An examination of the goodness-of-fit between the expatriate adjustment model and self-selecting expatriates

ADRIENNE A. REYNOLDS, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES UNIVERSITY, UAE
The literature on human resource management has benefited by the inclusion of a widely accepted and validated theoretical model of expatriate adjustment. This model, with its supporting studies is based solely on the factors thought to influence the adjustment experience of expatriates that are sent on international assignments by their employing multinational corporations. It is assumed that this model can be universally applied to all expatriate adjustment situations. However, this author contends that while useful to the study of expatriate management, this body of literature, through the exclusion of other types of expatriates, lacks full explanatory power for key sectors. An introduction of self-selecting expatriates is presented. Additionally, this paper provides insight and exploration into how the model described above is not fully congruent with this underrepresented group of expatriates and offers suggestions for future model modification and testing.
Keywords: Expatriation; Expatriate Adjustment; Expatriate Management; Self-selecting Expatriates.