French Expatriate Family Adjustment During the OL3-Project

Abstract

The construction of OL3 nuclear power plant in Eurajoki started in 2004. Since then the increasing internationality and the expatriate families have challenged Rauma region. Along these years, hundreds of expatriates have had their residence is Rauma and consequently, the town has had to provide these families the basic services.

This thesis looks into the expatriate life from the family point of view. The success of expatriation mainly depends on the family and its ability to adapt to the new life, environment and culture. The expatriation of an unhappy family unable to adapt to the new environment can have a premature ending. Life of an expatriate employee and his adaptation to the new environment has been studied before, but unfortunately the families have been left without attention.

Cultural dimensions help in understanding why people behave or see things differently. With Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, the differences between Finland and France are explored in the theoretical part of this thesis. Also the basic terms related to expatriation and the different research methods are studied in the theoretical part.

The empirical part of this thesis can be roughly divided into two main topics: expatriate families’ thoughts and feedback, and the host town Rauma. The sixth chapter focuses on the families and their experiences; it explores how well the families were involved, which were the reasons for accepting a foreign assignment, and the differences and problems faced during the expatriation. The seventh chapter looks more closely into the town’s performance, efforts and challenges.

Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used for the empirical part. In late 2010, 32 families replied to an online survey which purpose was to find out among other things the families’ challenges, worries and impressions. In March 2011 two expatriate mothers were interviewed in order to get deeper information. In addition, representatives from Bouygues Travaux Publics, town of Rauma and Adult Education Centre were contacted via email.

The research results revealed that the expatriates faced similar problems during their expatriation and did not get proper training before the expatriation. However, the expatriates were quite satisfied with the town. The town identified its biggest challenges and it should now allocate resources to overcome the difficulties.