Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION START

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of contents.
Scope of the book
• Defining international HRM (IHRM)
• Differences between domestic and international HRM
• Variables that moderate these differences
• The cultural environment
• Industry type
• Extent of MNE reliance on its home-country domestic market
• Senior mgmt. attitudes to international ops.
• Applying a strategic view of IHRM
• The changing context of IHRM
 Vocabulary
 HRM, IHRM
 PCN, HCN, TCN
 MNE
 expatriate = international assignee, inpatriate
 repatriation
 equity issues
 psychological contract
 culture shock
 convergence/divergence hypotheses
 Porter’s value chain model
 index of transnationality
 global mindset
 asymmetric events
 environmental dynamics
 organizational culture
 Objectives
1. Define IHRM and key terms in IHRM
2. Introduce and review expatriate assignment
management
3. Outline the differences between
domestic and international HRM
4. Present the complexity and increasing challenges to
existing IHRM practices and current models
Scope of the book

Chapter 1
 Figure 1.1
Interrelationships between approaches to the field
Defining international HRM

Chapter 1
 HRM activities
1. HR planning
2. Staffing (recruitment, selection, placement)
3. Performance management
4. Training and development
5. Compensation and benefits
6. Industrial relations
 Morgan’s “3-D” definition of IHRM
1. The broad HR activities of
procurement, allocation and utilization
2. The countries where IHRM occurs:
• Host-country where subsidiary may be located
• Parent-country where firm is headquartered
• Other countries that may be
source of labor, finance and other inputs
3. The employees of an international firm:
• HCNs (host country nationals)
• PCNs (parent .. .. )
• TCNs (host .. .. )
 Figure 1.2
International assignments create expatriates
 Stahl-Björkman-Morris def. of IHRM
The field of IHRM covers
• All issues related to firm outcomes
• A wide range of HR issues facing MNEs in
different parts of their organizations

This definition includes comparative analyses of

HRM in different countries.
Domestic vs. international

Chapter 1
 IHRM is more complex than
domestic HRM
IHRM has …
1. more HR activities
2. a need for a broader perspective
3. more involvement in employees’ personal lives
4. changes of emphasis as
the mix of expatriates and locals varies
5. more risk exposure
6. broader external influences
 IHRM has international HR activities
■ International taxation
■ International relocation and orientation
■ Administrative services for expatriates
■ Host-government relations
■ Language translation services
 International relocation involves:
■ Arranging for pre-departure training
■ Providing immigration and travel details
■ Providing housing, shopping, medical care,
recreation, and schooling information
■ Finalizing compensation details such as:
 delivery of salary overseas
 determination of various overseas allowances
 taxation treatment
Variables that moderate the differences

Chapter 1
Four more variables that moderate the difference between
domestic and international HRM:

1. the cultural environment

2. the industry(ies) in which the MNE is primarily
involved
3. the extent to which the MNE relies on
its home-country domestic market
4. the attitudes of senior management
 Figure 1.3
A model of the variables that moderate differences between
domestic and international HRM
The cultural environment

Chapter 1
 Culture matters
■ Culture shock
■ Emic ≠ etic
■ Convergence hypothesis research
tends to focus on macro level
■ Divergence hypothesis research
tends to focus on micro level
■ The international HR manager must be aware
of cultural differences
Industry type

Chapter 1
 The MNE industry type continuum
An MNE performs somewhere in this range:
Multidomestic Industries Global Industries

Examples
retailing, distribution, insurance airlines, semiconductors, copiers

International strategy
Collapses to a Must integrate activities on a
series of domestic strategies worldwide basis
Laurent’s steps for true IHRM:
1. Parent organization explicitly recognizes that its HRM reflects
some assumptions and values of own home culture.
2. Parent organization explicitly recognizes that its own peculiar ways are
neither universally better nor worse than others –
just different and likely to exhibit strengths and weaknesses, particularly
abroad.
3. Parent organization explicitly recognizes that its foreign subsidiaries may
prefer other ways to manage people – ways that are neither intrinsically
better nor worse, but possibly more effective locally.
4. Headquarters is willing to acknowledge cultural differences and take
steps to make them discussable & therefore usable.
5. All parties build belief that cross-cultural learning invites
more creative and effective ways of managing people.
Extent of reliance of the multinational on its
home-country domestic market

Chapter 1
 Table 1.1
Fortune 2016 Global 500 Top 10 ranked by US$ millions revenues
Senior management attitudes

Chapter 1
What does senior mgmt. think?

Some of the changes required to truly

internationalize HR

have more to do with a global mindset

than with behaviors.
Applying a strategic view of IHRM

Chapter 1
 Figure 1.4
A framework of strategic HRM in MNEs
 Asymmetric events tend to be
■ unmatched in our capabilities & plans
■ highly leveraged against our particular assets
■ designed to
1. secure leverage against our assets
2. work around,
offset, and
negatewhat in other contexts are our strengths

3. Be difficult to respond to in a
discriminate and proportionate manner
The changing context of IHRM

Chapter 1
 An MNE case study result
MNEs fail primarily because of
a lack of understanding of
the
differences

in managing HR, at all levels,

in foreign environments.
Chapter 2
THE CULTURAL
CONTEXT OF IHRM
Chapter 2
THE CULTURAL
CONTEXT OF IHRM START
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of contents.

• Definitions of culture
• Intro to cross-cultural management research
• The Hofstede study
• The GLOBE study
• The Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner study
• Hall and Hall’s cultural dimensions
• The development of cultures

Chapter 2
 Vocabulary
 Culture as defined by: Kluckhohn and Kroeber, Schein
 artefacts, values, underlying assumptions
 cross-cultural management
 Hofstede:
power distance, uncertainty avoidance femininity vs. masculinity,
individualism vs. collectivism, long-term orientation
Confucianism, Confucianism dynamics
 GLOBE:
ingroup, in-group collectivism vs. institutional collectivism,
organizational culture, national culture, gender egalitarianism,
assertiveness, performance orientation, humane orientation
 Trompenaars, and Hampden-Turner:
universalism vs. particularism, communitarianism, neutral vs. emotional,
diffuse vs. specific, ascriptive vs. achievement,
sequential vs. synchronic time, internal vs. external control
 Hall and Hall:
high vs. low context, spatial orientation,
polychrome vs. monochrome time
 Objectives
Learn these key findings and themes:
1. Definitions of culture
2. Cultural concepts
3. Results of various intercultural mgmt. studies:
Hofstede, GLOBE, Trompenaars, and others
4. Reflections on cross-cultural mgmt. research
5. Development of cultures
Definitions of culture

Chapter 1
 Kluckhohn & Kroeber def. of culture
Culture consists in patterned ways of  thinking
 feeling
 reacting
acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols,
constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups,
including their embodiments in artefacts;

The
essential traditional ideas and
consists of
core of their attached values
culture
 Schein’s concept of culture
A culture has 3 levels:

1. Artefacts – visible
2. Values – intermediate level of consciousness
3. Underlying assumptions – invisible,
unconscious
 Schein’s 6 underlying assumptions
1. Nature of reality & truth
2. Time dimension
3. Effect of spatial proximity and distance
4. Nature of being human
5. Type of human activity
6. Nature of human relationships
Intro to cross-cultural mgmt. research

Chapter 1
 Goals of cross-cultural mgmt. studies
• Describe working behavior
&
• Compare in various cultures
•
interaction between employees,
• Explain customers, suppliers or
&
• Improve businesses in different countries
and cultures
The Hofstede study

Chapter 1
 Hofstede’s culture dimensions
1. Power distance
2. Uncertainty avoidance
3. Femininity vs. masculinity
4. Individualism vs. collectivism
5. Confucianism or long-term orientation
 Long-term cultures characterized by:
• Great endurance, persistence in pursuing goals
• Position of ranking based on status
• Adaptation of traditions to modern conditions
• Respect of social and status obligations within limits
• High savings rates and high investment activity
• Readiness to subordinate oneself
to a purpose
 Short-term cultures characterized by:
• Personal candor and stability
• Avoiding loss of face and
respect of social and status obligations without
consideration of costs
• Low savings rates and low investment activity
• Expectations of quick profit
• Respect for traditions
• Greetings, presents and courtesies based on
reciprocity
 Figure 2.1
Results of the Hofstede study (I):
Power distance and individualism vs. collectivism
 Table 2.1
Examples of the impact of the cultural context on HRM practices

Chapter 2
 Future Hofstede-style research issues
• Realization of cross-level studies
Consider groups, organizations, and country levels

• Inclusion of cross-cultural differences

Consider intracultural variance

• Inclusion of theoretically relevant moderators

Consider sex, class affiliation, etc.

• Interaction between variables

The GLOBE study

Chapter 1
 The GLOBE study questions
• Are there leadership behaviors, attributes, and organization
practices effective across all cultures?
• Are there leadership behaviors, attributes, and organization
practices effective in some cultures only?
• How much do leadership attributes affect the effectiveness of
specific leadership behavior and its acceptance by subordinates?
• How much do behaviors and attributes in specific cultures
influence the well-being of members in the researched societies?
• What is the relationship between these socio-cultural
variables and an international competitive capacity
of the various sampled societies?
 The 8 culture dimensions of GLOBE
1. Institutional Collectivism
2. In-Group Collectivism
3. Uncertainty Avoidance
4. Power Distance
5. Gender Egalitarianism
6. Assertiveness
7. Performance Orientation
8. Humane Orientation
The Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner study

Chapter 1
 The 7 dimensions of Trompenaars and H-T study
Relationships 1. Universalism vs. Particularism
between 2. Individualism vs. Communitarianism
people 3. Emotional vs. Neutral
4. Specific vs. Diffuse
5. Ascription vs. Achievement

Concept of time 6. Sequential vs. Synchronic

concept of time

Concept of nature 7. Internal vs. External Control

Hall & Halls’ cultural dimensions

Chapter 1
 Hall & Halls’ 4 dimensions
1. High vs. Low Context Communication
2. Spatial Orientation
actual distance between people when communicating

3. Monochrome vs. Polychrome Time

sequential processes vs. parallel actions

4. Information Speed
high or low information flow during communication
The development of cultures

Chapter 1
 Cultures change
There is increasing
1. international connectedness
2. global economy coordination
3. harmonization of laws and regulations
4. migration

Cultures are not confined to given territories.

This means new challenges for HRM.

 How resistant are cultures to change?

 Generation Y are fast, self-organized and absorbed learners
with distinct work-life balance preferences
 Entire society workforces are aging
Chapter 3

THE
ORGANIZATIONAL
CONTEXT
Chapter 3
THE ORGANIZATIONAL
CONTEXT START
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of contents.

• Introduction
• Standardization and localization of HRM practices
• c
Factors driving standardization
• Factors driving localization
• The path to global status
• Control mechanisms

Chapter 3
 Vocabulary (1 of 2)
 host country, parent country, third country, PCNs, HCNs, TCNs
 local staff, corporate culture
 agents of socialization
 international boundary spanners
 intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
 institutionalism perspective
 centralized set-up
 country-of-origin, host country, and home country effects
 reverse diffusion
 local responsiveness
 global standardization and localization
 SOEs, WOSs
 Six Sigma quality control
 IJV = international joint venture
 global innovator, local innovator
 transnational model
 Vocabulary (2 of 2)
 integrated player, implementer
 export oriented approach vs. integrative management orientation
 corporate immune system
 knowledge-sharing hostility, knowledge hoarding
 person and non-person oriented coordination
 born globals, product/service-based global vs. area-based structure
 MNE structures:
export, sales subsidiary, international division, global product/area
division, matrix, mixed, heterarchy, N-form, transnational, network firm,
multinational, network
 meta-nationals (M-N) = global tournament:
with sensing, magnet, and marketing/production units
 greenfield building approach, chaebols = Korean conglomerates
 bamboo network/family firm
 structural-formal vs. cultural-informal control
 clan = social control
 social capital, mother-daughter structure
 Objectives
We learn about:
1. Issues of standardization and localization
2. Structural responses to international growth
3. Control and coordination mechanisms,
including cultural control
4. The effect of responses on
HRM approaches and activities
Introduction

Chapter 1
 Figure 3.1
Management demands of international growth
Standardization and localization of
HRM practices

Chapter 1
 Why globally standardize HRM?
Consistency
Transparency
Alignment

of a geographically fragmented workforce

around common principles
objectives
 Why locally responsive HRM?
To respect cultural values
local traditions
legislation
government policies
education systems

regarding HRM and work practices

 Figure 3.2
Balancing the standardization and localization of HRM in MNEs
Factors driving standardization

Chapter 1
 MNEs that standardize
• Pursue multinational or transnational
corporate strategies

• Supported by corresponding organizational

structures

• Reinforced by a shared
worldwide corporate culture
Factors driving localization

Chapter 1
 Localization factors include:
• Cultural environment
more social context  more complete balance of
extrinsic & intrinsic rewards
more individual  more extrinsic rewards
or fast changing
personal & social contexts

• Institutional environment (country-of-origin & HC)

• Mode of operation abroad
• Subsidiary role: e.g., global innovator,
integrated player, implementer
 Figure 3.3
Institutional effects on MNEs
 Table 3.1
Examples of the impact of the cultural and institutional context on HRM practices

Chapter 3
 Table 3.2
Gupta and Govindarajan’s four generic subsidiary roles

6
The path to global status

Chapter 1
 Organizational structures typically
change due to
• Strain imposed by growth and geographical spread
• Need for improved coordination and control across
business units
• Constraints imposed by host-government regulations on
ownership and equity
 Figure 3.4
Stages of internationalization
 Figure 3.5
Export department structure
 Figure 3.6
Sales subsidiary structure
 Figure 3.7
International division structure
 Two major MNE issues of structure
• Extent to which key decisions are made
at PC headquarters or at subsidiary units
(centralization vs. decentralization)

• Type of control exerted by parent over the

subsidiary unit
 Figure 3.8A
Global product division structure
 Figure 3.8B
Global area division structure
 Figure 3.9
Global matrix structure
 Internationally, matrix is difficult
• Dual reporting can cause conflict and confusion
• Many communication channels can create
information logjams
• Overlapping responsibilities can produce
- turf battles
- loss of accountability
• Distance, language, time, and culture barriers
make it difficult for managers to resolve conflicts and
clarify confusion
 Matrix requires managers who
• know the business in general
• have good interpersonal skills
• can deal with ambiguities of
responsibility and authority
• have training for presenting ideas in groups

HR planning in matrix MNEs is more critical

than in traditional organizations.
 Beyond the matrix org. structures
• The Heterarchy
MNEs have different kinds of centers apart from
‘headquarters’
• The Transnational
resources and responsibilities are interdependent
across national boundaries
• The Network
subsidiaries are nodes, loosely coupled political
systems
At this stage, there is less hierarchy and no
structure is considered inherently superior.
 Figure 3.10
The networked organization
 5 dimensions of networked MNEs
1. Decision-making authority is delegated to appropriate
units and levels
2. Key functions are dispersed geographically across units
in different countries
3. Organizational levels are delayered
4. Formal procedures are less bureaucratic
5. Work, responsibility, and authority are differentiated
across the networked subsidiaries
 Beyond networks: meta-nationals
Meta-nationals have 3 types of units:
1. Sensing units
Uncover widely dispersed engineering & market insights
2. Magnet units
Attract and create business plan to convert innovations into
products and services
3. Marketing and production units
Market and produce adaptations of these
products and services around the world

Think:
A M-N is a global tournament played at 3 levels
 HR’s place in structural forms
Three ways HR develops with international growth:
1. Centralized HR firms
large and well-resourced;
typically product-based or matrix structures
2. Decentralized HR firms
small group, mostly for senior mgmt. at corp. HQ;
mostly product- or regional-based structures
3. Transition HR firms
medium-sized corp. HR with small staff at HQ;
decentralized, product-based structure
 Different countries, different paths
• European MNEs: ‘mother-daughter’ 
global with product/area divisions or matrix structure
• Swedish MNEs: Tend to adopt mixture of
mother-daughter and product divisions
• Nordic MNEs: may prefer matrix structure
• United States MNEs: limited success with matrix
• Japanese MNEs: similar to US, but evolve more slowly,
possibly not changing structure
• Not much information yet on
Chinese and Indian MNEs
Control mechanisms

Chapter 1
 Figure 3.11
Control strategies for multinational firms
Chapter 5
Sourcing HR
for Global Markets:
STAFFING, RECRUITMENT
and SELECTION
Chapter 5
Sourcing HR for Global Markets:
STAFFING, RECRUITMENT
and SELECTION START
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 Expatriate failure & success

of contents.
• Introduction
• Approaches to staffing  Selection criteria
• Transferring staff for  Expatriate selection processes
international activities in practice
• Roles of an expatriate  Dual career couples
• Role of non-expatriates
• Role of inpatriates

Chapter 4
 Vocabulary
 ethnocentric, polycentric, geocentric, regiocentric
 Kinds of assignments:
short-term, extended, long-term = traditional expatriate assignment,
commuter, rotational, contractual, virtual, self-initiated
 Expatriate roles:
language node, agent of direct control, agent of socializing, network builder,
transferer of competence and knowledge, boundary spanner
 best practice
 non-expatriates, inpatriates, tacitness
 recruitment, selection, external recruits, internal recruitment, headhunting
 expatriate failure, EFRs, direct and indirect costs
 Selection criteria:
soft skills, intercultural competence, cultural intelligence
 honeymoon = tourist phase
 coffee-machine system
 ethnocentrism — ethnorelativism
 Objectives
We learn foundations of ‘managing people’ in IHRM:
1. Issues related to approaches to staffing foreign operations
2. Reasons for using international assignments
3. Types of international assignments
4. Expatriate and non-expatriate role in supporting internationa
business activities
Then we focus on IHRM recruitment and selection:
5. Debate expatriate failure,
selection criteria, and gender in IHRM
Introduction

Chapter 1
 This chapter
• Examines various approaches to international
staffing

• Outlines pivotal role of

international assignments

• Focuses on recruitment and selection as major

factors in the success of global assignments
Approaches to staffing

Chapter 1
 Staffing attitudes of
internationalizing firms
• Ethnocentric – PCNs are favored
• Polycentric – HCNs manage subsidiaries
• Geocentric – Ability is more important
than nationality
• Regiocentric – Similar to geocentric, but
limited to a given region
 Table 5.1a
The advantages and disadvantages of using PCNs
 Table 5.1b
The advantages and disadvantages of using TCNs
 Table 5.1c
The advantages and disadvantages of using HCNs
 Figure 5.1
Determinants of staffing choices
 Transferring staff for
international activities

Chapter 1
 Reasons for
international assignments
• Position filling
lack of available skills  PCN works abroad
• Management development
- training, development, common corp. values

• Organization development
- transfer of knowledge, competence, practices
- exploit global market opportunities
 Types of international assignments
• Short term up to 3 months
• Extended up to 1year
• Long term 1 to 5 years
(traditional expatriate assignment)
Some non-standard assignments:
• Commuter go home every one to two weeks
• Rotational commute for set period followed by
break in home country
• Contractual specific skills employees hired for
6-12 months on specific projects
• Virtual employee manages international
responsibilities from base in
home country
 Table 5.2
Differences between traditional and short-term assignments

Source: Adapted from M. Tahvanainen, D. Welch and V. Worm ‘Implications of Short-term

Chapter 5
International Assignments’, European Management Journal, Vol. 23, No. 6 (2005), p. 669,
with permission from Elsevier.
Roles of an expatriate

Chapter 1
 Figure 5.2
The roles of an expatriate
 Factors that influence effectiveness
of international assignments
• Open environment
» Support for cross-fertilization of ideas
» Implementation of best practice
• Knowledge/info travels freely between
expatriate, host country, and parent country
• Consideration for personal networks
• Some knowledge transfer requires longer assignments (e.g.,
where there is much tacitness)
• Expatriate’s ability and motivation to
act as an agent of knowledge transfer
• Abilities, motivations, relationships of locals
Role of non-expatriates

Chapter 1
 Issues with international business
travelers
• Home and family issues
• Work arrangements
• Travel logistics
• Health concerns
• Host culture issues
Role of inpatriates

Chapter 1
 Drivers for recruiting and transferring
inpatriate managers
• Desire to create global core competency and cultural
diversity of strategic perspectives

• Desire to provide career opportunities in HCs

• The emergence of developing markets which often are

difficult locations for expatriates:
» Quality of life adjustment
» Cultural adjustment
Recruitment and selection of
international managers

Chapter 1
 International vs. domestic
recruitment and selection
• Smaller number of external recruits

• Preference for internal recruitment

» To reduce selection risk
» To secure present and past human capital
investments
Expatriate failure and success

Chapter 1
 Table 5.3
Expatriate failure rates

Source: R. L. Tung ‘Selection and Training Procedures of U.S., European, and Japanese
Multinationals’, California Management Review, Vol. 25, No. 1 (1982), pp. 57-71 and p. 164; Z. Tungli
and M. Peiperl ‘Expatriate Practices in German, Japanese, U.K., and U.S. Multinational Companies:
A Comparitive Survey of Changes’, Human Resource Management, Vol. 48, No. 1 (2009),
pp. 153-171. Reproduced with permission.
Selection criteria

Chapter 1
 Figure 5.3
Factors in expatriate selection
 Figure 5.4
Overview of important adjustment variables

Source: M. Festing and M. Maletzky, ‘Cross-Cultural Leadership Adjustment – A Framework Based on

the Theory of Structuration’, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 21, No. 3 (2011), p. 188
With permission from Elsevier.
Expatriate selection processes in
practice

Chapter 1
 Table 5.4
Tasks and exercises used in an assessment center

Source: Based on T. M. Kühlmann and G. Stahl ‘Diagnose interkultereller Kompetenz: Entwicklung

und Evaluierung eines Assessment Centers’, in C. I. Barmeyer and J. Bolten (eds.), Interkulturelle
Personalorganisation (Berlin: Verlag Wissenschaft und Praxis, 1998), p. 220. Reproduced with
permission.
 Table 5.5
Evaluation scheme for a role play in an intercultural assessment center

Source: T. Kühlmann and G. Stahl ‘Fachkompetenz allein genügt nicht – Interkulturelle Assement Center

Chapter 5
unterstützen die gezielte Personalauswahl’, Personalführung Plus (1996), p. 24. Reproduced with
permission.
Dual career couples

Chapter 1
 IHRM solutions for
dual career couples
• Inter-firm networking
• Job-hunting assistance
• Intra-firm employment

• Language training, educational assistance

• Employer-sponsored work permits
• Career planning assistance
 Table 5.6
Strategies for breaking the expatriate glass ceiling

Source: G. Insch, N. McIntyre and N. Napier, ‘The Expatriate Glass Ceiling: The Second Layer of Glass’,
Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 83, No. 1 (2008), pp. 19-28. Reproduced with permission via Rightslink.
Chapter 7
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING,
DEVELOPMENT,
and CAREERS
Chapter 7
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING,
START
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• Vocabulary  Trends in international

• Objectives training and development
• Introduction  Re-entry and career issues
• Components of effective  Repatriation process
pre-departure training  Individual reactions to re-entry
• Effectiveness of  Responses by the MNE
pre-departure training  Designing a repatriation program
• Developing staff through
international assignments

Chapter 7
 Vocabulary
 T&D = training and development, the human resource, NGOs
 internal hires
 cultural awareness training, CCT, field experiences, degree of expected
interaction, cultural similarity
 information-giving, affective, and immersion approaches, security briefings
 role-playing
 preliminary visit
 international cadre Additional types of training:
 multinational, virtual teams  Language
 repatriation, ROI  Critical incidents
 reverse culture shock  Culture assimilator
 mentors, repatriation program  Stress reduction
 career anxiety, work adjustment  Simulations
 family adjustment, social networks  Sensitivity
 boundaryless careers, protean careers
 international itinerants
 Objectives: before and during
We examine these pre- and on-assignment issues:
1. Role of training to support expatriate adjustment and
on-assignment performance
2. Components of pre-departure training programs such as cultural
awareness, preliminary visits, and language skills
3. Relocation assistance and training for trainers
4. Effectiveness of pre-departure training
5. Developmental aspect of international assignments
6. Training & developing international mgmt. teams
7. Trends in international training and development
 Objectives: post-assignment
We examine these re-entry issues:
1. Process of re-entry or repatriation
2. Job-related issues
3. Social factors (e.g., family)
that affect re-entry and work adjustment
4. MNE responses to repatriate concerns
5. Staff availability and career issues
6. ROI and knowledge transfer
7. Designing a repatriation program
8. Broader international career issues
Introduction

Chapter 1
 International assignment as a
training and development tool
• Expatriates are trainers
- part of knowledge and competence transfer
- expected to help train and develop HCNs
• Expatriates ensure adoption
- show how systems and processes work
- monitor HCN performance
• Expatriates are management under development
- job rotation  broader perspective
- they become global operators
 Figure 7.1
International training and development
 Table 7.1
Availability of cross-cultural training in MNEs
Components of effective
pre-departure training

Chapter 1
 Essential components of
pre-departure training
• Cultural awareness programs
• Preliminary visits
• Language training
• Practical assistance with day-to-day matters
• Security briefings
• Training for the training role
• TCN and HCN expatriate training
• Training for non-traditional assignments
• Short-term and non-standard assignments
• International business travelers
 Mendenhall and Oddou’s 3 keys
for cross-cultural training:
1. Training methods
2. Levels of training rigor
3. Duration of training relative to
– Expected degree of interaction
– Culture novelty = how different host culture is
from native culture
 Low interaction, < 1 week training
similar cultures

Emphasize information-giving approach:

• area or cultural briefings
• lectures, movies, books
• interpreters
• ‘survival-level’ language training
 2-12 month job, more training rigor
some interaction 1-4+ weeks long

Emphasize affective approach:

• role-playing
• critical incidents
• culture assimilator training
• case studies
• stress reduction training
• moderate language training
 High interaction, more training rigor
novel culture 2+ months long

Emphasize immersion approach:

• assessment center
• field experiences
• simulations
• sensitivity training
• intercultural web-based workshop
• extensive language training
 Effectiveness of
pre-departure training

Chapter 1
 Table 7.2
Perceived value of cross-cultural preparation of expatriates
 Developing staff through
international assignments

Chapter 1
 Outcomes of
international assignments
• Management development
• Individuals get experience, advance careers
• MNE gets cadre of experienced international operators

• Organizational development
• MNE accumulates knowledge, abilities
• MNE and individuals get a global mindset
• MNE gets direct control and socialization which
- helps with knowledge transfer and
- helps transfer competence
 Networked MNEs can use international
teams as
• a mechanism for fostering innovation, organizational learning,
knowledge transfer
• a means of breaking down functional and national boundaries,
enhancing information flows
• a method for encouraging diverse decision-making, problem-
solving, and strategic assessments
• an opportunity for developing a global perspective
• a technique for developing shared values;
thus helping MNE with informal, normative
control through socialization
 Figure 7.2
Developing international teams through international assignments
Trends in international training and
development

Chapter 1
 Some training & development trends
1. Host countries continue to pressure for local T&D
2. Growing realization that competence learning
depends on national context and HC institutions
3. Increasing awareness of NGOs’ importance
4. Increasing interest in T&D focused on China
5. T&D literature is realizing need to address
– global,
– comparative, and
– national contexts for T&D
(just as IHRM is starting to do)
Re-entry and career issues

Chapter 1
 Figure 7.3
Expatriation includes repatriation
 Figure 7.4
Repatriation activities and practices
Repatriation process

Chapter 1
 2015 Brookfield report:
to reduce international assignee attrition…

In most to least effective order:

1. position guarantee after the assignment 14%
2. repatriation support for the family 11%
3. opportunities to use international experience 11%
4. repatriation career support 10%
5. recognition 8%
Individual reactions to re-entry

Chapter 1
 Figure 7.5
Factors influencing repatriate adjustment
Responses by the MNE

Chapter 1
 Figure 7.6
Linking repatriation process to outcomes
 Knowledge and skills acquired from
international assignment
• Market specific knowledge
local systems (political, social, economic), language, customs
• Personal skills
inter-cultural knowledge, self-confidence, flexibility, tolerance
• Job-related management skills
communication, project management, problem-solving
• Network knowledge
meeting diverse people
• General management capacity
broader job responsibilities,
exposure to other parts of the organization
Designing a repatriation program

Chapter 1
 Table 7.3
Topics covered by a repatriation program
 Strategies for smooth re-entry
• Pre-departure briefings on what to expect and upon return
• Multiple career planning sessions
• Written repatriate agreements clarifying available assignments upon
return
• Mentoring programs that continue after return
• Extended home visits to keep up with social, family, and
organizational changes
• Reorientation programs on changes in organization
• Personalized reorientation for social readjustment
• Personalized financial and tax advice
• Providing an adjustment period upon return
• Visible and concrete expressions of
repatriate’s value to the firm