Research for Practice: The Management of Expatriates

The objective of this article is to identify expatriate management research questions of interest to international human resource (IHR) managers. We conducted an in‐depth literature review, interviewed a small sample of IHR managers, and reviewed commercially available large sample surveys of IHR managers. Results suggest that IHR managers are concerned about determinants of the decision to accept an offer of expatriation, why expatriates show so little interest in training, perceived equity in rewards, and other areas not well studied to date. The article discusses implications for academics wishing to make their research more relevant to IHR managers and global organizations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Of bears, bumble-bees, and spiders: the role of expatriates in controlling foreign subsidiaries

This article investigates the role of expatriate managers in multinational companies. We discuss three key organizational functions of expatriation: position filling, management development, and organization development. In the last function, organization development, international transfers are used as an informal coordination and control strategy through socialization and the building of informal communication networks. The article explores this role of international transfers in greater detail, but also discusses a more formal way in which expatriates can control subsidiaries. The following metaphors for these different control functions of expatriation are introduced: “bear” (formal direct control), “bumble-bee” (socialization), and “spider” (informal communication). A large-scale mail survey offers empirical evidence for the bear, bumble-bee and spider roles and shows under which circumstances they are most effective. Being aware of the different control functions of expatriation and the circumstances under which they are most effective can help managers to use expatriate assignments as a more strategic tool.     

Career interrupted? The case of the self-directed expatriate

This paper examines the role of individual agency and the perceived value of international experience for self-directed expatriation as an increasingly common career choice. Drawing on a study of British expatriate academics, it reports that themes relating to both agency and structure come into play. Although individual desire for adventure, life change and family concerns were key incentives to expatriate, participants believed that their subsequent international experience would provide a distinct advantage in the academic marketplace. The internationalization of higher education was a key theme in these perceptions. The paper also presents practical recommendations regarding expatriate academics and other self-directed expatriates.     

The dual-career couple: Female expatriates and male trailing spouses

Dual-income and dual-career couples are becoming an increasingly important segment of professional managers in the United States. The difficulties associated with addressing the unique needs of these dual couples is accentuated when attempting to relocate one of the members of the couple overseas. Referral rates for expatriation have increased and the failure rate of those expatriates who are relocated continues to be high. This article examines the issues international human resource executives face when expatriating female managers and how multinational corporations (MNCs) can proactively address the concerns of both the expatriate managers and their trailing spouses. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Do as the large enterprises do?: Expatriate selection and overseas performance in emerging markets: The case of Taiwan SMEs

This study investigated the less explored expatriation practices of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets. Data for 133 Taiwan SMEs operating in Malaysia and Vietnam revealed that four personality traits of expatriates, i.e., control ability, independence, openness and social ability exert significant influences on overseas performance given that different types of performance require different of expatriate competency. Analytical results also indicated that the widely perceived influence of the favorable evaluation of the expatriate by top managers does not impact the overseas performance of expatriates. Further, the expatriate practices of Taiwan SMEs vary depending on cultural differences between the home country and host countries. Taken together, the findings of this study have valuable implications for both academicians and practitioners in international management.     

Expatriate return on investment in the Asia Pacific: An empirical study of individual ROI versus corporate ROI

The return on investment (ROI) from international assignments is a crucial aspect of expatriate management. The literature has taken a mostly organizational perspective of this important phenomenon, with little attention to the ‘individual ROI’ expatriates gain when undertaking an assignment. Especially lacking is research on expatriate ROI in the Asia Pacific region. Based on interviews with 31 long-term expatriates in 10 Asian countries, we use psychological contract theory to examine (1) how ‘individual ROI’ acts as a key driver of ‘corporate ROI’ and (2) the challenges and opportunities that expatriation in the Asia Pacific presents to individuals and organizations.     

The selection of managers for foreign assignments: A planning perspective

The selection of managers for international assignments has frequently been based on an inventory of personal characteristics and technical competence of the manager. Unfortunately, many of these managers have not been successful during their expatriation assignments. To more effectively select overseas managers international human resource managers in MNCs must examine their corporate goals, varying pools of potential candidates, and the personal characteristics of each candidate. This paper develops a planning format which identifies policy, strategic and tactical dimensions which can be used in the selection of managers for international assignments.     

Challenges in the education of the contemporary U.S. international manager

Failure rates of 30% for U.S. expatriate international managers relative to less than 10% for comparable Japanese and European international managers represent substantial costs to individuals, corporations, and U.S. global economic interests. The authors provide a profile of successful expatriate international managers and recommend four changes: (1) inclusion of international management development as a strategic U.S. corporate issue for global success; (2) alteration of current U.S. corporate selection procedures; (3) expanded implementation of rigorous leading edge international training programs; and (4) a renewed U.S. corporate-academic-government collaborative partnership to enhance international competitiveness.     

Foreign assignment for female German managers

Foreign assignments are considered as an important instrument of management development from German companies. Professional expertise in foreign markets and cultures is becoming an increasingly important factor in advancement. It is significant that in the past only male managers have been given the chance for a foreign assignment. Consequently female German managers very seldomly have international working experience. An empirical research study in 13 German multinational companies investigated the role of German women as expatriate managers from the perspectives of personnel managers. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Using a Qualitative Approach to Gain Insights into the Business Ethics Experiences of Australian Managers in China

This study investigated the business ethics experiences of Australian managers in China, using qualitative methodology to identify themes. Thirty-one Australian managers who had spent on average 8.7 years working in business connected to China participated in in-depth interviews regarding their business ethics experiences in China. Commonly, managers identified issues relating to a broad spectrum which could be labelled "bribery and facilitation". Other repeated themes included requests for visa assistance, employee theft, nepotism and non-adherence to contractual obligations. This study has important implications for helping Australian managers improve the way they approach potential ethical situations in China. Four key coping strategies can be identified from the data: managers spoke of not compromising their own morals, of attempting to understand the motivation of Chinese colleagues, of talking to others and of adhering to company policy. These strategies suggest practical steps may be taken by organisations when training managers for business activities in China. In particular, structuring of mentoring relationships between experienced and less experienced practitioners may be of assistance. Cultural training for managers and clear company policy on contentious issues such as bribery may also be of benefit. The themes identified in the study also have implications for academics researching expatriate business peoples' experiences in China.     

Antecedents of repatriates' job satisfaction and its influence on turnover intentions: Evidence from Spanish repatriated managers

Executives in today's business world are increasingly conscious that the competitive advantage of international companies rests upon unique global knowledge and experience. Consequently, the retention of executives with these skills is one of the main concerns of international organizations. Dissatisfaction with the job assigned after expatriation is an important determinant of the repatriation failure rates. This study explores this relation as well as the antecedents of job satisfaction among a sample of 81 Spanish repatriated managers. Findings: job satisfaction relates to turnover and the position assigned to the repatriates on their return, as well as the accuracy of their expectations, influences their job satisfaction. The article discusses implications for practitioners and scholars.     

Cultural intelligence as a predictor of expatriate adjustment and performance in Malaysia

This research tests the linkage between cultural intelligence, expatriate adjustment to the host country's environment and expatriate performance while on international assignments. The investigation is carried out with data from 134 expatriates based in multinational corporations in Malaysia. The results highlight a direct influence of expatriates’ cultural intelligence on general, interaction and work adjustments. The improved adjustments consequently have positive effects on both the expatriates’ task and contextual performance. The research findings have implications for both international human resource management (IHRM) researchers and managers.     

The hypercompetitive global marketplace: the importance of intuition and creativity in expatriate managers

The value of expatriate managers has always been predicated to a degree on the nature of complexity of the overseas assignment and the external environment. There are two emerging and interrelated processes of environmental change occurring that could have a direct impact on the selection of expatriate managers, those being, the globalization of businesses and the resulting hypercompetitive nature of global markets. Due to the rapid rate of globalization, organizations have recognized that the global managers need different skills than their predecessors who manned multinational corporations. In addition, the hypercompetitiveness of the marketplace has placed managers under a new time perspective that tends to overshadow other managerial constraints. Therefore, two additional dimensions (i.e., intuition and creativity) are examined as being useful in the selection of expatriate managers in global organizations. This paper assesses the value of examining potential expatriate candidates on the creative and intuitional intelligences, in that it is anticipated that these two abilities will become of inordinate importance in the global hypercompetitive marketplace.     

Career management of business expatriates from China

Chinese mainland business managers assigned to Hong Kong responded to a mail survey exploring issues on career management. The group of mainland managers was compared with a sample of Western expatriates, mostly from the US, France, and Britain. It was found that the Chinese expatriates had a significantly lower score than their Western counterparts on all the studied individual level career management variables: expatriate career preferences, meeting career goals within the corporation, career development fit, and right career move. Of the corporate level policy variables, corporate expatriate pool and separate expatriate careers also had lower scores for the Chinese than the Western managers. These findings support the behavioral process model of internationalization claiming that internationalization is a matter of learning. Implications of these results for internationalizing Chinese corporations are discussed.     

Changing patterns of global staffing in the multinational enterprise: Challenges to the conventional expatriate assignment and emerging alternatives

We argue that many MNCs continue to underestimate the complexities involved in global staffing and that organisations and academics must take a more strategic view of staffing arrangements in an international context. We suggest that the context for the management and handling of the international assignment has altered significantly, leading in some quarters to a fundamental reassessment of the contribution of, and prospects for, the international assignment as conventionally understood. We explore a variety of supply side issues, cost issues, demand side issues and career issues as triggers to this reassessment. Alongside the conventional expatriate assignment, we point to the emergence of a portfolio of alternatives to the traditional international assignment including short-term assignments, commuter assignments, international business travel and virtual assignments. In the context of these developments, we argue that a standardised approach to international assignments is untenable and that it is essential to develop HR policies and procedures that reflect differences in the various forms of emerging alternative international assignments and their associated complexities. Here recruitment and selection, training, reward, and occupational health and safety issues and implications are all explored.     

Developing the local competence of expatriate managers for emerging markets: A knowledge-based approach

This paper proposes a theoretical framework for developing expatriate managers’ local competence in emerging markets from a knowledge-based perspective. We argue that local knowledge in emerging markets differs significantly from corporate knowledge transferred to those markets, and that its very nature determines its critical importance to expatriate managers’ business performance. We explore the processes and mechanisms through which local knowledge can be acquired and integrated into expatriate managers’ knowledge base supporting local talent development and their effective strategic decision-making. We suggest that conventional local competence development strategies may not be effective methods for developing global managers for emerging markets.     

Differences in values,practices, and systems among Hungarian managers and Western expatriates: an organizing framework and typology

For managers of international alliances, the reconciliation of conflicting values, practices, and systems (VPSs) among partners is a critical challenge, which is magnified when partners originate from diverse institutional environments, such as transition and established market economies. Given the rapidly growing prevalence of international alliances in transition economies, differences in VPSs surface when managerial methods introduced by Western companies clash with institutionalized legacies of central planning. This paper examines this process in the context of international cooperative ventures (ICVs) between Hungarian and Western partners. Using data collected from 17 ICVs, and 44 local and expatriate managers during 1997–1999, I test a series of hypotheses and inductively develop a typology that identifies a number of important and often problematic partner differences in managerial VPSs. The study uses multiple theoretical lenses to show how VPSs are variously shaped by institutional, economic, and cultural factors, and provides useful insights into typical challenges faced by ICV managers. I conclude with a discussion of the typology’s generalizability to other transition and emerging economies, its implications for theory and practice, and propose future research directions.     

International knowledge transfers through expatriates

International knowledge transfer processes and related internal stickiness factors have recently been targets of increasing research interest. However, the role of expatriate managers in these international knowledge transfers is not well understood. The objectives of the present study were (1) to analyze what kind of knowledge is transferred within MNCs and what is the role of expatriates in these transfer processes and (2) develop a theoretical framework on internal stickiness factors faced by the expatriates involved in the knowledge transfer processes on the basis of the literature, and test it empirically. The findings indicate that the role of expatriate managers was very central in the transfer processes. Furthermore, support was received for the theoretical framework of internal stickiness factors. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Knowledge transfer and the management of expatriation

This is a theory‐building article that uses the example of an international organization from the Spanish financial sector to explore the way in which the characteristics of knowledge influence expatriation policies. A preliminary conceptual framework is offered, and a case study is used to develop a set of theoretical hypotheses reflecting the relationship between knowledge characteristics and expatriation policies as a contribution towards a theory of international assignments. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

A Cross-Cultural Study of Managerial Work Values in Singapore

ABSTRACT

The paper presents the findings of a research conducted on work values of expatriate and local managers in Singapore. The sample included about 600 expatriate and local managers of 30 American, Canadian, British, Swedish, and Korean companies operating in Singapore. The selected companies represented 13 industries. The managers were identified on the basis of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Hofstede's Value Survey Module was used as the major data collection instrument. The findings revealed some significant differences between the managers of the Western and the Eastern (Oriental) cultures regarding their work values, preferred management styles, and their perception of existing managerial practices. The findings also largely substantiate the “crossvergence” argument of managerial work values.