Expatriation in the Hotel Industry

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Expatriation in the hotel industryAn exploratory study of management skills

and cultural trainingGina Fe Causin

University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Baker AyounAuburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA, and

Patrick MoreoFood & Beverage Department, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

AbstractPurpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the following expatriate issues as related to thehospitality industry, from the perspective of practitioners: the most important management skills hotelexpatriates should possess, whether these skills vary by the country of origin of the expatriate andparent company, and the most effective cross-cultural training activities provided by hotel companies.

Design/methodology/approach Data for this exploratory study was obtained from a sample of 66respondents from lodging organizations with membership in the International Hotel and RestaurantAssociation (IH & RA). Data was collected by means of self-administered, web-based surveys.

Findings Participants in this study indicate that expatriate management skills vary in importancefor hotel expatriates. The results of the analysis of variance demonstrate that the importance placed onthe different expatriate management skills varies based on country of origin of both the expatriate andthe parent company. Respondents and companies originating in different countries place moreimportance on certain expatriate management skills than others. Analyses also indicate that seven of

nine cross-cultural training activities provided by the parent company are perceived to be effective forthe success of an expatriate assignment.

Practical implications This study suggests that opportunities do exist for international hotelcompanies to better prepare hotel expatriates for foreign assignments by integrating more effectivelyissues of cultural awareness into their preparation programs. Additionally, although it may appearcounter-intuitive for a future expatriate to focus on the structure and processes of the home companybefore embarking on a foreign assignment, the results of this study suggest that such knowledge isvery valuable.

Originality/value While studies investigating expatriation management in the mainstreamliterature have been growing recently, only a handful of published studies have explored the issue inthe hotel industry. Answers to the research questions that guided this study add to our knowledge andenhance our understanding of the issues related to expatriation management within the context of thehotel industry. The present study generated fruitful avenues, especially with regard to the issues

related to the variation of management skills according to the country of origin of participants andparent company.

KeywordsHotel and catering industry, Management skills, Country of origin, Expatriates

Paper typeResearch paper

IntroductionThe need of international hotel companies for effective expatriate managers has neverbeen more genuine. The success of foreign operations of these hotel companies depends

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0959-6119.htm

Expatriation inthe hotelindustry

885

Received 29 August 2010Revised 2 December 2010

19 February 20112 March 2011

Accepted 9 March 2011

International Journal of

Contemporary Hospitality

Management

Vol. 23 No. 7, 2011

pp. 885-901

q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0959-6119

DOI 10.1108/09596111111167515


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on technically competent and culturally adaptable expatriate managers (Yu and Huat,1995). As these companies continue to be even more international in scope, the benefits ofhaving such expatriates are numerous. For instance, expatriates running foreignoperations are more likely to be familiar with the corporate culture and control systems

of headquarters than are host-country managers. This results in more effectivecommunication and coordination with the corporation (Barber and Pittaway, 2000). Theuse of expatriates also provides managerial talent in developing countries where there islimited local talent, and enhances the global mind-set of the organization. Expatriates arealso a better option than domestic managers when short-term international visits areinsufficient for successfully growing a business in the target country.

However, there is also a downside to using expatriates. Expatriate failure rates (therate at which expatriates return prematurely from foreign assignments) have beenargued to be notably high in the international hotel industry (Magnini and Honeycutt,2003; Yu and Huat, 1995). Financially, the impact of the resulting turnover has beendescribed as very expensive (Magnini, 2009). In addition to monetary costs, failedexpatriate efforts can also lead to negative organizational outcomes such as delayedproductivity, poor relationships with local nationals, negative perceptions of thecompany, difficulty for expatriate successors, and ineffective repatriation (Bennettet al., 2000). Failed expatriates also adversely affect important relationships withclients, local businesses, and local government officials as well (Shay and Tracey, 1997;Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985). The lack of cultural preparedness and training wasconsidered to be a cause of expatriate failures, yet few companies have adequateprocesses for selecting and training their expatriate managers (McGrath-Champ andYang, 2002; Porter and Tansky, 1999; Kealey and Protheroe, 1996; Tung, 1987; 1981).Interestingly, research indicates that some companies believe that training cannot domuch to resolve the various issues associated with expatriate assignments (Black andMendenhall, 1990). The aim of the current study is to contribute to our understanding

of the issue of expatriation management within the context of the international hotelindustry.

Need for more researchDespite the extraordinary interest of international hotel companies in expanding theiroperations globally, very little is known about their management of expatriates. Whilestudies investigating expatriation management in the mainstream literature have beengrowing recently, only a handful of published studies have explored the issue in thehotel industry. This dearth of hospitality expatriation research prevails despite that thefew empirical studies (e.g. Magnini and Honeycutt, 2003; Feng and Pearson, 1999)conducted within the context of the hospitality industry reveal that there is a real andgrowing need for hospitality research which facilitates the understanding of

expatriation issues in the hospitality industry.Further, in reviewing the relevant literature, it is noticed that most studies on

managing expatriates have been conducted across a variety of industries, with limitedto no inclusion of the hospitality industry (see Shen and Darby, 2006; Linehan andScullion, 2001; Caligiuriet al., 2001; Enderwick and Hodgson, 1993). Many studies havefocused on expatriates and companies originating from one country (e.g. Shen andDarby, 2006; Enderwick and Hodgson, 1993), or expatriates of one country working ineither one other country (e.g. Celaya and Swift, 2006; Selmer, 2001) or a very few

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number of countries (e.g. Linehan and Scullion, 2001). A need for empirical studies thatinclude a wider range of participants and countries is called for in the literature (Shenand Darby, 2006; Caligiuri et al., 2001). Additionally, Caligiuri et al.(2001) report thatmost of the cross-cultural training and experiences have been conducted with

populations of international sojourners (i.e. students, peace corps volunteers), not withexpatriate people. Magninis (2009) study on expatriate training focused exclusively onreal-time training, leaving much to be learned about other types of cross-culturaltraining. While overcoming several of the drawbacks identified in previous empiricalstudies, the current study attends to this need. Given the lack of sufficient literature oninternational hospitality companies, a study, which sheds light on their practices interms of the development of their international managerial cadre is warranted.Answers to the research questions that guide this current study will expand ourunderstanding of expatriation in the international hotel industry.

Research questions

The specifics pertaining to expatriation in the hotel industry remain inadequatelyinvestigated. While overcoming several shortcomings in previous studies, this studysought to answer three questions.

Management skills of successful expatriatesWhile technical skills are often used by companies when selecting managers forinternational assignments (Kealey and Protheroe, 1996; Tung, 1981), existing literaturepresents a much broader inventory of competencies and skills that are needed forsuccessful expatriates. Heller (1980) talked about personality, broad intellectualhorizons, values of cultural empathy, friendliness, patience and prudence, impeccableeducational and professional credentials; all accompanied with immaculate health,creativity, and respect for peers. In another study, Dulfer (1990) proposes that

international managers must be effective team players, demonstrate appropriatereflection on complex problems, find new solutions in the face of unexpected changes,display confidence in solving problems, and motivate others to cooperate. McCall andHollenbeck (2002) present similar but distinct competencies needed of an expatriateexecutive: open-minded and flexible in thought and tactics; culturally interested andsensitive; able to deal with complexity; resilient, resourceful, optimistic, and energetic;demonstrate honesty and integrity; maintain a stable personal life; and possessvalue-added technical or business skills.

Some studies have looked beyond skills and characteristics to explore psychologicaldispositions and orientations. Mendenhall and Oddou (1985) identified four dimensionsthat are believed to predict success in expatriation assignments:

(1) self-orientation (the qualities that strengthen the expatriate managersself-esteem, self-confidence and mental well-being);

(2) others-orientation (the ability to develop relationships and communicate withnationals of the host country);

(3) perceptual ability (the ability to comprehend why people of other countriesbehave in certain ways; being nonjudgmental and non-evaluative); and

(4) cultural toughness (how well the expatriate manager adjusts to cultures that aredistant and unfamiliar).


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A notable tendency in the literature is to attempt to identify a universal set ofcompetencies and skills that can be expected to apply to the majority of expatriate jobsaround the world. However, it is reasonable to assume that different regions of the worldand different expatriate jobs may require different emphasis on certain skills than others.

Empirical studies conducted within the context of the hotel industry, for example, havegenerally suggested that the emphasis placed on certain skills and competencies may notcompletely conform to the more generic skills proposed in general expatriationmanagement literature. A relatively early study by Shay and Tracey (1997) indicatedthat the reasons for failure and the attributes required for hotel-management successabroad appear to be particular to the industry. The study identified the following as themost desirable attributes for expatriate hotel managers: people skills, adaptability,flexibility, and emotional maturity. Similar beliefs are shared by DAnnunzio-Green(1997) who argued that due to the international nature of the hospitality industry,different needs for developing international managers do exist.

Feng and Pearson (1999) designed a study to identify the selection criteria andskills/areas of knowledge that are important to the success of expatriate hotel managers

in China. These researchers surveyed managers belonging to two hotel companiesheadquartered in Hong Kong and the USA. The study concluded that adaptation skills,interpersonal relations skills, cultural stress management, knowledge of Chinese culture,and survival language were the most important skills for hotel expatriates to master inChina. Kriegls (2000) study used the alumni database of Cornell Universitys School ofHotel Administration to draw a sample of 100 non-US managers for her survey on mostimportant skills for international hospitality managers. The findings indicated that theseskills, in a descending order, were cultural sensitivity, interpersonal skills, managerialflexibility, adaptive leadership, international motivation, intercultural competencies,ability to work with limited resource, understanding of international business, interest,international etiquette, stress management, functional skills and technical skills.Considering the generalizability limitations of the few hotel-related studies, thehospitality literature clearly presents a need for further understanding that is based oninvestigations with a wider scope, informed by hotel managers originating from andworking in varied countries.

RQ1. From a practitioners perspective, what are the most important managementskills hotel expatriates should possess?

Influences of country of originThere is evidence that national cultures vary and that a variety of managerial practicesdiffer by national culture. Cultural value systems, which may differ from one nation toanother, influence patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting (Hofstede, 1980). Thesepatterns affect the ways of life, philosophies, and value systems of people of a

particular nation. Empirical investigations by Ayoun et al., (2010a,b) and Ayoun andMoreo (2009) verified a presence of national cultural differences among hotel managersbelonging to different countries, demonstrated in different managerial philosophiesand styles when developing business strategies. Hotel managers from differentcultures may view the same managerial situation in significantly different ways andbehave differently in any particular situation based on their beliefs and values.

The country of origin is a variable that has been frequently explored in studies ofexpatriation management. For instance, in a seminal work, Tung (1981) found that

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among American companies surveyed the reasons for expatriate failure were cited to be(in descending order of importance) inability of the spouse to adjust, managers inabilityto adjust, other family reasons, managers personal or emotional maturity, and inabilityto cope with the larger overseas responsibility. Interestingly, in repeating this element of

the study with the Japanese organizations, the reasons were ranked in almost exactopposite order of the American organizations. Among European organizations, the onlyreason for expatriate failure that respondents consistently marked was the inability ofthe spouse to adjust. Similar studies have been conducted with Japanese (Allen, 1988),British (Hamill, 1989), and Australian (Dowling and Welch, 1988) expatriates. Aqualitative investigation in the hospitality industry by Gannon et al. (2010) found thatmanagers from specific nationalities were preferred and demanded for specific positions.

Similarly, the literature proposes that if expatriates originate from a country that isculturally similar to the foreign country where they will operate, they would generallybe more successful in doing their work. A notable number of scholarly works inexpatriation management (e.g. Blacket al., 1991; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985) supportthe notion that cultural distance between home and host cultures plays an influential

role in expatriate success. For example, testing hypotheses based on transaction coststheory, the study by Colakoglu and Caligiuri (2008) suggests that firms rely on agreater number of parent country expatriates when they are culturally distant from thesubsidiary. Several other studies, however, have shown that the relationship betweencountry of origin of the expatriate and the host country is more complex than it istypically assumed. Empirical results by Selmeret al.(2007) call into question previousfindings that substantiate the relationship between cultural distance and expatriateadjustment. Abdellatifet al.(2010) confirmed the ambiguous effect of distance (culturaland geographical) on internationalization strategies. In addition to the inconclusiveresults associated with influences of country of origin, an investigation into thepotential influences of country of origin on the perceived importance of managementskills of expatriates is warrant.

RQ2. Do the management skills perceived by hotel expatriates vary by the countryof origin of the expatriate and parent company?

Cultural trainingSeveral authors (e.g. Hutchings, 2003; Varner and Palmer, 2002) point out that one ofthe key aspects contributing towards achieving effectiveness of expatriates iscross-cultural training. The term cross-cultural training can be applied to a variety ofdifferent training courses. Each in essence aims to develop awareness between peoplewhere a common cultural framework does not exist.

In general, cross-cultural training has two parallel strands: cross-cultural awarenesstraining and culture/country specific training. Cross-cultural awareness training deals

with the manifestations of culture in the workplace and has many applications. Itsmain purpose is to evaluate and constructively tackle the challenges cross-culturaldifferences can bring to the workplace (Gliatis, 1992). Culture/country specific trainingis generally aimed at individuals or teams that regularly visit a foreign country or whofrequently interact with overseas clients or colleagues. Such training usually focuseson areas such as values, morals, ethics, business practices, etiquette, protocol ornegotiation styles with reference to one country. This better equips participants withthe key skills that will help in building successful business relationships.


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Most scholars of expatriate training recommend similar types of training for staff(Forster, 2000). The various types of cross-cultural training commonly discussed inliterature include the following:

. cross-cultural communication (communicating effectively with different peoplein different languages and from different cultures);

. cross-cultural negotiation (etiquette of meeting, greeting, verbal and non-verbalcommunication, gift-giving, entertaining, building rapport, negotiation tactics,facts and statistics of negotiation);

. business and culture (understanding how culture influences businessrelationships, practices and policies and providing strategies to using it positively);

. business etiquette (understanding of the ins and outs of the target cultures forbusiness);

. cross-cultural team building (working in multi-cultural teams either in the sameoffice or across borders);

.

cultural-diversity training (understanding the impact of multi-cultural diversityon both the harmony of the workplace and possible legal implications, includinginsights into an assignment specific religion, race or nationality); and

. youth cross-cultural training (focused on children and teenagers who may beaccompanying their expatriate parents abroad).

These different types of cross-cultural training allow the expatriate to target and improvespecific weaknesses or gaps in their skills. An expatriates own cultural backgroundgreatly influences how successful he/she will perform in a foreign assignment. Forexample, it has been found that language barriers and cultural differences are among thehighest management difficulty factors perceived by expatriate hotel professionals inChina (Yu and Huat, 1995). Therefore, self-awareness, analysis of ones own values and

their effects on behavior need to be an integral part of expatriate training both before andduring the foreign assignment. Once the expatriate understands his/her own culturalorientation, he/she can better focus on relevant elements in the target or host culture andmake the changes in strategy necessary to achieve organizational goals. This concept canalso apply to the family of the expatriate as well, as a major component of their supportnetwork. The time and costs invested in providing expatriates and their families withsuch cultural awareness briefings would contribute to minimizing the risk of early returnsof expatriates and the potentially more damaging cultural offense and alienation of localemployees and business partners (Hutchings, 2003).

With specific regard to the hospitality industry, a study by Dewald and Self (2008)focused on cross-cultural training given to expatriate hotel managers in China to helpthem succeed in foreign environments. The authors interviewed three Directors ofTraining and Development at three different hotel chains. Based on the interviews, itwas concluded that the overall level of cross-cultural training received by expatriatehotel managers in these three hotel chains was minimal. The scope of the traininggenerally covered such topics as the dos and donts while abroad along withperfunctory meetings with the human resource department at the new locations.Responding to increasing calls in literature, Magnini (2009) investigated the currentstate of practice of real-time training modes (sources of information and advices anexpatriate can utilize to handle various situations as they arise) by hotel companies.

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Among other findings, the study found that the most commonly used source ofreal-time training is local nationals; the use of CD-Rom products was found to beinversely related to the number of previous expatriate assignments; and repatriateswere utilized less when expatriates were assigned to an individualistic host nations or

when there was a sizable cultural distance between home and host countries.Given the myriad of cultural training available, a difficulty faced by companies is

deciding on the training program. That is, which will be the most effective in view ofthe task for which the executive has been selected and the culture in which they are tooperate? (Celaya and Swift, 2006). Another complicating factor, as observed by Selmer(2001), is that it is still not clear whether traditional pre-departure cross-culturaltraining can equip expatriates with the required cultural familiarity, despite the studiesthat have addressed the issue previously. There is limited generalizability of thefindings produced by research conducted in the hospitality setting. This is mainly dueto the small sample size, geographic concentration of the participating hotel chains,and scope of training activities investigated. This demonstrates that more researchconducted around the world is needed to explore cultural training within theinternational hotel industry.

RQ3. What cross-cultural training activities that hotel companies provide areperceived by hotel expatriates to be the most effective for an expatriateassignment?

MethodsSamplingRepresentatives of the lodging organizations who are members of the International Hoteland Restaurant Association (IH & RA) were identified as a source of potential expatriatesin the international hotel industry. The IH&RA is an international trade association

exclusively devoted to promoting and defending the interests of the hospitality industryworldwide. Organizational members of the IH&RA belong to hospitality properties aswell as lodging and foodservice associations, all over the world. The representatives ofthese organizations are top executives, managers, directors, controllers and researchers.The international perspective and the score of experiences of these individuals made themideal for the purpose of the present study. For this particular study, only therepresentatives of the lodging properties and associations were part of the study.

At the time of this study, membership of the IH & RA included 60 hotel propertiesand 82 hospitality associations, located all over the world. A simple random samplingwas conducted to determine which organizations are to be included in the survey.Using a cluster sampling procedure, five clusters were identified for the associationsand three clusters were identified for the lodging properties, for a total of eight clusters

of organizations included in the survey.After securing the cooperation of these organizations, an email message with an

accompanying explanatory letter was sent to the contact person in the corporate officesof the eight organizations. The corporate offices then forwarded the invitation forparticipation to their qualified professionals. Contact persons in the lodgingorganizations were asked to forward the survey link to the professionals who haveexperience working as an expatriate at least once in their career, regardless of title orposition. In doing so, the invitation to participate in the survey was limited to those


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who belong to lodging organizations and also have experience working as anexpatriate at some point in their professional careers.

Each organization was asked to provide information about their professionals whowere currently on foreign assignment or had been on expatriate hospitality assignment.

By sending the responses directly to the researchers, the anonymity and confidentialityof the participants and their responses was assured. From the eight organizations, therewere a total of 200 professionals who met the criteria set for the present study. A total of66 responses were received in the survey. Upon the request of corporate offices of theparticipating organizations, follow-up mailings were not possible.

Table I shows the demographic information of the respondents. The respondentsages varied widely, with over 20 percent representation in three of the five agebrackets. Respondents who were aged between 51-60 years old made up the largestsegment (30 percent), while only 9 percent of the respondents were aged from 20-30years old. Most of the respondents were male (73 percent). An overwhelming 61 percentof the respondents were married, 27 percent have never been married, and 3 percent ofthe respondents were widowed. Over half (55 percent) had received a graduate degree,while those with only some college were tied for the lowest percentage (3 percent) ofresponses with those who had acquired some graduate school. The majority (97percent) had previous overseas experience or they had experience working outside oftheir home countries prior to their present job. More respondents had six months orless experience with being an expatriate manager. Most of the respondents were eithertop executives (42 percent) or they were a director/manager (41 percent). There was aconsiderable distribution of departments represented with a significant (33 percent)amount of respondents that did not clearly fall into one of the pre-determinedcategories. Overall, the expatriates in this survey saw themselves as successful, withonly 18 percent responding that they were either not successful (3 percent) or justsomewhat successful (15 percent).

Survey instrumentGiven the global spread of the potential respondents and that they can easily access theinternet, data for this study were collected via a web-based survey. Compared to othermethods of data collection and when surveying expatriate managers, a web-basedapproach, Celaya and Swift (2006) state, could also be faster and less intrusive. Thesurvey instrument was developed by the authors, guided by the research questions andfollowing an extended relevant review of both the mainstream and hospitalityliteratures. In addition to the demographic and professional characteristics of therespondents, the survey instrument measured the opinions of the participants on themost important management skills by direct single question. The respondents wereprovided with a list of skills and were asked to rank the most important using a scale

ranging from 1 (indicating the most important, to 5 for 5th most important).Cross-cultural training activities were measured with a single question, whererespondents were asked to indicate whether their companies provided them with thevarious training activities. After collating the relevant variables from the literature, theinitial draft was sent to academics for review and evaluation. Furthermore, theresearchers interviewed two hospitality expatriates (one retired and one still active in ahotel facility in the southeastern part of the USA) to confirm the truthfulness andrelevance of the information identified in the literature. Both groups of expatriates and

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Frequency Percent

Age20-30 years old 6 9.1

31-40 years old 18 27.341-50 years old 14 21.251-60 years old 20 30.361 years old and above 7 10.6

GenderFemale 16 24.2Male 48 72.7

Current marital statusMarried 40 60.6Never been married 18 27.3Widowed 2 3.0

Highest educational level obtained/achievedSome College 2 3.0College Degree (hospitality undergraduate degree) 4 6.1College Degree (other undergraduate degrees) 8 12.1Some Graduate School 2 3.0Graduate School Degree 36 54.5Other 6 9.1

Number of months as an expatriate executive in the host countryLess than six months 16 24.27-12 months 8 12.113-24 months 8 12.125-36 months 10 15.237-48 months 0 0.049-60 months 8 12.161 months and above 8 12.1

Missing/No answer 8 12.1Job titleConsultant 2 3.0Director/Manager 27 40.9Educator 5 7.6Top Executive 28 42.4

Department in which the respondents worked/are workingPersonnel 4 6.1Marketing/Sales 6 9.1Food and beverages 8 12.1General Management 10 15.2Front Office 4 6.1Financial control 8 12.1

Other 22 33.3Level of perceived success as an expatriate executiveNot successful 2 3.0Somewhat successful 10 15.2Successful 30 45.5Extremely successful 16 24.2No answer 8 12.1

Note:n 66

Table I.Frequency distribution of

the demographic andprofessional information

of the respondents


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academics scrutinized the survey instrument and provided insights and suggestionson the language and length of the instrument. Following their feedback, changes weremade to the survey instrument.

In addition to the extensive review of the literature and deliberations with

hospitality expatriates and academics, the rigor of the survey instrument was furtherensured through pilot testing. A pilot study was conducted for one week among 30subjects. Identified by the researchers based on their knowledge of their background,these subjects were or have worked as expatriates in one way or another, such asacademic expatriates and I-CHRIE members. The researchers noted the commentsmade by the subjects, and applied them to the questionnaire before it was finalized.These managers and educators confirmed the accuracy of the directions and reaffirmedthe clarity of each statement. Additionally, these individuals were asked to review thelist of statements to ensure that behaviors relevant to international success had notbeen inadvertently omitted. The questionnaire was slightly modified based on theresult of the pilot study.

ResultsThe results section is organized in three subsections, each addressing a researchquestion relating to the management skills, the influence of country of origin, andcultural training activities. Several statistical analyses were performed to answer theresearch questions based on the survey responses. In addition to descriptive statistics,one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to test differences in culturaltraining activities based on the country of origin of respondent as well as the country oforigin of the parent company. Furthermore, independent samples t-tests were used toevaluate the effectiveness of the cultural training activities provided by the parentcompany as perceived by the respondents.

Most important management skills of the hotel expatriateThe most important management skills identified by respondents for hotel expatriatemanagers are listed in Table II. Ordered from the highest to lowest mean scores: grasps

Management skills Frequency MeanStandarddeviation

Grasps on how all the parts of the organization fit together 44 3.59 1.386Has the mental capacity to understand the overall workings of theorganization and its environment 52 3.58 1.513International negotiation skills 36 3.44 1.362Gets along with subordinates, peers, and those at higher levels of

the organization 56 3.32 1.574Views the organization in a holistic manner 40 3.30 1.604Understanding international marketing 38 3.26 1.349Understanding international finance 34 3.24 1.362Ability to work in international teams 54 3.19 1.555Effectively receive ideas and information from others 52 3.15 1.500Effectively convey ideas and information to others 58 3.10 1.575

Note:n 66

Table II.Descriptive frequencydistribution of the mostimportant managementskills that hotelexpatriate executivesshould possess

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on how all the parts of the organization fit together (mean 3.59); has the mentalcapacity to understand the overall workings of the organization and its environment(mean 3.58); international negotiation skills (mean 3.44); gets along withsubordinates, peers, and those at higher levels of the organization (mean 3.32);

views the organization in a holistic manner (mean 3.30); understanding internationalmarketing (mean 3.26); understanding international finance (mean 3.24); ability towork in international teams (mean 3.19); effectively receives ideas and informationfrom others (mean 3.15); and effectively conveys ideas and information to others(mean 3.10).

Influences of country of origin of the hotel expatriate and parent companyANOVA was employed to test differences in cross-cultural training based on thecountry of origin of the hotel expatriate (see Table III). The Ftest indicates that theimportance placed on the different expatriate management skills varies based oncountry of origin. The variables that were statistically significant were: understanding

international marketing (p

0:

038); ability to work in international teams (p

0:

027);grasps on how all the parts of the organization fit together (p 0:045); and views theorganization in a holistic manner (p 0:004). ANOVA test was also used to examinethe relationship between country of origin of the parent company and the variousmanagement skills. The results, presented in Table IV, indicate that the managementskills of understanding international finance (p 0:000), international negotiationskills (p 0:002), has the mental capacity to understand the overall workings of theorganization and its environment (p 0:027), and grasps on how all the parts of theorganization fit together (p 0:018) vary by the respondents location of the parentcompany (i.e. Australia, China, India, the Middle East region, Switzerland, Thailandand the USA). Tukeys HSD multiple comparisons revealed that on the item ofunderstanding international finance, companies from Australia, China, India, the

Middle East region, Switzerland, Thailand and the USA were significantly differentfrom each other. Also on the variable of international negotiation skills, companiesfrom Switzerland are significantly different than their counterparts from China, India,and the Middle East region.

Management skills Levenes statistic F Sig.

Effectively convey ideas and information to others 5.880 1.133 0.386Effectively receive ideas and information from others 6.124 1.246 0.330Understanding international finance 5.922 2.400 0.064International negotiation skills 2.558 1.970 0.117Understanding international marketing 3.423 2.784 0.038 *

Ability to work in international teams 5.204 3.051 0.027 *Gets along with subordinates, peers, and those at higher levelsof the organization 4.439 2.193 0.085Has the mental capacity to understand the overall workings ofthe organization and its environment 3.638 2.389 0.065Grasps on how all the parts of the organization fit together 3.638 2.650 0.045*

Views the organization in a holistic manner 4.085 4.753 0.004 *

Notes: *Denotes significance at p # 0.05; n 66

Table III.One-way ANOVA of the

relationship betweenmanagement skills and

the respondents countryof origin


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Most effective cross-cultural training activities for the hotel expatriateTable V shows the independent samples tests of the effectiveness of the cross-cultural

training activities provided by the parent company. The effectiveness of the training

program provided by the parent company had a four-point scale:

. 1 for not effective;

. 2 for moderately effective;

. 3 for effective; and

. 4 for extremely effective.

Thetvalues indicate that seven of the nine cross-cultural training activities providedby the parent company were statistically significant:

. cross-cultural team building, t 3:241 (p 0:002);

. cross-cultural management, t 3:352 (p 0:002);

. cross-cultural negotiation, t 3:639 (p 0:001);

Management skills Levenes statistic F Sig.

Effectively convey ideas and information to others 5.880 1.612 0.198Effectively receive ideas and information from others 6.124 2.409 0.067

Understanding international finance 5.922 23.264 0.000 *

International negotiation skills 2.558 5.629 0.002 *

Understanding international marketing 3.423 2.214 0.087Ability to work in international teams 5.204 2.273 0.080Get along with subordinates, peers, and those at higher levelsof the organization 4.439 2.441 0.064Has the mental capacity to understand the overall workings ofthe organization and its environment 3.638 3.103 0.027 *

Grasps on how all the parts of the organization fit together 3.638 3.433 0.018 *

Views the organization in a holistic manner 4.085 2.575 0.054

Notes: *Denotes significance at p # 0.05; Factor variable: location of parent company (Australia,China, India, the Middle East region, Switzerland, Thailand and USA)

Table IV.One-way ANOVA of therelationship betweenmanagement skills andlocation of the parentcompany

Mean Levenes statistic t Sig.

Perceived effectiveness of the cross-cultural training activities provided by the parent companyCross-cultural sensitivity training 2.83 9.213 1.827 0.074Cross-cultural team building 2.88 0.597 3.241 0.002 *

Cross-cultural management 2.84 0.989 3.352 0.002 *Cross-cultural negotiation 3.11 0.024 3.639 0.001 *

Cultural diversity training 2.67 5.818 0.487 0.628Cross-cultural relocation 2.82 0.895 2.754 0.008 *

Youth cross-cultural training 3.25 0.095 4.498 0.000 *

Business & Culture 2.89 0.019 5.086 0.000 *

Business Etiquette 2.71 0.597 3.241 0.002 *

Notes: *Denotes significance at p # 0.05

Table V.Independent samplestests of the effectivenessof the cultural trainingactivities provided by theparent company

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. cross-cultural relocation, t 2:754 (p 0:008);

. youth cross-cultural training,t 4:498 (p 0:000);

. business and culture, t 5:086 (p 0:000); and

.

business etiquette, t 3:

241 (p 0:

002).

The results showed that cross-cultural sensitivity training and cultural diversitytraining, with t values of 1.827 and 0.487 respectively, were not perceived to beeffective.

Discussion and conclusionsParticipants in this study indicated that management skills vary in importance forhotel expatriate. An interesting finding is that the two highest ranked skills (graspingon how all the parts of the organization fit together; and the mental capacity tounderstand the overall workings of the organization and its environment) and thefourth and fifth ranked skills (getting along with subordinates, peers, and those at

higher levels of the organization; and viewing the organization in a holistic manner)relate to the expatriates ability to understand and communicate back to the homeorganization. Although there exists some literature that has found the benefits oforganizational support for expatriates (Avril and Magnini, 2007), it would perhapsappear counter-intuitive for a future expatriate worker to focus on the structure andprocesses of the home company before embarking on a foreign assignment. However,the results of this study suggest that such knowledge is very valuable.

The third, sixth, seventh, and eighth ranked skills (international negotiation skills;understanding international marketing; understanding international finance; and theability to work in international teams respectively) are those that are more orientedtoward facilitating intercultural contact and foreign operations. The balancing ofexpatriate work skills presented by this study is similar to the cultural balancing as

studied by Tung (1987), in that the most popular method for acculturation was to takeelements from both the home culture and the host culture to operate effectively. On asimilar note, soon-to-be expatriate managers should not neglect the development oftheir ability to work effectively with their home corporation.

Perceived importance of management skills varied by the hotel expatriates countryof origin. The items that were statistically significant included: understandinginternational marketing; ability to work in international teams; grasping on how all theparts of the organization fit together; and viewing the organization in a holisticmanner. This is in line with the results obtained by Feng and Pearson (1999) who foundthat hotel expatriates, and their spouses, originating from Asian countries tended toexperience fewer adaptability difficulties while in China than their Europeancounterparts. Asian hotel expatriates were found to attach relatively more importance

to human relations skills. The importance given to different management skills alsovaried according to the location of the parent company, which could also suggest thatthere is a difference on the development of different management skills of managersbased on the location of the parent company as well. Hotel companies originating inAustralia, China, India, the Middle East region, Switzerland, Thailand and the USAdiffered on the extent of emphasis they place on the skills of: understandinginternational finance, international negotiation skills, understanding the overallworkings of the organization and its environment, and how all the parts of the


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organization fit together. This suggests that parent companies value their ownorganizational culture and they want their foreign branch companies to adhere to this.

Cultural training activities that the parent company provided were found to beexceedingly effective for the success of an expatriate assignment. In summary, out of

nine cultural training activities provided by the parent company, seven were perceivedto be effective and two were perceived to be ineffective. The seven effectivecross-cultural training activities provided by the company were:

(1) cross-cultural team building;

(2) cross-cultural management;

(3) cross-cultural negotiation;

(4) cross-cultural relocation;

(5) youth cross-cultural training;

(6) business and culture; and

(7) business etiquette.

The two cross-cultural training activities that were ineffective were: cross-culturalsensitivity training; and cultural diversity training. This is contrary to the findings ofKriegl (2000), who found that cultural sensitivity was the highest ranked skill byhospitality managers in her study. However, the ineffectiveness of these twocross-cultural training activities may have been caused by the inability of theorganizations that employed the respondents to encourage them to participate in suchtraining. Another reason could be the content of the training program may not beinteresting and interactive, or managers may have perceived the training as redundantwhen considered with cross-cultural team building, cross-cultural management, andinternational business and culture training. A practical implication of these findings is

that opportunities do exist to better prepare hotel expatriates for foreign assignmentsby integrating more effectively issues of cultural awareness into their preparationprograms.

In conclusion, the participants in this survey perceived the management skills ofhotel expatriate more or less similarly. It can be stated fairly that they agree as whatare the right management skills that are important for hotel expatriates to master.However, differences in perceived emphasis on management skills of a hotel expatriateare seen more clearly when considering the country of origin of the expatriates andtheir parent companies. Respondents from different countries place more importanceon certain expatriate management skills than others. Furthermore, the findings of thisstudy suggest that, at least for the companies and organizations represented in thissample, the hotel industry provides good coverage of cultural training activities. This

confirms the tendency among international hospitality businesses, as reported byDAnnunzio-Green (1997), to place a high priority on developing managers forinternational postings. Hotel expatriates are responding positively to exposure tocultural training that is offered by their companies and perceive these activities asvaluable to them in their expatriate assignments. Nevertheless, as the hotel industrycontinues to internationalize, more demands will be placed on the roles of expatriatehotel managers. Hotel companies will find it necessary to provide opportunities forthese expatriates to acquire even wider skills and knowledge than were needed before.

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Limitations and future researchThe generalizability of the results of this exploratory study may be rather limited fordifferent reasons. The accuracy of the findings relied on self-reported data, with thepossible associated reporting bias. The survey instrument was restricted to a number

of expatriate management skills, which are frequently mentioned in expatriationmanagement literature. Other skills, however, could be of importance as well. Thenon-response bias could not be assessed in the present study because of theunavailability of an external source that can provide the relevant characteristics ofhotel expatriates around the world for comparing the characteristics of respondentswith the non-respondents. Due to the cross-sectional character of this study, acomparison of the characteristics between the early and late respondents could not beestablished. Accordingly, it is possible that expatriates who responded to this surveymay not be fully representative of those who did not.

This study is meant as a step toward enhancing our understanding of the issuesrelated to expatriation management within the context of the hotel industry. Thepresent study generated fruitful avenues, especially with regard to the issues related to

the variation of management skills according to the country of origin of participantsand parent company. Certainly, more research needs to be undertaken. Future researchneeds to test the generalizability of the findings of this study. Utilizing a larger samplesize, with wider representation of different countries around the world can contributeto toward this greater generalizability. Other extensions can be investigated. Inparticular, future studies should address underlying causes for differences in perceivedimportance of management skills among culturally-different hotel expatriates. Forexample, cultural dimensions as identified by Hofstede (1980) can be utilized in anattempt to explain such differences. Furthermore, a study that brings together datafrom several segments of the larger hospitality industry would greatly illuminate themagnitude of differences that may exist. Such investigation will make comparison with

the present results more informing. As the hospitality industry continues tointernationalize at an unprecedented rate and more expatriates become needed,research of this nature also becomes vital for effective expatriation management.

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Corresponding authorGina Fe Causin can be contacted at: [email protected]


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