively influence their
adjustment to inter-
national assignments in the host culture, which points to a
mediation effect of
managerial tacit knowledge. Thus, the present research
hypothesises the following:
Hypothesis 7a Western expatriate managers with strong learning
preferences for
concrete experience will adjust better to their international
assignment in China than
those with a strong learning preference for abstract
conceptualization.
Hypothesis 7b Western expatriate managers with strong learning
preferences for
reflective observation will adjust better to their international
assignment in China
than those with a strong learning preference for active
experimentation.

Hypothesis 8 Western expatriate managers’ who arrive with
higher levels of
adaptive flexibility will adjust better to their international
assignment in China.
Hypothesis 9 Learning styles will positively influence
adjustment to the host culture via levels of accumulated
managerial tacit knowledge.
2.6 Research Framework and Hypotheses
This section integrates all the hypotheses and the exploratory
question derived from
the above literature review. Whole seventeen research
hypotheses concern five
components as follows: the length of international assignment
tenure in the host
country, learning style, adaptive flexibility, managerial tacit
knowledge, and
expatriate adjustment in the host country. Theoretical
connections among these five
components are organized structurally in a model as depicted in
Fig. 2.9. In this
model, the arrow shows the influential direction between the
components.
All seventeen research hypotheses are integrated below:
• Hypothesis 1: Duration of expatriate managers’ international
experiences in the

host culture will positively influence their adjustment to the
current international
assignment.
• Hypothesis 2a: The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
their learning
preferences for concrete experience over abstract
conceptualization.
• Hypothesis 2b: The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
their learning
preferences for reflective observation over active
experimentation.
• Hypothesis 2c: The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
International assignments in China, the more balancing their
learning styles will
be.
• Hypothesis 3a: The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
accumulated
managerial tacit knowledge in managing self.
2c
H9H3a, 3b
H8
H4 H6a, 6b, 6c

H5a, 5b, 5c
H2a, 2b H7a, 7bAssignment tenure Learning style
Expatriate
adjustment in the
host country
Managerial tacit
knowledge
Adaptive flexibility
H1
Fig. 2.9 Research framework
• Hypothesis 3b: The longer western expatriate managers have
engaged in their
accumulated
managerial tacit knowledge in managing others.
• Hypothesis 4: Duration of western expatriate managers’
engagement in inter-
national assignments in China will positively influence their
adjustment to the
host culture via adaptive flexibility.
• Hypothesis 5a: Western expatriate managers’ learning styles
will differentiate

between levels of managerial tacit knowledge accumulated
during their inter-
national assignments in China.
• Hypothesis 5b: Western expatriate managers with learning
preference for
reflective observation over active experimentation accumulate
greater levels of
managerial tacit knowledge related to managing self during
their International
assignments in China.
• Hypothesis 5c: Western expatriate managers with learning
preference for con-
crete experience over abstract conceptualization accumulate
greater levels of
managerial tacit knowledge related to managing others during
their International
• Hypothesis 6a: Western expatriate managers with learning
preference for con-
crete experience over abstract conceptualization develop higher
levels of
adaptive flexibility during their International assignments in
China.
• Hypothesis 6b: Western expatriate managers with learning
preference for
reflective observation over active experimentation develop
higher levels of
adaptive flexibility during their International assignments in
China.
• Hypothesis 6c: Western expatriate managers with balanced
learning styles

demonstrate higher levels of adaptive flexibility during their
International
• Hypothesis 7a: Western expatriate managers with strong
learning preferences
for concrete experience will adjust better to their international
assignment in
China than those with a strong learning preference for abstract
conceptualization.
• Hypothesis 7b: Western expatriate managers with strong
learning preferences
for reflective observation will adjust better to their international
assignment in
China than those with a strong learning preference for active
experimentation.
• Hypothesis 8: Western expatriate managers’ who arrive with
higher levels of
adaptive flexibility will adjust better to their international
assignment in China.
• Hypothesis 9: Learning styles will positively influence
adjustment to the host culture via levels of accumulated
managerial tacit
knowledge.
One exploratory question is described as follows:
Exploratory Question 1: To what extent do Western expatriate
managers differ from
host Chinese managers with regard to learning styles and levels
of accumulated
managerial tacit knowledge?

2.6 Research Framework and Hypotheses 65
These hypotheses and the exploratory question are designed to
answer the three
research questions discussed in Chap. 1: (1) How do Western
expatriate managers
adapt when working in China? (2) What do Western expatriate
managers learn from
their international assignments in China? (3) How do Western
expatriate managers
learn from their international assignments in China? Table 2.2
depicts the paral-
lelisms between research questions and hypotheses.
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http://www.springer.com/978-981-10-0052-2
2 Expatriate Adjustment and Expatriate Learning2.1
International Assignments2.1.1 Definition and Classification of
International Assignments2.1.2 Expatriates and International
Assignments2.1.3 Cultural Differences Between Nations2.1.3.1
High-Context Versus Low-Context Cultures2.1.3.2 Collectivism
Versus Individualism Cultures2.1.3.3 Power Distance2.1.3.4
Strong Uncertainty Avoidance Versus Weak Uncertainty
Avoidance Cultures2.1.3.5 Long-Term Orientation2.1.3.6
Masculinity Versus Feminity2.2 Expatriate Adjustment2.2.1
Expatriate Adjustment Dimensions and Process2.2.2 Factors
Influencing Expatriate Adjustment2.2.2.1 Individual
Factors2.2.2.2 Job-Related Factors2.2.2.3 Organizational

Factors2.2.2.4 Non-work Factors2.2.3 Adjustment of
Expatriates in China2.3 Experiential Learning Theory2.3.1
Experiential Learning Process and Cycle2.3.2 Learning
Style2.3.2.1 Influence of Culture on Learning Style2.3.2.2
Chinese Learning Style Versus Western Learning Style2.3.2.3
Influence of Environmental Change on Learning Style2.3.3
Learning Skills2.3.3.1 The Relationship Between Learning
Skills and Learning Styles2.3.4 Adaptive Flexibility2.3.4.1 The
Relationship Between Adaptive Flexibility and Self-
development2.4 Managerial Tacit Knowledge2.4.1 Nature and
Characteristics of Tacit Knowledge2.4.2 Tacit Knowledge and
Practical Intelligence2.4.3 The Structure of Managerial Tacit
Knowledge2.4.4 Acquisition of Managerial Tacit
Knowledge2.4.4.1 Learning Context in the Acquisition of
Managerial Tacit Knowledge2.4.4.2 Individual Learning
Preferences in the Acquisition of Managerial Tacit
Knowledge2.4.5 Managerial Tacit Knowledge and
Performance2.4.6 Measuring Managerial Tacit Knowledge2.5
Expatriate Learning2.5.1 Expatriate Learning Process2.5.1.1
Exposure to Diversity and Dissonance Experience2.5.1.2 Self-
reflection2.5.1.3 Integration Across Diverse Cultures and
Markets2.5.1.4 Modification and Self-development2.5.2
Expatriate Learning Outcomes2.5.2.1 Learning Style
Transition2.5.2.2 Managerial Tacit Knowledge2.5.2.3 Adaptive
Flexibility2.5.2.4 Global Mindsets2.5.2.5 The Relationships
Among Expatriate Learning Outcomes2.5.3 Expatriate Learning
and Expatriate Adjustment2.6 Research Framework and
HypothesesReferences
Compensation and Rewards
There are a few options when choosing compensation for a
global business. The first option is to

maintain companywide pay scales and policies, so for example,
all sales staff are paid the same no
matter what country they are in. This can reduce inequalities
and simplify recording keeping, but it
does not address some key issues. First, this compensation
policy does not address that it can be much
more expensive to live in one place versus another. A
salesperson working in Japan has much higher
living expenses than a salesperson working in Peru, for
example. As a result, the majority of
organizations thus choose to use a pay banding system based on
regions, such as South America,
Europe, and North America. This is called a localized
compensation strategy. Microsoft and Kraft Foods
both use this approach. This method provides the best balance
of cost-of-living considerations.
However, regional pay banding is not necessarily the ideal
solution if the goal is to motivate expatriates
to move. For example, if the employee has been asked to move
from Japan to Peru and the salary is
different, by half, for example, there is little motivation for that
employee to want to take an assignment
in Peru, thus limiting the potential benefits of mobility for
employees and for the company.

One possible option is to pay a similar base salary companywide
or regionwide and offer expatriates an
allowance based on specific market conditions in each country.
[9]This is called the balance sheet
approach. With this compensation approach, the idea is that the
expatriate should have the same
standard of living that he or she would have had at home. Four
groups of expenses are looked at in this
approach:
1. Income taxes
2. Housing
3. Goods and services
4. Base salary
5. Overseas premium
The HR professional would estimate these expenses within the
home country and costs for the same items in
the host country. The employer then pays differences. In

addition, the base salary will normally be in the same
range as the home-country salary, and an overseas premium
might be paid owing to the challenge of an
overseas assignment. An overseas premium is an additional
bonus for agreeing to take an overseas assignment.
The Balance Sheet Approach to Compensation
Chicago, IL Tokyo Allowance
Tax rate 30% 35% 5% or
$288/month
Housing $1250 $1800 $550
Base salary $5400 $5,750 $350
Overseas premium 15% $810
Total allowance $1998
Total salary and
allowance
$5400 $7748
Other compensation issues, which will vary greatly from

country to country, might include the
following:
1. The cost of benefits in another country. Many countries offer
universal health care (offset by higher
taxes), and therefore the employee would have health benefits
covered while working and paying taxes
in that country. Canada, Finland, and Japan are examples of
countries that have this type of coverage. In
countries such as Singapore, all residents receive a catastrophic
policy from the government, but they
need to purchase additional insurance for routine care. A
number of organizations offer health care for
expatriates relocating to another country in which health care is
not already provided.
2. Legally mandated (or culturally accepted) amount of vacation
days. For example, in Australia twenty
paid vacation days are required, ten in Canada, thirty in
Finland, and five in the Philippines. The average
number of US worker vacation days is fifteen, although the
number of days is not federally mandated by
the government, as with the other examples.
3. Legal requirements of profit sharing. For example, in France,
the government heavily regulates

profit sharing programs.
4. Pay system that works with the country culture, such as pay
systems based on seniority. For
example, Chinese culture focuses heavily on seniority, and pay
scales should be developed
according to seniority.
5. Thirteenth month (bonus) structures and expected (sometimes
mandated) annual lump-sum
payments. Compensation issues are a major consideration in
motivating overseas employees.
A systematic system should be in place to ensure fairness in
compensation for all expatriates.
Background:
Fit 4 Life is a fitness chain throughout the United States. They
recently decided to open up four new gyms in Florence, Italy,
with the objective of growing the organization globally and
establishing an international presence.
The premise of Fit 4 Life’s strategy is that clients use gyms as a
social event. They promote clubs, small groups and large events
throughout the month to encourage clients to come together

socially as well as to work out. Each club has a general manager
and 3-5 fitness instructors who provide support for the clients
and the events.
The organization has decided to use this expansion as a pilot
project and if all goes well, they will consider spreading out
across Europe and South America. This is a strategic endeavor,
so it is important that the organization finds an effective
formula to operate successfully in the global arena.
The organization has hired you to provide consultation on how
they should proceed.
Part 1 (Due at the end of Week 3)
This assignment allows you to demonstrate mastery of the
course outcomes 3 and 4:
·
Identify the key challenges and trends in the changing
globalized workforce in order to implement effective human
resource practices
·
Analyze and assess global human resource policies,
the local culture
You are part of the HR department. Your supervisor asks you to
write a memo to management that explains recruiting, selecting
and staffing employees for the new clubs. Some of the questions
they would like to see addressed are:
1. What are the different sources of staffing and which one
would be recommended for these new clubs? (Both the general
manager and the instructors)
2. How should recruiting be carried out?
3. What kind of selection process should be used?
4. Create a Job Description for the manager’s role (
Template attached).
Respond to the management with a memo. Respond to each
question in depth and give a suggestion on how the club should

proceed.
5 FULL PAGES FOR THE MEMO
Be sure to support your suggestions with both the literature and
current facts or statisticsthat you research for this task, as well
as information from the course. You should use atleast three
sources from the class materials.
Part 2 (Due at the end of Week 5)Minimum 3 full pages
This assignment allows you to demonstrate mastery of course
outcomes 2 and 4:
·
Distinguish national and global culture and the impact
they have on the globalized workforce in order to contribute to
human resource practices across countries and cultures
·
the local culture
The management team has now hired 4 managers, who are
PCNs (parent country nationals). Now they need to figure out
how to develop a compensation plan that is aligned with the
company’s compensation but also takes into consideration the
host country’s financial situation. You are asked to:
a. Put together a compensation plan along with a balance sheet
(see example I week 5). Assume that the base salary of a
manager in the U.S. is $5500 a month. You may need to do
some additional research to find out what taxes are in Florence,
what is a typical housing allowance, and cost of living. Your
balance sheet should reflect monthly amounts.
b. List the top three benefits that should be offered to the
expatriate. Explain why you chose these as the most important.
Make sure the cost is included in your balance sheet.
Review the Balance Sheet Approach to Compensation in the
attached document (course) titled “
Global Compensation”

Use at least three course resources for this assignment.
Part 3 (Due at the end of Week 7)
This assignment allows you to demonstrate mastery of the
course outcomes 1 and 4:
·
Demonstrate the inter-cultural competencies of an
effective citizen
·
the local culture
The organization has hired four general managers. The success
of these managers is vital to ensure the success of the expansion
into the international market. You are asked to propose the
content and format of a 3 day training program for the new
managers. Typically, this will consist of some pre-departure
training, as well as some in country training upon arrival.
Your task is to put together a proposal for the training program.
Your proposal should include three sections:
a. Importance of Training. Explain why training is such a
critical factor in expatriate success. Present an argument for
this, using literature and statistics. See: “Learn to support your
arguments” in week 7 readings.
b. Importance of Intercultural Competency. Describe
intercultural competency and why it is important for these
managers. How are you going to assess intercultural
competency?
How are you going to include this in the training?
c. Proposal for 3 day training. Create an agenda for three days
of training. Include topics to be addressed and rationale. See
example:
Day
Topic
Rationale

1
Introduction to Fit 4 Life
Managers need to know background and history of organization
in order to create organizational culture in the new clubs
(Shumer, 2019).
Use at least three course resources for this assignment.
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