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Journal of Human and Social Science Research; Vol. 06 (01), 2015, 022-034
ISSN 2331-4974
To Investigate the Support of Technology in Minimizing
Reverse Culture Shock: A Focus on Expatriates Working in
Malaysia
MAZUWIN BINTI HAJA MAIDEEN*, HAMIDU AHMED AMINU
Asia Pacific University
*E-mail: [email protected]
Received December 2014, Accepted January 2015
ABSTRACT
Malaysia has a buoyant and fast growing economy that has made it a prime destination for foreign
direct investment by multinational companies. Wherever these global companies set base each one
inevitably attract foreign workers known as expatriates. The expatriates help the Multinational
Corporations (MNC) maintain the organizations structure, rules and regulations and fill in local labour
shortages. Expatriates are bound to go through a process of adjustments (expatriation process) to the local
norms and culture of the country they live and work in. Expatriates complete the expatriation process
upon repatriating back to their country of origin. The experiences garnered by the expatriate in a foreign
land are known as culture shock during the time that experienced at repatriating home are known as
reverse culture shock both with inherent psychological symptoms. This study is based on the quantitative
method of research employing both descriptive and analytical research types. Data collection relied on
both primary and secondary sources. Questionnaire administration made use of a novel combination of
the traditional hard copy distributed directly to the sample population and e-platform: sending to various
websites of expatriate organizations in Malaysia. This study investigates how reverse culture shock may
be minimized through the use of technology. We try to gauge this by finding out the preferred
technological tool used by an expatriate in Malaysia to communicate with home. The study identified the
symptoms associated with reverse culture shock as the dependent variable and the technological
communication tools as the independent variable. The research went further to ascertain from respondents
if the expatriates felt communication has indeed helped in reducing the reverse culture shock. The results
of the research suggest that an overwhelming several number of expatriates concur to the fact that
communicating with their home country with the aid of modern technology does mitigate the symptoms
of reverse culture shock upon repatriating. In conclusion, the researcher is of the view that multinational
companies put more emphasis on preparing the expatriate for culture shock on postings abroad, but negate
to do the same for the repatriate on coming back home. These companies should encourage their
employees to communicate with their home country using technology so as to mitigate the symptoms of
reverse culture shock. They will find that employees who are less disturbed by reverse culture shock are
in a state of good mental health to put in their best at their workstations.
Keywords: expatriates, repatriates, culture shock, reverse culture shock, mobile phone, email, social
media, microblogging.
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Contents
INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 23
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................... 23
2.1
Expatriates................................................................................................................................... 23
2.2
Expatriation Cycle ...................................................................................................................... 24
2.3
Culture Shock.............................................................................................................................. 24
2.4
Reverse Culture Shock ................................................................................................................ 26
2.5
Using Communication with the aid of Technology to Keep in Touch ....................................... 28
2.6
Strategies to Cope with Reverse Culture Shock ......................................................................... 28
METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................. 28
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS ............................................................................................... 29
RESEARCH FINDINGS .................................................................................................................... 29
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS ............................................................................................ 30
6.1
Limitation of the study ................................................................................................................ 31
6.2
Suggestion for future research .................................................................................................... 31
1
INTRODUCTION
Malaysia’s economy has come of age since the days when it was mostly a primary based economy
relying on agricultural products. Over the years, successive Malaysian governments have implemented
policies to attract foreign direct investment. This strategy has paid off as multinational companies
(MNC’s) have flocked in droves to make Malaysia their operational hub in Southeast Asia. This MNC’s
are into high tech industry and hence need foreign technical skills to man their manufacturing processes,
as the local labour force is inadequate. The government of the day lent a helping hand by enacting laws
that eased the immigration of expatriates (Kinuthia, 2009). An “Expatriates is identified as a sojourner
who leaves his or her country, under assignment, for business purpose, with the intent of eventual return
(Aycan & Kanungo, 1997 cited in Ramalu et al, 2010). Expatriates confront problems associated with
culture shock at their country of work residence as well as those associated with reverse culture shock
when they return home (Gupta, 2013).
Given the economic contribution of expatriates it is pertinent to understand how the impact of reverse
culture shock affects their work productivity. This study aims to investigate how modern communication
and technology helps to minimize the effect of reverse culture shock.
2
2.1
LITERATURE REVIEW
Expatriates
As mentioned earlier in the introduction an “expatriate is identified as a sojourner who leaves his or
her country, under assignment, for business purpose, with the intent of eventual return” (Aycan &
Kanungo, 1997 cited in Ramalu et al, 2010). While this definition may seem short and appear to scratch
the issue on the surface, it actually captures the essence of who an expatriate is. Another contributor
defined expatriate as an “employee sent on an international assignment by their employer”(Howe-Walsh,
2013). A business dimension to the meaning of expatriate was also given as “Business expatriates are
sojourners sent to a foreign country by multinationals with the intent to control the company operations
and to provide technical and administrative services” (Torbiorn, 1982 cited in Jun, Gentry and Hyun,
2001). The element of time has been added to the meaning of an expatriate as thus “Expatriates are
defined as individuals who relocate from one country to the other for at least one year (Littrell et al., 2006
cited in Joshua-Gojer, 2012). It is worthy to note that the hiring of expatriates by MNC’s is a standard
feature of the international movement of labour and is an attempt to take advantage of today’s highly
interconnected and globalized world to fill the void created by shortages of required skills in the local
labour market (Kaye and Taylor cited in Pires, Stanton, and Ostenfeld, 2006). Why MNC’s hire
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expatriates has been narrowed to three main reasons, for their technical expertise, ability to aid
management and organizational development (Edstrom and Galbraith, 1977 cited in Mitrev, Austin and
Culpepper, 2012). Furthermore, expatriates serve a crucial function in the successful implementation and
attainment of the global business strategies of the MNC such as knowledge transfer, helping to coordinate
and control the foreign office and human resource development (Dowling et al., 2008, Harzing, 2001,
Hocking et al., 2004 cited in Kuhlman and Hutchings, 2009).
According to Rahim (2010) when he expatriate arrives back in his/her home country, no matter the
length of the expatriation witnessed by the arrive, the fact still remains it is his place of origin and there is
a measure of familiarity with the home environment. Naturally this will make adapting to the home easier
or at the least make cultural adjustment less of a nightmare than the one faced in the foreign land.
Although it should be noted that the psychological and social distance created between the repatriate and
his family/friends from the long spell overseas is not easily bridged. Returning home the repatriate is
made to feel a fall from grace to grass if compared to the honour accorded to him in his place of
expatriation such as mixing with the cream de la cream of the society, this instill a sense of social
disappointment added with financial losses such as benefit and subsidies that include those for housing
and health thus reinforcing the kingpin syndrome. One of the many complaints about expatriates is that
whenever they relieve their expatriates experience folks back home do not give them a listening ear
leading to misunderstanding when discussing. A recent repatriate to the US surmises the difficulty felt by
individuals returning home by stating that most office colleagues and friends in the US do not accept the
notion that standard of living in another country could be better than that of America (Gupta, 2013).
2.2
Expatriation Cycle
The existing body of literature on expatriates identified the whole process of immigrating to live and
work in a foreign country and immigrating back to one’s country to be known as the expatriation cycle. A
well-articulated expatriate program should follow a circular process completing a loop. It should contain
elements of expatriation from selecting the candidate to cross-cultural adjustment training, a global career
management to completing the international assignment and ending with repatriation (Solomon, 1995
cited in Paik, Segaud and Malinowski, 2002). Repatriation is often viewed from a multinational
perspective as the last stage in the expatriation process (Abdur Rahim, 2010).
A diagram is drawn to illustrate the expatriation process below
Table 1. Expatriation Process
Recruitment
And selection
(Cited in Abdur Rahim, 2010)
Pre-departure
Training
On assignment
Repatriation or
Readjustment
Gupta 2013 corroborates the idea that repatriation is part of the expatriation cycle when he mentioned
that the last phase of the expatriation process is repatriation. The reality on the ground is that when the
expatriation cycle begins and expatriates find themselves in their host country they inadvertently come
into contact with customs that are alien to their familiar cultural context. Expatriates become disillusioned
by the sudden change of environment and fail to grasp why the people behave in a certain way and how
they are expected to respond in return. They then lose all sense of social interaction and make up by
trying to adapt to the new of life, mode of living and way of doing business in a new cultural setting. The
process of adapting is not easy, it is long and difficult. The risk of poor adaptation is high and in this
atmosphere the expatriate may feel alienated and ultimately culture shock occurs (Hess, 1994 cited in Xia,
2009).
2.3
Culture Shock
The anthropologist Kalervo Oberg introduced the term culture shock where he described the culture
shock as an “occupational disease with its own aetiology, symptoms and cure... precipitated by the
anxiety that results from losing our familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse” (Oberg, 1954 cited
in Meintel, 1973). At this point it is important to note that a detour into the literature of culture shock is
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unavoidable and necessary before we delve into reverse culture shock the aim of this thesis. The reason is
that academicians have identified a link between the psychological, social and behavioural changes that
occur during culture shock also occur during reverse culture shock (Rohrlich & Martin, 1991cited in
Mooradian, 2004). Oberg defined culture shock “as the psychological disorientation experienced by
people who suddenly enter radically different cultural environments to live and work” (Eschbach et al,
2001cited in Xia, 2009).
Culture shock is also defined as the “emotional upset and tension brought on by the stress of a move
from one culture to another” (Olson, 2002). Another respected voice on culture shock made his
contribution to the meaning “primarily a set of emotional reactions to the loss of perceptual
reinforcements of one's own culture, to new cultural stimuli which have little or no meaning, and to the
misunderstanding of new and diverse experiences” (Adler 1975 cited in Zapf, 1991).
Culture shock has four stages honeymoon, hostile and emotional, recovery and adjustment (Church
1982 cited in Mooradian, 2004).
The first culture shock experience encountered by expatriate is the honeymoon stage. The beginning of
this stage starts within the first week of arrival. In this stage, people who enter other cultures may at first
be pleased with all of the new things encountered. They enter the country with a positive attitude,
eagerness and high hopes. They anticipate the best and new opportunities. This first stage is sometimes
known as the euphoria stage. The next experience following the first stage is the second stage called the
rejection phase and it emerges after a few weeks. At this stage reality starts to sink in and the expatriate
begins to notice that the host country is remarkably different from his/her home country. The way this
stage starts is little inconsequential problems that are negative, but escalate over time. Culture shock
occurs as a result of incomprehensible cognitive behaviour on the part of both expatriate and indigenous
in the new cultural environment, which manifest themselves in the form of stress and increasing
depression, anxiety, tension and confusion. They try to solve this seemingly little problem by trying to
cope, blend and adjust to the host culture and customs.
After that, the adjustment stage or recovery phase appears, followed by increased ability to learn how
to adjust effectively to the new cultural pattern. Individuals begin to appreciate and understand their host
country’s norms and culture. They start to assimilate slowly into the culture of their host community.
During this phase, there will be different types of ways the expatriates can adapt to as a result the side
effects of culture shock will become less and less apparent. The fourth and last stage of culture shock that
the expatriate will experience is the mastery otherwise known as the adaptation phase. It often comes after
one and a half years.
During the last phase, the individual is better able to cope with the symptoms of culture shock and are
able to manage cultural problems successfully by finding solutions to them. (Janssens, 1995 cited in Xia,
2009). The adjustment to culture shock over time has also been generalized into the concept of the Ucurve (Lysgaard, 1955 cited in ZAPF, 1991).
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Figure 1. U-Curve*
*Adapted from Gaukam and Vishwakarma, 2012
2.4
Reverse Culture Shock
Turning the spotlight back on reverse culture shock or re-entry shock, it is “believed the only
difference between culture shock and reverse culture shock is that the latter is not expected” (Gullahorn
and Gullahorn, 1963 cited in Mooradian, 2004). Reverse culture shock is defined “as the psychological
and social difficulties related to the adjustment of going home after living in another country” (Uehara,
1986 cited in Mooradian, 2004). In another light, reverse culture is defined as the process of reacculturation a person goes through when he/she arrives home after a long period of exposure to a foreign
culture. Issues involved range from the physical, emotional, cognitive, behavioural, social and spiritual
changes for the individual (Olson, 2004 cited in Selby et al, 2005).
Re-entry into one’s own country presents its own challenges, not least because a person less expects
problems coming home after sojourn in a foreign country. This makes it an all the more traumatic
experience than the one encountered abroad (Gupta, 2013). The ideas that reverse culture shock are worse
than the culture shock faced in a foreign country resonates with a lot of people backed by studies. Lots of
studies show people who successfully integrate with a foreign culture find it difficult readjustment to their
home culture upon return (Koester, 1984 cited in Mooradian, 2004).
A repatriate returning home, albeit even for a short visit goes through the stages of reverse culture
shock. These stages are leaving taking and departure, honeymoon, reverse culture shock and readjustment (Storti, 2001). This view is corroborated by (Mooradian, 2004). Stages of reverse culture
shock were also explained by the W-curve, an extension of the U-curve (Gullahorn and Gullahorn, 1963,
cited in Mooradian, 2004). The process of re-entry is said to be a complex interaction of several factors
which have been classified under two major headings: job related factors and social factors (Abdur Rahim,
2010). Upon re-entry the sojourner encounters culture shock which may manifest itself in a number of
symptoms such as finding it hard to associate with friends and family, trouble adapting to office work,
identify problems, and issues of loss and grief (Missionary outreach support service, cited in Selby et al,
2005). Another take on the symptoms lists them as “a number of physical, emotional, cognitive and
behavioural phenomena of grief e.g. Headache, mood fluctuations, poor memory, sleeplessness (Clark,
2003 cited in Selby et al, 2005).
Anxiety and depression were further added to the list of re-entry symptoms as part of transition stress
(Gardner, 2002 cited in Selby et al, 2005). The symptoms associated with the returnee on entry have been
classified under psychological and sociocultural adjustments. The problems of psychological adjustments
are “irritability, loneliness, loss, depression, anxiety, impatience, and anger”(Church, 1982 cited in
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Mooradian, 2004). While sociocultural adjustments simply refer to how a returnee interacts with his
support group by this meaning his family and friends. Information, assistance, and emotions are some of
the issues dealt with support group (Conn & Peterson, 1989; Dunkel-Schetter & Skokan, 1990 cited in
Mooradian, 2004).
The psychological and sociocultural aspects of reverse culture shock are crucial to the individual as
they relate to his/her general well-being which in-turn affects his/her job satisfaction in the form of low
productivity. It becomes imperative to know what prepares the sojourner for re-entry in order to reduce
the adverse effect of reverse culture shock.
Reverse culture shock which is sometimes referred to as re-entry culture shock is the unexpected
process of re-adapting, re-adjusting to an individual’s own home culture after a lengthy period of sojourn
abroad. This is known to cause cognitive dissonance at the point of re-entry, which is the root cause of the
reverse culture shock syndrome leading to a structural imbalance. Anti- social behaviors such as
depression, anxiety, fear and interpersonal problems begin to manifest themselves. Sojourners who spend
a long time abroad are more susceptible to intense reverse culture shock as they least expect home to have
changed ,thus are not prepared for what lies in store (Gaw, 2000). Gullahorn and Gullahorn (1963) were
the first academics to recognize reverse culture shock as the adjustment process. The previous U-curve,
which was limited to adjusting to host culture, was extended to create a W-curve that included
repatriation back to the one country of origin.
Figure 2. W-Curve*
*Based on Oberg (1960) and Gullahorn and Gullahorn (1963)
The reader can clearly see from the figure above the initial U-Curve of the intercultural adjustment
experienced by an expatriate in a foreign land and the extended second U that combines to form the Wcurve. The second U-curve represents the reacculturation experienced upon return home.
Gupta (2003) mentioned that repatriation is divided into a set of four related phases: preparation,
physical relocation, transition and re-adjustment. Preparation involves updating oneself about the next
future posting, although this is not giving much priority by the company. Physical relocation is literally
moving away from the present location, moving personal effects and cutting off from colleagues and
friends going back to home country. Transition is the disengagement process an individual goes through,
such as getting a temporary place of abode, enrolling kids in new schools, renewing drivers license or
getting medical insurance. While the re-adjustment phase is how the expatriate copes with change both in
the work place and at home. This is where the symptoms of reverse culture shock manifest.
The belief among the majority of people is that reverse culture shock is more acute than the initial
culture shock experienced abroad. This has been proved by studies which show that does who
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successfully adjust and integrate with another culture find it more difficult to re-adjust when they go
home (Koester, 1984 cited in Mooradian, 2010).
2.5
Using Communication with the aid of Technology to Keep in Touch
One factor that cannot be wished away if the expatriate wants to reduce culture shock is to keep in
touch with home. Ways to keep in touch with events back home are through computer and Internet
facilities, global media, satellite television and the telephone (Gupta, 2013). Abdur Rahim, 2010 strongly
shares the view that keeping up to date with events and family back home through communication and
technology helps to reduce reverse culture shock for the expatriate. What the writer is suggesting is the
use of communication aided by technology to keep in touch with home in order to minimize reverse
culture shock. However, this is already in vogue with expatriate communities around the world hooked
communication devices using the latest in technology to stay connected with home. They now use social
media like Twitter and Facebook, tools of video calling like Skype, Instant messaging like WhatsApp and
We chat, watch instant videos of home via You Tube, share photos through Instagram send mails using
Yahoo or Hotmail and communicate with good old telephone (Imam, 2013).
2.6
Strategies to Cope with Reverse Culture Shock
Repatriation is the last stage of the expatriation process, but it gives less importance compared to
expatriation. This is so as some consider repatriation as just another posting back to a familiar
environment that does not require much concern. Although it is now widely recognized amongst
academics and managers that repatriation requires careful management. Repatriation is divided into four
phases that are preparation, physical relocation, transition and re-adjustment (Gupta, 2013). It is critical
for companies wanting to retain the expertise, skills and knowledge garnered by returning expatriates to
carefully manage the repatriation process. The successful repatriation of an international assignee has
been hinged on three factors that are working environment, sociocultural and family factors (Baughn,
1995 cited in Paik, Sigaud and Malinowski, 2002).
3
METHODOLOGY
The quantitative research methodology was used for this study. Khotari 2004 gave a basic explanation
of research methodology as solving the research problem systematically. The sampling method adopted
for the research was a probability sampling and the respondent target was 130. Both primary and
secondary sources were widely used in the collection data. Facts gathered through the questionnaire were
that of primary data while the literature review relied on secondary data. The Internet served as a reliable
medium to administer the questionnaire thereby saving cost, a wide reach and making judicious use of
time. Hard copies were also distributed to respondents at their places of work and social gatherings, but
with a focus on expatriates within the Klang Valley.
Table 2. Response Rate
Target Number
Total Responses
Printed Questionnaire Responses
Online Responses
Positive Responses
Invalid Responses
Number of Questionnaire
150s
124
36
88
113
11
Percentage%
100%
29%
71%
91.10%
8.90%
The researcher used SPSS software to analyse data collected and also to administer the Cronbach’s
Alpha test to determine the reliability of the data collected.
Table 3. Results
Cronbach Alpha
Number of Items
0.427
20
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29
DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
An analysis of the data collected from respondents using SPSS software showed that the majority of
respondents were males who numbered 80 and females at 32 and on average they fell within the age
bracket of 31 – 40 years. The occupation captured in the survey that had the highest number of
respondents was the educational sector, although majority fell in the “others” category. According to the
survey analysis most of the expatriates are of Asian origin given 42 of them are Asians, 38 are European,
13 from the Middle-East while other regions complete the count. 48 respondents acknowledged
expatriation experience in one other country before coming to Malaysia while a single individual had
lived and worked in 15 countries before coming to Malaysia.
The preferred mode of communication (identified as the independent variable) among expatriates in
Malaysia with their home country as captured by the survey is Mobile phone 35 respondents, Email 31,
social media 23, micro blogging 15 and lastly instant messaging has 8 respondents.
The symptoms of reverse culture shock, such as irritation, loneliness, depression and loss (identified as
the dependent variables) were presented in the survey questionnaire to gauge the extent to which
respondents felt communication with the help of technology helped in reducing those symptoms.
Analysis of the answers showed that most of the respondents were in agreement with the statement
questions posed in the questionnaire to the effect that communication and technology did reduce the
symptoms of reverse culture shock.
In furtherance of the research objectives, the questions of improved wellbeing and increased
productivity resulting from the reduced symptoms of reverse culture shock were put to the respondents.
Most answered in the affirmative to the positive impact they observed on their wellbeing translating into
increased work productivity.
5
RESEARCH FINDINGS
At this point it is imperative to break down the title of the study in order to highlight the findings in the
analysis in relation to the aims and objectives of the research.
1. To find out the preferred communication and technological tool used by expatriates-Man is a social
being that must interact with others to survive and effective communication is at the core of that survival
strategy. The means by which humans interact and communicate has evolved over time. Technological
innovation and advances, introduction of the Internet has meant communication was easier, cheaper,
faster and the tools readily available and varied. This leap in technology such as the Internet and access to
computers offers real-time communication between the expatriate and his social contacts, thus keeping
the expatriate well informed with current happenings at home (Rahim, 2010). The same idea is
corroborated when Gupta 2013 mentions that there is great potential in the new technologies like the
Internet in keeping expatriates connected with their home countries.
The proliferation of communication tools makes it important as part of this study to determine the
preferred choice amongst expatriates in Malaysia when they want to communicate with home.
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40
35
35
31
Frequency
30
23
25
20
15
15
8
10
5
0
Mobile phone
email
Social media Microblogging
Instant
messaging
Figure 3. Mode of Communication
Figure 3 above clearly illustrates the preferred technology used for communication among expatriates
in Malaysia is the Mobile phone, email, Social Media, Micro blogging and Instant Messaging arranged
from the highest to the lowest.
2. The effect or otherwise communication and technology have in minimizing reverse culture shock on
expatriate visiting home. The affect communication has on minimizing reverse culture shock is evidenced
by the reduced symptoms of reverse culture upon return home by the sojourner. Opinions of respondents
captured by the survey and analysed with SPSS software suggests that 53% did not feel irritated upon
return home. The feeling of loneliness was not felled by 63.4% of respondents, while depression was not
felt 59%. Finally, 52.7% captured by the survey did not feel a sense of loss upon return home.
3. What, if any, the resulting effect of a minimized reverse culture shock has in improving expatriate
work productivity? The symptoms of reverse culture are traumatic in nature. They are “a number of
physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral phenomena of grief e.g. headache, mood fluctuations, poor
memory, sleeplessness (Clark, 2003 cited in Selby et al,2005). These symptoms are also known as
psychological adjustments. Psychological adjustment is defined as "those who have psychological wellbeing or satisfaction" (Oguri & Gudykunst, 2002, cited in Mooradian, 2004). The symptoms if left
unchecked and treated can be debilitating to the repatriate as they dampen the moral of the individual and
cause the repatriate to have problems completing everyday tasks (Mooradian, 2004). These will dampen
the moral and negatively affect the productivity of the individual. It became necessary to extend the goal
of this research to determine how the reduced reverse culture shock improves the returnee sojourner and
how that translates in increased work productivity. 62.5% respondents when posed these questions in the
survey were in agreement that they felt a sense improved wellbeing as a result of reduced reverse culture
shock. The notion that improved wellbeing translates into increased work productivity was agreed with
51.8% of survey respondents.
6
CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
Firms nowadays operate in a highly competitive environment given the globalized nature of business
today. To compete favorably companies adopt a global outlook and internationalize their presence (Paik
et al, 2002). They employ skilled workers known as expatriates to man these job postings. Howe-Walsh,
2013 agreed with this when he mentioned expatriates are international assignees sent by their employer’s.
The expatriates on working and living in a foreign country go through the most rigorous of the
expatriation process and complete it upon returning home. Elements experienced in the expatriation
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31
process are cross-cultural adjustment training, a global career management to completing the international
assignment and ending with repatriation (Solomon, 1995 cited in Paik, Segaud and Malinowski, 2002).
The first stage of expatriation process is the international assignment.
Olson, 2002 defined culture shock as the emotional upheaval brought on by the stress of transiting
from an individual’s culture to a new one. The stages of culture shock are honeymoon, hostile and
emotional, recovery and adjustment (Church, 1982 cited in Mooradian, 2004).
Upon completion of the first stage the expatriate moves on to the second stage, which is repatriation.
Repatriation is the exact opposite of expatriation and has traditionally received less attention, though the
trend among academicians and managers in the field of human resource is changing in favor of
repatriation. Experiences of sojourner’s returning home are usually intense, traumatic and more severe not
least because the returnee least expects to find reverse culture shock in their home country (Gupta, 2003).
The four stages of repatriation are leave taking and departure, honeymoon, reverse culture shock and readjustment (Storti, 2001).
The literature abounds that suggests companies prepare expatriates for culture shock upon moving
overseas, but neglect to prepare returnee repatriates for reverse culture shock. Hence this study seeks to
find how reverse culture can be reduced to the barest minimum.
6.1
Limitation of the study
Limitations are staples of any research and this study was no different. The major limitation observed
in the course of this research was that of time. Others were accuracy of data collected, indifference of
respondents and cost constraint as the researcher was short of funds that could have aided in widening the
scope of study. Another crucial limitation of the research is the target audience: expats currently based in
Malaysia but who have a prior experience of the expatriation process from start to finish
6.2
Suggestion for future research
This study can be extended in various ways to improve the accuracy of information obtained and to
conclude the research. Future research can be conducted by considering the respondents from several
other states of Malaysia as well. This will facilitate the researcher to conclude the research with a
perception of the wider population and perception of more investors. It means that future researcher can
take wider sample size.Moreover, this research identified only two variables as modes of communication
and reverse culture shock. A Future researcher can take other factors such as attitude, individual behavior,
and various other psychological aspects and analsze the reverse culture shock as well. This will enable the
researcher to deliver the information and influence on wider knowledge on culture shock.
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