Expatriate Assignments Research Articles

Selecting candidates and managing expatriate assignments in China

AbstractTo ensure the success of expatriate assignment in China, it is critical that the most suitable candidates are chosen. This article provides a strategic model for selecting, training, and supporting personnel and their families for assignments in China and for helping them adjust to Chinese cultures. Home‐country reintegration strategies are also provided for developing experienced expatriates into global organizational leaders. Well‐planned selection, preparation, support, and reintegration programs help to increase expatriates' overall assignment effectiveness and avoid the high costs associated with expatriate failures. The proposed model is based on Fernandez and Underwood's (2006) critical success qualities of expatriate managers in China and Avril and Magnini's (2007) success qualities for expatriates and their families. A prescription for expatriate effectiveness is proposed based on Lund and Barker's (2007) study of expatriate managers' effectiveness in China, along with models for promoting effective pre‐departure preparation and new‐country adjustment support. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Human Resource Responsibilities: Frequent Flyer Radiation Exposure

At the high altitudes that are the domain of commercial airliners, passengers are exposed to cosmic radiation at an intensity that is hundreds of times greater than at ground level. Such radiation exposure represents a risk for individuals who fly frequently as part of their job. Business travelers who fly at least 85,000 miles (137,000 km) per year are likely to receive radiation exposures that exceed the regulatory limit established for members of the general public exposed by proximity to medical or industrial radiation facilities. Their exposures will not, however, exceed the higher level allowed for radiation workers. Human resource managers need to identify those employees who fly frequently on company business or due to a company-initiated relocation (e.g., expatriate assignment), classify them as radiation workers, and ensure compliance with the regulatory requirements for providing risk education and exposure assessment for such workers. Failure to do so may incur potential liability for radiation-related health problems, particularly in the case of pregnant employees where the embryo or fetus is also at risk.

Study on the relations amongst Talent Assignment Strategy, expatriate successful factor and corporate culture in transnational enterprises

With acceleration of corporate internationalization, it becomes the most important topic of enterprises during their internationalization, how an enterprise assigns its expatriates effectively to increase expatriate success rate, decrease losses of tangible and intangible assets and accordingly enhance competitive advantage. In this study, totally 450 copies of questionnaires are distributed to Top manager, senior staff and expatriates of international enterprises in Gaoxiong Qianzhen Processing Zone. 222 copies of valid samples are recovered, and valid recovery rate is 49.3%. SPSS Analysis Software is used for empirical research and analysis. Finally in this Research, suggestions are made on expatriate assignment strategies of international enterprises. These suggestions are hoped to be able to provide small-and-middle Taiwan enterprises with references in respect of overseas investment human resource management.

Self‐initiated foreign expatriates versus assigned expatriates

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the differences between assigned expatriates (AEs) and self‐initiated expatriates (SEs) in management and executive positions. The basic research question is how far SEs and AEs differ with respect to their reasons for working internationally and regarding their career aspirations and orientations, and in what way their individual career management differs.Design/methodology/approachA total of 159 expatriate managers completed an online questionnaire in German. The questionnaire covered psychological constructs and the participating managers' career histories.FindingsIt is shown that SEs start their international careers at a younger age, have a higher organizational mobility, and expect higher benefits from international experiences for their future careers. Moreover, career orientation remains relatively stable in SEs over different age groups, whereas it declines for AEs with increasing age.Research limitations/implicationsThe study design is cross‐sectional and based on self‐reports, which makes causal explanations of the results difficult and increases the risk of common method bias.Practical implicationsSpecific personnel management requirements regarding SEs in contrast to AEs are pointed out especially in the fields of recruitment, retention and career management, which can help support companies in building up a pool of global managers.Originality/valueThe paper adds valuable new insights to the literature on expatriate work and gives further evidence that SEs form a group that has been overlooked for a long time, even though it differs significantly from traditional expatriates who are sent abroad by their employing companies to return some years later.

EMEA’s Got Talent

Upon completion of my expatriate assignment as head of education in EMEA, I returned to the United States with the impression that commonalities among charterholders outweighed local differences.

Expatriate assignments vs localization of management in China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the specific difficulties that senior managers face when employing expatriate, Chinese and local‐hired foreign managers in China‐based subsidiaries of Western multinational companies (MNCs). Furthermore, it aims to examine the resultant coping strategies to overcome identified weaknesses.Design/methodology/approach – This research adopts a qualitative approach, using semi‐structured interviews with key‐informants from senior management in 44 Australian and German companies operating in China.Findings – The study identified specific difficulties associated with the employment of expatriate, local Chinese, and local‐hired foreign managers in Australian and German subsidiaries in China. The interviewees indicate a widespread intention to replace expatriate managers with Chinese managers and local‐hired foreign managers. The striving for localization of staffing is more pronounced in German than Australian MNCs. German companies offer more comprehensive develo...

Gender differences in expatriate adjustment

Women are still underrepresented in expatriate assignments. This study investigates whether there are any gender differences in expatriate adjustment that could help account for the low share of female expatriates. The study replicates the analysis of Selmer and Leung's (2003) exploratory research. It confirms their findings and adds further detail to the understanding of gender differences in expatriate adjustment. The study is based on a cross-sectional survey, mainly of employed members in UK and US women's clubs in Frankfurt and Madrid and their partners. This study shows that women tend to be better adjusted than men overall. They are ahead especially in important areas such as the building and maintaining of relationships. The paper provides important insight into the differences in adjustment among female and male expatriate employees. It provides an instrument that can be used in the further study of these differences. The study supplies further evidence that companies err if they fail to send women on assignments abroad.

Integrative Literature Review: Performance Interventions That Assist Chinese Expatriates’ Adjustment and Performance: Toward a Conceptual Approach

China continues to rapidly grow globally. As China’s global presence continues to grow, the use of Chinese expatriates around the world will seemingly grow as well. However, little attention is paid to Chinese multinational corporations and their use of expatriates in the literature, while a growing collection of literature focusing on Western expatriates exists. This is a conceptual article that examines the extant literature on any performance interventions designed to improve the adjustment and performance of Chinese expatriates. The article synthesizes the existing literature, concluding with a series of propositions, an initial framework of performance interventions across the phases of the expatriate assignment, and a research agenda designed to move the literature forward.

Managerial characteristics and willingness to send employees on expatriate assignments

AbstractThis paper examines the characteristics of managers that influence their willingness to send employees on expatriate assignments. Data from 336 senior managers in a major U.S. professional services firm indicate that managers who are higher up in the organizational hierarchy are more willing to send employees on expatriate assignments. In addition, our findings show that managers who have more extensive international experience are more inclined to send employees on such assignments and that managers with expatriate experience themselves are much more willing to send their employees overseas, regardless of whether they currently work with international clients. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

An Integrated Set of Exercises for Increasing Student Awareness of Issues Facing Female Expatriates

Opportunities for expatriate assignments are increasing and many students are interested in gaining international work experience. However, females are underrepresented in this expatriate applicant pool. This is because organizational members often perceive that female expatriates would be less successful than male counterparts and thereby females are less preferable for foreign assignments. To increase awareness of this discrepancy and teach effective human resource strategies for increasing the success of both male and female expatriates, a lecturette is offered with a set of integrated exercises, including a Jeopardy activity, for addressing facts and myths about female expatriates, cultural influences affecting global assignments, human resource practices and implications, and strategies for expatriate success.

The family as a developmental issue in expatriate assignments

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to highlight the central role of family adjustment in expatiate effectiveness, and presents it as a developmental issue.Design/methodology/approachLiterature reviews were used to create this article.FindingsThough family adjustment appears among the top reasons for expatriate assignment failure, the family as an interdependent system is regularly overlooked in expatriate preparation. This paper offers a family systems perspective and developmental techniques for expatriate family preparation.Practical implicationsMore focused attention to the family system in expatriate assignments – as learning and development issue, rather than a “managed” corporate issue – may well address much of the cause of expatriate failure.Originality/valueWhile existing literature concerning expatriate failure is increasingly extensive, very little of it attends to family system concerns and issues. Moreover, none of the literature treats family adjustment as a phenomenon for developmental activity.

Predicting excellent management performance in an intercultural context: a study of the influence of multicultural personality on transformational leadership and performance

What makes a manager in an intercultural context an excellent performer? This question is the subject of the present study. The study examines the influence of the five dimensions of multicultural personality via transformational leadership on excellent performance in a sample of managers (N = 138) working in an expatriate assignment or in a job dealing with subordinates of different cultural backgrounds. As expected, cultural empathy, open-mindedness and social initiative were found to have a positive effect on transformational leadership. However, no significant effects were found from emotional stability and flexibility on transformational leadership. Furthermore, a more transformational leadership style led to higher performance in an intercultural context, which was measured using management performance appraisals. Since an indirect effect of cultural empathy, open mindedness and social initiative on performance via transformational leadership has been found in this study, it seems that both these dimensions of multicultural personality and transformational leadership are needed for excellent managerial performance in an international environment.

Thinking strategically about integrating repatriated managers in MNCs

AbstractAlthough multinational corporations (MNCs) invest considerable resources in sending managers on foreign assignments, too many managers report dissatisfaction with their postrepatriation careers, and a significant percentage leave the firm within a year. This failure to harness learning and develop a cadre of globally trained managers raises questions about the current objectives and strategies that drive the investment in expatriation. A study of managers who had recently completed their expatriate assignment points to underorganized home office operations, poorly defined mentor roles, and large gaps between managers' expectations and reality as key contributors to the problem. This paper calls for a strategic orientation toward managing the expatriate function and proposes a comprehensive configuration of processes, systems, and structures necessary for implementing new strategies for developing the next generation of globally trained managers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The paradox of international talent: alternative forms of international assignments

In the area of international human resource management, academic research has emphasized the need to focus on alternative types of international assignments outside expatriate assignments including short-term, frequent flyer, and commuter assignments (Collings, Scullion and Morley 2007, Mayrhofer, Hartmann, Michelitsch-Riedl and Kollinger 2004). This paper discusses international recruitment and selection practices, the role adjustments plays, and even gender and marital status, and illustrates how the dynamics have changed with the increasing prevalence of alternative international assignments. Although global talent management trends have evolved in practice, international human resource management theorizing has not kept pace (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Morley 2004). Given the need for research in the area of alternative assignments, we believe this paper will have important theoretical and practical implications for multinational enterprises.

Capital gains: expatriate adjustment and the psychological contract in international careers

AbstractThis paper argues that the notion of adjustment to careers involving international assignments needs to be developed further than the current literature reflects. An expatriate assignment is an expatriate's opportunity to build career capital and a company's opportunity to generate social and intellectual capital. The extent of the capital gains will depend considerably on the expatriate's adjustment during and after the assignment, which is influenced by the psychological contract. We argue that our understanding of the career impact of expatriation will be enhanced by a more refined picture of the adjustment that expatriates experience during the assignment and during repatriation. In particular, we examine adjustment as process rather than as event. We propose a broad conception of expatriate adjustment and its link to careers. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

"Going Global": Why Do Multinational Corporations Participate in Highly Skilled Migration?

The global competition among states to attract and retain highly skilled and ever more mobile labor has become a subject of increasing scholarship and policy analysis. However, little attention has been paid to private organizations such as multinational corporations (MNCs) that send their "best and brightest" employees on long-term overseas assignments. These sending organizations are active players in the process of highly skilled migration—players that have invested valuable resources in the pursuit of sending their employees where they want, when they want. This article explores the evolving justification structures that explain why MNCs send their key employees on expatriate assignments. Over time, these corporations developed successive strategies for managing the expansion of their business operations beyond the borders of their home countries, each strategy providing different concepts of what an expatriated manager should be and do. The current "global corporation" model acknowledges the necessity of expatriate assignments. Highly skilled migration is viewed as an integral element in the development of the type of cosmopolitan worker now believed necessary to build a culturally sensitive organization—migration that corporate leaders regard as an existential imperative in today's hyper-competitive global marketplace.

An exploratory investigation of the real-time training modes used by hotel expatriates

Existing literature contains voluminous research indicating that an expatriate's failure to adapt to the host culture is a leading driver of turnover [e.g. Powers, T. 1992. Managing international hospitality, FIU Hospitality Review, 1(1), 25–34; Stone, R., 1991. Expatriate selection and failure. Human Resource Planning 14, 9–18]. In response to this recurring finding, an increased number of corporations offer cultural training for those beginning (or about to begin) an international assignment. Nevertheless, even in a top-rate training program, only a small fraction of cultural idiosyncrasies can be addressed in advanced training sessions. Therefore, in addition to a priori training, recent literature recommends the use of real-time training [Avril, A., Magnini, V., 2007. A holistic approach to expatriate success. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 19 (1), 53–63; Magnini, V., Honeycutt, E., 2003. Learning orientation and the hotel expatriate manager experience. International Journal of Hospitality Management 22, 267–380; Mendenhall, M., Stahl, G., 2000. Expatriate training and development: where do we go from here? Human Resources Management 39 (2–3), 251–265]. This research collects exploratory survey results from nineteen current hotel expatriates and finds that the most commonly used source of real-time training is local nationals. In addition, it is found that as the number of previous expatriate assignments increases, the use of CD-Rom real-time training products declines. Further, in terms of culture, expatriates are less likely to turn to repatriates for real-time advice when assigned to an individualistic host nation or when there is a sizable culture distance between home and host country. The implications of these findings are discussed.

Book Reviews

Meredith A. Crowley of Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago reviews “Elements of Multinational Strategy” by Keith Head,. The EconLit Abstract of the reviewed work begins “Textbook on international business integrates the academic study of international trade and foreign direct investment with the actual strategic and operational decisions of exporters and multinational enterprises. Discusses business across borders; gains from trade; factor advantages; trade costs; trade rules; market adaptation; multinational formation; internalization; competitive interactions; foreign exchange risk; political risk; international taxation; and expatriate assignment. Head is with the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia. No index.”

Expatriates of host-country origin: ‘coming home to test the waters’

Expatriates are an integral part of any multinational company's (MNC) staffing strategy. However, the high failure rate of expatriates has forced these firms to look at alternate or complementary staffing strategies. This paper focuses on one such strategy, i.e., transferring people of host-country ethnic origin from parent-country to manage host-country operations. The purpose of this exploratory study is to ascertain whether and how MNCs have used expatriates of host-country origin (EHCO) as a global staffing strategy, in the context of India, and the extent of its success both for the individuals and the organizations concerned. Based on a survey and in-depth interviews of human resource managers of 15 MNCs with operations in India, the study concludes that EHCOs are more willing to accept expatriate assignments than parent-country nationals (PCNs); however, their success on the assignment depends on the breadth and depth of their experience both in the parent and host country. With regard to their work effectiveness vis-à-vis PCNs, no significant difference was found. Managerial implications of this staffing strategy are explored and future research directions identified.

Mentoring African American Expatriates: Providing The Bridge To Success Abroad

Employment predictions continue to forecast increasing racial diversity in the American workforce as firms face global competition and strive to grasp the challenges of a global business landscape. As American multinational corporations use expatriate assignments; supplemented by flexipatriates and inpatriates to meet customer preferences in the global marketplace, growing racial diversity may generate more expatriates of color. Global human resource management research has focused on issues such as adjustment and cross-cultural development and recently mentoring as critical factors for expatriate success. A growing body of mentoring research details the career experiences of employees with diverse backgrounds, yet few studies center on the experiences of the African American expatriate. This article aims to examine African Americans mentoring opportunities in a global environment, with a focus on understanding the role mentoring plays for this particular population group. This work is intended to contribute to the increasing literature on global mentoring and will help to influence the thinking of multinational corporations’ response to the increasing diversity of their global workforce.