Clash of cultures? German Expatriates' Work-Life Boundary Adjustment in South Korea.

Managing the work-life interface abroad is considered as one of the key challenges associated with expatriation. That is particularly true when work-life balance cultures of the expatriates' home and host country diverge. Drawing from boundary theory we investigate how expatriates experience challenges to retain or adjust their work-life boundaries during their assignment. We use German expatriates in South Korea as example because both cultures differ substantially in terms of their work-life boundary management. Findings from 28 interviews show that expatriates face various mental, physical, temporal and behavioral work-life boundary challenges. Furthermore, we identify four different work-life boundary adjustment styles which illustrate how expatriates deal with those challenges as a function of boundary pressures and individual boundary adaptations. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]