| This study examines the internal and external changes that expatriates experience as they adapt and adjust to living and working in a foreign country, and their learning methods in the host country. As businesses continue to expand into other countries, issues of adjustment will become increasingly important. Work assignments in other countries have not been always successful because of the difficulties employees face when adapting to another culture. Therefore, this study analyzes how expatriate employees change and learn during their time in another country.;A questionnaire was developed using a two-phased research design: (1) interviewing persons and screening questions based on a review of the literature, and (2) designing the questionnaire. The questionnaire constituted six sections and two open-ended questions dealing with demographic factors, the sociocultural adaptation scale (SCAS), facilitating factors for adaptation (FFA), the cultural adjustment scale (CAS), learning methods (LM), the identification scale (IS), initial expectation and reality, and self-identification. The survey was completed via e-mails and the World Wide Web by 70 expatriates of either an automation company or an oil company.;The statistical procedures utilized descriptive analysis, one sample t-test, independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, and multiple regression analysis.;The study found that expatriates changed externally and acquired cross-cultural effectiveness skills. Expatriates did not experience perspective transformation. Age, gender, or cross-cultural experiences appeared to be significant factors initial adaptation. There were strong relationships between initial adaptation and current adaptation, and between initial adaptation and adjustment.;Expatriates appeared to learn the host culture reflectively, but did not agree on nonreflective learning. Those who learned the host culture did so by examining the assumptions and behaviors that originated in their experiences and in their home country. Several learning situations would be helpful to reduce expatriates' cultural difficulty: cross-cultural experience, language competency, long-term relationships with residents of the host country, and information about the host country originating from the home country as well as the host country. |
