Lessons we learn from expatriates' cultural adjustment

Expatriates are individuals, they act as individuals§and they gain individual experience. In other words,§they experience their cultural adjustment process to§the foreign culture on a very personal level and in§different ways due to their individual§characteristics. As a result, the preparation for§international assignments should be customized to§meet a wide range of needs. There cannot be a general§format of the so called Cross-Cultural Training (CCT)§that fits all requirements demanded by its individual§participants. Some expatriates may be fond of§applying stereotypes in their daily encounters with§host country nationals (HCNs), others may avoid§applying them. Some see CCT as absolutely necessary,§others value making their own, undistorted§experiences. In any case, expatriate preparation is§an important prerequisite to ensure the success of§international assignments. Thus, the question is how§CCTs have to be customized to meet expatriates §individual needs. To get a better idea Austrian§expatriates working in the Ukraine were interviewed.