Attitudes Toward Cross Cultural Training – A Qualitative Study of Expatriates in Sportswear Manufacturing Industry in East Asia

In order to support multinational companies (MNCs) success globally, cross cultural training (CCT) has become an urgent need for expatriates. This article is to investigate the importance of CCT and benefits of CCT for expatriates in MNCs. The article centered on the expatriates who have experienced or have been sent on at least six months work assignment in an Asian country and experienced a different culture and language environment. The expatriates’ responses, the qualitative data collected in the semi-structure interviews were analysed by means of a theory-based coding system. The findings showed that expatriates agree on the importance of the CCT and with a large positive impact on the expatriates’ over all performance. By providing a good CCT, it helps expatriates raise their cultural awareness, decrease mistakes and misunderstandings, better prepare and adjust themselves to the new challenges overseas, and eventually, deliver satisfactory performance for assigned tasks and duties