Global relocation: an examination of the corporate influence on expatriate adjustment

Abstract

This paper examines the important yet often overlooked corporate influence on expatriates' intercultural adjustment. Using four months of ethnographic data collected in China, we aim to understand how expatriates' transnational corporation employers and their outsourcing global relocation agencies work together to manage and influence expatriates' adjustment process. Our findings reveal the different impact organizational support can have on expatriate general and interaction adjustment, the mediating effect of organizational management of expatriate uncertainty and anxiety on adjustment outcome, and the relevance of organizational concern for efficiency. These findings suggest that the success of expatriate relocation programs hinges on their ability to help expatriates manage uncertainty and anxiety in ways that both provide them with the comfort of home and offer rich and authentic cultural experiences.