Expatriate utilization,subsidiary knowledge creation and performance: The moderating role of subsidiary strategic context

Little research examines the mechanisms for the relationship between expatriate utilization and subsidiary performance. Building on the knowledge-based view of the firm, we propose a multi-stage mediation model to explain how expatriate staffing promotes subsidiary financial performance. Our results underscore that expatriate utilization has an indirect, mediated effect on subsidiary financial performance through its links with subsidiaries’ knowledge creation and product performance. Adopting a moderated mediation approach, we also find that the indirect relationship between expatriate utilization and subsidiary product performance via subsidiary knowledge creation is strengthened by the context of transnational strategy as a moderating contingency.     

Integrating global mobility and global talent management: Exploring the challenges and strategic opportunities

Although global mobility represents an important element of many multinational enterprise's (MNEs) global talent management systems, the two areas of practice have largely been decoupled in research and practice. The current paper aims to build a dialog around the integration of these two important areas of practice and illustrate how the integration of global mobility and global talent management can contribute to the success of the MNE. Human capital and social capital theories are introduced as theoretical frames for the integration of the two areas and global talent pools and routines for managing global staffing flows are introduced as key organizational routines that can maximize the contribution of global mobility to the MNE. The paper also considers challenges and opportunities for the integration of mobility and talent and outlines some directions for future study.     

How images about emerging economies influence the willingness to accept expatriate assignments

Countries’ image is a multifaceted construct. Its symbolic dimensions have shown to play an important role both on consumer behavior and on the attraction that organizations can have during the recruitment process. This paper offers a comprehensive model of international mobility decisions encompassing the antecedents and consequences of perceptions about emerging economies, proposing that country image depends on individuals’ background and social identities. In this context, countries’ evaluations can play a major role on influencing the willingness to accept expatriate job offers. We used a within-subject design asking for opinions about hypothetical job offers on six particular host countries: Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Argentina, Chile, Angola and Mozambique. Survey results from more than 500 engineers, (125 French nationals, 121 Spanish and 131 Portuguese, with the remaining 138 coming from 42 different countries, yet working in 1 of the 3 above-mentioned European countries), evidence, that language proficiency influences the evaluation of specific expatriate locations. Our results also convey the critical role of the perceived level of safety and cultural attraction in predicting the willingness to accept expatriate job offers. We conclude by discussing the theoretical and practical implications for human resource management.     

The expatriate’s family as a stakeholder of the firm: a responsibility viewpoint

In this paper we argue for the recognition of the expatriate’s family as a stakeholder of the firm during the expatriation. We demonstrate why the expatriate’s family can be regarded as a stakeholder of the parent company and what kind of a stakeholder the family is. Additionally, we argue that the parent company needs to develop and apply a holistic well-being orientation to show stakeholder responsibility in the international assignment (IA) arena. We apply the theory of stakeholder salience to the IA relationship because it provides a theoretical framework for integrating the family into the expatriation process. Yet this theory does not necessarily provide a framework for assessing the social functioning of expatriates and their family members. Since expatriation often leads to a radical shift in family roles and living circumstances, family members (or indeed the expatriates themselves) cannot replicate all elements of their previous lives in the host country. Therefore, we use the capabilities approach to complete the theoretical framework, as this approach provides an evaluative mechanism which highlights how a socially responsible relationship between the company and the family can be advanced to foster well-being and quality of life for the family members as well as the expatriate, even if their functioning abroad differs from their functioning in their own country.     

Terrorism and expatriate withdrawal cognitions: the differential role of perceived work and non-work constraints

Abstract

Building on stress theory, this study investigates the mechanism by which terrorism influences withdrawal cognitions of expatriates, namely, via perceived threat as well as perceived constraints in the work and non-work domains. Data from 160 expatriates currently working in African and Asian countries show that the level of terrorism relates to expatriates’ perceived threat. Further, we find that the effect of this perceived threat is stronger on perceived constraints in the non-work than in the work domain. While perceived constraints in the work domain have a direct effect on job turnover intentions, perceived constraints in the non-work domain have a direct effect on country leave intentions and an indirect, spillover effect on job turnover intentions. Our study underscores the importance of both work and non-work domains for understanding stress and turnover related to expatriation in terrorism-endangered countries.     

Compensating international mobility in a workers’ cooperative: An interpretive study

This study uses an interpretive research design to analyze how worker-members in cooperatives understand and handle the challenge of designing a compensation system for their international workforce. The empirical study, conducted in a cooperative belonging to the Mondragon Corporation, reveals how such a challenge is understood as one of finding a system that combines international business performance with the need to uphold and maintain the cooperative’s identity. Drawing on that understanding, the cooperative adopts a number of management decisions and criteria for the distribution of rewards and the justification of unequal working conditions among its international assignees that are very different to the mainstream ones in conventional firms. The study’s findings are an invitation to question many of the traditional theoretical assumptions and practices involved in global compensation, prompting the need to develop theories and research initiatives in this field that are more in keeping with the needs and characteristics of social enterprises.     

Affective networks,informal ties,and the limits of expatriate effectiveness

Expatriate effectiveness research has so far rarely taken into account the influence of social networks on expatriate performance and adjustment. Likewise, antecedents of social networks remain poorly understood. We fill this research gap by exploring the situation of expatriates in South Korea. Based on expert interview data, we have discovered seven antecedents critical to expatriate effectiveness. Most antecedents hinder expatriate effectiveness due to the expatriates’ inability to become a part of so-called Yongo networks, a distinctive type of social tie in South Korea that is to a great extent determined by birth. As a consequence, it is in particular expatriates’ relational performance and interaction adjustment that is negatively influenced by Yongo. Based on the South Korean case, this study advises future research to more deeply study the nature and characteristics of the local social context, in particular affective ties, and extend research on expatriate effectiveness in this important dimension. Finally, we discuss practical implications important for multinational corporations and provide suggestions on how to better cope with exclusive informal social networks while on an assignment abroad.     

Not all international assignments are created equal: HQ-subsidiary knowledge transfer patterns across types of assignments and types of knowledge

Drawing on 50 semi-structured interviews in a case study of a Belgian multinational and its foreign subsidiary in Poland, we develop new insights into how using different types of international assignments (long-term expatriation, short-term expatriation, short-term inpatriation) allows a HQ-subsidiary dyad to transfer different types of knowledge (declarative, procedural, axiomatic, relational), both from and to HQ, during and after the assignment. We show how each type of assignment acts as a unique knowledge transfer channel, and why it is critical that HQ-subsidiary dyads use an appropriate combination and sequence of international assignments reflecting their specific knowledge transfer needs.     

Evolving and enduring challenges in global mobility

This article reviews the past 50 years of the science and practice of global mobility in organizations, highlighting the continuum of issues – from those that have endured throughout the decades to those that have changed as a function of economic, competitive, and demographic trends. At this latter end of the continuum, the field of global mobility has seen dramatic changes in the strategic deployment of expatriates, changes in assignment types, and demographic changes in the profile of expatriates. These are discussed in the first part of the article. In the second part of the article we review the issues which have been impervious to change over the years. We draw upon recent evidence from the fields of neuroscience and human development to examine two of the more enduring issues of global mobility: the change in individuals’ competencies as a function of living and working in another country and the personality characteristics and motivation related to expatriates’ success abroad. Taken together, these enduring and evolving issues in global mobility have implications for future research and practice.     

Women and expatriate work opportunities in Austrian organizations

Previous research has indicated that female managers are still a minority among expatriate staff. As studies dealing with this topic from a European perspective are still more than rare, this study focuses on the situation of female expatriates in Austrian companies. After surveying the TOP 500 organizations and the largest banks, insurance and consulting companies in Austria, results showed that – although women are still under-represented in international management – among nearly one quarter of the respondents, women who have already succeeded in breaking through the glass ceiling of local management are also succeeding more frequently in getting postings abroad. Moreover, the limited representation of female expatriates was explained primarily by a general lack of female talent available for the functions which are relevant for international positions, second, by prejudices of host-country nationals towards female managers and, third, by a lack of interest shown by women in global assignments due to personal reasons. This paper reports on a questionnaire distributed to human resource managers and provides more insight into the subject of female expatriates. It begins by reviewing the literature dealing with women in international management before analysing the matter of under-representation of female expatriates from a different perspective and asking for the reasons why female managers are not sent abroad by Austrian companies. Then the research method is discussed before the findings are presented and their implications discussed in terms of future research.