Being a Stranger in a Strange Land

High failure rates of expatriates continue to pose a challenge for individuals and organizations looking to succeed in today's global economy. This research applies a person-organization fit framework to understand the factors that contribute to a successful expatriate experience. Fit was assessed on five work-related value dimensions and on four broad cultural value dimensions. Expatriates' home country cultures were classified into two types of cultural clusters. The results suggested that fit on four of the five work-related value dimensions interacted with expatriates' home country cultural cluster to influence perceived overall fit. Perceived overall fit, in turn, mediated the effect of the interaction between fit and home country cultural cluster on expatriates' outcomes. In addition, fit on some value dimensions was directly related to expatriates' job satisfaction and turnover intentions. Perceived overall fit was positively related to job satisfaction and negatively to turnover intentions.

Autorentext
Aumann, Kerstin Kerstin A. Aumann, Ph.D.: Received M.A. and Ph.D. in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University, B.S. in Learning & Organizational Change from Northwestern University; expertise in person-organization fit, talent management, organizational change and cross-cultural issues; research and consulting experience in the U.S. and Europe.