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Expatriation management process: The challenges and impediments for the Western expatriates in the United Arab Emirates

Rizwan Tahir (Rochester Institute of Technology – Dubai Campus, Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
David Egleston (Rochester Institute of Technology – Dubai Campus, Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

Journal of Workplace Learning

ISSN: 1366-5626

Article publication date: 16 October 2019

Issue publication date: 22 October 2019

2652

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to validate Ozdemir and Cizel’s (2007) model of expatriate management. The researchers tested the framework developed initially by Ozdemir and Cizel (2007) by relating the four stages of the expatriation process with the performance and commitment of expatriate managers.

Design/methodology/approach

The research population consists of expatriate managers from five Anglo-Saxon countries. A total of 110 surveys were collected. However, due to missing data and internal inconsistencies (i.e. random answering), six surveys (5.5%) were deleted resulting in a sample size of 104.

Findings

Ozdemir and Cizel’s four-stage process model (2007) has been established as a valid, useful model for creating an expatriation management system. Few expats interviewed indicated their selection was systematized or that they received training in advance of the assignment. Families of these expats received even less consideration despite the fact that many expat failures result from family failure to adapt to the new culture. Very few companies managed the repatriation process at all. Given the substantial correlations between components of Ozdemir and Cizel’s model and performance and commitment, these finding are no less than troubling.

Originality/value

As companies are becoming increasingly international, the number of expatriates working around the world is growing. While the management of expatriates has been studied extensively in North America and Europe, research into the expatriate process in the UAE is still in its infancy. The present study endeavors to begin to fill this research gap.

Keywords

Citation

Tahir, R. and Egleston, D. (2019), "Expatriation management process: The challenges and impediments for the Western expatriates in the United Arab Emirates", Journal of Workplace Learning, Vol. 31 No. 8, pp. 520-536. https://doi.org/10.1108/JWL-03-2019-0036

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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