UK expatriate's skills and competencies influencing their cross-cultural adjustment on international architectural engineering and construction assignments

The UK AEC industry has long been associated with migration of managers to execute international operations. These foreign assignments bring in a lot of excitement to the expatriates along with conditions of distress. This could be in various forms like, cultural shock, language barriers, separation from family etc. Most of the failures associated with expatriation find their genesis in expatriate‘s inability to adjust to the host country.

Thus, the current trends within the globalised AEC industry require the expatriate to have a good cross-cultural understanding and certain specific skills to facilitate adjustment and successful completion of the project. These competencies/skills play a huge role in terms of how well an expatriate is able to understand the host country environment and adapt themselves accordingly. This study therefore, aims to contribute towards understanding the adjustment process of an UK
expatriate by reviewing studies and conducting detailed interviews with expatriates from the AEC sector.

The findings reveal that the varying standards, working practices and ethics across nations, require the expatriates to be competent, well equipped and knowledgeable enough to train the locals on standard practices. Along with technical skills, it is the people management skills and the knowledge of local issues that are crucial when managing foreign workforce.

This study has implications for both the expatriates and the organizations. From the organization‘s point, a good understanding of the issues highlighted will assist them in selecting the right individual to ensuring successful execution and completion of the project. Whereas from the expatriate‘s perspective, it helps them to appreciate the relevant issues and secure successful expatriation and its associated benefits.