in-country CCT) or as a combination of both (sequential CCT or continuous
CCT). Predeparture CCT has been the most widely utilized form of training used
by organizations to prepare individuals to live and work in a new country.
Advocates of predeparture CCT argue that this type of training allows
expatriates to enter the assignment already equipped with realistic expectations
about living and working in a new country. In a study to test a theoretical model
to determine whether the formation of expectations as a result of
predeparture CCT programs affects expatriates’ adjustment, Caliguiri et al.,
(2001) found that predeparture CCT affects the accuracy of expatriates’ expec-
tations prior to the assignment – and that having accurate expectations, in turn,
positively affects cross-cultural adjustment. Predeparture CCT, however, works
best if the training content focuses on basic information about the host culture,
such as currency exchange rate, hotels, transportation system, hospitals, etc.
Advocates of post-arrival or in-country CCT argue that while predeparture
CCT may provide the expatriate with greater confidence about being success-
ful in the new country, predeparture CCT is conducted apart from the actual
experience of realties in the host country. They propose that in-country CCT is
likely to be more effective than predeparture CCT because individuals, after
arrival in the new country, enhance their learning readiness by experiencing
the host country culture, beliefs, and values (see Black et al., 1999; Selmer et al.,
1998; Gudykunst et al., 1996).
Given that there are important differences between predeparture CCT and
post-arrival CCT, the appropriate sequencing of information (either predepar-
ture or post-arrival) is considered a best practice for CCT. For example, basic
information should be offered prior to a global assignment – while deeper cul-
tural learning about a new country and its culture, and the awareness of the
skills and behaviors needed to be successful in another culture could be effec-
tively administered after arrival in the host country (see Selmer et al., 1998;
Gudykunst et al. 1996).
Drawing on Cohen and Levinthal’s (1990) theory of absorptive capacity,
Tarique (2001) puts forward the theoretical framework of cross-cultural absorp-
tive capacity (CCAC) to support the notion of sequenced series of predeparture
and post-arrival training. Tarique argues that an individual’s ability to recog-
nize new cultural knowledge, assimilate it and apply it in new cross-cultural
settings is dependent on his or her prior accumulated cultural knowledge. That
is, an individual’s prior accumulated cultural knowledge enhances his or her
ability to learn new cultural knowledge. For instance, an expatriate from China
working in the US may not be able to learn the values of the American culture
without first having prior knowledge of the general dimensions on which most
cultures differ such as how people view humanity and how people see nature
(Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck 1961; for further frameworks of cultural dimen-
sions see Chapter 6). Furthermore, Tarique argues that an individual’s learning
of new cultural knowledge can vary with the magnitude of the individual’s
prior accumulated cultural knowledge, that is, the larger the individual’s prior
accumulated cultural knowledge, the greater the learning of new cultural
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