Date of Award

5-1996

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Robert A Giacalone

Abstract

The presence of the new world economy has forced individuals and groups representing various organizations historically foreign to each other in terms of language, norms, and culture to actively interact and communicate with each other in order to conduct business. These interactions are often not as successful as either side had originally hoped for a variety of reasons that typically reflect an ignorance of cultural standards, the most notable being the rules governing routine communication. Often, as in the case of expatriate business managers, a successful exchange is thwarted due to a certain degree of miscommunication, misperception, and misevaluation on both sides involved in the interaction (Giacalone & Beard, 1994). Such obstructions can strain future relations between unfamiliar organizations as well as arouse personal suspicions between the expatriate and the foreign nationals (FN). More importantly, these communication impediments pervade every facet of life for the expatriate and his or her family, producing unhappiness in the current surroundings and hindering adjustment to the host country and its culture. When expatriates' processes of adjustment are impeded, they are liable to be inefficient or unproductive in the workplace resulting in not only their dismissal from their current assignment, but damage to their personal reputations as well as the reputations of their employers.

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