A Research Proposal on Expatriate Challenges in Russia and Adjustment

This research proposal investigates the challenges faced by expatriates working in Russia due to cultural differences and how they adjust to these differences. The study aims to answer two key research questions: first, what specific challenges do expatriates encounter in Russia, and second, how do they adapt to cross-cultural differences? The proposal outlines the background of the study, emphasizing the role of expatriates in maintaining organizational structure and the impact of cultural differences on their lifestyle and behavior. It provides a literature review covering expatriation, the differences between human resource management and international human resource management, and the problems faced by expatriates. The methodology section details the use of a positivist research philosophy, an analytical research design, and a mixed-methods approach involving both primary data collected through interviews with expatriates and secondary data from academic sources. The proposal also addresses ethical considerations, ensuring informed consent, academic integrity, and the proper use of research findings.

Running Head: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Background of the Study
The economic liberalization has led to many international organizations to expand the
business along with the establishment of their reputation internationally. The worldwide
integration strategy involves the development of the relatively standardized products having
an international approach and rationalizing the operations all over the world. The
organizations send their representatives to the overseas assignments for maintaining the
standards of the services and the products. An expatriate is the one who is different from a
citizen of a country and assigned to work in. They are the people who live in the overseas on
a temporary basis and monitor the financial profits of the company. They are expected to
offer new knowledge for being adapted by the locals and have high respect at the workplace.
The role and the responsibilities of an expatriate are highly significant because it maintains
the organizational structure along with the philosophy of the MNCs.
Statement of the problem- It is quite obvious that the expatriates face new challenges while
living in a new cultural environment because their lifestyle changes along with the
behaviours. This study is aimed at answering tow of the research question: Firstly, what are
the challenges faced by the expatriates during their stay in Russia due to the cultural
differences? Secondly, how did they adjust to the cross-cultural differences in that particular
country?
Literature Review
Expatriation
There are almost all types of people who go abroad. The reason might be for work,
adventure of just to have a change of place. The term ‘expatriate’ comes from the latin word

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that means out of the country. It is the voluntary renunciation of the citizenship of a specific
country for the citizenship of another. They are the people who are sent abroad on a
temporary assignment by organizations with which they are associated (Bader, Schuster &
Bader, 2016).
The human resource management versus international human resource management
The human resource management is done across the domestic borders. Since, the
organizations are expanding in business and operating in a different international
environment. The international human resource management is more complex than the
national human resource management. In the IHRM, more HR activities are required, there
are broader perspectives and the personal lives are involved too (Romanowski & Nasser
2015). There are few of the tax equalization, the language translation services, host-
government relations and the administrative services for the expatriates.
The expatriate problems and their adjustments
The stay in a foreign country can be an intimidating experience for an expatriate and
the expat can expect facing a challenge during moving (Edwards et al., 2016). Hence, the
expatriates need to know and understand the customs, the cultural nuances, the mannerisms
and the expectations. Such aspects can be difficult for a foreigner to understand. The
learning of a new language can be extremely difficult and challenging too. The language
barriers remain a concern for the expatriates along with the learning of the organizational
behaviour (Armstron, Francis & Grow, 2017). There are new body languages and a wrong
body language can disturb the business relationships. Apart from this, there is the
communication related issues as there are different organizational structures.
Methodology

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In this research, the positivism as the research philosophy will be used and the analysis
will be founded on the facts. The analytical research design will be used for the study because
it will help in gaining detailed idea of the existing theories and the study concepts. The study
will also use both the primary and the secondary data sources. The primary data will be
collected from 10 expatriates sent to Russia for the business projects. The primary data will
be collected with the qualitative approach and they will be interviewed for 30 minutes each.
As far as the secondary data is concerned, it will be collected from books , the articles and the
journals relevant to the topic. The collected data will be analysed and transformed into the
percentages and the numeric. It will help in gaining a comprehensive and comparison data.
The collected data will be converted into the graphs and the charts to give a pictorial view of
the results.
Ethical considerations
The study will follow strict ethical guidelines through the whole research. Each of the
interviewee will be made to sign the consent form. The results of the study will be used only
for the academic purpose and an authorisation letter will also be signed from the company.
Strict referencing rules will be followed for avoiding any types of plagiarism issues.

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References
Armstrong, A., Francis, R., & Grow, H. (2017). Ethical issues in the employment of
expatriate leaders in corporations. Journal of Economic and Social
Development, 4(1), 71-80.
Bader, B., Schuster, T., & Bader, A. K. (Eds.). (2016). Expatriate Management:
Transatlantic Dialogues. Springer.
Edwards, K. J., Dodd, C. H., Rosenbusch, K. H., & Cerny, L. J. (2016). Measuring Expatriate
Cross-Cultural Stress: A Reanalysis of the CernySmith
Assessment. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 44(4), 268-280.
Kim, Y. Y. (2017). Cross-cultural adaptation. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of
Communication.
Romanowski, M. H., & Nasser, R. (2015). Identity issues: expatriate professors teaching and
researching in Qatar. Higher Education, 69(4), 653-671.