1.1 Research Background1.1.1 Company BackgroundPetroliam Nasional Berhad or known as Petronas is a national oil company of Malaysia which is 100% owned by the Malaysian government. Petronas was established on August 17, 1974 and today is ranked among the world's largest companies with a proven track record in integrated oil and gas operations spanning the entire hydrocarbon value chain. Their vision is to become a “leading multinational oil and gas company”. 1.1.2 Background of the study In recent decades, business has gradually become internationalized. Many multinational companies send their staff abroad to manage their operations in other host countries. Expatriates are necessary to ensure that the operations of foreign subsidiaries remain competitive (Lee & Sukoco, 2010). This is the reason why the global expatriate rate is increasing every year. In the case of Malaysia, it has around 6.64 million foreign workers. Malaysia in January 2014 (Labour Force Statistics, Malaysia). According to Tahir and Ismail (2007), Malaysia recognizes the influx of expatriates into the country to meet the demand for skilled and professional labor. The results showed that there are challenges for the country. Thus, this study actually aims to test the model proposed by Isakovic & Whitman (2013) with Petronas.1.2 Problem StatementPetronas has over 40,000 employees and has currently sent over 700 expatriates outside Malaysia, to 31 different countries. country (Human Resources, Petronas). To avoid ineffective job performance as well as premature return of expatriates, research regarding expatriate adjustment should be carried out...... middle of paper ...... adjustment.H2. There is no different contribution between the three independent variables. 1.8 Definition of Terms Expatriate Adjustment An expatriate is an employee who lives and works outside of his or her home country. They are citizens of the country where the headquarters of the multinational company is located (Luthans & Doh, 2012). Adjustment is sometimes called adaptation, acculturation, or assimilation. Cultural novelty Cultural novelty has been described as the cultural distance, or differences, as perceived by the expatriate from his or her own culture of origin and that of the host country (Church, 1982). .Previous overseas work experienceThis is when expatriates have previously worked in a foreign country. Foreign Language Ability Foreign language ability is the expatriate's ability to clearly speak, write and understand the language of a foreign country..