Mentoring across cultures: Implications in Managing Expatriates’ Cultural Adjustment

Modern society has become increasingly global. Today, people, capitals, goods and services go beyond national borders. International businesses are flourishing and the displacement of key employees has become a common practice within multinational organisations. However, the relocation process is connected with many challenges. In addition to basic environmental rearrangements, expatriates need to adjust to new work tasks and a new culture (Blom & Meier 2002). In order to succeed expatriates must learn how to interact in a completely new environment where people think, feel and act differently and often speak a different language. This ambiguous situation can lead inexperienced expatriates to a state of frustration and depression, called culture shock (Hofstede & Hofstede 2005). Expatriates, who are not able to adapt to the new cultural setting, are likely to interrupt their assignment prematurely causing damage to their future career and to the organisation. (Tarique & Caligiuri 2009).