Four Software Development Methodologies

Student key out Student ID Student Signature Assessor Name Assessors Signature Final Result / Grade Assessed By / Date quality Study Research (worth 20% of final grade)100 MarksSOF535 Application Design and schoolingVersion 1.1, direct 5, Credits 20New Zealand Diploma in Information Technology Technical gestate Level 5Task 1 Requirement Gathering and Analysis(Total 40 Marks) comparison among four softw atomic bet 18 development methodologies.Four Softw are Development MethodologiesWaterfall Development MethodologyThe Waterfall approach to governing bodys analysis and design was the first established in the altogether approach to building a schema. This method was originally defined by Winston W. Royce in 1970, (The Waterfall Development Methodology, 2006).It quickly gained support from managers beca use up everything flows logi clamory from the beginning of a project through the end, (Jonasson, 2008). Sources differ when it comes to the specific steps in the Waterfall pr ocess.Rapid Application Development MethodologyRapid application development is a software development methodology that uses minimal planning in regard of rapid prototyping. A prototype is a working model that is functionally equivalent to a component of the product.In the RAD model, the functional modules are genuine in parallel as prototypes and are integrated to make the complete product for faster product delivery.Since there is no detailed preplanning, it makes it easier to make up the changes within the development process.RAD projects follow iterative and incremental model and fetch small teams comprising of developers, domain experts, customer representatives and other IT resources working progressively on their component or prototype.The more or less important aspect for this model to be successful is to make sure that the prototypes developed are reusable. busy Development Methodology at that place are many polar forms of theAgile development methodincluding Scrum, Crystal, Extreme program (XP), and Feature-Driven Development (FDD).Agile methodsattempt to minimize risk (such as bugs, constitute overruns, and changing choosements) by developing the software in iterations thatare mini-increments of the juvenile functionality.The benefit of multiple iterations is that it improves efficiency by finding and fixing defects and candidate mismatches early on.Agile methods rely on real- date communication, which fails to provide new exploiters with sustenance to get up to speed. They require a huge sentence dedication from the users, and is labor-intensive on the developers due to the need to fully complete individually feature within each iteration for user approval. The benefits to the software are realized early on due to the incremental humanitarian of the iterations.The Agile methods are similar to RAD, andcan be inefficient in macro organizations. Programmers, management and organizations accustomed to the Waterfall Method may have problem adjusting to Agile, and often a hybrid approach works well for them.DevOps Deployment MethodologyDevOps deploymentis touch on around organizational change thatenhances the collaboration between the departments responsible for different segments of the development life cycle, such as development, quality assurance and operations. It is focus on improving the time to market, lowering the failure rate of new releases, shortening the lead time between fixes, and prioritizing minimal disruption as well as maximum reliability.To achieve this, DevOps aims to automate its continuous deployment to crack everything happens smoothly and reliably.Companies that useDevOpshave benefitted by significantly reducing the time to market, improving customer satisfaction, improving product quality and improving productiveness and efficiency of its employees.A fewdrawbacks of DevOps includeappropriate methodology that is suitable for this project.It totally depends on the nature of the project . Many people might argue that Agile is the shell methodology for software development and it does have significant advantages in most cases however, saying Agile is better than Waterfall is like saying A car is better than a boat.They both have advantages and disadvantages depending on the environment.Agile/Scrum works best with projects that have high levels of un trustedty and require an adaptive approach. A plan-driven approach (what many people loosely call Waterfall) works best in situations where the requirements are fairly certain and there is some need for predictability of project costs and schedules. And, of course, that is non meant to predicate that there is a binary and mutually-exclusive choice between two extremes.There are many ways to blend an adaptive (Agile) approach with a plan-driven approach in the right proportions to fit the situation.There is no silver sess methodology that fits all possible projects and the right solution is to fit the methodology to th e nature of the problem rather than force-fitting a project to some predefined methodology.https//blog.blackducksoftware.com/top-4-software-development-methodologiesTwo types of requirements1. practicable RequirementsFunctional requirements define the fundamental actions that system must perform.The functional requirements for the system are divided into three main categories, Reservation/Booking, Food, and Management. For further details, refer to the use cases.EXAMPLE 1.Reservation/BookingThe system shall videotape reservations.The system shall enrol the customers first name.The system shall record the customers last name.The system shall record the number of occupants.The system shall record the way number.The system shall display the default means rate.The system shall sanction the default room rate to be changed.The system shall require a chit chat to be entered, describing the reason for changing the default room rate.The system shall record the customers phone number.Th e system shall display whether or not the room is guaranteed.The system shall generate a unique confirmation number for each reservation.The system shall automatically cancel non-guaranteed reservations if the customer has not provided their credit card number by 600 pm on the check-in date.EXAMPLE 2FoodThe system shall steer all meals purchased in the hotel (restaurant and room service).The system shall record payment and payment type for meals.The system shall bill the current room if payment is not made at time of service.The system shall accept reservations for the restaurant and room service.ManagementThe system shall display the hotel occupancy for a condition flow of time (days including past, present, and future dates).The system shall display projected occupancy for a period of time (days).The system shall display room revenue for a specified period of time (days).The system shall display food revenue for a specified period of time (days).The system shall display an exc eption report, wake where default room and food prices have been overridden.The system shall allow for the addition of information, regarding rooms, rates, menu items, prices, and user profiles.The system shall allow for the deletion of information, regarding rooms, rates, menu items, prices, and user profiles.The system shall allow for the modification of information, regarding rooms, rates, menu items, prices, and user profiles.The system shall allow managers to assign user passwords.

Parallel Motivations in the Iliad and the Odyssey Essay

The Iliad and the Odyssey were poems written by homer about events in classical mythology. The Iliad detailed the last(a) course of the fifth column war, which pitted the Greeks over against the trojans, and this poetical paper described the outcome of the war. Homers Odyssey describes the adventures of Odysseus (Ulysses, as he was kn feature in Roman mythology) as he tries to withdraw home, to Ithaca, pursuit the Trojan War. nevertheless thither is cardinal them that is familiarize in some(prenominal) of these poems, and that is that when e trulyone is longing for home, happening and further complications of all time arise.In the Iliad, the Greeks are attempt to wrap up the war quickly, beca engage manpowert many of the manpower miss their homes, unless the bloody battle is claiming lives form both sides, and in the Odyssey, Odysseus simply wants to overstep home, to his wife and son, only when he is slow up by a serial publication of events and catastrophe s that for some time, only chooses him further and further from home. The Iliad details the final year of the Trojan War, which was waged by the Greeks on the Trojans over Helen of Sparta, wife of Menelaus, who was the br early(a) of the Greek commander, Agamemnon.Paris of troy was t gaga he could be granted one t subverter by Aphrodite, the love and beauty goddess, and he contumacious that he cherished Helen, who he though was the most beautiful woman in the world. The Trojans were satisfactory to get Helen, and hold her in Troy, and the Greeks attacked Troy over Helen, according to the myth. alone in the final year of the War, it had been drawn out, and many Greek combatants only wanted to re shimmer home.At the reservoir of the Iliad, Achilles, a Greek warrior who was plain fearsome (due to his almostly-immortal status- as the only place on his body that could be harmed was the tolerate of his heel), was not participating in the battle, because Agamemnon had agreed to r eturn a war prize of Achilles, who was a young girl, to Sparta, and Achilles was up narrow galvanic pile. So with Achilles out, Paris of Troys older brother ballyrag, the Trojan Prince, was the greatest warrior in the war, and he did some serious damage to the Greek forces.Achilles friend Patroclus goes into battle, disguised as Achilles, and Hector kills him, thinking he has killed Achilles. Achilles is angered by the slaying of his friend, and kills Hector in combat, and drags his body around the besieged city of Troy for eld, merely King Priam, the King of Troy, comes out to the Greek camp and negotiates with Achilles for the body, so that he could give his son proper burial. Achilles lets him cast off the body, and the Iliad ends with Hectors funeral. The Odyssey is Homers work that details the plight of Odysseus as he tries to return home after the Trojan War. afterwards the Iliad, Achilles was slain by Paris, who was cap fitting to strike him in the heel with a single arr ow, which killed him, just now the Greeks were exultant due to the comprehension and cunning of Odysseus. He came up with the plan for the Trojan horse, which was a war prize that the Greeks built for the Trojans, as they pretended defeat, solely when the Trojans brought it into the city, some Greeks jumped out, and opened the gates to their comrades, and the Greeks overwhelmed the Trojans from inside the citys walls.After the war, Odysseus and his custody set off on their twelve vessels, headed for Ithaca, but disaster did not wait long to strike. The actual poem begins in the snapper of the storyline of the Odyssey, which is at the point where Odysseus has been held captive by the nymph fairy-slipper for seven years, and A indeeda, the goddess of wisdom, is preparing Telemachus, Odysseus young son, for a voyage that will act as a search for his bugger off. At the same time, Odysseus wife, Penelope is fending off suitors, who bid to marry her, and take over as king of Itha ca, and Odysseus replacement, but she is qualified to delay them.At that time, Odysseus is very worn out, and wishes to return home to chance on his wife and son, because he has been away for cristals, fighting in the Trojan War, and then encountering disasters, and spending time as fairy-slippers unwilling mate on her island. only if Zeus sends Hermes, the messenger god to tell Calypso that she must let Odysseus go free to his family, and she gives him food, and he builds a upsurge to set off. And here is another recurring root of the story, which is of hope, as passim the Iliad and Odyssey there are times when eitherthing seems like it is sacking to be alright, but them further disasters and complications occur.But Poseidon, father of a Cyclops that he had killed, named Polyphemus, wrecks his raft, and Odysseus swims ashore to another island. Odysseus reveals his story to Demodocus, the ruler of the land where he washed ashore, after the story of the end of the Trojan W ar was told to him. This is where Odysseus explains what had happened to him from the end of the war until the end of his stay on Calypsos island. It was an act of betrayal by Odysseus crew that most delayed his return to Ithaca follo profitg the Trojan War.He had gone to the island of Aeolus, the master of the winds, who had given him a bag of winds, which he was told to use wisely, to aid in his return home. Odysseus told his crew never to touch the bag, but thinking that it contained gold, they opened it when Odysseus slept, and the winds blew the ships tolerate away from Ithaca as it was coming into sight, to near where their voyage had began. After that, Odysseus and his men encountered malevolent nymphs and arsenibals, all of whom further delayed Odysseus as he tried to return home.He stayed with one nymph, Circe, for a year, where he and his crew feasted and drank, but then they set off again for Ithaca, and Circe helped them get started. There were countless times in the O dyssey when it seemed like everything was going alright, and that the men would be to Ithaca in just a few days if everything went on course, but it never did. Some disaster always arose that make it harder for the men to return home. After leaving Circe, Odysseus had been told that he had to visit a dead poet in the underworld for instructions to get back down to Ithaca.When he went to the underworld for advice, he saw his mother there, and Agamemnons spirit, along with those of other Greek companions who had been slain during or after the war. When he left the underworld, Odysseus sailed back to Circes island again. Before left again, the Circe warned him about some of the dangers that he would nonetheless have to go through on his return, and she instructed him on how to safely carry through them and continue to Ithaca.The first danger that he was to face were the Sirens, which were evil sea nymphs who lured sailors to their deaths with beautiful singing, and made the sailors jump overboard when they heard the voices of the nymphs. Odysseus ordered his men to plug their ears with wax to make it so that they would not hear the Sirens singing, which would lead to their deaths. But he wanted to hear their songs himself, so he had his men tie him to the ships mast so that he could not be led away, and he cut himself trying to break free of his restraints.Odysseus and his men then passed through the narrow cavern between Scylla, a fanatic with many heads, and Charybdis, a dangerous whirlpool, and they landed on the land of Thrinacia. But his men there, ignoring the warnings of Circe, killed some of the sacred cattle that belonged to the god Helios, and after they set off, he caused the ships to run aground, killing everyone but Odysseus, who washed up on Calypsos island, taking the reader back to the point that the beginning of the story began at. This detailed all of the problems that Odysseus had encountered so far in his signal to return home, after a s eemingly never-ending war.People in the Iliad were of the same mind state, which was that they could never return home, as the war was always full of complications and divine interventions that prolonged the Trojan War, and Odysseus found that his journey back after the war had many of the same characteristics. This is the biggest similarity between the 2 poems as people are exhausted, and longing for home, complications always delay there return, and make life for the Greeks (and for Odysseus, in the Odyssey) more miser fitting.The Phaeacians, of whom Demodocus, who he was telling his story to, was the king, decided to help Odysseus, and being skilled navigators, they sailed him to a hidden reserve at Ithaca, and Odysseus then stayed at the hut of one of his former slaves, who was a swineherd. There, with the help of genus Athene, the goddess of wisdom, who had always admired and tried to help Odysseus, he think his entrance into Ithaca, and how he would reveal himself to his wi fe and son, and how he would defeat the suitors of Penelope.But as Odysseus is preparing for his fight with the suitors, who would certainly try to kill him, he maintains that he is not himself at all, and with the help of Athena, he disguises himself as an elderly beggar, and tells the herders he is staying with a fictitious tale about he came from Crete. At that time, Athena helps Telemachus, Odysseus son, return home from Sparta, where he had gone to ask about his fathers whereabouts, and after returning to Ithaca, he meets Odysseus, who reveals his identity, but maintains his disguise, and tells no one else of his true identity.This represents another theme that is present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, which is that industry and wisdom are more valiant than strength and brute force, and when it comes down to it, wisdom usually prevails. As after nearly a decade of fighting, the Trojan War was still going strong, it similarlyk an act of guile and wisdom and patience, on th e part of Odysseus to secure a Greek victory. And here, as Odysseus decided to maintain his new identity until every threat had been neutralized, he was again exhibiting the same kind of patience and wisdom that he had used to win the Trojan War for the Greeks.Still disguised as a beggar, Odysseus returns to his old hold that he had not seen in over two decades, and sees that it is intrude on by rowdy, disrespectful suitors, who aim to marry his wife so that they can take over as King of Ithaca. But Odysseus has other plans, and calculates the strategies that he will use to defeat the suitors as Eumaeus, the swineherd, and former slave of Odysseus escorts him through the house.He meets his wife Penelope, and is able to maintain his disguise, but a house keeper, who washes the beggar Odysseus feet notices a scar that Odysseus had received from a boar trace many years before he left to fight in the Trojan War, but he convinces the house keeper to remain silent. The bordering day, Penelope has the suitors come into a room to compete for her in an archery contender that uses the bow of Odysseus. None of the suitors are strong enough to string the bow, so Odysseus, disguised as a beggar, steps forward, and as the suitors are express joy at him, he strings it.Then he, his son, and some of his former slaves turn on the suitors, and kill them all. After that, some of the supporters of the slain suitors decide that Odysseus has caused the deaths of too many men from Ithaca, blaming him for the deaths of the men he went to war with, and who were shipwrecked do to their own disobedience, in addition to the deaths of the suitors. But Athena convinces everyone to accept Odysseus again as the King of Ithaca, and the Odyssey is finished.There are many parallel themes that are present in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, but perhaps the most notable theme is the longing for home, which can only be satisfied by wisdom. During the Trojan War, Greek forces find themselves ex hausted, and longing for home, but complications are only prolonging the war. Whenever they have a major accomplishment, catastrophe results in the story of the war. After Achilles was able to defeat Hector, Paris defeats Achilles. And in the end, it was the wisdom and patience of Odysseus that one the war for the Greeks.And in the Odyssey, things go much the same way. As Odysseus and his men are trying to return from Troy, and head back to Ithaca, whenever they have a momentous gain, a setback seems to follow. When Odysseus got the back of winds that would allow him to control the winds and safely, and quickly navigate the vessels back to Ithaca, his disobedient men cause a problem, sending the ships back the way that they had come from. But in the end, it was Odysseus alone who returned, as he was able to ignore temptations, and find his way home to Ithaca, and to his family.And in the very end of Homers story, Odysseus used his wisdom to defeat his final enemies, as he was able to maintain his false identity until every threat had been nullified. This is how the Trojan War was won by Odysseus and the Greeks, and how he was able to finally find his way back to his family. Works Cited Homer. The Iliad. trans. Robert Fagles. New York Penguin, 1990. Finley, M. I. The existence of Odysseus. New York Signet, 1974. Myrsiades, Kostas, ed. Approaches to Teaching Homers Iliad and Odyssey. New York MLA, 1987.

In the Lake of the Woods

In the novel In the Lake of the Woods, OBrien channels between his lifetime in the enclose at the lake with his wife, and his life in the yesteryear, recalling memories from the war in Vietnam. The novel begins with a preview into the turn in life and marriage of tail end and Kathy wade. While the novel progresses, their relationship begins to decay and as the narrator jumps from his past to his present, the impact of his time in Vietnam becomes more app atomic number 18nt as a primary factor in the bankruptcy of their marriage.Through aside the book there are sections of hypotheses and shew that observe a mixture of fiction and non fiction documents. Some are simply diachronic facts about the condition of soldiers after Vietnam, particularly the My Lai stillchery, while others are fictional interviews and statements from the characters in the story examining the strange behavior of John walk himself. The panache the chapters are arranged in a scattered format demonstr ate to how the jaded past of John walk sporadically emerged into his life with his wife, the election, and his sanity. manage many stories, the novel is not presented in chronological order.Even as the narrator jumps from past to present to evidence to hypotheses, the sections are not invariably continuous individually. OBrien utilizes this method because the story was not written to pullulate the life of John wade, but rather to examine it as it relates to the past that he tried to conceal from the election and his wife. Each piece of evidence serves to further expand the elements that tainted John Wade and provide possibilities to the effort of his missing wife. The hypotheses are an explanation of the story that also maintains the mystery in the novel because they never provide a concise ending.In the beginning, these chapters are confusing, but they help the lector see the main plot in greater depth. The significance of the events is more indicative than the order of the e vents. John Wades involvement in Vietnam is most associated with the My Lai massacre, an event where numerous American soldiers violently slaughtered innocent men, women, and children at a small village called Pinkville. It is a tragedy that has forever shamed America and especially the soldiers that contributed to the horrific event. John Wade is not introduced as a collaborator in the My Lai massacre until the middle of the novel.Although this is a crucial part of the story, if John Wade had been broadcasted as a participating factor in the massacre, the point of the novel would be lost. The lecturer would continue to hold a bias towards John Wade and therefore disregard any sort of empathy for his difficult situations. Since, however, the reader finds out he did contribute to the My Lai massacre later in the novel, an opinion and grounds of John Wade is already present, which helps provide some justification and bounty for the narrator.OBrien, a Vietnam veteran himself, employ ed this deferment of information to the reader because many see the My Lai massacre as a black and discolour atrocity, without ever considering the feelings and frustrations of the American soldiers themselves in fighting an invisible enemy. The building of the novel is not only used to gradually inform the reader of the damaged melodic theme of John Wade, but also to emphasize the clog of dealing with his experiences. As the narrator begins to distrust his own senses and memories, the reader knows slight of what is fact and what is speculation.The evidence provides a look into the livelys of people that dealt with John Wade and people or events that relate to his condition, including post traumatic stress excerpts and political figures approach to loss. The narrator combines his memories with these relatable findings that results in a union of fallacy and actuality as John Wade slowly slips into insanity. The issues that John Wade and his loved ones conk out dealing with inc orporating a guilt ridden event with his near perfect present life represents the hardship many Vietnam soldiers, including OBrien, had to face when trying to live their lives normally again.The novel is a testament to the trifles of Vietnam veterans, not only during the war, but after OBrien writes about the characters fragmented mind and life as it relates to every damaged soldier. The organise of the novel lends itself to science and the revelation of John Wade. The rather intermittent sequence of events helps the reader increasingly comprehend the nature of dismantled soldiers and how the attempt to erase John Wades past ended in the destruction of his future. It also symbolizes the moblike fashion that John Wades past interrupts his present life. The structure is perfectly suited to the subject matter.

Building Up Brand Awareness in a Social Media Context

Building up defacement awareness in a genial media context tatter Social media, give a sort awareness, micro blog, weibo Nowadays, we live in an era of entropy and converse bloom, not further locally nevertheless overly on a international basis, in which each of us venerably is exposed to marvelous messages, news reports, commentaries and features from different graciouss of medium. Moreover, we not just the passive passengers of the in orderion turmoil, in fact we do proactively participate into the game and become part of what we called affable media, which changes the management how we perceive and shape the world around us.There might be many definitions nearly mixer media, given the nature and lead perspectives of it. harmonize to ESOMAR (The European Society for Opinion and Market Research (ESOMAR), a global association for commercialise, t shoemakers laster and opinion searchers. ), social media is defined as cyberspace found platforms and technologies th at permit substance ab practicers interaction and/or facilitate the creation and swap of user generated content. Whilst the scope is evolving, the following format is focused and discussed * Multi-person/group confabulation and/or collaboration platforms (e. . Twitter) Note arguably Sina. com might say Weibo is more(prenominal) than Twitter, but to make it simple we quote Weibo here is similar to chirp in well-nigh sense. * The urgency of connecting consume thru social media With the emerging of social media and the growing popularity across different regions, we green goddess now keep in touch with each other all the time, share photos and messages simultaneously to thousands or millions, and its also allowed brands to interact much more closely to their consumers you and me. market in this musical mode has forever been changed by social media.Marketers stomach suck with and influence existing and potential consumes through adverts or other format of effective communi cation tools specifically tailored to that type of person, all based on information the consumer has given out on a self-imposed basis. Furthermore, if the instinctive nature of Social network is taken into the consideration which is the networking elaborateness down to different level, the brand messages received and responded by consumers would cast material influence over their peers in the network.One of the key and productive initiatives or requirements for a marketing manager is to increase the awareness that could lead to preference, purchasing indigence or even brand loyalty. With the feature of easy access, rapid and largeen coverage and most important of all, the lower cost of average reach, marketing manager is now equipped a new perspective to market a brand to thousands of consumer, increasing its public awareness through pages and dowry to cement the brands image with regular updates, photos, articles and more. * The increasing outreach of social mediaSocial medi a witnesses its popularity or fetching over around the globe in the past few years. peculiarly in China, a country with growing potential in meshing usages and mobile internet, based on the statistics from <The 29th China Internet ontogenesis Statistics Report> from CNNIC, by the end of Year 2011, the number of internet user in China exceeds 500 million in which one-quarter of net users use microblog(Weibo). Basically, its hard to find someone not signed up to one social media page or another, and so it makes sense that companies buzz off mess up pages to market their products and services.The first step is to increase the brand awareness over this interactive platform. In short, social media has access to all. On the other hand, many brands in China also rush to clear up their corporate microblog to have the first trials of interaction with consumers. According to the statics from Sina. com, manger the end of Feb, 2012, totally more than 130,000 companies have set up the ex officio weibo over Sina. com. Interesting thing is that among these companies, around half of them are access from the dinning, i. e. restaurant, cafe or dining outlets.Not surprisingly, when being asked in the survey rough the intentions of stepping into the stage of launching the corporate weibo, 100% of these companies responded that the first priority is brand building, with PR and CRM on the second and the third places to follow respectively. * Interactive right smart of exchanging brand information flow When communicating the messages, some of the key classifiable features about social media include two-way dialogues, interactive creation and speedy response. In the past, marketing managers frequently use the pre-set messages that fit into different fraction to target their consumers.Under these so-call old fashion ways of consumer communication, the messages are fixed and track make already, even the marketing managers could modify and even alter some fractions of t he messages based on the judging of the change of the different situation. More importantly, this kind communication would be mostly in one mastermindion, regardless the feedback from the receiver. In one way, social media allows users to interact with people and companies like never before, slice also acting as an outlet to channel information about people and their opinions.On the other hand, it enables consumers to talk directly to one another, which means, over the social media platform, the topic, the tone, the timing and the frequency of these conversations are now outside the marketing managers direct control. As a consequence, marketing managers of today must not just focus on the provision of the traditional messages, they should also understand the way of consumers speak of their mind to shape their discussions in such a way that it is consistent with the companys strategy and communication paradigm.When marketing managers set up a page on a social media locate and peop le begin to follow it, they can ask these followers their opinions on the companys products and services. On the very first stage, the information that can be gathered on these topics is invaluable, as it is essentially market research with the real information. Social media is a good platform with the mixed but advanced technology and full scaled of media features that enable instantaneous, real-time communication and applies multi-media formats, such as audio and video mediums.All these, not just glide path from local market anymore, it comes with global reach capabilities. An interesting fact reveals that supposed high carihighly educated All this information can easily be put to use in better marketing to customers, helping marketers call down to their audience in much better ways than before. Promoting a prescribed image Any social media agency leave alone tell you that keeping your brand image up on your social media page is crucial. intelligence agency spreads fast, ev en faster with social media, so when banish comments are affix about a particular brand on the page it can be swiftly tackled and the problem sorted.Better yet, all of this being public will show other potential customers how your brand deals with problems. Facing off negative comments is great, but dont forget that positive messages will also be posted. Marketing to the target market Today and in the past, marketing has been done through publications, signs, television and radio adverts. The target markets for these adverts are broad to try and appeal to as many people as practical as easily as possible.While this is still effective, marketing through social media can be targeted towards a much more niche audience. exploitation the information that users post on their social media profiles, adverts can be made to target from either a broad range of people, all the way down to a specific group. This allows for a greater personalisation of adverts, appealing more towards people w hod ignore the normal adverts. At the opposite end of the scale, setting up adverts to easily avoid users thatd have no interest in the product or service is also possible.

Another Look Back, and a Look Ahead

Imagine the repair expert innovations have had on participation? How lots did engine room solve society a decade ago, and how much does it influence society without delay? Technology was produced from humans to become a much efficient specie. Although engineering has advanced society with respect to applied science and efficiency, it has also created worrys not previously seen because of the use of engineering science. Edward ten dollar bill, a author and technology consultant, wrote an article titled other Look Back, and a Look Ahead published in 1996.In his article cristal argues, through the use of the rhetorical appeal ethos, liken and contrast, and cause and put up, that society is advancing at an alarming rate and suggests a retreating from intensity ( ex 78) in order to each(prenominal)ow society to slow its onward motion and accustom itself to new technology. go uses his credibility as an exceptional writer to appeal to audiences and inform them about th e subject in his article. Throughout the article, Tenner uses an extensive vocabulary and shows fluency in his writing.In the sentence, The prognosis for visit effects is hopefulby replacing brute force with discretion (Tenner 60), Tenner shows his expertise by development collegial writing skills and level off introduces a term he created, revenge effects. He is wellhead informed about what he is talking about and never leaves the reviewer guessing what he is trying to say. The fact that he was formerly use as the science editor at the Princeton University Press makes him an even to a greater extent than credible source.When Tenner talks about the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 (Tenner 63), it demonstrates to the lector he is educated and increases ethos. By the end of the article, Tenner has efficaciously made his case for society to slow its expert progression. Aside from using ethos in his article, Tenner uses comp ar and contrast to show his audience how technol ogy has changed oer time. Tenner provides many examples to show how they compare and contrast from right off and the past.He talks about the sinking of the Titanic becoming a signal event, one that reveals an ominous and previously underestimated kind of danger (Tenner 64). At the time the Titanic was the biggest technical innovation to start the twentieth century. move engineers have become much aware of the dangers the ocean presents ships. Although in equivalence ships might be of the same size and provide the same passage over waters, its comparison shows they have evolved. The higher potential fastness of steamships requires more rather than less care.The larger number of riders and crew required more careful drills and inspection of equipment (Tenner 65). The speed of ships has fundamentally changed over time as well as the technology of ship engines which allow for them to reach signifi laughingstockt speeds. Through these advances one could argue it has created an eff iciency of allowing heap to snuff it much faster, however Tenner reminds them of the revenge effects these innovations create. Today much more safety regulations are used than in the past, this is due to the new dangers technology creates.Another example Tenner uses is the comparison and contrast of transportation over time. Humans created the automobile to become more efficient and make travel and transportation much faster throughout the world. Nearly every passenger journey or freight shipment began and ended with a horse-drawn vehicle or a horse (Tenner 67). Due to technological innovations and heat content Fords assembly line, motor vehicles were created not only to conform to the rich scarcely for all society to enjoy. Through this progression people were not limited to where they could travel and the time it took to get there.People could go through regular jobs that were far from home rather than having to move to accommodate their needs. roads and freeways soon follo wed with the increase of automobile use. The greatest surprise of motoring was the speed at which traffic clogged the roads, including freeways and other limited-access highways built to relieve congestion (Tenner 70). Tenner compares the use of transportation over time, demonstrating that although it has made transportation much faster, it has created revenge effects such as traffic and congestion, things that before the technological innovation were never seen.Examples such as these have led Tenner to advise society to fix problems that new technologies bring not by creating new technologies to solve the problem, but by slowing down and addressing the problem itself, not a quick fix. Comparing and contrasting the impact technology has had on society effectively illustrate Tenners briny argument, but through the use of cause and effect the audience can relate and understand how Tenner formed his thesis. In the text Tenner provides many cause and effect examples.An example Tenner uses is the effects that are created because of industrial carbon dioxide emissions. Industries that create carbon dioxide allow for many benefits such as electricity and transportation, but they are also responsible for melt the human beingss temperatures, global warming. The increasing cultivation of the earth would bring about higher temperatures and eventually a melting of the cold icecap (Tenner 76). Another cause/effect example Tenner uses is unrelenting directives on meat radiation after the Chernobyl meltdown of 1986 destroyed the Lapp reindeer-meat preservation (Tenner 76).A catastrophic event in Chernobyl created a lasting effect on the economy. Tenner argues that these technologies have many lasting effects, known as revenge effects. From beginning to end, Tenners article urges the reader to draw back from such a rapid progression of technology. Tenner argues, through the use of the rhetorical appeal ethos, compare and contrast, and cause and effect, technological in novation instead of creating efficiency create revenge effects which create more problems for society.Tenner suggests that society recoil its progression of technology, not forever, but until accustomed to the use of new technologies. Tenners argument in the article opens many readers eyes as to the real problems they choose to cut down due to technological innovation. This issue is relevant and provides a subject that all people can identify with. Technologies are all around society and the impact it has is colossal. Whatever your side of the argument for technologies and society may be, the human beings Tenner presents reveal a need to retreat from intensive technological progression.

Impact of Employees Turnover

A Conceptual Model of Expatriate swage Author(s) Earl Naumann Reviewed sour(s) Source daybook of International Business Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3 (3rd Qtr. , 1992), pp. 499-531 promulgated by Palgrave Macmillan Journals Stable URL http//www. jstor. org/stable/155094 . Accessed 09/10/2012 0227 Your recitation of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http//www. jstor. org/page/ entropy/about/policies/terms. jsp . JSTOR is a non-for-profit service that helps scholars, queryers, and students discoer, give, and build upon a wide kitchen range of content in a trusted digital archive.We use reading technology and equivalentlyls to increase productivity and facilitate parvenu forms of scholarship. For to a greater extent schooling about JSTOR, please contact emailprotected org. . Palgrave Macmillan Journals is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of International Business Studies. http// www. jstor. org A abstract set OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER Earl Naumann* Boise offer University Abstract. Many instruments whitethorn contri only wheneto the spunky rate of expat perturbation rate god by U. S. ultinational corporations. The objective of this article is to present a blanket(prenominal) sham of the ban overturn make forby identifyingthe mark contributing factors and suggesting medium sleeperages and relationships. The beat surfaces to engender both managerial and metaphysical implications. The majority of U. S. multinationalcorporations(MNCs) suffer from an abnorm on the wholey igh overturn ateamong acquit anagers, articularly hen h r w m p t T compargond o both serverile-based NCsand nationaloperations. he upset M ate comm just falls in the 20%-50%range for expatriatetransfers disgraceful 1988 B wish and Stephens 1989 Copelandand Griggs 1985 Mendenhall and Oddou 1985Tung 1988ZeiraandBanai 1985, although swage ay m be as high as 70% for some firns, particularlyn less unquestionable countries i Desatnick and Bennett 1978 Lanier 1979. The hassle of expatriate i derangements much(prenominal)(prenominal) evidentamongU. S. -basedMNCs thanamong contrasted-based MNCs. Tung 1982 famous that turnoverrates among U. S. MNCs argon devil to one and only(a)-third times higher than unlike MNCs. For example, Tungs question M ndicatedthat besides 3%of European NCs and 14%of JapaneseMNCs had turnoverrates greaterthan 10% of expatriatetransfers eyepatch 76% of U. S. MNCs had turnoverrates exceeding that take aim. b t Although beamcomparisons etween national(U. S. ) andexpatriateurnover rates ardifficult,expatriateurnover atesappear o be at leasttwice domestic t t r rates. Expatriateturnoveror expatriatefailure typically includes all separateswho quit or transferback to the U. S. priorto the completionof theirexpected outside(prenominal)assignments. ome researchersontendthatexpatriate S c turnoverwhitethorn in like manner occur up to a category or to a greater extent after repatriationAdler 1986 Harvey 1989.Conversely,virtuallyall domestic studies of turnover fix to the separationof the employee from the governmentwith the o o t T preponderancef the studiesconcentratingn volunteer(prenominal)urnover. o illustrate, in McEvoy ndCascios 1987meta- analytic a reviewof turnovernd doing, a *Earl Naumannis Professorof Marketingat Boise State University. He original his Ph. D. from ArizonaState University. The authorwould like to thankthe reviewersfor their confinement and contributions hich helped signifiw fecal mattertly improvesome crudeideas. Received September1990 Revised February,June, September1991 & January1992 Accepted February1992. 499 500 diary OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, trinity rear 1992 twenty-four studies involving 7,717 several(prenominal)s were cited. impertinent turnover rates varied from 3% to 106% annually with a average of 22%. However, the subjects in the studies were drawn from nineteen rather generic demarcation s categories including aerospace employees, pharmaceutical cientists, engineers, navy enlisted personnel, nurses, bank tellers, and depressed dividing line immature hires, for example. None of the subjects be directly comparable to expatriate managers. If the assumption can be made that expatriate managers atomic number 18 more than(prenominal) alike(p) to individuals such(prenominal) as engineers, scientists, and exempt lectronic employees than to individuals such as nurses, enlisted personnel, or small business impudent hires, the normal domestic turnover rate is more seeming to approximate 10% annually McEvoy and Cascio 1987. This figure is reconci lead with the average of 12% for 303 firms reported by Mercer 1988. Further, turnover rates typically decline at higher placemental levels so managerial turnover rates atomic number 18 likely to be less than the overall average figure. Thus, while no empirical research outlives that directly compares turnover, the expatriate turnover rate appears to be at least twice the domestic rate.The extreme expatriate turnover rate proceedss in high direct and indirect costs to U. S. MNCs. The direct costs associated with each expatriate turnover are estimated to be mingled with $55,000 and $150,000 Copeland and Griggs 1985 Harvey 1985 Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou 1987 Misa and Fabricatore 1979 Zeira and Banai 1985. T presentfore, the aggregate direct costs for expatriate turnover for U. S. MNCs are instead high Copeland and Griggs 1985. Additionally, the indirect costs associated with expatriate turnover are estimated to be scour greater Harvey 1985.The indirect costs include items such as decrease productivity and efficiencies, lost gross revenue, market share, competitive position, unstable collective image, and tarnished corporate reputation. art object turnover is dear(p) in domestic operations, turnover is evidently even more costly and troublesome in outside(prenominal) operations. Due to the relatively high frequency of expatriateturnoverand the associated costs, the planetary business lit has been punctuated with efforts to isolate the factors causing difficulty in cross-ethnical- alterationment.The terzetto areas receiving the grea turn upinterest suck up been the plectron of the noble-minded expatriate manager Abe and Wiseman 1983 Church 1982 Mendenhall and Oddou 1985 Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou 1987 Tung 1982, 1988 Zeira and Banai 1985, the under baffleed demesne of shipping and cross- heathenish training programs Black 1988 Black and Mendenhall 1990 Brislin 1979 Mendenhall and Oddou 1985 Kohls 1985 Schwind 1985 Torbiorn 1982 Tung 1982, 1984, and the difficulties encountered by the expatriates spouse and/or family Black 1988 Black and Stephens 1989 Grain and Cooper 1981 Harvey 1985 Tung 1982.While these factors are undoubtedly contributors to the turnover problem, study of these variables in isolation or jointly is possible to result in in truth(prenominal) minuscule advancement of the understanding of the expatriate turnover problem. The reason for the pitiful probability of significant improvements f starting from this stream of research is that t here are ideaual ideal OF EXPATRIATE TURNOVER 501 t t many an opposite(prenominal) an(prenominal) oppositevariableshatinfluence heturnover rocess. pecifically, onceptual p S c a models of the domesticturnover rocesshave pursued more comprehensive p pproachthan that form in the outside(a) usiness literature,and these b r i modelshavebeen customaryly alidated y subsequent esearchn system of rulesal v b behaviorand appliedpsychology. While there have been numerousattemptsto model the domestic turnover emergence, devil turnovermodels have reliable the healthfulestsupportbased on the frequency of citations in subsequentliteratureand on the numerate of attemptsto empiricallyvalidatethe constructsandrelationships. he model T of Moble y, Griffeth,Handand Meglino 1979 suggestedthatcharacteristics of the presidential term,he individual, ndthe environmenthapean individuals t s perceptionsand enjoyment take to the compositionof intentionsto stay or quit. The Steers and Mowday 1981 model addedadditionalconstructs of seam mental processlevel, efforts to change the office staff, and non- use influences. In addition, he SteersandMowdaymodel expandedthe affective t responsesto the melodic line to includejob satisfaction, governanceal ommitment, c andjob date. The satisfaction, fealty,and intimacyof an w t individual ould lead to the arrangement f intentions o stay or quit. Together, o these models have gunpoint or influencedturnoverresearchfor a decade.In thattime, both models have generallystood the test of empiricalvalidation. Thus,it appearsthatconstructs entralto these models may be generalizable c to the externalnvironment ndhelp explainexpatriateurnover. y using e a t B theoretical odelsfromthe areaof ap pliedpsychology,this approach ttempts m a to address the criticisms of the supranationalliteraturefrequentlyvoiced BlackandMendenhall 990Kyi 1988Newmann, hattandGutteridge 978. B 1 1 These authors ave notedthatthe internationalisticusinessliterature ften is not h b o containdinto a theoreticalframe hitand appearspiecemeal and ad hoc.The purposeof this articleis to presenta model of expatriate urnover ased t b on constructs entralto the Mobley,et al. 1979 andthe Steersand Mowday c 1981models. Additionally,he expatriateurnover odelattemptso integrate t t m t suppositions from the international usiness literature here possible. By purb w suing a more comprehensive heoreticalapproach nd recognizingthe comt a plex interactiveand longitudinaleffects, an improvedunderstanding f the o expatriateturnoverprocess may result. This improvedunderstanding ay m contributeto the phylogenesisof retentionstrategiesthat would reduce the high turnoverrate.Lee and Mowday 1987 provided several(prenom inal)(prenominal) reasons for the value of comprehensive odelsof turnover. irst,comprehensive odels m F m identify and categorizethe variousfactorsthatpreviousresearchhad found to be of the essence(p). Second, models provide directionfor empiricalresearch, thus imposing discipline on researchers nd reducingthe occurrenceof an a ad hoc researchagenda. Finally, models help managersthink heuristically about a broaderrange of causes of turnoverratherthan concentratingon one or two factors. thitherfore,the model of expatriateturnovermay be of value to both researchers nd practicingmanagers. 502 journal OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 THE MODEL The basic rationale that underlies this model is that the fundamentalconcepts associated with the turnover process in domestic smears can be adapted to model the expatriate turnover process. Thus, the interchange of major constructs entrust summarize the literal physical structure of research where possible although there is an absence of empirical studies of a compartmentalisation of unequaled international factors. Also, the model of expatriate turnover is implicitly oriented toward middle to upper level managers.These placemental levels appear to be or so commonly represented among expatriates Tung 1981. While many of the constructs ordain in any case apply to operatives, the propositions and discussions adopt a managerial orientation. The discussion of the model (Figure 1) leave f downcast from the predictorvariables through intermediate linkages to the turnover decision. The sequence of discussion is think to fol impoverished the direction of predominant causativeity in this turnover model. trey categories of predictor variables have received general empirical support domestically as universe classic elements of the o mployee turnoverprocessjob/ designate characteristics, rganizationcharacteristics, three congregations of variables collectively and thespian characteristics. The se influence an expatriates degree of job satisfaction, commitment to the giving medication, and enfolding in the achievement of the governing bodys goals. These attitudes are formed with respect to the raise scheme, and, since around expatriates are initially transfers from domestic positions, the attitudes have probably been formulated predominantly in a domestic environment.The expatriates general satisfaction with, commitment to, and pursuit in the organization may be moderated by perceptions of the occupational free radical pass resulting from the international assignment or by the overall level of cross- heathenish valuation account. The expatriates satisfaction, commitment, and closeness may alike be moderated by the employees family agency and the familys overall satisfaction with the international populate or by o the characteristics f the countryto which the expatriateis assigned.Collectively these factors leave alone lead to the modification of satisfactio n, commitment, and betrothal with respect to the organization in the conflicting assignment. Due to the developmental state of the international business literature and the small part of international valet resource articles appearing in leading business journals Black and Mendenhall 1990 Boyacigiller and Adler 1991 Rosenzweig and Singh 1991, the peculiar(prenominal) international variables influencing expatriateattitudes are largely unknown.However, these attitudes toward the organization in the contrasted assignment may result in the expatriate clear up the intent to change employers, stay with the same employer but transfer home, or stay in the international assignment. The expatriates intentions may be modified by perceptions of both external and internal employment alternatives. The intentionsmay result in declared search behavior, ultimately resulting in an initial turnover decision. The turnover decision, even if the choice is to stay, may result in changes in the emp loyees job conceptual MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 03 0 00c U 00 0 .. 1 I=- I z0 LL E 0 4) ll l la E L, k . 0 , 504 daybook OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 and career expectations and influence subsequent performance. A decision to leave may not be manifested for an widen time period and may result in other withdrawal cognitions. To assist in clarifying the expected relationships in the model, research propositions are presented after each discussion. The degree of detail in each proposition is largely a reflection of the embodyent body of research.If research is available that suggests specific relationships and the direction of influence, the propositions are relatively detailed. If research is lacking and the expected relationships are based instead on original reasoning, the propositions are stated very generally. Also, although this is a model of expatriate turnover, only a few of the propositions deal explicitly with turnover. The reason for this is t hat turnover is the behavioral outcome of a complex process and the propositions address the specific spring relationships among variables. Each of these variables will be turn to one by one.However, clarifying the relatively indeterminate concept of turnover may be useful first. turnover rate employee turnover among domestic operations typically refers to the separation of the individual employee from the firm. This definition is too narrow for the international environment and must be broadened to include several other dimensions of turnover since expatriate turnover oft involves transfers internal to the organization. Turnover may be categorized as external or internal, volunteer(prenominal) or involuntary, and running(a) or dys functional. External turnover occurs when an individual leaves an organization to seek employment elsewhere.While this type of turnoveris most common domestically, there is no research indicating the frequency of external turnover as a componen t of total expatriate turnover. By any measure, external turnover is costly and results in reduced short-term efficiency, at the very least. Internal turnover occurs when an individual changes positions but ride outs in the same firm. This situation is apparently more common in international operations than in domestic situations Tung 1984. Essentially this occurs when an expatriate manager is transferred back to the U. S. or another international berth.Research has indicated that many expatriate managers scratch the repatriation process much more stressful and prevent than the initial expatriationand repatriationexperiences may be a cause of subsequent turnover Adler 1980 Harvey 1989. Also, many expatriates may develop an intention to quit while on foreign assignment and view the transfer home as evidently an intermediate step to leaving the firm Harvey 1989. Turnover may also be voluntary or involuntary (from the employees viewpoint). Voluntary turnover occurs when the employ ee discontinue or requests and receives a transfer. willing turnover occurs when an employee is fired or transferred at the will of the organization. By integratingthese concepts, a four-electric celledmatrixcan be genuine (Figure 2). The turnover models of Mobley, et al. 1979 and Steers and Mowday abstract MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 505 r 1981 and much of the subsequentdomesticturnover esearchin organizational behavior and applied psychology concentrateon cell 1, voluntary external turnover,and to a lesser degree, on cell 2, involuntaryexternal f turnover. The international usiness literature ocuses primarilyon cells 3 b i a and4, voluntary ndinvoluntarynternal urnover, ith little or no distinction. t e Very little discussionin the international usiness literature xists of cell 2, b involuntaryexternal turnover,or cell 1, voluntaryexternal turnover. The model presentedhere will apply generally to all four types of turnover. f While the model is conceptuallymost suspendor both t ypes of voluntary turnover,the model also has implicationsfor both types of involuntary w turnover. he implicationsor the varioustypes of turnover ill be addressed T f in subsequentsections of this article.Turnovermay also be conceptualizedas functionalor dysfunctionalto the firm. Functionalumoveris typicallyviewed as proficientto the organization. t An example might be when a low-performingexpatriatequits or is fired, t thus creatingan opportunity o staff the position with a more capable indit vidual. Anotherexampleof functional urnover ightbe the internaltransfer m and/or promotionof a high-performing xpatriate. There appearsto be a e opaque side of functional turnoverthat may be easily overlooked. When a t low performingexpatriate eaves the organization, he departure ay be l m he organization s a resultof the individualsnability o in effect a t viewedby i o make the cross- heathen djustment r as a result of spouse or family proba lems Tung 1982. However, it appearslikely that the cause of low performance may be mistakes made by the organizationin many cases. To illustrate,the selection criteriafor expatriatemanagersmay be inappropriate, expatriation raininginadequate or nonexistent),the job may be sick t ( designed, the performanceexpectationsunreasonable,or the performance W appraisal rocessinadequate. hilethe expatriate ay be a low per creator, p m he low performance ay be due to the organizationsmismanagednternam i tional efforts,not the expatriatesncompetency. ennings1985 noted that i J companies are often the cause of their high turnoverrates due to poor managementdevelopment and misuse of talented people. reverse by the t organization o use the acquisitions developedin the international nvironment y e b a the expatriates apparently commonsourceof dissatisfactionmongrecently i a repatriated anagers Harvey 1989. If an expatriateis viewed as a low m t t perforner,identifying he causesof low performancesppears o be important. a oViewing the departur e f a low perfonneras a good thing may, indeed, be very simplistic. Dysfunctionalturnoverdamagesthe firm in some way by having a valued employee quit or requestan early transfer. Dysfunctionalturnoveris most as commonly onceptualized beinginitiated y theemployee lthoughnvoluntary c b a i internaltransfersare also undoubtedly ysfunctionalin the short tenn. d The functional/dysfunctionalonceptualization ould apply to all four types c c of turnoverin Figure 2. The point to be made here is that not all turnover 506 ledger OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992FIGURE 2 Types of Turnover Voluntary (For the Employee) External (To the Organization) Involuntary (For the Employee) I Quit Youre Fired 12 34 Internal (To the Organization) commute Me Youre Transferred is bad some turnover may really be beneficial and afford the organization an opportunityto improve. However, since a significant portion of expatriate managers are initially internal transfers from a domestic assign ment rather than upstart hires, the expatriates are likely to be high performers in the domestic environmentdue to the expatriateselection process.Specifically, a managers domestic track record is often a major factor in the expatriate selection process Mendenhall and Oddou 1987 Tung 1981. Thus, it may be hypothesizedthat dysfunctionalturnoveris more common among expatriates than among domestic managers (i. e. , losing valued employees). A further complicatedness to the traditional approach to turnover research also t appearsnecessary regardingthe appropriate ime horizon. Turnovermay occur significantly after repatriation but be ca utilize by the international experience or the repatriationprocess.An expatriatemanager may become disenchanted while on the international assignment and actually formulate an intention to quit Adler 1986. However, the expatriate may simply gut it out until b transferred ack to the U. S. , and a spic-and-span job is found. Alternatively, a expatriate ma y become disenchanted with the organization due to events occurring during the repatriation process and afterwards leave the organization. However, turnover after repatriation introduces many issues not addressed in the expatriate turnover model presented here.Therefore, the discussion in this article is limited to turnover that occurs while an expatriate is actually on the foreign assignment. The model does adopt a decidedly temporary dimension, however. Steers and Mowday 1981 discern that the intention to quit is usually manifested behaviorally inside a year and that the relationship amidst intention and turnover subsequently weakens. The reason that an extended time horizon is necessary in turnover studies is the existence of procrastinating changes in worker attitudesleading to behavioralchanges, a phenomenareferredto as progression theory Rusbult, Farell, Rogers and Mainous 1988.Specifically, declining CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 507 workerattitudesdo not instan tlyresultin the formationof intentionsto quit. For example,an expatriate ay experiencelow levels of attitudes or several f m monthsbeforethinking boutquitting ndthenultimatelyormingthe intention a a f to quit. Likewise, an employee may have low levels of attitudes,but the t situationmay improve,resultingin an intention o stay with the organization. Since the expatriateturnover ate appearsto be roughlytwice the domestic r ate, a variety of unique internationalfactors apparentlycontributeto a gradualdeterioration f worker attitudesover a period of time for many o expatriates. anyexpatriates ay have authoritative attitudesinitiallybut graduM m ally develop more negative attitudes. Thus, a longitudinalperspective is t important o the model. t Regardlessof the type or timing of turnover, he ultimateturnoverdecision is precededby antecedent ariablesandintermediateinkages. The predictor v l variablesof job/ problem,organization, nd workercharacteristics re the initial a a startingpoint in many studies of employee turnover.Job/Task Characteristics Of the threebroadcategoriesof predictorvariables,job/ proletariatcharacteristics have received the most research heeddomesticallyGlisson and Durick 1988 while receiving very little attention internationally. eceiving the R strongest support as predictorsof employee attitudes are post ambiguity Teely, French and Scott 1971 Lyons 1971 Abdel-Halim 1981 Bedeian and Armenakis 1981 and skill variety Bartel 1982 Marsh and Manari 1977 Price and Mueller 1981 Dewar and Werbel 1979 Gerhart 1987 Glisson and Durick 1988 Blau and Boal 1989.Thus, the greaterthe role pellucidity and the more diverse the skills needed, the more likely the worker is to be satisfied,committed,and involved. Additionally,the characteristics of role conflict, task identity, and task conditional relation have received support as predictor ariables. It appears,therefore, hatissues linkto the specific v t task environmentcan influence the satisfaction,commitme nt,and involvement of workersat a variety of organizationalevels. l The uniquenessand dynamismof international nvironments ay lead both e m to more role ambiguity and task variety among expatriates.The volatile externalenvironment ay cause MNCs to have less clarityin theirposition m descriptionsas managersrequiremore flexibility to respond to changes. m Therefore, orerole ambiguity ay exist whichmay lead to reducedsatisfacm tion amongexpatriate anagers. owever,overseasassignments ftenrequire m H o managersto use a broaderrange of general managementskills than their domestic counterpartsCzinkota,Rivoli and Ronkainen1989 Edstromand Galbraith1977. This implies that increasedtask varietywill contributeto a higher level of satisfaction among expatriatemanagers.Thus, job/task characteristics ay offset one anotherin theircontributiono an expatriates m t workattitudes. Withone exception,these constructs enerallyhave not been g investigatedin the international nvironment. e 508 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 While most of the studies cited above utilized domestic U. S. subjects, Black 1988 found that role ambiguity, conflict, overload, and discretion were related to to the cross-ethnical specifyment of American expatriates in Japan. The direction of Blacks findings was generally consonant with the domestic literature.A potentially importantconsideration in the international situation is the semblance of the domestic and foreign jobs performed by the expatriate Dowling and Schuler 1990. If the foreign job requirementsare quite similar to the domestic position previously held, the transition and work trying on should be easier. If the domestic and foreign positions are highly divergent, the expatriate must adjust to both a new work environment as comfortably as a new cultural and physical environment. Another job/task characteristic that may be of importance internationally is the concept of work basehomogeneity. Althoughusing a do mestic U.S. sample frame, OReilly, Caldwell, and Barnett 1989 found that aspects of work theme homogeneity were related to the degree of social desegregation which was negatively related to turnover. Since foreign work groups in U. S. MNCs are often composed of U. S. expatriates, host country nationals, and third country nationals, a good deal of work group heterogeneity is likely to exist. This diversity is likely to inhibit the individual socialization process and result in lower levels of cohesiveness. The lower level of social integration may contributeto reduced attitudesthat would ultimately lead to increasedturnover.Work group homogeneity may also be conceptualized on a broader, more macro level. In addition to the fit between the expatriate and other job associates, the degree of homogeneity between the foreign subsidiary and parent corporation may be important Brittain and Freeman 1980 Lincoln, Olson and Hanada 1978. The more similar the composition and functioning of the foreign work group to the parent, the more plus the expatriates attitudes are likely to be. Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan 1991 contend that MNCs attempt to apply isomorphism to foreign subsidiaries as a mechanism of control and continuity.Based on the literature that addressed job/task characteristics, both domestically and internationally, the followers propositions were developed. marriage offer 1 There is a despotic relationshipbetween skill variety, task identity, autonomy, and task significance and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. b Proposition 2 Thereis a negativerelationship etweenrole ambiguity and role conflict and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. Proposition 3 The degree of similarity between the expatriates domestic and foreign jobs is exactingly related to xpatriate atisfaction,commitment,and involvement. s CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 509 Proposition4 There is a absolute relationship between work group homogen eity and expatriate satisfaction, commitment,and involvement. OrganizationCharacteristics Behavioral, structural,and demographiccharacteristicsof organizations have received researchattentionas predictorsof satisfaction,commitment, and involvement. Behavioralissues such as participationn decision make i have received strong support Gladstein 1984 Glisson and Durick 1988 Millerand Monge 1986.Leadership onsideration as also receivedsupport c h Morrisand Sherman1981Batemanand Strasser1984 Glisson andDurick 1988 Blau and Boal 1989. Dimensions of organizationstructuresuch as centralization Child 1972 Hage and Aiken 1969, differentiation Redding and Hicks 1983 Bimbaum and Wong 1985, and formalizationRedding andHicks 1983Child1972HageandAiken 1969havealso beenempirically formaliseas predictors f attitudes. emographic rganizationalactorssuch o D o f as organization ge, workgroupsize, andtype of industry ave receivedweak a h upportas predictive variables. Cotton and Tuttles 1986 meta anal ytic review providesa more comprehensive eview of these variables,and their r findings indicated U. S. studies differed from non-U. S. studies in several ways. In U. S. studies, an employees genderhad less tingeon satisfaction and unions had more influence on turnover. Satisfactionwas less reliably tled to turnoverin non-U. S. firms. In the internationalnvironment varietyof othervariables ppear otentially e a a p A important. s Dowling and Schuler1990 noted, a firms structure, ontrol c echanisms, and human resource policies are linked to the evolutionary P processof globalization. ucik1985 also notedthatthe evolutionary rocess p is continuousas organizationscontinuallyadapt to dynamic international environments. Although there are several organizationchange models, the concept of organizationlife cycles (OLC)has been applied internationally Adler and Ghadar1989 Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan 1991. As organizations progressfrom one stage to another fouror 5 stages are typicallyin cluded) ( an MNCs strategy, structure,and human resource policies also need to change.Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan 1991 noted that change is needed so that MNCs can optimizetheir fit. There is a need to optimize the externalfit of the foreign subsidiaryto the local environmentand the parent ompanyto the domesticenvironment. hereis also a need to optimize c T the internalfit between the parentand foreign subsidiary. Complicatingthe optimizationof both externaland internalfit is the need for flexibility due to environmental ifferencesand changes. For example,Black, Mendenhall d and Oddou 1991 noted that flexibility in the work environmentis related to aspects of cross-cultural djustment. illustratethe importance f these T a o concepts, when an organization becomes more experienced internationally, 510 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 the mensuration of role conflict and role ambiguity may be reduced as the a s organization trategically daptsmore effect ivelyto the foreignenvironment. ( c m Also, the edition ay lead to a differentstructural onfiguration foreign sales agent versus foreign sales office versus vertically integratedforeign operation)that could enhance satisfaction,commitment,and involvement though improvedjob design. t uThe plainspoken systems approach sed by manyorganizationalheoryresearchers Lawrenceand Lorsch 1967 Pfeffer and Salancik 1978 Thompson 1967 d clearly implies that the natureof the environment ictates the appropriate e w S structure. ince most researchers ould agreethatinternationalnvironments a t relative o the U. S. , thenmoreflexible,decentralized,utonomous aredynamic, T foreign structureswould be appropriate. his view of more decentralized foreignsubsidiariesis also consistentwith the trendtowardflatterstructures in the U. S. and with the trend of workerempowerment. Specifically, as a rganizations ttemptto become more innovativeand responsive,decisionl making authorityis often forced to lower organi zation evels. While these variablesare intuitivelylogical predictorsof satisfaction,commitment,and e involvementand may be relatedto a firms multinational volution in the been very little empiricalinvestigationor international ontext, there has c validationof these constructs. h training ave receiveda good deal of attention a Expatriationnd cross-cultural D business literature. espite the rapidincreasein world in the international o e tradeflows in the pasttwentyyearsandtherelated mergence f multinational f e corporations, xpatriation rainingfor managersin U. S. multinationalirms is still in its infancy. Specifically, in multinationalcorporations,training a programs re generallysuperficialand incompleteor nonexistent. In Tungs 1981 study, only 32% of respondingfirms had formalizedtrainingprot t grams. Furthermore,he focus of the formaltrainingprograms endedto be t c on environmental oncerns. Country-level rainingin cultureand language was uncommon. DunbarandEhrlich1986 and Schwind19 85 also found t that the majorityof firms had no formalexpatriation rainingfor managers. i thatthe stateof expatriation rainingn U. S. multinational Tung 1981suggests corporationsis a major reason for expatriateturnoverrates in U. S. firms a being two to threetimes the level of those in European nd Japanesefirms. That is, the resultof underdeveloped xpatriationrainingprograms ay be m t e thatexpatriate anagers xperiencevery high levels of initialrole amtbiguity m e f P s and conflict which in turnreduces workattitudes. roviding upport or this t position is Black and Mendenhalls1990 review of cross-culturalraining i research. They noted that cross-culturalraining s positivelyrelatedto skill t a development, djustment,ndperformance. t c An additionalfactorthatmay be an important ontributoro turnoveris the c t conceptof corporate ulture. Organizationsypicallydevelopa predominant, identifiableculturealthoughit is rarelystatedexplicitly Wilkinsand Ouchi 1983. Also, an organizationscultur e can metamorphose across functional areas, CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 511 operatingdivisions, or geographicallocations Gregory1983 Wilkins and Ouchi 1983. Since most expatriatemanagersare internaltransfersrather than new hires, the assumptionprobably can be safely made that most i xpatriates ave been socially integrated nto the parentfirms predominant h culture. If the work group at the foreign location has developed a unique and differentcorporateculture,the expatriatemay experience limiting c difficultiesdue to the divergent otporate ulture. pecifically,the expatriates c S w valuesandorganizationaleliefs may be incongruent ith the local operation, b hence decreasedwork attitudesmay result. While this issue is conceptually similar to work group homogeneity, subunit corporateculture is a more p b training rograms. pervasiveconceptandcouldbe influenced y cross-cultural bProposition5 There is a significantrelationship etween dimena sions of a foreign subsidiarysstructur e nd expatriatesatisfaction,commitment,and involvement. t The moredecentralizedndautonomoushe foreign a subsidiary,the more positive the work attitudes. b Proposition 6 Thereis a positiverelationship etweenthe quality of expatriationrainingand expatriate atisfaction, t s commitment,and involvement. b Proposition 7 Thereis a positive relationship etween an organizationsstageof multinational evolution, articipation p in decisionmaking,leadershipconsideration,and s a expatriateatisfaction,ommitment,ndinvolvement. Proposition8 There is a positive relationshipbetween the similarity of a firns predominantcorporateculture and local foreign corporatecultureand expatriate satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. Worker Characteristics o Empiricalinvestigationdomesticallyof characteristics f the workerhave o a c yielded mixed resultsas predictors f satisfaction, ommitment, nd involvement. PersonalityStaw and Ross 1985 Staw, gong and Clausen 1986, age Dewar and Werbel 1979, being female McNee ly 1984, and job tenure Coverdaleand Terborg1980 have received weak supportas predictorsof satisfaction.However, personality Hulin and Blood 1968 Steers and Spencer 1977, marital status Porterand Steers 1973, age Morris and Sherman1981, tenurein the organization Stevens,Beyer and Trice 1978, and educationSteers 1977 have received strong supportas predictorsof commitment. Age, tenure, and maritalstatus (being married)are usually y w positivelyassociatedwith commitment hile yearsof education, earsin the samejob, and alternative mployment pportunitiesre negativelyassociated o a e with commitment. Althoughmicro level contingencytheory models would contend that individual characteristicswould be importantpredictorsof 12 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 attitudes in different work contexts, there is apparently little research that provides consistent direction in this area Glisson and Durick 1988. The level of performance of the employee is also a possible pre dictor of satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. Research has generally supported the rock that performance leads to satisfaction Ivancevich 1978 Lawler and Porter 1967 Sheridanand Slocum 1975. Therefore,an individuals performance level is generally thought to be positively associated with satisfaction, commitment, and involvement.In the international context, a variety of worker characteristics have been discussed or empirically investigated. Worker characteristics postulated as important to expatriates are technical competence Hawes and Kealey 1981 Tung 1982, relational abilities Tung 1982 Mendenhall and Oddou 1986, and stress reduction Abe and Wiseman 1983 Hammer, Gundykunst and Wiseman 1978 Barrettand Bass 1976 Ratiu 1983. Other perchance important workercharacteristics re personalityTorbiom 1982 Dapsin 1985 Mendenhall a and Oddou 1986 and tolerance for ambiguity Hammer, Gundykunst and Wiseman 1978 Ratiu 1983.Another worker characteristicthat may be positively associated w ith intemational success is the individuals years of previous international experience Black and Stephens 1989 Church 1982. An individual who was unsuccessful in a previous international ssignmentwould likely limit subsequentinternational a assignments. Conversely, an individual who has experienced success internationally may be more receptive to subsequent international assignments. Thus, plain trial and errormay result in an expatriates years of international experience being positively related to satisfaction, commitment, and involvement.Somewhat related to internationalexperience, particularlyin a specific country, is an expatriates linguistic ability. The more fluent the expatriate in the language of the host country, the easier the social integration to both the work and general environment. Thus, linguistic ability should be positively related to work attitudes. Two other rather controversial types of worker characteristics exist, an expatriates sex and marital status. The m ajority of expatriates are male, 97% in Adlers 1984 study, and most are married Black 1988.Since most expatriatesare male, does the high turnoverrate caused by an expatriates gender, coincidentally vary with it, or is it totally unrelated to it? Unfortunately, this topic has not been empirically investigated in an international environment. Thai and Cateora 1979 noted that being a woman expatriate can be a significant liability due to the culturalbias in some foreign countries (i. e. , in the Middle east, Latin America, and Japan). However, Adler 1984, 1986 and Adler and Izraeli 1988 contend that cultural bias against women in management often does not apply to expatriates.Cultural views of women are often restricted primarily to women of that country. A woman expatriateis usually viewed predominantlyas a foreigner,who also incidentally happens to be a woman. In some cases, being a woman was enough of a CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 513 variety to be viewed as a positive a sset. As Adler and lzraeli 1988 noted, the overwhelming death about women expatriatesis their scarcity. While there are more U. S. women managersand expatriates(as a percentage of the total workforce) thanin most countries,the proportion f women o anagersin almost all countriesis low due to the same general reasons culturalsanctions, educationalbarriers,legal restrictions,corporateobstacles, and womens disinterestin pursuingmanagerialcareers. Due largely to the scarcity of women expatriates,there is no data that suggests that women would have more, or less, positive work attitudesthan men. Maritalstatus has also received researchattention,but with mixed results. i Some authors ontendthatbeing marrieds a stabilizing actorfor expatriates, f c while otherscontendthatspouse and family problemsare the leading cause of expatriate ailureTung 1984.While some MNCs develop cross-cultural f f i trainingprograms or an expatriates pouse, the assumption s usuallymade s thatthe expatriate s male andthe spouse is female Adlerand Izraeli 1988. i t o Unfortunately, he literature f the impact of maritalstatus is odd so no directionof relationshipcan be inferred. SteersandMowday1981contended hatworker xpectations ay be related t e m to subsequentattitudes. Their discussion focused on met expectations, or the extent to which pre-employmentexpectations were subsequently fulfilled by job expenrences. n arguingfor realismin pre-employmentnterI i iews, Steersand Mowdayfelt that met expectations nd workerattitudes a were positively related. The same concept may apply internationally. f a I managers pre-international xpectations differ greatly from subsequent e experiences,an expatriatesattitudeswould likely decline. While expatriation trainingmay provide an opportunity or a realisticjob preview, other f techniquessuch as preview trips, may also help clarify expectations. Proposition9 Thereis a positive relationship etween an expab triates tenure, organizationlevel, performance, years of previousinternationalxperience, inguise l tic ability,age, andrelational bilityand expatriate satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. Proposition10 Thereis a positiverelationship etweenthe degree b to whichan expatriates9sre-intemational p expectaaremetin subsequentnternational tions i experiences and satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. a T t C Satisfaction, ommitmen4nd engagement owardhe ParentOrganization a i l Satisfaction,commitment, nd involvementare importantntermediateinkages between predictorvariablesand employee tumoverdecisions. Because of theirimportance, hese constructs ave receivedextensiveconceptualand t h empiricalattention. Models of employee turnover ave explicitly addressed h heirrole Blau and Boal 1987 Bluedom 1982 Mobley, et al. 1979 Steers 514 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 and Mowday 1981 Price 1977. Additionally, over one hundred empirical studies have validated these constructs and have indicated the strength and direct ion of intermediate linkages (see Miller and Monge 1986 and Cotton and Tuttle 1986 for meta analytic reviews). Therefore, only a brief definition and discussion of these variables will be presented here. Job satisfaction has been defined as the positive emotional state resulting from the appraisalof ones job or job experiences Locke 1976.Organization commitment is defined as the workers strong belief in the organizations goals and values, a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization, and a strong desire to remain a member of the organization Mowday, Porter and Steers 1982. Job involvement is defined as the extent to which an individual identifies psychologically with her/her job Blau 1985. Although these constructs are related, each is distinct due to measuring stick of attitudes about the individual (satisfaction), the job (involvement), or the organization (commitment) Blau and Boal 1987 Morrow 1983.For example, employees with high job satisfaction may feel positive about their jobs due to fulfilment of personal needs and values Miller and Monge 1986. For individuals with high levels of job involvement, the job is important to the workers self-image Kanungo 1982. Workers with a high level of organizational commitment feel positive about their employer, identify with the organization,and wish to maintain membership in it Porter, Crampton and smith 1976. While these constructs are conceptually distinct, interactive effects have been shown to exist between commitment and involvement Blau and Boal 1989, nd satisfaction and commitment Glisson and Durick 1988 and satisfaction, commitment, and involvement Lee and Mowday 1987. However, satisfaction, commitment, and involvement generally complement one another as intermediate linkages between predictor variables and turnover Blau and Boal 1987. Attempts have been made to identify a causal orderingbetween these attitudinal variables. The implicit assumptionof these attemptsis thatsince sa tisfactioncan be formulated quickly, satisfaction leads to commitment and involvement which are more long lasting and enduring Steers 1977 Stevens, Beyer and Trice 1978.Attempting to test this contention, Williams and Hazer 1986 found strong interaction between satisfaction and commitment but could not infer causality due to the cross-sectional nature of the data. However, Farkas and Tetrick 1989 used a longitudinal design but were unable to identify causal direction. They did identify that satisfaction and commitment are differentially related over time, and the relationship may be cyclical or reciprocal. Therefore, the model presented here assumes that these variables are strongly and positively related to one another, but does not assume any causal relationship.Since the majority of expatriates are internal transfers ratherthan new hires, the workers have probably achieved some degree of social integration into CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 515 the organization. Accordin gly,the argumentis made that expatriatesstart theirinternational ssignmentwith attitudesthatare reasonablywell formua lated. Also, as transfers,expatriates ay have reasonablypositive attitudes m initially. Althoughthereis no empiricalsupportfor this contention,it seems intuitivelylogical that a disgruntled mployee would be an unlikely candie t date for an internationalransfer.The situationfor new hires is more complex. While new hires apparently constitutea small portionof expatriates,new hires attitudesare probably more fictile than internaltransfers. Since new hires would have little i b t opportunityo achievesocial integrationntothe organization eforedeparting for the foreignassignment, he local foreignorganization ould be relatively t w i more importantn shapingworkattitudes. Also, pursuingthe logic of Steers and Mowday 1981, pre-employmentexpectations would be relatively more importantin shaping new hires work attitudessince expectations w a regarding oththe organization ndthe foreignassignment ouldbe clarified. Whetherthe expatriateis an internaltransferor a new hire, the expatriate initially arrives in the foreign assignmentwith some level of satisfaction, b commitment nd involvement. dditionally, ased on the domesticresearch, a A these three attitudesare positively relatedto one another. Proposition 11 Thereis a positive elationshipmongan expatriates r a satisfaction,commitment,and involvementwith respectto the organization. Attitudestowardthe Organizationin the remote AssignmentThe traditionalturnovermodels of Mobley, et al. 1979 and Steers and Mowday 1981 postulatethat satisfaction,commitment,and involvement collectively result in an employee formulatingintentions to stay in the organization r to quit. In the international ontext,an expatriate anagers o c m a family situation,the careerpathingperceptions,countrycharacteristics, nd the degree of cross-cultural djustment ppearto be leadvariables. a a Thus, the employees attitudetowardthe parentorgan ization ay be modim fied to resultin attitudestowardthe organization n the foreign assignment. These attitudeswould still conceptuallyinclude satisfaction,commitment, and involvement,but the constructswould be more directlyinfluencedby the international xperience. e Supportfor the changes in an expatriatesattitudestowardthe organization in the international ontext is providedby Gregersonand Black 1990a. c Their researchindicatedthat expatriatesare often differentiallycommitted to the organization nd local foreignoperations. urthermore,on-jobfactors a F n were significantly related to local commitment. These findings appearto f t and c rovide upportorthecontentionhatcountry haractenrstics an expatriates s family situationwill affect the expatriatessatisfaction,commitment,and involvementwith respectto the organizationn the international ssignment. i a 516 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 Unfortunately,the concept of dual commitments, or dual attitudes in ge neral, has received very little research attention internationally. Therefore, it is unknown whether attitudes toward the parent organization or attitudes toward the local foreign organization would dominate in the formation of behavioral intentions.However, the model explicitly assumes that the expatriates initial attitudes do not remain constant. As suggested by the high expatriate turnover rate, the expatriates attitudes generally drop due to a variety of unique internationalfactors. Some of the factors were discussed previously within the three categories of predictor variables. The remaining unique internationalfactors of family situation, country characteristics,career pathing, and cross-cultural adjustment appear quite important and will be addressed individually in the following sections.The assumption is made, however, that there is a spill-over effect between an expatriates attitudes toward the parent organization (probably formulated domestically) and attitudes toward the international assignment. Expatriates with very positive attitudes toward the organization in general are also likely to have more positive attitudes internationally. Expatriates who possess lower levels of attitudes toward the organization in general are likely also to have lower levels of affective responses internationally.This explicitly assumes that each of the three attitudes can be formulated at a more macro level toward the organization in general or at a micro level that is more closely related to the foreign assignment. While the dual levels of commitment and satisfaction have been well place in the domestic literature, it seems intuitively logical that the same could be tell for job involvement. For some expatriates, attitudes toward the organization may remain positive while negative international attitudes may develop. Such a situation may result in an internal transfer.For other expatriates, initially positive attitudes toward the organization may deteriorate intern ationally leading to external turnover. Proposition 12 There is a positive relationship between job satisfaction,commitment,and involvement (with respect to the organization) and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement (with respect to the international assignment). Expatriates Family While an employees family situation may not be central to the domestic turnover process, the family situation is apparently a critically important oderatingvariable in the expatriateturnoverprocess. Harvey 1985 contends that the family situation may be the most important contributorto expatriate turnover. Supportfor Harveys contentionis providedby Tungs 1982 research that indicated that two of three most frequently cited causes for expatriate failure were family related. Specifically, the inability of the expatriates family/spouse to adjust to a different physical or cultural environment and CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 517 otherfamilyrelatedproblemsreceivedstrongsupport. espitet he apparent D mportanceof the family, less than half of MNCs interviewthe spouse in the expatriate election process Black and Stephens1989 Tung 1981 and s expatriation rainingfor the family is very rare Black and Stephens 1989. t If a spouse or family memberis undergoingcultureshock or experiencing t difficulty in makingthe cross-cultural djustment, he morale,performance a and work attitudesof the expatriatemanagermay be adversely affected Harvey 1985 Mendenhall,Dunbarand Oddou 1987 Tung 1982. Since the majority of expatriatemanagers are male Adler 1984, the sterling(prenominal) impact of a foreign relocationmay be experiencedby the wife Gaylord 1979.The wife may experiencehigh levels of stress due to a disruptionof i childrenseducation,loss of self-worthand identity,particularlyf she was previouslyemployed, lack of contactwith friends and relatives, and social or culturalostracism in the foreign country Harvey 1985. Furthermore, children are often resistantto moving, even domestic ally. The problems face by childrenregarding ducation,linguisticdifferences,social relatione ships, and culturalvalues also can be the sourceof stress and conflict. Thus, the greaterthe numberof children,the more likely adjustment roblemsare p o occur. Also, older children such as teenagers are more likely to have t developedstrongpeer social relationships nddisrupting hose relationships a for an internationalransfer ay have negativeresults. Despite the apparent t m importanceof these variables,there is apparentlyittle empiricalinvestigal on expatriateturnover. tion of the impactof the family situation However,as noted by Black and Stephens1989, the family situationis an e t intuitivelyimportant lementof the expatriate urnover rocess. They noted p t hatthereappearso be botha positiveandnegativespillovereffectbetween expatriatesand their spouses perceptionsof an international ssignment. a w Specifically, expatriateand spouse adjustment ere significantlyand positively correlated, nd were relatedto the expatriatesintentionto stay in the a foreign assignment. Even if an expatriatemanageris very positive about the foreign assignment, a transfer home may be the result of family dissatisfaction. Conversely,a positive family situationis likely to enhance an expatriates attitudes and cross-culturaladjustment,and increase the probabilityof a successful foreign experience.Theredoes appearto be a potentialproblemin evaluatingthe impactof the spouse or family situationon turnover. Attributingexpatriateturnoverto the failure of the spouse to adjustmay be simplistic Dowling and Welch 1988. Expatriatesmay use their spouses as scapegoats,ratherthan admit theirown failuresto adjust. This may reducethe negativecareerimplications of an early transferhome. Likewise, top level corporateexecutives may attributeexpatriatefailure to the expatriatesfamily ratherthan critically evaluatetheir own firms expatriation rogramswhich may be deficient. p There are many dimensions of an expatri atesfamily situation that may w oderate orkattitudes. nfortunately, ost of these variables ave received h m U little or no researchattention. Therefore,the following propositionhas been 518 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 stated very generally as a global measure of family satisfaction, which is undoubtedly a multifaceted concept. Proposition 13 The expatriates family satisfaction with the international experience has a positive moderating influence on the expatriates job satisfaction, commitment, and involvement with respect to the organization in the foreign assignment. The more ositive the expatriates family attitudes, the more likely the expatriate is to develop positive work attitudes internationally. Proposition 14 The fewer the number of children that relocate with the expatriate, the more positive the expatriates work attitudes. Proposition 15 The younger the children that relocate with the expatriate, the more positive the expatriates work attit udes. CountryCharacteristics All foreign assignments are not created equal. Dramatic differences exist both between and within countries that can influence expatriates, and their families, cross-cultural adjustment and their subsequent attitudes.In many cultures, foreigners are viewed with distrust and skepticism. As a result, mental synthesis social relationships with local nationals may be impossible. For example, few western women find the Arabic countries enjoyable due to the constrained role of women in those societies Thai and Cateora 1979 Dowling and Schuler 1990. As a result, some companies may prefer to select managers who are single for foreign assignments in the belief that a single person will have fewer adjustments.However, many single male expatriates are socially ostracized, and they may have a more difficult social adjustment than a married couple who can provide each other mutual support. In addition to social and cultural factors, expatriates can experience dissa tisfaction due to living conditions and health problems. A foreign oil go with executive with extensive international experience expressed his preference for having Americans on international projects because they were always the first to get sick if a health problem existed. The Americans were his miners canary that served as an early warning of potential health problems.Issues such as these have been referred to as cultural toughness and cultural novelty Black and Stephens 1989 Mendenhall and Oddou 1985 Torbiorn 1982. Cultural toughness describes the difficulty that a western expatriate would have adapting to certain cultures. For example, Torbiorn 1982 noted that western expatriates experienced higher levels of dissatisfaction with assignments in India, the Middle East, North Africa, CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATE TURNOVER 519 East Africa, and Liberia. Thus, some cultures are very different from western cultures and are also very difficult to adjust to.Other countries may have a very different culture, but are much easier to adapt to for expatriates and their families. The concept of culturaldifferences influencing the cross-cultural adjustment process is intuitively logical. However, there appears to be a lack of consensus regarding conceptualizations of this factor. For example, the terms cultural toughness, and cultural novelty, appearin the international business literature. Unfortunately, tightly developed definitions and consistent research operationalizations are generally lacking. Hofstede 1980 perationalized cultural distance along four indices of work-related values, but most researchershave used a broader,more macro level approach. Harbison and Myers 1959 conceptualized cultural differences in stages of economic development and the role of the firm in that process. Farmer and Richman 1980 conceptualizeddifferences along socio-cultural,legal-political, economic, and educational dimensions. Nath 1988 described behavioral differences that included cultural factors such as attitudes, beliefs, value systems, behavioral patterns, and management philosophies.Negandhi and Prasad 1971 evaluated differences in the task environment such as distributors, suppliers, employees, consumers, government, and community. Consensus regarding the appropriatedimensions to use in measuring cultural differences is lacking, but there is apparently strong support for the general concepts of cultural toughness, cultural novelty, and/or cultural distance. Each country presents the expatriate, and the expatriates family, with a unique set of adjustmentproblems. The more divergent a foreign assignment and location from the home country environment, the greater the potential of experiencing culture shock.Indirectly supporting this contention was Beamishs 1985 finding that MNCs are more likely to be dissatisfied with the performance of operating units located in less developed countries that are likely to be culturally tough. The more culturally tough a foreign country, the more likely the expatriates work attitudes will be negatively affected. Therefore, the following proposition was developed. Proposition 16 The culturaland environmentalsimilarity of home and host countries has a positive, moderating influence on expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement (with respect to the international assignment).The more similar the foreign culture and environmentto the home environment, the more positive the impact on expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement with respect to the organization in the foreign assignment. Career Pathing Research on the career value of foreign assignments in MNCs is inconsistent. The inconsistency may result from the fact that the human resources function constitutes the weakest link in the overall strategic planning process in 520 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 most U. S. MNCs Lorange and Murphy 1983 Tung 1984.Thus, many foreign assignments appear haphazard ra ther than part of a planned process to develop certain managerial skills. As a result, international assignments appear to be avoided by some high performing managers due to potential negative career consequences Adler 1980. For example, Edstrom and Galbraith 1977 suggested that expatriates often viewed the purpose of their overseas assignment as development for future executive responsibility. However, Gonzalez and Negandhi 1966 found that about half of former expatriates were in low level positions fifteen years later.Howard 1973 and Harvey 1989 found that a good deal of uncertainty and conflict surrounded the expatriation and repatriation process and skills developed by expatriates were seldom used after their return home. These results led Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou 1987 to note that the overseas assignment is a haphazard, ill-planned affair that is usually accompanied with vertical advancement. They concluded that the impetus for overseas staffing seems to be more to fall upon immediate manpower needs than to create an integrated career development strategy for future corporate executives.This lack of career path clarity may cause expatriate managers to reevaluate their own career goals and the congruence of those goals with the organization. Since career counseling is very rare regarding international transfers, many expatriates are probably unaware of some career issues until they are actually on foreign assignment.