Expatriation Case Study

Executive summary

This thesis discusses the steps taken by multinationals in terms of expatriation, supported by the following problematic:

How to minimize the risk of cultural adaptation failure during the expatriation process?

After the introduction of our topic, the first part of our memory will be devoted to theoretical researches within a literature review, mainly based on the works of Tung, Ronen, and Mendenhall.

Then, we will present the different risks for international companies concerning the expatriation process, to continue toward the different recruitment criteria and the various components of intercultural training.

The third part of the thesis is dedicated to a “field” survey, to mainly know if the current theories are

Introduction

In the introduction part, we will talk about the general context of our thesis: a potential career abroad within a globalised world, the main role of an expatriate, what the companies are currently looking for regarding cross-cultural differences, a synthetic presentation of our problematic and then we will define the limits of our research.

1.1 General context of the thesis

As MIB students, we had this fantastic opportunity to move abroad during our studies and we took that opportunity: in our two cases, we studied, worked and travelled abroad.

So today we already know that the likelihood to spend a major part of our career abroad is really high, not only thanks to our educational background but for one specific reason: we really want this.

In that context of future expatriation, it was mandatory for us to precisely know what international enterprises are currently looking for, what they really want from us and how they proceed during the expatriation process.

That is why we have chosen that topic for our thesis: to be aware and anticipate the reality of today.

1.2 Internationalization & cross-cultural Management

1.2.1 International context

Globalization is an undeniable phenomenon within the commerce sector

Hofstede realized a study describing the differences of national cultures between more than fifty countries (Meier, 2006).

He wrote a theory based on six independent dimensions. According to him, these dimensions define the culture of a country.

The first original theory offered four dimensions showing how cultural values could be analyzed: individualism-collectivism; masculinity-femininity. uncertainty avoidance and power distance.

Then, other researches in Hong Kong directed Hofstede to add a fifth dimension, long-term orientation, in order to take into consideration aspects of values not debated in the first theory.

The five dimensions can be grouped into several categories:

• Relations between people. In his theory, Hofstede compares two main cultural differences: individualism and collectivism. It represents the degree showing that individuals mainly focus on themselves or stay integrated into