Factors affecting expatriates' performance when they work with Thai government organisations : an initial exploration

Abstract

Effective performance of expatriates is recognised as a major determinant in the success or failure of organisations. The literature on expatriate management emphasises that the intercultural adjustment and intercultural communication competence of the expatriates, as well as cross-cultural training for the expatriates and the family/spouse, are important indicators for expatriates' effectiveness. In addition, it has been shown that expatriates who develop network ties with host nationals can adjust to a foreign environment more easily than those who do not. However, there has been no empirical study regarding this in Thai government organisations.

The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study is to determine the factors affecting the performance of the expatriates working with the Ministry of Labour (MOL) in Thailand and to propose suggestions to the MOL on how to better manage the expatriates working for them. Drawing on a number of intercultural adjustment and intercultural communication theories, the Map, Bridge, Integrate (MBI) model is utilised to unpack the cultural differences between expatriates and host nationals. The strength of ties, based on social network theory, is drawn on to explain the pattern of relationships between expatriates and host nationals.

A Pilot study, using an email questionnaire with eight United Nations (UN) and Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) expatriates working with the MOL, was conducted to refine the adequacy of the reference and data collection strategies. The semi-structured, in-depth interviews were then carried out to examine the attitudes and perceptions of expatriates about their adjustment and adaptation to the cultural diversity that impinges on their performance. The participants were 14 international expatriates working with the MOL during the time of data collection. All interviews were tape recorded, transcribed and analysed using interpretive content analysis, discourse analysis, and protocol analysis.

This empirical study provides robust evidence that besides the factors deliberately investigated in this study, there are many other factors that influence expatriates performance when working in different cultures. It was found that these expatriates understand cultures more than they had before they came to Thailand. However, the degree of adjustment and accomplishment they varied, partly resulting from personality characteristics and their home country values.

Subsequently, the themes emerging from the findings - the personality characteristics of the expatriates and national values - are also discussed. Furthermore, this study will provide guidance to the Thai government about what to consider when receiving international expatriates into their organisations and how to manage cultural diversity in their workplace. Finally, this study proposes some ideas for future research.