Let's Review: "Culture Shock and Its effects on Expatriates" co-authored back in 2015.

This research was a study about the phenomenon of culture shock and the influence it has on expatriates, who are deployed on assignments in countries all over the world. It talked about the psychological and, emotional effects of culture shock on these expatriates and their journey throughout their assignments.

The purpose of the study was to provide an in-depth view of the life of expatriates experiencing culture shock and dealing with it on a daily basis.

The research makes use of qualitative research methods by undertaking structured open-ended written interviews amongst expatriates from two groups.

1. The first consists of expatriates situated in countries all over the world, working for an international government organization.
2. The second consists of expatriates from a shipping organization in Glasgow, Scotland. Some expatriates are still on assignment and talk about their experiences, while others talk about the overall expatriate experiences of their careers.

The expatriates make up a wide range of nationalities and the research is diverse in its nature. The results of the research reveal that culture shock is a raging phenomenon affecting almost every expatriate undertaking foreign assignment and has left them with both positive and negative experiences for life. It highlights the attitudes and nature of people from different cultures and shows how distinct people really are.

The findings reveal the experiences of expatriates and the facts they reveal about the effects of culture shock on them and their families. The research shows the fundamental aspects of human nature and cultural values and the fact that human beings vary in every different aspect of life, yet are so similar in so many others. It is an insight into values, social norms, ethics, cultural aspects and religious associations of people from a wide range of countries and how expatriates experience this variety, while also struggling to cope with the various effects that are associated with it

Keywords: Culture Shock, Expatriates, Organizations.

For access to the original co-authored publication visit: https://bit.ly/3r2GzZK

Conclusion

This dissertation mainly aimed to understand and explore the phenomenon of culture shock amongst expatriates on assignments abroad. It talked about many things that are associated with culture shock and highlighted the causes and effects of this phenomenon. The dissertation focused at first on the literature based on culture shock and its stages and influences. It explored the facts and highlighted the already conducted research and its results of the studies on culture shock. The dissertation then explored the psychological, emotional and other aspects of culture shock through qualitative research conducted in the form of interviews conducted amongst expatriates from around the globe. This research involved participation from various nationals, who gave their accounts of experiences of their expatriate assignments and their views on culture shock and how it affected them.

The findings were analyzed through qualitative analysis to reveal the factors associated with culture shock and then discussed to highlight and contrast the themes that came out of the literature and the interviews. The results of the study has given a remarkable insight into this phenomenon and revealed certain eye-opening incidents which require the attention of international governments and human rights organizations. Issues such as hostile attitudes and ethnocentric behavior of nationals of certain nations need to be investigated. The attitude of host country nationals towards expatriates is important in understanding and combating culture shock. It has also been understood from this research that there is too much focus on training expatriates and their reaction to HCNs. Some attention also needs to be given to the HCNs; where they need to be trained to welcome their guests graciously and not treat them as if they were somehow inferior to themselves. The responses from some expatriates revealed that particular people in some countries need to be less arrogant and display some courtesy towards people who have left behind their homes and sometimes their families, to come down to foreign lands and cultures in order to work on assignments.

This research portrayed the honesty and openness of expatriates in talking about their expatriate experiences. It has been an essential learning experience for the researcher as well because it revealed so many new things which the literature alone did not. Many expatriates have talked about how personal the experience of expatriation becomes when one begins to settle down after having experienced culture shock. Relationships begin to be formed and people’s lives are changed for the better after encountering new people, new sights and sounds, new cultures and behaviors.

It was felt that the main purpose of the research was achieved through reading the responses of the expatriates from such diversity of nationalities and cultures and by understanding what they had to say. The research was authentic and rich in its nature and portrayed the essential human element of personal experience. The dissertation explained and analyzed culture shock amongst expatriates, its reasons and forms and ways to avoid it. It helped understand many factors associated with adjustment of expatriates and highlighted aspects of cross-cultural interaction amongst host country nationals and expatriates. The research was an overview of the simple fact that human beings all around the world, no matter how different they may be in cultures and identities, yet share the same human emotions of excitement, sadness, happiness, loneliness and feelings of appreciation, disappointment, gratitude and remorse.??

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