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Perceived organizational support and the cross‐cultural adjustment of expatriates in the UAE

Perceived organizational support and the cross‐cultural adjustment of expatriates in the UAE Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether, in a culturally diverse society such as the UAE, organizations employing expatriates can improve expatriate retention by providing expatriate employees with support aimed at facilitating their cross‐cultural adjustment. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in two phases; first, a pilot study was conducted to test the instrument. In the second phase, a survey with 54 items on a five‐point Likert scale was distributed to 900 academic and administrative staff working at 12 Higher Colleges of Technology in five UAE emirates via company's internal e‐mail. Findings – The results show that there is a positive relationship between organisational support and expatriates' cross‐cultural adjustment that includes work, general and interaction adjustment. Practical implications – This study is a synthesizing research that examines the relationship between organisational support and expatriates' cross‐cultural adjustment in a Middle Eastern environment. HR practitioners' and management researchers' concerns that seek to predict the selection of individuals who can live and work successfully in cross‐cultural setting, are explored in this study. Originality/value – Global competition and reduction in trade barriers have increased the demand for individuals who can work effectively in a foreign environment. In the United Arab Emirates, the expectation is for the number of expatriates to increase in the coming years, with a corresponding expectation that, as the number of expatriates is growing, the expatriate failure rate is also increasing. Thus, the way in which organisational support programs affect the expatriate's perceptions of the company should be of particular importance for making decisions regarding which programs to offer. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues Emerald Publishing

Perceived organizational support and the cross‐cultural adjustment of expatriates in the UAE

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Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1753-7983
DOI
10.1108/17537981211225862
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether, in a culturally diverse society such as the UAE, organizations employing expatriates can improve expatriate retention by providing expatriate employees with support aimed at facilitating their cross‐cultural adjustment. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in two phases; first, a pilot study was conducted to test the instrument. In the second phase, a survey with 54 items on a five‐point Likert scale was distributed to 900 academic and administrative staff working at 12 Higher Colleges of Technology in five UAE emirates via company's internal e‐mail. Findings – The results show that there is a positive relationship between organisational support and expatriates' cross‐cultural adjustment that includes work, general and interaction adjustment. Practical implications – This study is a synthesizing research that examines the relationship between organisational support and expatriates' cross‐cultural adjustment in a Middle Eastern environment. HR practitioners' and management researchers' concerns that seek to predict the selection of individuals who can live and work successfully in cross‐cultural setting, are explored in this study. Originality/value – Global competition and reduction in trade barriers have increased the demand for individuals who can work effectively in a foreign environment. In the United Arab Emirates, the expectation is for the number of expatriates to increase in the coming years, with a corresponding expectation that, as the number of expatriates is growing, the expatriate failure rate is also increasing. Thus, the way in which organisational support programs affect the expatriate's perceptions of the company should be of particular importance for making decisions regarding which programs to offer.

Journal

Education, Business and Society: Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues – Emerald Publishing

Published: May 11, 2012

Keywords: United Arab Emirates; Human resource management; Expatriates; Employees behaviour; Cross cultural adjustment; Work adjustment; General adjustment; Interaction adjustment; Expatriate management; Middle East; Organisational support; Higher colleges of technology

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