The effect of host country nationals’ social support on expatriates’ adjustment-a multiple stakeholder approach

Abstract

The social support provided by host country nationals (HCNs) has been identified as an important source of successful expatriation. However, the roles of different HCN actors have not yet been sufficiently differentiated in this process. Drawing on social support theory and conservation of resources theory, this chapter aims to fill this void by investigating the impact of social support provided by five groups of HCN actors on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment: HCN top management team members, supervisors, colleagues, and subordinates in the work domain, as well as friends in the non-work domain. The resulting model suggests that all these HCN actors can increase expatriates’ adjustment; however, colleagues in the work domain and friends in the non-work domain have the highest influence on all types of adjustments.