International Human Resource Management: Sequential Cross Cultural Training - Sociocultural and Psychological Adjustment

Recent research supports that sequential forms of Cross-Cultural Training (CCT), which offered pre-departure CCT as well as post-arrival CCT, are more beneficial than nonsequential CCT. This study investigates the impact of sequential CCT upon the level of both sociocultural and psychological adjustment of expatriate managers. This study also aims to enrich the existing literature field with the effectiveness of sequential CCT upon expatriate adjustment. The methodology of the study was mixed methods design. It adopted an Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Design, which included a quantitative phase followed by a qualitative phase. On the one hand, the quantitative data and their analysis gave a general overview of the impact of sequential CCT upon the levels of sociocultural and psychological adjustment while on the other hand, the qualitative data obtained more depth to the research and therefore explicated the quantitative results. Surprisingly but significantly, both quantitative and qualitative results supported that sequential CCT has no significant impact upon the sociocultural and psychological adjustment of the expatriate managers. Despite this result, the qualitative findings showed that CCT has helped the expatriate managers in their sociocultural and psychological adjustment, regardless of whether it was sequential or not. Moreover, the results emphasize the importance of the timing of CCT and not its sequentiality. The important assertion of this study is that the effectiveness of the CCT depends both on its content and on its delivery time. Suggestions refer to the delivery time and the appropriate content of CCT in enhancing sociocultural and psychological adjustment of the expatriates.