Understanding refugees’ cross-cultural experience through the capability approach, with Jeannie Lee
Highlights
Cross-cultural training (CCT) is important for facilitating more effective interaction in a foreign country, and yet, theoretical development around CCT rarely captures modern-day migrant trend, such as the refugee crisis. Building on the fact that refugees require extra cross-cultural support, as they rarely have sufficient time and resources to prepare pre-departure, we bring the humanitarian context to the field of international human resource management in general and to CCT literature in particular. Through a multidisciplinary review, we offer a theoretical model based on the capability approach to understand existing studies and guide future research. We especially examine the target social groups for the CCT, the various components of the training, engagement by receiving community stakeholders, and the relationship of training to individuals’ cross-cultural experiences in a foreign country. CCT is vital for refugees to rebuild their lives and careers in a way that enhances their substantive choices and freedoms to achieve what they value in the new country, and yet, scholarship has more work to do in order to reflect the contemporary trend in its theorizing CCT.
Sustainable Development Goals
Cite
Lee, J. & Wechtler, H. (2023). Hidden agenda for cross-cultural training: Understanding refugees’ cross-cultural experience through the capability approach. International Journal of Human Resource Management.
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