ORGANIZATIONAL SOCIALIZATION IN THE HOST COUNTRY: THE MISSING LINK IN REDUCING EXPATRIATE TURNOVER

Abstract

The socialization process of expatriates into their host country organizational culture has been largely ignored in the expatriate literature. This paper reviews the expatriate literature for the best employee and organizational results. For the most part, socialization tactics of the organization and information seeking of the individual have been overlooked as factors in the success of expatriates. We propose that combining knowledge gained through research in these two areas is essential in gaining a theoretical understanding of expatriate turnover. The Attraction‐Selection‐Attrition (ASA) model of how organizational culture is transmitted across organizational members is discussed. This model is used to demonstrate how the socialization of expatriates can benefit both the organization and the individual.