BUILDING WORKING RELATIONSHIPS AND EXPATRIATE ADJUSTMENT IN THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The aim of this article is to examine the effect of building working relationships, communication ability, and office politics on expatriate leaders’ work adjustment in the UAE. Questionnaires and interviews were utilised to explore the elements effecting expatriate work adjustment in UAE organizations. Building working relationships and ability to communicate with staff were both positively correlated with expatriate leaders’ work adjustment. However, there was no relationship between office politics and expatriate leaders’ work adjustment. This research provides a new perspective to the relatively limited theory available on cross-cultural adjustment in UAE organizations. Analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data was found to predict work adjustment. The organization can assist expatriate leaders’ work adjustment by offering support in the form of a reward system such as trips or bonuses for successful work adaptation. This can be facilitated by providing team building and development opportunities such as workshops and off-site activities aimed at improving working relationships with host staff and developing networking opportunities. Providing support in the form of a host country mentor, a long-term resident expatriate or their family may also assist. They will have the knowledge and experience in the host culture to provide expatriate leaders with the advice they need. A suggestion for further research would be the use of unstructured and in-depth interviews. These may have provided richer data leading to the ability to develop deeper and stronger analyses of the points raised