Degrees of Expatriate Management Adjustment

246 Pages·2017·2.83 MB·English

by  Elobeidi, Fathi

Degrees of Expatriate Management Adjustment: A Study
of expatriate managers working in the Libyan Oil Industry

FATHI ABDULWAHED SALEH ELOBEIDI

A Thesis Submitted to the University of Gloucestershire in Accordance
with the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the
Faculty of Business, Education and Professional Studies

NOVEMBER 2016
Declaration

The work in this thesis was fulfilled in accordance with the regulations of the University
of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the
text. No portion of this thesis has been submitted in support of any other academic
award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United
Kingdom or overseas.

Any views expressed in the thesis are those of the author and in no way, represent those
of the University.

Signed by the Candidate Fathi A Elobeidi Dated 17/11/2016
Signed by the First Supervisor Dr Sue Williams Dated 17/11/2016
Signed by the Second Supervisor Penny Adshead Dated 17/11/2016

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DEDICATED TO
My LATE FATHER, MOTHER

MY WIFE, SONS AND DAUGHTER
My BROTHERS, SISTERS

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In the Name of Allah, the most beneficent, the merciful.

Praise is to Allah, the Almighty, on whom ultimately, we depend for sustenance and
guidance.
This study would not have been possible without the support of certain individuals and
organisations. On top of the list, I would like to acknowledge the assistance of many
people who provided help, support, and encouragement, enabling me to complete my
PhD dissertation. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of my
principal supervisors, Dr Sue Williams who guided and encouraged me from the
beginning and throughout my whole PhD candidature, as well as my associate Second
Supervisor Penny Adshead, for their excellent supervision, they have been wonderful
and forthcoming during this period and I admire their sense of humour and patience, Dr
Philippa Ward, Research Degrees Director at Business School and the external
examiner Dr Aileen Lawless and internal examiner Dr Malcolm MacLean .
I would also like to acknowledge the help of the Faculty Administrator, ICT Helpdesk,
Immigration Compliance Team, Academic, Library and Information Services Team as
well as the Student Achievement Team in particular Cris Wassell at the University of
Gloucestershire.
I acknowledge and thanks also go to all the Oil companies and their Western and
Libyan Expatriate Managers and the staff too numerous to mention, for their time and
assistance.
I wish to express my gratitude and love to my family for their unreserved love, support
and encouragement. The courage and determination they taught me have made my life
so wonderful. I am sincerely grateful to my wife, who has been very encouraging and
supportive of me during my study away from home.
I also would like to thank all my friends and colleagues who helped me in many other
ways. Finally, I would like to thank all whose names do not appear here and who have
contributed to the successful completion of this thesis.

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Abstract
In this study my focus/aim/main concern is the successful or unsuccessful
adjustment of non- Libyans from across the world who have worked in Libyan
oil companies. I want to know what factors create success. To help me to do
this I also ask some Libyan managers (who have worked out of Libya) what they
think makes for success. From this data, I have derived a model which identifies
the differences between all the other process models for expatriate success and
my own Libyan contextual model. The study of socio-cultural and
psychological adjustment in the literature on cross-cultural adjustment has
maintained that there is a difference between these forms of adjustment,
however I wanted to investigate the possibility that there might be a close
relation between the two. My study is relevant as international mobility and
cross-cultural adjustment is becoming a common experience for a growing
number of employees sent on long-term international assignments.
The methodology used initially starts with the collection of quantitative data
then moves toward a more interpretive stance; with the collection of qualitative
data therefore I adopted an interpretivist paradigm using numbers and words. In
my study a questionnaire was distributed to a group of participants because of
quantitative analysis of the data collected a subsequent group were identified
who are at either end of the cross-cultural adjustment scale and they were invited
to take part in an interview. Because of the qualitative analysis of data gathered
from these interviews an exploration was carried out using thematic analysis to
discover whether managerial, organisational or societal factors have had an
impact on these individuals’ feelings of adjustment. A key aim was to clearly
identify the factors that affect adjustment. My process model for an Arabic
nation is based on the adjustment of expatriate managers working in the Libyan
oil industry and highlighting the key factors that influence their ability to adjust.
My findings indicate that a manager coming from an individualised society to a
more collective one or vice versa, may have difficulty in adjusting or feeling
they are a part of the group. Such feelings are related to the theories of social
identity and social categorisation. There has been very little previous expatriate
adjustment research carried out using an interpretivist methodology, which I
have conducted to find out these managers’ actual perceptions hence can talk
about their levels of adjustment and the need for experience.
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Table of Contents

PAGE

Chapter One
Background to the area of Research

1.0. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
1.1. Research Questions and Objectives ........................................................................ 4
1.2. Rationale and importance of the Research ............................................................ 5
1.3. Research Design and Approach ............................................................................ 10
1.4. The Research Contribution ................................................................................... 11
1.5. The Structure of this Thesis .................................................................................. 12

Chapter Two
An overview of the literature on Expatriate Adjustment
in International Assignments

2.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 14
2.1. The role of HR in international assignments ....................................................... 16
2.2. Cross Cultural Adjustment ................................................................................... 17
2.3. Hofstede and Cultural Dimensions, Determinants and Differences .................. 19
2.3.1 Discussion of Hofstede’s work .................................................................... 19
2.4. Other Determinants of Expatriate Adjustment ................................................. 22
2.5. Chapter Conclusions ............................................................................................. 22

Chapter Three
A review of the literature on Internal factors affecting
Cross-Cultural adjustment to International Assignments

3.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 27
3.1. Job related factors .................................................................................................. 28
3.1.1 Pre-departure Training .................................................................................. 29
3.1.2 Job Novelty ................................................................................................... 29
3.1.3 Role Clarity ................................................................................................... 29
3.2. Non-work factors .................................................................................................... 29
3.2.1 Spouse/family adjustment ............................................................................ 30
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3.2.2 Psychological factors and cross-cultural adjustment .................................... 31
3.3. Social Identity/Social Categorisation Theory ...................................................... 32
3.3.1 Social Identity Theory (SIT) ......................................................................... 36
3.3.2 Social Categorisation Theory (SCT) ............................................................ 38
3.3.3 Social Identification ...................................................................................... 39
3.3.4 Social Comparison ........................................................................................ 40
3.3.5 Personality Traits .......................................................................................... 40
3.4. Chapter Conclusions .............................................................................................. 43

Chapter Four
A review of the literature on External factors affecting Cross-Cultural adjustment
to International Assignments

4.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 46
4.1. Organisational culture novelty and support ........................................................ 46
4.2. Libyan Societal, organisational culture, and organisational leadership .......... 47
4.3. Management Approach/Leadership Style .......................................................... 50
4.3.1 Western Management Approaches .............................................................. 54
4.3.2 Leadership Style as a factor that impacts on expatriate adjustment ............. 54
4.3.3 Various Leadership Styles ........................................................................... 55
4.4. Chapter Conclusions ............................................................................................. 57

Chapter Five
Research Methodology

5.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 59
5.1. The Philosophy and Methodology of Research ................................................... 61
5.2. Research Approaches............................................................................................. 61
5.3. Research Strategy................................................................................................... 62
5.3.1 Descriptive and explanatory surveys ............................................................ 62
5.3.2 A Note on Truth Claims ............................................................................... 63
5.3.3 Research Methodological Contribution ........................................................ 66
5.4 The companies to be studied and the piloting that took place ........................... 66
5.4.1 The Questionnaire ......................................................................................... 70
5.4.2 The Interviews .............................................................................................. 74
5.5 Credibility, Reliability and Validity ...................................................................... 78
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5.5.1 Transparency and Authenticity ..................................................................... 80
5.6. Sampling and Data Analysis ................................................................................. 81
5.6.1 Quantitative Analysis ................................................................................... 82
5.6.2 Qualitative Analysis...................................................................................... 82
5.6.3 Thematic Analysis ........................................................................................ 83

Chapter Six
Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Data Collected

6.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 85
6.1. Quantitative Analysis: The Questionnaire .......................................................... 86
6.2. Qualitative Analysis ............................................................................................. 102
6.2.1 Themes established and developed ............................................................. 103
6.3. Findings from the Qualitative Analysis ............................................................. 105
6.3.1 Objective, Selection and Training for international assignments ............ 110
6.3.2 Cross-Cultural Training, National/Organisational Culture, and Adjustment111
6.3.3 Work Values SIT/SCT and Personality ...................................................... 128
6.3.4 Management Approach/ Leadership Style.................................................. 136

Chapter Seven
Discussion of the Findings of this research

7.0. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 151
7.1 Company Objectives/Selection/Training Methods ............................................ 153
7.2 National Culture/Culture Novelty ....................................................................... 157
7.2.1 Organisational Culture/Work values .......................................................... 161
7.2.2 Management approach and Leadership Style ............................................. 161
7.2.3 Expatriate Adjustment/Experience and Behaviour ..................................... 164
7.3 Social Identification/Categorisation .................................................................... 168

Chapter Eight
Conclusions, Contribution and Limitations

8.0. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 174
8.1. Identifying the key characteristics of national and work culture and
work ethic that influence cross-cultural working for expatriate managers ... 176
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8.2. The impact of Social Identity Theory and Social Categorisation Theory
on cross-cultural adjustment .............................................................................. 177
8.3 Results of a survey of expatriate and host country managers operating in
Libya ..................................................................................................................... 178
8.4. The impact of managerial or organisational factors on individual’s
adjustment ............................................................................................................ 180
8.5. Produce a Model of the Cross-Cultural Adjustment (CCA) Process .............. 183
8.6. Contribution to Knowledge ................................................................................. 185
8.7. Limitations of the Study ...................................................................................... 188
8.8. Suggestions for future research .......................................................................... 188
8.8. Personal Reflection............................................................................................... 188

References ................................................................................................................... 195
Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................... 210
Appendix 2 ................................................................................................................... 211
Appendix 3 ................................................................................................................... 212
Appendix 4 ................................................................................................................... 230
Appendix 5 ................................................................................................................... 231
Appendix 6 ................................................................................................................... 236

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Tables and Figures Page
Figure 1.1 Conceptual Framework ................................................................................... 8
Table 2.1 Index Scores and Ranks for the Arab Countries and East, and West Africa .. 20
Table 2.2: Culture Dimensions Responses ..................................................................... 20
Figure 2.1 Internal and External Factors affecting Cross-Cultural Adjustment ............. 24
Figure 3.1: Social Identity Theory: Tajfel and Turner (1979) ........................................ 35
Figure 3.2 Psychological factors affecting Cross-Cultural adjustment ........................... 43
Table 4.1 Cultural Classifications ................................................................................... 52
Table 5.1 Companies and Individuals sampled............................................................... 67
Figure 5.1 Nationality of expatriate manager sampled ................................................... 69
Table 5.2 Interviews undertaken ..................................................................................... 76
Table 6.1 Cross-tabulation between Position and Status ................................................ 87
Table 6.1a Cross-tabulation between Position and Gender ............................................ 87
Table 6.1b Cross-tabulation between Position and Age ................................................. 88
Table 6.1c Cross-tabulation between Gender and Age ................................................... 88
Table 6.2 Company objective for international assignments .......................................... 90
Table 6.2a Selection methods for international assignments .......................................... 92
Table 6.3 Cross-Cultural training .................................................................................... 93
Table 6.4 National Culture .............................................................................................. 94
Table 6.5 Culture Novelty ............................................................................................... 95
Table 6.6 Organisational Culture/Work values ............................................................... 97
Table 6.7 Individualism/collectivism .............................................................................. 98
Table 6.8 Expatriate Adjustment .................................................................................. 100
Table 6.9 International relations ................................................................................... 101
Table 6.10 Defining the Themes ................................................................................... 104
Table 6.11 Participants Origin, Status Adjustment and Experience ............................. 107
Table 6.12 Social Categorisation and Adjustment ........................................................ 120
Table 6.13 Personality and Work Values ...................................................................... 131
Table 6.14 Management Approach/ Leadership Style .................................................. 137
Table 6.15 Extended table of cultural classifications and some of their influences on
management and leadership ......................................................................... 144
Figure 8.1 Model of the Cross-Cultural Adjustment process ....................................... 183
Figure 8.1a Libyan Model of the Cross-Cultural Adjustment process ......................... 185

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