Understanding American and Korean Workers' Adaptations to Expatriate Work Environments

Abstract

To examine the essence of cross-cultural adjustment in the expatriate work environment, based on synergistic systems approaches, a survey research was conducted to a sample of 229 expatriate workers: 101 Americans in South Korea and 128 Koreans in the United States. Results of the study have verified that the extent to which the expatriates adjust to overseas assignments is likely to depend on five major factors, i.e., national culture, individual attributes, work organization, community, and family members. The findings facilitate strategic plans to satisfy the expatriates' social service needs and to maximize their adaptability in the foreign workplace.

Key Words:

• Cross-culture adjustment
• overseas worker
• industrial social work
• global workplace