This aspect of organizational life has concerned researchers and managers alike for many years, because it is generally recognized that sending a manager to work for the company abroad is a challenging experience, where failure could be costly for both parties. In the case of the employee, failure might be a significant demotivator and may cause him or her to leave the company, with an attendant loss of resources for the firm and might even cause the employee to rethink their future career path, even though the fault was not entirely of his or her own making. From the firm’s point of view, failure is not only expense but it might also damage its market position and affect customer relationships. Consequently, many firms now provide mechanisms for the preparation and support of the manager posted abroad, to help the manager perform to the bet of his or her ability as soon as possible after arrival.

Full details of the research do not concern us here but some important points can be made, illustrating typical problems that might be encountered and suggested steps taken to alleviate some of the pressures of working abroad.

Modern business careers increasingly involve some time working abroad, as firms increase their international activities. For many, progress in their career is dependent on international experience and there are an increasing number of people who specialize in international management, undertaking assignments for various firms during their careers.

Many students, for that matter, are undertaking study abroad, either for a semester or for a whole year. Both these activities necessarily involve people experiencing cultural differences, even in similar cultures such as the U.S.A. and Canada, Sweden and Denmark, etc. Living in a foreign country on a day-to-day basis for a significant length of time means dealing with another culture beyond the artefact level and, for many, this has a major effect on their lives. We explore what we call expatriate experience, particularly in a business context.

We are concerned here primarily with medium- and long-term deployment abroad, short business trips and short-term business projects being excepted, as they do not have the same impact on people's lives. We look at some of the fundamental reasons for working abroad, the cultural impact on the people concerned, suitable preparation for foreign deployment and factors connected with repatriation.