Taking the Long Way: How International Careers Affect Managers’ Time to the Top

Abstract

This paper investigates how international work experience affects managers' time to reach the board level. Drawing on elite theory and top management career approaches, we argue that stays abroad can not only have advantages, but also be related to considerable downsides in managers' long-term career advancement in the home country. By analysing the careers of 212 top managers from the German stock market index (DAX), we find that the duration of international work experience and the countries in which this experience was gained matter. Our results demonstrate that with increasing periods of staying abroad and with increasing geographic and cultural distance to the home country, managers’ odds of a fast promotion to top management are reduced. Managerial implications of these findings are discussed and avenues for future research are provided.