AWWA JAW10205

Some view a foreign assignment as a high adventure, while others find a long absence from home intolerable. Introspection is advisable before one is lured abroad by a bonus salary, income tax exemptions, and the prospect of household servants. In this article, the author, who has spent time abroad, discusses ways, in which a prospective foreign assignee can evaluate and predetermine if his/her experience abroad will be pleasurable or miserable. The following topics are considered: economic incentives based on the Economic Recovery Act of 1981; the Third World; cultural shock; motivation for accepting a foreign assignment; and company orientation. Includes 5 references, figures.