Organizational support in the intercultural adjustment of accompanying spouses

Globalization is making international assignments a necessity in multinational companies' strategies. Organizations recognize that they need to support the employee in the relocation process, but often forget to consider the needs of the accompanying spouse. One of the most cited reasons for a discontinuation of an international assignment is that the spouse was unable to adjust. This makes it a financial and strategic matter for organizations to understand the spouses’ adjustment process better. The objective of this research is to find out what organizational support activities organizations can employ to improve expatriate spouses' relocation experiences and to help them in their intercultural adjustment. The secondary goals are to understand how the support activities are currently handled at Company X, how the spouses perceive the adjustment process and how well the support received corresponds to their needs. The theoretical framework presents general concepts and processes related to international assignments and intercultural adjustment. This study is concentrated on the situation of Company X, and the experiences of their expatriates’ spouses. The particular focus is on how organizational support could assist in the intercultural adjustment of the spouses when they relocate to Finland. This study used qualitative methods with a cross-sectional time horizon to uncover participants’ experiences. Data were collected from four accompanying spouses with semi-structured theme interviews from July-August 2018. In order to test the model drafted, an event to support social interaction was implemented as part of the development project in March 2019, along with a group interview session with four accompanying spouses. Based on the literature review and interview results, development recommendations were provided to Company X. This study found that the main factors that contribute to the spouse adjustment are 1) personal, 2) social, 3) cultural, and 4) work factors. Effective organizational support plays a significant role in the positive intercultural adjustment of the spouse, especially since the company representative is initially one of the main support contacts spouses have in the new country. Merely providing the very basic practical assistance is not sufficient, and it is important that spouses feel valued by the organization. The results suggested that the two areas where spouses need assistance the most are practical matters throughout the assignment and support in the social aspects of the adjustment. In conclusion, spouses do not have the structure and routine that work brings to the expatriate, and they often need to build their social network from ground up by themselves. Relocation to a new country can feel taxing psychologically, and some cope better with stress than others. This means the level of support needed is dependent on the individual and therefore the support activities need to be tailored case by case