Imagine that you are the manager for a global company. You are responsible for selecting who will be assigned to work at your foreign office locations. What are the four leading reasons why American employees go home early from foreign assignments? What needs to be done to improve this situation? How can improve the odds for your expatriates?

The four leading reasons are "not performing the job effectively" (48.4%), "received other, more rewarding offers from other companies" (43.7%)' "expatriate or family not adjusting to culture" (36.6%), and "expatriate or family missing contact with family and friends at home" (31%). Cross-cultural training is integral to improving this situation. Possible training techniques include documentary programs, culture assimilators, language instruction, sensitivity training, and field experience. The key issue is not which training program is better, but whether companies have any systematic cross-cultural training at all. It is also essential that managers follow the integrated expatriate staffing system (integrated, selection-orientation-repatriation) process focused on a distinct career path.