Cause of expatriate failure
When analyzing causes of expatriate failure numerous factors may be considered. These factors
can be related to the expatriate as an individual, his or her family situation, and factors related
Multinational Company. Expatriate may experience cultural shock, which is a difficulty to fully
adjust to the new environment and cultural practices of the host country. This could negatively
influence expatriate’s ability to not only make the right decisions but also, establish good
relationships with employees, government officials of the host country well as business partners.
Cultural shock is often experienced when a candidate is not well prepared or lacks sufficient
information related to cross cultural problems. Other issues related to expatriate include; lack of
motivation to carry out the foreign assignment or even lack of skills and competence to handle
the task. Expatriate may also lack the necessary maturity required in order to effectively handle
the workload, new responsibilities and adapt to social status changes associated with the
assignment. In addition overload of responsibilities can result to expatriate failure. Handling
responsibilities of foreign assignment require the candidates to adjust not only, to the working
environment but also, to the new culture and the challenges that may come along.
Family situation is another important factor that could influence the possibility of expatriate’s
failure. Foreign assignment are generally challenging to an individual, thus to a family they
could even be more difficult. Studies have proven that inability of expatriate’s family especially
the spouse to adapt to the new culture and environment could impact pressure on the expatriate
reducing their chances to succeed. Furthermore, it might be easier for a manager to quickly
adjust to a foreign environment more than their spouse. This is because the managers has an
advantage of establishing relationships at work as well as have opportunity of meeting local
people while else their spouses have limited opportunities. Family adjustment may even be more
challenging when expatriate ‘spouse doesn’t speak nor understand foreign language or even
lacks knowledge about the culture of the host country. Also, in some cases the spouse may feel
lonely and neglect by their partner (manager) since they spend most of the times at work. The
feeling over time may not only, negatively affect their relationship leading to separation but also,
increase chances of expatriate due to family related stress. This explains the reason why most
multinational corporations often emphasize on stability of expatriate’s marriage during selection
of candidates for the strength of family relationships. In addition, challenges associated with
When analyzing causes of expatriate failure numerous factors may be considered. These factors
can be related to the expatriate as an individual, his or her family situation, and factors related
Multinational Company. Expatriate may experience cultural shock, which is a difficulty to fully
adjust to the new environment and cultural practices of the host country. This could negatively
influence expatriate’s ability to not only make the right decisions but also, establish good
relationships with employees, government officials of the host country well as business partners.
Cultural shock is often experienced when a candidate is not well prepared or lacks sufficient
information related to cross cultural problems. Other issues related to expatriate include; lack of
motivation to carry out the foreign assignment or even lack of skills and competence to handle
the task. Expatriate may also lack the necessary maturity required in order to effectively handle
the workload, new responsibilities and adapt to social status changes associated with the
assignment. In addition overload of responsibilities can result to expatriate failure. Handling
responsibilities of foreign assignment require the candidates to adjust not only, to the working
environment but also, to the new culture and the challenges that may come along.
Family situation is another important factor that could influence the possibility of expatriate’s
failure. Foreign assignment are generally challenging to an individual, thus to a family they
could even be more difficult. Studies have proven that inability of expatriate’s family especially
the spouse to adapt to the new culture and environment could impact pressure on the expatriate
reducing their chances to succeed. Furthermore, it might be easier for a manager to quickly
adjust to a foreign environment more than their spouse. This is because the managers has an
advantage of establishing relationships at work as well as have opportunity of meeting local
people while else their spouses have limited opportunities. Family adjustment may even be more
challenging when expatriate ‘spouse doesn’t speak nor understand foreign language or even
lacks knowledge about the culture of the host country. Also, in some cases the spouse may feel
lonely and neglect by their partner (manager) since they spend most of the times at work. The
feeling over time may not only, negatively affect their relationship leading to separation but also,
increase chances of expatriate due to family related stress. This explains the reason why most
multinational corporations often emphasize on stability of expatriate’s marriage during selection
of candidates for the strength of family relationships. In addition, challenges associated with
