Expatriate mangers:A historical reviewijmr_261 275..296

Michael Harvey1 and Miriam MoellerAs expatriate managers continue to be a viable means for exercising control over foreignoperations, they can have a direct impact on organizational performance, and therefore adelineation of the history of these key leaders in order to enhance our understanding of theircontinued significant impact is a laudable goal. The paper discusses each stage of the humanresource management process, beginning with the identification and concluding with therepatriation stage of expatriate managers. Each stage is discussed in terms of the successesas well as problems/failures associated with the individual, organizational, environmentaland systemic unit in mind. The paper concludes with future implications emphasizing thenecessity to create new and/or enhance current practices relating to the development ofexpatriate managers’ maximum global impact depending on the evolving nature of theglobalization of business.

Introduction to Globalization and HRM

In a recent study by Colakoglu and Caligiuri(2008), the authors observed that there arecurrently 850,000 subsidiaries of multinationalcorporations (MNCs) operating globally. AGMAC global relocation survey found that65% of MNCs surveyed are expecting expatri-ate manager numbers to rise steadily over thenext decade (GMAC/SHRM 2006). In support,a study by Fernandez et al. (2006) found that600 French firms were operational in Chinawith more than 150,000 expatriate employeesand the number of expatriates is expected todouble in the next five-years. These studiesunderline the growth in the expatriate cadreworldwide, making it imperative to reprisecritically this lynchpin staffing option. As aresult, it is anticipated that there will be agrowing need to use expatriate managers whoare typically relocated overseas in leadershippositions. Given the growth and functions

performed by these managers, it is anticipatedthat these expatriate managers will have asignificant impact on the success of MNCs.

There appear to be five key issues facingthe MNCs’ global human resource manage-ment (HRM) in the next decade: (1) developingflexible/adaptive competencies in their globalworkforces; (2) addressing the leadership gapwhich places future global growth at risk inmany organizations; (3) a need to develop themeans to find, motivate and retain superiorglobal management talent; (4) developing a newset of performance metrics for global manage-ment; and (5) HRM taking on a more strategicorientation to talent management and partner-ing management to develop a strategic globalhuman resource management (SGHRM) per-spective.Almost all these ‘keys’are centered onexpatriate managers (Harvey et al. 2002).

The shift to a global outlook for manyMNCs is implicitly contingent on having anadequate number of global managers to staff

International Journal of Management Reviews (2009)doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00261.x

© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd,9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA

International Journal of Management Reviews Volume 11 Issue 3 pp. 275–296 275

the anticipated growth of MNCs globally. Itappears that organizations must develop acadre of expatriate managers who have a globalmindset as strategic focus when competing inthe global marketplace (Begley and Boyd 2003;Kedia and Mukherji 1999; Paul 2000). Theseexpatriate managers must develop a pluralisticmanagement perspective that encourages andmaintains multiple perspectives in order tosolve complex global problems (Aguirre 1997;Harvey et al. 1999; Reynolds 1997).

This paper examines the history of expatri-ate managers as central to the growth of MNCsand an assessment of their future use in globalorganizations. Each step in the HRM processis discussed in the following sections of thepaper. Each of the stages will follow the samesteps to examine the expatriate manager: (1)successes for each stage of the process; and (2)problems/failures for each stage of the process.

The HRM Process

The HRM process for expatriate managersincorporates eight stages (e.g. identification,selection, training and development, com-pensation, performance appraisal, retentionand turnover, succession planning and repatria-tion). Each of these stages of the HRM processfor expatriate managers will be examined aswell as being summarized in Table 1.

Identification of Expatriate Managers

Successes in the identification of expatriatemanagers. Given the growing importance ofdeveloping qualified global managers, research-ers have attempted to identify the managerialcompetencies that are essential to manageeffectively in a global context and, in particular,in emerging economies, such as culturalawareness, developing a global (geocentric)perspective, heightened cross-cultural skills,that is, communications, learning, adaptation,ability to adjust to new cultural environmentsrapidly, equal and equitable acceptance ofindividuals from different cultures, emotionalenergy, ability to address cognitive complexity,

psychological maturity and, in addition,personal characteristics, such as self-reliance,empathy, sense of humor, curiosity and strongsense of self (Adler 1995; Arthur and Bennett1995; Black and Stephens 1989). In an effortto delineate the ‘ideal’ characteristics, humanresource managers are confronted with aparadoxical situation where the candidate poolasthmatically approaches zero.

To compete effectively in a global market-place, companies must develop a unique set ofmanagerial skills to position the companyappropriately in emerging markets. The result-ing core competence of global companies restson the local adaptation of a global strategy thatis based on efficiency of action of contextualrelevance to local consumers in developingcountries. Such a distinctive corporate ‘signa-ture’ to act locally helps to ensure local accep-tance of products/services without reducingthe efficiency necessary for global competition(Bonache et al. 2001; Hall 1993; Hamel andPrahalad 1989).

New expatriate managers are expected todevelop effective local strategies which wouldembody: (1) an external focus on local govern-ment relations; (2) cultural leadership; (3)social networking; (4) teamwork; (5) a keenunderstanding of the dynamics associated withthe consumer and competitive environment;and (6) a high level of local social knowledgeof ways to compete effectively (Caligiuri andStroh 1995; Culpan and Wright 2002; Harveyand Novicevic 2002c; Martinez and Quelch1996; Sohn 1994). These ‘soft’ skills, derivedfrom the context-specific social knowledge,are becoming the key determinants of successfor country managers in developing countries.

Problems in the identification of expatriatemanagers. There are a number of problemsthat could occur when attempting to identifypotential candidates for expatriation. Theprimary problem starts with the definition ofthe potential pool of candidates (e.g. outside,inside the organization or some combinationof the two pools of potential candidates).Frequently, HR managers have a predisposition

Expatriate mangers

276 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

Tab

le1.

Pred

icti

ng

succ

ess/

failu

reo

fex

pat

riat

em

anag

ers

Exp

atri

ate

per

form

ance

Ind

ivid

ual

Org

aniz

atio

nal

Envi

ron

men

tal

Syst

emic

Succ

ess

•B

ig‘5

’p

erso

nal

ity

char

acte

rist

ics

•C

ross

-cu

ltu

ral

trai

nin

g•

Rel

oca

tio

nto

sim

ilar

eco

no

my/

cult

ure

•Pl

ann

ing

per

spec

tive

•Te

chn

ical

com

pet

ence

•R

epat

riat

ion

pro

gra

m•

Red

uce

dg

ove

rnm

ent

rest

rict

ion

•In

teg

rate

dIH

RM

syst

em

•C

ult

ura

lad

apta

bili

ty•

Kn

ow

led

gea

ble

IHR

Mm

anag

ers

•Si

mila

rity

of

lan

gu

ages

•In

crea

sed

use

of

tech

no

log

y

•Pr

evio

us

cult

ura

lad

just

men

ts•

Sep

arat

eIH

RM

pro

cess

/p

roce

du

res

•Si

mila

rity

of

soci

alin

stit

uti

on

s•

Flex

ibili

tyo

fIH

RM

syst

em

•Ex

ten

sive

fore

ign

trav

el•

Men

tori

ng

pro

gra

m•

Co

nsi

sten

cyo

fsy

stem

sg

lob

ally

Rep

rese

nta

tive

rese

arch

Ayc

anet

al.

2000

;C

hen

and

Tzen

g20

04;

Del

ler

2006

;H

arve

yet

al.

2004

;H

arve

yan

dN

ovi

cevi

c20

02c;

Ho

lop

ain

enan

dB

jörk

man

2005

;Se

lmer

and

Leu

ng

2003

b

Do

wn

eset

al.

2002

;H

arzi

ng

2001

;H

ock

ing

etal

.20

04;

No

vice

vic

and

Har

vey

2004

;Pe

pp

as20

04;

Stah

let

al.

2002

Selm

er20

00;

Shay

and

Baa

ck20

06;

Was

ti20

03;

Wan

gan

dK

anu

ng

o20

04

Bo

nac

he

etal

.20

01;

Du

oto

2002

;M

inb

aeva

and

Mic

hai

lova

2004

;N

ovi

cevi

can

dH

arve

y20

01;

Od

do

uet

al.

1995

Failu

re•

Fam

ilyis

sues

•La

cko

fca

reer

pla

nn

ing

•Em

erg

ing

mar

kets

•‘C

entr

ic’

IHR

Mo

rien

tati

on

•U

nw

illin

gn

ess

tob

ere

loca

ted

•In

adeq

uat

eo

rien

tati

on

•R

estr

icti

on

so

nH

Rb

yg

ove

rnm

ent

•A

dh

oc

case

-by-

case

neg

oti

atio

ns

wit

hca

nd

idat

es•

Du

alca

reer

issu

es•

Inad

equ

ate

com

pen

sati

on

pro

gra

ms

•H

ost

ility

(clim

ate,

hea

lth

care

,et

c.)

Of

envi

ron

men

t

•In

adeq

uat

eca

reer

dev

elo

pm

ent

pro

cess

du

rin

gfo

reig

nas

sig

nm

ent

•C

om

mit

men

tto

assi

gn

men

t•

Inad

equ

ate

trai

nin

gp

rog

ram

s•

Cu

ltu

ral

tab

oo

s(w

om

en,

min

ori

ties

)•

Inef

fect

ive

per

form

ance

app

rais

alsy

stem

•La

cko

fla

ng

uag

eca

pab

iliti

es•

Inad

equ

ate

sup

po

rtfo

rth

eem

plo

yee/

fam

ilyR

epre

sen

tati

vere

sear

chD

anie

lsan

dIn

sch

1998

;H

arve

y19

97a,

b;

Take

uch

iet

al.

2002

Bo

nac

he

and

Bre

wst

er20

01;

Selm

eran

dLe

un

g20

03a;

Tem

ple

ret

al.

2006

;W

asti

2003

Selm

er20

06a,

b;

Wan

gan

dSa

ng

alan

g20

05B

rew

ster

and

Suu

tari

2005

;H

arve

yet

al.

2002

;N

ovi

cevi

can

dH

arve

y20

01

Ad

apte

dfr

om

Har

vey

and

No

vice

vic

(200

1).

September 2009

277© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

to hiring managers outside the company whenfirst starting up a new ‘venture’ (e.g. expandinginto the international marketplace). Therefore,they will attempt to identify managers in theforeign market to ‘represent’ the organizationin the short run. This focus on external candi-dates creates problems in controlling the over-seas operations as well as building the growthof the overseas organization.

A second problem is associated with the firstproblem (inside/outside) and that is attracting alarge enough pool of candidates to satisfy thestaffing needs of the MNC. If only one pool ofcandidates is cultivated (e.g. external candi-dates), HRM frequently have difficulty in iden-tifying a large enough pool of candidates or inthe timing of need for candidates and identifi-cation of candidates. If this problem is notaddressed early enough, the entire growth ofthe MNC may hinge on this one issue. Toaddress this problem, some MNCs will con-tract employees (e.g. agents, brokers or thelike) to represent the company in the transi-tion from domestic to multinational. There areadditional issues with using contract employ-ees to open overseas markets that will have tobe addressed.

A third problem is attracting candidates oncethey have been identified as having the charac-teristics to do the overseas job. Internally, thismanifests itself as a lack of willingness torelocate overseas for a number of reasons. Therefusal rate for managers to expatriate has beengrowing at a steady pace in many countries(Dowling and Welch 2005; Konopaske et al.2005; Tharenou and Harvey 2006). Reducingthe level of apprehension relative to relocatingto an expatriate assignment frequently necessi-tates increasing the benefits/compensation tothe expatriate. In addition, family-relatedperks may also have to be increased. Anotherproblem when trying to attract high-profileexternal candidates is that they may have areluctance to be identified as working for awestern MNC. This move may affect theircareers significantly if they want to return to ahome-country organization. It is frequentlydescribed as the ‘traitor’ stigma.

The level of ‘acceptable’ diversity may alsoaffect potential candidates for positions withMNCs. There may be a maximum number/percentage of ‘outsiders’ and/or foreignersthat will be acceptable in the organization.While this policy is infrequently articulated,it can be found in companies that have awell-articulated organizational culture that isbased upon the home country of the organiza-tion. Therefore, outsiders may be viewed as‘less attractive candidates’, reducing thepool of acceptable candidates for overseasassignments. This would be similar to genderissues that are implicit in staffing overseasassignments. These problems are frequentlycouched as cultural biases of the country inwhich the manager is to work (e.g. anexample of negative bias for women would beto question the acceptance of women in theMiddle East, making it a straw issue to reducediversity).

The lack of a well-articulated set of careerpaths for overseas managers also becomes aproblem when attempting to recruit overseascandidates. Owing to the newness or thecomplexity (or both), the HRM may not havecareer paths for managers being hired or sentoverseas for three to five years. This lack ofclarity of purpose of the assignment or howthe assignment fits into the career path of thecandidate reduces the willingness of managersto relocated overseas or to join a companythat appears to have a temporary and/or ashort-term orientation of overseas positions.This can result in a negative opinion of foreignassignments.

Selection of Expatriate Managers

Successes in the selection of expatriate mana-gers. The success of expatriate managers hasbeen researched in many studies, and successhas been attributed to a number of critical traitsin successful expatriates: (1) empathy; (2) respect;(3) interest in local culture; (4) flexibility; (5)tolerance; (6) technical skills; (7) initiative; (8)open-mindedness; (9) sociability; and (10) apositive self-image (Aycan et al. 2000; Chen

Expatriate mangers

278 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

and Tzeng 2004; Harvey and Novicevic2002a,b; Ryan et al. 1999). While researchershave examined the traits that are found insuccessful expatriate managers, the problemcomes when trying to determine which trait ismore important or critical in the selection ofexpatriate managers and, in addition, how toassess these attributes relative to the assign-ment characteristics and how to examine thesetraits in the selection process. Additionalproblems that arise when selecting candidatesfor expatriate assignments include: (1) lack ofreliability and validity of assessment tools tomeasure expatriate characteristics; (2) diffi-culty of assessing the impact of job, institutionand cultural change on expatriate success (i.e.the characteristics beyond the personal traits ofthe expatriate); (3) lack of a standardized andintegrated process for preparing candidates forexpatriate assignments; (4) unreliable assess-ment of the impact of the expatriate spouseand family on the expatriate success; (5)uncertainty in predicting adjustment demands(i.e. success in making the change) and pre-dicting effectiveness (i.e. ability to accomplishthe goals of the assignment) of the expatriatemanager; and (6) the impact of the ‘realityshock’ on the potential expatriate candidate,as no assignment can be designed in termsdeemed important for successful expatriation(House et al. 2004; Mayerhofer et al. 2004;Novicevic and Harvey 2004; Scullion andCollings 2006). Therefore, past research onexpatriate success (and failure) has not foundconsistent answers to the key questions thatremain unanswered for global assignments:which are the key individual attributes? Forwhich foreign environment? To accomplishwhat set of tasks? In what time period?

Also, expatriation has been widely viewed inpast research as a headquarters-to-subsidiarymanagement transfer Many of the factors influ-encing the success of expatriation (i.e. to men-tion a few: escalating cost, low productivity,failures, difficulties in expatriating professionaldual-career couples) have been analyzed withinthis paradigm (Harvey 1996; Wederspahn 1992).At present, expatriates are being transferred

from other subsidiaries, and more are beingbrought in from outside the organization (i.e.already with expatriate experience).

Problems in the selection of expatriate mana-gers. While there is not a consensus on the rateof failure of expatriate managers among practi-tioners and academics, the range of failureis typically stated as between 20 and 40%(Dowling et al. 1999; Harvey 1996; Menden-hall et al. 1987). The large variance in this rangeis explained, in part, by the ambiguous defini-tion of expatriate failure (i.e. early assignmentwithdrawal vs reduced effectiveness in theoverseas position). Regardless of the definitionused, there is sufficient evidence to indicatethat ineffective expatriate managers incur largedirect and indirect costs. The direct cost (i.e.training, relocation, compensation and repatri-ation) is estimated at between $200,000 and$500,000 per candidate for MNCs, and US-based firms lose over $6 billion annually infailed overseas assignments (Harvey andNovicevic 2000, 2001). In addition, the indirect/implicit cost (i.e. reduced service to customers,the negative impact on implementing strategy,strained relations with home country networksand government officials) are thought to surpassthe direct cost of expatriate failure (Scullionand Collings 2006; Wederspahn 1992).

One of the more salient categories of thecost of expatriates is that incurred by expatriatemanagers who show inadequate performancebut remain in their overseas assignments,damaging the organization’s performance,reputation and relationships (Harzing 1995).Another category of costs that is frequentlyoverlooked is that related to the career impactof a failed expatriate assignment as damage tomanagers’ careers (Tung 1987). This damageto the self-esteem is carried over to others inthe organization, reducing their willingness/enthusiasm to undertake foreign assignments.While a multitude of reasons have beenadvanced for the high failure rate of expatri-ates, e.g. lack of training, inadequate selectioncriteria, ineffective compensation programs,ineffective leadership, etc., one dimension has

September 2009

279© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

historically been deemed the primary reasonfor expatriate failure, that being expatriate andfamily adjustment issues (Dowling et al. 1999).

To date, the majority of expatriate assign-ments have been to developed countries,suggesting that adjustment issues will be accen-tuated in the future, given the increased need tomanage operations in developing countries,where it is anticipated seven-eighths of thepopulation will be located by 2025 (Webb andWright 1996). From an adjustment perspective,the greater the economic and cultural distance,the more likely the family (as well as the expa-triate) will have difficulty in acclimating tothe new environment (Aycan et al. 2000;Haslberger 2005; Haslberger and Brewster 2005;Jassawalla et al. 2004b; Kraimer et al. 2001).

An evolving issue that will inevitably com-plicate the overseas adjustment of the familyand expatriate manager is the growing numberof dual-career couples (Black and Gregersen1991a; Bonache 2005; Harvey 1997b). Even ina domestic context, the labor force participationof spouses has greatly reduced the likelihood offamily migration (Harvey 1997b). In interna-tional dual-career situations, there is both adirect and an indirect influence on the couple/family adjustment. The direct impact can beillustrated by the potential loss of the trailingspouse’s income and potential future earningsduring the duration of the expatriate assign-ment. Indirectly, the trailing spouse can experi-ence heightened stress and tension, whichmay translate into dysfunctional family con-flict, which in turn can ‘spill over’ into the workenvironment of the expatriate manager (Harvey1996, 1997a; Takeuchi et al. 2002, 2005).

In a recent survey of MNC human resourcemanagers, a vast majority of the respondentsfelt that dual-career issues will become a moreacute problem in international assignments inthe near future (Harvey 1997a,b,c). In addition,when dual-career couples are expatriated, thesupport required from the MNC is substantiallyincreased, and the productivity of the expatriateis typically lower than expected (Harvey1997a). Frequently, dual-career couples areentering a commuting relationship during the

expatriation of one of the spouses, attemptingto mitigate the negative consequences ofdisrupting the other spouse’s career. It isestimated that 25% of dual-career couples donot move the family/spouse, but continue tocommute between the home and host countrieswhen one of them is relocated overseas (Bunkeret al. 1992).

Compensation of Expatriate Managers

Successes in the compensation of expatriatemanagers. While the selection of expatriatesrelies heavily on the attitudes exhibited andthe personality characteristics/traits of an indi-vidual candidate, the appropriateness of com-pensation is fundamentally more difficult todelineate and evaluate, owing to its multi-faceted nature. According to Bonache (2006),the objectives of an international compensationsystem include the following: (1) to attractpersonnel for the international service; (2) tobe cost effective; (3) to be fair with respect tolocal employees and other expatriates fromeither the same or a different nationality orwith respect to those located in another loca-tion; (4) to facilitate re-entry; and (5) tosupport the organization’s international strat-egy. Adding an additional layer of complexity,these criteria are dependent upon the contextin which the expatriate is to work. In otherwords, the authors (Bonache 2006) suggestthat the impact of an international compensa-tion system may affect individuals positively ornegatively, depending on whether the contextencompasses the host country, home countryor the organization from a global standpoint.Needless to say, determining a satisfactorypackage for both the employee(s) and organi-zation may pose several seemingly impossibleto resolve problems in such a complex task.

The elements constituting a common com-pensation package include items such as basesalary, benefits, allowances of various kinds(e.g. relocation expenses, housing allowances,education allowances, hardship allowances)and taxes (Hodgetts and Luthans 1993). Theseelements, in addition to the naturally occurring

Expatriate mangers

280 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

failure rates due to internal/external conditions(i.e. inability to adjust to cultural environment,lack of emotional maturity, lack of technicalcompetence, lack of motivation, etc.), canaccount for a variety of successes and disap-pointments in an expatriate’s career path withinan organization. One way to handle the com-pensation system effectively is to ensure aminimal impact of failure. This is not easilyaccomplished, owing to what appear to behigher failure rates associated with expatriateassignments than with their domestic counter-parts and the consequent monetary loss to theorganization (i.e. over $250,000 per expatriate).For example, Coca Cola’s philosophy for why itperforms well in the global marketplace restson the foundational beliefs of their human re-sources strategies and programs implemented.Their extensive and targeted search for talent,which allows them to be transferrable overvarious geographic regions, has aided CocaCola in gaining a noteworthy global status, butalso in ensuring that they retain employees overa long period, owing to their multi-facetednature and applicability in various geographicareas. The success of Gillette, similarly to CocaCola, is based on their International GraduateTraining Program to groom local talent indeveloping nations (Hodgetts and Luthans1993). The bottom line is that each MNC/globalorganization must ensure that compensationpackages are developed to meet their internalcapabilities and simultaneously adhere to theirexternal demands.

The frame-of-reference for the compensa-tion context may again change when ex-patriates have completed their overseasassignments and are called back to the home-country organization. Accordingly, their com-pensation package will change to meet theinternal and external demands of the organiza-tion. It could be argued that the expectations ofan expatriate upon return from an assignmentmay be jaded by the allowances given in thebeginning stages of expatriation. Therefore,much repatriation adjustment deals with adjust-ments made more from a psychological than amonetary perspective.

To date, no universal, global compensationstrategy exists. However, current practicesuggests that organizations employ qualifiedpeople to work in the human resource depart-ment handling compensatory issues. Owing tothe heightened complexity regarding MNC/global compensation, the above-mentionedissues have more recently been tackled froma systems standpoint. In 2007, IBM patenteda system for global employee compensation.This system consists of: (1) means to store asingle instance of global employee data; (2)means for global shared services input; (3) acountry-specific gross-to-net calculator; and(4) means for global shared systems supportoutput. Technically speaking, the system pro-vides a single worldwide employee compensa-tion capability. While this system is still in itsearly stages of approval from the larger orga-nizational society, it has the potential substan-tially to replace significant human interactionand thus keep the resulting labor costs to aminimum. The primary objective of thissystem is to provide an organization with asystem capable of handling an employee’scompensation on a global spectrum. Thiswould incorporate: (1) enhanced global stockoption administration capabilities; (2) compli-ances with laws and regulations in a globalmanner (Gardner 2007). It is also IBM’s inten-tion to make this system as user friendly aspossible, to allow for an effortless transitioninto the global marketplace.

Problems in the compensation of expatriatemanagers. There is a scarce amount of theoryand/or empirical research on compensation ofglobal managers, given its importance, pri-marily due to the complexity of the issuessurrounding compensation in differing enviro-nmental contexts (Black et al. 1992; Harvey1993a; Hodgetts and Luthans 1993). Fre-quently, academic researchers come to the sameconclusion: there is a need to examine thesalary and benefit practices of MNCs (Dowling1989). Many MNCs have experienced signifi-cant problems setting equitable compensationprograms for expatriate managers. This is

September 2009

281© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

revealed when expatriates being repatriated are‘debriefed’ from their foreign assignments. In aclassic survey, 77% of the expatriates surveyedwere dissatisfied with their expatriation sala-ries and benefits, and their international com-pensation packages in general (Black 1991).The complexity of developing a systematiccompensation program for expatriates, nation-als and third-country nationals working in avariety of different socio-economic environ-ments (i.e. differing levels of economic devel-opment and varying cultural distances from theexpatriate’s host country) requires more thanrelying on structural, corporate-wide solutions(Bartlett 1981). The amount of empirical evi-dence on the interaction between compensa-tion strategy and national culture and level ofeconomic development of an economy is prac-tically nil (Gomez-Mejia and Welbourne 1991;Harvey 1993a; Milliman et al. 1991).

It would appear that here are six key issuessurrounding international compensation. Dis-crepancies between compensation programs forexpatriates, local nationals and third-countrynationals frequently appear as a key compensa-tion issue when implementing a compensationprogram globally (Harvey 1993a,b). This dif-ference in compensation between employees inforeign subsidiaries exacerbates the trust andcommitment of overseas employees. In addition,expatriates typically go through an extendedadjustment period (Black and Gregersen1991a,b; Black and Mendenhall 1991) in whichtheir performance in the job is diminished.Their co-workers observe this and can becomeresentful of the expatriate being paid up to fivetimes as much to perform the same/similar job(Harvey et al. 2001; Wederspahn 1992).

A second problem that affects the ‘fairness’of expatriates’ compensation is the impact ofthe stage of the family life cycle on the overallcompensation demands. A vast majority ofexpatriates do not feel that stage of the familylife cycle impacts compensation equity, whichneeds to be adjusted according to the differentstages of the life cycle. There is frequentlyconcern that, as executive families movethrough various stages of the family life cycle

during their foreign assignments, the compen-sation and fringe benefits necessary to meet theexecutives’ and families’ needs do not keep upwith these changes in status. The mix of com-ponents and their resulting costs create prob-lems on an absolute basis but become evenmore problematic in comparisons betweenexecutives of different nationalities in similarpositions within the corporation.

Problems that have become more apparentas the number of expatriate executives hasincreased are those associated with therepatriation stage of the assignment. Whilethis set of unique problems has been knownfor some time, many companies have notdevised adequate programs to deal with repa-triation (Black 1992; Harvey 1989). Expatri-ates typically complain that compensation/benefit problems were significant uponre-entry to the domestic organization andhome-country environment. Many expatriatesfeel that repatriation was more severe becausea repatriation program should have beenaddressed before the foreign assignment.When the executives and families returnedfrom their foreign assignment, very little couldbe done to relieve the resulting financial pres-sures (Harvey 1982; Hyder and Lovblad 2007;Johnston 2007; Kendall 1981; Lee and Liu2006a,b; Linehan 2002; Paik et al. 2002).

An additional problem considered to have asubstantial impact on international executivecompensation programs is the problem ofdealing with an existing compensation programthat is no longer suitable for the executive orassignment (i.e. the compensation legacy, ‘Wedid it this way in the past’). The compensationprocess ‘legacy’ is a troublesome problem iden-tified by expatriates if they have longer thanaverage overseas appointments. The longer theexpatriate is assigned overseas, the more likelythe level of discrepancy in compensation withdomestic counterpoints. The effectiveness ofthe total compensation evaluation process(e.g. the level of similarity and/or dissimilarityof compensation programs domestically andinternationally) was deemed a problem by mostexpatiate managers.

Expatriate mangers

282 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

Human resource managers appear tostruggle the most in discerning expatriateallowances/hardship pay in less-developed anddeveloping economies. Concomitant problemsoccurred when repatriating these same ex-patriates from less-developed and developingeconomies. This predicament is intuitivelylogical in that the economic disparity betweenthe US and less-developed economies is thegreatest. Therefore, the expatriate managersare accustomed to a standard of services/products that is difficult to attain, if at all, inless-developed economies (Harvey et al. 1999;Selmer 2000, 2001, 2006a,b; Selmer et al.2007). The question then becomes how muchshould the executive receive to forego the pur-chase of the service/product or to purchase theproduct on the black market? The converse ofthis situation occurs when the executive isrepatriating to the domestic environment fromthis divergent economic situation. The ‘perks’have become ‘a way of life’, or a lifestylehas been developed to which the family hasbecome accustomed over an extended period.When these fringe benefits are recalibrated forthe domestic environment, a ‘reality shock’ forthe manager, and most particularly for thefamily, results. At the same time, the cost ofre-establishing the domestic family lifestyle(i.e. housing, schools and entertainment) hadall increased during the family’s foreignassignment. The compound problem of losingforeign assignment ‘perks’ and the increasedcost of the ‘normal’ domestic environment hasa dramatic effect on the stability of family lifeand the executive (Black 1991, 1992; Napierand Peterson 1991).

Performance Appraisal of ExpatriateManagers

Successes in performance appraisal of expatri-ate managers. Deciphering the complex webof issues associated with expatriate managers’performance appraisal is a daunting task. Per-formance appraisals need to be based uponvalid performance criteria/measures, raters ofcompetence that allow them to deal with the

complexity of foreign performance appraisal,provide for an appraisal process geared toaddress a wide variety of external environ-ments, identify who should be the rater foreach category of expatriate manager, and deter-mine when the appraisals should be done andhow to evaluate the performance appraisalprocess over time. Expatriate performanceevaluation is a difficult measurement processto develop owing to the subjectivity and thediversity of environments, both external aswell as internal. Therefore, expatriate perfor-mance appraisal is an inexact ‘science’ and onethat does not appear to have been improved indecades. Most published research on perfor-mance appraisal indicates that rarely havecompanies been able to design and implementa credible multinational performance appraisalsystem (Black et al. 1992).

Expatriate performance appraisals should bea systematic assessment of both the expatriatemanager and the organization in the foreignenvironment. The issue of how to measureexpatriate performance/outcomes is vital in theHRM function if the linkage of job satisfac-tion, worker performance and organizationaloutcome is to be maintained. The critical goalis to obtain accurate measures for both the indi-vidual and the company. Expatriate managersin foreign environment settings are frequentlyin need of a remedial action program (RAP)because of the significant adjustments requiredto be effective in an international context.A RAP can be developed using the followingprocedures:

(1) Clear feedback to the internationalmanager about why the domestic andinternational superior feels the performerhas performance problems.

(2) Frequent use of behavioral critical inci-dents relative to the manager’s behaviorin an international context to point outexamples of both poor and acceptableperformance.

(3) A highly specified, imposed program forcorrective action, with performance mea-sures and time perspectives consistent

September 2009

283© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

with the international environment clearlyand formally established.

(4) Quarterly review sessions, or more fre-quent ones if performance is continuing todeteriorate, with the focus of these ses-sions on the superior’s communicatingto the employee how the superior feelsthe employee is doing in relation to theprogram established for corrective action.

(5) Extension of the review process to longertime intervals of performance specifica-tions and measurement if performanceimproves. If improvement continues overa sustained period, then focus attentionon other activities that need improvement.

(6) If performance does not improve oreven decreases, establishment of ahighly specified sequence of events interms of activities, measurements andshort-term perspectives, with the explicitconclusion being termination if noperformance improvements are shown.This step frequently results in voluntaryself-termination. A key element is theexpatriate manager’s understanding thatthe individual has moved into this phase;therefore, explicit communication to thiseffect is crucial.

Problems in performance appraisal of expatri-ate managers. Why should there be a uniqueperformance appraisal process for managersduring an overseas assignment? A fundamentalrule of performance appraisal is to maintainconsistency between the mangers beingevaluated (Ilgen et al. 1993). Without signifi-cant modification to a domestic performanceappraisal system, an equally important rule ofevaluation, fairness for the ratee cannot beachieved. A variety of circumstances necessi-tate a separate and unique internationallyarticulated performance evaluation process forexpatriate managers during their overseasassignments. The justification for developing aseparate international performance appraisalprocess is:

(1) There may be significantly more diverseemployees to be managed. Expatriate

managers assigned to overseas positionsmay be home-country expatriates butalso may be host-country or third-countrynationals. There may be significant dif-ferences in their initial employmentcontracts, compensation and benefitspackages, career paths and opportunities,and performance expectations (Harvey1993a; Schuler et al. 1991). The adminis-tration of a diversified workforce mayrequire performance appraisal policiesand procedures customized to thecomposition of those being evaluated(Hoecklin 1995). The instruments ofassessment may also need to be modifiedto measure subjective information in acultural context accurately (Harris andMoran 1991). The values, norms, atti-tudes, beliefs and myths of performanceappraisal may be strongly influenced bythe culture of the individual being evalu-ated and even the diversity of the raters;therefore, the rating process must takethese differences into account during theforeign performance appraisal (Elash-mawi and Harris 1993). At the sametime, the expatriate manager perfor-mance review should go beyond coll-ecting annual compensation data byencouraging managers to develop pro-fessional capabilities during an interna-tional assignment, motivate them duringthe assignment, and help to ensure theirdevelopment in becoming successfulinternational managers (Fairlamb 1995).

(2) Multiplicity of external environments.One basic consideration when developinga process of appraisal for expatriate man-agers that influences performance beyondthe control of managers is the prevailingcharacteristics of the external environ-ment in which the expatriate manager isto manage. There may be a wide arrayof events taking place in the externalenvironment beyond the control of themanager that can impede or benefit thisperson. The level of economic develop-ment, the rate of change in key economic

Expatriate mangers

284 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

variables (inflation, unemployment andinterest rates), the government’s involve-ment in the economic process and legalconstraints can have a direct impact onindividual expatriate managers’ perfor-mance. The level of variation and theresulting impact of these exogenous vari-ables which differ from those found in thedomestic environment may have a formi-dable effect on appraising expatriate man-agers’ performance during their overseasassignments.

There may be external environmentaldifferences from the domestic market(initially and over time), but it needs tobe determined whether these environ-ments are more or less equal acrossregions or whether there are significantdifferences. Without a performanceappraisal process that addresses theseissues, the likelihood of a consistent andfair expatriate manager appraisal systemis unlikely (Javiden and Dastmalchian1993).

(3) Limited understanding of the differencesin the international marketplace. If ratersare not familiar with or have no interna-tional experience in the unique aspectsof expatriate assignments, they may notprovide equitable performance evalua-tions. When domestic human resourcemanagers are directly involved in theperformance appraisal of managers ininternational assignments, the evaluationinstruments and process must be modi-fied, or new measures developed tohighlight differences in domestic andinternational performance processes.Frequently, the domestic orientation ofhuman resource managers accentuatesthe performance evaluation difficulties forinternational managers (Javiden and Dast-malchian 1993). Separation of domesticand international performance apprai-sals highlights the differences and canimprove the chance of fair overall evalua-tion of managers assigned overseas(Mendenhall and Oddou 1991).

(4) Consequential differences between orga-nizational structure, strategy and culture.There can be significant inconsistenciesbetween domestic headquarters andinternational subsidiaries in a variety ofimportant issues which could influencethe performance ratings of expatriatemanagers. The degree of the inconsistencymay be attributed to different goals andstrategies between the domestic and inter-national organizations (e.g. different own-ership patterns, different strategic plans,etc.). The degree of centralization ofdecision-making in the domestic organi-zation may highlight the level of differ-ence in authority and autonomy forexpatriate managers during overseasassignments. In addition, the cultural fitbetween headquarters and the interna-tional subsidiary may be quite different,thereby directly affecting the performanceappraisal process (Milliman et al. 1991).

(5) Non-comparable or missing data. Thecomparison of managers’ performancemust be based on comparable data andstandards. The variance of data betweeninternational subsidiaries and domesticheadquarters can be significant and maynot allow for manager to manger assess-ments. Frequently, data are not com-parable, so standardized performanceevaluations do not accurately appraiseexpatriate managers. Developing ratingaccuracy within the context of perfor-mance appraisals has been a majorimpediment to identifying and developingappropriate criteria for accuracy (Lathamand Wexley 1981). Good overseas perfor-mance appraisals should be based on reli-able data and should be valid, practical andaccepted by the raters (Latta 1992). Thesediscrepancies are particularly evident ininternational settings owing to the lackof known performance standards acrosseconomies when compared with thedomestic headquarters. Exogenous factorsin the external environment and errors ofexclusion as well as inclusion reduce the

September 2009

285© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

universality of expatriate performanceappraisals (Smither et al. 1989). A surveyof expatriate managers supports theproblems associated with equitable perfor-mance appraisals: of those surveyed, 77%were dissatisfied with their salaries, ben-efits and performance appraisals (Black1991).

(6) Time, cost and distance issues. Theamount of time and the costs associatedwith equitable performance appraisals forexpatriate managers are extended beyondthose in a domestic context and thereforerequire a modification to the performanceevaluation. Owing to the geographicseparation of rater and ratee in manycases, the need to make allowances forperformance evaluations must be accom-modated to the international environment(Schuler et al. 1991). The performancereview process must be able to accommo-date the various external and internalenvironments and provide for consistencyacross those environments. Additionally,the time to adjust to an internationalassignment must be reflected in thefrequency of international performanceappraisals.

(7) Need to use appraisal information fordevelopmental purposes. It has beenwidely documented that the failure rateof expatriate managers from the US ishigher compared with that of managersfrom other countries (Dowling and Welch2005). Expatriate failures have beenattributed to a multitude of reasons,including lack of training, family issues,dual careers and compensation programs.Regardless of the reasons for the highfailure of expatriates, the performanceappraisal must provide data on how todevelop expatriate managers, therebyreducing the probability of failure. Theuse of the appraisal process to improvemanagers’ performance and to developadditional skills while on overseasassignments provides future opportunitiesfor these managers. The appraisal system

should increase international managers’understanding of career opportunities andhow international assignments augmenttheir career.

Repatriation of Expatriate Managers

Success in repatriation of expatriate managers.The concept of repatriation was conceptualizedin the early 1980s (Harvey 1982, 1989;Kendall 1981). Since that time, a number ofmodels have been developed to depict the repa-triation of expatriate managers as a process thatis initiated prior to the expatriation of themanager; which continues during the overseasassignment and culminates upon the return ofthe expatriate/family to their home country(Baruch and Altman 2002; Baruch et al. 2002;Bonache 2005; Paik et al. 2002; Suutari 2003;Vidal et al. 2007). Therefore, most of the ‘suc-cesses’ associated with repatriation are associ-ated with developing a well-articulated processof repatriation before, during and after theoverseas assignment. Successes in developinga process for repatriation can be divided intothree phases.

Phase I: Pre-expatriation planning. Theproblems/issues upon return of the expatriatemanager to the domestic organization/countryare highly correlated to the country/countriesto which the expatriate managers are assigned(Black and Gregersen 1991a; Black et al.1993; Bonache 2005; Duoto 2002; Eleniuset al. 2003). Therefore, to manage the returnof the expatriate effectively, the nature of theoverseas assignment and the context (environ-ment) have to be assessed. Next, the nature ofthe foreign assignment (e.g. what are thecharacteristics of the position and what is tobe accomplished during the overseas assign-ment) needs to be assessed to determine thepotential impact of the assignment on theexpatriate manager. The more culturally/economically ‘distant’ the foreign environ-ment and the more complex/difficult the taskassignment, the greater the probability thatexpatriate managers will experience problemsduring their overseas assignments (Black and

Expatriate mangers

286 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

Mendenhall 1991b; Black et al. 1991, 1999a,b;Caligiuri and Phillips 2003). This difficultly isthen carried over when expatriates return totheir home country, given the level of adjust-ment the expatriate/family had to make toadapt successfully to the foreign environment(Carmeli 2005; Daniels and Insch 1998; Harvey1989).Ameans to assess the performance of theexpatriate’s performance overseas effectivelyhas to be developed and agreed upon by HRMand the expatriate prior to the overseas assign-ment. The nature and level of problems theexpatriate manager may experience relative toperformance appraisal and compensation haveto be discussed prior to the assignment, and amethod for reconciling potential problems alsohas to be agreed upon. Both of these issues(dissimilarity of environments and type ofassignment) should be previewed to give theexpatriate manager a realistic job previewwhich establishes expectation for the overseasassignment (Larson 2006; Lee and Liu 2006a,b;Linehan and Scullion 2002; Johnston 2007;Paik et al. 2002).

The expatriate manager and, in particular,the family must be made aware of the types ofproblems they may face upon returning to thedomestic market (see below, Problems withrepatriation). This ‘heads-up’ will provide theexecutive/family with an awareness of thedifficulty of transitioning back into the homecountry/organization. This ex ante advancewarning will provide a foundation for agoodwill effort on the part of the MNC tomake the executive and family aware ofproblems and will show that the MNC is awareof the potential problems upon repatriation(Selmer 2006a; Stroh et al. 2000; Suutari andValimaa 2002). This awareness should providethe foundation for enabling the expatriatemanager and family to undertake training priorto leaving for the foreign assignment. Some ofthe training modules should be on the pro-blems/pressure/stress of repatriating when theassignment is completed. Repatriation needsto be elevated in the expatriates’ awareness sothat, during the assignment, they can startpreparations for returning to their home

country. Often, the problems associated withrepatriation are not well delineated, and there-fore are not addressed by the expatriate duringthe overseas assignment (Harvey 1982, 1996;Kendall 1981).

Phase II: Expatriation phase. Once theexpatriate manager is relocated overseas, train-ing needs to be started for the eventual returnof the expatriate/family. While this may seema contradiction, a well-articulated repatriationprogram includes a number of things thatneeds to be taking place during the expatriateassignment. First, a formal communicationslink must be established with the expatriate(Selmer 2006a). This link can provide updateson what is happening in the organizationduring the expatriate’s absence while, at thesame time, repatriation ‘tips’ can be providedto the expatriate and his/her family so that theycan develop a personal re-entry strategy.

An important step that should be taken is tohave repatriation discussions with expatriatesduring formal performance appraisals. Expatri-ates should not be allowed to put off thinking/planning for the repatriation phase of theirassignment. Given that there is a formal reviewof expatriates on at least an annual basis, thediscussion of the steps in repatriation wouldseem to be a natural way to maintain ‘top-of-mind’ awareness of the intricacy of repatriation(Harvey 1989; Hyder and Lovblad 2007;Jassawalla et al. 2004a; Kendall 1981). Theremay/could be some initial resistance on thepart of the performance appraisal rater toadvance thoughts about returning home but,without ongoing discussion of repatriation, theprobability of having an effective transitionback into the home organization/home countrywill be diminished.

At least a year before expatriates are to berepatriated, detailed discussion of positionsthat will be open upon their arrival shouldtake place. One of the primary concerns ofexpatriates is what their assignment will beonce they have returned to the home country.While in most cases it is difficult to have anexact position picked out, the discussionshould be around possible types/levels of

September 2009

287© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

position that would be appropriate (Bonache2005; Caligiuri and Lazarova 2001; Harveyand Novicevic 2006).

Phase III: Repatriation phase. The actualreturn of the expatriate/family should be wellarticulated, given the preparation during thefirst two phases of the expatriate program.Time is frequently the basic issue for returningexpatriate managers. They frequently needadditional time ‘consideration’ to make thetransition to the home organization and cultureas seamless as possible. Time will be neededfor the physical transition as well as the psy-chological return to the complexities of thehome country and organization. The moreforced expatriates are, the greater the level ofstress they will experience. This stress will becarried over to the manager’s personal life andwill compound the stress on the professionalside of the repatriation process (Takeuchi et al.2002; Wang and Sangalang 2005). This stresswill necessitate additional resources (time)being allocated to assist the family/spouse ofthe repatriated manager (Wang and Sangalang2005).

The career path of the repatriated managershould be a central focus of the repatriationprocess. All too often, expatriate managers areput into a holding pattern upon return becausethe preparation for the return into the organi-zation has not been done or timing is an issuerelative to the new position (Harvey 1989).But, if an appropriate amount of time andpreparation is given to the repatriate, the nega-tive effects of the delay can be diminished(Harvey 1982).

Problems in repatriation of expatriate manag-ers. A number of problems have been observedwhen repatriating expatriate managers to theirhome country after the completion of theiroverseas assignment. One issue has been thenumber of expatriates who do not successfullycomplete their terms on the foreign assignment.There has been a debate in the academicliterature over the last decade (see Harzing2001; Harzing and Christensen 2004) as to thesize of the failure rate. Almost regardless of

the level of failure, it would be hard to arguewith any degree of certainty that expatriatemanagers have a difficult time adjusting whenexpatriating and again when they (and theirfamilies) are repatriated. The problems thatappear to be most troublesome upon repatria-tion are as follows.

(1) Financial issues. There are a number ofmoney-related issues that can createproblems for expatriates upon arriving intheir home country. First, there is a with-drawal of allowances that are a commonfoundation of the expatriate manager’soversea compensation package. It is notuncommon for expatriate managers toreceive housing, travel, educational,transportation, ‘hazardous duty pay’,support personnel for the spouse (house-hold assistance) as well as assistancefor the expatriate (drivers, personal aids,etc.). All too often, the expatriate loses allthese allowances simultaneously, placinga financial burden on the family. Thesefinancial pressures are heightened owingto the other contemporaneous pressuresand the need to make large financial com-mitments (e.g. house, car(s), education,etc.) upon arriving in the home country(Baruch and Altman 2002; Baruch et al.2002; Harvey 1989; Tran and Wong2006).

(2) Family issues. The return is as taxing onthe spouse/family unit as it is on theexpatriate manager. The first problem areafocuses on getting the children integratedback into the educational as well as thesocial context of the home country. If theoverseas assignment for the expatriate wasmore than five years, schooling issues areamong the first that need to be addressed(Harvey and Novicevic 2006; Napier andPeterson 1991). This problem frequentlyplaces pressure on housing decisions, inthat choice of district is frequently tied towhich schools are available to the children.One problem that is of growing concernto repatriated families is assisting trailing

Expatriate mangers

288 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

spouses with their careers. Trailing spouseswill often need to restart their career cycleupon returning to their home country.Again, if the overseas sojourn has been formore than five years, reinvigorating thetrailing spouse’s career can provide a sig-nificant challenge to the family as well asto the MNC. Both psychological pressuresas well as potential financial exigenciesmake the job/career search a critical issuefor trailing spouses upon repatriation.

(3) Individual expatriate manager issues. Thepressures on expatriates can come fromoutside the job (as discussed above), butthere can be a number of issues on the jobthat create problems for them. The mostcommon job-related issue is the re-entryposition of the expatriate. It is not atypicalfor returning expatriates be put into a‘holding pattern’ relative to the new posi-tion upon return to the domestic organiza-tion. ‘Out of sight out of mind’ is acommon problem, so that expatriate man-agers find themselves without an appro-priate position on return. Finding aposition that is a reasonable career step forexpatriates may take up to six months,leaving them questioning the wisdom ofthe expatriate assignment.

At the same time, cohorts of expatri-ates appear to be ahead of them, becausethey have ‘been around’ when positionscame open in the organization. Thisinconsistency in the career paths of expa-triate managers and their domestic coun-terparts can create problems that are hardto overcome (i.e. psychologically as wellas professionally) and create undue stressin the repatriated expatriate manager. Oneof the most dangerous issues is that othermanagers observe the lack of a smoothrepatriation, which may cause them tore-think their own expatriation assign-ments. With the present difficulty ingetting managers to relocate overseas(see Larson 2006; Lee and Liu 2006a,b;Stroh 1995, 1999), having repatriates‘wandering around’ looking for a position

could have a lasting impact on potentialexpatriate managers.

(4) Organizational issues. The issues thatdomestic organizations face during repa-triation start when they are preparing towithdraw ‘successful’ expatriate managerfrom their assignment overseas. All toooften, expatriate managers are asked toremain in the foreign country longerowing to the difficulty of finding replace-ments. The lack of succession planningand the limited pool of ‘prepared’ expatri-ate candidates necessitate taking addi-tional time in repatriating managers. Thisdelay comes at a cost to both expatriates(and their families) and the organization.The motivation of expatriate managers islower, given their focus on returning to thehome country and, at the same time, theorganization is reluctant to make invest-ments in the overseas position, given theanticipated turnover of managers (Harvey1989; Lee and Liu 2006a,b). The ‘lameduck’ manager cannot make commitmentsor start new projects that have a long timehorizon. This state of limbo reduces theattention to the consumer and the com-petitive nature of the marketplace.

Costs also escalate during the periodwhen repatriate managers (and their fami-lies) return and at the same time the initial‘set-up’ of the new expatriate manager isbeing paid for. The increase in cost canvery easily correspond to a drop in output/sales as a result of repatriate managerslooking toward the move ‘home’ and theadjustment of the next expatriated mana-ger (Holopainen and Björkman 2005;Hyder and Lovblad 2007; Jassawalla et al.2004a; Miroshnik 2002). The time to bringabout the change in management can belonger than anticipated and increase theexpenditure of the organization, while atthe same time increasing the stress/pressure on both the outgoing and incom-ing expatriate managers (and families).

(5) Future career issues. Future career con-cerns are at both an organizational and a

September 2009

289© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

personal level for expatriate/repatriatemanagers. The issue for the organizationis: how much time and money need to bespent on returning expatriate managers totheir home country? There is a sentiment/argument among some HRM professionalsthat does not see the need to develop well-articulated/funded repatriation processes.This argument hinges on the precept thatexpatriate managers are ‘coming home’,and therefore they should not need as muchattention as expatriates leaving their homecountry. When budgets are tight, one of thefirst concerns is spending capital on repa-triating managers (Caligiuri and Lazarova2001; Duoto 2002; Harvey 1989; Paiket al. 2002). But the counter-argument isthat, without a fully articulated repatriationprogram, it will be difficult to integraterepatriated managers into the organization.But perhaps more importantly, managerswill learn that there are major issues uponreturning to the domestic organizationafter an overseas assignment and will notapply for overseas positions that open upin the future.

At the individual manager level, thelack of a well-articulated career path mayreduce the propensity of managers to par-ticipate in overseas programs. The numberof managers delaying/refusing to relocateoverseas would appear to be a majorconcern for MNCs (Harvey and Novicevic2001; Konopaske and Werner 2005;Konopaske et al. 2005). Not going may bebased upon the lack of a well-articulatedrepatriation program, considering that theproblems are visible to a larger number ofmanagers, given the size of the home-country organization. While on assign-ment, there is less chance of problemsbeing widely known.

The Future of the Expatriate Managerin Global Organizations

Until recently, the role of IHRM has dominatedthe human resource agenda of MNCs. Despite

the progress made in this area, as organizationsare globalizing it is becoming increasinglyimportant to re-define the meaning of conduct-ing business and, consequently, to focus ondeveloping globally prepared managers andthus competent global management teams. Inthe context of expatriates, this means that therole of the international manager will have toadapt such that it will fit current global marketdemands. As Dowling and Welch (2005) havepointed out, the viability of using expatriateswithin a global organization is becomingdebatable with regard to their ability to managethe escalating demands. While expatriatesstill remain a viable means of exercisingcontrol over foreign operations (Jaussaud andSchaaper 2006; Tarique and Caligiuri 2004),their responsibilities in a global context areheightened and, consequently, may have agreater impact on organizational performance.In essence, the primary objective is to generatea greater and more advanced set of skills inmanagers that will allow them to control andco-ordinate more effectively across borders.

The value of human resources within anorganization is indisputable when it comes todeveloping a strategic global human resourceagenda advantage (Lepak and Snell 1999;Wright et al. 1994). The global arena bringswith it a greater need for co-ordinating effortsand thus will require expatriates to have adeeper, more clear-cut understanding of what itmeans to do business globally. What appears tobe a common denominator among academicsfrom a human resource perspective is the cre-ation and continuous enhancement of a man-ager’s global mindset. Vital for the long-termsuccess of an organization operating in ahypercompetitive business world, the desiredoutcome of the accumulation skills relating toa global mindset is the organization’s strategicdevelopment of unique capabilities (Snell et al.1996; Taylor et al. 1996). These capabilitiesmay then serve as a stepping stone to creatinga strategic competitive advantage, a strategythat is not easily imitated by others.

The effective development of a manager,whether from an international (i.e. expatriate)

Expatriate mangers

290 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

or global standpoint is a critical factor (Bartlettand Ghoshal 1990) for organizational survivalin the broadest sense. As alluded to above, thedistinction between the two types of managerslies in their behavior, competencies and char-acteristics. Pucik and Saba (1998) defined anexpatriate (i.e. international) manager as ‘anexecutive in a leadership position that in-volves international assignments’ and a globalmanager as ‘an executive who has a hands-onunderstanding of international business, has anability to work cross-cultural, organizational,and functional boundaries, and is able tobalance the simultaneous demands of short-term profitability and growth’ (1998, 41). Howmuch this definition and the actual responsi-bilities of the expatriate manager change in thefuture will be due in part to the evolving impactof the globalization of business.

Note

1 Address for correspondence: Michael Harvey, Dis-tinguished Chair of Global Business, University ofMississippi & Professor of Management, BondUniversity, Australia. Tel: +61 662 9155830;Fax: +61 662 9155821; e-mail: mharvey@bus.olemiss.edu

References

Adler, N. (1995). Expatriate women managers. InSelmer, J. (ed.), Expatriate Management New Ideasfor International Business. Westport, CT: QuorumBooks, pp. 255–275.

Aguirre, M. (1997). Multiculturalism in a labor marketwith integrated economies. Management Decision,35, 489–496.

Arthur, W. and Bennett, W.J. (1995). The internationalassignee: the relative importance of factors per-ceived to contribute to success. Personnel Psychol-ogy, 48, 99–114.

Aycan, Z., Kanungo, R., Mendonca, M., Kaicheng, Yu,Deller, J., Stahl, G. and Kurshid, A. (2000). Impactof culture on human resources management prac-tices: a 10-country comparison. Applied Psychol-ogy: an International Review, 59(1), 192–221.

Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (July–August 1990).Matrix management: not a structure, a frame ofmind. Harvard Business Review, 68(4), 138–145.

Bartlett, C.A. (1981). Multinational structural change:evolution versus reorganization. In Otterbeck, L.(ed.), The Management of Headquarters SubsidiaryRelationships in Multinational Corporations.London: Gower, pp. 121–145.

Baruch, Y. and Altman, Y. (2002). Expatriation andrepatriation in MNCs: a taxonomy. HumanResource Management, 42, 239–259.

Baruch, Y., Steele, D.J. and Quantrill, G.A. (2002).Management of expatriation and repatriation fornovice global player. International Journal ofManpower, 23, 659–674.

Begley, T. and Boyd, D. (2003). The need for a corpo-rate global mind-set. Sloan Management Review,44(2), 78–86.

Black, J.S. (1991). Returning expatriates feel foreignin their native land. Personnel, 68(8), 32–40.

Black, J.S. (1992). Coming home: the relationship ofexpatriate expectations with repatriation adjustmentand job performance. Human Relations, 45, 177–192.

Black, J.S. and Gregersen, H.B. (1991a). Antecedentsto cross-cultural adjustment for expatriates inPacific Rim assignments. Tavistock Institute ofHuman Relations, 44, 497–515.

Black, J.S. and Gregersen, H.B. (1991b). WhenYankees come home: factors related to expatriateand spouse repatriation adjustment. Journal ofInternational Business Studies, 22, 671–694.

Black, J.S. and Mendenhall, M. (1991). The U-curveadjustment hypothesis revisited: a review and theo-retical framework. Journal of International BusinessStudies, 22, 225–248.

Black, J.S. and Stephens, G.K. (1989). The influenceof the spouse on the American expatriate adjustmentand intent to stay in Pacific Rim overseas assign-ments. Journal of Management, 15, 529–544.

Black, J.S., Gregersen, H.B. and Mendenhall, M.E.(eds) (1992). Global Assignments: SuccessfullyExpatriating and Repatriating International Man-agers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Black, J.S., Gregersen, H.B. and Mendenhall, M.(1993). Global assignments: successfully expatriatingand repatriating international managers. InternationalJournal of Organizational Analysis, 1, 436–439.

Black, J.S., Gregersen, H.B., Mendenhall, M.E. andStroh, L.K. (1999a). Globalizing People throughInternational Assignments. Boston: MA: Addison-Wesley.

Black, J.S., Gregersen, H.B., Mendenhall, M.E. andStroh, L.K. (1999b). Global Assignments. Boston,MA: Addison-Wesley.

September 2009

291© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

Black, J.S., Mendenhall, M. and Oddou, G. (1991).Toward a comprehensive model of internationaladjustment: an integration of multiple theoreticalperspectives. Academy of Management Review, 16,291–317.

Bonache, J. (2005). Job satisfaction among expatri-ates, repatriates and domestic employees. The per-ceived impact on international assignments onwork-related variables. Personnel Review, 34(1),110–124.

Bonache, J. (2006). The compensation of expatriates: areview and a future research agenda. In Stahl, G.K.and Bjoerkman, I. (eds), Handbook of Research inInternational Human Resource Management. Chel-tenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 158–196.

Bonache, J. and Brewster, C. (2001). Knowledgetransfer and the management of expatriation. Thun-derbird International Business Review, 43, 145–168.

Bonache, J., Brewster, C. and Suutari, V. (2001).Expatriation: a developing research agenda.Thunderbird International Business Review, 43,3–20.

Brewster, C. and Suutari, V. (2005). Global HRM:aspects of a research agenda. Personnel Review,34(1), 5–21.

Bunker, B.B., Zubek, J.M., Vanderslice, V.J. andRice, R.W. (1992). Quality of life in dual-careerfamilies: commuting versus single-residence couples.Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 399–407.

Caligiuri, P. and Stroh, L. (1995). Multinational cor-porate management strategies and internationalhuman resource practices: bringing internationalhuman resource management to the bottom line.International Journal of Human Resource Manage-ment, 6, 494–507.

Caligiuri, P.M. and Lazarova, M. (2001). Strategicrepatriation policies to enhance global leadershipdevelopment. Working Paper Series in HumanResource Management, Center for HR Studies,Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ.

Caligiuri, P.M. and Phillips, J.M. (2003). An applica-tion of self-assessment realistic job previews toexpatriate assignments. International Journal ofHuman Resource Management, 14, 1102–1116.

Carmeli, A. (2005). The relationship between organi-zational culture and withdrawal intentions andbehavior. International Journal of Manpower,26(2), 177–195.

Chen, M.F. and Tzeng, G.H. (2004). Combining greyrelation and TOPSIS concepts for selecting an

expatriate host country. Mathematical and Com-puter Modelling, 1, 1–18.

Colakoglu, S. and Caligiuri, P. (2008). Cultural dis-tance, expatriate staffing and subsidiary perfor-mance: the case of US subsidiaries of multinationalcorporations. International Journal of HumanResource Management, 19, 223–239.

Culpan, O. and Wright, G.H. (2002). Women abroad:getting the best results from women managers.International Journal of Human Resource Manage-ment, 13, 784–801.

Daniels, J.D. and Insch, G.S. (1998). Why are earlydeparture rates from foreign assignments lowerthan historically reported? Multinational BusinessReview, 6(1), 13–23.

Deller, J. (2006). International human resource man-agement and the formation of cross-cultural com-petence. International Management Review, 2(3),20–28.

Dowling, P. (1989). Hot issues overseas. PersonnelAdministrator, 34(1), 66–72.

Dowling, P. and Welch, D. (2005). InternationalHuman Resource Management: Managing Peoplein a Global Context, 4th edition. London: ThomsonLearning.

Dowling, P., Welch, B. and Schuler, R. (1999). Inten-tion of Human Resource Management: ManagingPeople in a Multinational Context. Cincinnati, OH:South-Western College Publication.

Downes, M., Thomas, A.S. and Rodger, B.S. (2002).Predicting expatriate job satisfaction: the role offirm internationalization. Career DevelopmentInternational, 7(1), 24–36.

Duoto, M. (2002). Factors Influencing Job Satisfactionof Repatriated Managers. San Diego, CA: Univer-sity of San Diego, p. 97.

Elashmawi, F. and Harris, P. (1993). MulticulturalManagement. Houston, TX: Gulf.

Elenius, J., Garvik, L. and Nilsson, F. (2003). Anevaluation of the repatriation process at Company X.Master Thesis in International Management.

Fairlamb, D. (1995). Can anyone get globalizationright? Institutional Investor, 29(8), 40–47.

Fernandez, B., Mutabazi, E. and Pierre, P. (2006).International executives, identity strategies andmobility in France and China. Asia Pacific BusinessReview, 12(1), 53–76.

Gardner, T.G. (2007). System for global compensationof employees. USPTO Applicaton, 20070185790.

GMAC/SHRM Global Forum (2006). Global Reloca-tion Trends: 2005 Survey Report. Warren, NJ:GMAC.

Expatriate mangers

292 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

Gomez-Mejia, L. and Welbourne, T. (1991). Compen-sation strategies in a global context. HumanResource Planning, 14, 29–41.

Hall, R. (1993). A framework linking intangibleresources and capabilities to sustainable competitionadvantage. Strategic Management Journal, 14, 607–618.

Hamel, G. and Prahalad, C. (1989). The core compe-tency of the corporation. Harvard Business Review,68(2), 79–91.

Harris, P.R. and Moran, R.T. (1991). Managing Cul-tural Differences: Global Leadership Strategiesfor the Twenty-first Century. Oxford: ElsevierButterworth-Heinemann.

Harvey, M. (1982). The other side of foreign assign-ments: dealing with the repatriation dilemma.Columbia Journal of World Business, 17(1), 53–59.

Harvey, M. (1989). Repatriation of corporate execu-tives: an empirical study. Journal of InternationalBusiness Studies, 20, 131–144.

Harvey, M. (1993a). Empirical evidence of reoccurringinternational compensation problems. Journal ofInternational Business Studies, 24, 785–799.

Harvey, M. (1993b). Designing a global compensationsystem: the logic and a model. Columbia Journal ofWorld Business, 28(4), 57–72.

Harvey, M. (1996). The selection of managers forforeign assignments: a planning perspective. Colum-bia Journal of World Business, 31(4), 57–68.

Harvey, M. (1997a). Developing leaders rather thanmanagers for the global marketplace. HumanResource Management Review, 7(4), 57–64.

Harvey, M. (1997b). The impact of the dual-careerexpatriate on international human resource manage-ment, Journal of International Management, 3(4),76–85.

Harvey, M. (1997c). Dual-career expatriates: expecta-tions, adjustment, and satisfaction with internationalrelocations, Journal of International BusinessStudies, 28(3), 125–138.

Harvey, M. and Novicevic, M. (2000). Staffing globalmarketing positions: what we don’t know canmake a difference. Journal of World Business, 35,80–94.

Harvey, M. and Novicevic, M. (2001). Selectingexpatriates for increasingly complex global assign-ments. Career Development International, 6(2),69–86.

Harvey, M. and Novicevic, M. (2002a). Selectingmarketing managers to effectively control globalchannels of distribution. International MarketingReview, 19, 525–544.

Harvey, M. and Novicevic, M. (2002b). Selectingappropriate marketing managers to effectivelycontrol global channels of distribution. InternationalMarketing Review, 19(5), 75–84.

Harvey, M. and Novicevic, M. (2002c). The hyper-competitive global marketplace: the importance ofintuition and creativity in expatriate managers.Journal of World Business, 37(2), 45–57.

Harvey, M. and Novicevic, M. (2006). The transitionfrom MNC to global organizations: the evolutionfrom repatriation to ‘patriation’. In Stahl, G. andBjörkman, I. (eds), Handbook of Research in Inter-national Human Resource Management. Chelten-ham: Edward Elgar, pp. 323–343.

Harvey, M., Novicevic, M. and Garrison, G. (2004).Challenges to staffing global virtual teams. HumanResource Management Review, 14(3), 42–53.

Harvey, M., Speier, C. and Novicevic, M. (1999). Theimpact of emerging markets on staffing the globalorganization: a knowledge-based view. Journal ofInternational Management, 5, 167–186.

Harvey, M., Speier, C. and Novicevic, M. (2001). Stra-tegic human resource staffing of foreign subsidiar-ies. Research and Practice in Human ResourceManagement, 9(2), 27–56.

Harvey, M., Speier, C. and Novicevic, M. (2002). Theevolution of strategic human resource systems andtheir application in a foreign subsidiary context.Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 40(3),1–22.

Harzing, A.W. (1995). The persistent myth of highexpatriate failure rates. International Journal ofHuman Resource Management, 6, 457–474.

Harzing, A.W. (2001). Of bears, bumble-bees, andspiders: the role of expatriates in controlling foreignsubsidiaries. Journal of World Business, 36, 366–379.

Harzing, A.W. and Christensen, C. (2004). Expatriatefailure: time to abandon the concept? Career Devel-opment International, 9, 616–626.

Haslberger, A. (2005). Facets and dimensions of cross-cultural adaptation: refining the tools. PersonnelReview, 34(1), 85–109.

Haslberger, A. and Brewster, C. (2005). Towards ataxonomy of expatriate adjustment. Paper presentedat the IV Iberoamerican Academy of Management,Barcelona, Spain.

Hocking, J.B., Brown, M. and Harzing, A.H. (2004). Aknowledge transfer perspective of strategic assign-ment purposes and their path-dependent outcomes.International Journal of Human Resource Manage-ment, 15, 565–586.

September 2009

293© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

Hodgetts, R.M. and Luthans, F. (1993). U.S. multina-tionals’ expatriate compensation strategies. Com-pensation and Benefits Review, 25(1), 57–62.

Hoecklin, L. (1995). Managing Cultural Differences:Strategies for Competitive Advantage. Reading MA:Addison-Wesley.

Holopainen, J. and Björkman, I. (2005). The personalcharacteristics of the successful expatriate. A criticalreview of the literature and an empirical investiga-tion. Personnel Review, 34(1), 37–50.

House, R.J., Hanges, P., Javidan, M., Dorfman, P.W.and Gupta, V. (2004). Culture, Leadership, andOrganizations. The GLOBE Study of 62 Societies.London: Sage.

Hyder, A. and Lovblad, M. (2007). The repatriationprocess – a realistic approach. Career DevelopmentInternational, 12, 264–281.

Ilgen, D., Barnes-Farrell, J. and McKelllin, D. (1993).Performance appraisal process research in the1980s: what has it contributed to the appraisals inuse? Organizational Behavior and Human DecisionProcess, 54, 321–368.

Jassawalla, A., Connolly, T. and Slojkowski, L.(2004a). Issues of effective repatriation: a model andmanagerial implications. SAM Advanced Manage-ment Journal, 69, 38–46.

Jassawalla, A., Truglia, C. and Garvey, J. (2004b).Cross-cultural conflict and expatriate manageradjustment. An exploratory study. ManagementDecision, 42, 837–849.

Jaussand, J. and Schaaper, J. (2006). Control mecha-nisms of their subsidiaries by multinational firms: amultinational perspective. Journal of InternationalManagement, 12, 23–45.

Javiden, M. and Dastmalchian, A (1993). Assessingsenior executives: the impact of context on theirroles. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 29,328–342.

Johnston, J. (2007). An empirical study of the repatri-ation of managers in UK multinationals. HumanResource Management Journal, 1(4), 102–109.

Kedia, B. and Mukherji, A. (1999). Global managers:developing a mindset for global competitiveness.Journal of World Business, 34(3), 230–251.

Kendall, D.W. (1981). Repatriation: an ending and abeginning. Business Horizons, 24, 21–25.

Konopaske, R. and Werner, S. (2005). US managers’willingness to accept a global assignment: do expa-triate benefits and assignment length make a differ-ence? International Journal of Human ResourceManagement, 16, 1159–1175.

Konopaske, R., Robie, C. and Ivancevich, J. (2005). A

preliminary model of spouse influence on managerialglobal assignment willingness. International Journalof Human Resource Management, 16, 405–426.

Kraimer, M., Wayne, S. and Jaworski, R. (2001).Sources of support and expatriate performance: themediating role of expatriate adjustment. PersonnelPsychology, 54(1), 71–99.

Larson, D. (2006). Here we go again: how a family’scross-cultural and repatriation adjustment relates tothe employee’s receptivity to future internationalassignments. Advanced Management Journal,71(2), 46–57.

Latham, G. and Wexley, K. (1981). Improving Perfor-mance through Effective Performance Appraisals.Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Latta, G. (1992). Managing international compensa-tion: current challenges. Benefits and CompensationInternational, 22(2), 18–22.

Lee, H.W. and Liu, C.H. (2006a). An examination offactors affecting repatriates’ turnover intentions.International Journal of Manpower, 28(2), 122–134.

Lee, H.W. and Liu, C.H. (2006b). The determinants ofrepatriate turnover intentions: an empirical analysis.International Journal of Management, 23(4), 751–762.

Lepak, D.P. and Snell, S.A. (1999). The humanresource architecture: toward a theory of humancapital allocation and development. Academy ofManagement Review, 24(1), 31–49.

Linehan, M. (2002). Senior female international man-agers: empirical evidence from Western Europe.International Journal of Human Resource Manage-ment, 13, 802–814.

Linehan, M. and Scullion, H. (2002). Repatriation ofEuropean female corporate executives: an empiricalstudy. International Journal of Human ResourceManagement, 13, 254–267.

Martinez, J. and Quelch, J. (1996). Country mana-gers: the next generation. International MarketingReview, 13(3), 43–58.

Mayerhofer, H., Hartmann, L.C., Michelitsch-Riedl,G. and Kollinger, I. (2004). Flexpatriate assign-ments: a neglected issue in global staffing. Interna-tional Journal of Human Resource Management, 15,1371–1389.

Mendenhall, M. and Oddou, G. (1991). Expatriateperformance appraisal: problems and solutions. InMendenlhall, M. and Oddou, G. (eds), Readings andCases in International Human Resource Manage-ment. Boston: PWS-Kent, pp. 256–287.

Mendenhall, M., Dunbar, E. and Oddou, G. (1987).Expatriate selection, training and career-pathing: a

Expatriate mangers

294 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

review and critique. Human Resources Manage-ment, 26, 331–345.

Milliman, J., Von Glinow, M. and Nathan, M. (1991).Organizational life-cycles and strategic internationalhuman resource management in multinationalcompanies: implications for congruency theory.Academy of Management Review, 16, 318–339.

Minbaeva, D.B. and Michailova, S. (2004). Knowl-edge transfer and expatriation in multinationalcorporations: the role of disseminative capacity.Employee Relations, 26, 663–679.

Miroshnik, V. (2002). Culture and international man-agement: a review. Journal of Management Devel-opment, 21, 521–544.

Napier, N.K. and Peterson, R.B. (1991). Expatriatesre-entry: what do repatriates have to say? HumanResource Planning, 14(1), 19–28.

Novicevic, M. and Harvey, M. (2001). The corporate HRfunction in global organizations of the 21st century:new venues of influence. International Journal ofHuman Resource Management, 12, 1251–1268.

Novicevic, M. and Harvey, M. (2004). Staffing archi-tecture for expatriate assignments to support sub-sidiary cooperation. Thunderbird InternationalBusiness Review, 46, 709–724.

Oddou, G., Derr, B. and Black, S. (1995). Internation-alizing managers: expatriation and other strategies.In Selmer, J. (ed.), Expatriate Management: newIdeas for International Business. Westport: QuorumBooks.

Paik, Y., Segaud, B. and Malinowski, C. (2002). Howto improve repatriation management: are motiva-tions and expectations congruent between thecompany and expatriates? International Journal ofManpower, 23, 635–648.

Paul, H. (2000). Creating a global mindset. Thunder-bird International Business Review, 42, 187–200.

Peppas, S.C. (2004). Making the most of internationalassignments: a training model for non-residentexpatriates. Journal of American Academy of Busi-ness, 5(1&2), 41–45.

Pucik, V. and Saba, T. (1998). Selecting and develop-ing the global versus the expatriate manager: areview of the state-of-the-art. Human ResourcePlanning, 21(4), 40–54.

Reynolds, C. (1997). Expatriate compensation in his-torical perspective. Journal of World Business,32(2), 118–132.

Ryan, A., McFarland, L., Baron, H. and Page, R.(1999). An international look at selection practices:nations and culture as explanations for variability inpractice. Personnel Psychology, 52, 359–391.

Schuler, R., Fulkerson, J. and Dowling, P. (1991). Stra-tegic performance measurement and management inmultinational corporations. Human Resource Man-agement, 30, 365–392.

Scullion, H. and Collings, D. (2006). Global Staffing.New York: Routledge.

Selmer, J. (2000). Psychological barriers to interna-tional adjustment: North American vs. WesternEuropean business expatriates in China. Interna-tional Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 7(3),13–18.

Selmer, J. (2001). Adjustment of Western Europeanvs. North American expatriate managers in China.Personnel Review, 30(1), 6–21.

Selmer, J. (2006a). Cultural novelty and adjustment:western business expatriates in China. InternationalJournal of Human Resource Management, 17,1209–1222.

Selmer, J. (2006b). Language ability and adjustment:western expatriates in China. Thunderbird Interna-tional Business Review, 48, 347–368.

Selmer, J. and Leung, A. (2003b). Personal character-istics of female vs. male business expatriates. Inter-national Journal of Cross Cultural Management,3(2), 195–212.

Selmer, J., Chiu, R.K. and Shenkar, O. (2007). Cul-tural distance asymmetry in expatriate adjustment.International Journal of Cross Cultural Manage-ment, 14(2), 150–160.

Shay, J. and Baack, S. (2006). An empirical investiga-tion of the relationships between modes and degreeof expatriate adjustment and multiple measures ofperformance. International Journal of Cross Cul-tural Management, 6(3), 275–294.

Smither, J., Barry, S. and Reilly, R. (1989). An inves-tigation of the validity of expert score estimates inappraisal research. Journal of Applied Psychology,74, 143–151.

Snell, S., Youndt, M. and Wright, P. (1996). Establish-ing a framework for research in strategic humanresource management: merging resource theory andorganizational learning. Research in Personnel andHuman Resource Management, 14, 61–90.

Sohn, J.H. (1994). Social knowledge as a controlsystem: a proposition and evidence from theJapanese FDI behavior. Journal of InternationalBusiness Studies, 25, 295–324.

Stahl, G.K., Miller, E.L. and Tung, R.L. (2002).Toward the boundaryless career: a closer look at theexpatriate career concept and the perceived implica-tions of an international assignment. Journal ofWorld Business, 37, 216–227.

September 2009

295© 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management

Stroh, L.K. (1995). Predicting turnover among repatri-ates: can organizations affect retention rates? Inter-national Journal of Human Resource Management,6, 443–456.

Stroh, L.K. (1999). Does relocation still benefitcorporations and employees? An overview of theliterature. Human Resource Management Review,9, 279–309.

Stroh, L.K., Gregersen, H.B. and Black, J.S. (2000).Triumphs and tragedies: expectations and commit-ments upon repatriation. International Journal ofHuman Resource Management, 11, 681–697.

Suutari, V. (2003). Global managers: career orienta-tion, career tracks, life-style implications and careercommitment. Journal of Managerial Psychology,18, 185–207.

Suutari, V. and Valimaa, K. (2002). Antecedents ofrepatriation adjustment: new evidence from Finnishrepatriates. International Journal of Manpower, 23,617–634.

Takeuchi, R., Yun, S. and Tesluk, P. (2002). An exami-nation of crossover and spill over effects of spousaland expatriate cross-cultural adjustment on expatri-ate outcomes. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87,655–666.

Takeuchi, R., Wang, M. and Marinova, S. (2005).Antecedents and consequences of psychologicalworkplace strain during expatriation: a cross-sectional and longitudinal investigation. PersonnelPsychology, 58, 925–948.

Tarique, I. and Caligiuri, P. (2004). Training and devel-opment of international staff. In Harzing, A.W. andVan Ruysseveldt, J. (eds), International HumanResource Management. Thousand Oaks, CA: SagePublications, pp. 283–306.

Taylor, S., Beechler, S. and Napier, N. (1996). Towardan integrative model of strategic internationalhuman resource management. Academy of Manage-ment Review, 21(4), 959–985.

Templer, K., Tay, C. and Chandrasekar, N. (2006).Motivational cultural intelligence, realistic jobpreview, realistic living conditions preview, andcross-cultural adjustment. Group & OrganizationManagement, 31(1), 154–173.

Tharenou, P. and Harvey, M. (2006). Examining theoverseas staffing options utilized by Australianheadquartered multinational corporations. Interna-tional Journal of Human Resource Management, 17,234–245.

Tran, H. and Wong, A. (May 2006). Expatriate man-agement: how can the expatriate process beimproved? Master Thesis in InternationalManagement.

Tung, R.L. (1987). Expatriate assignments: enhancingsuccess and minimizing failure. Academy of Man-agement Executive, 1, 117–125.

Vidal, S., Sans Valle, R., Aragon, M. and Brewster, C.(2007). Effective repatriation management: evi-dence from Spanish workers. International Journalof Intercultural Relations, 33, 317–337.

Wang, X. and Kanungo, R. (2004). Nationality, socialnetwork and psychological wellbeing: expatriates inChina. International Journal of Human ResourceManagement, 15, 775–793.

Wang, X. and Sangalang, P.J. (2005). Work adjustmentand job satisfaction of Filipino immigrant employ-ees in Canada. Canadian Journal of AdministrativeSciences, 22, 243–254.

Wasti, S.A. (2003). The influence of cultural values onantecedents of organizational commitment: andindividual-level analysis. Applied Psychology: anInternational Review, 52, 533–554.

Webb, A. and Wright, C. (1996). The expatriate expe-rience: implications for career success. CareerDevelopment Journal, 1(5), 30–44.

Wederspahn, G. (1992). Costing failures in expatriatehuman resources management. Human ResourcePlanning, 15(3), 27–37.

Wright, R.M., McMahan, G. and McWilliams, A.(1994). Human resources and sustained competitiveadvantage: a resource-based perspective. Interna-tional Journal of Human Resource Management, 5,301–326.

Michael Harvey and Miriam Moeller are fromthe University of Mississippi and Bond Univer-sity, Australia.

Expatriate mangers

296 © 2009 The AuthorsJournal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and British Academy of Management