Abstract
This chapter examines how friendship opportunities provided by foreign subsidiaries influence expatriates’ adjustment for fitting into new cultures and how adjustment subsequently influences affective commitment to the foreign operation. Data was collected from 183 expatriates, mainly Taiwanese, working in multinational corporations. Results indicated that the opportunity for establishing friendship in the workplace was related to expatriates’ affective commitment towards foreign subsidiaries. The results further showed that adjustment acted as a full mediator of the relationship between friendship opportunity and affective commitment towards the foreign subsidiary. In addition, length of time on a current assignment moderated the relationship between adjustment and affective commitment towards the foreign subsidiary. Implications of the important role that friendship might play for the effective adjustment of expatriates and their commitment to a foreign subsidiary are discussed.