Table Of ContentDegrees of Expatriate Management Adjustment: A Study 
of expatriate managers working in the Libyan Oil Industry 
 
 
 
 
FATHI ABDULWAHED SALEH ELOBEIDI 
 
A Thesis Submitted to the University of Gloucestershire in Accordance 
with the Requirements of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the 
Faculty of Business, Education and Professional Studies 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
NOVEMBER 2016
Declaration 
 
 
The work in this thesis was fulfilled in accordance with the regulations of the University 
of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the 
text. No portion of this thesis has been submitted in support of any other academic 
award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United 
Kingdom or overseas. 
 
Any views expressed in the thesis are those of the author and in no way, represent those 
of the University. 
 
 
Signed by the Candidate Fathi A Elobeidi                  Dated 17/11/2016 
Signed by the First Supervisor Dr Sue Williams        Dated 17/11/2016 
Signed by the Second Supervisor Penny Adshead      Dated 17/11/2016 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ii
DEDICATED TO 
My LATE FATHER, MOTHER  
   
 MY WIFE, SONS AND DAUGHTER    
 My BROTHERS, SISTERS  
 
 
   
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
 
In the Name of Allah, the most beneficent, the merciful. 
 
Praise is to Allah, the Almighty, on whom ultimately, we depend for sustenance and 
guidance. 
This study would not have been possible without the support of certain individuals and 
organisations. On top of the list, I would like to acknowledge the assistance of many 
people who provided help, support, and encouragement, enabling me to complete my 
PhD dissertation. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of my 
principal  supervisors,  Dr  Sue  Williams  who  guided  and  encouraged  me  from  the 
beginning and throughout my whole PhD candidature, as well as my associate Second 
Supervisor Penny Adshead, for their excellent supervision, they have been wonderful 
and forthcoming during this period and I admire their sense of humour and patience, Dr 
Philippa  Ward,  Research  Degrees  Director  at  Business  School  and  the  external 
examiner Dr Aileen Lawless and internal examiner Dr Malcolm MacLean .  
I would also like to acknowledge the help of the Faculty Administrator, ICT Helpdesk, 
Immigration Compliance Team, Academic, Library and Information Services Team as 
well as the Student Achievement Team in particular Cris Wassell at the University of 
Gloucestershire.  
I acknowledge and thanks also go to all the Oil companies and their Western and 
Libyan Expatriate Managers and the staff too numerous to mention, for their time and 
assistance. 
I wish to express my gratitude and love to my family for their unreserved love, support 
and encouragement. The courage and determination they taught me have made my life 
so wonderful. I am sincerely grateful to my wife, who has been very encouraging and 
supportive of me during my study away from home.  
I also would like to thank all my friends and colleagues who helped me in many other 
ways. Finally, I would like to thank all whose names do not appear here and who have 
contributed to the successful completion of this thesis. 
   
iv
Abstract 
In  this  study  my  focus/aim/main  concern  is  the  successful  or  unsuccessful 
adjustment of non- Libyans from across the world who have worked in Libyan 
oil companies.  I want to know what factors create success.  To help me to do 
this I also ask some Libyan managers (who have worked out of Libya) what they 
think makes for success.  From this data, I have derived a model which identifies 
the differences between all the other process models for expatriate success and 
my  own  Libyan  contextual  model.   The  study  of  socio-cultural  and 
psychological  adjustment  in  the  literature  on  cross-cultural  adjustment  has 
maintained  that  there  is  a  difference  between  these  forms  of  adjustment, 
however  I wanted to  investigate the possibility that there might  be a  close 
relation between the two.  My study is relevant as international mobility and 
cross-cultural  adjustment  is  becoming  a  common  experience  for  a  growing 
number of employees sent on long-term international assignments. 
The methodology used initially starts with the collection of quantitative data 
then moves toward a more interpretive stance; with the collection of qualitative 
data therefore I adopted an interpretivist paradigm using numbers and words. In 
my study a questionnaire was distributed to a group of participants because of 
quantitative analysis of the data collected a subsequent group were identified 
who are at either end of the cross-cultural adjustment scale and they were invited 
to take part in an interview. Because of the qualitative analysis of data gathered 
from these interviews an exploration was carried out using thematic analysis to 
discover  whether  managerial,  organisational  or  societal  factors  have  had  an 
impact on these individuals’ feelings of adjustment. A key aim was to clearly 
identify the factors that affect adjustment. My process model for an Arabic 
nation is based on the adjustment of expatriate managers working in the Libyan 
oil industry and highlighting the key factors that influence their ability to adjust. 
My findings indicate that a manager coming from an individualised society to a 
more collective one or vice versa, may have difficulty in adjusting or feeling 
they are a part of the group. Such feelings are related to the theories of social 
identity and social categorisation. There has been very little previous expatriate 
adjustment research carried out using an interpretivist methodology, which I 
have conducted to find out these managers’ actual perceptions hence can talk 
about their levels of adjustment and the need for experience. 
v
Table of Contents 
 
PAGE 
 
Chapter One 
Background to the area of Research 
 
1.0. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 
1.1. Research Questions and Objectives ........................................................................ 4 
1.2. Rationale and importance of the Research ............................................................ 5 
1.3. Research Design and Approach ............................................................................ 10 
1.4. The Research Contribution ................................................................................... 11 
1.5. The Structure of this Thesis .................................................................................. 12 
 
Chapter Two 
An overview of the literature on Expatriate Adjustment 
in International Assignments 
 
2.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 14 
2.1. The role of HR in international assignments ....................................................... 16 
2.2. Cross Cultural Adjustment ................................................................................... 17 
2.3. Hofstede and Cultural Dimensions, Determinants and Differences .................. 19 
2.3.1 Discussion of Hofstede’s work ....................................................................  19 
2.4. Other Determinants of Expatriate Adjustment .................................................  22 
2.5. Chapter Conclusions .............................................................................................  22 
 
Chapter Three 
A review of the literature on Internal factors affecting 
Cross-Cultural adjustment to International Assignments 
 
3.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 27 
3.1. Job related factors .................................................................................................. 28 
3.1.1 Pre-departure Training .................................................................................. 29 
3.1.2 Job Novelty ................................................................................................... 29 
3.1.3 Role Clarity ................................................................................................... 29 
3.2. Non-work factors .................................................................................................... 29 
3.2.1 Spouse/family adjustment  ............................................................................ 30 
vi
3.2.2 Psychological factors and cross-cultural adjustment .................................... 31 
3.3. Social Identity/Social Categorisation Theory ...................................................... 32 
3.3.1 Social Identity Theory (SIT) ......................................................................... 36 
3.3.2 Social Categorisation Theory (SCT) ............................................................ 38 
3.3.3 Social Identification ...................................................................................... 39 
3.3.4 Social Comparison ........................................................................................ 40 
3.3.5 Personality Traits .......................................................................................... 40 
3.4. Chapter Conclusions .............................................................................................. 43 
 
Chapter Four 
A review of the literature on External factors affecting Cross-Cultural adjustment 
to International Assignments 
 
4.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 46 
4.1. Organisational culture novelty and support ........................................................ 46 
4.2. Libyan Societal, organisational culture, and organisational leadership ..........  47 
4.3. Management Approach/Leadership Style ..........................................................  50 
4.3.1 Western Management Approaches ..............................................................  54  
4.3.2 Leadership Style as a factor that impacts on expatriate adjustment ............. 54 
4.3.3 Various Leadership Styles ...........................................................................  55 
4.4. Chapter Conclusions .............................................................................................  57 
 
Chapter Five 
Research Methodology 
 
5.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 59 
5.1. The Philosophy and Methodology of Research ................................................... 61 
5.2. Research Approaches............................................................................................. 61 
5.3. Research Strategy................................................................................................... 62 
5.3.1 Descriptive and explanatory surveys ............................................................ 62 
5.3.2 A Note on Truth Claims ............................................................................... 63 
5.3.3 Research Methodological Contribution ........................................................ 66 
5.4 The companies to be studied and the piloting that took place ...........................  66 
5.4.1 The Questionnaire ......................................................................................... 70 
5.4.2 The Interviews .............................................................................................. 74 
5.5 Credibility, Reliability and Validity ...................................................................... 78 
vii
5.5.1 Transparency and Authenticity ..................................................................... 80 
5.6. Sampling and Data Analysis ................................................................................. 81 
5.6.1 Quantitative Analysis ................................................................................... 82 
5.6.2 Qualitative Analysis...................................................................................... 82 
5.6.3 Thematic Analysis ........................................................................................ 83 
 
Chapter Six 
Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Data Collected 
 
6.0. Introduction ............................................................................................................ 85 
6.1. Quantitative Analysis: The Questionnaire .......................................................... 86 
6.2. Qualitative Analysis ............................................................................................. 102 
6.2.1 Themes established and developed ............................................................. 103 
6.3. Findings from the Qualitative Analysis ............................................................. 105 
6.3.1 Objective, Selection and Training for international assignments    ............ 110 
6.3.2 Cross-Cultural Training, National/Organisational Culture, and Adjustment111 
6.3.3 Work Values SIT/SCT and Personality ...................................................... 128 
6.3.4 Management Approach/ Leadership Style.................................................. 136 
 
Chapter Seven 
Discussion of the Findings of this research 
 
7.0. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 151 
7.1 Company Objectives/Selection/Training Methods ............................................ 153 
7.2 National Culture/Culture Novelty ....................................................................... 157 
7.2.1 Organisational Culture/Work values .......................................................... 161 
7.2.2 Management approach and Leadership Style ............................................. 161 
7.2.3 Expatriate Adjustment/Experience and Behaviour ..................................... 164 
7.3 Social Identification/Categorisation .................................................................... 168 
 
 
Chapter Eight 
Conclusions, Contribution and Limitations 
 
8.0. Introduction .......................................................................................................... 174 
8.1. Identifying the key characteristics of national and work culture and 
work ethic that influence cross-cultural working for expatriate managers ... 176 
viii
8.2. The impact of Social Identity Theory and Social Categorisation Theory 
on cross-cultural adjustment .............................................................................. 177 
8.3 Results of a survey of expatriate and host country managers operating in 
Libya  ..................................................................................................................... 178 
8.4. The impact of managerial or organisational factors on individual’s 
adjustment ............................................................................................................ 180 
8.5. Produce a Model of the Cross-Cultural Adjustment (CCA) Process .............. 183 
8.6. Contribution to Knowledge ................................................................................. 185 
8.7. Limitations of the Study ...................................................................................... 188 
8.8. Suggestions for future research .......................................................................... 188 
8.8. Personal Reflection............................................................................................... 188 
 
References  ................................................................................................................... 195 
Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................... 210 
Appendix 2 ................................................................................................................... 211 
Appendix 3 ................................................................................................................... 212 
Appendix 4 ................................................................................................................... 230 
Appendix 5 ................................................................................................................... 231 
Appendix 6 ................................................................................................................... 236 
   
ix
Tables and Figures  Page 
Figure 1.1 Conceptual Framework  ................................................................................... 8 
Table 2.1 Index Scores and Ranks for the Arab Countries and East, and West Africa .. 20 
Table 2.2: Culture Dimensions Responses ..................................................................... 20 
Figure 2.1 Internal and External Factors affecting Cross-Cultural Adjustment ............. 24 
Figure 3.1: Social Identity Theory: Tajfel and Turner (1979) ........................................ 35 
Figure 3.2 Psychological factors affecting Cross-Cultural adjustment ........................... 43 
Table 4.1 Cultural Classifications ................................................................................... 52 
Table 5.1 Companies and Individuals sampled............................................................... 67 
Figure 5.1 Nationality of expatriate manager sampled ................................................... 69 
Table 5.2 Interviews undertaken ..................................................................................... 76 
Table 6.1 Cross-tabulation between Position and Status ................................................ 87 
Table 6.1a Cross-tabulation between Position and Gender ............................................ 87 
Table 6.1b Cross-tabulation between Position and Age ................................................. 88 
Table 6.1c Cross-tabulation between Gender and Age ................................................... 88 
Table 6.2 Company objective for international assignments .......................................... 90 
Table 6.2a Selection methods for international assignments .......................................... 92 
Table 6.3 Cross-Cultural training .................................................................................... 93 
Table 6.4 National Culture .............................................................................................. 94 
Table 6.5 Culture Novelty ............................................................................................... 95 
Table 6.6 Organisational Culture/Work values ............................................................... 97 
Table 6.7 Individualism/collectivism .............................................................................. 98 
Table 6.8 Expatriate Adjustment .................................................................................. 100 
Table 6.9 International relations ................................................................................... 101 
Table 6.10 Defining the Themes ................................................................................... 104 
Table 6.11 Participants Origin, Status Adjustment and Experience ............................. 107 
Table 6.12 Social Categorisation and Adjustment ........................................................ 120 
Table 6.13 Personality and Work Values ...................................................................... 131 
Table 6.14 Management Approach/ Leadership Style .................................................. 137 
Table 6.15 Extended table of cultural classifications and some of their influences on 
management and leadership ......................................................................... 144 
Figure 8.1 Model of the Cross-Cultural Adjustment process ....................................... 183 
Figure 8.1a Libyan Model of the Cross-Cultural Adjustment process ......................... 185 
 
x
Description:this I also ask some Libyan managers (who have worked out of Libya) what they think makes for  nation is based on the adjustment of expatriate managers working in the Libyan oil industry and  think and are regarded as among the most important determinants of expatriate adjustment (Shaffer.