effect of support and cultural intelligence on the adjustment and performance of expatriates and ...

388 Pages·2011·2.79 MB·English

EFFECT OF SUPPORT AND CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE
ADJUSTMENT AND PERFORMANCE OF EXPATRIATES AND THEIR
FAMILY MEMBERS IN MALAYSIA

MARLIN MARISSA MALEK ABDUL MALEK
Doctor of Philosophy

ASTON UNIVERSITY
JUNE 2011

This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who
consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and
that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be
published without proper acknowledgement.
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ASTON UNIVERSITY

EFFECT OF SUPPORT AND CULTURAL INTELLIGENCE ON THE ADJUSTMENT
AND PERFORMANCE OF EXPATRIATES AND THEIR FAMILY MEMBERS IN
MALAYSIA

Marlin Marissa Malek Abdul Malek
Doctor of Philosophy
June 2011

Thesis Summary

Theory suggests that people fear the unknown and no matter how experienced
one is, the feelings of anxiety and uncertainty, if not managed well would affect how we
view ourselves and how others view us. Hence, it is in human nature to engage in
activities to help decipher behaviours that seem contrary to their beliefs and hinder the
smooth-flowing of their work and daily activities. Building on these arguments, this
research investigates the two types of support that are provided by multinational
corporations (MNCs) and host country nationals (HCNs) to the expatriates and their
family members whilst on international assignments in Malaysia as antecedents to
their adjustment and performance in the host country. To complement the support
provided, cultural intelligence (CQ) is investigated to explain the influence of cultural
elements in facilitating adjustment and performance of the relocating families,
especially to socially integrate into the host country.
This research aims to investigate the influence of support and CQ on the
adjustment and performance of expatriates in Malaysia. Path analyses are used to test
the hypothesised relationships. The findings substantiate the pivotal roles that MNCs
and HCNs play in helping the expatriates and their families acclimatise to the host
country. This corroborates the norm of reciprocity where assistance or support
rendered especially at the times when they were crucially needed would be
reciprocated with positive behaviour deemed of equal value. Additionally, CQ is
significantly positive in enhancing adjustment to the host country, which highlights the
vital role that cultural awareness and knowledge play in enhancing effective
intercultural communication and better execution of contextual performance. The
research highlights the interdependence of the expatriates‟ multiple stakeholders (i.e.
MNCs, HCNs, family members) in supporting the expatriates whilst on assignments.
Finally, the findings reveal that the expatriate families do influence how the locals view
the families and would be a great asset in initiating future communication between the
expatriates and HCNs. The research contributes to the fields of intercultural
adjustment and communication and also has key messages for policy makers.

Key Words: expatriates, host country nationals, perceived organisational support,
social support, cultural intelligence,

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DEDICATION

To my husband and soulmate, Rahim and my angels, Kiki, Nana and Lala. Thank you
for keeping me grounded and believing in me. Girls, thanks for keeping me entertained
whenever mummy is feeling down. This is for all of you, with love.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, Syukur Alhamdulillah for giving me the strength and the
perseverance to complete this thesis. To Professor Pawan Budhwar, with whom I have
had the privilege of working alongside for the past few years, I am truly indebted. I
greatly appreciate your guidance, expertise, patience, advice and understanding in
making this thesis possible. What makes the whole PhD process more bearable is how
you have always spared some time, despite your busy schedule, to allow me to share
my research progress, my incessant worries, my constant insecurities and my petty
problems. I will make sure that when I have my own doctoral students, I will share with
them what you have shared with me constantly, „that a PhD is supposed to be
challenging but you should not suffer. Take a break, go shopping or go home and be
with your family. Come back tomorrow, refreshed and you are ready to start again‟. So
Sir, I took notice, and regardless of my depleting bank balance from the numerous
shopping trips whenever I was feeling down, this is definitely worth it.
To Professor Sam Aryee and Dr. Yves Guillaume, thank you for your constructive
comments, time and effort in strengthening my thesis. I have enjoyed working with
both of you. My sincere gratitude also goes to the staff and fellow doctoral students of
the Work and Organisational Psychology Group and the RDP office for making my stay
at Aston a very pleasant one. Doing a PhD is definitely a lonely process and I
appreciate your support in making it a lot easier for me to feel at home in Birmingham.
I would also like to convey my highest appreciation to my sponsor and employer, the
Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia and Universiti Utara Malaysia for providing the
financial aid and the opportunity to pursue my education at this level. This thesis would
not be realised without the cooperation of my respondents, and for that I thank each
and every one of you. Finally, to my family members and friends especially to my
parents, husband, siblings and mummy‟s angels, Kisha, Kistina and Kalila Iman. Thank
you for putting up with my unpredictable antics, helping me to stay focused and for just
being there. I would not have come this far without all of your love and support. Happy
reading.

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Glossary of Terms
Term Definition
Expatriate A specially chosen individual who is sent temporarily on
international assignments abroad and who is expected to
fulfil a specialised organisational function or career
enhancement exercise across countries and cultures.
Cultural A system of interacting knowledge and skills, linked by
Intelligence (CQ) cultural metacognition, that allows people to adapt to, select
and shape the cultural aspects of their environment.
Host country The local people of the country where the expatriate is
national (HCN) assigned to.
Perceived Employees global beliefs concerning the extent to which the
organisational organisations value their contributions and care about their
support (POS) well-being and is believed to be the contributing element to
increased feelings of commitment and engagement of
positive behaviours that supports organisational goals
Multinational A business organisation that has business activities in
corporation (MNC) various countries abroad.
Adjustment The degree of comfort or absence of stress associated with
being an expatriate. Is further segregated into three
categories; general, interaction and work adjustment.
Adjustment can also mean becoming adjusted to the host
country‟s cultural norms and values.
Expatriate task The effectiveness with which expatriates perform activities
performance (ETP) that contribute to the organisation's technical core, either
directly by implementing a part of its technological process,
or indirectly by providing it with needed materials or
services.
Expatriate Activities that are directed at maintaining the interpersonal
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Contextual and psychological environment that needs to exist to allow
Performance the technical core to operate. Can sometimes be viewed as
(ECP) relationship-based performance.
Host country The country where the MNC has a subsidiary in. The MNC
in this case will be referred to as the parent company.
International A specialised assignment or task for expatriates in a host
assignment country which can function as knowledge transfer,
competence development, problem solving or career
enhancement exercise for the assigned individual.
Anxiety Generalised or unspecified sense of disequilibrium or
„imbalance‟. It stems from the feelings of uneasy, tense,
worried or apprehensive about what might happen.
Uncertainty A cognitive phenomenon where it affects the way we think
about strangers and depends on what we want to be able to
predict, what we can predict and what we might be able to
do about it.
Mindfulness Being more open to new information and making more
distinctions about a stranger‟s differences and adding more
sub-categories rather than making general assumptions to
our present mindset.
Norm of reciprocity A felt obligation to reciprocate behaviours deemed of equal
value to compensate initial positive behaviour.
Spillover effects A working spouse's experiences carried over into the home;
likewise, home experiences influencing a person's work life.
Power distance The extent to which the less powerful person in a society
accepts inequality in power and considers it as normal.
Collectivist Collectivist cultures assume that individuals through birth
and possibly later events belong to one or more close „in-
groups,‟ from which they cannot detach themselves. The in-
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group (whether extended family, clan or organisation)
protects the interest of its members, but in turn expects their
permanent loyalty. A collectivist society is tightly integrated.
Individualist Individualist cultures assume individuals look primarily after
their own interests and the interests of their immediate
family (husband, wife, and children). An individualist society
is loosely integrated.
Uncertainty Refers to how comfortable one is facing ambiguous and
avoidance risky situations.

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LIST OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents Page Number
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH
1.1 Chapter and Research Overview ………………………………. 18
1.2 Research Background ………………………………………...... 24
1.3 Research Objectives ……………………………………………. 34
1.4 Expected Theoretical Contributions …………………………… 38
1.5 Structure of the Thesis …………………………………………. 40
1.6 Summary …………………………………………………………. 42
CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 Chapter Overview ……………………………………………. 43
2.2 Introduction to the Expatriate Research Field ……………. 44
2.3 Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (AUM) Theory ………… 50
2.4 Support During Expatriation ………………………………… 57
2.4.1 Social Exchange Perspective ………………………….. 58
2.4.2 Perceived Organisational Support …………………….. 61
2.4.3 Host Country Support …………………………………… 63
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2.5 Cultural Intelligence …………………………………………… 70
2.5.1 Multiple Intelligence Theory …………………………….. 73
2.5.2 Cross-Cultural Perspective ………………………........... 77
2.6 The Malaysian Context ……………………………………... 82
2.7 Summary ……………………………………………………… 86
CHAPTER 3: HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT
3.1 Chapter Overview …………………………………………….. 87
3.2 Support from MNCs And HCNs ……………………………... 87
3.2.1 Support from Multinational Corporations (MNCs) …. 90
3.2.2 Support from Host Country Nationals (HCNs) ……... 94
3.3 Cultural Intelligence …………………………………………… 99
3.4 Family Adjustment …………………………………………….. 105
3.5 Family Related Support from MNCs and HCNs …………… 107
3.5.1 Spouse-related HCN Support ……………………….. 108
3.6 Cultural Intelligence of Expatriate‟s Spouse ……………….. 110
3.7 Adjustment on Performance …………………………………. 111
3.8 Spouse Adjustment and Expatriate Adjustment …………… 115
3.9 Conclusion ……………………………………………………… 119
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CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4.1 Chapter Overview ……………………………………………….. 120
4.2 Research Design ………………………………………………... 120
4.2.1 The Survey Method ……………………………………… 125
4.2.2 Population and Sample …………………………………. 127
4.2.3 Research Variables and Measures ……………………. 130
4.2.3.1 Cross-cultural Adjustment ……………………………. 131
4.2.3.2 Organisation Support …………………………………. 132
4.2.3.3 Host Country Support …………………………………. 135
4.2.3.4 Cultural Intelligence ………………………………….... 138
4.2.3.5 Expatriate Performance ………………………………. 141
4.2.4 Control Variables ………………………………………... 145
4.2.5. Pilot Test ………………………………………………… 145
4.2.6 Data Collection …………………………………………. 148
4.2.7 Reliability and Validity …………………………………. 152
4.2.7.1 Exploratory Factor Analysis …………………………. 152
4.2.7.2 Item Analysis ………………………………………….. 153
4.2.7.3 Convergent Validity ……………………………………. 154
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