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UNDERGRADUATE DISSERTATION

Expatriate Training in the Food Industry:

How a buddying system of mentoring can help expatriates to fulfil their foreign

operations, adapt to a new culture and perform better.

By

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Student Number 13082033

Ethics Protocol number BUS/UG/UH/00023

Number of words 9998

January 2015

Supervised by: Susan Debenham

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Dissertation submitted to the University of Hertfordshire

In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

BA (Hons) International Management (TABSA)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indebted to the following people for their help and support:

To my dissertation supervisor Susan Debenham, thank you for all the helpful advice

from the start, and support at every stage of this project.

To all the people who participated in the interviews, especially to participant 1, their business experiences and thoughts have been basic for my research and made a difference on this project.

To my friends in the UK, especially to my flatmates, who helped me with some English grammar and offered me support whenever I needed it.

To my International Human Resource Management teacher Edward Blissett, who inspired me on one of his lectures with the first ideas for the topic of this project.

And of course, to my parents and family, for their enormous support and their motivation, even from the distance.

In memory of my grandfather, whom I dedicate this project.

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ABSTRACT

Derived from globalisation, companies spend substantial time trying to understand how to

attract more consumers, but not enough figuring out how to help their employees work

together.

For companies to explore new markets abroad, local understanding of regulatory and cultural

differences becomes critical succeed, and this is one of the main responsibilities of expatriates.

Companies should decide how to prepare their expatriates regarding their leadership style to be

effective in the host country; however, this process is complex and requires substantial time and

monetary investments. Through this research, various theories regarding culture adaptation

processes, training and mentoring, are integrated and applied afterwards in the experiences of

seven expatriates from the food industry.

One of the main objectives of the present paper is to test the benefits a buddy mentoring system

could provide to expatriates in directors positions within the food industry. It is hypothesised

that providing this mentoring in directorship mother-tongue and for a minimum period of two

weeks will display higher levels of adaptation to the new culture and succeed in their foreign

operations.

For the development of this study, primary and secondary research has been conducted. Primary research relies on seven face-to-face interviews with expatriates in directorship positions from the food industry, conducted during the August-September 2014 period. Final conclusions suggest a buddy mentoring implementation could benefit expatriates. It has been found that there is a small contradiction between expatriates asking for more support and training before conducting their foreign operations, and companies assuming they can perform at the same level as in their home countries and consequently not providing them with the appropriate training. However, other factors that play an important role expatriates’ adaptation process, are the expatriate’s’ family members adaptation, the openness of the workforce from the host country etc. Thus, a further research specifically in other industries and with a bigger sample will be necessary to achieve a wider view of the current trends regarding the benefits of mentoring and other factors that could help reduce expatriate failure.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One. Introduction ........................................................................................................... 6

Chapter Two.Literature of Review ............................................................................................ 8

2.1 Internationalisation, national culture, and cross-cultural issues .......................................................... 8 2.1.1 Internationalisation process, and national culture. .......................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Dealing with cross-cultural issues ......................................................................................... 9

2.2. Expatriate failure, training, adjustments and human resource management role ................... 11 2.2.1 Expatriate failure, expatriate training and adjustments .................................................... 11

2.3 Human resource management in MNC’s and subsidiaries. .................................................................. 14

2.4 Internationl Mentoring. ....................................................................................................................................... 15

2.5 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................................... 17

Chapter Three. Research Methodology ................................................................................. 18

3.1.Primary data and methodological choice .................................................................................... 18

3.1.1 Data collection and analysis ................................................................................................. 18

3.1.2 Discussion of the data required ........................................................................................... 21

3.1.3 Sampling ................................................................................................................................ 21

3.2 Interviews ................................................................................................................................................................. 22 3.3 Ethical considerations .......................................................................................................................................... 23 3.4 Secondary data ........................................................................................................................................................ 23 3.5 Limitations and opportunities .......................................................................................................................... 23 3.6 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 23

Chapter Four. Findings and Analysis ...................................................................................... 25

4.1 Findings ...................................................................................................................................................................... 25 4.1.1 Background of respondents ....................................................................................................................... 25

4.1.2 Interview results comparison and table............................................................................... 26

4.2 Analysis and discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 33 4.2.1 Expatriate failure and mentoring training .......................................................................................... 33 4.2.2 Buddy mentoring implementation in organisations ...................................................................... 33 4.3 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................................................. 34

Chapter Five. Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................... 35

5.1 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................................... 35 5.2 Problems and Limitations .................................................................................................................................. 35 5.3 Recommendations and further research...................................................................................................... 36

Chapter Six. Reflection ................................................................................................................ 37

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References ....................................................................................................................................................... 39 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................... 44 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix 1. Tables and figures ......................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix 2. First Information Form ................................................................................................................ 48 Appendix 3. Proposal Form. ................................................................................................................................. 49 Appendix 4. Letter Sample Consent Form ..................................................................................................... 54 Appendix 5. Participants Information Sheet ................................................................................................. 56 Appendix 6. Questions of Interviews ............................................................................................................... 58

Appendix 7. Interviews Transcripts ................................................................................................................. 59 Appendix 8. Ethical Form ...................................................................................................................................... 98 Appendix 9 Ethics Approval .............................................................................................................................. 109 Appendix 10. Dissertation Log 2014-2015.................................................................................................. 110 Appendix 11. Supervisor's Assetment Sheet .............................................................................................. 116 Appendix 12. Second Marker's Assetment Sheet ...................................................................................... 118

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Qualitative research compared to Quantitative research .......................................................... 19

Table 2. Interviews Data. ........................................................................................................................................... 30 Table 3. Interviews Data. ............................................................................................................................................ 32 Table 4. Expatriate failure definitions .................................................................................................................. 45

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Attention-Interpretation-Message model ........................................................................................ 10 Figure 2 The U-curve of cross-cultural adjustments ...................................................................................... 13 Figure 3. Transtheoretical model of brehavioral change .............................................................................. 13

Figure 4. Model of BusinessMentoring ................................................................................................................. 16 Figure 5. The research “Onion” ................................................................................................................................ 18

Figure 6. Sampling Techniques ................................................................................................................................ 21

Figure 7. Companies hosting assignees in more countries than ever before ....................................... 47

Figure 8. The mobile population in large organisation is increasing ....................................................... 47

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Chapter One Introduction

Companies are increasing their presence abroad and investing in other countries, and

expatriates play a relevant role in this process. One of the biggest challenges expatriates face is

not just to be successful in their foreign operations, but also to adapt to a new culture and new

ways of working and communicating. So, how could companies reduce expatriate failure? This

research will serve as a guide for companies to appreciate what according to some expatriates

will be useful to perform better in further international assignments, as for instance, some pre-

arrival training or mentoring.

We all come from somewhere, and this affects the way we view things, the way we understand

one another, and the way we interact with people (Meyer, 2013). For most international

situations, some things are cultural, meaning people need to understand that, for example, when

an American client says “awesome” he might mean that is it just “good”. This is mainly because

Americans tend to be cheerful in their communications, due to their culture. Whereas Germans

in general tend to be firmer in the workplace, thus the communication style they use is

appropriate, and should not be considered rude. Other issues are personal, meaning people

need to be trained on how to improve their communication skills. One way to provide

expatriates for the host country’s culture is through training or mentoring.

Mentoring is an increasingly popular concept in learning, development and support (Klasen and

Clutterbuck, 2002) allowing mentors to share their experiences, knowledge and skills with

other individual/s contributing on their personal and/or professional development. The first

hypothesis is whether buddy mentoring could be beneficial for companies to implement,

especially to expatriates going to countries culturally different from their home country. The

second hypothesis is whether providing buddy mentoring in directors’ mother tongue and for a

minimum period of two weeks will display higher levels of adaptation to the new culture and to

better performance.

The main objectives will be, to introduce the core concepts in the literature of review chapter,

providing a definition of the main terms of reference; internationalisation, culture, cross-

cultural issues, training, expatriate failure and international mentoring. Secondary research has

been carried out to implement some of the most traditional theories and models such as social

learning theory, u-curve theory of met expectations, Attention-Interpretation-Message, and

their limitations. Theories include: Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the GLOBE study (House et

al., 2004) aimed to replicate and expand Hofstede’s (1980) work, Trompenaars (1993) cultural

orientations based on how people relate to each other and people’s attitudes toward time and

the environment. Additionally, more recent authors’ papers have been included to cover current

time experiences such as e-mentoring.

Secondary research follows a structured approach, rather than a grounded theory, meaning the

researcher has decided the theories that will be used to support the study and hypotheses.

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Secondly, the research methodology will be outlined. For the primary research, interviews have

been selected as the main tool to obtain qualitative data. The interview questionnaire, process

and analysis, are detailed in the research methodology chapter. Participants have been seven

expatriates in directorship positions from the food industry, who have participated in foreign

operations collaborating with different cultures and for some cases in different languages.

Thirdly, findings and result analysis will be included in the fourth chapter, based on seven

interviews from which real experiences and curious suggestions have been obtained. Then, a

summary, analysis and interpretation of the most relevant answers from each participant’s

interview answers will be presented.

Finally, the overall results from the dissertation are summed up in the conclusion, followed by

the limitations by revising the researcher’s prior assumptions/hypotheses on the basis of the

evidence. And recommendations, from the researcher’s point of view, which are mainly to

increase the interviewees’ sample and expand the investigation to other industries.

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Chapter Two Literature of Review

As globalisation increases, many organisations have started to send managers and directors to

foreign countries. With the increase of expatriates, different issues must be addressed; their

adaptation process, adjustments to the new culture, failure rate, motivation etc. Expatriates

success includes knowledge transfer and cross-cultural communication, essential for

organisations management.

The following chapter will present the core concepts for the dissertation, and traditional

theories of cross-cultural issues such as: Hofstede dimensions, the Globe study or Trompenaars

frameworks. And recently developed theories, explaining adjustment processes of expatriates.

Finally, mentoring programmes, functions, types, and the hypothesis of the benefits of a

mentoring delivered in the expatriate’s mother tongue will be addressed.

2.1 Internationalisation, national culture, and cross-cultural issues

2.1.1 Internationalisation process and national culture.

Over the last 40 years internationalisation processes in many small and medium enterprises,

subsequently referred as SMEs, and in multinational companies, subsequently referred as

MNCs, have developed. Consequently, both types of organisations are facing the problems

associated with sending expatriates abroad (Forster, 1997).

Research suggests no difference regarding company size when going beyond local

environments and exploiting business opportunities worldwide exists (Crick, 2009).

Nevertheless, at the post-market-entry phase it becomes challenging to companies to meet the

adaption need to foreign markets whilst staying competitive (Calantone et al., 2004).

International Management (IM) becomes more relevant, as every area in management may now

have an international dimension (Ricks et al. 1990). Boddewyn (1997) defines “international” as

the crossing of national borders and accentuates the fact that business occurs in an environment

influenced by economic, sociocultural, and political dimensions that have significant influence

on their conduct.

The environment varies across nation states, and these variations require changes in business

practices. Wood (2007) supports the need for research dealing with the impact of the

home/host national cultural dimension on internationalisation processes. In particular, a broad

body of literature can be found regarding the role of cultural distance (CD) between home and

host countries of an internationalisation process as a factor conditioning many decisions.

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2.1.2 Dealing with cross-cultural issues

Cross-cultural management is the study of people’s behaviour in organisations located in

cultures and nations worldwide (Adler, 1983). Americans for instance, value informality and

quality in relationships and try to make people feel comfortable by reducing status distinctions

(e.g. “Just call me John”). Contrary, for Germans, titles are very important and will use the last

names and appropriate titles until specifically invited to use their first names (Harris, Moran

and Moran, 2004).

Hofstede’s (1980) research into culture and its effects on management developed a set of

dimensions, which provide values for a particular group of people and measure of their national

culture attributes. However, one of the main critics to his study, was the fact that conclusions

were made based only on one company, which can be argued not to be a true reflection of

society. Another critic is the lack of a richer use of qualitative techniques; MacSweeney (2002)

and Schwartz (1990) allege insufficient aspects of culture are taken into account. MacSweeney

(2002) questions whether culture can systematically cause differences in behaviour between

people from different countries. He claims Hofstede assumed all members of a national

community uniformly carry the same national culture (Williamson, 2002). Cultural convergence

is a phenomenon many authors argue affects societies (Shenkar, 2001) and so, dimensions

measured in the 1960’s would now alter.

In 1990 the GLOBE study (House et al., 2004) aimed to expand and replicate Hofstede’s (1980)

work and test various hypotheses particularly on leadership topics. Similarly to Hofstede, the

study develops nine cultural dimensions across both actual society practice and values in the

different cultural settings. The GLOBE study is less criticised than Hofstede, either because there

are fewer controversial issues or because it is much more recent and researchers have not fully

analysed it. Trompenaars (1994) also developed cultural orientations; five assumptions based

on how people relate to each other and two other based on people’s attitudes toward time and

the environment. Extending Trompenaars work, Smith et al. (1998) identified a three-

dimensional model with two primary dimensions. However, these new classifications have not

been validated, or used in MCS research, and theoretical linkages between national culture and

management controls are still to develop.

To reduce the impact of cultural differences, expatriates should develop cross-cultural skills. It

is well documented that communication styles and patterns vary across cultures and

expatriates will need to understand the why and how of these differences (Nardon, Steers and

Stone, 2013) to avoid possible misunderstandings and unsuccessful operations.

Some cultures favour direct communications whereas others prefer indirect messages. Some

cultures emphasise what is said whereas other cultures emphasise how or by whom it is said

(Hall and Hall, 1990). French emphasises clarity, precision and politeness, with the two

variations of you (tu/vous); Americans tend to be more cheerful in their communications (e.g.

the use of: awesome or great); Germans are reserved, direct and they get to the point rather

quickly and expect to have results at the end of a meeting. Regarding the how communication is

done, expatriates will need to pay attention to their body language and the meaning of gestures

in the host country culture.

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Figure 1. Attention Interpretation Message model of interpersonal communication

Source. Steers, R., Nardon, L. and Sánchez-Runde, C. (2013)

Language and culture are in most cases discussed as two separate and independent variables on

communication, but in reality this distinction is not always clear. Grammar, syntax and the

meaning of words is closely linked to cultures, which provide the meaning, and meaning-

making, and languages facilitate the expression of those meanings (Samovar, 2007).

Consequently, different languages lead to different worldviews (Shweder, 1984).

Effective communication becomes a challenge when crossing borders, but the development of

the A-I-M (attention-interpretation-message) framework helps to explain the role of linguistic

structures and culture logic that influence communication processes (Nardon, Steers and Stone,

2013).

The first phase is the message emission; people cannot focus on all the information surrounding

them, and use a selective perception, mentally choosing what is relevant. Hall and Hall (1990)

distinguish between high context cultures, such as France or Asia, where the message context is

in most cases as important as the message itself; and low context cultures, such Germany, U.S.A.

or Scandinavia, where context is less important than the message. Therefore, message clarity

and language precision becomes essential. Other scholars such as Morand (2003) suggest that in

high context cultures the way something is said becomes more important in communicating a

message than the actual words that are used.

In the message selection phase, recipients decode the message by interpreting the words.

Taking as an example the word “awesome”, the meaning assigned to this word by Americans is

for positive and everyday experiences and its use during the day is very frequent. Contrary,

Europeans, use “awesome” more sparingly, and to define exceptional experiences

(Kotchemidova, 2010). Thus, meaning-making resides in the mind of the meaning maker and

may not correspond to the actual message that is being communicated and may end up with

different conclusions. In this case, American statement may be taken literally and cause the

European counterpart a disappointment, therefore, learning about cultures facilitates

communication overtime (Beamer, 1995). Another factor in the interpretation phase is the

context in which individuals are located; as it influences the actions they take.

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Lastly, recipients decide whether to reply and if so how to construct and transmit an

“appropriate” response (Nardon, Steers and Stone, 2013) including: communication protocols,

behaviours or message structuring.

2.2. Expatriate failure, training, adjustments and human resource management role

2.2.1 Expatriate failure, expatriate training and adjustments

Up to 40 per cent of expatriates fail in their foreign operations (Hogan & Goodson, 1990),

therefore preparation for expatriates and their family is highly recommended. Expatriate

training seems a viable solution to reduce these figures and the so-called expatriate failure.

Expatriate failure is measured according to Fenwick (2004), as the premature return from an

assignment. The two most important articles in the literature about expatriate failure rates also

adopt this definition: Tung (1981) and Mendenhall and Oddou (1985). This issue has been

classified in five categories by different authors (See Table 1. Appendix).

On the one hand many articles start on expatriate management by highlighting levels of

expatriate failure rates. However, some articles have attempted to discard what they classify as

the “myth” of high expatriate failure rates (Daniels and Insch, 1998; Forster, 1997).

Neill (2008) describes a number of techniques “which have been found to reduce the failure rates

of expatriates to adjust and to succeed overseas”. Again, there is no indication of the origin of

these figures. But, this should not lead to the conclusion of an issue not important to investigate,

since failure involves implications such as: expenses involved in transportation, rent, schooling

for children, talent leaving the organisation, replacement at headquarters for the vacated

expatriate position, etc.

Regarding expatriate training programme, there research on cross-cultural training (CCT) and

effectiveness of providing expatriates with realistic previews of what can be expected overseas

(Tung, 1998). However, training during the assignment stills relatively rare (Tarique and

Caligiuri, 2004) because many companies do not realise the impact of expatriates’ success and

do not accurately prepare them. Researchers in this field agree training could help expatriates

succeed and consequently benefit the home and host country organisations. Pre-departure and

cross-cultural training would, according to Foster (2000), help expatriates adapt and work in a

new environment. Black and Mendenhall (1990) suggest training as an essential tool for aiding

in the socialisation of the expatriates.

What is uncertain is if empirical evidence supports cross-cultural training as the only factor

contributing in the success of the expatriate. Expatriates are unlikely to function effectively if no

link is perceived between performance and rewards; MNCs should include expatriates in their

overall performance-based reward system (Fenwick, 2004). A lack of recognition of the value of

international assignments is another major reason for repatriate failure.

Three gradual adjustment processes are needed when dealing with expatriates’ performance.

First, work adjustment: technical skills, degree of responsibilities; then social adjustment:

interaction, communication, socialisation and finally personal adjustment as housing or eating

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habits. It seems that expatriates’ efforts or cross-cultural motivation and ability to adjust to the

new host culture are a key factor to successful management.

Organisations should ideally provide pre-departure CCT to ease the process of acclimation to

the new culture, reduce the culture shock, miscommunications and teach expatriates to bridge

and manage cultural difference effectively (Bhawuk, 2000). Bennet, Aston and Colquhiun (2000)

point out, CCT should allow expatriates to manage cultural differences and professional

responsibilities as well as repatriation training that provides expatriates with skills appropriate

to acclimate back to home country and ideally to be received prior to their return.

According to Hollinshead (2010), expatriate adjustment is vital to understand how business and

responsibilities are handled in the host country, how to live and work effectively and recognise

cultural influence on social relationships and be more effective with host nationals.

MNCs percentages offering CCT varies, most organisations provide just a one-day briefing

session (Black, 1991) holding the belief that managers/directors who perform well in their

home country will be equally effective in the host country. Additionally, there is too little time

between expatriate selection and his/her departure, and CCT implementations are costly. The

social learning theory by Bandura (1977) is a process related to experience and observation by

the expatriate who will observe appropriate and inappropriate behaviours and reproduce that

type of desired behaviour, acquiring social skills. Nevertheless, this theory main weakness is

that no behaviour or behaviour differences are explained.

The U-curve of adjustment (Figure 2) explains the different phases an expatriate goes through;

starting with a honeymoon period, where everything is new and exciting; then a culture shock

period where differences between what is common at the home country and what the new host

culture provides becomes apparent; attempted adjustment period when the expatriates begins

to recover and starts to adapt; and a mastery period.

Littrell et al. (2006) suggest CCT should customise to the period individuals are encountering, as

well as a theory of met expectations (Caligiuri et al., 2004) based on the hypothesis that

expatriates hold expectations regarding the assignment before entering in the new organisation,

and if these expectations are not consistence to the actual occurrences of the job the expatriate

is likely to be dissatisfied and leave.

The U-curve theory is close to the transtheoretical model of behavioural change (Prochaska,

DiClemente, Norcross, 1992) that includes five steps progress (Figure 3). The U-curve

honeymoon phase will correspond to the pre-contemplation stage of this model; then

contemplation stage to the culture shock when expatriate perceives a problem between host

culture but still is not ready to change his/her behaviour; it is at the preparation stage where

the expatriate is frustrated and confused and reviews the training received at the CCT and

begins to develop an action plan which will be set into practise at the action stage (adjustment

phase from u-curve); finally the maintenance stage (mastery phase) begins just after the culture

problem has been solved and the expatriate will ideally maintain the learning response and

enter again in the pre-contemplation stage for any new issues to be solved.

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The sequential model considers training as a process rather than a one-time event, in three

adjustment phases; pre-departure training; culture shock stage; conformist phase (CCT focus on

learning by doing with feedback). This model can also be superimposed onto the

transtheoretical model of change with many similarities. All frameworks help with the

designing of CCT programme and justify its relevance in expatriates’ performance and the

formation of cross-cultural competency expatriates, rather than changing expatriates’

personality. However, they have not been empirically tested in relation to CCT; research

suggests they should be applied cautiously (Black, Mendenhall, 1991). Cultural diversity may

derive in integration difficulties or conflicts, but if it is well managed it could benefit members

with a variety of values, perspectives and behaviours, that could enhance the team’s creativity

and problem solving capacity. Companies will seek to ultimately softer cultural differences

between both firms. Acculturation process based on linguistic differences shows MNCs workers

think and behave in a different way depending on the language they use when they interact

(Kwintessential.co.uk, 2004).

Finally, a further analysis in intra-country cultural differences will be recommended. Few

papers from a theoretical perspective can be found, and empirical evidence is scarce. Host-

country office culture and the adjustment to the office culture and politics is also a source of

stress for expatriates (Bret, 1980; Roch, 2001). The sooner the expatriates’ adapts/adjusts to

the new culture will determine the group inclusion and career prospects.

In summary, findings of last two decades confirm pre-assignment adjustments have positive

effects on expatriates’ adaptation; this fact remains true despite the little empirical attention

CCT has received. Indeed, feedback from those who have undertaken CCT indicates it has been

of great benefit. Gersten (1990) argues CCT is the mayor variable influencing successful

expatriate experience and should be customised to the needs of the expatriate and the company.

To understand the culture of destination, and provide expatriates with strategies when feeling

vulnerable, they should receive coaching in areas such as business culture, etiquette,

interpersonal communications, conflict resolution, and other key areas.

Figure 3. Transtheoretical model of behavioural change Source. (Prochaska, DiClemente, Norcross, 1992) Figure2. The U-curve of cross-cultural adjustment.

Source. Liu, C. and Lee, H. (2008)

Pre-contemplation Contemplation

Preparation

Action Maintenance

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2.3 Human resource management in MNC’s and subsidiaries.

Dowling et al., (1994) and Tung (1981) suggest globalisation, expatriate adjustment,

development, and retention are now more significant factors of international business success.

MNCs from countries with high power distance (Hofstede, 1980) or assertiveness prefer

expatriates rather than local workers to manage subsidiaries.

So why is it necessary to send out expatriates? If an organisation cannot answer this question, it is

unlikely to be able to successfully manage its expatriates. For Tung (1981), the majority of

foreign assignments are based primarily on technical qualifications, however successful

completion of assignments is often based on ability to adjust to the host country (Miller, 1973).

International assignments need to be seen as an integral part of the multinational company’s

(MNCs) international strategy. If expatriates were sent out to transfer knowledge and train local

managers in an overseas subsidiary, an incapability to reach that goal would be an expatriate

failure. Some expatriate assignments might be considered failures when interpreted from the

home country cultural context, but successes when interpreted from the host country context

(Meyer, 2014). For instance, an expatriate might have failed to improve the profitability of a

particular subsidiary in the short-term, but might have succeeded in building up good

relationships with local government officials, improving the subsidiary’s long-term

performance.

Multinationals should communicate their expectations to t expatriates and clarify how

individual performance goals will fit into the organisational strategy. The SMART criterion

(specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely goals) has become well accepted in many

organisations (Shahin and Mahbod, 2007). According to Meyer (2014) an integrated

performance management system would include: individual performance goals, clearly

communicated links to organisational strategy, feedback on progress, opportunities for

performance improvement and links between performance and rewards.

Regular feedback is essential in managing performance, but it might be more difficult to provide

when headquarters and subsidiaries are separated by time and distance. A number of

publications emphasise the importance of “interunit” communication for effective MNC

management (Baliga and Jaeger, 1984; Edström and Galbraith, 1977). Also, the frequency and

channel of communication with the HQ offices should be specified to expatriates, so that they

can provide feedback about their assignment developments. Each company must determine

what constitutes success to them. A successful expatriate must be prepared to adjust to the local

environment, achieve a lifestyle whilst in the assignment, transfer and acquire skills and

knowledge, and accomplish the objectives of the assignment.

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2.4 International mentoring

Mentoring is an increasingly popular concept (Klasen and Clutterbuck, 2002). It allows mentors

to share their experiences, knowledge and skills with another individual in order to contribute

on their own personal and/or professional development.

With the increase of diversity in the workplace, and the changing work environment, mentoring

has become essential for managers and leaders (Meyer,2014). Louis (1980) suggests, mentoring

could benefit expatriates on different areas: organisational entry, changes, differences in the

new location and the issue of having fewer colleagues with whom to discuss and interpret

results or daily activities.

It is hard to find a universally accepted definition of mentoring. Some definitions of mentoring

include: “The process in which an experienced veteran helps to shape or guide a newcomer.”

(Brown, 1990). Graham and O'Neill (1997) argue Collin’s (1979) definition relates to the mentor

in the context of support to “new” entrepreneurs, that being “A protected relationship in which

learning and experimentation can occur, potential skills can be developed, and in which results can

be measured in terms of competencies gained”.

Finally, Hawkins’ (2012) definition is one of the first to include peer/buddy mentoring; he

defines the concept as “developmental relationships that involve organisational members of

unequal status or, less frequently, peers”.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD, 1999), 87 per cent of

businesses in the UK utilised mentoring. Assigning a mentor for each expatriate might go some

way towards alleviating expatriate failure. The matching process can be challenging, Deakins et

al., (1997) found that 69 per cent of entrepreneurs reported good relationships with mentors,

but they agreed that a greater matching could be done if matching had been done based on:

their sectorial experience, gender, family structure or, has suggested by the researcher, with a

mentor speaking their mother-tongue. Adding that pre-select or “force” a mentor/mentee

relationship is likely to be unsuccessful.

Effective interventions to assist expatriate to grow and develop in a new environment, and

should aim to help expatriates, rather than impose prescribed solutions. Cox and Jennings

(1995) suggest that this learning ability from mistakes is what makes successful entrepreneurs.

The key issue is not whether one has a mentor or not, but rather who this mentor is, and what

are his/her main roles. Kram’s (1985) article gives a useful overview of a mentor’s role as well

as two dimensions regarding mentoring functions; career coaching (vocational), because

international assignments create more stress, uncertainty and ambiguity than almost any other

type and affect expatriates’ careers (Sanchez et al., 2000) and social support (psychological).

Organisations may assign formal or informal mentors and this affects various aspects of the

relationship and its outcomes. Formal relationships are organisation-initiated in which a

matching process takes places according to the needs, competencies, compatibilities, and

availability of mentors (Gaskill, 1993; Douglas 1997). Formal meetings with participants tend to

be at prescribed times, and short-term relationships. Whereas informal relationships

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spontaneously develop based on perceived competence and interpersonal comfort (Kram,

1983), as meetings with participants are recommended for long-term goals.

Another relevant factor is the status difference between mentors and mentees/protégés. The

traditional definition of mentoring is a hierarchical relationship between a senior member and a

junior member. However, lateral or buddy mentoring pairs individuals at a similar

organisational level, reducing hierarchical layers, pairing individuals in different subsidiaries, as

a supplement for traditional hierarchical relationships (Morrison, 1993). Douglas and

Schoorman (1998) point out hierarchical mentors provide more vocational support and peer or

buddy relationships may better promote on-the-job-learning. More recent research (Ensher et

al., 2001) found buddy relationships provide valuable psychological support and information

flows, helping individuals face uncertainty and reducing stress at professional levels.

According to Shaffer et al (1999), peer support is highlighted as the strongest influence on

expatriate adjustment. Given that mentoring in organisational settings is expensive, and

sometimes time-consuming, the financial return on investment is an important point for

Clutterbuck (2001). HRM co-ordination, travel expenses, time for mentors and mentees to meet

are some of the initial costs, and are far less that the estimated overall cost of expatriate failure.

However, there are not only quantitative costs but also the added responsibilities and

commitment that expatriates will need to assume with their mentors.

To minimise the drawbacks and maximise mentoring benefits, mentee and the mentor should

determine how their relationship would develop at the initial meetings. Klasen and Clutterbuck

(2002) have developed a model of business mentoring with four key stages (Figure 4.).

Additionally, three-quarters of expatriates are married (Windham International, 1997) and

therefore, expatriates’ spouses would likely benefit as well from mentoring.

Mentoring programme start-ups are difficult, due to geographic location issues of the

expatriates and their mentors. Beitle & Frady (2001) argue mentoring should turn towards e-

mentoring, which could be achieved thanks to digital communication technology (email, Skype,

virtual offices). However, the potential advantages of this new mentoring system are just

theoretical at this point.

Figure 4. Model of Business Mentoring Source. Klasen and Clutterbuck (2002:170)

17

Kram (1985) suggests mentoring from more than one person, multiple mentoring, because

career development stages may require mentors with different skills and knowledge. As argued

by Feldman (1999), changes in careers make mentoring networks more important, and the

belief that a single mentor is unlikely to possess the broad-experience meet the mentees’ needs

and challenges arising during the international assignment. Baugh and Scadura (2000) believe

using multiple mentors enhances employee development. These three authors agree mentoring

is critical to expatriates’ integration in the host-country culture, and successful socialisation has

positive consequences in terms of: positive attitudes, job satisfaction, fulfilled assignments,

enhanced skill development and better understanding of global business issues.

2.5 Conclusions

Theory regarding culture, training and adjustments has been also presented in this chapter as

well as limitations of the main models from authors such as Trompenaars, Hofstede, the Globe

and Schwartz. Also, the importance and challenges from expatriate adaptation processes have

been addressed. Organisations invest in expatriates for the contributions they can make abroad

but their adaptation and success becomes, in many cases, a challenging task.

Literature shows mentoring as a critical component in developing and retaining expatriates in

directorship positions. Mentoring may deliver effective support when required and may be less

cost-effective than prescribed training in the long-run. Mentoring programme such as

individualised mentoring, multiple mentoring, e-mentoring or buddy mentoring have been

suggested as alternatives in the reduction of failure rates.

18

Chapter Three Research Methodology

The following chapter presents the research methods chosen to collect the appropriate data to

answer the chosen research question. According to Horn (2009), methodology is the way that

knowledge is created and is closely related to epistemology, the philosophical theory of

knowledge. This chapter will provide the research that has been done, and how and why it was

done.

Primary data section includes: data collection processes, analysis, sampling analysis, and finally

advantages of using interviews as a tool for qualitative data collection. Later on, the discussion

of ethical considerations will be included, and a secondary data analysis. Finally, there is a

subsection to cover problems/limitations that have been found, and opportunities that have

arisen.

3.1 Primary Data and Methodological Choice

Figure 5. The research “onion”

Source. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003)

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill’s (2003) research “onion” (see Figure 1.) will help to identify the

different philosophies, approaches, methodological choices, strategies, techniques, and

procedures that will be applied in the research process.

Qualitative research according to Horn (2009) is used when the researcher faces a wide topic,

which requires exploration to uncover the nature of an issue or process.

19

Quantitative Compared to Qualitative

1. Researcher’s involvement provides an

insider's view of the field is gained.

2. Suggests possible relationships, causes,

effects and dynamic processes.

3. Provides a descriptive and narrative style.

4. Understanding and description of people’s

personal experiences.

Strengths

1. Conclusions derived from numbers

provide precise, quantitative, and

numerical data.

2. Useful for studying large numbers of

people.

3. Can generalise research findings when

data is based on random samples of

sufficient size.

1. Knowledge produced might not generalise

to other people or other settings.

2. Generally more time-consuming than data

collection.

3. Results more easily influenced by the

researcher’s personal biases

4. “Anecdotalism“: the use of brief and limited

examples in relation to explanations

(question its representativeness).

Weaknesses

1. No in-depth information achieved, only a

limited set of answers can be given.

3. Reduction of data to numbers results in

lost information.

4. Knowledge produced might be too

abstract and general for direct

application to specific local situations,

contexts, and individuals.

Table 1. Qualitative research compared to qualitative research.

Own Source

By using qualitative research, theories and models on how things change or behave expand as

the research progresses. This process is called inductive reasoning, thus the researcher will

obtain richer accounts on interviewee’s views and possible emergent theories as outputs. The

most common method of investigation in qualitative studies is through interviews (Horn, 2009).

Induction

Collect data and develop theory as a result of the

data analysis. Theory follows data rather than

vice versa (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2003).

“Bottom-up”

Deduction

General to specific, starting with a theory, then

hypothesis, observations to test hypothesis, and

confirm/refuse hypothesis. “Top-down”

There is no “better” research approach, but the use of an induction approach is “better”

according to the research questions of this dissertation. Interviews will provide the researcher

with an understanding of expatriation issues and get a feel on what directors think about

international mentoring. As a result, there will be a formulation of a theory, focused on why

something is happening rather than describing what is happening.

Philosophy

Positivist

In the world we live there are universal truths,

and research goals would discover the laws of the

universe relating to those universal truths.

Subjectivist

No universal truth exists but there is a reality that

we all contribute to make.

Research will be conducted following a subjectivist approach by interactions between

researcher and subjects and the active interpretation of data. Consequently, subjective

processes take place and individuals are free to express subjective ideas, and the researcher is

free to subjectively interpret data.

20

Ontology

“Ontological assumptions are concerned with

what we believe constitutes social reality.

(Blaikie, 2000)

“What is out there to know” (Grix, 2000)

Epistemology

“From the Greek words episteme (knowledge)

and logos (reason), epistemology focuses on the

knowledge-gathering process and developing

new models or theories that are better than

competing models and theories”. (Hughes and

Sharrock 1997)

Epistemology helps generate explanations and knowledge about the ontological components of

the social world (Grix, 200). The researcher has to recognise the fact that there might be more

than one epistemology, and that not all of them will be complementary or equally consistent

with their own ontological position. As Plato tried to explain in 1994 with the “cave myth”, some

people can come to think in the way they do due to bounds within cultural and social norms. It

is for this reason that awareness and understanding of the fact that different views of the world

and different ways of gathering knowledge exist.

3.1.1 Data collection and analysis. Thematic analysis, preparing the raw data

Firstly, transcribe the data verbatim to produce a transcript. This process will be time-

consuming. Data has to be anonymous and the researcher’s typing skills and resources will need

to be considered; the upsides of this process it that it allows a full analysis of the data.

Phases of thematic analysis (Miles and Huberman, 1994)

Data reduction; read all several times and start to identify patterns, topics and

subtopics. Set provisional codes; a word, a sentence, a paragraph. An exclusive coding

method will be used meaning data would only be related to one code (using colours).

Lastly, redefining codes, if necessary, and looks for any negative cases or anything,

which may not fit.

Data display; expand codes and look for connections between them; colours will make

this task more visual and easy.

“End up with key topics that describe the essence of the data” (Miles and Huberman,

1994).

Conclusions drawing and verification; summarise each topic, support statements with

references to literature. Be reflexive to guide the reader to understand the way the data

was interpreted by the researcher.

Connect and discuss the findings by going back to the literature and the research question.

21

3.1.2 Discussion of the data required

It is important to highlight Literature’s Review relevance, the first step to determine the interview

questions, to try to fill in the gaps in the literature and adapt the theory of the authors to the

specific case of seven directors who during their careers have been expatriates and received

different cross-cultural training.

The interview questions aim to better understand: how was the participant’s adaptation to the new

culture/country, which cross-cultural training expatriates received in their first expatriation, what

factors would determine the effectiveness of these training methods and how important is this

issue to them. Furthermore, interviewees provide information about how they feel about the

introduction of a buddy mentoring system, and an insight of its effectiveness. Data quality is

another key factor, to create clear links between: the importance expatriates give to acculturation,

the main factors affecting expatriates failure, and again if buddy mentoring will be a feasible

solution to this issue.

3.1.3 Sampling

Sampling is used because conducting a census of large populations will be: costly, more useful

when conducting a deductive approach and there is a time limitation for completing the

dissertation. Therefore, the size of the sample will consist of seven participants. There are two

possible sampling methods:

Probability sampling: using some form of random selection.

Non-probability sampling: does not involve any random selection from a sampling

frame.

Figure 6. Sampling techniques

Source. Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003)

Purposeful sampling was chosen; selected individuals related to the purpose of the study,

composed by seven directors who have developed careers in Europe, U.S or Asia and with

expatriation experience. The basis of a purposeful sample will be expertise; because

participants display knowledge of expertise and snowball (one of the interviewees offered the

contact of a member of his network to be interviewed) the sixth and seventh interviews took

place thanks to the recommendation of a previous participant. The sample will be accessible

and there should be no problems regarding the response rate, as there was a commitment and

collaboration agreement for the interview participation.

22

3.2 Interviews

Interviews are usually classified as a qualitative method for gathering data, but in some cases

they can also be quantitative. Some of the advantages individual interviews offer:

Allows for each interviewee’s own words, views, experiences, feelings and thoughts to

be captured.

May reveal issues that the researcher was unaware were important.

Can be organised at a time and place that is convenient for the researcher (July to

September).

Some of their disadvantages might be:

Time-consuming; interview duration, transcriptions, coding and analysis.

Quality is dependent on the researcher’s skills and openness of the respondent.

Socially constructed; what people say must be understood within that context.

Interviews permit to identify and explain issues the interviewees may not understand or find

confusing. As well as, to examine the level of understanding and interest a respondent has about

a particular topic. In questionnaire research the survey will be the instrument, whereas when

interviewing the researcher becomes the instrument. It is recommendable to plan, develop, and

pilot the interview.

Interview structures will also be relevant when preparing the interview questions, two types of

structures may be found:

Structured

Well defined research problems, and interview

aims to test the various aspects of a theory.

Unstructured

Respondents express their views. The interviewer

will explain the research and then listen and

observe.

An opening statement to explain the research will be provided to all participants, and a brief

definition of “buddy mentoring”. The use of structured interviews will allow the researcher to

read each question exactly as written and in the same tone of voice, and then record the

responses.

Two types of interviews can be used:

High structured interviews

Like a questionnaire, with predetermined questions

(open or closed ones).

Low structured interviews

More periods of interaction, free-flowing

discussion around one topic introduced by the

researcher.

The interview will start as a low structured one, including an opening statement. Questions will

be predetermined, as this is expected to facilitate the coding to the researcher.

Finally, interviews will start on the 13th of July and continue until the 13th of September and will

be conducted via Skype, phone or Link meeting due to geographical location of both participants

and researcher; they will be recorded in order to facilitate the transcript process.

23

3.3 Ethical considerations

Potential participants have the right to a clear understanding of the research. Therefore, a

research information sheet (see Appendix 4) and a sample of the questions will be provided two

weeks before their interview takes places. The benefits of this action are that participants will

be able to have a think about the topic, questions, and prepare their answers. Participants will

then be free to give their consent and suggest a date to conduct the interview.

3.4 Secondary data

Secondary data will be an indispensable tool, starting through the university library, using a

range of information sources such as; international human resource management journals,

magazines, articles and books. All the gathered data will be based on information regarding

expatriate processes, training provided and the recommendation of international mentoring as

a factor to reduce expatriate failure figures.

Secondary data is time saving and accessible thanks to new technologies such as the

Internet that makes research more effective. Nevertheless, sometimes the desired

information is not available or it is too obsolete, and cannot be used or is not reliable.

Additionally, documents used may represent the interpretation of their authors rather than

an objective view of reality. Thus, these factors need to be considered to ensure data’s

quality.

3.5 Limitations and opportunities

Qualitative data requires transcribing non-text sources into text, which commonly occurs in

interviews. Transcriptions will be needed and typically an hour interview will take four hours to

transcribe.

Data reliability is another limitation, and its possible generalisation as participants are all from

the food industry. Therefore, results, data, and correlations may have been significantly

different had expatriates been from different industries within business. However, this could

also be seen as an opportunity for further research or future studies with larger samples. The

sample of this project consisted of five males and two females; and it turned to be an

opportunity as it gives the chance to conduct a gender comparison in business.

As suggested in the Proposal form, before collecting any data the issues considered to be

important and unimportant were decided beforehand, and for that reason, some other relevant

factors might be missed out. Open questions will be included as a solution to cover issues the

researcher might not have thought about. Face-to-face contact between respondent-researcher

may influence the way respondents answer various questions, and consequently bias their

responses. Interviews will last a minimum of 40 minutes, therefore, the use of Link meeting,

Skype without the camera option or international phone calls, will hopefully make interviewees

feel more “comfortable” to express themselves, and willing to share more in detail their ideas,

experiences, and opinions.

24

Main disadvantage will be conclusions from body language from interviewees, which will not be

possible. Nevertheless, the researcher will still be able to get relevant information, for example,

by analysing the voice tone of the respondent or their enthusiasm/interest. Interviews can be

very time-consuming; the setting up of researcher and respondents located in different time

frames areas, interviewing, transcribing, analysing, organisation, data reduction, and

verification etc. The improvement of listening skills will be a key factor and another issue to

take into account will be the possibility of being interrupted by any external factor that could

influence the participant’s attention from the interview.

The upsides of interviews are they provide more information compared to questionnaires, more

detailed questions might be asked, and more ideas might come up during the interview. Finally,

it brings the opportunity of understanding the topic from the perspective of those involved, and

for them to be open to any suggestions and opinions.

3.6 Conclusion

This chapter has presented different approaches for research methodology, specifically justified

the ones used by the researcher. For this project, qualitative research provided better results

and data for the topic compared to quantitative research. Techniques and procedures have been

primary research based on seven interviews to expatriates from different cultural backgrounds,

in food industry companies. A purposeful sampling with expertise in the topic was chosen.

“Interview” was used to obtain the data; its limitations and opportunities have been developed.

25

Chapter Four Findings and Analysis

Firstly, a background of the respondents will be provided to give the reader an insight of the

origin of the data. Then, the data for seven interviews, providing detailed information and

highlighting the most relevant research results including two detailed tables summarising the

most significant answers from participants.

Secondly, a comparison of data and literature of review will be presented. This will enable the

researcher to present the topics in which theory matched reality and in those where it did not.

Finally, patterns that emerged in the data collection process will be presented.

4.1 Findings

Interviews questions were designed to identify the experience of seven expatriates, and their

personal view about training, specifically on buddy mentoring. The same questionnaire and

sampling procedures were employed for each interview. Information sheets were emailed two

weeks in advance to the interviewees. An 87.5 per cent response rate was obtained, thanks to

their previous commitment for the project participation as presented in chapter 3. Respondents

were provided with the interview questionnaire (See Appendix 5) in advance, so that they could

think about the questions and be more open to share their knowledge and experiences during

the real interview. All responses were voluntary and confidential, and participants were

informed in advanced.

4.1.1 Background of respondents

Demographic characteristics of the sample populations were reasonably equivalent. Most

respondents indicated general management as their functional area (Question1), within the

samples there were representatives from: management (P1, P2, P3 and P5) product

development (P6), human resource and R&D (P7), finance and R&D (P4) business functions.

One of the participants (P3) worked in a smaller sized organisation than did their counterparts.

The educational level of directors from United States, Asia and Europe was fairly similar.

European directors had expatriated to more countries, and had developed more language skills,

especially those whose mother tongue was not English. This may be due to the fact that

Americans and British individuals are unconsciously aware that their mother tongue English is

one of the most spoken languages, especially in business, and as a consequence some of them do

not have the necessity to learn any other language. Overall, demographic differences between

participants were modest. Only gender differed, having two females and five males, this might

be a representative that women in a director’s position expatriate less. This allowed some

gender comparison, but in general in most of the answers the fact of being female/male was not

as relevant, should have been the project focused on a different topic.

26

4.1.2 Interview results comparison and table

All respondents consider training for expatriates’ pre/post arrival important and necessary

(Question3, Q3). Except P6, who believes training is not necessary, as her company provides

expatriates the opportunity to: “Explore and visit the country before you get your position”.

P1 argued: “Is important language issues, everything is involved with that new language

and it would be a good way to initiate you into the new culture” He personally had a 2-day

course on Asian culture which he found very useful: “Now I know to behave, things that

we do in Western cultures in Asia are completely different, and if you do not know the key

ones you make big mistakes”. P1 after a 2-day training realised the importance and

benefits training can provide when working in a new culture.

Regarding the trend for training, on whether training was increasing or decreasing as a

consequence of internationalisation. First, those who argued that it was a decreasing trend

referred to a globalisation process, rather than to internationalisation, as follows:

P5: “English becomes the common language, although culturally food, and local ways of

work you may have lots of differences, you also have more westernised culture in

companies”.

Their main argument was that because to-date organisations are in more globalised in terms of

the way of operating, a standardised environment may be developing, and training would

therefore be less necessary. Contrary, P2 and P6 argued the amount of training is increasing,

P2: “There is an increasing need for network to help people to adapt, to the region where

they arrive”.

P3: “Depending on the company, American companies will still do more training in terms

of pre/post arrival”.

To get information about reality, participants were asked whether companies were giving the

same importance to training.

P3: “It is very difficult for companies, but I think the personal behaviour and attitude

counts more for the capacity of the expatriate to adapt”.

P7: “It is personal matters that are more difficult to train rather than work training”.

P4 and P6 agreed training is a relevant factor to companies and P5 added that alternatively

some type of human resources companies provide on-the-job training.

P2 believes organisations give certain importance to training by providing orientation, or

network within the company. Thus, although official/work training is important to companies,

training goes beyond the work training boundaries, because expatriates may need support in

personal matters (attitude, capacity…), something difficult for organisations to provide.

27

Q10 helped investigate whether participants had had any mentoring training. Almost half of the

respondents P2, P5 and P6 had mentoring training, either by direct superiors, one of their peers,

or someone from human resources. The rest, P1, P3, P4 and P7 did not receive any mentoring

training. It is curious that these latest individuals on Q3 argued training was important and

necessary. Therefore, their answers to Q3 might have been influenced by this fact.

Finally, whether buddy mentoring could influence expatriates performance was asked.

Respondents all agreed it will have been helpful, and shortened their adaptation.

P2: “Mentoring is also friendship, people that you meet in the host country who can help

you are very important to success”.

P3: “With a buddy mentor my wife would have better adapted”.

P4: “My performance would have been much better at least on my two first assignments,

now in the third one I feel more experienced in the expatriate field”.

From Q10 and Q5 we can withdraw some relevant conclusions. Firstly, mentoring was

positively accepted by all of them. P4 pointed out the effectiveness of having this type of training

would be just for the first or two first expatriation experiences, as the capacity of expatriates to

have on-the-job learning would be considered. Secondly, all the participants believed buddy

mentoring would make a difference in expatriates’ success.

P7 pointed out: “That would definitely smooth out the barriers for their success and for

matters beyond the office duties”.

P6: “Most of the expatriates especially in SMEs companies are the only expatriates, so you

might not be able to find a colleague that has been already expatriated”.

This answer might be related with the fact he was the only one working for a SMEs company.

Also P5 agreed with the fact that although it will be very helpful in reality companies might not

be able to have two people doing the exactly same job, he suggests: “What could be done is the

new expatriate getting help from the previous one, but I haven’t seen any company doing this co-

ordination properly”. These answers raised questions such as whether a buddy mentoring will

be possible to be conducted in both SMEs and MNs, and who would be the ideal “mentor” for

expatriates; a local, a previous expatriate...

Regarding buddy mentoring system implementation in expatriates’ mother tongue, responses

varied; P1, P5 and P7 believed that English for any expatriate is necessary, and enough to get

the main ideas. P7 added some advantages about taking the guidance from locals as follows: “It

is good to have somebody who is from that market, environment, can provide more of the cultural

perspective”. The rest believed it makes a difference when you are mentored in your mother

tongue, some of them like P2 suggested being matched with a local speaking the expatriates’

mother tongue as the ideal combination. P4 found from his experience as an expatriate in China,

really useful to have been given the advice and guidance in English (his mother tongue).

28

Finally, they were asked if any company would be able to conduct this buddy mentoring

training, P1 and P7 both agreed on this statement.

P2 responded: “The company would have to be large enough, small companies may not

have employees who speak the language of the expat”.

P6 “If they are a big company they should be able to afford it, if they have experience they

should be able to built it through experience, but any company that affording expats needs

to train and support them”.

P3 agreed that MNCs do have more resources. The concern about SMEs resource limitation is

common with all the interviewees, as well as the capacity of MNCs to be more likely to provide

this type of training.

A summary of each participant similar/different responses is presented in Tables 2 and 3,

allowing a better comparison of the data.

29

Participant 1 Participant 2

(P1)

Participant 3

(P1)

Participant /Factor

Origin

2

Europe

4

Europe

1

North

America

Did you go

alone or with

partner/family?

(Q2.1)

Alone Alone

“My wife joined me

six months later, but

she did not adapt to

the Spanish lifestyle”.

-Changing the food

time.

-Learning Spanish.

-Shops opening

time.

-Improving French.

-Swiss high standard

of living.

-Improving

Spanish.

“I did it perfectly, I

felt I was born for

living in Spain”.

Number if times

expatriated

-Quite stressful as

his wife was not

adapting well.

-Positive points:

*Spanish people

accept foreign

people not speaking

fluently.*Spanish

people when

working are more

open-minded than

French.

How did your

adaptation affect

your work

performance? (Q2.2)

How did you

adapt to the new

culture (Q2)

Alone

“I was “lucky because

I had my own

problems to manage”.

-Hard at the

beginning when doing

interviews or visiting

customers.

“To give the best of

the company outside

and not knowing the

language made it

harder”.

-Learning French

-Learning about the

local culture.

-Friendships with

locals and

expatriates.

30

Participant 4

(P1)

3

North

America

Participant 5

(P1)

2

Asia

Alone

Participant 6

(P1)

2

North

America

Alone

“I got married, then

had two dogs, and

adopted a son”

Participant 7

(P1)

6

Europe

Alone With my wife, and

she adapted really

well.

-Expatriate’s funds

from the company.

-Being set up with

locals, for

translations (in

China).

-Shops closing

times.

-Getting healthier

(in Switzerland)

-Not too much

cultural shock as

he is Taiwanese

and was familiar

with the Japanese

and Chinese

culture.

-Learned French

(in Switzerland).

-No cultural

barriers in US.

- Tried to learn

Chinese (in China).

-Was given cards

with useful

sentences by her

company.

-Spanish lessons

(Dominican

Republic).

-Switzerland

adaptation was

simpler.

“In both cases the

company did apply

someone to assist

me on apartment

searchers and

other issues”.

“Being away from

the child was hard,

but my wife did

not affect my work

performance, just

helped”.

“It affected in a

positive way as I

am familiar since I

was born with

Japanese culture”.

-French helped to

communicate with

employees.

“In China I was

dependent on the

people I was working

with speaking

English, I could not

communicate with

them in Chinese.

-Did not affect in

Switzerland.

“Slower in the

Dominican due to

unusual things and

serious economic

crisis.

Table 2. Interviews data

Source. Primary Research

31

Successes of being an

expatriate

Challenges of being an expatriate

Participant 1 Participant 2

(P1)

Participant 3

(P1)

Participant /Factor

-Identify who wants

to take more

responsibility.

-Avoid hiring

someone, train

him…Send someone

who already has the

knowledge.

“Build up another

company with same

mother company

philosophy”.

“Identify those who

are a bit of an open-

minded set, for

living in a different

environment and

enjoy that”.

-To control what is

happening in certain

areas/countries.

-Understand what is

happening with real

presence.

Importance of

sending

expatriates

Factors to be

considered to

successfully match

mentors with

expatriates

-Grow in hierarchy.

-Skills gained:

open-minded,

problem-solving,

flexibility and

adaptability.

-Language.

“People were nice

in the front, but

behind they cared

less” (In Italy).

“To convince

French people will

take double time”

-New mind-set (new

ideas, new culture).

-Adaptability and

learn to appreciate

the new culture.

-Social skills.

-Wider network.

-Language issues.

-Missing: people,

friends, family

members, and

cultural aspects.

“But that is the life of

an expat”

-Network.

“I saw my home

country in a different

way”.

“I learnt you can be

happy as well living in

a different place”.

-My wife.

-My children.

-Expensive to live

(au pair and leisure

activities).

-HR department is

useless.

-Line managers, as

they are the ones

who really know the

expatriates.

-Someone within

the company,

providing as well

some networking to

the expatriate.

-Having

professionals in

mentoring.

-If they are married,

if they have

children…

32

Participant 4

(P1)

Participant 5

(P1)

Participant 6

(P1)

Participant 7

(P1)

-Develop local

talent.

-Share knowledge.

-Bring objectives

straight form

headquarters.

-Bring the vision.

-Key people to

coordinate ain a

good direction.

-Share knowledge.

-Develop talent

locally.

-Encourage people to

be successful and

grow.

-Understand the

international

organisation.

-Career development

-Developing local

talent.

-Having a local

successor.

-Career

development.

-Job uncertainty.

-Being far from the

family.

-Language in China

and Switzerland.

-Developing local

talent.

-Having a local

successor.

-Career

development.

-Job uncertainty.

-Being far from the

family

-Language in China

and Switzerland.

-Learning experience.

“Giving what you

know and taking

what the new

cultures offers you “.

-Being away from the

family.

-Ability to accept

change.

“Realise that one size

does not fir all”.

-Learn patience.

-Manage

expectations -Candidates’ family

structure, age,

style of living.

- Provide options

and let candidates

to choose.

-Rely on HR

department

capacity.

-Family structure.

-Family structure.

-HR department

from host/home

country.

“In each organisation

would know who

might have the

ability to mentor”.

Table 3. Interviews data

Source. Primary research

33

4.2 Analysis and discussion

4.2.1 Expatriate failure and mentoring training

Tung (1981), Mendenhall and Oddou (1985), provide some definitions of expatriate failure as

the premature return from an assignment. It becomes particularly interesting what failure

means to expatriates. P2’s own definition of failure focuses on the adaptation process, and the

feeling of feeling out of place and adds it is important to socialise. Black and Mendenhall (1985)

from the Literature of Review pointed out the importance to adapt to a new workplace, as new

colleges could serve as mentors. Data collected thorough interviews, provided more recent

examples of expatriate failure than those from researchers’ theories, models, and articles. To

date, it seems that effective communication of ideas, especially in sales positions when you need

the skills to convince becomes one of the main concerns to expatriates (P1 and P2, 2014).

Training programme is a recommended tool to face expatriate failure, even though it is still rare

to find in organisations (Tarique and Caligiuri, 2004). Nevertheless, from the interview data

collection, most participants agreed on the fact that to be successful the right attitude,

personality, and right qualifications and mind-set are needed.

The theory of met expectations (Caligiuri et al., 2001) suggests cross-cultural training and

spoken language in the host country affect accuracy of expatriates' expectations prior to the

assignment. Having accurate expectations, positively affects cross-cultural adjustment.

Organisations should aim to develop programmes to ensure their expatriates having realistic

expectations prior to their global assignments. P6, for example, had no language or cross-

cultural training before his expatriation to China, and had no idea what the environment or the

working style looked like, therefore his expectations differed with the reality he faced. Because

most expatriates are expected to perform at the same level as in their home country from day

one, the “honey-moon stage” of U-curve adjustment (Littrell et al. 2006) does not take place,

instead, expatriates face straight the cultural shock stage, and then start the adaptation stage.

Communication is one of the most challenging aspects when crossing borders (Nardon, 2013).

Language training investment would be an excellent tool for successful communication of task,

messages, and ideas from expatriates to the new workforce. Especially in the second face form

the A-I-M framework, the interpretation of the message. Learning about the culture will

facilitate communication overtime (Beamer, 1995) and this can be achieved by having an

expatriate in the host country understanding the employees and customers from the host

country much better over time.

4.2.2 Buddy mentoring implementation in organisations

Mentoring according to Deakins et al. (1997) is an alternative tool to reduce expatriate failure.

Ideally a buddy mentor would be according to participants, someone able to give some kind of

reference and who is available to be asked questions. Shaffer’ (1999) article found peer support

as one of the strongest influence to expatriate’s adjustment process. Cox and Jennings (1995)

added that learning from others in past experiences is what makes successful entrepreneurs.

34

One of the initial hypotheses was to test the importance expatriates were giving to any type of

mentoring. They all agreed it would be a beneficial tool, especially for the first stages of the new

culture adaptation, and workplace. Kram (1985) and participants’ interview results suggest

benefits of receiving mentoring from more than one person, multiple mentoring, beneficial to get

different points of views on the same issue. Another alternative in changing mentors depending

on each stage of the expatriates’ adaptation process and enhancing employee development, and

a better understanding of the host countries ways of working Baugh and Scadura (2000).

4.3 Conclusion

This chapter presented the patterns/trends that have emerged regarding mentoring, expatriate failure, mentoring training, and communication issues. And the differences between the researcher’s findings and those from researchers outlined in the literature of review. As well as to test the initial hypotheses of how much relevance expatriates give to any type of mentoring, and their opinion regarding the benefits buddy mentoring could provide them.

35

Chapter Five

Conclusions and Recommendations

This chapter will provide the final conclusions that have been achieved, summarising the core

findings, key points and whether the research questions and hypotheses have been supported

with the data provided. Finally, the main recommendations to address the limitations and other

alternative courses of action will be presented.

5.1 Conclusions

Literature of Review chapter presented the main theories related with the concepts of culture,

training, mentoring and communication. Methodology chapter contained the main methods that

were going to be used to collect data. There have been seven interviews with expatriates, and

secondary research from different sources; business articles, human resource reports, official

sources, and traditional theories of the topic field. Finally, the fourth chapter included an

analysis of the collected data and exposed the main results.

It is important to remember the research question of how to reduce expatriate failure, and the

hypotheses of the project. The first hypothesis on whether buddy mentoring could be beneficial

for companies to implement when sending their expatriates abroad. And the second hypothesis

of whether providing a buddy mentoring in directors’ mother tongue and for a minimum period

of two weeks will display higher levels of adaptation to the new culture and to better

performance. As in the Dissertation Proposal, internalisation strategies of companies, include

expatriates are in charge of most foreign operations and linking the home company culture and

the host country. However, it is recommended to provide these expatriate with some training to

smooth their acculturation process and improve their communication skills abroad in order to

reduce expatriates’ failure.

It could be said that findings are valid and reliable; primary data has been obtained from people

who are/were expatriates themselves and have theoretical and practical knowledge about

acculturation processes, communication issues etc. Examples and some assumptions regarding

the importance companies give to any type of training or mentoring for the success of foreign

operations has been obtained.

5.2 Problems and Limitations

The main limitation has been a bigger number of companies access from more industries than

just the food industry, and more extensive primary research, due to that fact that the researcher

had no more contacts of the same characteristics participants from this project. Timing was

another issue. Interviews had to be conducted in a six-week frame and the arrangement of

finding mutual and convenient time for the interviews was challenging. For these two main

reasons, primary data sample is small and generalisation of the case to organisations within the

food industry has been necessary for the development of the topic. Secondary data availability is

wide, however one of its limitations was that most for the traditional theories are too old to

36

match today’s reality. Therefore, new authors and studies were included in the research and

were used in the analysis and findings chapter to compare with the interview data.

5.3 Recommendations and further research

Regarding the sample size, the study could be improved by increasing the sample size. This will

allow verifying if the mentoring and training patterns are the same ones or, if they change

depending on the industry being investigated and new results and conclusions can be

generated, complementing the existing ones or changing them. If more interviews were to be

developed, participants could come from other industries, rather than exclusively from the food

industry.

A larger sample size involves better population average and, as a consequence, a better analysis

framework can be shaped. Saunders et al (2007) suggests, sampling saves time, an important

consideration when deadlines are tight. The main impediment when trying to carry out more

interviews is the time spent as well as the resource implications because of the particularly

difficult access to the right people and the transcriptions and analysis of the data obtained.

Regarding the content, in reality expatriates according to data obtained, would see training and

mentoring as a beneficial factor specifically, for cross-cultural issues, communication

misunderstandings and how to cooperate with a new workforce. The suggested buddy

mentoring was positively seen as a tool to ease expatriates’ acculturation to both the new

culture and new workforce, and English would be for expatriates in directorship positions

enough. However, the implementation of this type of mentoring would mean a bigger monetary

and time investment to companies. Nevertheless, a better teamwork system has big rewards so

if their expatriates can co-operate with the new workforce sooner and this will benefit the

company in question and more of the foreign operations will be successful.

New meanings that were not considered in the initial objectives for expatriate success have

developed. It is not just the success of the foreign operation itself in reality; people who are

living in a foreign country react either by learning a lot or by totally rejecting the new culture.

People who are going to be effective will give positive descriptions of what the other culture’s

differences. This will be a sign of expatriates looking at something that would be foreign to their

own culture and see the positive in it. But many expatriates when they are asked the same

question will respond in a negative way. And that is a sign that those individuals may have more

difficulty to understand the host country characteristics.

Directions for further research will involve suggestions on further linkages between performance and reward systems; for instance, recognition, empowerment, monetary rewards, challenging tasks as factors that can drive motivation, and lead to better performance and could complement the buddy mentoring programme to help reduce expatriates’ failure.

37

Chapter Six Reflection

“How to do research” by L.Blaxter et al (2006), provided me with useful tips for the project.

Firstly, it reminds the researcher to be objective and subjective when arguing the topics of the

project. Regarding time management, I would say “chunking” is the method that suits me better

as I would define myself as an organised person. Dividing some of my research task up into

small chunks that I was reading more in depth during specific times of the day, allowed me to

set up realistic goals for each day, and to work gradually. I have also applied this method for my

university exam revision and felt less stressed, more organised and confident. Additionally, I

realised the importance of taking breaks, and that they are not a wasted time. Breaks bring

room to think and reflect about the work done, and sometimes a 3 or 4 days break allowed me

to see areas I could improve or modify.

To realise about my supervisor’s role/responsibilities and my own role/responsibilities as a

researcher really made a difference. Once I noticed about this, specifically after the second

meeting (22nd of May), it help me to know what could I expect form my supervisor and what I

needed to do on my own. By having responsibilities and the power to argue the way the project

is focused, you build up skills such as listening skills by being open to critics mainly from your

supervisor, commitment towards your project, and communication skills. I consider these skills

to be useful in my future career, if for example I need to present a project investment and justify

the analysis and decision-making.

Starting the project writing up early and making it a regular and continuing activity was key to

have a clear vision of the all project. Draft a section, move to another section, and then return

one or more times to re-draft the original version, was very useful to me as the dissertation

takes shape, and what you write in subsequent sections affects what you wrote earlier and

recalls for changes.

The more you read, the more you know about a topic and can end up changing your mind about

your initial thoughts. It became essential to recognise when a re-draft was needed, and when

enough drafting was done. I learnt the relevance of editing and re-working all the sections, in

order to; bring in new material, ideas and thinking, reduce the length of what had been written,

alter the structure, if necessary, respond to the suggestions (mainly form my supervisor), and

finally remove any repetitions.

Allocating a number or a percentage of words or pages to each sub-section was done, and

consulted with my supervisor; to make sure he “classic dissertation structure” was

implemented. One of my weaknesses when writing course work essays is to structure the work

and the ideas I want to include. To structure each section, and make sure all sections had proper

introductory and concluding passages linking paragraphs and ideas was hard to me, especially

as English is not my mother tongue. However, once I was reading and going through all sections

over and over again, I was improving the structure to make it easy for the reader to understand

what they are reading.

38

To discuss a topic, there has to be also certain criticism, and back up criticism as an evaluation

process. In my case, some theories from my degree modules where used specifically from my

Leadership and organisation module topics, which I could see related to my project. If I had the

opportunity to start the project again I would include more leadership factors and drivers as I

believe there is a clear linkage between these factors and expatriates success.

Overall the initial dissertation objectives have been fulfilled, the dissertation is in line with the

proposal, and the “Recommendations” chapter includes those objectives or topics I recommend

for any future research. The answers I got from the interview questionnaires allowed me to

compare the literature theoretical knowledge with some real life and more actual examples.

From the participants I got a great view of what an expatriate experience looks like and many

tips for any future expatriate experience I may have.

Finally, my strengths have been my commitment levels, time management, and hard work. I

really appreciate my supervisor to always ask me to go for the extra mile because it has been a

real motivator factor, as well as all her constructive critics. This project has provided me with

personal development and satisfaction. I can see all my effort reflected in every part of it, and

the final result has been worth it

39

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APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1. Table 4. Definition of expatriate failure

46

47

Figure 7.

Figure 8.

V

48

APPENDIX 2. Undergraduate Dissertation First Information Form

Family Name: Bejarano Sarabia Given Name(s): Andrea

Student Registration Number: 13082033

Programme of Study: BA International Management

Topic area: International Human Resource Management department

Please provide an idea of the topic that you are planning to cover in your dissertation.

Training is needed when moving one individual from a company’s headquartered offices to a

subsidiary or to cover a same position in a different region/country. Companies are aware of

the importance providing some training and support has, but the amount and types of training

varies from company to company. Indeed, some companies and multinationals face a lack of

time or want to save costs when deciding the level of training they will offer.

This study aims to present the benefits a buddying mentoring system could provide expatriates

(specifically directors positions) with someone at a higher, lower or similar position within the

company speaking their mother tongue (as a criteria for matching). The program will last a

minimum of two weeks and aims to; make directors aware of cross-culture differences, the way

tasks are fulfilled in that area/subsidiary and be able to adapt to them successfully.

The program could benefit expatriates developing their management and leadership skills

whilst conducting a foreign operation. Once the formal arrangement has been completed,

informal relationship between the expatriate and mentor buddy may build up, this could

perhaps assist the expatriate to feel more motivated in the new environment, perform better

overseas and avoid the cost of expatriate failure.

If you have already discussed this topic with a member of staff and they have provisionally

agreed to be your supervisor please include their name below:

_________________________________________________________________

NB; you must be aware that the member of staff named above may not necessarily be

allocated as your supervisor.

In which of the following subject areas does your topic fall?

Accounting & Finance [ ] Economics [ ] Human Resources [ x ]

Information Systems [ ] Management Science [ ] Marketing [ ]

Tourism [ ]

Signature: Andrea Bejarano Sarabia Date: 14.02.2014

The information on this form is to be submitted online by 14th February 2014

49

APPENDIX 3

UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE

Business School

DISSERTATION – Proposal Form

1. Provisional title

Expatriate Training in the Food Industry: How a buddying system of mentoring can help

expatriates to fulfil their foreign operations and adapt to a new culture.

2. Brief Background

Today's global marketplace requires companies to relocate staff to foreign locations and to

create a presence abroad. Many executives and managers, whose skills and achievement

within their native country are valuable, are expatriated to run foreign operations under

the assumption that 'if they can do it at home, they can do it abroad'. Nevertheless, research

suggests this does not always fit reality and that cross-cultural differences play a huge role

in the process.

Business should have employee's success in a foreign location as a priority. If the individual

fails to either settle into the new culture or work effectively with his/her new colleagues

and environment, the whole venture will be wasted effort, money and time costly.

Providing them with cross-cultural training will help the expatriate understanding

regarding the culture of the target destination and the way they operate. A buddy system of

mentoring with another employee within the new operation location, speaking their

mother tongue will provide the training in a more informal and softer way. This would be

beneficial for both, the expatriate’s adaptability and the company’s achievements.

3. Aims and objectives to be achieved and dissertation question

The main aim of this dissertation is to identify the benefits of a buddy mentoring system

(as part of the expatriate training) during a minimum period of two weeks. As well as to

critically analyse any other training methods SME’s and MNC companies are using,

specifically focusing on the food sector.

Research will be conducted from the perspective of directors from different cultures

backgrounds and who during their careers had immersed themselves in foreign operations

in host countries such as: Spain, South Africa or Switzerland.

Diverse questions and issues will be discussed and analysed:

To investigate current training methods conducted in the food industry, and analyse its advantages and disadvantages (or risks).

Describe relationships between training methods and directors satisfaction, performance and success to stay in the foreign country.

50

Factors to take into account when trying to provide the appropriate expatriate training.

Expatriate failure: reasons, costs and impact to companies. How much do companies budget for this training? Would a buddy mentor program be worldwide applicable? Possible externalities and

challenges this method may have. Analysis of the possible development of informal relationships. The role that HR department in the matching process of mentors with the expatriates. The role of expatriates in the host country and host subsidiary reaction after the

arrival of expatriate members. Shape expatriates profile: age, gender, skills, spouse, and family.

4. Initial Literature Review

Wright and Ricks (1994), two international business scholars described international

entrepreneurship as a newly emerging arena, that included: (1) comparisons of

entrepreneurial behaviour in multiple countries and cultures, as well as (2) organization

behaviour that extends across national borders. Internationalisation is a process of leading

to identifying and entering international markets, usually implemented by: (1) firms acting

alone – set up subsidiary (sales & production) by buying an existing company or creating a

new one (2) Firms acting with others – establish strategic alliance with one or more

partners (local or international).

Companies seek to internationalise because business risk can be spread as it brings

opportunity to exploit new markets, expand brand awareness to new audiences, increased

revenue generation, accessing new technologies/information etc. Nevertheless, it isn’t a

simple process; and there might be barriers such as: cultural and language barriers,

exchange rate fluctuations, religious beliefs, government regulations / policy on profit

repatriation, political instability, economic downturn …

T.1 Internationalisation and national culture(cross-cultural issues).

T.2 Expatriate failure, expatriate training and adjustments (human

resource management role)

T.3 International

mentoring

51

The individuals in charge of leading this process are, expatriates; the word expatriate

comes from Latin words ex (out of) and patria (country). Expatriates are professionals

sent abroad on a temporary or permanent assignment by their companies. They will have

to adapt to a new culture but to do so is a slow and complex process (the U-curve will be

explained), which can be facilitated by cross-cultural training. Early returns have globally

been estimated to be as common as 16-40% (Black & Mendenhall, 1990), this in the

expatriate level is the so-called expatriate failure, which is time consuming and costly to

companies. There are current theories about cross-cultural adjustment and values;

Hofstede, Trompenaars or Schwartz are some of the authors who have covered these

topics in their works. Also the social learning theory, A-I-M model and the U-curve will be

covered. Regardless of their size and the foreign operation to be companies will provide

different training techniques to prevent this “failure” to happen.

Examples of training methods -either pre-departure or post-arrival training- are: didactic

training, experiential training, attribution training, language training, cultural awareness

training, interaction training (Grove & Torbiörn, 1985;Gertsen, 1990; Brewster, 1995:63;

Bennet, Aston & Colquhoun, 2000)

Expatriates need multiple mentors to assist their adjustment and development during the

pre-departure, expatriation, and repatriation stages of international assignments. Both

hierarchical and peer, formal and informal, mentoring relationships will be explained to

delineate which relationships best address specific expatriate needs. There will be a focus

on both on-site and e-mentoring since I believe it may improve expatriate adjustment,

development, and retention, and thus may affect outcomes of international strategy

positively by improving and developing their skills (Clutterbuck, 2004).

5. Research methodology

The research will be conducted as follows: five structured interviews (primary research)

via Skype and then secondary research. The interview questions will be developed with a

list of predetermined close and open questions about the selected topic.

Interviews are beneficial when it comes to explain issues the interviewees may not

understand or find confusing as well as to examine the level of understanding a

respondent has about a particular topic more in depth than with a postal/paper

questionnaire. All respondents will be asked the same questions in the same way and this

makes it easy to replicate the interview.

After having completed the interviews I will develop a qualitative analysis, interpreting

the perceptions and experiences of the participants using a descriptive research by

recording their own words rather than numbers, which will provide me with detailed

descriptions of the context and what the participants say.

The research approach will be done with inductive reasoning; trying to condense

extensive and varied primary data (human beings, perceptions, experiences) and establish

clear links between the research objectives and the summary findings derived from the

data, and drop conclusions.

52

Then, some research of quantitative data (secondary research) such as statistics with

graphs, charts or tables may be included to illustrate the reader with relevant figures on

expatriate failure costs.

Interviews

Number of interviews: 7 Starting date: Once having the ethics permission.

The chosen ample will be a purposive sampling (selected individuals with a common

characteristic) composed by four directors that have developed their careers in either

Europe or U.S and then had been expatriated. The sample will be accessible and there

should be no problems regarding the response rate. Moreover, managers and directors are

more likely to agree to be interviewed, rather than complete a questionnaire.

Participants’ background

Participant 1 French. Studied in France and US. Worked in Spain as a Director of FIS (subsidiary of Nestlé).

Participant 2 American. Studied in USA and France. Emigrated to Europe works in Switzerland in a director’s position in the food industry.

Participant 3 French. Studied in France, and worked many years in Spain as director of a SME company in the food sector.

Participant 4 Swiss-Dutch. Studied in Switzerland. Directive position in various countries. Emigrated to Philippines and now works in South Africa.

Participant 5 Asian. Worked in Japan and then was responsible for Northeast Asian division from a Dutch company.

Participant 6 American. First in charge of the Switzerland division of Nestlé and then expatriated to the US, China and France.

Participant 7 British. Expatriated to the Dominican Republic and then to Switzerland. Head of human resources for the region in a multinational from the food industry.

53

6. Possible problems/limitations and opportunities

There are some matters that the chosen methodology may not help me to explain. These

might include the fact that as a researcher before collecting any data the issues considered

being important and unimportant have been decided beforehand; therefore, some other

relevant factor may be missed. That is the reason why opened questions will be included

because I might come with something relevant I had not thought about.

Additionally, the face-to-face presence of the researcher may influence the way

respondents answer various questions, and consequently biasing the responses. It will

become a priority to improve listening skills during the interview. Primary sources, main

data will come from the perspective and experience of directors in a specific sector, the

food one, generalising results and conclusions would be an error. The sample individuals

are all male because in my contact network there were no females, this could be seen as an

opportunity for further research for future studies with a larger sample. But at the same

time it could be a weakness because a gender comparison will not be possible.

Finally, some limitations from the use of interviews are the fact that they can be very time-

consuming: setting up (researcher and participants live/work in different time frames

areas), interviewing, transcribing, analysing, organisation, data reduction (decide a system

to code qualitative data), and verification… All these will need a compromise from my part

to time manage the project, be reflexive when writing up and fulfil the entire official and

my own deadlines.

The upsides of interviews are that they provide with wider information compared to

questionnaires because they allow more detailed questions to be asked. We can also draw

conclusions from the body language of the interviewee and the interviewees will be

selected beforehand and not randomly, therefore, answers will be more accurate to the

topic since they are familiarised in the field of study. It brings the opportunity of

understanding the phenomena from the perspective of those involved.

54

7. Dissertation Plan

SUBMISSION DATES

PLANNING

Task to be achieved

Target date

1. Literature Review Start 25 May

Submit 20 June proposal and ethics

2. Interview Design Start- 12 June

3. Revision of the interview design and possible modifications

Submit the draft for possible modifications- 7 June

4. Complete the interviews

Start in June Complete during mid June to September

5. Main study results

During September and October 13 September-Submit “Research Methodology”

29 October- Submit “Results”

6. Evaluation and analysis of the obtained data 7. Conclusions/ Reflections During November - put all the parts together.

Start 1 November - Submit 26 November

8. Writing up

Put all the parts together, make the appropriate modifications and submit a draft 15 December

9. Editing and Binding

From December to February: make the appropriate modifications.

Submit final version-13 February

9 M

ay

Proposal Form

23

May

Ethics form

20

Ju

ne

Literature Review

29

Ju

ne

Research 29

Oct

ob

er

Results of analysis

26

No

vem

eber

Conclusions

Reflections

13

Feb

ruar

y

Final version Methodology

• Metho

dology

55

Andrea Bejarano Department of Economics University of Hertfordshire Business School Hatfield

APPENDIX 4

Sample of letter for obtaining consent

Participant 1 Company 1 Sector: Food Industry Valencia Spain

10 August 2014

Dear Participant 1,

Re: Business School Student Dissertation

My name is Andrea Bejarano; I am studying a BA in International Management at the University of Hertfordshire.

As part of my degree I am undertaking a dissertation therefore, I am writing you to request your assistance with it.

The aim of the research project is to investigate the importance of expatriates role and the effect a buddy mentoring would have as part of their training during an international assessment. Specifically in the case of expatriates from the food industry in directors positions.

I would be very grateful if you consider your participation to get interviewed at a time that is convenient to you no later than the 15th of September. The interview would last for approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.

All the research complies with the ethics protocols at the University of Hertfordshire. Please enclosed find the form EC6 (participant information sheet).

Any provided data with will be treated with completely confidentiality and the interviewees will be treated anonymously. Please be aware that participation is absolutely voluntary and that you have the right to not take part or to withdraw at any time.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

Andrea Bejarano

56

APPENDIX 5 UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE

ETHICS COMMITTEE FOR STUDIES INVOLVING THE USE OF HUMAN PARTICIPANTS

(‘ETHICS COMMITTEE’) FORM EC6: PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET

Title of Research

Expatriate training in the food industry: How a buddying system of mentoring can help

expatriates foreign operations to success.

Introduction

You are being invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide whether to do so, it is

important that you understand the research that is being done and what your involvement will

include. Please take the time to read the following information carefully and discuss it with

others if you wish. Do not hesitate to ask us anything that is not clear or for any further

information you would like to help you make your decision. Please do take your time to decide

whether or not you wish to take part. Thank you for reading this.

What is the purpose of this study?

The aim of this study is to explore how effective a buddy mentoring system will be for

expatriates professional managers and the possible future implementation of this system in

their organisations.

Do I have to take part?

It is completely up to you whether or not you decide to take part in this study. If you do decide

to take part you will be given this information sheet to keep and be asked to sign a consent form.

Agreeing to join the study does not mean that you have to complete it. You are free to withdraw

at any stage without giving a reason. A decision to withdraw at any time, or a decision not to

take part at all, will not affect any treatment/care that you may receive (should this be

relevant).

How long will my part in the study take?

It is likely your involvement will be approximately an hour of your time.

What will happen to me if I take part?

The first thing to happen will be you will be contacted by email and then a Skype interview will

be set up at your inconvenience.

What are the possible disadvantages, risks or side effects of taking part?

There are no perceived disadvantages or risk to take in part in this research.

57

What are the possible benefits of taking part?

To share any possible recommendations that could then be implemented in organisations.

How will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?

All data will be saved on a personal computer, with their names being anonymous, and

password protected.

What will happen to the results of the research study?

The results of the research will be compared and analysed within the dissertation topic and

were appropriate suggestions and recommendations will be made.

Who has reviewed this study?

The researcher, supervisor and the module leader have reviewed this research.

Who can I contact if I have any questions?

If you would like further information or would like to discuss any details personally, please get

in touch with me, in writing, by phone or by email: anbejaranosarabia@gmail.com (researcher),

s.debenham@herts.ac.uk (supervisor)

Although we hope it is not the case, if you have any complaints or concerns about any

aspect of the way you have been approached or treated during the course of this study,

please write to the University Secretary and Registrar.

Thank you very much for reading this information and giving consideration to taking

part in this study.

58

APPENDIX 6

Questions of the interviews

1. Where and when were you an expatriate? What was your job description or your

main task to be fulfilled in the host country?

2. How did you adapt to: the new culture (style of living, food, outside activities,

environmental issues, law system), language barriers and standard of living?

2.1 Did you go alone or with you spouse/partner, family? If so, how was their

adaptation process?

2.2. On average, how did your adaptation (and/or your family’s) influence your work

performance?

3. Do you consider that training for expatriates (pre-post arrival) are important and

necessary? Do you believe its importance has increased or decreased over the last 20

years with the internalisation of more companies? Is it equally relevant for companies?

4. From your point of view, why is it necessary to send expatriates to different

locations? Which training or what would be needed in order to avoid the so-called

“expatriate failure”?

5. Taking into account the concept of “buddy mentoring” (another director from the

host country who provides expatriates with tips and guidance), do you consider it would

make a difference in expatriates’ success? And on top of that what if these mentors were

to speak the expatriates’ mother tongue?

6. Do you consider that any company would be able to carry out this type of training?

(Buddy Mentoring)What factors do you think that a company take into account to

correctly match mentors with expatriates?

7. How many languages do you speak? Is any second language at a proficiency level?

And finally how useful were your linguistic skills? Example: when communicating an

idea, language misunderstandings… Please provide any experience or anecdote.

8. What impact do you think that cross-cultural issues can have in the home and host

countries? Example: employment diversity, body language, teamwork and cooperation.

9. Given your experience as an expatriate. What made it successful? What would you

say were the most challenging aspects of being an expatriate?

10. Did you have any mentoring training? If you had had a buddy mentoring would

your performance had been the same?

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APPENDIX 7

Transcript Interview Participant 1

Q1. Where and when were you an expatriate? What was your job description or

your main task to be fulfilled in the host country?

So in fact, I have be been expatriated many times and I don’t know now where I am

expatriating from because I started my career in France so the first time I did and

expatriation was to Nestlé in Switzerland and it lasted 9 years and I was more on the IT

side I was assistant to zone management and I was also in the working on definition of

system requirements for system of Nestlé.

After that, my second expatriation was in Spain where I was sent as a managing director

for FIS (Food ingredients speciality) in Spain. Then after that I went to France so I don’t

know if I was expatriating from France you know, I don’t know where my home base

country was because at the end my home base was in Switzerland. So, I worked in

France for 2 years and a half as a managing director for G and after that I also

expatriated to Italy as a consultant and now I am back in Switzerland but I feel I am

more home based in Switzerland now I would say professionally.

Q2. How did you adapt to: the new culture (style of living, food, outside activities,

environmental issues, law system), language barriers and standard of living?

So I did a little bit of that, but the thing is that before I did these expatriations I studied

one year in Scotland and two years in the USA so already the I think my first real

expatriation or discovering of a new way of life was when I was in Scotland, that’s where

I had my first cultural shock.

I thin k a first cultural shock is when after 3 months you are just sick of everything and

you want to go home you are feed up, you don’t want to stay anymore because you don’t

understand anything and everything that looked nice at the beginning is going very bad

and you just want to go home.

It is known, the first time you go abroad for more than 3 months that you have that

cultural shock and when you know that you will stay for long time.

I had a colleague who went to Canada and he had the exactly same thing and I told him

you have to hand up you have to really make sure you stay there because it is a cultural

thing you will come to that.

So after that, I would say that all my moving to places to places was a bit easier in terms

of psychologically; I knew what I had to go through, I knew the troubles I would had to

adapt, the food, the language the culture but it is still remain something that as to be

done. For instance in Spain, changing the time of food, not knowing when the shops will

open … For example when I came I was sitting Saturdays and when I saw that shops

where closing at 3 pm I was thinking “wow, it is even worse than in Switzerland, because

shops close at 3 o’clock “ but I did not realise that it would open back at 5pm and still

open until 10pm. For me it was end of the day Saturday at 3 o’clock, so it took me a

60

month before I discovered “no, shops will open afterwards”. It is something very

different with regard to the law… Thanks god there was Nestlé behind because I would

not have managed to do all... Especially in Spain the regulations, the administrations that

were so picky. For me it was crazy to do something in the administration.

2.1 Did you go alone or with you spouse/partner, family? If so, how was their adaptation process?

No, I was alone all the time. And I must say that helped me a lot because I did not have to

worry about my family. I knew that when I was moving I did not have to worry about:

school, my wife or my boyfriend, to be with someone you know getting a loan or I think

to deal. I know from a lot of people that is has been very difficult, to go you are all inside

your work thing and then is our children when you go home but you have at the same

time thousands of problems from work. For me I would say I was “lucky” because I had

only my own problems to manage.

2.2 On average, how did your adaptation (and/or your family’s) influence your

work performance?

I think the biggest adaptation was in Spain, because of the Spanish language. And I had

studied it before coming I studied 30h of Spanish. And it was a little difficult when I

arrived to do interviews in Spanish, and visit customers and doing my work so as long as

I stayed inside the closed walls of my office that was okay, with my colleagues. But as

soon as I had to go outside to customers then it the image of the company so it was far

more difficult, because then you really had to give the best of the company outside and

not knowing the language made it harder. So colleagues can be appreciative at the office

with what you do and you trying to speak and they can be patient with you. But

customers will not so for me I would say that I could not visit anyone before I would say

6 months that I was in Spain. So for 6 months I was not in a position to really be at the

full of what I could do for my job. When we started FIS Spain that was the time I needed

to anyway to find the people into with that to do so that was a bit more acceptable.

Depending on the job that you are doing, if your skills can be adapted locally that is

easier. But in sales, for instance, knowing how to speak with the customers is something

that takes years. So you might have your ways of doing but will they are not the same

depending on the country you are going. So I was happy that I had the account managers

visiting the customers so I could support that they were the first front line so they need

to have the control of how you organise your meetings.

I remember also when I was visiting, before Vicente was hired, I had to visit the zone of

Valencia. And my problem was that I did not know even the geography, so when I was

taking an appointment for the morning I had no idea that the second place will be 20

kilometres or more away, no idea. So it was very difficult to me to organise meetings and

a very hard time. So I would say that for someone at the sales position that would be

very difficult. For me I was happy because it was more my job to be, was to try to be

people to be operational with logistic, with the product range and everything so that

allowed me to stay more in the office.

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You mentioned you took a 30h Spanish course, was it on your own or did your

company support this?

No, it was Nestlé; the company paid the 30h so it was a private lesson. And for that it was

very well organised and I think I could have gone with more training if I had needed it.

But I must say that as soon I arrived in Spain being lay in the country helped a lot.

Now another thing also that maybe it was special about my situation because I went to

Scotland and the US is that I knew that to learn the language you have to be immersed.

So was very crucial of never watch French television, never seeing French people so I

could really deep depth into the language. And it is something that most people don’t do

and I think that it is a big barrier that is that if you need to have the skills of doing the

effort of wanting to learn the language.

Q3. Do you consider that training for expatriates (pre-post arrival) are important

and necessary?

Yes, pre-training or training I believe it is important for the language issue. That is really

key, you need to understand the language because everything is involved with that

language and therefore that type of training is important. Now, I don’t see another

training that you can go through. Honestly I don’t see the type of training, because

everything else is about culture, and I would say maybe if you could have some initiation

to the culture. I remember when I had to go back to Switzerland and work with people

located in India I followed the 2-day course on how to work with people from an Asian

culture and that was fantastic for me because now I can work with them. Now I know

how I have to behave, there are things we do in Western culture, that in Asian culture

and religions are completely different. And if you do not know the keys you make big

mistakes.

So I would say that if you are inside the same culture type (everything from South

American which whom we share the same culture) that would be good. But if you go

Asia I think you need to have some training on what is the Asian culture.

Do you believe its importance has increased or decreased over the last 20 years

with the internalisation of more companies?

I think the importance of those training has decreased because nowadays English

becomes each time more the common language. And we have started as well with a

globalisation process, and I can see that less differences in terms of requirements … So

culturally, for the food, for local ways of work you have lot of differences but you have

more and more westernised culture in the companies.

Is it equally relevant for companies?

So I would say that in the food business, it is very specific because in food the cultural

food is completely different from one country to the next. You cannot impose the way of

working, the product range, and the way of consumption…

62

I have a good example from the head of the confectionary department she was in the

USA and they were talking about doing some cookie frozen dough. The dough needed to

be cut and she thought that asking the customer for just cut the dough was not a big

effort. But for and American, to cut is even to complex, you need to get the cookie dough

in the same format as you get a chocolate bar when you break and you straight put into

the oven. And that is the maximum that you can expect, to break something that is

already pre-cut but not expect them to cut.

And that is very related to American culture, of “simplifying your life”, materialistic and

everything… So you would understand. And at the reverse side when you go to Africa for

instance, people consume one cube a day, the buy the cube, the “Maggi” cube for cooking

they buy the cube they need for the day, so you need to know that you have to sell your

cubes in individual pieces, because that is the only thing they would buy. Making a

family pack of 30 cubes would be completely crazy because nobody would buy them in

such format.

So is all those things that if you do not know is like when I came to Spain I said “we can

sell tons of flavours in the frozen food industry” but visiting the supermarkets I could

see that frozen food was fresh food and just two companies well providing transformed

food. Because in Spanish culture is more about preparing the food so we could help in

other things, but regarding the frozen food it was too expensive, too complex and there

was no market for that.

To illustrate it with and example, you could have an IPod and sell it all over the world,

but with a potato you will bake it somewhere, cut it somewhere else… completely

according to different ways of consumption.

Q4. From your point of view, why is it necessary to send expatriates to different locations?

Well, sending expatriates just for the fact of sending someone I do not thing that is

interesting. It costs and you are not as efficient when send as an expatriate, the company

must have a really good reason to send you abroad.

If I take my own example of being send to Spain, I send to Spain because inside there

was no one or nobody else in Nestlé organisation wanted to take the responsibility of

building this entity of FIS.

So instead of hiring someone, training him … It was better to send someone who had

already the knowledge about it. And I also was asking myself that this will help me in my

career development, and being the first one to build up another company with the same

philosophy than the mother company. It is a big example of Nestlé, and Nestlé works

with a lot of expatriation because we are not sending Swiss people to train the other

markets, we are putting the foreigners or people from all the markets in Switzerland in

the headquarters so that they can learn, what is the culture of the company. And I

63

believe Nestlé’s model for that is fantastic, because you do not impose anything, they are

helping to make understand better the culture and that there is real life outside there,

different contexts, different problems… And it brings back the feeling of a multinational,

that cannot be top-down it as to be a contentious and it allows the person who comes to

Switzerland to learn the culture, and is better when they come back to their home

country to disperse this culture easily. This way of working as really been the DNI of

Nestlé and we have 90 nationalities in the headquarters, the language inside the French

speaking countries and the language of working is English and we are always open, we

are always aware that we will deal with someone of a different nationality and different

way of thinking.

I think is really interesting and useful, and I have not seen it in many other companies

and very specific of Nestlé.

Which training or what would be needed in order to avoid the so-called

“expatriate failure”?

I do not know if it is training… I think it is more about making sure that the people go

with the right mind set, the right attitude, because they are going to learn. So as I said all

the people that are expatriates at Nestlé are usually people who have high potential,

because it is an investment you do when you send someone from Switzerland

somewhere else for 3 years, it is 3 years that you will be working without in the

headquarter.

Because the expatriation process works this ways, it is people from the markets coming

to Switzerland rather than people from Switzerland going to the markets. Whereas in

engineering for instance they are more send from one location to another all over the

world.

So the type of training apart from the language, learning the language beforehand…

Training for me is hot skills and here we are talking about sub-skills, with expatriation if

you are successful or not is how you can adapt to the local culture.

Q5. Taking into account the concept of “buddy mentoring” (another director from the host country who will provide expatriates with tips and guidance), do you consider it would make a difference in expatriates’ success?

That yes that is a thing is a good reason for success, and I would say than when I was in

Spain, I had somehow a buddy mentoring because it was the head of the finance

department of FIS.

64

Was he Spanish?

Yes, he was my right arm and the person with who I built FIS Spain and as you could see

it was not a hierarchical level and he was really helping me understand the culture. It

was very nice because he was trying to let me understand even sometime when I was

wrong.

For example when they came and proposed the “jornada intensiva” (compressed

working) I said “sorry but in FIS we re working we are not going home in the

afternoon…” And I asked him what was that concept about because to me it was crazy to

close the office at 3pm. So I stayed for one summer I stayed working until 6pm and at

the end of the summer I realised that in 3 months I had answered one phone call only, so

they were completely right. And for a million things they were right.

I had also someone inside the Nestle office, this person was the boss of the former head

of the FIS division from Spain, who had been expatriate and who spoke French very well

and I had worked with him many times so he was also a good person to make me

understand some of the cultural issues, when I was hiring people … He was helping me,

he was not mentoring in the sense of coach I had no relation with him, my boss was in

Switzerland, so with me I had nobody and it was these tow people who helped me a lot

in my success because they really helped me understand.

And on top of that what if these mentors were to speak the expatriates’ mother

tongue?

No, in English would have been the same. What is important is that there are no barriers

of communication, so it could be in English; it could be in the local language, in the

mother tongue, how to talk to the people and to adapt yourself.

Q6. Do you consider that any company would be able to carry out this type of

training? (Buddy Mentoring)

That is not very complex to do, because it is not something that takes a lot of time. You

need someone who is able to give some kind of reference and be there to ask questions.

When I was in Switzerland I was asked by my boss to do some kind of the type of work

for someone that we hired who was an account manager and I had been account

manager in my own country so my boss at the time knew that so when this guy came he

said “can you just help him and if he has any questions can he come to you” so it did not

in my job description but I was told I was able to work and he was told he could come to

me for assistance if he wanted. And this created a kind of relationship, you feel

empowered to give and advice but it is not coaching or you being responsible for the

output of the guy no, it is just giving some tips, some advice and listens to his questions.

And something that you can do in your lunchtime, or in the evening, or compelling, it’s

not difficult.

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What factors do you think that a company take into account to correctly match

mentors with expatriates?

The problem with the IHR department is that they are useless in all the countries,

because they do not know the people. Usually it should be more the line managers’ role.

Let’s say if I was to be sent to Spain, my boss in Switzerland should be the one to speak

to someone in Spain and say: “I have this guy coming, what do you think?” because it is

line managers who really know you.

Sometimes you need to have help in your private times (sometimes) and need to have

someone you feel confident to speak with about not just for the job, is private life issues

and the small day to day activities that worry you.

Q7. How many languages do you speak? Is any second language at a proficiency level? And finally how useful were your linguistic skills? Example: when communicating an idea, language misunderstandings… Please provide any experience or anecdote.

So, French is the mother tongue, English close to bi-lingual, Spanish (spoken-read) and I

am trying to forget Italian.

I was lucky because I am an open person, not ashamed and do not care if I do mistakes

and learn from them. And an anecdote with my language skills, when I came to Spain I

had to see Nestle purchasing as a customer of FIS and tell the head of purchasing that

the price would increase a 20%, because when we were selling flavours in Spain we

need to have a margin, a local margin to be able to male a business. So that local margin

was done by transferred price so we were giving 25% of margin to the local

organisation so that they could sell. Now Nestle became a customer and would have to

pay the full price and the transfer price would go to FIS and we would sell back and I

was meant to explain all that in Spanish after my 5th week in Spain…

It was very difficult to explain and you need in this sales position the skills to convince.

Then you have all the body language, but it also depends on the culture I must say that

the Spanish culture the people are very open, I know that for example in France it would

never fly because the customer would say: “I do not want someone who doesn’t even

speak my language, send me someone competent please”.

I could see that. Also when I was coming everyday back from the office, I was checking

the Spanish television, and the language to learn new words, but was hearing a lot of bad

words and slag and that make me check everyday the dictionary and if I could used it at

the office, and you can make some mistakes but not knowing this kind of things.

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Q8. What impact do you think that cross-cultural issues can have in the home and host countries? Example: employment diversity, body language, teamwork and cooperation.

Tons, because working is collaboration between people and in a company you work

with others so you have to exchange, you have to communicate and that is part of your

job and its enormous the impact it has.

And I am working with different people because currently I am working on the design of

systems for the Nestle development area and doing telecommunications, and when I am

ready to release I do six sessions with 60 people, one in the morning for Asia and the one

in the afternoon for Europe. It is amazing the number of questions and types of

questions that come all over the place. Also when you do a telepresence and you see the

person it changes completely than when you are just on the phone. Communication by

mail is something, on the phone something, and telepresence is something completely

different, being in life in the market helps a lot.

Q9. Given your experience as an expatriate. What made it successful?

For Nestle expatriation is a stamp, so if you do not have so many “stamps” in your

passport you do not grow in the hierarchy. And people who failed expatriation do not go

up. Because if you have been able to work with people in their country that means from

the headquarters or another situation you will be able to manage, you have the open

mind… Doing an expatriation gives you the skills of open-minded person, able to work

with others in a different context. So it gives an idea that you are flexible and adaptable

it is all the sub-skills that you have developed.

What you learn on the out skills is different, for instance, if you learn the way of doing a

financial accounting sheet in Spain, was different from the one in France, the way you

sell etc. But it definitely gives you the ability to solve different problems.

What would you say were the most challenging aspects of being an expatriate?

The language, that is for sure, and after that it is the human relations. In Spain if you are

the manager you say something and are seen as owning the truth, and people just obey

more easily, whereas if you are in France you can forget about it, because they do not

obey they criticise what you say and then you have to convince them (sell the idea, work

on making sure that people understand what you do). In Italy it is interesting that I had

to realise that people were very nice in the front, but behind they cared less. In my style

of management it is easier to understand what you want them to do and then why, but it

can be very tiring sometimes.

And I can see it even now, for example, every time I work with France I know that to

convince the French it will take me tow times more than to convince the others. The

problems is that when I deal with south American countries they “yes” but just because

they do not want to challenge, and fro the Asian countries they never say “no”, so it is a

problem and you have to be very careful and understand if they really understand, so

the cultural aspect if very important with Asian deals.

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Q10. Did you have any mentoring training?

No.

If you had had a buddy mentoring would your performance had been the same?

I think I had some.

In France I must say I missed a buddy mentoring, so yes I think it would had helped me a

lot, because I discovered in fact when I came to France the issues on the units, because I

had work for so long in France that I had lost contact with the culture so it became kind

of an expatriation even when it was my home country.

Then in Italy it was even more difficult because I was the consultant, working for the

managing director of the operations in Italy, but the guy was an Irish person who had

difficulties to understand the local culture, so he could not really help me because he

could not understand it himself. And when he left the company because he was feed up

and wanted to go home and left this big multinational to go into a small cooperative, and

the problem was that his private life was a chaos, his family could not adapt to the local

culture and very anxious to go home, because the cultural shock was too much between

the Irish and the Italian.

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Transcript Interview Participant 2

Q1. Where and when were you an expatriate? What was your job description or

your main task to be fulfilled in the host country?

About 20 years ago. I am not a typical expat, which means most expatriates have their

companies that send them abroad, right? So in fact, I chose to move to Switzerland.

I wanted to do my studies in Switzerland and them after I found a job here and then I

just continued living here. It wasn’t a situation where for example I was working in a

company and then they sent me to South America, Japan or somewhere else. So it is a

little bit different, because it was me selecting to come here and then selecting to stay.

What was your job description or your main task to be fulfilled in the host country?

I was going to study and get my PhD, in Lausanne. And after I found a job here in the

region.

Q2. How did you adapt to: the new culture (style of living, food, outside activities,

environmental issues, law system), language barriers and standard of living?

Well, I learnt and knew some French before I arrived and then I improved it and became

pretty bilingual. As a student you do not really have a high standard of living wherever

you are, but actually I would say the standard of living in Switzerland is relatively high.

2.1 Did you go alone or with you spouse/partner, family? If so, how was their adaptation process?

I moved alone.

2.2 On average, how did your adaptation (and/or your family’s) influence your

work performance?

Good question. Well adaptation to some place new takes time and maybe you can ask a

more specific question?

So maybe with the English barrier it took you more time to learn at the same

speed in a different language in this case French.

That did take a little while, we did have at the beginning meeting that were in French

and so it was a bit challenging to follow some of the meetings. But with time we learnt

and improved the language and learnt to communicate. Doing a PhD is not as an

undergraduate course, so is not really exams is mostly research so it is a little bit like

working.

In the very first few years it was not easy but I think you have a point, your colleagues

that you learn a little bit more about he local culture and this is what lets says help, is

the friendships that you develop with the colleagues that help you adapt.

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Q3. Do you consider that training for expatriates (pre-post arrival) are important and necessary?

You know I think that they would be necessary, I think anyone who is coming into a new

country, it can only be beneficial to have some type of a training or a way of introducing

those people to others in a similar positions. So others expatriate entering into the

country as well as other locals who are originally from the country. SO I think that would

be very useful.

Do you believe its importance has increased or decreased over the last 20 years

with the internalisation of more companies?

I think there is an increasing need for social network that are helping people to adapt, to

the regions where they arrive in fact. In fact it happens to be true that there are social

networks that have been created by entrepreneurs to address this need.

Is it equally relevant for companies the fact to provide this training?

I am not sure what the training that the companies would give; it might be more

orientation, counselling or introducing people to others in the company so maybe it

could be beneficial by having a network within the company that is open to meeting new

people who they don’t necessary work everyday.

Q4. From your point of view, why is it necessary to send expatriates to different

locations?

I believe that it tends to be that well I do not find that it is always necessary to send

expatriates to different locations. Bu t in general people who agree to become expatriate

tend to be those who are a bit of an open-minded set, for living in different

environments and enjoy that. However, I think it depends on the stage of the expatriates

lives, I cannot believe that expatriates who have families necessary want to move their

families around different countries, they prefer some stability in their lives.

Which training or what would be needed in order to avoid the so-called

“expatriate failure”?

To me failure could me when they move to a country and then they feel they are out of

place and want to move back.

I think that the key, whenever you are moving someone into a new structure, even if

they are not expatriates, when you hire someone new, for instance, what is important is

that the person who is hired somehow and this might sound very trivial, but that he

makes friends within the company that they are working at. And that they have someone

that they can speak with if there are any problems and so maybe, in particular cultural

differences like hits that would be perhaps useful. To have someone who can serve as a

mentor within the structure.

So as you where referring to a “buddy mentor” who has been there in the company a

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little while perhaps was an expat himself and would be basically nominated to be the

friend/mentor of this new person coming in. So I think that’s not a bad idea.

Q5. Taking into account the concept of “buddy mentoring” (another director from

the host country who will provide expatriates with tips and guidance), do you

consider it would make a difference in expatriates’ success?

I think it is always good when someone is arriving in a new country and they don’t

necessary know anyone, that the company provides them with lets say local contacts,

persons to show them around and sort of become their friends, and maybe it is only for

a short period of time but who can introduce the expatriate to the culture to the

company into the local social network, these types of things.

And on top of that what if these mentors were to speak the expatriates’ mother

tongue?

It would be good if they also spoke the mother tongue of the expat, but maybe they

should be a local so for example, if someone is moving to Brazil it should be a Brazilian,

and not a American in my case. Because I think that when you arrive in a country you

would prefer to meet locals, most people want, who could serve to introduce you to the

culture and in situations when they do not have that access, then of course, they would

turn to other expats who have a similar nationality so you often see Americans hanging

out together, or French hanging out together or Italians… You see what I mean, that that

doesn’t necessary the best way to integrate someone into a culture I would say.

Q6. Do you consider that any company would be able to carry out this type of

training? (Buddy Mentoring)

I think the company would have to be large enough and have employees who are able to

do that. Small companies may not have employees who speak the language of the expat,

perhaps speaking English may be enough as many people speak English these days, I

would guess most expatriates do so.

What factors do you think that a company take into account to correctly match

mentors with expatriates?

I think in the context of a large company there should be someone within the company

that is, let’s say assigning people are all sort of responsibilities of helping expatriates

integrate into the company and into the local culture. So in this way once a new

expatriates arrive into the company they would be introduced to someone who would

be there “hosting” and then one of the aspects is certainly the social aspects, as plans

and social activities, that are financed by large companies that for example even social

activities as parties at people’s home from time to time, somehow to keep the

expatriates meeting new people and becoming more integrated into the culture.

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Q7. How many languages do you speak?

I have to say I only speak two and a half. I speak French and English a little bit of Spanish

and a very little of Italian.

Is any second language at a proficiency level?

Yes. (French)

And finally how useful were your linguistic skills? Example: when communicating

an idea, language misunderstandings… Please provide any experience or

anecdote.

I think linguistic skills are very important, and learning the local languages is essential

for sure as an expatriate.

In the beginning I wasn’t speaking French fluently, so it was frustrating. When you

arrive in a country and you cannot communicate usually, I think that is probably one of

the primary reasons that in my guess expatriate failure, the difficulty of communicating.

Q8. What impact do you think that cross-cultural issues can have in the home and

host countries? Example: employment diversity, body language, teamwork and

cooperation.

I think probably in the host country I guess it really depends on the particular situation,

there could be issues of course when people have children and the children need to

adapt to the local schools and learn the language this is of course an issue.

Other issues at home for instance would be media; access to media in languages that you

know, for example, television programs, radio programs… Now there is less problem

with this because of Internet, before Internet there was no evidence to get even new

from your home country, but that is now less of an issue. Probably another item is

cooking; that finding the right ingredients or understanding he ingredients that are

changing from one country to another…

At work I think you get a different perspective so I think that is a benefit to have people

from different cultural mind or background, because that leads to different mind set. So

someone who was raised in one country is likely to think of a problem or a situation

differently than another. But I have not personally encountered personally conflicts due

to differences in culture.

Q9. Given your experience as an expatriate. What made it successful?

Success for the new culture comes from multiple points that can influence that. One is

the mind set if you are open to a new culture and new idea, that is the first point. The

second one is adaptability or flexibility you have to learn to appreciate the culture and

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how the things work where you are living, for instance, some countries stores are

closing at 5 o’clock and others are opened 24 hours a day. Other points are language

skills, improving language and I would say in particular social skills and building up a

network of people that you become friends with. I think all of these points are essential

for successfully adapting in a country that is different from your home country.

What would you say were the most challenging aspects of being an expatriate?

That is a tuff question. I think it is always difficult to live in a country that is not your

home country if you will. I can only speak for myself that there are certainly things that

you will miss, for instance: the people that you know, family member, and cultural

aspects that you brought up with. But that is the life of an expat.

Q10. Did you have any mentoring training?

At the first company where I was working I was doing my PhD so there were several

other PhD students that were at the same time working on their PhD. So consequently

you are “buddy mentored” by your peers who are in the same situations of getting a PhD

and who may not be from the same country as you or from the host country.

If you had had a buddy mentoring would your performance had been the same?

For sure, and yes I think we can call it “buddy mentoring” but it was also friendship,

people that you meet who are in the host country and who can help you and this is also

very important to success.

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Transcript Interview Participant 3

Q1. Where and when were you an expatriate? What was your job description or your main task to be fulfilled in the host country? I lived 10 years in Spain until 2009 in Barcelona. I built a company with two entrepreneurs with a lot of money and I was the general manager of this company. And I started this company from the scratch. It was a medium size company, this company started when we had seventy workers and with the Spanish crisis we had to reduce the number to half of the people.

Q2. How did you adapt to: the new culture (style of living, food, outside activities, environmental issues, law system), language barriers and standard of living?

So my main issue was the language, I think it was not difficult I think I was speaking quite well but my main problem was to understand as I have a very bad hearing I do not have this skill in languages. For me to learn the language was not hard but to understand it was, as you can hear my accent in English is really bad. Adaptation to this culture I did it perfect, I felt I was born for living in Spain. I enjoyed the culture, the food and everything.

2.1 Did you go alone or with you spouse/partner, family? If so, how was their adaptation process?

I started alone, and after my wife joined me after six months. She did not adapt very good, she didn’t manage to adapt to the Spanish way of living. I was also working very hard so I was not very much present at home so she felt alone and also because we were not together to discover the Spanish culture, she started no to know a lot of new people. Because in Barcelona you can find thousands of French people due to its proximity to France but we tried not to go alone with them and try to know and meet Spanish people, but it was difficult because Spanish people have their on style of living. You will never or almost impossible to meet Catalan people on a Sunday or Saturday, because they spend always this day with their relatives. Maybe not Saturday night but in general family is very strong so we could not go out with them those days. Also there is a lot of noise in Barcelona compared to France and for my wife it was difficult to understand Spanish people.

2.2 On average, how did your adaptation (and/or your family’s) influence your

work performance?

Difficult questions… It was for me quite stressful because I was seeing how she wasn’t adapting very well. But there were also positive points, for instance, Spanish people accepted very much the fact that foreign people do not speak very good Spanish. And in my job people I was working with were more open-minded than in France, and also when looking for a job at least before the crisis, so it was not difficult for her to meet potential employers or to find a job, so she was happy with that. So on average there were positive things and negative things. Also many Spanish people have not travelled a lot, so it was very surprising to meet people with high degrees in education that were spending their holidays in a camping rather than travelling around the world, so sometimes I could not have really interesting conversations. And as some Spanish people describe them “gente de pueblo” (the village people), but again

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interesting is a relative concept, because what can be interesting for someone can be boring for another. And the thing is most of her colleagues had spent all their live in Catalonia… And how did this affect my work? At the beginning it did not affect but at the end I had to go back to France, as she could not support living in Spain. Q3. Do you consider that training for expatriates (pre-post arrival) are important and necessary?

I think so, but actually it is very difficult.

Do you believe its importance has increased or decreased over the last 20 years with the internalisation of more companies?

I have no idea.

I think it is stills important, because it depends on the personality of the people, and of

course on the culture. Many French people they just like Spain like me, but some Spanish

people they do not like France.

So it is very difficult because in the preparation of the expatriates to the culture of the

host culture, I think the personal behaviour and attitude maybe counts more for the

capacity of the expatriate to adapt to the new country.

I had 35 years old German friend, and he just loved Spain as well and adapted perfectly.

Preparation to expatriation is necessary and better, and should take into a count culture

differences and personality. Maybe fifty-fifty being even more important the personality

which drives more your adaptation.

Q4. From your point of view, why is it necessary to send expatriates to different locations? Because companies need somebody to control what is happening in certain areas or in

the same company in different countries. Because by phone is very difficult to

understand what is happening in subsidiaries.

Let me find an example, many people do not speak foreign languages and Japanese

people for instance speak very bad English usually. So it is difficult to understand what

is happening without a real presence there.

Just a simple example, in an Asian culture it is very impolite to say “no”, even in China or

Japan it is impolite to say no, therefore, who a guy or a boss of a company based in Spain,

UK or France could be sure that the Asian person will do what this other person wants

him to do. If an English person ask a French company to do something, and the French

company knows they cannot afford or do it they will say “I cannot do it because of this”.

An expatriate will truly understand very quickly the culture, and the situation and can

give a better view to the headquarter office or boss, but you could not do so if you were

not physically in the host country.

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Which training or what would be needed in order to avoid the so-called

“expatriate failure”?

Good question… I think to organise meetings with expatriates back for the country you are sending the new expatriate. But not just with one maybe with several. As I said before the personality of the person is very important.

Q5.Taking into account the concept of “buddy mentoring” (another director from the host country who will provide expatriates with tips and guidance), do you consider it would make a difference in expatriates’ success?

Well most of the expatriate in some companies, especially in small an medium ones are the only expatriates for that company so you might not be able to find a colleague that has been already expatriated and who as you mentioned could provide you with tips and guidance. Secondly, if the mentor is the boss is better rather than if the mentor was a colleague of you because I think it is not a good idea that your colleagues know that things are not going good for you and this can be risky for the expatriate as maybe that new colleague wants the position of the expatriate and might see this adaptation as a weakness. It might not be a good idea. So a colleague should not be a mentor.

And on top of that what if these mentors were to speak the expatriates’ mother tongue?

Yes, I think the expatriates should make sure to get really involved and meet people from different nationalities and local people. I think maybe yes because the expatriates do not speak a lot of foreign languages, maybe the expatriate just speaks a little English. So it is harder to speak in a third language or I do not speak it very well so it will be easier in my mother tongue. But I think ideally it will good to have not just one mentor but to have two or three, because one mentor will give you a view of the situation and a second person will give you a different view. That is why a group of two or three people would be more interesting and useful. And then the expatriate could meet them separately or as a group. It’s an idea that just came to my mind now.

Q6. Do you consider that any company would be able to carry out this type of training? (Buddy Mentoring) Well big companies have more resources. But this type of mentoring could also be organised by associations of expatriates and usually expatriates go to this associations by nationalities and by language. For example, in the French association we used to have some German people.

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What factors do you think that a company should take into account to correctly match mentors with expatriates? I think that the mentors should be professionals in mentoring expatriates and then you can match them all. Or pay a mentor in the host country to mentor your expatriate so if you have professionals is better. The factors should be; if the expatriate is married, if he has children because of course French schools are very expensive so of course it is expensive for companies to pay for them and also companies should take into account when people come back to the home country. For expatriates families is sometimes as difficult to come back to their countries as to live in the host country. Even the expatriate changes when he is abroad because of cultural issues, you see your country, friends, and family in a different way because you have changed, and you forget some culture issues. Also if you have been abroad for a lot of time and want to come back to your home country the positions that you might be offered might not be the same you had or could be worse, because as an expatriate you have a higher position in terms of responsibilities. That’s why most expatriates when they come back to the home country company they leave the company because they are not offered a position as good as the one they had in the host country. And this is a problem as well for companies.

Q7. How many languages do you speak?

Three. French, Spanish and English.

Is any second language at a proficiency level?

Well you can hear my English level and Spanish bilingual.

And finally how useful were your linguistic skills? Example: when communicating

an idea, language misunderstandings… Please provide any experience or

anecdote.

Not many. I think for my English it helped me the fact that I worked in London for three months. And I can say that Spanish people compared to British people are more patient and open to people who do not speak good Spanish. Q8. What impact do you think that cross-cultural issues can have in the home and host countries? Example: employment diversity, body language, teamwork and cooperation. It is essential because of as I mentioned before the Asian culture and the “no”, so you relay need to know all the culture issues. When I was younger I was in Vietnam and was very surprised because I was looking for a price and because he could not understand me instead of saying no he just stopped to understand or answer me in English. In Vietnam as well once we were in a cab and the car had a mechanical problem and we stopped in a garage and we spend 36 hours there and nobody was speaking English, and we did not know if they would be able to repair the car, so I asked the lady that who was

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the only one to communicate in English, if she could ask the manager if they were going to repair the car and where was the chauffeur and she told me that she could not ask the manager because of tow reasons; the first one because she was a woman and could not ask a men, and secondly because she was younger than him. And in Japan is the same a friend of mine he entered a restaurant he sat, and as in Spain you see all the food behind a glass and he showed the lady what he wanted to eat the lady gave him the food so he though Japanese people and himself were leaving without paying, so he realised he did a mistake and that the Japanese people in that restaurant first were going to a machine, choosing what they wanted and paying there and going with a ticket that they had to go to the lady. So he went to the machine and selected Dutch because all the rest was in Japanese, had the ticket and gave it to the lady. But what happened is that in Japan when you’re when a customer does something wrong you do not say it, and second if you are a woman you cannot say to a man that he is doing “stupid” things. In the UK, for instance to say hello to somebody you do not give two kisses as you would do in Spain or in France, you just shake hands, and when I was working in London in a bar to me it was very strange not seeing people touching each other it was a strange feeling. I felt excluded. And many things were difficult, in Japan when you snore in public is very rude.

Q9. Given your experience as an expatriate. What made it successful?

I learned that in France we are not always right. I saw my home country in a different

way, and that you can be happy as well living in a different place… I don’t know so many

things. And regarding my job, I meet lot of different people from different nationalities.

What would you say were the most challenging aspects of being an expatriate?

My wife was the most challenging, as could happen to any other expatriate. My children

the hard regard the school, because in the Spanish model they finish quite early.

Especially if they are 6 months old they will finish at 3-4 pm and then the grandparents

will pick them up and take care of them, but in France all the kinder garden close around

7-8 pm. But obviously as an expatriate you do not travel with your parents, so those

timetables were a problem for us. And then it is really expensive, an au pair can be 7-8

euros per hour, of going to the zoo can be 20eu, so much more expensive compared to

France.

Q10. Did you have any mentoring training?

No, I did not have it but I do not think I really needed since I liked the Spanish culture

and was really open minded for the new project. But for my wife it would have been

useful.

If you had had a buddy mentoring would your performance had been the same?

For me no, but if my wife had had a buddy mentor, she would have performed better.

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Transcript Interview Participant 4

Q1. Where and when were you an expatriate? What was your job description or your main task to be fulfilled in the host country?

I am now in my third expatriation.

I did my first one in 2007 moving from the United States to Switzerland, as the

controller for Nestlé professional, which is a business unit. And then my second one was

in 2010 I reallocated from Switzerland to England to work at a pior technology centre in

the R&D facilities for intensive purposes. And then at the beginning of this year (2014),

was my third expat assignment to China as Head of Finance and Portfolio for China and

India, which is a five R&D sights.

Q2. How did you adapt to: the new culture (style of living, food, outside activities, environmental issues, law system), language barriers and standard of living?

I think, in China they had a better set up for because there are several expatriates’ funds

and they all went out of their way to help me. And they also set me up with locals to help

me with the car, you know, the biggest problem is the language of course, and taxi

drivers here cannot speak any English so these locals helped with the translations.

For England since I was an American they assumed that there wasn’t any cultural

differences so really they gave me no help at all.

In my first assignment in Switzerland I was a little too “junior” in level to get much help,

the only help that I got was from a state agent so once we got our apartment and that

kind of went away. It was really hard in a very demanding job to learn the language,

never really succeeded. The, I don’t know, everything in Switzerland closes at an early

hour and closes at Sunday so was hard to adjust to a slow pace … It was really

challenging because they are so “superstars” and so wealthy and athletic and great-

looking and that was kind of intimidating at first. But it was really part of what we

wanted to do: get a lot healthier, and not too have such a common foot print so we did

not buy a car… so it was something that we wanted to do.

I think the adaptation process is always kind of hard, but mainly because you are so far

away from your family. And we were, because I have just one daughter and my first

expatriate assignment was when she was going off to college so that is when we left her

in the States and so is pretty hard when you have this “one-child” because it is a family

unit that is kind of broken in two.

So, I think that really the job was not challenging but being in what we call in the US a

teenage strata I don’t know if you are familiar with this term but it is when your children

didn’t leave you but you had to leave them and because of that the challenge of the job

was much harder than cultural changes. I kind of feel it is kind the same no matter

where you go in the world.

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China was, I would say the most interesting one and I found that I really listened to

people and had much better conversations with them and much more deeper because

the language is so different, you know that you have to slow down and so it becomes

very enjoyable to have discussion with somebody because you are not in such a hurry,

you know you cannot be so you do not even try. You do not really expect to have a

meeting of a minds so quickly so maybe I am also lucky that China was on my third

assignment, because when I first went from America to Europe I was really surprised

about how decisions could be made and all in English and meeting after meeting and you

could never get fully cooperation form different functions. Maybe it was just

communication, but I did not realised until I finally got to China, but it is just part of

dealing with people.

You have to invest a huge amount of time explaining and re-explaining and really you do

not get to what they really feel or think.

I would never had imagine than in India, China they supported so many employment

options, and the amount of people that surprise you and quit from companies, and there

is a huge amount of turnover so you cannot let it become personal. People have more

options in the East or in the emergent markets.

2.1 Did you go alone or with you spouse/partner, family? If so, how was their adaptation process?

I went with my wife for the three assignments, and she adapted really well. She is

Filipina, she looks Chinese so a lot of people mistake her and talk to her in Chinese,

which she cannot get yet, but we are taking lessons.

But Filipinos are really resilient and she adapted perfectly to the style of American wife

and has her own opinion, and she is such a really adaptor. She is really patient and calm,

and puts a lot of effort because it is really hard to be an expatriate’s wife. And the

relationship has to be very strong overall, because the expats usually have huge jobs and

a lot of pressure but they have to go to work and speak English, but then the wife might

go with no employment to the host country and has to find something to do and they

have to deal with it; find taxis, go shopping...

2.2 On average, how did your adaptation (and/or your family’s) influence your

work performance?

It didn’t because my wife is so good, because she didn’t complain too much, or didn’t

demand that I come home at any particular time so I could work late if I needed to or if I

needed to work during the weekends she accepted it. But as I mentioned, being away

from the child was hard but the wife didn’t affect my work performance, just helped.

Q3. Do you consider that training for expatriates (pre-post arrival) are important and necessary?

Yes, definitely.

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Do you believe its importance has increased or decreased over the last 20 years

with the internalisation of more companies?

Hard for me to answer, I would guess that in theory maybe it is a little bit less with

globalisation than before, but I have only been an expat for 7 years so not really fulfilled

that 20 years period that you are talking about.

Is it equally relevant for companies?

It is relevant; I think companies could do a great service by providing training.

Q4. From your point of view, why is it necessary to send expatriates to different locations? They have a phrase “the purpose to develop local talent” and for that reasons they are

supposed to come spent three years and develop people, and put in something that it is

a sustainable structure. The fact is to share knowledge, I have been for instance in Nestlé

for twenty years so I have a lot to share in many different functions and I have always

trued to spend my day developing people. Then we leave and you should have a

successor who is a local.

Which training or what would be needed in order to avoid the so-called

“expatriate failure”?

Well, so I came here on a first on January and I knew about it in May so I knew 7 months

ahead that time so in that time there were budgets battles so I was never able to

persuade the company to invest in language training, it would have been so useful to

learn how to speak Mandarin before I came, it would have been also nice to have been

given some kind of cultural training but it didn’t happen.

And the same happen in England where I had a boss who really wanted to get

everything out of me so there was not really a time for training. But instead you just

learn on your way during the first 6 months of job so… And it is true that there are

something that you can only learn by your own. But nobody told me what to live China

looked like I never explored or came out here to visit beforehand so I really didn’t know

what I was going into.

Q5.Taking into account the concept of “buddy mentoring” (another director from the host country who will provide expatriates with tips and guidance), do you consider it would make a difference in expatriates’ success?

Definitely. I had something like this here in China, I mentioned all the French expatriates

that knocked my door the first day and keep asking me if everything was okay, and

giving my advice regarding different neighbourhoods that I could live in, and things like

that. So they were all willing and buddy mentors they were beyond the office duties. It

was kind of difference in Switzerland or in England where I did not receive that, so I

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kind of experienced that. And also my alliance division from the US even though I had

not been working with them for 7 years anymore, they set me up with somebody from

their organisation who had worked for 3 years in China and came back to the US, so

when I was in China for 3 weeks he met with me and gave me some books and tried to

advise me on the little things, and he offered to stay in touch, and he did, but I did not

really require it. Anyway I think buddy mentoring my company without picking a

specific person to do it officially, I got the benefit of it I felt the idea of it and I realise

how nice it is.

And on top of that what if these mentors were to speak the expatriates’ mother

tongue?

Yes. So like I was mentioning when I came to China for the first month there was a lady

in human resources who gave me her cell phone and said “call me any time if you are

stocked in a road, anything that you need, do not hesitate to call”. She did all the

arrangement for weekends and gave me a driver for the first months, so I could arrange

sightseeing on the weekend, she could help my wife go shopping during the weekdays.

There was another lady with whom we travel and got shuttle buses from our home to

work and she came to the hotel and oriented me to the best bus stop, you know, so they

really were really caring that you were feeling safe.

So really the mother tongue was really helpful and even if it was just for the first month I

could have kept it going but I was just too embarrassed to keep asking them for help.

Any of the Chinese girls that I work with are always super helpful like in teaching you

the language, and a million of people is available if you need any help.

Q6. Do you consider that any company would be able to carry out this type of training? (Buddy Mentoring)

If they are a big company they should be able to afford it. If they have experience they

should be able to built it through experience, if there are surveying or questioning their

expatriates well they can design it. Probably any company that can afford expats needs

to train them and supporting them.

What factors do you think that a company take into account to correctly match

mentors with expatriates?

That is a good question. I would say; if they could judge how similar the people are in

their age, style. Because there has to be some personal chemistry and it may be that the

company could offer a few several candidate and then they can choose one. Age and

maybe family structure like how many children, you know if you happen to match an

expatriate with children with a mentor who doesn’t have children in that market they

would not be able to advise them in the for instance best school or how to do it when the

kids are lonely…

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Q7. How many languages do you speak?

Just English really the only one that I could claim of speaking well. I am taking lesson in

Chinese but is not going that well. And French really didn’t learn it.

Is any second language at a proficiency level?

No.

And finally how useful were your linguistic skills? Example: when communicating an idea,

language misunderstandings… Please provide any experience or anecdote.

I really take make time with the locals here and there is certainly US phrases that come

out of my mouth and then I have to explain them and usually that is pretty funny.

Sometimes in meetings I use the word “overwarm” or “insulting” so they ask you if there

is a word they do not understand and then they stop me.

Q8. What impact do you think that cross-cultural issues can have in the home and host countries? Example: employment diversity, body language, teamwork and cooperation.

I think it is pretty big here, my wife bought a book on that and it explained a lot of things

to me. For instance you do not cross your legs because it is impolite, so I think there is a

lot of that and you do not realise about it unless you read about it.

Q9. Given your experience as an expatriate. What made it successful?

Wasn’t really successful, I think developing local talent, in England there was a local that

succeed me so I guess that was a success according to my success definition. In China

and India I think that is more than a challenge because lets face it England and the US

are more developed countries so I made myself the question why they were sending me

to England if there was nothing that big to develop but then realised it was to develop

me and continue my career in R&D.

What would you say were the most challenging aspects of being an expatriate?

Being far from your family and the uncertainty in the career, not knowing when your

next assignment was going to take place, no job security really. And the language barrier

in China and Switzerland.

Q10. Did you have any mentoring training?

No.

If you had had a buddy mentoring would your performance had been the same?

My performance would had been much better at least in the first two assignments I

mean in the third one I feel I am more experienced in the expatriate field.

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Transcript Interview Participant 5

Q1. Where and when were you an expatriate? What was your job description or your main task to be fulfilled in the host country?

Between 1992 and 1994 I was in Japan, from 1994 then I moved into Hong Kong up to

1996.

I was sent as a regional assistant manager to help the company from a regional office,

responsible from North-East Asia; covering Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

I was sent to help my boss as a regional assistant manager.

Q2. How did you adapt to: the new culture (style of living, food, outside activities, environmental issues, law system), language barriers and standard of living?

Before answering your questions, I would like to point out that I am working in the agro-

chemical and food industry.

So the reason why I was sent as an expatriate was because it is a regional office newly

formed, so before that I worked for a German company where usually expatriates were

sent from Germany headquarter to other countries worldwide (98%-99% of the cases),

and expatriates used to be either German or European.

Anyway, when the regional office was formed in 1992 it was located in Tokyo so people

were thinking about whether to sent an expatriate from Germany or from somewhere

else, of course my boss as regional manager he is half German, he was in Japan for

almost 10 years already. And then he was looking for an assistant so one alternative was

to find someone from the headquarter in Germany but finally he decided to hire

someone from the region so among Japan-Korea-Hong Kong, and finally they decided to

find a Chinese, however China is between China and Taiwan, due to historic and political

reasons concerns they preferred to fin a Chinese from Taiwan and that is the reason why

I was selected as a candidate.

So that means culture is important factor to consider for expatriates. So the reason why

they needed Chinese people is because Chinese in this region, basically there are lots of

similarities in culture. For culture and mentality they wanted a Chinese and for political

reasons they preferred specifically a Chinese form Taiwan. Because Japanese and

Korean they are pretty much against each other regarding the way of thinking, as well as

Chinese and Japanese they are very much political rivals. So that is why a Chinese form

Taiwan could be more neutral.

So the culture, culture itself I would say that due to the regional offices in Japan I had to

go to the offices in Tokyo to work there, so especially Japanese culture is something very

much different form the worldwide point of view. However, Taiwan used to be a colony

by Japan for almost 50 years, so the culture still remains alive. For me and for many

Taiwanese, Japanese culture in very similar and adaptation to this new country was not

that hard.

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Regarding language, as we are a multinational company people usually speaks in

English, including my boss with all his employees in Japan. Our day-to-day language is

English. However, as well a little Japanese is spoken, language for Japanese is basic for

daily life in terms of for the daily job, and for official communication. I would say that

when working in host countries, language is a basic, even though you speak just a little

of the foreign country it makes the local people to feel you are part of them.

So I would say language is very important but not necessary a must because most of the

multinational companies (French, Spanish or Germany) normally people in the office

speak English.

2.1 Did you go alone or with you spouse/partner, family? If so, how was their adaptation process?

No, I went there alone.

2.2 On average, how did your adaptation (and/or your family’s) influence your

work performance?

It did, because I am quite familiar since I was born with Japanese culture. So all the time I

was quite familiar with Japanese culture and that helped me very much to adapt myself

to a new environment. I would say there are some other young expatriates in our

company from Germany from the headquarter office, and in this aspect due to culture

and language barriers I adapted myself much better than these other German

expatriates.

Q3. Do you consider that training for expatriates (pre-post arrival) are important and necessary?

Yes, definitely. It doesn’t matter from which area or country the expatriates are coming

or going to, prior and post arrival is necessary. But honestly speaking I have worked for

a German company for many years and also have colleagues in American companies in

the same industry and 20 years ago I haven’t seen too much help for expatriates. The

only time when I have seen some knowledge or orientation or training was more in

marketing and sales positions, but this kind of trainings are quite different from what

you are mentioning in terms of language and culture.

Do you believe its importance has increased or decreased over the last 20 years

with the internalisation of more companies?

Well first I would say that with the globalisation nowadays, expatriates become less

necessary on average, because now you see the IT knowledge is more important for

communication. I do have seen that the necessity is decreasing. However, as long as you

still need the expatriates for multinational companies you need the less expatriate, so on

this other side it has increased because a big company in a big area like Japan, China or

Korea probably in a host country there are less expatriates from the head quarters. That

means, one expatriate needs to take care of more things and more responsibilities so the

expatriates’ importance has increase.

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Is it equally relevant for companies the fact to provide this training?

Yes, in previous years form my job I experienced some kind of human resources

companies providing a lot of on job training. Some of them are providing some kind of

management training, but honestly speaking I have not experience a company providing

me or I haven’t participated myself in any kind of training focused on specifically

training focused in these host country culture issues or some other mentoring type.

Q4. From your point of view, why is it necessary to send expatriates to different locations?

Expatriates’ importance it’s the fact they bring objectives straight from the headquarter,

so he/she has this vision, so as I said there are some local people that also can carry out

this kind of objectives. But the reason companies have to send expatriates means they

are something during the management, you cannot carry out a kind of management

mechanism, they must be key people to coordinate in a good direction.

You need different people and different expatriates to set the objectives in different

countries, areas and markets. And that is an indicator of their relevance.

I have seen some expatriates that were doing in previous years pretty successful in

other markets, and in some countries they were doing good but in other countries they

failed.

Which training or what would be needed in order to avoid the so-called

“expatriate failure”?

Good question, I think to find people doing good in some countries/markets and not that

good in other countries means they are more familiar or can coop with different

mentalities.

Just imagine a same company sending someone to the same target market but with the

same expatriate and then in some markets he success and in some others he/she

doesn’t, that means the difference is because of the local market culture and the

mentality of the local employees is not fully matched in all the cases. So, according to

your question to avoid the expatriate failure it is key to send the right people to the right

place.

Q5.Taking into account the concept of “buddy mentoring” (another director from the host country who will provide expatriates with tips and guidance), do you consider it would make a difference in expatriates’ success?

Definitely, but I would say. Well I will answer this question together with the following

one. From my own experience, when I look back I believe that anyone should be

mentored during his/her mission and have someone to train you or to give you guidance

from time to time.

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However, that is very difficult for the real situation. In one country or market companies

will not be able to send two people to do the same job that is very unusual and very

expensive.

So this is not practical although it is helpful. What we could do in this way is that a new

expatriate could be successor of a previous one. And the previous one should be kind of

helping during the adaptation of the new. So the senior one who is going to leave the

host country would give the proper education, training or guidance to the new

successor. But normally I haven’t seen any company doing this coordination in a proper

way. I have experienced in multinational companies human resources departments did

not do this kind of coordination and that is a pity.

And on top of that what if these mentors were to speak the expatriates’ mother

tongue?

Not necessary, because with my experience I think my best mentor was my boss.

Because although he came from the headquarter (Germany) and he is Dutch, basically

there is some confliction between Dutch and German people, he guided me very much

and I learned a lot form him and this is something beyond the language and wording. So

body language helped very much and it was more the fact he shared his previous

experience with me rather than the language he was doing it. Therefore, English was

fine and any one who is an expatriate need English as a basic.

Q6. Do you consider that any company would be able to carry out this type of training? (Buddy Mentoring)

I have never seen it, but I am very curious because I have been working as an

independent individual for consultancy as well for many years in big companies. So I just

wander if there is any company doing such trainings. You may have seen consultant

companies but again I have never experienced any company doing this king of training.

What factors do you think that a company take into account to correctly match

mentors with expatriates?

The basic will be school and children of expatriates. For me, according to my experience

is as well the respect to the local environment. Regarding the human resource

department, how to really will make expatriates to respect the local environment.

First the human resource department, most likely in the future their job would be in this

field, so their importance in doing what your company wants; if they want training for

any candidate for instance. To do so you have to define and do it very clear, what would

be the new culture and mentality value, to the candidate so that you give them kind of a

program to help the candidate what the host country would look like before he goes

there. That will make expatriates adaptation to the new society more “easy”.

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Q7. How many languages do you speak?

English, Taiwanese and some Japanese.

Is any second language at a proficiency level?

No, I don’t think so.

And finally how useful were your linguistic skills? Example: when communicating

an idea, language misunderstandings… Please provide any experience or

anecdote.

A second language is important, not just for common communication worldwide. And

the more other languages you speak, the better. In many cases, sometimes especially

when negotiating in a team or during a business meeting where there is people coming

form different areas, if you were able to speak a second language other than English,

even if not skilled that helps the communication in a proper way. Just imagine you with

your local employees siting together and negotiating with your customer or business

counterpart; during the negotiation everybody is speaking a common language, which

generally is English, but if for some critical issue you do not what your counterpart to

understand immediately an idea you swap to your second language, which they do not

know.

Even if it is for a short time, few seconds or minutes if you are the counterpart and speak

as well this second language that helps very much because you would be able to

understand what the other part doesn’t want you or doesn’t expect you o understand.

The importance is that whenever your are speaking in a different language you should

politely make them know by saying for instance; “ sorry, just for a private/company

issues we need to talk this in our own language” that will make your counterpart feel

they are being respected.

In my experience very often I speak during a meeting and I tell them that I hope they

don’t mind if I translate or I speak to my boss in a different language and normally

people understand it and respect it.

Q8. What impact do you think that cross-cultural issues can have in the home and host countries? Example: employment diversity, body language, teamwork and cooperation.

I think it is definitely important and necessary. The impact you do not see it immediately

but it is long lasting.

And not everybody can really understand at the same level, because that is something

we, the expatriates learn by working with different cultures, people in different regions

or countries, or even different political environments. And sometimes it is very difficult

to realise its importance.

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I give you an example, I personal experience, Taiwan is a very small market, and a very

competitive one, so people are very competitive and want to do things in a very precise

way and want to be smarter than others.

However, many of my friends or previous colleagues that unfortunately are not as lucky

as me because they haven’t had the experience to work internationally they are looking

everything under a Taiwanese mentality. And that is negative, if the people are too

focused in their own local market they forget the other factors, such as the world itself is

different and so are people. So I believe I am more aware an realise that companies have

to adapt to diversity, to be global oriented rather than just to a specific market.

Q9. Given your experience as an expatriate. What made it successful?

My previous experience working in Japan, Hong Kong, I think the culture background I

gained, and also knowing the local language. Having the typical Asian mentality made

me successful.

What would you say were the most challenging aspects of being an expatriate?

How to manage discrimination, probably this is for you not serious, for most European

people it is not a problem but I would say now worldwide economies and politicians are

focused in Asia.

Discrimination doesn’t happen that much in Western countries but between Western

and Asian people there is discrimination and as an expatriate discrimination many times

happen for expatriates in Asia.

In a company people try to avoid discrimination from religion, but discrimination comes

from different mentalities in general due to historical reasons western societies they do

not like Asian societies. And you could see it especially in young expatriates and special

attention should be given to this fact.

Q10. Did you have any mentoring training?

Yes, my mentor was my previous boss.

If you had had a buddy mentoring would your performance had been the same?

I think yes. Although I respected my boss, he gave me a lot of guidance and training.

Probably a buddy mentoring would have shortened my adaptation to the new

environment but still I would say the working period itself was my best training.

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Transcript Interview Participant 6

Q1. Where and when were you an expatriate? What was your job description or your main task to be fulfilled in the host country?

I first was based in Switzerland, and was born in the United Kingdom. So my first

assignment was in Switzerland then I was an expatriate in the US, then I was an

expatriate in China then I went back to Switzerland then I went to France and finally I

was an expatriate back in the US.

I was working on product development. My main task was to develop new Swiss

beverages products.

Q2. How did you adapt to: the new culture (style of living, food, outside activities, environmental issues, law system), language barriers and standard of living?

So when I first went to Switzerland I had taken French at school but I took a refresher

French lessons. And the culture in Switzerland compared to the UK is also different so it

wasn’t just a language barrier issue for day–to-day communication, so I learnt French

very fast.

Then when I went to the US obviously there was no language barriers I guess in a

cultural sense it was very close to the UK. But when I moved to China there were more

challenges because I could not read or speak the language. I tried to learn Chinese but it

is a very difficulty language to learn. So that was a lot more challenging.

So we had help from the HR of Nestlé they gave us different cards to ask for directions

we could show the taxi drivers the card that said “take me to the supermarket”. So that

was helpful.

2.1 Did you go alone or with you spouse/partner, family? If so, how was their adaptation process?

When I went to Switzerland I wasn’t married, and then I got married in Switzerland.

When I moved to the United States my husband moved with me. And then when we

moved to China he also moved with me and at that point we had two dogs, so the dogs

also came with us to China. And then they came back with us to Europe. Also when we

moved to China we adopted a son so he had to move with us also. It was good and

exciting, just learning new things we enjoyed it.

2.2 On average, how did your adaptation (and/or your family’s) influence your

work performance?

I think initially learning French helped me with my job in terms of communicating with

my technicians who didn’t speak English. In China I was dependent of the people I was

working with speaking English I could not communicate with them in Chinese. But I

don’t think that was a bigger obstacle. So you know I would have been more efficient,

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could I have spoken Chinese but I could not after it.

Q3. Do you consider that training for expatriates (pre-post arrival) are important and necessary?

No, I think in our company before you move to another country you have an opportunity

to explore and discover. Very often you also have an opportunity to make a visit to that

country before you get your position, you would be okay. So I do think it is important to

be prepared for this, yes.

Do you believe its importance has increased or decreased over the last 20 years

with the internalisation of more companies?

I think it has increased. I think now there is a lot more adaptation.

Is it equally relevant for companies the fact to provide this training?

Yes, I think it is.

Q4. From your point of view, why is it necessary to send expatriates to different locations?

To share knowledge.

Which training or what would be needed in order to avoid the so-called

“expatriate failure”?

To have the right qualifications as ultimately you need to be qualified for the task that

you are going to undertake. So you cannot send an engineer to do the job of a doctor, or

you cannot send an accountant to do the job of an engineer. You have to be properly

qualified.

Q5.Taking into account the concept of “buddy mentoring” (another director from the host country who will provide expatriates with tips and guidance), do you consider it would make a difference in expatriates’ success?

I think it would be helpful, but I think it doesn’t have to be formalised. I think the HR

department will play an important role.

And what if on top of that these mentors were to speak the expatriates’ mother

tongue?

Yes, I think that is important.

Q6. Do you consider that any company would be able to carry out this type of training? (Buddy Mentoring)

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I don’t know.

What factors do you think that a company take into account to correctly match

mentors with expatriates?

So I think they need to take the point of view of family members, so I think they need to

make sure, you know that the child that is travelling that he/she is in a good school

system that the parents are able to feel confortable that their child can get a good

education I think there has to be a good healthcare system in place. If there is a place

where there may be issues such as infection diseases. And that these conditions have

been addressed prior to any move, if there is an area with malaria, then to make sure

that a mosquito net as been given out.

Q7. How many languages do you speak?

Two.

Is any second language at a proficiency level?

Yes.

And finally how useful were your linguistic skills? Example: when communicating

an idea, language misunderstandings… Please provide any experience or

anecdote.

So… It was important when I moved to Switzerland that I was able to speak some French

and I needed to improve that. Sometimes I think when you try to make a literal

translation that is when you make mistakes.

But then you know my inability to speak Chinese as I mentioned before, didn’t make me

unable to do my job in China.

Q8. What impact do you think that cross-cultural issues can have in the home and

host countries? Example: employment diversity, body language, teamwork and

cooperation.

I think if you are working for the same company you often have a contact already

established you have an understanding and equal processes regardless of where you are

based. But obviously regarding the cultural thing you know body language ... It is

important that you are aware of all these things before going abroad, so that you do not

offend someone, you do not say something that is unacceptable. For instance, in the

United States it is impolite to ask people their age, you would not do that in the United

States.

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Q9. Given your experience as an expatriate. What made it successful?

I think the effort, and wanting to try to see new things, to learn new things. It has to be in

the context of giving and taking, sharing what we know. Not only just what we want but

also being open to receive what the new country gives you, so it is all about a learning

experience.

What would you say were the most challenging aspects of being an expatriate?

I think one of the most challenging things was being away from the family, so you may

be moving with someone, with your husband and children but then the other family are

back home.

So if there is an emergency or something, especially if your parents are getting older that

is something that is quite challenging.

Q10. Did you have any mentoring training?

Well again it wasn’t a formal, but in each country were I have live there was always a

someone senior that was always making sure that I was well integrated, introduced to

everyone, I understood where things were. Generally speaking this person would be

either my direct superior, one of my peers, or one from the human resources.

If you had had a buddy mentoring would your performance had been the same?

I don’t know, because I guess what you are asking is if someone else had been to the

same place that I was going and had had the same experience. I think that the support

that I had, the people that were supporting me with the culture and experience was

enough. But I don’t thing it would had had any other difference.

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Transcript Interview Participant 7

Q1. Where and when were you an expatriate? What was your job description or your main task to be fulfilled in the host country? From 2003 to 2010 it was my first assignment in the Dominican Republic and then again

from 2013 here in Switzerland.

In the Dominican Republic I was the head of human resources for the region so was

responsible for approximately 3000 employees within the region with probably ten

direct reports located in the five different countries that would be mainly 100

employees. And then here in Switzerland I am the human resources partner for

innovation technology research and development.

Q2. How did you adapt to: the new culture (style of living, food, outside activities, environmental issues, law system), language barriers and standard of living?

Well, certainly there is a vast difference between the Dominican Republic and

Switzerland. So in the Dominican Republic I think it was to first understand that what

you were used to is not going to be necessary the new way of working.

So in the Dominican I obviously started to take Spanish lessons, even though within the

business workplace our business language was English. However to live, to go

restaurants or shopping, it was pretty clear the importance of speaking the language.

But I think to adapt it was also to be open-minded and to listen, and to understand that

the way you may have operated in the past will not necessarily be the same.

I was also fortunate because my job prior to going to the Caribbean I worked with a

number of factories and I had to work in a virtual organisation so that absolutely helped

me in the Dominican because it was a very much virtual organisation, because the

employers were in Puerto Rico, Trinidad, Cuba and Jamaica so you literally had to do a

lot of work over the telephone especially to be able to influence in convince because that

is were you have to also go for that trust relationship.

Coming to Switzerland it was simpler partly because I came here quiet frequently for

business meetings and I had already built a fairly good network of people to help me you

know again to settle in. Both cases the company did apply someone to assist on

apartment searches and things like that, which certainly helped. Not having to do

something just by yourself that you would not have to do if you were just moving

personally from one city to another city.

2.1 Did you go alone or with you spouse/partner, family? If so, how was their adaptation process?

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No, I am single. So those moves were done alone.

2.2 On average, how did your adaptation (and/or your family’s) influence your

work performance?

I would say the adaptation in Switzerland was pretty quick, so I think that it didn’t affect

my performance. But I think it was a little slow within the Dominican first because there

were so many unusual things but I also was going into a very serious economic crisis in

that country that I had never experienced before so I have to say it was a little

“inexperienced” of not having the right knowledge when I really needed to do in that job

specifically.

Q3. Do you consider that training for expatriates (pre-post arrival) are important and necessary?

I think it would be helpful but depending on the country… I am aware one of our

organisations that would actually test your attitude of being an expatriate which is a

must have because not everybody is able to be an expatriate. I think that some people

did not adapt to changes as well as others.

I am not sure but training I think if you could get somebody who is like almost a buddy

who could maybe not be your boss or maybe it is a colleague that you can ask “stupid”

questions to, that maybe you think are stupid but are not stupid at all but to help you

navigate the uncertainty.

Do you believe its importance has increased or decreased over the last 20 years

with the internalisation of more companies?

You know what I think it depends on the company. I am aware of more American

companies will do this type of training, you know, in terms of pre and post arrival. But it

is not necessary the case within Nestlé.

Is it equally relevant for companies the fact to provide this training?

I think sometimes is more easy for the employee so it is more, I think training would be

more useful to sometimes the family members because Nestlé being an international

company I can obviously say it has somehow the same attitude and behaviours in each

of the same culture no matter what country you are in so that is not the hard part. It is

personal matters that are more difficult situations that the employees experience. So

how can they better have their partners settled than themselves? Based on the feedback

I have received from the human resource department as well as from personal

experiences.

Q4. From your point of view, why is it necessary to send expatriates to different locations?

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There are a few different reasons. One to develop talent locally and that would be

something that we have been trying to do over the years; I think it is something to help

with maybe the culture as well to become maybe more “Nestletised”. But I think one of

the most important is recognition when somebody has been very successful and to

encourage people to be successful and to grow. It is equally important to understand the

international organisation to really understand its complexity and to really for your

future roles and growth opportunities.

Which training or what would be needed in order to avoid the so-called

“expatriate failure”?

Personally I think it is the selection, the better selection of the person. Is this person

adaptable to change? Are they able to work in an ambiguous kind of environment? It is

really somebody who has that confidence and who can quickly move in and be

successful without having too much of a learning curve.

Q5.Taking into account the concept of “buddy mentoring” (another director from the host country who will provide expatriates with tips and guidance), do you consider it would make a difference in expatriates’ success?

Yes, I think it is exactly was I was talking about in the earlier question answer (3).

Having a sort of mentor or colleague who can help adapt to some of those uncertainties.

I think that would be definitely something that will smooth out the barriers for their

success. But as I said the biggest success it what is that background for the families.

And on top of that if these mentors were to speak the expatriates’ mother tongue?

No, I do not think that is a hundred per cent necessary because I think it is good to have

somebody who is from that market, that environment and they can provide more of the

cultural perspective.

Q6. Do you consider that any company would be able to carry out this type of training? (Buddy Mentoring)

Yes I think they can.

What factors do you think that a company take into account to correctly match

mentors with expatriates?

I don’t know I think it could be a number of different ways. I think within each

organisation you would know who might have the ability to mentor. I think it comes

back to the person; is this person single? Or is this person married with five children? So

try to coordinate the different pieces. So maybe with the help of the HR department

from the home market speaking with the host market saying: “this individual might be

the additional support here, here and here and this is the type of mentor” and maybe is

not just one mentor maybe it is a mentor in different topics.

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Q7. How many languages do you speak?

Well I speak my mother tongue, which is obviously English. I speak I would say very

broken Spanish and I am attempting French but I am not doing very well.

Is any second language at a proficiency level?

No, absolutely not. I can get by on a socially event and ordering in restaurants.

I like Spanish and I think it is much more easier than French because you know that

when you see the word you pronounce it this way…

And finally how useful were your linguistic skills? Example: when communicating

an idea, language misunderstandings… Please provide any experience or

anecdote.

Usually and certainly in the Dominican it was more as being in the HR I had to attend

socially events and different things say we would have one-to-one conversations

throughout and I think I would always be able to tell, when asking questions or

answering questions or almost trying to puzzle the question that you were asking. But

when I was wondering people were always saying “ oh no, no it is my fault” and they

would always apologise and saying: “oh no, no you are doing a good job, it is me”. So I

always found that you could work things out, but they really appreciates when you

where speaking their language and were much nicer than to say you did that wrong and

correct you, they really helped you to improve.

Q8. What impact do you think that cross-cultural issues can have in the home and

host countries? Example: employment diversity, body language, teamwork and

cooperation.

I thing it all improves actually. I think that diversity; gender, different religion and

different cultures do all enhance the overall performance of your organisation. It helps

you to think of new innovation, new ways to grow the organisation and have a better

vision.

Q9. Given your experience as an expatriate. What made it successful?

The people, the organisation and the company, because they gave you the resources, the

tools up to support you. But I think it is also knowing the job, the organisation and

having clear and direction of what you needed to achieve and what direction you

wanted to go really helped in terms of understanding what that success will be and then

just driving towards it.

So I think on a personal side it was the ability to accept change and to realise “one size

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doesn’t fit all”. So just because you did something in a certain way cannot or doesn’t

mean you did it the right way, but it was also to look out what was the end point that

you wanted to get to.

What would you say were the most challenging aspects of being an expatriate?

In the Caribbean I think it was more the infrastructure so you should turn on the light

switch in order to have light, in the case of the job I also worked with many people form

Brazil as well. I had to learn patience I had to learn that “mañana” (tomorrow) did not

mean tomorrow, that it might have meant six weeks or never… And so it was to kind of

not accept but to be able to manage that, and manage that expectations and then work

towards the end result. I think certainly within the Dominican it was this word

“mañana”.

Q10. Did you have any mentoring training?

No.

If you had had a buddy mentoring would your performance had been the same?

I think it might have been faster in the Dominican. I was lucky because I did have some

individuals who were very helpful. But I do think that it could have helped the process.

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APPENDIX 8 UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE- ETHICAL FORM

Form EC1: Application for ETHICAL approval of a study involving human participants

(See Guidance Notes)

Office Use only Date Received by Clerk:

Expedited Review

Approved by Reviewer 1 (sign & date)

Approved by Reviewer 2 (sign & date)

Further Action: (tick appropriate box and provide details)

Request Further Information Details:

Refer for Substantive Review

Refer for Full review

Reject

Substantive Review

Approved by Reviewer 1 (sign & date)

Approved by Reviewer 2 (sign & date)

Approved by Reviewer 3 (sign & date) Approved by Reviewer 4 (sign & date)

Further Action: (tick appropriate box and provide details)

Request Further Information Details:

Relevant ECDA:

Science & Technology

Health & Human Sciences

Social Sciences, Arts & Humanities

OFFICE USE ONLY

Protocol Number:

Initial classification:

x

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Refer for Full review

Reject

Full Review

Request Further Information Details:

Reject

CONFIRMATION OF APPROVAL

[To be completed by the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the relevant ECDA, or by the

Chairman of the University Ethics Committee – (see GN 2.1.4)]

I confirm that this application has been approved by or on behalf of the committee named below.

Name/Sign…………………………………………………………Date……………………..

Name of committee ……………………...

DECLARATIONS

DECLARATION BY APPLICANT (See GN 2.1.3)

(i) I undertake, to the best of my ability, to abide by accepted ethical principles in carrying out the study.

(ii) I undertake to explain the nature of the study and all possible risks to potential

participants, to the extent required to comply with both the letter and the spirit of my replies to the foregoing questions (including information contained in Appendices 1 & 2).

(iii) Data relating to participants will be handled with great care. No data relating to named or

identifiable participants will be passed on to others without the written consent of the participants concerned, unless they have already consented to such sharing of data when they agreed to take part in the study.

(iv) All participants will be informed (a) that they are not obliged to take part in the study, and

(b) that they may withdraw at any time without disadvantage or having to give a reason. Where the participant is a minor or is otherwise unable, for any reason, to give full consent on their own, references here to participants being given an explanation or information, or being asked to give their consent, are to be understood as referring to the person giving consent on their behalf. (See Q 19; also GN Pt. 3, and especially 3.6 & 3.7)

Enter your name here…………Andrea Bejarano Sarabia………………..Date…23.05.2014……….

DECLARATION BY SUPERVISOR (see GN 2.1.3) I confirm that the proposed study has been appropriately vetted within the School in respect of

its aims and methods as a piece of research; that I have discussed this application for Ethics Committee approval with the applicant and approve its submission; that I accept responsibility for guiding the applicant so as to ensure compliance with the terms of the protocol and with

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any applicable ethical code(s); and that if there are conditions of the approval, they have been met.

Enter your name here Sue Debenham… ………...Date…22/5/14….

PERMISSIONS

DECLARATION BY APPLICANT (please refer to Question 7 and GN 2.2.1) I confirm that I have obtained permission to access my intended group of participants and that

the agreement is attached to this application (please delete if not applicable). I confirm that I have obtained permission to carry out my study on University premises in

areas outside the Schools and that the agreement is attached to this application (please delete if not applicable).

I confirm that I have obtained permission to carry out my study at an off-campus location and

that the agreement is attached to this application (please delete if not applicable). I have yet to obtain permission but I understand that this will be necessary before I commence

my study and that the original copies of the permission letters must be verified by my supervisor by the time I submit my results (please delete if not applicable).

Enter your name here ………… Andrea Bejarano Sarabia ……………. Date 23.05.2014…………

Instructions for Applicants

Applicants are advised to read the Guidance Notes before completing this

form. Use of this form is mandatory [see UPR RE01, SS 7.1 to 7.3]. Your School

may choose to add additional School specific questions in a separate appendix to

the Form EC1. Please clarify with your Supervisor whether your School has chosen

to append any extra questions.

Approval must be sought and granted before any investigation involving human

participants begins [UPR RE01, S 4.4(iii)].

Abbreviations

GN=Guidance Notes UPR=University Policies & Regulations

Q=Question S=Section

SS=Sections Pt =Part

PLEASE NOTE: Where alternative answers are offered, put a cross in the appropriate box.

For example: YES

X

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Where a “write in” answer is requested, begin in the space provided below the question and continue

as necessary. All questions must be answered. Please answer in BLACK.

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1. THE STUDY

Q1. Please give the title (or provisional title) of the proposed study. (NB – you will be asked for

further details later)

Expatriate training in the food industry: How a buddying system of mentoring can

help expatriates foreign operations to success.

2. THE APPLICANT Q2. Please answer either Q2.1 or Q2.2 by providing the information requested. Q2.1 should be

answered by individual applicants, both staff and students, who require protocol approval for work which they themselves intend to carry out. Q2.2 should be answered by academic staff requiring approval for standard protocols governing classroom practical work (or equivalent work) to be carried out by a specified group of students. (See GN 2.2.2)

Q2.1. Name of applicant/(principal) investigator

Status:

(a) undergraduate

(b) postgraduate (taught/research)

(c) academic staff (d) other - please give details here

Student registration number (or staff number if staff application): 13082033

School/Department: Business School, MLO If application is from member of staff or student NOT based at University of Hertfordshire, please give the name of the institution: Level of study or award (e.g. BA/MSc/PhD/Staff research) BA International Management

E-mail address: anbejaranosarabia@gmail.com

Name of supervisor: Sue Debenham s.debenham@herts.ac.uk Ext No5524

Name of Module Leader if applicant is undertaking a taught programme/module: Name of Programme Tutor: Rachelle Andrews

x

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Q2.2. Class Protocol Applications Only. (do NOT use this section if you are a group of students undertaking a joint project, instead, complete Q2.1 and list the names of all students involved in the project, together with their student registration numbers. It is assumed that just one member of staff will be responsible for supervision.)

Name of applicant/(principal) investigator (member of staff) School/Department Programme of study or award (e.g. BSc/MA)

Module Title Year/group to be governed by the protocol

Number of students conducting the study Programme Tutor (if different from the applicant)

E-mail address

Please note: Risk Assessment Form EC5 is mandatory for all Class Protocol Applications and must accompany this application.

3. DETAILS OF THE PROPOSED STUDY Q3. (a) Is it likely that your application will require approval by a National Research Ethics Service (NRES) ethics committee whereby completion of an IRAS form would be required? (See GN 2.2.3) YES NO (If YES, please answer (b) & (c)) (If NO, please continue on to Q4)

(b) Please confirm whether your research involves any of the following:

NHS or Social Care Patients

NHS or Social Care Staff

Clinical Trial of an Investigational Medical product Clinical Trial of a Medical Device Exposure to any ionising radiation Adults who lack the capacity to consent

x

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Human Tissue (see GN 2.2.3)

(c) If your study is considered to be a Clinical Trial of an Investigational Medical Products (CTIMP) or Clinical Trial of a Medical Devices, please indicate if the study involves any of the following categories: (See GN 2.2.3)

Children under 5

Pregnant women

A trial taking place overseas

A trial with more than 5,000 participants If you have answered ‘Yes’ to any of the above questions in (b), you will most probably require NRES ethics committee approval and a sponsor. You will need to apply for NRES ethics committee approval using an IRAS form. For University of Hertfordshire sponsorship, you will need to complete Form SP1, which is obtainable as well as further advice regarding IRAS from research-sponsorship@herts.ac.uk. DO NOT complete this form any further but submit it to your relevant ECDA now. Please note, you will be issues with a UH Protocol Number but this will not be valid until you have sent your relevant ECDA a copy of your NRES ethics committee approval letter and copy of the synopsis of the study. Q4. Please give a short synopsis of your proposed study; stating its aims and highlighting, if

appropriate, where these aims relate to the use of human participants. (See GN 2.2.4) Please enter details here.

Training is needed when moving one individual from a company to another or a same

position in a different region/country and companies are aware of it.

This study aims to provide the benefits of the implementation of a buddying system of

mentoring to these expatriates (directives or managers) with someone at a higher, lower

position or similar position within the company speaking their mother tongue ( as criteria

for matching) during their first week of immersion. To be aware of cross-culture

differences or the way task are fulfilled in that area and be able to adapt to them

successfully (although belonging to the same company). Therefore, it is intended to

conduct some interviews with directors who have been expatriated which will provide me

with valuable information regarding the topic. Q5. Please give a brief explanation of the design of the study and the methods and procedures

used, highlighting in particular where these involve the use of human participants. You should clearly state the nature of the involvement the human participants will have in your proposed study and the extent of their commitment. Thus you must complete and attach the Form EC6 (Participant Information Sheet) (see Appendix 2). Be sure to provide sufficient detail for the Committee to be clear what is involved in the proposed study, particularly in relation to the human participants. (See GN 2.2.5)

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I will run 4-6 interviews, on Skype, because my sample lives and works overseas. The interviews will consist in around 8 closed questions and 2 open questions, which will provide me with relevant information. Interviews will not take longer than an hour per interviewee. Q6. Please give the starting date and finishing date. (For meaning of

“starting date” and “finishing date”, see GN 2.2.6) Data collection will start during June and be completed by September 2014. Q7. Where will the study take place? Please refer to the Guidance Notes (GN 2.2.1) which set out clearly what permissions are

required; ensure that you complete the Permissions box near the front of this application form and indicate in Appendix 2 (last page of this application form) which permissions you are attaching to the application.

Please enter details here.

I will agree with my interviewees a date at their convenience and either book a study room at the LRC of the University of Hertfordshire or if I am in Spain in a study room back home. The interviews will be recorded in order to make it easy to transcript. Q8. If the location is off campus, have you considered whether a risk assessment is necessary for

the proposed location? (in respect of hazards/risks affecting both the participants and researchers) Please see Form EC5 (see Appendix 2, which is an example of a risk assessment form.) Please use this example if a risk assessment is necessary, and you have not been provided with a subject specific risk assessment form by your School or Supervisor. (See GN 2.2.7)

If I go back home to Spain earlier I will have to conduct the interviews off campus, but I will be at my study room back home so the atmosphere will be close as the one provided at the LRC study rooms. As the interviews are going to be run on Skype participants will be covered by their own organisation health and safety policies. Q9. (a) Will anyone other than yourself and the participants be present with you when conducting

this study? (See GN 2.2.8) YES NO

If YES, please state the relationship between anyone else who is present other than the applicant and/or participants? (e.g. health professional, parent/guardian)

(b) Will the proposed study be conducted in confidence? If NOT, what steps will be taken to ensure confidentiality of the participants’ information. (See GN 2.2.8)

The participants’ information will be kept confidential for the purposes of the study.

x

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4. HARMS, HAZARDS & RISKS Q10. Will this study involve invasive procedures on the human participants? (See GN 2.2.9) Yes No (If YES, please fill out Appendix 1 – (If NO, answer Q11, Q12, Q13 Increased Hazards and Risks. & Q14) Once this is complete, move on to Q15) Q11, Q12, Q13 & Q14 - NON INVASIVE STUDIES ONLY

Note: You are advised to read GN 2.2.10, 2.2.11, 2.2.12 & 2.2.13 carefully before you answer the following questions.

Q11. Are there potential hazards to participant(s) and/or investigator(s) from the proposed study? (See 2.2.10)

YES NO

If YES,

(a) Indicate their nature here. N/A

(b) Indicate here what precautions will be taken to avoid or minimise any adverse effects. N/A Q12. Will or could the study cause discomfort or distress of a mental or emotional character to

participants and/or investigator(s)? (See GN 2.2.11)

YES NO

If YES,

(a) Indicate its nature here. N/A

(b) Indicate here what precautions will be taken to avoid or minimise such adverse effects. N/A

Q13. Will or could medical or other aftercare and/or support be needed by participants and/or investigator(s) as a result of the study? (See GN 2.2.12)

YES NO

Q14. (a) If you have answered ‘YES’ to Q11, Q12 & Q13, please state here the previous experience (and/or any relevant training) of the supervisor (or academic member of staff applying for a standard protocol) of investigations involving the hazards, risks, discomfort or distress detailed in those answers. (See GN 2.2.13)

X

X

x

x

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N/A (b) Please describe in appropriate detail what you would do should the adverse effects or

events which you believe could arise from your study, and which you have mentioned in your replies to the previous questions, occur. (See UPR RE01, S 2.3 (ii) and GN 2.2.13)

N/A

5. ABOUT YOUR PARTICIPANTS

Q15. Please give a brief description of the kind of people you hope/intend to have as participants, for instance, a sample of the general population, University students, people affected by a particular medical condition, children aged 5 to 7, employees of a particular firm, people who support a particular political party.

Four to six directors. One of them from a SME company and the others from MNC. Graduated in France, US, and Germany, but currently working in France, South Africa and Switzerland. Q16. Please state here approximately how many participants you hope will participate in your study.

Four to seven Q17. By completing this form, you are indicating that you are reasonably sure that you will be

successful in obtaining the number of participants which you hope/intend to recruit. Please outline here how you intend to recruit them. (See GN 2.2.14)

The participants will be obtained through family contacts.

7. CONFIDENTIALITY AND CONSENT [For guidance on issues relating to consent, see GN 2.2.15 & Pt. 3.] Q18. Is it intended to seek informed consent from the participants? YES NO

(See UPR RE01, S 2.3 & 2.4 and GN 3.1)

If NO, please explain why it is considered unnecessary or impossible or otherwise inappropriate to seek informed consent. N/A If YES, please attach a copy of the Consent Form to be used (See Form EC3 & EC4 for reference and GN 3.2), or describe here how consent is to be obtained and recorded. The information you give must be sufficient to enable the Committee to understand exactly what it is that prospective participants are being asked to agree to.

Q19. If the participant is a minor (under 18 years of age), or is otherwise unable for any reason to

give full consent on their own, state here whose consent will be obtained and how? (See especially GN 3.6 & 3.7)

N/A

Q20. Are personal data of any sort (such as name, age, gender, occupation, contact details or

x

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images) to be obtained from or in respect of any participant? (See GN 2.2.16) YES NO

If YES,

(a) Give details here of personal data to be gathered, and indicate how it will be stored.

I will know their name, gender, occupation

(b) State here what steps will be taken to prevent or regulate access to personal data beyond the immediate investigative team?

I will save all the data, records and transcripts on my personal computer under a password. So that nobody except from me has access to it.

(c) Indicate here what assurances will be given to participants about the security of, and access to, personal data.

Password protected data, on my personal computer.

(d) State here, as far as you are able to do so, how long personal data collected during the study will be retained, and what arrangements have been made for its secure storage.

A month after the dissertation is handed in, meaning until around April 2015.

Q21. Is it intended (or possible) that data might be used beyond the present study? (See GN 2.2.16)

YES NO

If YES, please give here an indication of the kind of further use that is intended (or which may be possible).

If NO, will the data be kept for a set period and then destroyed under secure conditions?

YES NO

If NO, please explain here why not. N/A Q22. If your study involves work with children and/or vulnerable adults you will require a satisfactory

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Disclosure. (See GN 2.2.17) Please indicate as appropriate:

(a) DBS Disclosure not required

(b) DBS Disclosure required and obtained Please do not embed your DBS Disclosure within the application documentation. It is recognised that the DBS Disclosure is a confidential document: If a satisfactory DBS Disclosure is required, a copy of this must be forwarded to the ECDA Clerks for review by the Chairman of the relevant ECDA who will note this on a Register which will be kept in a secure place.

X

x

x

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8. REWARDS Q23. (a) Are you receiving any financial or other reward connected with this study? (See UPR

RE01, 2.3)

YES NO

If YES, give details here. (b) Are participants going to receive any financial or other reward connected with the study?

YES NO

If YES, give details here. N/A

(c) Will anybody else (including any other members of the investigative team) receive any financial or other reward connected with this study?

YES NO

If YES, give details here.

N/A

9. OTHER RELEVANT MATTERS

Q24. Enter here anything else you want to say in support of your application, or which you believe

may assist the Committee in reaching its decision.

x

x

X

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APPENDIX 9 UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE

SOCIAL SCIENCES, ARTS AND HUMANITIES

ETHICS APPROVAL NOTIFICATION

TO Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

CC Sue Debenham FROM Dr Timothy H Parke, Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities ECDA Chairman

DATE 03/06/14 Protocol number: cBUS/UG/UH/00023

Title of study: Expatriate Training in the Food Industry: How a buddying system of mentoring

can help expatriates to fulfil their foreign operations, adapt to a new culture and perform better.

Your application for ethical approval has been accepted and approved with the following conditions by the ECDA for your school.

Approval Conditions:

The supervisor must see and approve the questionnaire; No informant names are to be retained.

This approval is valid: From: 03/06/14 To: 01/09/14

Please note:

Your application has been conditionally approved. You must ensure that you comply with the conditions noted above as you undertake your research. Failure to comply with the conditions will be considered a breach of protocol and may result in disciplinary action, which could include academic penalties. Additional documentation requested as a condition of this approval protocol may be submitted via your supervisor to the Ethics Clerks as it becomes available. All documentation relating to this study, including the information/documents noted in the conditions above must be available for your supervisor at the time of submitting your work so that they are able to confirm that you have complied with this protocol.

Approval applies specifically to the research study/methodology and timings as detailed in your Form EC1. Should you amend any aspect of your research, or wish to apply for an extension to your study, you will need your supervisor’s approval and must complete and submit form EC2. In cases where the amendments to the original study are deemed to be substantial, a new Form EC1 may need to be completed prior to the study being undertaken.

Should adverse circumstances arise during this study such as physical reaction/harm, mental/emotional harm, intrusion of privacy or breach of confidentiality this must be

reported to the approving Committee immediately. Failure to report adverse circumstance/s would be considered misconduct.

Ensure you quote the UH protocol number and the name of the approving Committee on all paperwork, including recruitment advertisements/online requests, for this study.

Students must include this Approval Notification with their submission

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APPENDIX 10 UNIVERSITY OF HERTFORDSHIRE

BUSINESS SCHOOL

DISSERTATION LOG – 2014-15

This is an important document, which is to be handed in with your dissertation. This log will

be taken into consideration when awarding the final mark for the dissertation.

Student Name

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s Name

Susan Debenham

Dissertation Topic Expatriate Training in the Food Industry:

How a buddying system of mentoring can help

expatriates to fulfil their foreign operations,

adapt to a new culture.

SECTION A. MONITORING STUDENT DISSERTATION PROCESS

The below date plan to be agreed between the student & supervisor and will

be monitored against progress made at each session.

When you attend the ASU sessions obtain a signature from the tutor to

confirm attendance

DATE PLAN Month

Feb /

Mar

Apr/

May

June/

July

Aug/

Sept

Oct/

Nov

Jan/

Feb 13th Feb

Submit First Information Form

ASU – writing a proposal

ASU – Undertaking a literature

review

ASU – Overview of a dissertation

Submit Extended Proposal

Submit Ethics Form

Literature Review

Confirm Methodology

Collect Primary Data

Data Analysis

Discuss Findings

Writing Up

Submit Draft

Final Submission

112

SECTION B. ETHICS APPROVAL

Ethics form protocol number. …………………………………

SECTION C. RECORD OF MEETINGS

The expectation is that students will meet their supervisors six times and these

meetings should be recorded.

Meeting 1

Date of Meeting 27, MARCH 2014

Progress Made

-Set the supervisors and researchers responsibilities

-Discuss the topic and main authors and initial Literature

Agreed Action

-Start the Proposal Form, and think about the possible

topics to be covered.

-Think about the advantages of qualitative/quantitative

approaches and decide the most suitable one

Student

Signature

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s

Signature

Sue Debenham

Meeting 2

Date of Meeting 24, MAY 2014

Progress Made

-Improvements for the First Application Form

-Narrow the dissertation title

-Qualitative approach and interviews benefits for data

collection

Agreed Action

-Discussion of the main authors and articles to include in

the Literature if Review.

- Define how in depth qualitative approach needs to be

explained in the Research Methodology chapter.

Student

Signature

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s

Signature

Sue Debenham

BUS/UG/UH/00023

113

Meeting 3

Date of Meeting 18, APRIL 2014

Progress Made

-Ethics form complete and checked by supervisor

-Discussion of possible limitations for the use of

interviews.

Agreed Action

-Modifications of documents to be send to participants

as well as the participation letter form.

-Send the documents from above, after the ethics form

approval is received.

Student

Signature

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s

Signature

Sue Debenham

Meeting 4

Date of Meeting 18, JUNE 2014

Progress Made

-Literature improvements

-Research Methodology structure and content

Agreed Action

-Conduct a pilot interview before conducting the real

ones.

-Provide a definition of buddy mentoring to participants

before starting the interview.

Student

Signature

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s

Signature

Sue Debenham

Meeting 5

Date of Meeting 12, AUGUST 2014 (online)

Progress Made -Interview questions changes

Agreed Action

-Start to conduct the interviews and transcript them

Student Signature

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s

Signature

Sue Debenham

114

Meeting 6

Date of Meeting 21, OCTOBER 2014

Progress Made

-One extra participant

-Transcription of all interviews

Agreed Action

-Use the data collected for the analysis and findings

chapter

-Star the reflection chapter

Student

Signature

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s

Signature

Sue Debenham

Meeting 7

Date of Meeting 10, DECEMBER 2014

Progress Made

-General improvements

-Check the word count for each chapter

Agreed Action

-Write the conclusions and recommendations chapter

-Revise the “English”

-Changes to be done for Christmas period

Student

Signature

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s

Signature

Sue Debenham

Meeting 8

Date of Meeting 15 & 25 JANUARY

Progress Made

-Final draft

Feedback from Christmas changes

Agreed Action

-Write up and put together all the chapters

-Check project’s structure

-Sign the Dissertation Log

-Submit on the 5-6 February

Student

Signature

Andrea Bejarano Sarabia

Supervisor’s

Signature

Sue Debenham

115

4/02/2015

Andrea has shown real interest and commitment

throughout the dissertation process and has attended

regular

meetings with updates provided on her research.

She is always professional in her behaviour and responds

well to advice.

At the beginning I saw this project as a real challenging one.

The help from my supervisor has been essential, and regular

meetings allowed me to ask for any questions.

As well as Rachel Andrews our TABSA course coordinator.

Is such a great feeling to see all your effort reflected in a

piece of work, of a topic that has been so appealing and

interesting to me.

Andrea Bejarano

Sarabia

Section D. Comments on Management of Project

(to be completed at the end of the dissertation process)

Students comments

Supervisors comments:

Signature of student………………………………… Date……………………..

Signature of supervisor…Sue Debenham…………………………….

Date…2/2/15………………….

116

APPENDIX 11 UNDERGRADUATE DISSERTATION

2013/2014

SUPERVISOR’S ASSESSMENT SHEET

Name of Student:……………………………………………………………

Student Number……………………………………………………………

Course code:………………………………………………………………..

Supervisor:………………………………………………………………….

Ethics protocol: Yes/ No

Student log submitted: Yes/ No

CD/Data stick: Yes/ No

Instructions for completion of this form. In your narrative please adopt grade

descriptions taken from the Assessment criteria for undergraduate dissertations as an

aide memoire. It is available in the module guide

Clarity of dissertation purpose and objectives 10 marks

Research and referencing 10 marks

Methodology 10 marks

Final grade (%)

117

Critical understanding of relevant theory 40 marks

Analysis of field work, research, topic 15 marks

Structure and coherence 5 marks

Management of project 10 marks

118

Overall comments justifying grade awarded

Supervisors grade:………………………………………………

Second marker’s grade:………………………………………….

Agreed grade:…………………………………………………..

Date:…………………………………………………………….

Signed: ……………………………………………………………. (Supervisor)

………………………………………………………………..(Second marker)

119

APPENDIX 12 UNDERGRADUATE DISSERTATION

2013/2014

SECOND MARKER’S ASSESSMENT SHEET

Name of Student: …………………………………………………………..

Student Number:……………………………………………………………

Course code:………………………………………………………………..

Supervisor:………………………………………………………………….

Second marker: ……………………………………………………………..

Instructions for completion of this form. In your narrative please adopt grade

descriptions taken from the Assessment criteria for undergraduate dissertations as an

aide memoire. This is available in the module guide.

Clarity of dissertation purpose and objectives 10 marks

Research and referencing 10 marks

Methodology 10 marks

120

Critical understanding of relevant theory 40 marks

Analysis of field work, research, topic 15 marks

Structure and coherence 5 marks

121

Overall comments justifying grade awarded

Grade: out of 90 marks

( x100%) ……………………………………………………………..

90

Signed: …………………………………………………………………….

Date:………

122

Business School Undergraduate Modular Programme

Dissertation Assessment Form

Comments from Supervisor:

Comments from Moderator: