The Journal of Management Development, Volume 23, Number 9, 2004

The Journal of ISSN 0262-1711 Management Development Volume 23 Number 9 2004 Global careers Guest Editors Dr Hilary ...

Author: Dr Hilary Harris and Dr Michael Dickmann

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The Journal of

ISSN 0262-1711

Management Development

Volume 23 Number 9 2004

Global careers Guest Editors Dr Hilary Harris and Dr Michael Dickmann

Access this journal online __________________________ 791 Editorial advisory board ___________________________ 792 Abstracts and keywords ___________________________ 793 Editorial __________________________________________ 795 Inter-organizational network participation: implications for global human resource development Marilyn Fenwick and Helen De Cieri ________________________________

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Global careers: work-life issues and the adjustment of women international managers Hilary Harris___________________________________________________

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Career anchors of managers with global careers Vesa Suutari and Milla Taka______________________________________

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Top managers’ national diversity and boundary spanning: attitudinal indicators of a firm’s internationalization Paula Caligiuri, Mila Lazarova and Stephan Zehetbauer ________________

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CONTENTS

CONTENTS continued

Global career as dual dependency between the organization and the individual Henrik Holt Larsen ______________________________________________

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Going beyond the individual: some potential contributions from a career field and habitus perspective for global career research and practice Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Alexandre Iellatchitch, Michael Meyer, Johannes Steyrer, Michael Schiffinger and Guido Strunk________________

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Global careers in French and German multinational corporations Gu¨nter K. Stahl and Jean-Luc Cerdin _______________________________

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Awards for Excellence _____________________________ 903

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Steven Appelbaum Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Terry L. Campbell CIMID, Lausanne, Switzerland and Casselberry, Florida, USA Adrian Carr Faculty of Commerce, University of Western Sydney, Australia Irene Chow Chinese University of Hong Kong David Crookall National University of Singapore, Republic of Singapore Robert Fulmer Graduate School of Business, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, USA Kim James Cranfield School of Management, UK Bernard Keys Director, Center for Managerial Learning and Business Simulation, Statesboro, USA D. Kolb Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA Alexander Kouzmin University of Western Sydney, NSW, Australia Romie F. Littrell Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Manuel London State University of New York at Stony Brook, USA Pam McCarthy Management and Organisational Development Director (UK and Ireland), Sodexho Catering and Support Services, Essex, UK Charles Margerison Founding editor R. Roskin Memorial University, Newfoundland, Canada Lawson Savery Executive Dean of Business, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia John R. Schermerhorn Jr Ohio University, Ohio, USA Norihiko Suzuki Social Science Division, International Christian University, Tokyo David Thompson Consulting Director, Severstal Corporate University, Tyne & Wear, UK Reinaldo L. Torres Management Education & Learning Systems, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, The Hague, The Netherlands

EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD

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Abbas J. ALi Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, USA Sue Browell National Learning & Development, Ernst & Young, Birmingham, UK Richard L. Bunning Phoenix Associates UK Ltd, Rainford, UK Roy Canning University of Stirling, Stirling, UK Kai-Ming Cheng University of Hong Kong, Department of Education, Hong Kong John K.S. Chong University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI, USA Irene Hau-Siu Chow The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Department of Management, Hong Kong G. Coates University of Leicester, Leicester, UK S.R. Devadasan PSG College of Technology, Tamil Nadu, India Martin Evans Cardiff Business School, Cardiff, UK Mary J. Granger George Washington University, Washington DC, USA Mark C. Hackett Royal Wolverhampton Hospital NHS Trust, Wolverhampton, UK George T. Haley University of New Haven, Connecticut, USA Lloyd C. Harris Cardiff Business School, Cardiff, UK

Keith M. Henderson State University of New York, Buffalo, USA Edward A. Henninger Pennsylvania College of Technology, Pennsylvania, USA John L. Hunsucker University of Houston, Houston, USA Ben Dozie Ilozor Hampton University, Virginia, USA Muayyad Jabri University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia Rajashekharaiah Jagadeesh Karnataka, India Robert Jones University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia Karen Ketler Eastern Illinois University, USA Geoff Lancaster Huddersfield, UK Conrad Lashley Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds, UK Monica Lee Lancaster University, UK Donald L. Lester Arkansas State University, USA Maurice B. Line Harrogate, UK Marjolein Lips-Wiersma University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ Peter J. Lloyd Consultant, Asfield, NSW, Australia Bruce Macfarlane Thames Valley University, London Michael J. Marquardt George Washington University, Virginia, USA Sharon Mavin University of Northumbria at Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK Marie McHugh University of Ulster, Co. Antrim, UK Abainesh Mitiku West Virginia State College, West Virginia, USA Robert M. Myers Palm Beach Atlantic College, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA Robert W. Rowden Mercer University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Jennifer E. Rowley Edge Hill College of Higher Education, UK Janat Shah Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore Marc Siegall California State University, USA Philip H. Siegel Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, NJ, USA Jim Stewart Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK Dr Stephen Swailes The Business School, University of Hull, UK Syed Amin Tabish S K Institute of Medical Sciences, Kashmir, India Tuomo Takala University of Jyvskyl, Finland Richard J. Varey The Waikato Management School, University of Waikato, Hamilton, NZ Albert A. Vicere Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, USA Daniel Vloeberghs University of Antwerp, Belgium Barron Wells College of Business Administration, La Fayette, Louisiana, USA Penny West Edge Hill University College, UK Adrian Wilkinson Loughborough University Business School, Leicestershire, UK Elliot Wood Curtin Graduate School of Business, Perth, Australia Darwish A. Yousef United Arab Emirates University, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Inter-organizational network participation: implications for global human resource development Marilyn Fenwick and Helen De Cieri Keywords Globalization, Human resource development, Career development A qualitative study of a research and development network of major global mining companies is reported in this paper. In this international inter-organizational network, emergent global human resource development and, particularly, career development challenges for participating individuals and organizations are analyzed. These challenges arise from two important dimensions of present and future network effectiveness, the boundary activities of network centrality, and building and maintaining optimal trust. Implications for future research and practice are identified.

assignments, has increased due to the globalization of business. One relevant approach to such careers is the internal career approach. Here the career anchor is seen as a person’s self-concept, consisting of selfperceived talents, values, and the evolved sense of motives as they pertain to the career. The present study provides new evidence regarding such career anchors of global leaders through a qualitative research setting. The results of the study indicate that most managers saw that their decisions are based on two or even three career anchors instead of one dominating anchor. The most typical career anchors of the original career anchor classification were managerial competence and pure challenge. The key conclusion is the importance of the new internationalism anchor among the global leaders: the clear majority of them ranked the internationalism anchor as their major anchor or among the few major anchors.

Global careers: work-life issues and the adjustment of women international managers Hilary Harris Keywords Women executives, International organizations, Role conflict This paper argues that both the impact of gender and work-family conflict itself are likely to increase in international working scenarios, which may involve the physical relocation of the entire family. In such cases, the boundaries between work and home become blurred due to the involvement of the whole family and there is often disruption of traditional family roles, causing increasing stress. Work demands are also likely to increase for the female expatriate due to the combined effect of role and culture novelty, thus enhancing the possibility of work-family conflict. The impact of gender role theory is apparent in three key areas: work, partner and family.

Top managers’ national diversity and boundary spanning: attitudinal indicators of a firm’s internationalization Paula Caligiuri, Mila Lazarova and Stephan Zehetbauer Keywords Senior managers, International organizations, Diversity management Using a sample of 76 US-based multinational firms, this study tests two hypotheses: whether top management teams’ national diversity, and the number of countries of operation worldwide are related to other established indicators of internationalization. Results suggest that both hypothesized indicators are aspects of the nomological network for a firm’s internationalization.

Career anchors of managers with global careers Vesa Suutari and Milla Taka Keywords Career development, Globalization, International organizations The importance of understanding the careers of global leaders, who typically have careers including various international positions and

Global career as dual dependency between the organization and the individual Henrik Holt Larsen Keywords Career development, International organizations, Social interaction Modern global career implies not only an interaction between an organization and an individual but also – and increasingly – a mutual dependency between the two parties. Whereas the traditional career concept

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presupposes that the individual employee to a high extent has to adhere to the conditions and opportunities provided by the organization, organizations increasingly have to accept and match the expectations and demands of the employee. In particular, this is found in knowledge intensive organizations providing immaterial ‘‘products’’ like know-how, complex problem solving, consultancy service, etc. This kind of immaterial ‘‘production’’ not only requires highly skilled and professional employees but also means that the employees possess the core competence of the company – and can carry it out of the organization if they choose to resign. The paper analyzes the dual dependency in global careers and discusses this interdependency from the viewpoints of both individual and organization. In addition, the paper outlines the implications for practitioners and future research. Going beyond the individual: some potential contributions from a career field and habitus perspective for global career research and practice Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Alexandre Iellatchitch, Michael Meyer, Johannes Steyrer, Michael Schiffinger and Guido Strunk Keywords Career development, Globalization New forms of organising and new forms of individuals private and professional life concepts have affected organisations as well as careers. The resulting new forms of careers are characterised by two major elements: organisations are no longer the primary arena for professional careers and the diversity of careers and career paths is sharply increasing. At the level of global careers similar developments can be observed. In addition, two specifics can be mentioned: a number of additional forms of working internationally supplement expatriation in its classic sense and there seems to be an increasing pressure on the speed and diversity of international assignments. There is comparatively little theoretical insight into these developments. Departing from a sociological perspective and using the theoretical framework of late French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper takes a career field and habitus perspective of careers. Based on that, it tries to identify areas of contribution for the global career discussion that can emerge from such an approach.

Global careers in French and German multinational corporations Gu¨nter K. Stahl and Jean-Luc Cerdin Keywords Career development, Expatriates, International organizations, France, Germany, National cultures This paper sheds light on an apparent paradox: managers continue to accept offers of international assignments even though they tend to view them as a risky career move. Based on a review of the literature and a survey of expatriate managers of 20 French and 30 German companies on assignment in 59 countries, the paper examines the nature of the expatriate career concept, the career development implications of international assignments, and the effectiveness of corporate expatriate career management and repatriation systems. Most of the research on the career implications of international assignments has been conducted using the US samples of expatriates. By exploring expatriate career issues in a cross-national sample of French and German expatriates, this study seeks to yield new and significant insights into whether the emerging concept of boundaryless careers is beginning to take hold in countries other than the US, and whether there are cross-national differences in the nature of the expatriate career concept. The findings show that many expatriates are frustrated with how their companies manage their international assignments, especially the long-range planning of their repatriation. However, there are clear differences between the French and German expatriates in terms of repatriation concerns. Despite widespread dissatisfaction in both groups, the German expatriates seem relatively nonchalant regarding their repatriation. This finding can be explained by the fact that the German expatriates are more willing to leave their companies upon return than their French counterparts, thus showing strong evidence of a ‘‘boundaryless career’’ orientation. An important finding is that companies that fail to take an integrated approach to international assignments and do not have effective international career development and repatriation systems, tend to end up with highly dissatisfied managers who, depending on their nationalities, may be quite willing to leave their companies upon repatriation.

Editorial About the Guest Editors Hilary Harris is the visiting fellow of the Centre for Research into the ` ME) at Cranfield School of Management. Dr Harris has had Management of Expatriation (CRE extensive experience as a HR practitioner and has undertaken consultancy with a broad range of organizations in the public and private sectors. Her specialist areas of interest are International HRM, expatriate management, cross-cultural management and women in management. She teaches, consults and writes extensively in these areas. Hilary was one of the lead researchers on the CIPD flagship research programme looking at the impact of globalisation on the role of the HR professional. E-mail: [email protected] Michael Dickmann lectures in the areas of international and strategic HRM as well as in change management. Before rejoining Cranfield, he worked as the Head of Human Resources in a multinational corporation based in Munich, Germany. His PhD and much of his research focus on human resource strategies, structures and processes of multinational organizations including the ways they manage change. Michael has an honours degree in Economics from London University and an MSc in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management from LSE. He has cooperated with the CIPD on a number of key projects. Michael has several years of work experience with major consultancies and in industry. He has conducted a variety of consulting and research assignments with cutting edge multinational organizations mostly from the banking, telecommunications, chemical, electrical engineering and electronics industries. He has worked in his native Germany, Australia, the USA, Colombia, Spain and Britain. E-mail: m.dickmann@ cranfield.ac.uk

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This special edition is the result of a colloquium on global careers held by the Centre for Research into the Management of Expatriation (CRE`ME) at Cranfield School of Management. Academics and practitioners came together for two days to share the latest thinking and to design an international research project into this critical aspect of international management. There was much debate on a definition of “global career”. For the purposes of this special edition, we feel that the definition in Larsen’s paper gives a good sense of the scope of this concept. Here, a global career is defined as: the series of events, experiences and actions embedded in the global interaction between an individual and an organization – a relationship which is characterized by mutual dependency between the two parties.

The papers in this journal present a wide range of new ideas and approaches to global careers from a theoretical, organizational and individual perspective. Two of the papers, Holt Larsen and Mayrhofer et al. provide a multi-theoretical model as a basis for studying the dynamics of global careers. Fenwick and DeCieri’s paper examines the impact of new organizational forms, in this case an international inter-organizational network, on the development and nature of global careers. Caligiuri et al. also take an organizational perspective, investigating the impact of national diversity of board members on indicators of global performance. Finally, three papers look at the impact of global careers from the perspective of the individual. Suutari and Taka add an internationalism anchor to Schein’s existing career anchors in their insightful study into the career anchors of Finnish managers with international careers. Stahl and Cerdin demonstrate how the advent of the “boundaryless” career has significant implications for both individuals and organizations in terms of motivation to remain at

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the organization following an international assignment. Harris explores the relatively unresearched topic of work-life balance issues resulting from partner and family considerations and the impact of these on women’s adjustment on international assignments. Outlined below are the details of a proposed international research project into careers in international organizations. CRE`ME is currently undertaking pilot interviews in two UK-based multinationals and is actively looking for other international organizations to join in the research project. Please contact Kim Fitzgerald, CRE`ME Administrator, at Cranfield School of Management, (E-mail: [email protected]; telephone: 01234 751122) if you would like further details about how to be involved. Dr Hilary Harris and Dr Michael Dickmann

Global careers research project: outline Research approach The proposed research would form part of a multi-country, multi-organization investigation by a team of international academics affiliated to CRE`ME. It would comprise a multi-focal analysis of the meaning of global careers to individuals and organizations, through an examination of the career pathing behaviours/motivations of managers at senior, middle and lower-level high potential levels within international organizations. We would aim to build-up a detailed empirical analysis of the actual types of global career paths, underlying decision processes and existing senior managers’ perceptions of global competencies obtained, and compare that to the career paths in progress with middle managers and those envisaged by younger, high-potential managers. This will give us data on the role of different types of international working in the development of global careers, including the role of self-initiated foreign experience, and the accompanying motivators or inhibitors for individuals. The role of contextual factors both at an individual level and at organizational level will also be included and will enable comparative research findings at a number of different levels.

Research questions (1) What is the nature of career pathing for managers at different levels within international organizations? (2) What are the motivators/inhibitors for global careers? (3) What type of global leadership competencies are obtained from these career experiences? (4) How do the career experiences and perceptions of competencies obtained at the senior management team affect dominant career models within the organization? (5) How do these affect diversity at management level? (6) What career aspects, e.g. social networks; individual values and motivators, are neglected?

Research design The research project will consist of a multiple country sample (Australasia; Canada; Europe; United States and others). We will employ longitudinal research methodology capturing the status quo at the following points: . TO – immediate; . T1 – two years; and . T2 – four years. Benefits/outcomes of the research Expected benefits for participating organizations arising from the research findings include: For individual organizations . Comprehensive overview of the reality of careers as experienced by managers at different levels. . Analysis of differences in career experiences and expectations of specific groups of managers (e.g. gender, geographical, functional, hierarchical, age etc.). . Record of changes in the nature of career experiences and expectations for different cohorts of managers. . Policy recommendations on career management design based on the reality of careers for diverse populations. . Clear indicators of motivators/inhibitors for global careers for diverse groups. Across organizations . .

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Comparative data on the nature of global careers for diverse populations. Identification of generic/specific motivators/inhibitors to global careers for specific groups of employees. Recommendations to organizations for contextually sensitive career management practices which foster diversity at all levels.

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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/0262-1711.htm

Inter-organizational network participation Implications for global human resource development Marilyn Fenwick and Helen De Cieri Department of Management, Monash University, Caulfield East, Australia Keywords Globalization, Human resource development, Career development Abstract A qualitative study of a research and development network of major global mining companies is reported in this paper. In this international inter-organizational network, emergent global human resource development and, particularly, career development challenges for participating individuals and organizations are analyzed. These challenges arise from two important dimensions of present and future network effectiveness, the boundary activities of network centrality, and building and maintaining optimal trust. Implications for future research and practice are identified.

Journal of Management Development Vol. 23 No. 9, 2004 pp. 798-817 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0262-1711 DOI 10.1108/02621710410558422

Introduction Globalization of business has led to the proliferation of organizational forms that transcend the traditionally-recognized borders of organizations and nations (Doz and Hamel, 1998). International inter-organizational networks (IIONs) are an increasingly prevalent organizational form, a type of strategic alliance, with an array of concomitant challenges (Doz and Hamel, 1998; Jarillo, 1995; Thorelli, 1986). These developments in international business, together with increasing awareness of the need to develop human resources as a source of sustainable global success (Stroh and Caligiuri, 1998) prompted our broad research question, “what are the challenges and implications of participation in an IION for global human resource development?” We address this question in relation to human resource development (HRD) as a part of the strategic human resource management (SHRM) approach in a global form of organization. Further, the term “global HRD” (GHRD) is adopted for this specific context, while the term “HRD” is used to discuss the general area. In doing so, we are not suggesting that there exists a universal “theory” of HRD, but that this research is intended to make explicit the effects of working in an emerging global organizational context for this particular aspect of SHRM, as a precursor to examine these effects from particular theoretical stances. We examine an active IION through narratives gathered during in-depth interviews with those involved in the governance of the network. This paper comprises three major sections. First, we prećis the emergence of IIONs and HRD in multinational enterprises (MNEs) from the academic literature. Second, we outline our research methodology and findings. Finally, we analyze these findings and focus on their implications for career development as a particular dimension of GHRD.

The emergence of IIONs Several researchers have investigated the concept of inter-organizational collaboration. However, much of this research has not been explicitly related to international networks (Gulati et al., 2000). We adopt the term “inter-organizational networks” as used by Alter and Hage (1993) and several other authors ( Burns and Wholey, 1993; Osborn and Hagedoorn, 1997). Our focus is on inter-organizational networks in an international context, and we extend the work of Alter and Hage (1993) and Jones et al. (1997), to define an IION as: a select, persistent, and structured cluster of autonomous multinational organizations (or partners), regardless of size, engaged in creating products or services based on implicit and open-ended contracts which are socially – not necessarily legally – binding. At least one of the network partners will have their home base in a country other than that of the networking activities or the home base of other network partners.

Sydow and Windeler (1998) identify three characteristics which differentiate inter-organizational networks from any other organizational form. First, creation of inter-organizational networks involves building relationships between organizations with legally separate identities and economic interrelatedness. Second, as managers reflexively refer to the network in their organizational practices, networks become “theory-in-use” (Argyris and Scho¨n, 1978, cited in Sydow and Windeler, 1998), rather than an analytical concept used only by academics. This double-framing of action, both organization- and network-related, puts considerable additional demands on the degree of reflexivity, and offers significant benefits for network management. Third, and arguably of greatest significance, inter-organizational networks operate on a “logic of exchange” (Sydow and Windeler, 1998, p. 267) that differs considerably from both logic of hierarchies and markets. This logic is referred to as social embeddedness (Granovetter, 1985). Thus, IIONs appear to have been formed as a means by which MNEs, regardless of size and level of international experience, might enhance their international competitiveness. As an IION is likely to cover only some of the activities of each partner, each partner maintains its own identity and may engage in other activities, that is separate from the network. The extant literature and research indicate that: “[t]he international economy is increasingly characterized by diverse, complex, multiple network relationships . . . large multinationals increasingly make use of alliances as an extension of their international operations” (Hendry, 1994, p. 66). Networking is not restricted to a particular industry or to large firms. Researchers have shown that many small- and medium-sized firms internationalize by entering into strategic alliances or networks (Braunerhjelm, 1993; Glaister and Buckley, 1996; Jarillo, 1995). Thus, IIONs appear to have been formed as a means by which MNEs, regardless of industry, size and level of international experience, might enhance their international competitiveness. Despite the growth and increasing importance of IIONs, there has been scant research to date on this organizational form, and little analysis, if any, of the related GHRD issues and challenges. Our research seeks to address this gap in the literature. IIONs operate at interpersonal and organizational levels (Oliver and Liebeskind, 1997/1998). Our research is focused on the interpersonal networking relationships in an IION, recognizing that MNE strategy, of which organizational participation in an IION may be a part, is implemented by individuals.

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The emergence of GHRD Leading scholars in SHRM have raised their attention to SHRM in a global context (McWilliams et al., 2001). In particular, researchers and practitioners have paid increasing attention to the implications of SHRM for organizational performance in MNEs (Wright and McMahan, 1992). As an element of SHRM, HRD is integral to MNE performance. It has been defined as “a set of systematic and planned activities designed by an organization to provide its members with the necessary skills to meet current and future job requirements” (DeSimone and Harris, 1998, p. 2). The concept of “human capital” generally refers to the education, experience, values, attitudes and competencies that individuals acquire, in part from HRD (Garavan et al., 2001). HRD is instrumental in the process of accumulating human capital (Huselid, 1995). In their review of the conceptualization of HRD “as the new capital for both individuals and organizations”, Garavan et al. (2001, p. 49), note that human capital accumulation for individual employability is a common theme in the SHRM and HRD literature. “Individual competency” is a concept also emphasized in this literature. Garavan et al. (2001) suggest individual competency as a state of functional adequacy in a work role arising from innate abilities such as emotion, attitude and cognition, from willingness and ability to perform the role, and from knowledge and expertise acquired through training. By implication, HRD involves, at the very least, the training and development function, and most likely, several other SHRM activities such as human resource planning, recruitment and selection, performance appraisal and reward management. The purposes of HRD include career development and management. “Career development” is that HRD activity defined as a continual process enabling individuals to progress through “a series of stages, each of which is characterized by a relatively unique set of issues, themes, and tasks” (Greenhaus, 1987, cited in DeSimone and Harris, 1998, p. 10). This process involves career planning and career management. According to DeSimone and Harris (1998, p. 10), career planning involves activities by an individual, assisted by counselors and others, to assess his or her skills and abilities and to formulate a realistic career plan based on this assessment. They define “career management” as those activities taken to realize the career plan. Until recently, HRD in MNEs has been principally concerned with expatriate training, usually delivered in the pre-departure phase (Rahim’s (1983) model for expatriate development throughout the international assignment is one early exception) and focusing on cross-cultural awareness training (Brewster and Pickard, 1994; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985; Tung, 1981). Again with a focus on expatriation, others have considered the implications of expatriation experiences on career management (Feldman and Bolino, 1999; Feldman and Thomas, 1992). Other aspects receiving recent attention have included training host country nationals (Harvey, 1997) and the extent to which HRD in MNEs is localized and convergent with HRD in domestic enterprises in particular countries (Tregaskis et al., 2001). However, an intra-organizational focus has dominated this research field and HRD strategies and practices have been developed with large, “stand-alone” MNEs in mind, not IIONs. Recent discussions of HRD and particularly career development in the context of the aspatial or “boundaryless career” (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; Garavan et al., 2001) claim a shift in perspective, reflecting an increasingly held view that career development is independent of the organization, and occurs across organizational,

national and geographic boundaries. We note that this view is not without its critics. For example, Hirsch and Shanley (1996, p. 231) challenge “the rhetoric about the boundaryless career [that] has almost euphorically predicted a better world for all”. They suggest that not all employees are able to pursue such careers, or flourish in them. Pang (2003) notes that a boundaryless career might be voluntary or involuntary according to the extent to which circumstances reflect opportunity, flexibility, uncertainty and insecurity. Further, “claims of a weakening of traditional boundaries have also encountered some conceptual, theoretical and empirical problems” (Dany et al., 2003, p. 706). Four particular problems have been identified. First, there is a lack of data on changing careers from outside the US, prompting the question of “whether new, boundaryless careers are a US phenomenon”. Second, there is perhaps an over-correction of focus too far to the individual, potentially weakening the ontological-duality strength of the career concept. Third, there exists the potential that the development of new norms about career will stigmatize and constrain those operating outside them as much as those who in the past eschewed or were denied the “traditional ‘onward and upward’ model” (Dany et al., 2003, p. 706). The fourth problem reflects the critique that the shift of risk and responsibility to the individual in the new career rhetoric, and the resultant institutionalized discourse about this shift, will conceptually and politically reconstruct employment relationships. There is, however, evidence that, for employees at many levels within MNEs, careers are becoming global (McCall and Hollenbeck, 2002). For example, in the past international assignments were only available to senior managers and technical experts, recent evidence suggests that international assignments, particularly the non-standard types, are increasingly being undertaken by all management levels (Fenwick, 2003). Further, many employees are on “virtual assignments”, crossing organizational, national and geographic boundaries without ever leaving their home country offices. Such assignments afford employees international responsibilities for parts of the organization in other countries, which they manage from their home countries (Welch and Fenwick, 2003). Individual participation in IIONs, entities that exemplify organizational boundarylessness, affords opportunities for some employees to develop and demonstrate competencies essential for effective IION performance and global career development. Fundamental to these outcomes is the ability of participants at organizational and individual levels to capitalize on the perceived benefits of IION participation. Two critical challenges to the achievement of maximum benefit have been identified in the extant literature. The first concern refers to network centrality or the occupation of a central position with regard to IION activities. The second concern relates to trust: being able to trust and to be trusted. For instance, MNEs participating in IIONs are more likely to achieve desired goals and objectives of participation if they occupy a central position in network exchanges and when they can trust and be trusted by each other (Das and Teng, 1998; Tsai, 2001). At the individual level, excellent performance in these areas is likely to increase employability as an important aspect of contemporary career development and management strategy (Garavan et al., 2001). Therefore, we suggest that network centrality and trust are particularly important to consider with regard to interpersonal networking competencies, GHRD and career development.


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Network centrality and trust: challenges for interpersonal networking in IIONs Network centrality Network relationships are “the structure of ties among economic actors [or parties] in a social system” (Nohria and Eccles, 1992, p. 288). Actors/parties may refer to individuals, groups or organizations, and ties may include conversation, affection, friendship, kinship, economic exchange and information exchange (Nohria and Eccles, 1992). These actors/parties will most likely vary in their “network centrality”, or position with regard to network activities. Network centrality refers to an actor/party’s position in relation to involvement in network activities; the more central the actor/party, the more involvement it has with all other network members and activities. The concept can also be applied at the individual level, referring to the embeddedness of individuals in social networks (Granovetter, 1985; Sparrowe et al., 2001). An individual’s central position in network exchanges is the “structural property most often associated with instrumental outcomes, including power [Brass, 1984], influence in decision making [Friedkin, 1993], and innovation [Ibarra, 1993]” (Sparrowe et al., 2001, p. 316). Tsai (2001, p. 1997) noted that, at the organizational level, different network positions within an intra-organizational network present “different opportunities for a unit to access new knowledge that is critical to develop new products or innovative ideas . . . By occupying a central position in the inter-unit network structure, a unit is likely to access desired strategic resources”. Network centrality can be measured by investigating which members provide each other member with new knowledge, expertise or advice when it is sought from within the network (Sparrowe et al., 2001; Tsai, 2001). Trust Several researchers have identified “trust” as another important construct for interpersonal relationships and performance in strategic alliances ( Das and Teng, 1998) or inter-organizational networks (Bouty, 2000), as trust refers to the expectations about positive motives that the network partners hold. At organizational and individual levels, trust, related to respect for one’s network partners, increases confidence and cooperation in combination with control. Trust is important because the likely alternative would involve monitoring of network participants through more extensive use of bureaucratic or other control mechanisms, the costs of which may be prohibitive in terms of financial, time and human capital resources ( Das and Teng, 1998). Network centrality of participants might facilitate the development of trust when frequency of interactions results in the parties to an exchange having: first, strong confidence in each other’s values and trustworthiness; second, favorable attitudes toward each other; and third, experiencing positive affect, such as mutual respect, in the context of the relationship (Jones and George, 1998). The role of GHRD and career development in effective IION performance is evident in two ways: first, via the development of the requisite individual competencies such as the ability to develop and sustain network centrality and trust in IIONs; and second, via the provision of positive career outcomes to motivate and reward individual network participants for excellent performance.

Method In order to address our exploratory research question, “what are the challenges and implications of participation in an IION for global human resource development?”, we conducted a qualitative case study of an IION, collecting data over several months in 2002 and 2003. Qualitative research has been described as:

Interorganizational network

. . . an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions of inquiry that explore a social or human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture, analyzes words, reports detailed views of informants, and conducts the study in a natural setting (Creswell, 1998, p. 15).

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We have endeavored to follow Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) case study structure: the problem, the context, the issues, and the “lessons learned”. The focus is on understanding the dynamics “present within single settings” (Eisenhardt, 1989, p. 534). Through the inductive and deductive processes followed, our case study methodology sought to facilitate both exploration and explanations of phenomena as part of theory building. Guided by Denzin and Lincoln (2000a) and Eisenhardt (1989), we chose not to ignore relevant extant literature. While case study research does not begin with hypotheses, entering organizations with a well-defined focus is important in building theory from case studies (Eisenhardt, 1989). Case study research investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context (Creswell, 2003; Stake, 1995; Yin, 2003). The in-depth analysis of a single case study can produce creative insights which may be generalized into theoretical propositions (Yin, 2003). The same case study research may involve more than one unit of analysis, such as that which occurs when attention is also paid to one or more sub-units. In this research, the unit of analysis is the dyadic relationship comprised of the network participant (individual-as-network-participant) and the IION (the organization). We were interested in the individual’s perceptions of the IION and the issues related to GHRD. Our interpretive paradigm might be best described as fitting in the category of constructivist-interpretive identified by Denzin and Lincoln (2000b, p. 21), as it assumes a relativist ontology (there are multiple realities), a subjectivist epistemology (knower and respondent cocreate understandings), and a naturalistic (in the natural world) set of methodological procedures. . . . terms such as credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability replace the usual positivist criteria of internal and external validity, reliability, and objectivity.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the IION Board (two members), the operating committee (OpCom) (nine members including the IION company secretary), the technical manager and the current and former administrators. The last two are the only interviewees employed directly by the IION; the others participated in it as part of their positions with their mining companies. None of those interviewed were designated human resource managers, and, save for the company secretary, the IION technical manager and the current administrator, all held senior to middle-level management positions with most qualified as technical specialists in the mining field. The open-ended questions in the semi-structured interview schedule (see Appendix) reflected the extant literature on IIONs and SHRM, including the challenges of occupying a central position (Tsai, 2001) and managing trust (Das and Teng, 1998). Interviews were conducted face-to-face or by telephone, depending on the location of the interviewees. The governance structure spans Australia, Canada, Chile and the US.

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The interviewees were all Australians, North Americans or Canadians. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed within 24 h. Interview duration ranged from 45 to 90 min. Where necessary, follow-up contact was made with individuals to verify information. Manual content analysis was performed, using a pattern-matching approach described by Miles and Huberman (1994).

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The case: international network for acid prevention International network for acid prevention (INAP) brings together nine mining companies to focus on collaborative efforts to reduce the impact of acid rock drainage, a significant environmental issue in the global mining and minerals industry. This industry worldwide is a major economic sector, as mineral products are essential resources for social and economic development (Breaking New Ground, 2002). The large mining MNEs, for example BHP-Billiton, Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold, Placer Dome, or Phelps Dodge “explore, mine, smelt, refine, and sell metal concentrates and metals on world markets” (Breaking New Ground, 2002, p. 61). The industry faces extremely difficult challenges, particularly with regard to a high level of distrust amongst many constituents and stakeholders with regard to environmental and social issues (Breaking New Ground, 2002). There is a general consensus that the key players in the industry need to engage more actively with others in order to understand issues better, work out priorities and address the criticism its performance sometimes attracts. Against this background, the world’s largest mining companies have developed several networking relationships, of which INAP is one, which focuses on sustainable development and environmental management. At the time of data collection, INAP membership included representatives of BHP Billiton, Barrick Gold Homestake, INCO, Falconbridge Noranda, Phelps Dodge, Placer Dome, PT Freeport Indonesia, Rio Tinto and Teck Cominco (Table I).

Company

Revenuea (US$) 2001 Total employees worldwideb

19,079,000,000 (turnover) Rio Tinto 10,438,000,000 (turnover) Barrick Gold Homestake 1,898,000,000 Falconbridge Noranda CDN$2.14 billion PT Freeport Indonesia 1,838,866,000 INCO 2,066,000,000 Phelps Dodge 4,002,400,000d Placer Dome 1,223,000,000 Teck Cominco 2,379,000,000

Market capitalization (US$ billion)c (estimated at 28 September 2001)

BHP Billiton

Table I. Company information for INAP members

38,000 in 20 countries

25

36,000 No information available 6,400 in 16 countries No information available . 10,000 world wide 10,000 world wide 11,100 No information available

24 7 5 2 2.5 2 4.5 1.5

Notes: aCompany Web sites. Most companies did not refer to turnover but to “sales” or “revenue”. If turnover mentioned it is noted in the table, all other totals are sales/revenue; bCompany Web sites; c Breaking New Ground (2002); dRevenue across total Phelps Dodge organization (i.e. PD Mining Corp and PD Industries)

In terms of our definition of an IION, INAP comprises a select, persistent, and structured cluster of autonomous MNEs of different sizes that are engaged in creating products – in this case, technological solutions and services – based on implicit and open-ended contracts which are socially – and in this case, legally – binding. INAP is structured as a proprietary limited company under Australian company regulations and as such it has three formal structural elements. First, there is a Board, made up of senior managers elected by the member companies. Second, the main activities of INAP are being directed by the OpCom, appointed by the Board. The committee comprises several senior technical representatives from some, but not all the member companies. The main responsibilities of the OpCom are to: . ensure that the technical and communication needs of the Members are identified and prioritized; . establish panels and networks for specific technical issues in keeping with member interest; . develop programs and projects to meet the technical and strategic communications objectives of INAP; . foster the development of research ideas and proposals; and . facilitate the approval and conduct of brokered research projects. Third, an administrator and a company secretary support the board and OpCom by maintaining information transfer systems, company reporting and administrative services. The board and OpCom aim to meet two to three times a year, face-to-face, and teleconference monthly, in addition to ad hoc Intranet and Internet contacts. Company membership of INAP is open to mining companies only. The membership fee is US$10,000 p.a. In addition to this, each INAP member company is expected to contribute a minimum of US$10,000 p.a. to INAP research projects of their choice. Most of the member companies contribute well beyond these fees. According to the chair of the board, performance outcomes since the inception of INAP in 1998 include cost savings in millions of dollars. With regard to our research question, our findings identified several challenges for GHRD and career development in INAP, as discussed in the following section. Challenges for GHRD and career development in INAP Participants were asked whether there were human resource management policies and practices specific to INAP. It was apparent from the interviews that INAP typifies a concern identified in the SHRM literature. A lag has occurred between the initiation and implementation of INAP as a new business operation and its attendant SHRM policies and practices (Fisher, 1989; Wright et al., 2001a). Interviewees indicated that there has been no formal strategization within INAP member companies about the development of SHRM at the network level. Strategic attention has focused on the business initiative of forming and managing the network, a typical pattern in international business development. However, one reason we were able to gain access to this network for our research was that “people management” problems were surfacing and informal discussion about them was occurring. To date, some problems and issues have been identified and some formal initiatives, such as the introduction of position descriptions for OpCom and board members were taken, and the inclusion of


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INAP activities in some of these members ‘key performance indicators in some member companies’ performance management systems. However, there has been no coordinated effort to reflect participation in INAP activities in SHRM. A recent hiring activity was provided as an example: I would say that our HR practices have been chaotic. We went through a stage with hiring a [technical] manager . . . because it’s the actual operating committee who does all the work and needs the resources of the manager, it ended up being a total disaster for over a year before the operating committee took on the responsibility of finding the technical manager, and the board finding someone for the secretariat role. So things have been inherently loose in terms of how HR works . . . (OpCom member).

There were similar accounts by the administrators and the technical manager, who related a lack of a coherent approach to their selection and induction practices for new network participants. Perceptions that SHRM was “chaotic” or deficient are reflections of a boundary issue concerning SHRM. While several participants agreed that some HR activities and policies were necessary; in particular policies for selection of suitable network representatives, performance and rewards management and induction of new network representatives, all participants indicated that there was no need for an HRM function within INAP. Several similarities amongst INAP members were apparent. At the business unit level, INAP was homogenous as it involved the technical services areas of the member companies, dominated by individuals with scientific professional qualifications. In other words, membership of broader, occupational and industry community networks was also evident (DeFelippi and Arthur, 1996). This meant that in spite of cross-cultural differences, by virtue of their similar frames of reference gained through working in the mining industry, they spoke the same language about acid rock drainage: Technologists find that they’re best understood by other technologists, not to put too fine a point on it, and that’s the kindest way you can say they love talking to each other about what they’re doing (INAP Board member). I think it’s an amazing organization actually to be able to bring together companies on a worldwide basis together and be tackling one key area that needs to be dealt with. It is effective in that it has developed really good relationships within big mining companies. Being able to just provide information to each other is such a fantastic opportunity that I don’t think any other company relationship I can think of would have. So just building those relationships and learning from each other and not redoing old mistakes that other companies have done, I think that that makes it a really effective group. And it is effective simply because the companies that are at the table are really committed (INAP Administrator).

Consequently, a shared strategic understanding and a shared map of cooperation (Das and Teng, 1998), conducive to building trust, were also reflected in participant comments: [F]rom my perspective we’ve been very open and sharing of the information with anyone, it’s sort of a typical thing with the industry anyway. Because a small break through for us may help others and may help take the break through even further. So we kind of feel we’re all in the same, share the same common problems, and anything that benefits the industry in resolving the issues is better for the industry as a whole (OpCom member).

Such shared understandings may also operate as an interpersonal control system as indicated by current research on informal and less tangible social networks, also referred to as a “mind matrix” (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1993; Boudreau et al., 2003; Engle et al., 2001). Bartlett and Ghoshal (1993) proposed the concept of a “mind matrix”, which when applied to IIONs would involve the internalization of control by the network managers, to replace the rigidity and expense of structural controls. In addition to their shared professional language, knowledge and understanding, our network participants reflected informal self-control (Boudreau et al., 2003), as suggested in the following quote: [P]eople are actually using some excuse like a conference . . ., to tack on a workshop or a half day or a day meeting or what have you on acid prevention. So that gets quite a body of people involved which is good. Then you keep them involved by getting them involved in specific projects or working groups and the like (INAP Board member).

This shared collaborative intent is also supportive of developing and maintaining trust (Das and Teng, 1998). In addition to numerous positive comments about trust in this IION, some concerns about limitations placed on one’s degree of trust emerged in our data. These concerns related to a company’s need to protect and perhaps withhold information or technology that may have competitive implications, as represented in the following quotes: [U]p until recently I guess environmental technologies were not giving a competitive advantage. But that is changing . . ., so if you think that this particular technology is giving you a competitive advantage you won’t put it on the table, there’s just no question about that (OpCom member). . . . therein lies a natural tension because technology is the driver of innovation and the provision of cost competitive positions . . . or sustainable positions . . . The tension there is that if you’re going to have the technologists blabbing to each other, you’ve lost your competitive position because it’s immediately copied” (INAP Board member).

These data suggest that not simply trust but optimal trust must be developed and maintained in an IION. We support the notion of trust as a conditional good, as “it is possible to both over and underinvest in trust, and neither is desirable from either a moral or strategic point of view” (Wicks et al., 1999, p. 99). Optimal trust has been interpreted in the following way: Optimal trust exists when one creates (and maintains) prudent economic relationships biased by a willingness to trust. That is, agents need to have stable and ongoing commitments to trust so that they share affect-based belief in moral character sufficient to make a leap of faith, but they should also exercise care in determining whom to trust, and in what capacity. Optimal trust is an embedded construct, suggesting that it is determined in context and shaped by a variety of factors, such as trustworthiness of the agent, local and broader social norms regarding trust, and other features of the relevant social structure(s) (Wicks et al., 1999, p. 103).

Following Wicks et al. (1999), we suggest that trust levels will be influenced by the IIONs context for trust; that is, optimal trust will be dependent upon factors such as the network members involved and the specific events that may arise. With regard to network centrality, it seemed that the position of a particular organization in INAP was an interplay of the company and the individual(s)


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representing it within INAP. In terms of network information and other exchanges, two OpCom representatives, and the former INAP administrator, employed by a central member company commented: . . . we are much closer to [Company X] than [Company Y] because of the current personalities involved in the network and we are not as close to the others because they don’t engage as much, but if they were to engage as much, we would probably be as close to them. So it depends on the amount of effort that individuals are prepared to put in, basically (OpCom member). Because Rio Tinto has such a strong, I guess, passion to see INAP succeed, because we actually see results from INAP, we make sure that we have it staffed all the time so that the information is being diffused to all of our operations (former Administrator). I think at a company level you could probably say [network relationships are] close to arm’s length but at the actual individuals who are in the network and taking part in the network it’s close . . . The amount of sweat equity [our italics] and the willingness to come to meetings and engage like in any association of people determines closeness (OpCom member).

The term “sweat equity” is a term used by several INAP participants, to indicate their “voluntary” or “extra-role” efforts for the network. INAP OpCom and Board members appeared to consider working for INAP as additional to their other work-related roles. As any direct link between the activities in INAP and rewards was lacking, most did not perceive any tangible reward for their INAP work. There might, however, be rewards related to global career development. Volunteering for extra-role activities has been found to enhance the impression of excellent performance, essential for employability, at least within the individual’s current organization (Garavan et al., 2001). Further, enacting an extra role such as representing his or her organization in the governance of an IION provides opportunities for continuous learning and investing in new competencies consistent with the current technological and labor market trends (DeFelippi and Arthur, 1996); also enhancing employability. INAP as an IION provides the context in which individual participants might develop new and existing competencies. For example, aside from the three INAP administrative positions, there are no lines of authority within the network. Therefore, the ability to influence and motivate other INAP participants to act and equitably distribute network tasks requires that interpersonal communication and relations skills be applied to a non-hierarchical environment: I guess you would say it would probably follow that if you did have . . . a close, good working relationship between the people who are representing the companies, it all goes well for the companies to cooperate, provided those people have influence in their companies. So that puts the onus on the cooperation and the effort at the right level in the network. The . . . influential person from the company being in the network matters (OpCom member).

Participation in INAP also enables individual participants to maintain technical excellence, and therefore, employability in the mining and minerals industry (Garavan et al., 2001). It’s hard work and it’s almost always out of work time, on your own time, but certainly . . . the people that I’ve met through INAP and the networks I have been able to develop and the amount that I’ve learnt being on the operating committee for just over 12 months has certainly helped me to really take a leadership role in our ARD [acid rock drainage] issues

. . . and to a lesser extent within the company, around the place, as well. I suppose to be recognized within a very short space of time as somebody who knows a fair bit more than the average, about environmental engineering or anything else about ARD issues. So, certainly from that perspective, it’s helped me to, I suppose, accelerate my learning in that area (OpCom member).

We anticipate that GHRD has an important role to play in ensuring that potential IION participants are identified and their interpersonal networking competencies, including awareness and behaviors conducive to securing and maintaining a central network position and trust are developed. In SHRM terms, such an approach should recognize the particular nature of INAP as an IION spanning organizational, geographical and national boundaries, and INAP objectives (De Cieri and Dowling, 1999). Interviewees discounted the need to establish an intra-INAP SHRM function. However, all indicated a need for specific HRM activities designed for INAP as a means of staffing and maintaining network participation. Therefore, addressing the question of whether this “fit” ought to be achieved by the creation of GHRD and career development policies and practices within INAP itself, or whether the member companies can agree to extend their own policies and practices to INAP as a network resource, and agree on how this might be achieved, is an important challenge for SHRM in this IION. Implications for future research and practice In this exploratory study of an IION, we have sought to expose a relatively new organizational context for career development. Overall, the structure and operation of this IION resemble a trade association, in Hudson and Bielefeld’s (1997) and Provan’s (1983) terms, in that the member organizations are fully autonomous and may chooze to utilize or ignore the network’s services. However, the intensity of the exchange relationships, the nature of the services provided and the resource commitments of the participating companies appear to be quite different from those trade associations. There are various challenges and implications for GHRD that may provide fruitful areas for future research. In this research, we have not pursued the implications of this type of organization on the concept of “career”. Rather, we have considered “career” to be implicit within HRD and career development (Giddens, 1984). This would be a logical aspect to extend in future research. As Arthur et al. (1989, p. 11) note: “In our view a career theory – in contrast to basic psychological theories of individual differences – needs to attend to the institutional dimension”. In terms of the characteristics that guide it, they suggest that career theory encourages research at both individual and organizational levels. The other guiding characteristic for future research applying career theory is that of “emergence and relativity”, or the examination of time and space (Arthur et al., 1989, p. 13). The first pertains to research into how work experiences in an IION emerge over time. The second concerns how social space, as a dimension of social significance, might explain differences in the way particular individuals behave in IIONs. For example, are more senior managers more likely to exhibit behaviors resulting in network centrality? Of course, career theory is multidisciplinary and there are many perspectives through which these guiding characteristics could be examined. For example, management theory, economics, sociology and developmental psychology have all contributed to the concept of career. Therefore, “multi- and interdisciplinary research seems . . . essential for a comprehensive view on careers” (Iellatchitch et al., 2003, p. 728).


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Another potentially informative direction for future research on IION participation related to the above and emerging from the challenges identified in this study lies in the area of boundary activities, drawn from systems theory. Boundary activities include buffering, spanning and bringing up boundaries (Cross et al., 2000). Network centrality and trust, or perhaps more appropriately optimal trust (Wicks et al., 1999), are issues in interpersonal networking that suggest a role for each of these boundary activities. Buffering refers to the self-protective strategy taken to close off a system from disruptive disturbances in its environment. Examples of buffering activities undertaken at the work unit level include the implementation of policies and procedures, such as in this case, the INAP propriety limited company and governance structures and constitution, and or informal codes like the participants’ mind matrix to protect against external demands, pressures or interference. Boundary spanning refers to the activity of reaching out beyond the organizational boundary to the external environment, as a proactive stance in managing system interdependencies. IIONs can be regarded as an outcome of the more boundary-permeable contemporary MNE. Indeed, INAP is an inter-MNE boundary spanning activity (Cross et al., 2000). It was established as a means to access and interact with critical constituencies, in this case, the occupational and industry communities knowledgeable about acid rock drainage, in the external environment of each participating MNE. At the individual level, INAP participants may be considered as boundary role persons, those who enable their organizations to transact with other organizations (Adams, 1976, cited in Buckles and Ronchetto, 1996). Boundary spanning has been recognized in management theory and practice, mostly from an intra-organizational perspective, and with senior management, sales and marketing staff cited as examples of boundary spanners (Buckles and Ronchetto, 1996; Manev and Stevenson, 2001). “Bringing up boundaries” is an internal boundary activity to develop and maintain “a compelling image of a common task. . . and a shared sense of the climate of the group” (Cross et al., 2000, p. 843). It can be likened to the idea of the mind matrix evident within INAP. Testing for relationships between boundary activities and the development and maintenance of network centrality and optimal trust is one potentially useful research direction. Competencies required for boundary activities and their potential contribution to human capital accumulation for individual employability in IIONs could also be explored. Researching IIONs from the perspective of boundary activities allows access to measures, constructs and methods that are along the path to validation through empirical testing (Cross et al., 2000; Yan and Louis, 1999). We also note that there are important implications for the practice of GHRD emerging from our study. On some issues related to GHRD, it is evident that a research-practice gap exists, with research lagging behind the current needs of managers in IIONs. While the gap may not be easy to close, as there are complex issues to define, measure and address, boundary activity within IIONs is one means by which these issues might be defined and measured, with a view to implementing effective GHRD practices. For example, it seems possible to define effective behaviors for each of the boundary activities outlined above, and to develop a competency framework for GHRD policy formulation and implementation (Cross et al., 2000). In INAP, individual competencies such as managing time and role conflict, developing and maintaining

interpersonal relationships with each other in an often virtual organization, and motivating their peers to contribute equal effort appear to be important competencies. Developing and maintaining network centrality and optimal trust, important success factors for IIONs, might be influenced by the ability to perform boundary activities effectively at the interpersonal level. Further, although the cultural distances between the participants in this study are relatively small, as Tregaskis et al. (2001, p. 39) note, “career development is an aspect of a company’s HRD system that is highly influenced by the career traditions and business system in the host country”. Therefore, it seems that future research and practice will need to consider such aspects of the internal and external environments of IIONs. Also, GHRD in IIONs might incorporate several related/aligned HRM activities in addition to that of training and development. These include recruitment and selection, and succession planning linked to an individual’s internal career development model.

Future directions and conclusion Our case study has raised issues for future research on GHRD and career development in IIONS. We have made several important steps forward. For example, we have used multiple informants inside the governance structure of an IION, in contrast to a large proportion of quantitative research on SHRM in MNEs, which uses HR managers as the sole respondent for each MNE represented in their sample. We have contributed to the relatively small body of HRD research involving employees other than those on traditional international assignments in MNEs. Our case study also broadens the study of inter-organizational networks beyond an organization-level domestic focus to the international context. However, much remains to be done in future research. More qualitative case studies of IIONs are required in order to confirm or disconfirm the findings within INAP and to explore other dimensions of IIONs. For instance, extending the line of sight to explore the nature of relationships and activities within each organization participating in an IION and between an IION and its environment might reveal implications for GHRD and career development related to inter-organizational boundaries. Exploring how IIONs differ from and resemble domestic inter-organizational networks, and from other forms of strategic alliance such as international joint ventures, as organizational contexts for GHRD and career development, from both employer and employee perspectives is another direction for future case studies. Such case studies may form part of mixed-method research designs, incorporating qualitative and quantitative methods, that have been advocated for theory-building in SHRM (Creswell, 2003; Wright et al., 2001b). One key requirement for research on SHRM in IIONs is to develop psychometrically sound measures for relevant constructs and methods for testing research propositions or hypotheses (Schuler and Florkowski, 1996). We have suggested that drawing on the body of research into boundary management activities might provide one source of relevant constructs for considering interpersonal networking in IIONs. Focusing our exploration on interpersonal networking relationships within INAP in the context of developing and maintaining network centrality and optimal trust, two challenges to achieve maximum benefit from IION participation, has enabled us to begin an agenda for GHRD research and practice.


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Sparrowe, R., Liden, R., Wayne, S. and Kraimer, M. (2001), “Social networks and the performance of individuals and groups”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44, pp. 316-25. Stake, R. (1995), The Art of Case Study Research, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Stroh, L.K. and Caligiuri, P.M. (1998), “Strategic human resources: a new source for competitive advantage in the global arena”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 9, pp. 1-17. Sydow, J. and Windeler, A. (1998), “Organizing and evaluating interfirm networks: a structurationist perspective on network processes and effectiveness”, Organization Science, Vol. 9, pp. 265-84. Thorelli, H. (1986), “Networks: between markets and hierarchies”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 7, pp. 37-51. Tregaskis, O., Heraty, N. and Morley, M. (2001), “HRD in multinationals: the global/local mix”, Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 34-56. Tsai, W. (2001), “Knowledge transfer in intraorganizational networks: effects of network position and absorptive capacity on business units, innovation and performance”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44, pp. 996-1004. Tung, R. (1981), “Selecting and training of personnel for overseas assignments”, Columbia Journal of World Business, Vol. 16, pp. 68-78. Welch, D. and Fenwick, M. (2003), “Virtual assignments: a new possibility for IHRM?”, in Wiesner, R. and Millett, B. (Eds), Human Resource Management: Challenges and Future Directions, Wiley, Brisbane, Qld, Australia, pp. 279-91. Wicks, A.C., Berman, S.L. and Jones, T.M. (1999), “The structure of optimal trust: moral and strategic implications”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 24, pp. 99-116. Wright, P. and McMahan, G. (1992), “Theoretical perspectives for strategic human resource management”, Journal of Management, Vol. 18, pp. 295-320. Wright, P.M., Dunford, B.B. and Snell, S.A. (2001a), “Human resources and the resource based view of the firm”, Journal of Management, Vol. 27, pp. 701-21. Wright, P.M., Gardner, T.M., Moynihan, L.M. and Park, H.J. (2001b), “Measurement error in research on human resources and firm performance: additional data and suggestions for future research”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 54, pp. 875-901. Yan, A. and Louis, M. (1999), “Migration of organizational functions to the work unit level: buffering, spanning, and bringing up boundaries”, Human Relations, Vol. 52 No. 1, pp. 25-47. Yin, R.K. (2003), Case Study Research. Design and Methods, 3rd ed., Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Appendix. Key interview questions Note: Given the length of interviews, it is not feasible to include all questions here. We have selected the key questions representative of each area relevant to this paper. Background (1) Please describe your job/position, tenure, and involvement in INAP. INAP formation (2) Why and how was INAP formed? (3) Are all network partners of equal standing with regard to: e.g. Status? Authority? Commitment of resources in INAP?


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INAP conduct (4) What are the objectives of INAP? To what extent do these objectives match your company’s objectives? (5) What resources does your company commit to INAP: e.g. Staff? Capital? Equipment? IT? Others? (6) Please describe the intensity of the relationship your company has with other INAP members: Close, partner-like. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ... Distant, arms length; Varies according to the particular member? (7) How does the participation in INAP impact on day-to-day activities: for yourself? For your company? (8) How much autonomy is enjoyed by INAP network members? Ongoing management of INAP (9) What formal management processes dedicated to INAP are in place? What informal management processes dedicated to INAP are in place? (10) As an INAP member, how important is it that your company retains control over: Technology? Expertise? Knowledge? Other? (11) Which member companies provide yours with new knowledge or expertise when your company is seeking technical advice from within INAP? (12) Which INAP member companies seek new knowledge or expertise from your company? HRM and HRD in INAP (13) Have members of your company been recruited to become involved in INAP activities? If so, how was this done? (14) What kinds of skills, knowledge, and abilities are required of those involved in INAP activities, within your company? (15) Does involvement in INAP, either at the individual or organizational level, require any training and development? If so, what kind? How are HRD needs determined? How does this HRD compare with other HRD in your company? How does it compare with that provided to individuals from other member companies participating in INAP? (16) Are there rewards attached to individual contributions to INAP? If so, what are they? How are they determined and administered? How do they compare with other reward packages in your company? How do they compare with those available to individuals from other member companies participating in INAP? (17) Are there performance criteria specific to INAP activities? If so, what are they? How are they determined and administered? How do they compare with other performance criteria at in your company? How do they compare with those for individuals from other member companies participating in INAP?

(18) How does HRM policy and practice for INAP activities relate to your company’s HRM strategy over all? (19) Has INAP devised its own HRM systems or has it adopted HRM systems from elsewhere? If the latter, what was the source of these systems? (INAP member companies? Other organizations?) (20) Is the HRM system in use (in INAP) effective? INAP outcomes (21) To what extent has INAP added value to your company? To what extent do you anticipate it will add value in the future? (22) In what ways is INAP an effective network? How could its effectiveness be improved? (23) Is there anything else you would like to say about INAP?



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Hilary Harris Centre for Research into the Management of Expatriation, Cranfield School of Management, Cranfield, UK Keywords Women executives, International organizations, Role conflict Abstract This paper argues that both the impact of gender and work-family conflict itself are likely to increase in international working scenarios, which may involve the physical relocation of the entire family. In such cases, the boundaries between work and home become blurred due to the involvement of the whole family and there is often disruption of traditional family roles, causing increasing stress. Work demands are also likely to increase for the female expatriate due to the combined effect of role and culture novelty, thus enhancing the possibility of work-family conflict. The impact of gender role theory is apparent in three key areas: work, partner and family.


Introduction The importance of international assignments as a key method of developing the future senior management of international organizations has been noted by numerous authors ( Mendenhall, 2001; Stroh and Caligiuri, 1998). Recent survey evidence (Organization Resources Counselors Inc (ORC), 2002) shows that this is a growing trend, with nearly 50 per cent of responding organizations indicating that they were planning to increase the number of international assignments in Asia Pacific, Europe/Middle East and Japan. Over 60 per cent of the assignments were single trips with planned repatriation. This confirms the importance of international experience as part of management development. Despite this increase in demand for international assignees, the number of women in such positions remains stubbornly low. Figures from worldwide vary between 2 and 15 per cent (Adler, 1994; Florkowski and Fogel, 1995; Harris, 1999; Hede and O’Brien, 1996; Organization Resources Counselors Inc (ORC), 2002; Tung, 1997). Such statistics question the assumption that diversity is being acknowledged and incorporated in the development of a geocentric mindset. It is particularly worrying to see that the representation of women on international assignments is increasing at such a slow rate since Adler’s seminal study in 1984. Many reasons have been put forward to explain the dearth of women on international assignments. These include lack of interest (Adler, 1984a); personality traits (Caligiuri and Cascio, 1998); foreigner’s prejudice against women (Adler, 1984a); organizational reluctance to send women (Adler, 1984a); selection systems for international assignments (Harris, 1999) and dual-career and family constraints. This paper focuses on the relatively under-researched topic of work-life balance issues resulting from partner and family considerations and the impact of these on women’s adjustment on international assignments. The work-family literature argues that there is a negative or positive spillover from work to family and vice versa. However, studies investigating a gender impact on work-family conflict within

domestic settings (primarily US-based data) are equivocal (Eagle et al., 1997; Frone et al., 1997). The adjustment literature identifies a combination of antecedents to adjustment which will result in either successful or unsuccessful adjustment. A critical feature of the adjustment literature is its acknowledgement that adjustment is a dynamic process. However, the impact of family in the successful adjustment of expatriates is only being just acknowledged. In addition, the majority of adjustment studies have had a predominantly male sample and therefore the impact of gender has not been investigated. This paper argues that the impact of gender is likely to be higher in the case of women relocating on an international assignment as a result of work, partner and family considerations but that can be mediated by both organizational and family support. Within the work sphere, female expatriates moving to more traditional cultures may encounter more problems integrating into their new work roles, given the impact of traditional values on men and women’s societal roles; this in turn is likely to lead to work-family conflict. Family to work conflict is also more likely than in domestic situations as a result of both partner and family considerations. Accompanying an expatriate can be harder for a male partner due to loss of income and status and greater difficulty in gaining employment and acceptance within the foreign culture, as well as potential career problems in the future ( Punnett, 1997). Women’s greater involvement in the bringing up of children is also likely to be problematic in a situation where the woman needs to spend more time adjusting to a new role in a foreign country, whilst at the same time her children are having to cope with a new life away from family and friends. In contrast, a relatively recent addition to the adjustment literature highlights the mediating role of partner and family in determining a positive or negative work-life balance outcome. For instance, Caligiuri et al. (1998) demonstrated the significance of partner and family issues in the successful adjustment of the expatriate. Factors such as family support, communication and adaptability and also perceptions of the move are all seen to affect the adjustment of the expatriate. In one of the few studies with an exclusively female sample, Linehan (2002) found that positive support from a partner was a critical factor in adjustment for the women executives. In view of the above, it is argued that there is a need for a detailed study of the impact of work/family balance issues on the adjustment of female international managers which will address both the theoretical and methodological limitations of existing research. Work/life balance and gender implications Gender role theory argues that societal norms of women’s greater involvement with the family, even within apparently liberalised industrial democracies, mean that women will experience greater conflict in trying to balance work and family responsibilities. This theoretical perspective is informed by functionalist and psychoanalytic theories as well as by the work of sociobiologists and evolutionary psychologists, all of whom claim that there are large, inherent and natural gender differences which lead to a view that women’s place is at home and men’s is in the workplace (Parsons and Bales, 1955). It should be noted that these theories relate mainly to middle class women, as poorer women have always had to work. This traditional perspective has been challenged by researchers in the US who argue that the facts underlying the assumptions of classical

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theories of gender and multiple roles have changed so radically as to make them obsolete (Barnett and Hyde, 2001, p. 781). Research into work-family conflict emphasises the complex nature of the inter-relationship between work and family and its positive and negative outcomes (Allen et al., 2000; Beutell and Wittig-Berman, 1999; Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985; Gutek et al., 1991). Early studies focused on the causes and consequences of conflict between work and family. This unidirectional perspective referred to conflicting role pressures between job and family that were incompatible so that participation in one role was made more difficult by virtue of participation in the other (Greenhaus and Beutell, 1985). Greenhaus and Beutell (1985) identified three main types of work and family conflict. Time-based conflict occurs when time pressures associated with one role prevents an individual from fulfilling the expectations of the other role, i.e. when overtime cuts into family activities. Strain-based conflict occurs when strain or fatigue in one role affects performance in another. In line with spillover theory, this type of conflict occurs when workers carry their negative emotions and attitudes from their work life into their home life ( Kelly and Vyodanoff, 1985; Piotrkowski, 1979). Behaviour-based conflict occurs when behavioural patterns in one role are incompatible with the behavioural requirements of the other role. Most researchers now acknowledge work-family conflict is reciprocal in nature, i.e. that work can interfere with family (WFC) and family can interfere with work (FWC), resulting in a wide variety of psychological and physical outcomes for individuals (Adams et al., 1996; Allen et al., 2000; Edwards and Rothbard, 2000; Kelloway et al., 1999; Lieter and Durup, 1996). The nature of the reciprocal relationship suggests that if one’s work interferes with family, this may cause family issues as family obligations go unfulfilled and vice versa. An intervening variable is the extent of involvement of the individual within a domain (i.e. high involvement with work), which is expected to have a direct and positive relationship with satisfaction in that domain (Adams et al., 1996; Frone et al., 1994; Weiner et al., 1987). Interestingly, there has been little acknowledgement of the potential for positive spillover from work to family and vice versa. Fredriksen-Goldsen and Scharlach (2001) provide examples of positive spillover effects from multiple roles within the literature. For instance, the quality of men’s and women’s marital and parental roles has been found to buffer the psychological distress associated with work-related difficulties and poor experiences on the job (Barnett and Marshall, 1992; Barnett et al., 1994). Equally, they quote two studies showing a positive spillover from work to family. The first showed that mothers’ involvement in complex types of work was associated with providing an enriched home environment that promoted child development (Parcel and Meneghan, 1994). The second reported a positive association between support from supervisors regarding employees’ nonwork demands and responsibilities and job satisfaction and health outcomes (Thomas and Ganster, 1995). The failure to acknowledge the existence of positive spillover effects may be a result of the implicit assumption of conflict contained in the label of most studies. There has also been relatively limited recent attention to this phenomenon. Social support is omitted from this basic model, however, the role of support, in terms of work or family social support, has been considered by numerous researchers (Burke, 1988; Carlson and Perrewe, 1999; Etzioni, 1984; Greenhaus et al., 1987). Social support in the work domain may come from a variety of sources, including peers

and supervisor support, as well as more formal social support mechanisms, such as organizational work-life balance programmes. However, research into organizational support suggests that, despite widespread proliferation, organizational policies designed to help employees integrate work and family roles do not necessarily reduce individual work-family conflict (Goff et al., 1990) and are marginally effective at best (Solomon, 1994). Non-work social support, for example support from the family has been found to play an important role in reducing work-nonwork conflict (Caligiuri et al., 1998). Studies investigating the influence of gender on work-family interface within one-country settings are equivocal, with some reporting a link (Duxbury et al., 1994; MacEwen and Barling, 1994) and others showing no evidence (Eagle et al., 1997; Frone et al., 1997). Gutek et al. (1991) argued that most models of work-family conflict operate from a rational view, in which conflict is related linearly to the total amount of time spent in paid and family work. They posited that according to the gender role perspective, gender role expectations mute the relationship between hours expended and perceived work-family conflict, and gender interacts with number of hours worked and work-family conflict. Their study findings provided partial support for this view, but also highlighted the complexity of the process, with changing expectations about appropriate roles from both men and women (Figure 1).

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Adjustment on international assignments The adjustment process has been studied in both domestic and international contexts and is a multi-faceted phenomenon. In international scenarios, adjustment is seen to be a factor of both anticipatory adjustment and in-country adjustment ( Black et al., 1991) ( Figure 2). Hechanova et al. (2003) in their meta-review of employee’s adjustment to overseas assignments state that adjustment can refer to either feelings of acceptance and satisfaction, acquisition of culturally acceptable skills and behaviours, lack of mental

Figure 1. Sources of conflict between work and family roles

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Figure 2. Framework of international adjustment

health problems such as stress or depression and the psychological comfort an individual feels in a new situation ( Berry et al., 1988; Brislin, 1981; Bochner et al., 1977; Gregersen and Black, 1990). Research on expatriate adjustment falls into the three main facets identified in the Black et al. (1991) model above, namely: general, interaction and work adjustment. General adjustment refers to the degree of comfort with general living conditions, such as climate, food, housing, cost of living etc. Interaction adjustment involves comfortably socialising and interacting with host nationals. Finally, work adjustment pertains to specific job responsibilities, performance standards and expectations and supervisory responsibilities (Black, 1988; Black and Stephens, 1989). The acknowledgement of the influence of pre and post departure factors on adjustment highlights the dynamic nature of the process. Torbiorn (1982) introduced the concept of the U-shaped curve of adjustment to describe the phases of an individual’s psychological reactions to the assignment. Models such as Black et al. (1991) Framework of International Adjustment largely ignore work-family issues. In the Black et al. model, only the individual adjustment of the spouse and family is taken into account. Yet the likelihood of work-family conflict and vice versa is almost certain to be increased as a result of the whole family having to relocate to a foreign country. Research into dual-career couples and international mobility demonstrates the critical nature of the interaction between partners in determining the successful outcome of international assignments. Harvey (1998) argues that issues such as loss of human capital, gender role perceptions and power status will influence dual-career couples’ willingness to relocate, their adjustment and ultimately, their satisfaction in the course of an international assignment. The impact of an international relocation on the whole family has been examined by Caligiuri et al. (1998) using family systems theory ( Minuchin, 1974) and family

equilibrium. Family systems theory looks at the family as a system with three components. . The structure of the family is that of an open sociocultural system in transformation. . The family undergoes development, moving through a number of stages that require restructuring. . The family adapts to changed circumstances so as to maintain continuity and enhance the psychological growth of each member. ( p. 51).

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Taking the concept of family systems further, Brett and Stroh (1995) argued that a family system suggested that there was an equilibrium between the family members and that each individual family member can affect the psychological state of other members. Caligiuri et al. (1998) argued that in the context of global assignments, pressures within the family, such as a child’s mal-adjustment to his/her new school, or outside the family, such as unsatisfactory living conditions or difficulty in getting certain foods, can affect individual family members and thus the equilibrium of the family. Under a family system approach, the double ABCX model (Hill, 1949; McCubbin and Patterson, 1982, 1983) examines family dynamics, as they relate to family adaptation to stressors such as global relocation. The model suggests that three factors interact to produce a family’s adaptation or adjustment (Figure 3): . the stressor (in this case, the international relocation); . the family’s resources or characteristics to cope with the stressor; and . the family’s perceptions of the stressor.

Figure 3. Theoretical model of family adjustment and expatriate performance

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The three family characteristics which mostly affect their ability to function are family support (or cohesion); family adaptability and family communication (Olson et al., 1984). Family support refers to the cohesion or closeness that family members feel toward one another and the amount of emotional support that this engenders. Too little or too much emotional support can have negative consequences on family functioning. Family adaptability refers to the ability of the family to accommodate changes in its roles of functioning while maintaining family system continuity (Minuchin, 1974). The shift in roles for partners in the case of a female expatriate and trailing male partner will require a high degree of adaptability amongst all family members. Family communication refers to the ability to exchange opinions, respect differing opinions, establish decision-making rules, resolve conflicts and so on. A healthy level of family communication will result in both effective support as well as adaptability. Research into both dual-career couples and family, therefore, highlights the fact that family issues are likely to have a stronger impact on work performance (in this case the adjustment of the female expatriate) in the context of an international assignment than would be the case for a woman undertaking managerial work in a domestic situation. Limitations of existing studies This brief review of the existing literatures in both work-family conflict and adjustment demonstrates that, as yet, the dynamics of work-life balance issues on adjustment of women on international assignments have not been addressed from an appropriate theoretical or empirical basis. Traditional approaches to the study of work-life balance issues, which incorporate both the work-family conflict and multiple roles literature do have a substantial theoretical basis but are not sufficient for this area of study for the following reasons. First, virtually all studies on work-family conflict emanate from the US and consist of quantitative surveys of pre-set variables, many of which date from the 1970s and 1980s. This methodological approach is likely to give an inaccurate portrayal of the reality of women’s experiences in the early years of the 21st century. Second, a majority of studies of work-family conflict, with some notable exceptions (Shaffer and Harrison, 1998; Shaffer and Harrison, 2001) are located within domestic settings, i.e. they are one-country studies and do not include mobility factors. Third, most of the studies undertaken have been structured to examine very homogenous and specific groups and work contexts, thus reducing the generalisability of the findings. Finally, most research into work-family conflict is static; it depicts a snapshot picture of the outcomes of various antecedents and types of conflicts on individuals’ life and job satisfaction at one point of time. From an international adjustment perspective, there is a need to examine the more complex dynamics of work-family balance once the family is in country. The literature on adjustment in international assignments emphasises the dynamic nature of the process (Black et al., 1991; Torbiorn, 1982). It is to be expected that international workers and their families will experience different forms of work-family conflict at different stages in the assignment process. Caligiuri et al. (1998) have stressed the need to include family characteristics and family perceptions of the move as precursors to family adjustment, but only envisage a one-way spillover to work and expatriate performance.

comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of the combine a number of theoretical perspectives, including and adjustment. The next section of this paper develops work, family and adjustment with a set of testable

Global careers

Gender, work, family and adjustment on international assignments This paper argues that both the impact of gender and work-family conflict itself are likely to increase in international working scenarios, which may involve the physical relocation of the entire family. In such cases, the boundaries between work and home become blurred due to the involvement of the whole family (Harvey, 1985) and there is often disruption to traditional family roles, causing increasing stress. Work demands are also likely to increase for the female expatriate due to the combined effect of role and culture novelty, thus enhancing the possibility of work-family conflict. The impact of gender role theory is apparent in three key areas: work, partner and family.

825

In order to achieve a process, it is necessary to gender role, multiple roles a new model of gender, proposition.

Work considerations Gender role theory suggests that female expatriates will have more problems integrating into their new work roles in more traditional cultures, given the impact of traditional values on men and women’s societal roles. Organizational respondents often quote this aspect, turning it into a more general assumption of foreigners’ prejudice against women as a key reason for their reluctance to send women on international assignments (Adler, 1984a, b; Harris, 1999). There are a number of cultures in certain regions of the world which preclude women from being actively involved in business (e.g. some countries in the Middle East). However, research by Adler (1987) amongst US women expatriates working in South-East Asian countries challenged the validity of this assumption by finding a very high rate of success amongst women international managers, largely due to the fact that women were seen as foreigners who happened to be women, not as women who happened to be foreigners -a subtle, but highly significant distinction. Female expatriate managers were therefore not subject to the same limitations imposed on local females. The women respondents did, however, acknowledge that they had to work harder initially to gain acceptance. Gaining acceptance from fellow (male) expatriates was seen to be even more of a difficulty by some women. More recent research by Taylor and Napier (1996) reiterates Adler’s (1987) findings in looking at the experiences of women professionals working on assignments in China, Japan and Turkey. They all reported issues with gaining credibility in the initial stages of working abroad. In this respect, Japan was perceived as more difficult than China. However, most of the women reported that they had found ways to overcome the resistance. P1a. Women being sent to countries with more traditional socio-cultural norms will need to spend more time initially gaining acceptance in work-roles, thus enhancing the possibility of work-family conflict. The response of firms to concerns about lack of acceptance of female expatriates by sending women to temporary or lower-status positions can be seen to have a negative

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impact on work-family balance by increasing the amount of work role strain for women. Lack of confidence on the part of organizations can communicate itself to foreign colleagues and clients, thus making it even harder for women to be taken seriously (Adler, 1987). P1b. Lack of organizational support may increase women’s work adjustment difficulties, thus increasing the possibility of work-family conflict. Organizational support with partner and children concerns is seen as a critical factor in adjustment (Black et al., 1991). It has already been argued that women are more likely to experience difficulties in this respect as a result of gender role perceptions and the reality of male careers. The degree of organizational support for partner and children concerns is therefore a critical factor in the adjustment of women expatriates. P1c. Women who receive satisfactory organizational support for partner and children concerns will experience less family-work conflict than women who do not receive satisfactory support. Partner considerations It has been argued that male partners face additional role transition obstacles in terms of adjusting to the role of trailing “spouse”. Again according to gender role theory, socio-cultural norms, which see men as the primary breadwinners, mean that male accompanying partners are more likely to be concerned about continuing their careers in the host country. In a survey asking men to rank activities which they felt organizations should undertake to assist accompanying partners, ( Punnett, 1997), four of the six top scoring activities dealt with issues concerning employment in the host country. However, many male partners are unable to obtain employment ( Munton et al., 1993; Punnett, 1997; Windham International and the National Foreign Trade Council, 1995). In these cases the male partner becomes dependent on the female expatriate and has to take on the non-traditional role of homemaker. These non-traditional roles of dependent and homemaker would be additional stressors for both the male and female partners (Caligiuri and Cascio, 1998; Harvey and Weise, 1998; Punnett, 1997). Additional socio-cultural barriers include the likelihood of the male spouse finding himself the lone man in a group of wives and the unavailability or inappropriateness of traditional volunteer activities which wives undertake in foreign locations, thus limiting the extent of productive activities for males (Punnett et al., 1992). In these situations, the female partner may need to offer more support and empathy, thus increasing the demands placed on her from the family side. P2a. The presence of a male trailing partner who is having problems adjusting will increase family-work conflict for the female expatriate. The positive impact of a trailing male partner on the work performance of a female expatriate was, however, demonstrated by Linehan (2002) in her study of 50 senior female international managers. A majority of the married women in the study believed that progressing to the top of their managerial careers had been facilitated by the careers of their spouses being placed secondary to their own careers.

P2b. The presence of a male trailing partner who has successfully adjusted will provide support for the female expatriate and create a positive spillover effect to work performance. Children considerations The necessity to take the whole family on an international assignment places a major requirement on the female expatriate to focus on children’s issues in both the pre-move phase and the initial entry phase. This will differ depending on the age range of the children. For young children, i.e. pre-teens, at the pre-move stage, the critical focus of attention will be medical and education arrangements. The female expatriate will need to talk to the children about the move, but need not negotiate whether necessary to make the move or not. Women at this stage are likely to experience more family-work conflict due to increased time to be spent in arranging these issues for young children. P3a. Time-based family to work conflict will be increased at the pre-move stage for female expatriates with young children For female expatriates with teenage children, a large amount of time may be needed to ensure they are happy with the planned move. This is likely to involve both physical time and emotional energy. P3b. Both time and strain-based family to work conflict will be increased at the pre-move stage for female expatriates with teenage children. At the initial entry stage, mothers of both pre-teen and teenage children are likely required to spend considerable time helping them to adjust to new schools, language, friends, etc. There will also be health-related concerns in certain international postings. If the mother is going with a trailing partner, he can take much of the burden off the female expatriate. However, if the family has moved to a country with traditional socio-cultural norms about gender roles, the female may find she is faced with negative sanctions for leaving child-related issues to her male partner. P3c. Female expatriates with trailing male partners will not experience as much time and strain-based family to work conflict in countries with more liberalised socio-cultural norms about gender roles. P3d. Female expatriates with trailing male partners will experience more strain-based family to work conflict in countries with traditional socio-cultural norms about gender roles, as a result of negative sanctions against the assistance of the male partner. Both Caligiuri and Cascio (1998) and Taylor and Napier (1996) mention the positive effect that a supportive family can have on women’s adjustment and subsequent adjustment. This can be in the form of emotional support from within the family. It can also be in terms of easing the social transition in the case of countries where most socialisation occurs in a family context. In this respect, family support will assist women’s performance. P3e. Female expatriates who receive emotional support from within the family will experience a positive spillover from family to work.

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P3f. Female expatriates accompanied by their families will experience a positive spillover from family to work through being able to access social events through the family. Work-family balance and adjustment for women international managers: towards a new research agenda This paper has argued that work-family issues are likely to have a more significant impact on adjustment for women on international assignments as a result of differing gender role expectations in both the home and host country. At present, the dynamics of work-family conflict and adjustment have not been studied together and our knowledge of this phenomenon emanates from two separate bodies of literature. An understanding of how this might be experienced differently by women from different socio-cultural backgrounds and different generations is also lacking. In summary, this paper calls for a longitudinal, qualitative study to surface the specific issues that international working raises for work-family balance and adjustment for individual women and their immediate families. The results of the qualitative investigation will provide a detailed summary of the issues relating to work-life balance for women from different cultural backgrounds. These findings will form the basis of an integrative model of work-life balance for internationally mobile women and its implications for global careers. Finally, current research into women in international management focuses primarily on the case of Western women and their work-family and other socio-cultural issues. In order to advance our knowledge of the implications of international working on the work-life balance of individual women from different cultural backgrounds, a broad country, occupational and demographic sample would need to be used. References Adams, G.A., King, L.A. and King, D.W. (1996), “Relationships of job and family involvement, family social support and work-family conflict with job and life satisfaction”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 81, pp. 411-20. Adler, N. (1984a), “Women in international management: Where are they?”, California Management Review, Vol. 26 No. 4, pp. 78-89. Adler, N. (1984b), “Women do not want international careers: and other myths about international management”, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 66-79. Adler, N. (1987), “Pacific basin manager: a gaijin not a woman”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 169-91. Adler, N. (1994), “Women managers in a global economy”, Training and Development, Vol. 48 No. 4, pp. 30-8. Allen, T.D., Herst, D.E.L., Bruck, C. and Sutton, M. (2000), “Consequences associated with work-to-family conflict: A review and agenda for future research”, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 278-308. Barnett, R. and Marshall, N.L. (1992), “Positive spillover effects from job to home: a closer look”, Women and Health, Vol. 19, pp. 13-41. Barnett, R.C. and Hyde, J.S. (2001), “Women, men, work and family: an expansionist theory”, American Psychologist, Vol. 56 No. 10, pp. 781-96.

Barnett, R.C., Brennan, R.T. and Marshall, N.L. (1994), “Gender and the relationship between parent role quality and psychological distress”, Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 15, pp. 229-52. Berry, I., Kim, R. and Boshi, P. (1988), “Psychological acculturation of immigrants”, in Kim, I. and Gudykust, Y. (Eds), Cross Cultural Adaptation: Current Approaches, Sage, Beverley Hills, CA. Beutell, N.J. and Wittig-Berman, U. (1999), “Predictors of work-family conflict and satisfaction with family, job, career and life”, Psychological Reports, Vol. 85, pp. 893-903. Black, J.S. (1988), “Work role transitions: a study of American expatriate managers in Japan”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 277-94. Black, J.S. and Stephens, G.K. (1989), “The influence of the spouse on American expatriate adjustment and intent to stay in pacific rim overseas assignments”, Journal of Management, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 529-44. Black, J.S., Mendenhall, M. and Oddou, G. (1991), “Toward a comprehensive model of international adjustment: an integration of multiple theoretical perspectives”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 291-317. Bochner, S., McLeod, B.M. and Anli, L. (1977), “Friendship patterns of overseas students: a functional model”, International Journal of Psychology, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 277-95. Brett, J.M. and Stroh, L.K. (1995), “Willingness to relocate internationally”, Human Resources Management, Vol. 34, pp. 405-24. Brislin, R. (1981), Cross-Cultural Encounters, Pergamon Press, New York, NY. Burke, P.J. (1988), “Some antecedents and consequences of work-family conflict”, Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, Vol. 3, pp. 287-302. Caligiuri, P.M. and Cascio, W.F. (1998), “Can we send her there? Maximizing the success of western women on global assignments”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 33 No. 4, pp. 394-416. Caligiuri, P., Hyland, M., Joshi, A. and Bross, A.S. (1998), “Testing a theoretical model for examining the relationship between family adjustment and expatriates’ work adjustment”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 83 No. 4, pp. 598-614. Carlson, D.S. and Perrewe, P.L. (1999), “The role of social support in the stressor-strain relationship: an examination of work-family conflict”, Journal of Management, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 513-41. Duxbury, L., Higgins, C. and Lee, C. (1994), “Work-family conflict: a comparison by gender, family type and perceived control”, Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 449-66. Eagle, B.W., Miles, E.W. and Icenogle, M.L. (1997), “Inter-role conflicts and the permeability of work and family domains: are there gender differences?”, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, Vol. 50, pp. 168-84. Edwards, J.R. and Rothbard, N.P. (2000), “Mechanism linking work and family: clarifying the relationship between work and family constructs”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 25, pp. 178-99. Etzioni, D. (1984), “Moderating effect of social support on the stress-burnout relationship”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 69 No. 4, pp. 615-23. Florkowski, G.W. and Fogel, D.S. (1995), “Perceived host ethnocentrism as a determinant of expatriate adjustment and organizational commitment”, paper presented at the National Academy of Management Meeting, Vancouver, Canada. Fredriksen-Goldsen, K.I. and Scharlach, A.E. (2001), Families and Work. New Directions in The 21st Century, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

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Frone, M.R., Russell, M. and Cooper, M.L. (1994), “Relationship between job and family satisfaction: Causal or noncausal covariation?”, Journal of Management, Vol. 20, pp. 565-79. Frone, M.R., Yardley, J.K. and Markel, K.S. (1997), “Developing and testing an integrative model of the work-family interface”, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 50, pp. 145-67. Goff, S.J., Mount, M.K. and Jamison, R.L. (1990), “Employer supported child care, work/family conflict and absenteeism: a field study”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 43, pp. 793-809. Greenhaus, J. and Beutell, N. (1985), “Sources of conflict between work and family roles”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 10, pp. 76-88. Greenhaus, J.H., Bedeian, A.G. and Mossholder, K.W. (1987), “Work experiences, job performance and feelings of personal and family well-being”, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Vol. 31, pp. 200-15. Gregersen, H.B. and Black, J.S. (1990), “A multi-faceted approach to expatriate retention in international assignments”, Group and Organization Studies, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 461-85. Gutek, B.A., Searle, S. and Klepa, L. (1991), “Rational versus gender role explanations for work-family conflict”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 76 No. 4, pp. 560-8. Harris, H. (1999), “Women in international management”, in Brewster, C. and Harris, H. (Eds), International HRM: Contemporary Issues in Europe, Routledge, London. Harvey, M. (1985), “The executive family: An overlooked variable in international assignments”, Columbia Journal of World Business, Vol. 20, pp. 84-92. Harvey, M. (1998), “Dual career couples during international relocation: the trailing spouse”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 309-31. Harvey, M. and Weise, D. (1998), “The dual-career couple: female expatriates and male trailing spouses”, Thunderbird International Business Review, Vol. 40 No. 4, pp. 59-388. Hechanova, R., Beehr, T.A. and Christiansen, N.D. (2003), “Antecedents and consequences of employees’ adjustment to overseas assignments: a meta-analytical review”, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol. 52 No. 2, pp. 213-36. Hede, A. and O’Brien, E. (1996), “Affirmative action in the Australian private sector: a longitudinal analysis”, International Review of Women and Leadership, Vol. 2, pp. 15-29. Hill, R. (1949), Families Under Stress, Harper, New York, NY. Kelloway, E.K., Gottlieb, B.H. and Barham, L. (1999), “The source nature and direction of work and family conflict: a longitudinal investigation”, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 337-46. Kelly, R.F. and Vyodanoff, P. (1985), “Work family role strain among employed parents”, Family Relations, Vol. 34, pp. 367-74. Leiter, M.P. and Durup, M.J. (1996), “Work, home and inbetween: a longitudinal study of spillover”, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Vol. 32, pp. 29-47. Linehan, M. (2002), “The assignment period abroad: perspectives of female expatriate managers working in Ireland”, in Linehan, M., Morley, M.J. and Walsh, J.S. (Eds), International Human Resource Management and Expatriate Transfers: Irish Experiences, Blackhall Publishing, Dublin. McCubbin, H.L. and Patterson, J.M. (1982), “Family adaptation to crises”, in McCubbin, H.L., Cauble, E. and Patterson, J.M. (Eds), Family Stress, Coping and Social Support, Thomas, Springfield, IL, pp. 26-47. McCubbin, H.L. and Patterson, J.M. (1983), “The family stress process: The double ABCX model of adjustment and adaptation”, in McCubbin, H.L., Sussman, M.B. and Patterson, J.M. (Eds),

Advances and Developments in Family Stress Theory and Research, Haworth, New York, NY, pp. 7-37. Macewen, K.E. and Barling, J. (1994), “Daily Consequences of work interference with family and family interference with work”, Work and Stress, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 244-54. Mendenhall, M.E. (2001), “New perspectives on expatriate adjustment and its relationship to global leadership development”, in Mendenhall, M.E., Kuhlmann, T.M. and Stahl, G.K. (Eds), Developing Global Business Leaders, Quorum, Westport. Minuchin, S. (1974), Families and Family Therapy, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA. Munton, A., Forster, N., Altman, Y. and Greenbury, L. (1993), Job Relocation: Managing People on the Move, Wiley, Chichester. Olson, D.H., Russell, C.S. and Sprenkle, D.H. (1984), “Circumplex model of marital and family systems”, in Olson, D.H. and Miller, B.C. (Eds), Family Studies Review Yearbook, Vol. 2, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, pp. 59-74. Organization Resources Counselors Inc (ORC) (2002), Worldwide Survey of International Assignment Policies and Practices, European edition. Parcel, T.L. and Meneghan, E.G. (1994), “Early parental work, family social capital and early childhood outcomes”, American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 99 No. 4, pp. 972-1009. Parsons, T. and Bales, R.F. (1955), Family, Socialization and Interaction Process, Free Press, Glencoe, IL. Piotrkowski, C. (1979), Work and The Family System, Free Press, New York, NY. Punnett, B. (1997), “Towards effective management of expatriate spouses”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 32, pp. 243-57. Punnett, B.J., Crocker, O. and Stevens, M. (1992), “The challenge for women expatriates and spouses: some empirical evidence”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 585-92. Shaffer, M.A. and Harrison, D.A. (1998), “Expatriates’ psychological withdrawal from international assignments: work, non-work and family influences”, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 51, pp. 87-118. Shaffer, M.A. and Harrison, D.A. (2001), “Forgotten partners of international assignments: development and test of a model of spouse adjustment”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 86 No. 2, pp. 238-54. Solomon, C. (1994), “Work/family’s failing grade: why today’s initiatives aren’t”, Personnel Journal, Vol. 73 No. 5, pp. 72-81. Stroh, L.K. and Caligiuri, P.M. (1998), “Strategic human resources: a new source of competitive advantage”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 9, pp. 1-17. Taylor, S. and Napier, N.K. (1996), “Working in Japan: lessons from expatriate women”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 76-85. Thomas, L. and Ganster, D. (1995), “Impact of family supportive work variables on work-family conflict and strain: a control perspective”, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 80, pp. 6-15. Torbiorn, I. (1982), Living Abroad: Personal Adjustment and Personnel Policy in the Overseas Setting, Wiley, New York, NY. Tung, R.L. (1997), “Canadian expatriates in Asia-Pacific: an analysis of their attitude toward and experience in international assignments”, paper presented at the meeting of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, St Louis, MO.

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Weiner, Y., Muczyk, J.P. and Gable, M. (1987), “Relationships between work commitments and experience of personal well-being”, Psychological Reports, Vol. 60, pp. 459-66. Windham International and the National Foreign Trade Council (1995), Global Relocation Trends 1995 Survey Report, (Brochure), New York, NY. Further reading Caligiuri, P.M. (2000/2001), “Selecting expatriates for personality characteristics: a moderating effect of personality on the relationship between host national contact and cross-cultural adjustment”, Management International Review, Vol. 40, pp. 61-80. Mincer, J. (1978), “Family migration decisions”, Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 86 No. 4, pp. 749-73.



Career anchors of managers with global careers

Career anchors of managers

Vesa Suutari and Milla Taka Department of Management, University of Vaasa, Vaasa, Finland

833

Keywords Career development, Globalization, International organizations Abstract The importance of understanding the careers of global leaders, who typically have careers including various international positions and assignments, has increased due to the globalization of business. One relevant approach to such careers is the internal career approach. Here the career anchor is seen as a person’s self-concept, consisting of self-perceived talents, values, and the evolved sense of motives as they pertain to the career. The present study provides new evidence regarding such career anchors of global leaders through a qualitative research setting. The results of the study indicate that most managers saw that their decisions are based on two or even three career anchors instead of one dominating anchor. The most typical career anchors of the original career anchor classification were managerial competence and pure challenge. The key conclusion is the importance of the new internationalism anchor among the global leaders: the clear majority of them ranked the internationalism anchor as their major anchor or among the few major anchors.

Introduction Globalization of business life has increased the international mobility of the work force. Within research on international HRM, the key focus group has been expatriates, i.e. those who are sent on international assignments to foreign affiliates for some years. Within that research tradition there is active discussion and research going on around repatriation issues and implications of international assignment to the career progress after repatriation. The expatriates typically have high career expectations of their repatriation phase, but often these expectations may not become reality (Gregersen and Black, 1996; Kamoche, 1997; Pickard, 1999; Pickard and Brewster, 1995; Selmer, 1999; Stahl et al., 2002; Stroh et al., 1998; Welch, 1994). For a better understanding the connection between international assignments and careers, further research has been called for (Fish and Wood, 1997; Stahl et al., 2002; Suutari and Brewster, 2003; Tung, 1998). However, this research still focuses on international assignments as a disturbing and transitory factor within career logic rather than on the nature of the ongoing global careers in international contexts. Another important recent approach to international careers within the international HRM literature is the discussion of global leader development (for a review see Suutari, 2002). In this context, international assignments are seen as one of the key development methods through which international competencies can be developed (Carpenter et al., 2000; Gregersen et al., 1998; Oddou et al., 2000; Roberts et al., 1998; Seibert et al., 1995). According to Roberts et al. (1998), most in-depth learning takes place among those who go through a career involving frequent international relocations over the course of their working lives. Such careers have been called as spatial careers (Roberts et al. 1998) or as in this special issue, global careers. The global career term fits well with the recent


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discussion of global leaders and their development within global companies. Managers who have such careers develop the understanding of global organizations and acquire globally applicable skills. However, there is a lack of empirical research among managers who have global careers including various international positions in different countries during their careers. In addition, existing research on international careers has focused on the analysis of external careers of managers whilst research on internal careers has been missing. The concept, “internal careers” refers to a subjective sense of where one is going in one’s working life (Schein, 1996). The literature review did not identify either expatriation studies or global leader studies in which international careers were analyzed from an internal career point of view. In some studies the motives for accepting a single international assignment are covered, the key findings indicate that typical motives such as financial benefits, personal interest in international experience, a search for new experiences and learning possibilities, and career progression play a central role (Miller and Cheng, 1978; Stahl et al., 2002; Suutari and Brewster, 2000; Tung, 1988). Still, relatively little is known of what motivates expatriates to accept an international assignment (Stahl et al., 2002). In addition, these findings do not increase our understanding of why some individuals aim at more permanent international careers, which may constitute very challenging career environments for the individuals (Forster, 2000). One approach within career theories which has a focus on internal careers is the so-called “career anchor” theory, which suggests that individuals have long-term and fairly permanent preferences for their work and work environments (Schein, 1996). These preferences are named as career anchors. Here the key question is what kind of career anchors do managers with global careers. The question is relevant from several different points of view. First, international careers are becoming more and more common due to the globalization of business and related integration needs within companies. Second, there is a lack of global managers, and the understanding of global careers and global competencies is very much limited (Alldredge and Nilan, 2000; Black et al., 1999; Brake, 1997; Connor, 2000; Crotty and Soule, 1997; Morrison, 2000; Oddou et al., 2000; Roberts et al., 1998; Suutari, 2002). Third, international environments have been considered to be very challenging and stressful for both managers themselves and for their families (Forster, 2000). In addition, Schein (1996), who developed the notion of career anchors, has pointed out that globalization will change careers in the future. Similarly, Woodd (1999) states that the global market has already changed our perceptions of the boundaries of work, and Arnold (1997, p. 176) comments that the early 21st century will mean more international job moves and greater attention from both managers and academics to the work-role transition process in the international contexts. In the light of this background, the research objectives of the present study are to analyze: (1) what kind of career anchors are typical among managers with global careers; and (2) whether internationalism, i.e. preference for working in international task environments, is so central to these managers and their career choices that it could be named as their career anchor.

Career anchor theory A career has been defined as “the evolving sequence of a person’s work experiences over time” (Arthur et al., 1989). Some of the career events are predictable on-the-job actions and interactions, others are adaptive responses or spontaneous contributions to the constantly unfolding situation (Arthur et al., 1999, p. 48). The internal career involves a subjective sense of where one is going in one’s working life while the external career includes the formal stages and roles defined by organizational policies and societal concepts of what an individual can expect in an occupational structure (Schein, 1996). The idea behind introducing the internal perspective recognises that beliefs and values, expectations and aspirations, are just as important as sequences of positions held (Woodd, 1999). The career is not defined by a series of occupational classifications or company-based systems of human resource development – equally important is the individual’s own exertion of will in choice and activity (Arthur et al., 1999, p. 41). It is important to understand what kind of expectations workers have, and how organizations respond to these expectations (Ja¨rlstro¨m, 2000). External career opportunities refer to the extent to which an organization provides support to the internal career anchors (Jiang and Klein, 1999/2000). If the fit between the anchors and job environment does not exit anxiety, strain, job dissatisfaction and turnover may result ( Feldman and Bolino, 1996; Jiang and Klein, 1999/2000). A career anchor is a person’s self-concept, consisting of: (1) self-perceived talents and abilities; (2) basic values; and (3) the evolved sense of motives and needs as they pertain to the career (Schein, 1996). Such career anchors guide people’s career decisions and clarify some of the individual approaches to careers (Schein, 1978). An individual can only discover his or her career anchor through actual work experience, where self-perceived talents, motives and values are tested or verified (Barth, 1993; Feldman and Bolino, 2000). Career actors may not have a good sense of where they are going, but they can interpret well the pattern of their previous career episodes and use this pattern as a basis for fresh choice (Arthur et al., 1999, p. 47). According to the original classification of career anchors, five different anchors were presented: (1) technical/functional competence; (2) managerial competence; (3) security and stability; (4) autonomy and independence; and (5) entrepreneurial creativity (Schein, 1978). Schein, later introduced three additional career anchors: (6) service and dedication to a cause; (7) pure challenge; and (8) lifestyle (see section typology of career anchors). In the present study, a new career anchor named internationalism is introduced.


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Typology of career anchors (Schein, 1990) (1) Technical/Functional competence: primarily excited by the content of the work itself; prefers advancement only in his/her technical or functional area of competence; generally disdains and fears general management as too political. (2) Managerial competence: primarily excited by the opportunity to analyze and solve problems under conditions of incomplete information and uncertainty; likes harnessing people together to achieve common goals; stimulated (rather than exhausted) by crisis situation. (3) Security and stability: primarily motivated by job security and long-term attachment to one organization; willing to conform and to be fully socialised into an organization’s values and norms; tends to dislike travel and relocation. (4) Entrepreneurial creativity: primarily motivated by the need to build or create something that is entirely their own project; easily bored and likes to move from project to project; more interested in initiating new enterprises than in managing the established ones. (5) Autonomy and independence: primarily motivated to seek work situations which are maximally free of organizational constraints; wants to set own schedule and own pace of work; is willing to trade off opportunities for promotion to have more freedom. (6) Service and dedication to a cause: primarily motivated to improve the world in some fashion; wants to align work activities with personal values about helping society; more concerned with finding jobs which meet their values than their skills. (7) Pure challenge: primarily motivated to overcome major obstacles, solve almost insoluble [?] problems, or win out over extremely tough opponents; define their careers in terms of daily combat or competition in which winning is everything; very single-minded and intolerant of those without comparable aspirations. (8) Lifestyle: primarily motivated to balance career with lifestyle; highly concerned with such issues as paternity/maternity leaves, day-care options, etc.; looks for organizations that have strong pro-family values and program[me]s. (9) Internationalism: primarily excited by working in international task environment; prefers to develop his/her professional competencies in international environment and thus, enhance career opportunities; interested in searching for new experiences through getting to know unfamiliar countries and different cultures. Schein’s work has made a major contribution to how career scholars conceptualize the development of a stable career identity and distinguish that process from initial vocational choice (Feldman and Bolino, 1996). On the other hand, the career anchor theory has several key limitations. First, though it is well known and widely used both by individuals and organizations, it has been subject to limited empirical investigations (Arnold, 1997; Yarnall, 1998). For example, the empirical validation of career anchor classification deserves future attention due to the inconsistency of results (Feldman and Bolino, 1996). Second, the idea that individuals have only one stable dominant career anchor has been questioned. Schein himself also sees that anchors

may appear to be changed through work experience that leads to greater self-discovery, but still sees that there is one dominant anchor to be observed. Some other authors see that career orientations can change with age and due to external influences (Derr, 1986; Yarnall, 1998). This is linked to different traditions in psychological research. For example, quite a lot of personality research suggests that our personality is quite stable during adulthood, while lifespan developmental psychology views development in terms of tasks we face as we progress through lives (Arnold, 1997).Third, Feldman and Bolino (1996) see that it is possible for individuals to have both primary and secondary career anchors. Contradictory to expectations, Schein’s (1978) own empirical findings indicate that approximately one-third of the respondents report that they have multiple career anchors. For those individuals with multiple career anchors, an important factor to consider is whether those career anchors are complementary or mutually inconsistent (Feldman and Bolino, 1996), i.e. whether it is possible to find a job which fulfils both or all preferences.

Career anchors of managers with global careers An internal career perspective has been clearly less common in international career research than the analysis of external careers, as discussed earlier. From the career anchor theory point of view, it seems that there is no research that connects career anchor theory and international careers. If we analyze the career anchor theory (Schein, 1996) from the angle of global managers, several predictions concerning the relevance of career anchors can be made. First, a technical/functional competence anchor is not expected to be common among global managers since according to the career anchor theory, persons having such an anchor will apply for experts’ roles rather than for challenging global managerial careers. On the other hand, it can be expected that managerial competence is very central among the global managers though it still does not explain why these managers have selected to work in a challenging international business environment. Third, an independence anchor is not expected to be very typical of global managers, since such persons are expected to seek jobs in which they are free from organizational constraints (while global leaders are typically in the role of taking care of global organizational integration). Still, certain international positions may allow managers high role autonomy, scope and independence since foreign units are often smaller units than, for example, the headquarters. Thus, task descriptions are often broader (Suutari and Brewster, 2000). Still, the independence anchor is not expected to be very typical among business managers operating in global careers. Fourth, an international environment has been described as very complex and challenging and thus, the security and safety anchor is not expected to be common among global managers. On the other hand, it could be expected that due to such environmental complexity, a search for new challenges (i.e. a pure challenge anchor) would be a relevant anchor among global managers. Similarly, entrepreneurial creativity could provide motivation for seeking new and different international experiences, but on the other hand, such goals might not lead to a managerial business career. Thus, it is not expected to be very typical in the present sample. Similarly, service and dedication to a cause-anchor is not very common in the business sector, but rather in the public sector (e.g. the health care sector).


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When all these predictions about the relevance of career anchors among managers with global careers are taken together, the following hypothesis is formed: H1. The managerial competence anchor and the pure challenge anchor are the most common anchors among managers with global careers.

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However, it can be argued that although this hypothesis may receive empirical support in this study, these career anchors do not adequately explain why some managers select international careers instead of challenging domestic managerial careers. Thus, it is argued here that among managers with global careers, internationalism has to play a very central role in their career decisions. i.e. it is not just a context for following managerial competence and pure challenge anchors. From that perspective, internationalism could be seen as a new career anchor (for the definition see above), if the managers see that internationalism has such a key role in their career decisions. Thus, the following hypothesis is made: H2. The internationalism anchor is among the most common career anchors among managers with global careers Method In the present study, a qualitative research approach was applied. Typically career anchors have been measured qualitatively or by a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies (Feldman and Bolino, 1996). The qualitative measurement of career anchors consists of in-depth interviews with respondents about actual career choices and reasons for changes in jobs or organizations (Schein, 1990). This method was followed also in the present study. The selection of interview themes was based on career anchor theory and related interview themes by Schein. The major themes in these semi-structured interviews were: (1) career goals (e.g. goals in different career phases, goal changes, and achievement of goals); (2) career steps (e.g. important positions, job experiences and job satisfaction); and (3) future career aims (e.g. expectations, plans and the perceptions of the most satisfying job environments in future). After going through these themes, the original Schein career anchors, including the new internationalism anchor (see above) were verbally described to interviewees in order to get direct opinion on the importance of various career anchors to them. At this stage, interviewees were asked to reflect on their overall career experiences to form a total picture of their career anchors. This was done due to the fact that exclusive reliance on one interviewer’s coding is problematic and creates significant problems for assessing the reliability and validity of the data collected (Feldman and Bolino, 1996). In order to further increase the quality of the measurement and thus, validate the picture appearing during the interview, the transcribed interviews were sent back to respondents as an e-mail attachment for checking. The interviewees were asked to read through their interviews and amend whenever necessary. The interviews were conducted over telephone since the respondents were located in various countries around the world. The interviews were tape-recorded. The interview transcripts formed the raw data of the analysis. The content analysis began with an

intensive reading of individual interview reports section by section to get an overview of them. Subsequently, the picture of the career anchors of each case (i.e. one manager) was formed through their work/career descriptions and the questions were directly related to career anchors. In total, 22 managers, of whom 19 were males and three females, were interviewed. The group was selected from a bigger sample of Finnish expatriates who were surveyed in 1996 and 2001 in co-operation with the Finnish union of MSc’s in Economics. This database made it possible to identify managers with several long-term international working experiences behind them. Their new contact information was received from the union register. The managers were first contacted by telephone and/or e-mail in order for them to agree to the interview. The average age of respondents was 44 years; 17 respondents were married and 12 of them had children. The number of international working periods varied: three assignments ðn ¼ 9Þ; four assignments ðn ¼ 7Þ; two assignments ðn ¼ 5Þ; and six assignments ðn ¼ 1Þ: At the time of the interviews, 12 of them were working in the home country, whilst 10 were on international assignments. A more detailed analysis of their external career tracks can be found in Suutari (2003). Results The results of the study will be presented by career anchor, though in the interviews the career issues were analyzed from different perspectives in order to gain a full understanding of their careers and career motives/anchors. Direct quotations of how respondents described their career issues are given in order to provide examples of the empirical evidence through which the individuals were classified into certain career anchor groups. Technical-functional competence Only two respondents perceived that technical-functional competence is of high importance to them when they make their career decisions. These two respondents commented that: When I moved to the USA, I preferred a marketing manager vacancy – the second in the hierarchy position – and wanted to avoid the general manager (CEO) role, but they did not allow me to have that vacancy. . . In the economic function it is quite often so that you are a really strong economic professional . . . I am not that kind of leader type who wants to stay in the headquarters but rather I want to work in an operative line responsibility role. . .

In both cases the individuals clearly saw themselves more as professionals than general managers though they already operated on a high managerial level. The small number of managers with this career anchor was in line with the expectations that were made in the theoretical section, i.e. those with technical-functional competence do not typically actively go in for global managerial careers. Managerial-competence Knowing the jobs of global managers, it was hypothesised that a managerial career anchor would be very common in the present sample. In line with this, 11 respondents ranked this career anchor as a very important anchor to them. Many respondents


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stressed that they, in particular, wanted to operate on a high management level. It was commented for example that: I have sometimes thought about that kind of major criteria for a job, when I have been thinking about new positions. Internationalism is one, size of the company and its operations is the other. Third, the level in the organizational hierarchy (and thus the type of job) has importance, i.e. I want to operate on the board level

As this comment indicates, it was common that the managerial competence anchor was combined with an internationalism anchor, as will be discussed more in detail later. Similarly, it was commented that: It is a little bit difficult for me to differentiate between these (i.e. international career anchor and managerial career anchor). . . I have enjoyed international expert jobs also but maybe not any more now this is combined with a general manager role also. . . I would say that an international general manager role is the most interesting role for me.

Autonomy and independence The autonomy and independence anchor was not very typical among the present sample of global managers though there were still six respondents who saw it as important. Of these, two managers perceived this anchor to be very important to them, i.e. among their major anchors. Such respondents commented, for example, that: Independence has always been a very important aspect to me – it has been one of the biggest reasons why I have enjoyed my present job. In addition to this, my job has evolved continuously and thus, brought me new challenges as well as given me a possibility of independence. I would of course always want to find myself on some managerial level, not in operational tasks – that is obvious. . . And then the fact that I want to do an independent job – that has been the goal. No such high goals that I want to climb as high as possible in the organizational hierarchy

In addition, there were four respondents who considered the independence anchor as fairly important in their career decisions, though not the chief one. For example, these respondents were ready to sacrifice this autonomy and independence career anchor in case they would be promoted to an even higher organizational level. Thus, the managerial anchor dominated over the independence anchor. Security and stability In line with expectations, the security and stability anchor was not common among the global managers. Only one respondent considered it as an important career anchor. This respondent saw that: safety consists of many different issues – one is the fact that Finnish insurance markets are under extensive transition and thus, safety becomes more important to you in such a way that if you work in a big enough company, the company may not be sold so easily. . . The other part of this is that if you take assignments in which you do not clearly know whether you can handle the job or not. . . This kind of issue creates insecurity which I somehow try to avoid. I try to be realistic concerning which issues I can handle

In this perspective, it is interesting that this respondent did not see international environments as an unsafe environment as many others have done. One of the

respondents also pointed out that the importance of the security anchor is connected with one’s economic situation, i.e. if that is in good balance, one can plan the future assignments in a safer manner (and get involved in more risky situations). Thus, the respondent stated that the security anchor has been more important to him in an early career phase than now.


Commitment or the desire to serve and help Quite surprisingly five respondents saw this career factor as one of the most important anchors in their career. This is in contrast to expectations of the prevalence of this career anchor in business life. More commonly people with this career anchor seek the so-called care-professions such as doctors or teachers. In the present sample, there were still individuals who saw humanitarian values and the desire to serve society and the home country as important. That may partly explain why this anchor was perceived as important, i.e. it was combined with national pride and a feeling of doing something important for one’s country and important industrial sectors within it when handling foreign business of Finnish companies abroad. It was commented, for example, that:

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I recognise part of this as true in my case . . . I am committed to this field of industry which I regard as very important. It is important to me that I can serve the Finnish paper industry. I also have a feeling that I sell something very concrete which helps customers to solve their problems. . . While empty white paper is not very concrete issue as such, it still gives possibilities of creating important issues on the basis of that to those who use and buy it

Pure challenge Almost all the respondents reported that there must always be a certain degree of challenge in one’s career, and eight respondents saw the challenge anchor as very important to them. This is in line with the expectations about the career anchors of managers with global careers. The respondents stated that having a wide variety of tasks, and a possibility of learning new things and testing one’s limits, has a very important role in their career considerations. It was commented, for example: I would like to work in a similar type of job as now. . . it has to be a fairly clear and independent whole and involve the kind of tasks in which I can develop myself all the time . . . I can feel that I have motivation since I am be able to learn all the time and that there are new tasks-not that you just carry out your basic duties. When we came back to Finland (from a previous assignment) I had an option to go to one unit in which the situation was in a good shape, i.e. there were no need to fix anything or to take control of issues. Thus, I felt that it would be somehow meaningless to go there, i.e. why should I go to that country. I am ready to accept new challenges and there has to be certain clear issue that needs to be taken care of.

The importance of the challenge anchor was frequently combined with the desire to do such work in an international environment, i.e. international tasks were perceived to be ones in which new challenges appear all the time. One of the respondents commented that: A job which I can feel as personally important is a job like the one which I now have. I can use all the experience which I have in this field after over 20 years. And then the job has to be of enough variety and challenge, and that is what my job is today. I must be able to solve difficult problems so that I can use the experience that I have . . . Without this kind of needs

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I would not have left Finland again. I had a good job and salary level, but somehow I felt that something was missing.

Lifestyle Interestingly, eight respondents named the lifestyle career-anchor as one of the most important factors that influence their career decisions and two of them named this anchor as the most important anchor among all the anchors. This was not expected to appear as so common a career anchor. One of the managers, who stated that this is his major career anchor and that the major reason for the present assignment was the family situation, commented that: There were such selfish family reasons. . . Both family members at work when there are three small children – the situation becomes much easier when there are better economic conditions for the other one to stay at home if she wishes. . .that clearly raised our quality of life

The importance of the lifestyle anchor appeared also among those who were in the home country during the interview. The work-family life balance was among the typical reasons behind the decisions to stay in Finland at least for a while. A manager commented, for example, that: Yes, it goes like this (the work-life balance is important), if I earlier made sacrifices due to job requirements, the willingness has clearly decreased, and at the moment it is very important for me to achieve the balance The work-life balance is definitely important. For example, with regard to our plan to go to Sweden. . . One of the major reasons was that her income (career) was uncertain there and that is why we decided not to leave. . . That indicated also to me that career issues and the importance of family matters have to stay in balance

Entrepreneurial creativity The entrepreneurial creativity anchor was not very typical among the present sample of global managers: only three managers ranked it as a very important anchor. Only one respondent saw that this was his major career anchor. He stated that: Yes, this is pretty much connected with what I described earlier. . . if you give me one hectare of jungle I will go there and start to weed that out and to look after what kind of opportunities there might be. . .

On the other hand, this was pretty much connected with an internal need for searching for new challenges (i.e. a pure challenge anchor in this case). Internationalism Internationalism was an important motivational factor for all the respondents and many of them commented that it has become such an obvious part of their life that they could not imagine any other kind of career any more. Thus, 17 respondents named this career anchor as one among the most important career anchors in their life and nine of them mentioned it as the most important anchor. This clearly indicates how important a factor internationalism is in their life and how committed they are to an international career. A manager stressing internationalism commented, for example, that: I would not even think about working anywhere else than either in a Finnish international company or in an international company as a Finn, either or. If you work in one country, the

job remains very narrow. . .this (kind of job) is more interesting when you can work with all kinds of people


The major issue that interests me (in international tasks) is that things are more complicated . . .when you talk about accounting as an example, you are not only dealing with numbers but you also work with people from other cultures.

In several cases, as one could predict on the basis of their global managerial career, internationalism was combined with another career anchor, i.e. the managerial competence anchor. The relationship between these differs from case to case, as can be seen from the following comments: In my case the internationalism anchor clearly dominates over the managerial competence anchor. . . If managerial work would mean a good vacancy somewhere in Finland, and the nature of the job would focus on that city only, so no matter what kind of managerial job it would be, I would not go! This internationalism anchor fits me very well – the question is only whether it is the only anchor. . .it is not only to see the world and such, it is also related to work as part of it. . . If you think that I am a general manager professionally, then you have to link this international element to that since that has always been important to me – I like to work internationally. That would thus be a managerial competence anchor and internationalism anchor together

However, it is important to stress that typically this does not mean that managers would want to travel from one international assignment to another – it means that managers want to have international responsibilities and thus, work in an international environment. This can also be seen in their career steps and their present location, i.e. their career has typically involved international assignments and assignment in the home country periodically. Conclusion and implications The present study aimed to increase the understanding of internal career orientations of managers with global careers. In addition, the study aimed to clarify whether internationalism could be considered as a new career anchor in addition to those eight suggested by the career anchor classification. The sample consisted of 22 managers with global careers involving various international job responsibilities and international assignments. Several conclusions can be drawn from the empirical findings. First, most managers saw that one career anchor does not dominate their career decisions, but rather their decisions are based on two of even three separate career anchors. Originally, the idea behind the career anchor theory was that only one anchor dominates, but later it has been recognised that this may be too simplistic (Feldman and Bolino, 1996). Among the present global managers, only three of them could select one anchor that dominated clearly over any other ones, but also in their case they still had some difficulties in selecting between several important anchors. This supports the view that the search for a single dominating career anchor may simplify the internal career orientations too much. The most typical career anchors among the original classification of the career anchors were managerial competence and pure challenges. These were in line with the expectations and thus, support was received for the hypotheses. Technical-functional

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competence, autonomy and independence, security and stability, and entrepreneurial creativity anchors were all rare among global managers. One of the more unexpected findings was that the lifestyle career anchor was viewed as very important by eight global managers. One of the reasons that may explain the emergence of the lifestyle anchor among the most common anchors is the fact that an international assignment is not an important issue for the person himself or herself only – it is always an issue which influences the whole family. This appears clearly in the literature on international assignments, i.e. the role of the family is stressed (Punnett, 1997; Stephens and Black, 1991). Thus, work-life balance becomes more important than among typical managers in business life. The second possible explanation is related to the cultural issues, i.e. Finland is a very feminine society in which social relationships and the family-life are valued (Hofstede, 1984). For example, economic reasons are not ranked among the major reasons for going abroad (Suutari and Brewster, 2000). Third, Schein (1996) has reported that lifestyle anchor has actually become more common among all executives when contrasting samples from the 1960s and the 1980s (Arnold, 1997, p. 142). The other anchor that was to some extent more common than the expected one was commitment to the desire to serve and help. However, to some extent, this appeared to be connected with national pride and the feeling of doing something important for your country and important industrial sectors within it when handling foreign businesses of Finnish companies abroad. Thus, it could be connected with international orientation. The final conclusion is the importance of the internationalism career anchor among global managers: in total, 17 of them ranked the internationalism career anchor among the few major career anchors in their life. Secondly, over half of them saw this anchor as their major career anchor, i.e. the internationalism anchor dominates over the others. These findings would thus clearly support including the internationalism anchor among the other career anchors. However, it may be that global managers still represent such a marginal, through increasing group of people that the internationalism anchor may not be perceived as important enough to be included among the other major anchors. From another point of view, i.e. from that of the conclusions regarding global leader development and international careers in broader terms, this is a very relevant anchor. The respondents’ experiences support the view that the international task environment is different from domestic task environments and thus, different competencies and managers are needed (Black et al., 1999; Brake, 1997; Suutari, 2002). The present findings indicate that managers with international experience may no longer be satisfied with purely domestic job opportunities, although domestic work periods and international work periods may alternate. Individuals see international experiences as so challenging and developmental that they require more challenging jobs after the assignments and in addition, they would like to be able to utilize their international experience and competencies in the future also (Pickard and Brewster, 1995; Riusala and Suutari, 2000; Stroh et al., 1998). When international assignments are becoming more and more typical parts of managerial careers, the integration of domestic and international tasks becomes a more central HRM task.

References Allredge, M.E. and Nilan, K.J. (2000), “3M’s leadership competency model: an internally developed solution”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 39 Nos 2/3, pp. 133-46.


Arnold, J. (1997), Managing Careers into the 21st Century, Paul Chapman Publishing, London. Arthur, M., Hall, D. and Lawrence, B. (1989), Handbook of Career Theory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Arthur, M.B., Inkson, K. and Pringle, J.K. (1999), The New Careers. Individual Actions and Economic Change, Sage Publications, London ect. Barth, T.J. (1993), “Career anchor theory”, Review of Public Personnel Administration, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 27-42. Black, J.S., Morrison, A.J. and Gregersen, H.B. (1999), Global Explorers. The Next Generation of Leaders, Routledge, London. Brake, T. (1997), The Global Leader. Critical Factors for Creating the World Class Organization, Irwin Professional Publishing, Chicago, IL. Carpenter, M.A., Sanders, W.G. and Gregersen, H.B. (2000), “International assignment experience at the top can make a bottom-line difference”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 39 Nos 2/3, pp. 277-85. Connor, J. (2000), “Developing the global leaders of tomorrow”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 39 Nos 2/3, pp. 147-57. Crotty, P.T. and Soule, A.J. (1997), “Executive education: yesterday and today, with a look at tomorrow”, Journal of Management Development, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 4-21. Derr, C.B. (1986), Managing the New Careerist, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA. Feldman, D.C. and Bolino, M.C. (1996), “Careers within careers: reconceptualizing the nature of career anchors and their consequences”, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 89-112. Feldman, D.C. and Bolino, M.C. (2000), “Career patterns of the self-employed: career motivations and career outcomes”, Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 53-67. Fish, A. and Wood, J. (1997), “Realigning international careers – a more strategic focus”, Career Development International, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 99-110. Forster, N. (2000), “The myth of the ‘international manager’”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 126-42. Gregersen, H.B. and Black, J.S. (1996), “Multiple commitments upon repatriation: the Japanese experience”, Journal of Management, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 209-29. Gregersen, H.B., Morrison, A.J. and Black, J.S. (1998), “Developing leaders for the global frontier”, Sloan Management Review, pp. 21-32, Fall. Hofstede, G. (1984), Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA. Ja¨rlstro¨m, M. (2000), “Personality preferences and career expectations of Finnish business students”, Career Development International, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 144-54. Jiang, J.J. and Klein, G. (1999/2000), “Supervisor support and career anchor impact on the career satisfaction of the entry-level information systems professionals”, Journal of management Information Systems, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 219-40. Kamoche, K. (1997), “Knowledge creation and learning in international HRM”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 213-25.

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Miller, E.L. and Cheng, J. (1978), “A closer look at the decision to accept an overseas position”, Management International Review, pp. 25-33. Morrison, A.J. (2000), “Developing a global leadership model”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 39 Nos 2/3, pp. 117-32. Oddou, G., Mendenhall, M.E. and Ritchie, J.B. (2000), “Leveraging travel as a tool for global leadership development”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 39 Nos 2/3, pp. 159-72. Pickard, J. (1999), “Repatriation: factors related to individuals’ expectations of international assignments”, Dissertation, Cranfield University, UK. Pickard, J. and Brewster, C. (1995), “Repatriation: closing the circle”, International HR Journal, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 45-9. Punnett, B.J. (1997), “Towards effective management of expatriate spouses”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 32 No. 3, pp. 243-57. Riusala, K. and Suutari, V. (2000), “Expatriation and careers: perspectives of expatriates and spouses”, Career Development International, Vol. 5 No. 2, pp. 81-90. Roberts, K., Kossek, E.E. and Ozeki, C. (1998), “Managing the global workforce: challenges and strategies”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 93-119. Schein, E.G. (1978), Career Dynamics: Matching Individual and Organizational Needs, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA. Schein, E.G. (1990), Career Anchors: Discovering Your Real Values, Pfeiffer & Company, San Diego, CA. Schein, E.G. (1996), “Career anchors revised: implications for career development in the 21st century”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 80-8. Seibert, K.W., Hall, D.T. and Kram, K.E. (1995), “Strengthening the weak link in strategic executive development: integrating individual development and global business strategy”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 549-67. Selmer, J. (1999), “Career issues and international adjustment of business expatriates”, Career Development International, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 77-87. Stahl, G.K., Miller, E.L. and Tung, R.L. (2002), “Toward the boundaryless career: a closer look at the expatriate career concept and the perceived implications of an international assignment”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 216-27. Stephens, G.K. and Black, J.S. (1991), “The impact of spouse’s career-orientation on managers during international transfers”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 417-28. Stroh, L.K., Gregersen, H.B. and Black, J.S. (1998), “Closing the cap: expectations versus reality among expatriates”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 11-124. Suutari, V. (2002), “Global leader development: an emerging research agenda”, Career Development International, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 218-33. Suutari, V. (2003), “Global managers: career orientation, career tracks, life-style implications, and career commitment”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 185-207. Suutari, V. and Brewster, C. (2000), “Making their own way: international experience through self-initiated foreign assignments”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 417-36. Suutari, V. and Brewster, C. (2003), “Repatriation: empirical evidence from a longitudinal study of careers and expectations among Finnish expatriates”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 14 No. 6. Tung, R. (1988), The New Expatriates, Ballinger Publishing, Cambridge, MA. Tung, R.L. (1998), “American expatriates abroad: from neophytes to cosmopolitans”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 125-44.

Welch, D. (1994), “Determinants of international human resource management approaches and activities: a suggested framework”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 139-64. Woodd, M. (1999), “The psychology of career theory – a new perspective?”, Journal of European Industrial Training, Vol. 23 Nos 4/5, pp. 218-23. Yarnall, J. (1998), “Career anchors: results of an organizational study in the UK”, Career Development International, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 56-61. Further reading Nordvik, H. (1996), “Relationships between Holland’s vocational typology, Schein’s career anchors and Myers-Briggs’ types”, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 69, pp. 263-75.


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Top managers’ national diversity and boundary spanning Attitudinal indicators of a firm’s internationalization Paula Caligiuri Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, USA and Universita` Bocconi, Milan, Italy

Mila Lazarova Faculty of Business Administration, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada

Stephan Zehetbauer Universita¨t Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany Keywords Senior managers, International organizations, Diversity management Abstract Using a sample of 76 US-based multinational firms, this study tests two hypotheses: whether top management teams’ national diversity, and the number of countries of operation worldwide are related to other established indicators of internationalization. Results suggest that both hypothesized indicators are aspects of the nomological network for a firm’s internationalization.


In today’s increasingly complex and competitive global economy, it is critical for organizations to pursue the expansion of their markets around the world to remain successful. International expansion enables a firm to increase markets, gain access to low cost resources, leverage economies of scale, utilize the best technology worldwide, and recruit the best talent worldwide (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1992). Determining a firm’s “internationalization” is one metric by which stakeholders will assess a firm’s overall performance and future competitiveness (Ramaswamy et al., 1996). Given this, the indicators suggesting the extent to which the firm has achieved internationalization have become critical for a multinational organization’s viability. This focus on assessing internationalization is evidenced by the fact that most multinational organizations will include information about their company’s international growth in their annual report. To date, various indicators of a firm’s internationalization have been proposed – the most common being the ratio of foreign sales to total sales (see Sullivan, 1994a for a review). While this sales ratio is a useful indicator, it is limited in scope. Other indicators have been proposed to more fully describe the complexities of a firm’s global involvement. For example, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD, 1996) uses three dimensions to determine a firm’s transnationality (or internationalization): the ratio of foreign sales to total sales, the ratio of foreign assets to total assets, and the ratio of foreign employees to total employees. This UNCTAD measure combines these three ratios to form an overall internationalization index. Recent research does utilize more comprehensive measures of internationalization. For example, in a study of the relationship between multinationality and performance,

Gomes and Ramaswamy (1999) suggested a measure similar to the one proposed by UNCTAD. They created a composite index consisting of the ratio of foreign sales to total sales, ratio of foreign assets to total assets, and the number of foreign countries in which the firm has foreign subsidiaries. The authors argue that all three indicators need to be present in a measure of internationalization since each of them reflects a different element of a multidimensional construct. Similarly, Sullivan (1994a, b) offers a more comprehensive measure to reflect the complexity of a firm’s internationalization. Sullivan’s measure includes three general attributes of the firm’s internationalization: (1) performance, (2) structure, and (3) attitudes. According to Sullivan, international performance can be evidenced in the ratio of the firm’s foreign sales to total sales. Evidence of international structure is indicated by two ratios: the ratio of foreign assets to total assets and the ratio of foreign subsidiaries to total subsidiaries. Lastly, Sullivan suggests that the firm’s international attitudes are evidenced by two indicators: the number of years of the top managers’ foreign experience and the psychic dispersion of operations worldwide. Sullivan combines these five ratios into a unitary construct called the degree of internationalization index (DOI). While Sullivan (1994a, b) recommends a unitary index, Ramaswamy et al. (1996) are concerned with the equal weighting of the various indicators within an aggregated construct. The fundamental debate is whether these indices should be combined or considered as separate constructs (Ramaswamy et al., 1996; Sullivan, 1996). It is not the intention of this paper to debate whether various indices should be aggregated into a unitary construct. Rather, our intention is to further examine the construct domain of internationalization by offering additional variables to be included in the nomological network of internationalization (Sullivan, 1996; Ramaswamy et al., 1996). Thus, this paper will examine the various constructs comprising the indicators of a firm’s internationalization – with special focus on the least studied components of the construct and attitudinal indicators. In addition to the enriching measures of internationalization to better reflect a complex environment, attitudinal indicators have implications for the human resources of multinationals, an aspect on internationalization rarely examined in the relevant past research. Indicators of attitudinal internationalization The three-attribute framework ( performance, structure, and attitudes) suggested by Sullivan (1994a) is useful for understanding the concept of internationalization and for organizing the various indicators that comprise it. Of these three attributes proposed by Sullivan (1994a) the performance and structure dimensions have been more thoroughly examined in the literature (see Sullivan, 1994a for a review). The least studied, and most controversial, is the attitudinal dimension (i.e. the firm’s collective international orientation and global cognitive complexity). The challenge with the attitudinal dimension is that it is more subjective than the other two dimensions. This attitudinal dimension is subjective because it often aggregates attributes of individuals (i.e. global experience) to proxy the “attitudes” of the entire organization. While the

Attitudinal indicators

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proxy of individual attributes for an organization’s international attitude is useful, the assumptions in doing so should be considered. Two operational definitions of attitudinal internationalization have been proposed by Sullivan (1994a). The first operational definition of attitudinal internationalization is the “years of international experience of top managers”. This measure is used as a proxy for top managers’ international orientation. The second operational definition is “psychic dispersion”, which is an attempt to assess the scope of international cognitive complexity (i.e. the more complex the dispersion, the more international the attitudes). Both operational definitions, years of foreign experience and psychic dispersion, have been considered problematic due to the assumptions they make ( Ramaswamy et al., 1996). Each of these indicators of attitudinal internationalization is addressed in the subsequent sections, assumptions are considered, and alternative measures are proposed. International orientation: national diversity of a firm’s leadership Attitudes are individual characteristics that affect a person’s values, behaviors, interests, decisions, etc. ( Reggio, 1996). As such, people within an organization can affect the firm by making decisions based on their attitudes. Some individuals, namely the top managers (e.g. executives, board of directors), can greatly influence the organization as a direct result of their attitudes – through their decisions, values, vision, and the like (Ancona and Nadler, 1989; Hambrick and Mason, 1984; Pettigrew, 1992). Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of top managers’ collective attitudes on a variety of organizational outcomes. Top management team (TMT) attributes have been related to a variety of organizational outcomes, such as firm performance (Glick et al., 1993; Murray, 1989), firms’ actions (Hambrick et al., 1996), strategic orientation, (Chaganti and Sambharya, 1987), corporate strategic change (Boeker, 1997; Wiersema and Bantel, 1992), innovation and creativity (Bantel and Jackson, 1989), strategic consensus (Knight et al., 1999), firms’ functioning (O’Reilly et al., 1993), and diversification (Michel and Hambrick, 1992). Top managers’ attributes while affecting these organizational outcomes, should also affect a firm’s internationalization (Sullivan, 1994a). Thus, we agree with Sullivan’s (1994a) focus on TMT attributes as an important factor for understanding a firm’s internationalization. However, while recent studies have found important relationships between executives’ international experience and firm level outcomes (Athanassiou and Nigh, 2002; Carpenter et al., 2001; Daily et al., 2002; Sambharya, 1996), we believe that the scope of international attitudes may not be complete by focusing solely on international experience of top managers. The index “years of foreign experience of top managers” makes intuitive sense as a proxy for a firm’s international orientation (Reuber and Fischer, 1997; Sullivan, 1994a). However, this index assumes that individual managers gain something, such as a “global mindset”, while on global assignments. In fact, there is dearth of methodologically rigorous research determining what people actually develop during their global assignments (Caligiuri and DiSanto, 2001) and a corresponding lack of consensus on the real value of the global assignments for management development (Carpenter et al., 2001). To this point, researchers have argued that it is the quality (e.g. extensive interaction with host nationals) rather than quantity (i.e. the number of years of international experience) distinction that is relevant in shaping

individuals’ global attitudes while on global assignments (Kobrin, 1994; Ramaswamy et al., 1996). In addition to the quality of international experience affecting the top managers attainment of international orientation on global assignments, there is also variation in the type of global assignments for producing the conditions where global attitudinal development will occur (Caligiuri, 1997; Caligiuri et al., 1999). Research has found that there are different types of international assignments, some of them notably less conducive to develop international orientation compared to others (Caligiuri, 2004; Edstrom and Galbraith, 1977; Evans et al., 2002; Harzing, 2001). Given that the quality of international experience and the type of global assignment will affect the nature of top managers’ global orientation, the index using TMT international experience may be more complex than the way it was originally conceived. In short, while international experience of the TMT is certainly an important consideration, we believe that it is inappropriate to aggregate years of international experience to suggest a firm’s international orientation. We believe that the top managers’ national diversity is also an important component of a firm’s internationalization. National diversity of TMTs Rather than the years of foreign experience of individual top managers as an indicator of international orientation, we propose to use a ratio of the national diversity among the TMT and the board of directors (i.e. number of foreign nationals to the total number of members as indicators of international orientation). National diversity is important given that individuals’ values, attitudes, and behavior tend to vary depending on nationality (Francesco and Gold, 1998; Hambrick et al., 1998; Hofstede, 1980; Ronen and Shenkar, 1985). Managers from a variety of countries are likely to possess a diversity of cultural values, attitudes, preferences, etc. Their diversity is likely to provide them with broader information resources, skill sets, and “cultural capital”. Given the heterogeneity of opinions, this national diversity, when aggregated, should be a reasonable proxy for the international orientation of the firm’s top leaders. The use of top leaders’ national diversity as a proxy for international attitudes is supported for two reasons. First, there is a positive relationship between team diversity (most often defined in terms of demographic diversity, such as gender, race, age, and team performance) for tasks requiring creativity, judgmental decision-making, and innovation (Milliken and Martins, 1996; Sessa and Jackson, 1995; Tsui et al., 1995). Given the complexity of the decisions made by the top managers of global firm, having a wide diversity of cultural attitudes should result in better decisions. Second, there is a positive relationship between TMT diversity (in terms of tenure, functional backgrounds, industry experience, and educational level) and firm’s competitive performance in a turbulent industry, innovation, corporate strategic change, action propensity, and strategy (Bantel and Jackson, 1989; Boeker, 1997; Hambrick et al., 1996; Milliken and Martins, 1996; Wiersma and Bantel, 1992). Preliminary research has established relationships between national diversity in team composition and international expansion decisions ( Punnett and Clemens, 1999) and has also linked the national composition of foreign subsidiary management teams to the performance of the team and the subsidiary ( Elron, 1997). Given the positive effects of other aspects of top leaders’ diversity on firm performance, top leaders’ national diversity should be an important indicator of internationalization.


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H1a. There will be a positive relationship between the TMTs’ (i.e. executives) national diversity ratio and other indices of firm-level internationalization (foreign sales ratio, foreign assets ratio, foreign subsidiaries ratio, and foreign employees ratio). H1b. There will be a positive relationship between board of directors’ national diversity ratio and other indices of firm-level internationalization (foreign sales ratio, foreign assets ratio, foreign subsidiaries ratio, and foreign employees ratio).

Scope of global cognitive complexity: countries of operation Sullivan’s (1994a) second operational definition of international attitudes is “psychic dispersion”. Using Ronen and Shenkar’s (1985) ten country clusters, Sullivan estimated that the greater dispersion across the ten zones, the greater the scope of a firm’s international cognitive complexity. The creation of country clusters may be overly sensitive to the dimensions of culture considered (Gomez-Mejia and Palich, 1997). Ronen and Shenkar (1985) offered their classification as a preliminary framework to be tested further. Their classification was a review of existing literature and not intended to be a comprehensive classification of cultural and social traits within a country. Using the Ronen and Shenkar’s (1985) classification in the manner that Sullivan (1994a) suggests may result in significant underestimation or overestimation of a firm’s international complexity (Ramaswamy et al., 1996). An alternative index for international complexity is geographic dispersion, a straightforward count of the number of countries in which a firm operates (Gomes and Ramaswamy, 1999; Ramaswamy et al., 1996; Sanders and Carpenter, 1998). We agree that this is a plausible indicator of international attitudes. From the perspective that organizations are metaphorically like brains (Morgan, 1986), greater cognitive complexity should result from the information processing that must ensue across all countries of operation. Therefore, greater the number of countries of operation, greater is the cognitive complexity. H2. There will be a positive relationship between the number of countries of operation worldwide and other indices of internationalization (foreign sales ratio, foreign assets ratio, foreign subsidiaries ratio, and foreign employees ratio). The following study has been designed to test the two hypotheses relating indices of attitudinal internationalization with other performance and structural indices of internationalization. Method Sample Our sample included all companies appearing in the 1998 Fortune 500 list. A total of 101 companies responded to the survey. Twenty-one of them, however, indicated that in view of the extremely high volume of surveys they received, they had adopted a company policy of not responding to surveys of any kind. Thus, the effective response rate of the survey was 16 percent ðN ¼ 76Þ:

While the response rate of our study is only 16 percent, we believe that this number is acceptable in view of the fact that the survey was sent to the top manager of each of the companies on the list and surveys of top management generally have relatively lower response rates. An additional factor that needs to be considered is that, as indicated by over 20 percent of the actual responses to the survey, many companies have a policy of not participating in any surveys. A careful examination of the sample suggests that it provides solid representation of the companies included in the Fortune 500 list. The participating companies came from twenty-nine industries, with some industries having more than one representative company (e.g. utilities, gas and electric, chemicals, petroleum refining). The range of the ranking of the participants was from 2 to 474, and the average ranking was 216, thus suggesting that companies from all levels of ranking responded to the survey. Further, the mean value of their total assets was 22,400 million dollars, the average number of their employees was 7,000 domestically, and about 43,000 internationally. The average number of countries of operation was 14. Procedure A short survey and letter by the researchers explaining the purpose of the research were sent to the CEO of the company. The letter informed the CEOs that their responses were highly confidential and collected for academic research purposes only. They were assured that their company would not be identified by name at any time during the study, that data were collected by code numbers only, and that the results would be presented only in an aggregate and anonymous form. In return for their participation, respondents were promised a copy of the results of the study. The survey contained questions related to the proportion of foreign nationals in the companies’ executive teams and boards of directors. The remaining data were provided by a customized report prepared by Dun and Bradstreet specifically for the purposes of this research project. The report contained data on companies’ total and foreign assets, total and foreign sales, total and foreign employment, total number of subsidiaries and number of subsidiaries outside the US, and total number of countries of operation. Measures Foreign assets ratio. The foreign assets ratio was computed by dividing the company’s foreign assets to its total assets. Data for the latter two measures were provided by the Dun and Bradstreet report. This measure was included in Sullivan’s DOI and UNCTAD’s index of transnationality. The mean value of the foreign asset ratio was 0.31 and the range was from 0 to 0.72. Foreign sales ratio. The foreign sales ratio was computed by dividing the company’s foreign sales to its total assets. Data for the latter two measures were provided by the Dun and Bradsteet report. This measure was included in Sullivan’s DOI and UNCTAD’s (1996) index of transnationality. The mean ratio for the sample was 0.26 and the range was from 0 to 0.74. Foreign subsidiaries ratio. Similarly, the foreign subsidiaries ratio was computed by dividing the number of foreign subsidiaries of the company to the total number of subsidiaries. Data for the latter two measures were provided by the Dun and


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Bradstreet report. This measure was included in Sullivan’s DOI. The mean foreign subsidiaries ratio was 0.16 and the range was from 0 to 0.68. Foreign employees ratio. The foreign employees ratio was computed by dividing the number of foreign employees of the company to the total number of employees. Data for the latter two measures were again provided by the Dun and Bradstreet report. This measure was included in UNCTAD’s (1996) index of transnationality. The mean ratio for the sample was 0.08 and the range was from 0 to 0.73. Top management team national diversity ratio. Data for this variable were obtained by asking survey respondents the following questions: How many executives comprise your company’s executive committee? How many of these executives are non-US nationals? The foreign executives ratio was computed as a ratio between the number of foreign executives to the total number of executives in the company’s TMT. The mean ratio was 0.08 and the range was from 0 to 0.63. Board members’ national diversity ratio. Similarly, data for this variable were obtained from company’s responses to the survey. The following questions were asked: how many members comprise your company’s board of directors? How many of these members are non-US nationals? The foreign board members ratio was computed as a ratio between the number of foreign board members to the total number of board members in the company’s board of directors. The mean ratio for the sample was 0.09 and the range was from 0 to 0.57. Total number of countries of operation. The data for that measure were provided by the Dun and Bradstreet report. The range of the number of countries of operation was from one to fifty-one and the mean was 14. Results To test the two hypotheses and to better understand the nomological network of the indices of internationalization, we computed the bivariate correlations among all variables in this study. These results are presented in Table I. The TMT national diversity ratio was positively and significantly related to all four indices of internationalization, thus supporting H1a. The board members’ diversity ratio was also positively and significantly related to the chosen indices of internationalization providing support for H1b. Similarly, the number of countries of operation was positively and significantly related to all indices, thus supporting H2. While not hypothesized, the three proposed indicators were also positively correlated

Table I. Bivariate correlations

Foreign assets ratio Foreign sales ratio Foreign subsidiaries ratio Foreign employees ratio TMT national diversity ratio Board members national diversity ratio Number of countries of operation

1

2

3

4

5

6

0.67** 0.59** 0.20 0.49** 0.52** 0.43**

0.67** 0.25* 0.44** 0.53** 0.71**

0.49** 0.30* 0.43** 0.73**

0.31** 0.28* 0.42**

0.53** 0.41**

0.43**

Notes: *p , 0.05, two-tailed test; **p , 0.01, two-tailed test; cases excluded pairwise.

with each other, providing further information regarding the nomological network of internationalization. Discussion and conclusion The purpose of this study was to test whether top leaders’ national diversity (executive team and board of directors) and the number of countries of operation worldwide were related to four other established indicators of internationalization (foreign assets ratio, foreign sales ratio, foreign subsidiaries ratio, and foreign employees ratio). Results from this study support the use of both as indicators of a firm’s internationalization. Previous research (Bantel and Jackson, 1989; Boeker, 1997; Hambrick et al., 1996; Wiersma and Bantel, 1992) found relationships between leadership teams’ diversity and aspects of firm performance. While this past research focused on aspects of diversity, such as age, education, and functional specialty, this study focused on nationality. The focus of this study was not on examining the relationship between national diversity and firm performance, however, the results did suggest a relationship between leadership teams’ national diversity and international performance (i.e. the board members’ national diversity ratio was positively related to the foreign sales ratio). Future longitudinal studies should examine whether increasing national diversity directly affects a firm’s international success through the diverse cultural attitudes reflected in the leaders’ decisions, strategic initiatives, etc. One potential concern with this measure is that a simple count of foreign nationals in the TMT or on the board of directors may not truly reflect diversity but rather only reflect internationalization. A company where, for example, three out of six TMT members are foreign nationals will have a ratio of 0.5. However, two separate sub-cases need to be considered here – one in which all three of the foreign nationals are nationals of the same country (e.g. three Canadians in the management team of an American company) and another one where all three are from different countries (e.g. a Canadian, a German, and a Swede in the management team of an American company). While both hypothetical companies have the same top management diversity ratio, it is clear that the actual diversity in the two companies is not the same. While this is admittedly a concern, the data from our sample suggest that a scenario where a majority of the top managers or directors are foreign nationals, thus introducing the issue of whether they are compatriots or nationals of different countries, is highly unlikely. The rounded mean values of both the top management and the board of directors’ ratio was zero. The modal values were also zero. In other words, in the overwhelming majority of the companies, the number of foreign nationals in top management is very low, thus making the issue described above less of a concern. The available data suggest that currently the issue is whether there is any presence of foreign nationals in top management rather than whether there is “diversity”. Another clarification with regards to terminology is also needed. An additional concern with the metrics we suggest is whether they truly reflect international attitudes. National diversity is indeed not the same as diversity of attitudes. Our use of the term “attitudes” reflects the language proposed by Sullivan (1994a). As previously discussed, the concern about the appropriateness of using this term extends to counting the number of members with international experience in a TMT. Given that our objective is not to suggest an entirely new way of measuring company


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internationalization, but rather discuss particular aspects of existing measures and suggest alternatives to components of constructs already in use in the relevant literature, we have chosen to retain the term “attitudes” in our exposition. In future, assuming an ever increasing pace of internationalization and increasing number of foreign nationals serving on boards of directors and in TMTs, researchers may consider a measure of heterogeneity in place of the ratios discussed here. Further, researchers are well advised to further explore measures such as “cultural distance” between parent country and country of origin of the top team member, or the time of acculturation within the organization’s parent country, which appear to be more appropriate indicators of “diversity of attitudes”. Presently, however, the proposed ratios appear to be appropriate measures of the attitudinal dimension of internationalization. Moreover, in view of the difficulties involved in data collection, the proposed measures are likely to be more easily available than measures that require data on nationality heterogeneity. Including national diversity among the indicators, we track on a continuous basis as an additional implication for the human resource function of multinational companies. An increase in national diversity among top company officers would signal a shift from ethnocentrism to geocentrism (Perlmutter, 1969). Anecdotal evidence suggests that opening the top management to foreign-born nationals is a relatively new phenomenon. As discussed here, presence of foreign nationals in upper echelons of the organization remains very limited to this day. Changes in the proposed metrics will indicate changing patterns of staffing top managerial positions in ways reflective of a truly transnational company, by hiring the most talented and qualified people on a global basis. Geocentric staffing, in turn, has important implications for global career development. In addition to TMT national diversity, this study found that geographic dispersion of a firm’s operations is an indicator of attitudinal internationalization. Specifically, this study is a direct test of Ramaswamy et al.’s (1996) proposition that a straightforward count of the countries in which a firm operates is related to a firm’s internationalization. Consistent with past research using more complicated variations of this count (Gomez-Mejia and Palich, 1997; Reuber and Fischer, 1997; Sanders and Carpenter, 1998), this study supports the use of geographic dispersion as an indicator of a firm’s internationalization. The field of international business is just beginning to uncover the complexities of how a firm develops – and ultimately succeeds – internationally. This study was an attempt to expand our knowledge of the way in which a firm’s internationalization is defined. In particular, this study provided greater insight into variables comprising whether the organizational “brain” thinks with an international attitude. We encourage future research to consider the very important attitudinal aspects of internationalization, when examining predictors of firm performance in the global marketplace. References Ancona, D.G. and Nadler, D.A. (1989), “Top hats and executive tails: designing the senior team”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 19-29. Athanassiou, N. and Nigh, D. (2002), “The impact of the top management team’s international business experience on the firm’s internationalization: social networks at work”, Management International Review, Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 157-81.

Bantel, K.A. and Jackson, S.E. (1989), “Top management and innovations in banking: does the composition of the top team make a difference?”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 10, pp. 107-24. Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (1992), “What is a global manager?”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 70 No. 5, pp. 124-32. Boeker, W. (1997), “Strategic change: the influence of managerial characteristics and organizational growth”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 152-70. Caligiuri, P. (1997), “Assessing expatriate success: beyond just ‘being there’”, New Approaches of Employee Management, Vol. 4, pp. 117-40. Caligiuri, P.M. (2004), “Criterion development and measurement in a cross-cultural context”, in Bennett, W., Woehr, D. and Lance, C. (Eds), Performance Measurement: Current Perspectives and Future Challenges, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Mahwah, NJ, (forthcoming). Caligiuri, P.M. and DiSanto, V. (2001), “Global competence: what is it – and can it be developed through global assignments?”, Human Resource Planning Journal, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 27-38. Caligiuri, P.M., Joshi, A. and Lazarova, M.B. (1999), “Factors influencing the adjustment of women on global assignments”, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 163-79. Carpenter, M.A., Sanders, W.G. and Gregersen, H.B. (2001), “Bundling human capital with organizational context: the impact of international assignment experience on multinational firm performance and CEO pay”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 493-511. Chaganti, R. and Sambharya, R. (1987), “Strategic orientation and characteristics of upper management”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 393-401. Daily, C.M., Certo, S.T. and Dalton, D.R. (2002), “International experience in the executive suite: the path to prosperity?”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 515-23. Edstrom, A. and Galbraith, J.R. (1977), “Transfer of managers as a coordinative and control strategy in multinational organizations”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 248-63. Elron, E. (1997), “Top management teams within multinational corporations: effects of cultural heterogeneity”, Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 393-412. Evans, P., Pucik, V. and Barsoux, J-L. (2002), The Global Challenge: Frameworks for International Human Resource Management, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, Boston, MA. Francesco, A.M. and Gold, B.A. (1998), International Organizational Behavior, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Glick, W.H., Miller, C.C. and Huber, G.P. (1993), “The impact of upper echelon diversity on organizational performance”, in Huber, G.P. and Glick, W.H. (Eds), Organizational Change and Re-design: Ideas and Insights for Improving Performance, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp. 176-214. Gomes, L. and Ramaswamy, K. (1999), “An empirical examination of the form of the relationship between multinationality and performance”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 173-88. Gomez-Mejia, L.R. and Palich, L.E. (1997), “Cultural diversity and the performance of multinational firms”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 309-35. Hambrick, D.C. and Mason, P. (1984), “Upper echelons: the organization as a reflection of its top managers”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 193-206.


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Hambrick, D.C., Cho, T.S. and Chen, M-J. (1996), “The influence of top management team heterogeneity on firms’ competitive moves”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 41 No. 4, pp. 659-84. Hambrick, D.C., Davidson, S.C., Snell, S.A. and Snow, C.C. (1998), “When groups consist of multiple nationalities: towards a new understanding of the implications”, Organization Studies, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 181-205. Harzing, A-W. (2001), “Of bears, bumble-bees, and spiders: the role of expatriates in controlling foreign subsidiaries”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 36 No. 4, pp. 366-79. Hofstede, G.H. (1980), Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-related Values, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA. Knight, D., Pearce, G.P., Smith, K.G., Olian, J.D., Sims, H.P., Smith, K.A. and Flood, P. (1999), “Top management team diversity, group processes, and strategic consensus”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 445-65. Kobrin, S.J. (1994), “Is there a relationship between a geocentric mind-set and multinational strategy”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 493-511. Michel, J.G. and Hambrick, D.C. (1992), “Diversification posture and top management team characteristics”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 9-37. Milliken, F.J. and Martins, L.L. (1996), “Searching for common threads: understanding the multiple effects of diversity in organizational groups”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 402-33. Morgan, G. (1986), Images of Organization, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA. Murray, A.I. (1989), “Top management group heterogeneity and firm performance”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 10, pp. 125-41. O’Reilly, C.A., Snyder, R.C. and Boothe, J.N. (1993), “Effects of executive team demography on organizational change”, in Huber, G.P. and Glick, W.H. (Eds), Organizational Change and Re-design: Ideas and Insights for Improving Performance, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp. 147-75. Perlmutter, H.V. (1969), “The tortuous evolution of the multinational corporation”, Columbia Journal of World Business, Vol. 4 No. 1, pp. 9-18. Pettigrew, A.M. (1992), “On studying managerial elites”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 13 No. 8, pp. 163-82. Punnett, B.J. and Clemens, J. (1999), “Cross-national diversity: implications for international expansion decisions”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 128-38. Ramaswamy, K.K., Kroeck, G. and Renforth, W. (1996), “Measuring the degree of internationalization of the firm: a comment”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 167-77. Reggio, R.E. (1996), Introduction to Industrial Organizational Psychology, 2nd ed., Harper Collins College Publishers, New York, NY. Reuber, A.R. and Fischer, E. (1997), “The influence of the management team’s international experience on the internationalization behaviors of SMEs”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 807-25. Ronen, S. and Shenkar, O. (1985), “Clustering countries on attitudinal dimensions: a review and synthesis”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 435-54. Sambharya, R.B. (1996), “Foreign experience of top management team and international diversification strategies of US multinational corporations”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 17 No. 9, pp. 739-46.

Sanders, W.G. and Carpenter, M.A. (1998), “Internationalization and firm governance: the role of CEO compensation, top team composition, and board structure”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 158-78. Sessa, V.I. and Jackson, S.E. (1995), “Diversity in decision-making teams: all differences are not created equal”, in Chemers, M.M., Oskamp, S. and Costanzo, M.A. (Eds), Diversity in Organizations: New Perspectives for a Changing Work Place, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 133-56. Sullivan, D. (1994a), “Measuring the degree of internationalization of the firm”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 325-42. Sullivan, D. (1994b), “The threshold of internationalization: replication, extension, and reinterpretation”, Management International Review, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 165-86. Sullivan, D. (1996), “Measuring the degree of internationalization of a firm: a reply”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 179-92. Tsui, A.S., Egran, T.D. and Xin, K.R. (1995), “Diversity in organizations: lessons from demography research”, in Chemers, M.M., Oskamp, S. and Costanzo, M.A. (Eds), Diversity in Organizations: New Perspectives for a Changing Work Place, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 191-219. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (1996), World Investment Report 1996: Trends and Determinants, United Nations, New York, NY. Wiersema, M.F. and Bantel, K.A. (1992), “Top management team demography and corporate strategic change”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 91-121.


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Global career as dual dependency between the organization and the individual

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Henrik Holt Larsen Institute of Organization and Industrial Sociology, Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen, Denmark Keywords Career development, International organizations, Social interaction Abstract Modern global career implies not only an interaction between an organization and an individual but also – and increasingly – a mutual dependency between the two parties. Whereas the traditional career concept presupposes that the individual employee to a high extent has to adhere to the conditions and opportunities provided by the organization, organizations increasingly have to accept and match the expectations and demands of the employee. In particular, this is found in knowledge intensive organizations providing immaterial “products” like know-how, complex problem solving, consultancy service, etc. This kind of immaterial “production” not only requires highly skilled and professional employees but also means that the employees possess the core competence of the company – and can carry it out of the organization if they choose to resign. The paper analyzes the dual dependency in global careers and discusses this interdependency from the viewpoints of both individual and organization. In addition, the paper outlines the implications for practitioners and future research.


Introduction: a critical view of traditional global career It is a widespread perception that global career regards one party (normally the individual) as dependent on the other (the organization). This comes naturally out of the way global career traditionally has been defined, i.e. as mainly being the issues involved in expatriating HQ employees of global enterprises (Brewster and Harris, 1999). This is again a logical consequence of the general definition of career, being a sequence of positions held by a person who is (often) perceived to possess managerial competencies and hence, being systematically assigned to a series of jobs/tasks which will develop and unfold these competencies. For instance, Baruch (2004) defines career as “a process of progress and development of individuals, which is sometimes described as the life stories of people”, (p. 3). The vocabulary of International Human Resource Management reflects this with its heavy focus on concepts like expatriation, repatriation, assignment, the assignee, etc. It also fits with the main reasons for designing global careers, (Brewster and Harris, 1999): “A perceived lack of availability of management and technical skills in some countries: control of local operations (Brewster 1991; Torbjo¨rn 1985): to maintain trust in key foreign businesses following large international acquisitions: for representation (Brewster, 1991); and for management development purposes (Hamill, 1989, p. 7).” A similar perspective is provided by Jackson (1993, 2002) who states that there are three overall reasons for global careers, two of which are serving organizational purposes: (1) fulfilling the strategic needs of the organization; (2) career planning of the company; and (3) meeting individuals’ career aspirations.

Although it is evident that these reasons primarily meet organizational objectives, it is nevertheless believed to suggest that more emphasis is placed on global careers (and career management) by the organization, the more interested the person will be in such a career, and/or the more the person will become socialized into accepting the global career systems and conditions of the organization. The mere fact that global career management is a prioritized area in the organization can cause employees to believe that they are looked after, ensured development opportunities, and invested in. Socialization to the global nature of the organizational culture is then the explicit or implicit result. For the individual, the initial conditions of employment often appear to be exogenously given and non-negotiable, and throughout the employment period (in particular periods of international assignment), the organization – having the power, resources and information – will simply outline and present global career opportunities. These often have the character of either “offers you cannot refuse” or “take it or leave (it)”, the reason for this being the heavy emphasis on the fulfillment of organizational interests. The potential advantages of this conception is that the organization can rely on rationalistic planning in its global career management, and that the individual does not need to take a proactive role in deciding and implementing what seems to be appropriate career development. The person’s interests are catered to (and are occasionally even formulated) by the organization, which takes an often anxiety-causing burden off the shoulders of the individual. The potential dangers are the legitimization of the individual’s inability to be responsible for his or her own career, deprival of control, and, hence, the development of very reactive traits incompatible with the increased need for active, innovative and assertive behavior. Also, the risk is that the organization may misdiagnose the career needs of the individual, and end up with unfilled positions or individuals with less than optimal qualifications, causing damage to the values and norms of the organization. This may, for instance, be a significant factor explaining the failure rate of expatriations. Hence, also for the individual such practice has detrimental implications. An alternative approach to global career: dual dependency A different paradigmatic approach to the concept of global career may partly overcome these problems. Hence, we argue that individuals and organizations are both dependent on each other as an indispensable consequence of their interaction ( ¼ global career), though not dependent in the same way or to the same extent, as we will see shortly. The organization sets the framework for global career, but the employees do not necessarily accept or adhere to this framework. (Unsuccessful international assignments again being an example). The organization “sets the agenda” due to its power as an employer with the rewards and sanctions related thereto, but the employee may resist, turn down or even veto an offer from the company. Career planning means increasing employee loyalty, avoiding future shocks, performance motivation and integrating objectives ( Jackson, 1993, 2002), which can potentially be to the benefit of the individual, but does not need to be so. If not, the person may choose to use his or her “power to sack the employer” by simply withdrawing from the organization. Obviously, this is more likely if the person has high external employability – which is true, however, for many competent knowledge workers.

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Recent research dealing with general career issues point in the direction of mutuality in career, although it does not (yet?) take the full step of defining career as an interplay and – dependence between the organization and the individual, rather than (a particular kind of) individual voyage. Milestones in contemporary career research representing this paradigmatic change are protean career (Hall, 1996), boundaryless career (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996), the new career (Arthur et al., 1999), creative career (Peiperl et al., 2002), etc. An example of this broader view on career is (Arnold, 1997): “A career is the sequence of employment-related positions, roles, activities and experiences encountered by a person” (p. 16). Arnold states that “whereas some people distinguish between jobs (low status, few promotion prospects) and careers (high status, many promotion prospects), I am firmly rejecting that line. . . Everyone who spends time in and/or seeking employment has a career.” (p. 17). Along a similar line, Hall (2002) defines career as “the individually perceived sequence of attitudes and behaviors associated with work-related experiences and activities over the span of the person’s life” (p. 12). In this paper, we will define global career as the series of events, experiences and actions embedded in the global interaction between an individual and an organization – a relationship which is characterized by mutual dependency between the two parties. There are a number of implications of this definition. It does not restrict career to being a sequence of positions (jobs), but is a series of events, experiences and actions. Hence, experiential learning (whether it is planned, anticipated and wanted or unforeseen, unexpected and/or unpleasant) is considered being part of the careering process. (The word careering rather than career is deliberately chosen to emphasize the process/flow, rather than the milestones usually signifying a traditional global career). In addition, career goes beyond expatriation as an organizationally monitored and structured HRM procedure, but emphasizes the action-reflection synergy of everyday life. Also, it goes beyond managerial career, as it encompasses in principle all employees. Finally, it crosses the boundaries stressed by the boundaryless career literature (age, work life-private life spheres, formal training vs experiential learning, vertical (up and down) vs horizontal career mobility, etc.). In the following sections, we will analyze the dual dependency in global career from the viewpoint of the organization and the individual, respectively. The individual’s dependency on the organization Logically, in order to pursue organizational careers (and perhaps, in particular, global careers), individuals need organizations. The individuals are attracted by organizations, in particular the one(s) matching their global career expectations. They hope, in reverse, that these organizations are attracted to them. The selection situation in itself represents a situation of dependency, as the person (i.e. applicant) cannot insist on getting the job, and the organization can turn down the applicant. Justifiably, it should be added that the applicant can obviously turn down a job – including an international assignment. This is, however, less common than organizations turning down applicants, as organizations usually have more applicants to choose from than the person has jobs/organizations to choose among, albeit less so when expatriating present employees. (The (external and internal) labor

market situation, obviously, has a strong impact on this supply-demand pendulum.) The person’s dependency on the outcome of the selection process is – once the person gets hired – followed by dependency on the global career policies and practices of the organization, as well as the general development of the organization. As global career opportunities are often a scarce commodity (particularly popular career paths), and distributed on the basis of the extent to which individuals adhere to organizational success criteria, individuals often behave in ways they believe will enhance attractive career opportunities. They often have to accept assigned jobs and tasks, they have to accept the predominant management style and personnel policy, and they have to accept the compensation, fringe benefits and development opportunities provided. (Lack of) financial security by shifting organizations also influences the decision to stay or quit ( Morgan, 1997). This dependency on the organization is a contributing factor when employees (albeit hesitantly) accept international assignments which are unwanted or regarded unattractive by the employee (and family). There is a long tradition of theorizing about the dependency of individuals on organizations. Scott and Meyer (1994) in a study of “the rise of training programs in firms and agencies”, discuss how the growth in organizational training can be seen as an outcome of various types of social control. Building on Edwards (1979), the writers state that control systems in organizations have evolved over time: from simple, direct control to technological control to bureaucratic control to internalized control. Bureaucratic control is interesting from a global career perspective, because it “is embedded in the social and organizational structure of the firm and is built into job categories, work rules, promotion procedures, discipline, wage scales, definitions of responsibilities, and the like.” (Edwards, 1979, p. 131; Scott and Meyer, 1994, p. 243). As is evident from the quotation, bureaucratic control is predominant in organizational career systems, but it is to an increasing extent intertwined with or replaced by internalized control, which is an alternative to external, formal control and sanctions. Internalized control is often found in organizations employing highly skilled employees, whose competence and commitment are key to the survival of the organization. International assignments in knowledge-based organizations are examples of this. A mutual interest in the development of the individual is achieved by the individual and the organization. As stated by Scott and Meyer (1994, p. 244) regarding the mutual interest in training (which can be paralleled to career development as well), “[w]hether viewed as adding capital value to employees’ labor, as enhancing the development of their capacities, or as enabling them to be eligible for advancement – training opportunities are desirable and sought-after benefits under many circumstances.” What at a surface level is the employers’ push for maximization of the use of employees, thus turns out to be a benefit for the employees. This paradox is often seen in global career situations. This illustrates that employee dependency on the organization is often inseparable from the organization’s dependency on the individual. To the extent that the person is actually satisfied with the present tasks, organizational practices and rewards (including global career conditions), dependency will not be experienced as a straightjacket, and the person will probably not want profound changes made to these conditions. This shows the important relationship between internalized control and subjective career. The subjective experience of career is flavored by these career characteristics, i.e. the degree of satisfaction on the part of the employee will depend on


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how the objective career features are interpreted, and what kind of sense is made out of them. In addition, the presence of alternative job opportunities inside and (in particular) outside the organization lowers the dependency of the person on the organization, as the person can choose to quit the present job. If the practical opportunities for this are present, regardless of whether they are actually activated or not, they may provide the person with the conception that s/he can choose to withdraw. The individual can decrease dependency on the organization by, for instance, obtaining more education or increasing professional knowledge and ability. In both cases, the individual will have mobilized elements of the context, i.e. extra-organizational education programs, professional networks and associations, etc. In short, traditional career theory has rightly stressed that individuals and individual careers are dependent on the organization for which these individuals work or would like to be employed by. However, the specific nature and intensity of this dependency will vary with each situation, and traditional career theory (including global career research) has tended to overlook the fact that organizations are also dependent on individuals. To this we will now turn our attention. The organization’s dependency on the individual Basically, for the global organization to be able to pursue its (business) objectives and survive, it needs human resources, i.e. globally oriented individuals. When attracting human resources, the organization needs to make itself attractive, and once individuals have been recruited and hired, efforts are needed to keep these individuals in the organization for an appropriate period of time (the length of which varies, obviously, with the specific circumstances). Often, a short-term and narrow focus on optimizing the ratio between performance and personnel costs may jeopardize the long-term effectiveness of the human resources. The employees may choose to leave, and dependent on the costs of replacing the resigning individuals, this may be a waste of resources for the organization. Strong emphasis has been put on this problem in studies of (unsuccessful) expatriation and repatriation (Adler, 1997). The key to the organizations’s dependency on the individual is how critical a particular kind of human resource is, and how scarce it is. Examples of “a particular kind of human resource” would typically be particular key individuals, members of a profession or individuals employed in a particular part of the organization. Critically of a human resource implies that the individuals in question play a significant role in the fulfillment of organizational goals. Typically, the persons are part of the core competence of the organization and are personally contributing to the competitive strength of the organization. Scarcity of a particular kind of human resource means the extent to which individuals with this profile are available on the (internal or external) job market. In principle, these two dimensions are separable from each other. Human resources can be critical without being scarce, scarce without being critical, both or neither (Figure 1). Analyzing each of the cells in the diagram clearly illustrates the degrees of organizational dependency on the individual. This is a very common characteristic and important challenge in global careers. Cell no. 1 illustrates a situation where the organization primarily requires standard employees and finds them in sufficient quantities. Here, “standard” psychological contracts can be used, career prospects are relatively clear, and the organization will find it fairly easy to replace these individuals if a need to do so arises. Albeit this

situation is not very common in global careers, an example would be overseas assignments requiring general (perhaps even standard) skills and a labor market with a sufficient supply of people with these skills. Cell no. 2 shows situations where the organization – due to the scarcity of this resource – needs to offer the employees attractive conditions, including, for instance, a high salary level. This is very commonly seen in expatriation, and is one of the reasons why expatriation is often an extremely expensive kind of job mobility. However, since the employees are not a critical resource, individualized and “tailor-made” conditions are not necessarily needed. This is, however, the case in cell no. 3. Here, the resource is critical, and special conditions are needed. Individual psychological contracts and training will often be important means for keeping critical resources in good “working order”. This is even more so in cell no. 4, where a series of development activities are usually needed to “produce” key employees in the first place. Individuals pursuing successful global careers are often found in this category. As mentioned, criticality in itself does not make an organization dependent on human resources. An example would be certain internationally recognized universities characterized by what is generally believed to be attractive working conditions: good reputation, high salaries, committed students, nice campus, pleasant climate, etc. Some of these universities base much of their teaching on visiting faculty for the very simple reason that there is an abundance of competent faculty members from other universities who are interested in a visiting position. Having good instructors is a critical factor in any university teaching, but in this example not a scarce resource. Obviously, if human resources are both critical and scarce, the organization becomes very dependent on individuals, and this is a significant challenge in global careers.


The reciprocity of dependency As we have seen, the individual is dependent on the organization, but the organization is also dependent on the individual. This alters the balance of power between the two parties, compared to the traditional global career perspective and consequently, the relative dependency between them. The presentation of this issue may have left the impression that the organization-individual interdependency is a “closed circuit”. This is not the case, however, as their relative dependency and power is fueled by their joint and individual interactions with the environment. The causes of, as well as the methods of remedy for, this dependency are intimately related to the global environment and the uncertainty causing the environmental effects on the organization. According to resource dependence theory, “[t]he ability to cope with uncertainty can . . . be transformed into power internal to the organization” (Hatch, 1997, p. 288), and:

Figure 1. The relationship between scarcity and criticality of employees

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Insofar as this environmentally contextualized power distribution becomes legitimated, environmental dependence can explain formal structures. That is, the power derived from coping with uncertainty will be transformed into positional authority by being used to gain appointments to formal positions within the hierarchy (Ibid, p. 289).

We do not see the need to restrict this line of thought to formal positions and authority. The ability to cope with uncertainty (and the power derived from being able to cope with uncertainty) can be learned by most people, provided people are given the right learning circumstances. Along a similar vein, authority can be gained by managers as well as non-managerial employees. Since this paper does not focus on global managerial career in particular, but deals with global career issues in general, we have not emphasized to which extent management is linked to formal positions and authority vs being general organizational processes of influence. The argument is that managerial behavior is not restricted to individuals holding managerial positions. The global organization is saturated with managerial processes, and can be regarded as a conglomerate of processes of influence, only some of which can be traced back to formal power attributed to specific positions. Interdependency is thus not restricted to these individual holding formal authority, but affects a much larger group of individuals in an organization. The more this is the case, the more global careers can be understood as a duality of interdependence. Implications for practitioners We will finish the analysis of this duality by discussing how the global organization and the individual can react to interdependency. The organization can introduce technology which makes critical and scarce human resources superfluous, possibly by substituting them by categories of employees which are more readily accessible. “Virtual expatriation” is an example of this. It can, alternatively, eliminate the tasks in the first place, for instance, by moving out of the (global) product market altogether. It can accept less or slower growth in activities, rationalizing that (faster) growth is not possible. The global organization can also outsource tasks or functions to external partners, provided that such a transfer makes the organization less vulnerable to environmental sources of uncertainty. Of a slightly different nature are attempts to tie employees to the global organization through the use of legal contracts, non-competition clauses or financial rewards for staying with the organization. The organization can increase the use of external consultants in such a way that, if key employees choose to leave the organization, these consultants can take over on short notice some of the non-attended tasks. By using annual development dialogues and performance appraisal interviews to discuss career plans or employee prospects, the organization can create an opportunity for discussing mutual expectations and try to remedy situations lacking balance between demands vs wishes and new opportunities vs quid pro quo. This in itself lowers the risk of breaking psychological contracts. Also, as a method very practical in nature, the global organization can introduce a “3 plus 3 principle”, implying that all jobs can be performed by at least three persons, and that each person can perform at least three different jobs. This may help to keep employees in the organization who like variation and change, but do not have a strong desire to leave the organization. As an extension of this, the organization can establish job exchange programs with other organizations, thus providing inter-organizational labor

flexibility, and catering to career expectations and demands which cannot be met by the organization itself. Yet, other possibilities are the introduction of deputy positions or understudies, where individuals or groups act as assistants or stand-ins for key employees performing global key functions/tasks. The organization could move (certain activities) to geographical areas (often abroad) where an abundance exists of critically important employees, or – in reverse – “import” employees from some of these areas to the current location. This could also be achieved through the use of teleworking or other kinds of distance work. An even more radical solution would be to base future strategies and activities on those human resources the organization has or finds easy or possible to attract, i.e. using a so-called competence driven strategy. The individual can avoid or counteract functional specialization, which would tie her/him to the present task, organizational unit or organization. The individual could undergo training (with or without the financial support of the employer), in order to broaden competencies. S/he could also use external networks to nurse contacts, see what is coming up, and find out which good employers are available. S/he could accept a job transfer, job rotation or assignment which broadens his/her applicability within or outside the organization. To turn down legal, contractual restrictions on free mobility is another possibility, and the person can avoid getting financially dependent on the organization (for instance, by overspending or obtaining a loan from the employer which comes due if the employee resigns). These steps taken either by the global organization or the individual can provide a more varied perspective on global career than traditional “hire and fire” models (i.e. a liberal labor market dominated by demand and supply mechanisms), or traditional corpocratic career systems. For the organization, a range of options varying from well-delimited personnel planning problems to more general and far-reaching organizational changes can be more readily made available. For the individual, a similar broad range of global opportunities can be provided, ranging from modest changes in job-person fit to radical changes in overall global career. Hence, we do have a conceptual framework for dealing with important challenges in global career. However, most of the traditional career theory is reflecting and building upon: (1) organizational structures which are increasingly challenged; and (2) an almost unidirectional perception of dependency between the individual and the organization. Global career theory and practice has a major task in developing theory and models reflecting new organizational forms as well as the increasingly mutual dependency between the individual and the organization.

Conclusion The relationship between the global organization and the individual reflects a contractual interdependency, in that they both have goals and expectations which they seek to fulfill through the interaction. Yet, these goals and expectations do not need to be very explicit, conscious or rational. Not only do the two parties interact, but they are also interdependent and linked to each other through a psychological contract (Rousseau, 1995).


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Since traditional global career theory is mainly concerned with the managerial development of selected individuals, and since a managerial career is regarded as an offer “you cannot refuse”, global “careerists” are implicitly expected to be interested in such a career. Hence, individual expectations mean wanting to and being able to pursue such a global career. Accordingly, organizational expectations in this situation are typically related to whether the individuals “can make it”, i.e. are able to proceed through the hierarchy as anticipated by the organization. This, combined with lifelong employment and stable organizational environments, has led to fairly simple psychological contracts between the two parties. Increasingly, however, the two parties develop more complex sets of goals and expectations, and these are very vulnerable to contextual effects. This applies to careers in general, but is even more significant when dealing with global careers. The global organization must be able to function under new conditions, but also has a new and different, typically better educated human material to employ and deploy, which has a spin-off effect on the organization’s expectations of these individuals. Likewise, the individuals change expectations: attitude toward global career in the first place, the desirability (or lack hereof) of managerial careers, the expectation to remain in one particular organization, etc., are all examples of commonly highlighted areas, where people’s expectations and goals are now undergoing changes. Consequently, the psychological contract – and the negotiation of it – has become more complicated, and the contract is more prone to violation and breach (Morrison and Robinson, 1997). The relative strength with which the individual and the organization influence global career processes in their interface is a result of the relative power they have. The specific nature of the interdependency thus reflects the power balance between the global organization and the person. “Who sets the agenda” has a strong impact on the actual career path of a person, and this covers a spectrum ranging from an organization being able to say, “you exist for our sake”, to a person saying, “I exist for my own sake, and you exist for my sake”. As mentioned earlier, the bureaucratic career to a large extent reflects the basic attitude that the organization sets the agenda, and this has historically been a predominant characteristic of paternalistic expatriation practice of global companies. However, global organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on the employees, and this changes the relationship between them as well as the extent to which the two parties are able to fulfill their own expectations. The traditional employer-employee relationship is being substituted by a mutual dependency between two cooperation partners, using each other as vehicles for achieving own objectives, but by doing so also enabling the other party to achieve its objectives. Contemporary career research – in particular, the boundaryless career literature – is in general emphasizing the dynamics of the interplay between the organization and the individual. However, the subfield of global career research still needs to incorporate the implications of this dual dependency. The benefits of doing so will be significant – from a human resource management, a financial and an ethical perspective.

References Adler, N. (1997), International Dimensions of Organizational Behaviour, South-Western College Publishing, Cincinnati, OH. Arnold, J. (1997), Managing Careers into the 21st Century, Paul Chapman, London. Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.M. (1996), The Boundaryless Career, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Arthur, M.B., Inkson, K. and Pringle, J.K. (1999), The New Career, Sage, London. Baruch, Y. (2004), Managing Careers; Theory and Practice, Pearson Education Ltd, Harlow. Brewster, C. (1991), The Management of Expatriates, Kogan Page, London. Brewster, C. and Harris, H. (1999), International HRM; Contemporary Issues in Europe, Routledge, London. Edwards, R. (1979), Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the Twentieth Century, Basic Books, New York, NY. Hall, D.T. (1996), “Protean careers of the 21st century”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 8-16. Hall, D.T. (2002), Careers in and out of Organizations, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA. Hamill, J. (1989), “Expatriate policies in British multinationals”, Journal of General Management, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 18-33. Hatch, M.J. (1997), Organization Theory. Modern, Symbolic and Postmodern Perspectives, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Jackson, T. (1993), Organizational Behaviour in International Management, ButterworthHeinemann, Oxford. Jackson, T. (2002), International HRM; A Cross-Cultural Approach, Sage Publications, London. Morgan, G. (1997), “Financial security, welfare regimes, and the governance of work systems”, in Whitley, R. and Kristensen, P.H. (Eds), Governance at Work. The Social Regulation of Economic Relations, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Morrison, E.W. and Robinson, S.L. (1997), “When employees feel betrayed: a model of how psychological contract violation develops”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 226-56. Peiperl, M., Arthur, M. and Anand, N. (2002), Career Creativity: Explorations in the Remaking of Work, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Rousseau, D. (1995), Psychological Contracts in Organizations, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Scott, W.R. and Meyer, J.W. (Eds) (1994), “The rise of training programs in firms and agencies: an institutional perspective”, Institutional Environments and Organizations: Structural Complexity and Individualism, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Torbjo¨rn, I. (1985‘), “The structure of managerial roles in cross-cultural settings”, International Studies of Management and Organization, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 52-74. Further reading Torbjo¨rn, I. (1982), Living Abroad: Personal Adjustment and Personnel Policy in the Overseas Setting, Wiley, New York, NY.




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Some potential contributions from a career field and habitus perspective for global career research and practice Wolfgang Mayrhofer, Alexandre Iellatchitch, Michael Meyer, Johannes Steyrer, Michael Schiffinger and Guido Strunk University of Economics and Business Administration, Vienna, Austria Keywords Career development, Globalization Abstract New forms of organising and new forms of individuals private and professional life concepts have affected organisations as well as careers. The resulting new forms of careers are characterised by two major elements: organisations are no longer the primary arena for professional careers and the diversity of careers and career paths is sharply increasing. At the level of global careers similar developments can be observed. In addition, two specifics can be mentioned: a number of additional forms of working internationally supplement expatriation in its classic sense and there seems to be an increasing pressure on the speed and diversity of international assignments. There is comparatively little theoretical insight into these developments. Departing from a sociological perspective and using the theoretical framework of late French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, this paper takes a career field and habitus perspective of careers. Based on that, it tries to identify areas of contribution for the global career discussion that can emerge from such an approach.


1. Introduction Careers are central to individuals, organisations and society. They are not restricted to the narrow view of individuals moving up the corporate hierarchy, but located at the “intersection of societal history and individual biography” (Grandjean, 1981, p. 1057), linking micro- and macro-frames of references (Schein, 1978) which have been traditionally regarded as indissoluble (Barley, 1989; Gunz, 1989b; Hughes, 1937). Thus, careers provide researchers interested in theoretical, empirical and methodological progress with a fertile ground. Over the years, career research has accumulated a considerable body of empirical and theoretical evidence. Writers from a great range of disciplinary perspectives have contributed to the understanding of what happens at various levels when individuals travel through their professional lives (Arthur et al., 1989b; Becker and Strauss, 1956; Dalton, 1972; Glaser, 1968; Hall, 1987; Holland, 1973; Hughes, 1951; Ornstein and Isabella, 1993; Schein, 1980; Slocum, 1974; Spilerman, 1977; Super, 1957; Van Maanen, 1977 for overviews and comprehensive views). The same is true for international careers. A considerable body of research has analysed different issues at the individual and organizational level (Black et al., 1992a; Brewster, 1991; Scullion and Brewster, 2001), including specific problem areas like the situation of females at the global level (Linehan and Scullion, 2001; Taylor et al., 2002) or the specific adaptation problems The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF grant no. 14307-SOZ) for this work.

(Black et al., 1992b; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985; Peltonen, 1997; Stroh et al., 1998). Implicitly or explicitly, organisations were the major point of reference (Dyer, 1976; Gunz, 1989a; Hall, 1976; Rosenbaum, 1984; Schein, 1978). As in a broader historical perspective the crucial importance of organisations for the functioning of society is probably the core characteristic of the industrial and post-industrial era, this was quite adequate – even though it has to be noted that most of these research efforts are implicitly or explicitly linked to a Western frame of thinking and to Western societies. Lately, however, things have changed. New forms of organising and new forms of individuals’ private and professional life concepts (Ohmae, 2001; Ruigrok et al., 1999; Sennett, 1998) have affected organisations as well as careers. Influential voices proclaim a period of transition leading to new forms of careers, too (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996; Hall et al., 1996). These new forms of careers have two major characteristics. On the one hand, organisations are no longer the primary arena for professional careers. In addition to “traditional” organizational careers, people’s careers will increasingly take place either entirely or to a great extent outside of organisations (Arthur et al., 1999). Different labels like newly self-employed, one-person-employers, dependent independents, own account self-employed, or free agents (Gould et al., 1997) have been used to describe people on such career tracks (Mayrhofer and Meyer, 2001). On the other hand, the diversity of careers and career paths is sharply increasing. Instead of starting with a specific kind of training in one’s early career stages leading to a quite stable career path in the same profession or area of expertise for the rest of one’s life, things have become more diverse. Individuals work in different professions in or outside of different organisations in different places in the world. Discontinuity is built into careers, private and professional activities are combined in different ways leading to protean or patchwork careers (Hall, 1996), new forms of work-non-work combinations, new forms of partnerships with one’s spouse, etc. (Auer, 2000). Even if one is sceptical about too enthusiastic cheers of welcome to new developments – the contrast between bold statements made during the frenzy about the new economy and its seemingly limitless opportunities detaching them from the traditional economic laws on the one hand and the sobering reality afterwards should provide a stern warning here – there seem to be some elements of a new quality here. Mutatis mutandis, at the level of global careers similar developments can be observed. In addition to the developments already shown for careers in general, at least two major and specific developments occur. First, a number of additional forms of working internationally – which one could label “quasi-expatriation” – supplement expatriation in its classic sense. This is no new development as for a long time organisations have used quite different ways of sending people abroad. Owing to factors like increased scepticism about long-term foreign assignments aired by individuals, because of, e.g. dual-career-situations, and critical voices within companies, because of factors like the cost of expatriation, the problems with recruiting, selecting, assigning and reintegrating expatriates, these developments get increasing momentum. In addition, alternatives to expatriation and the continuous physical presence of persons are supported by better travel connections, better opportunities for virtual contacts through telecommunication, e.g. mobile phones, video conferencing, and the possibility for transferring data over high speed and/or more reliable Internet connections. A study of new forms of international


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working, carried out by the Centre for Research into the Management of Expatriation (CReME) and supported by the Cranfield School of Management and the Organization Resources Counselors (ORC), Inc., points to a growing number of new forms of global careers like short-term assignments, international commuter assignments and frequent flyer assignments supplementing the traditional long-term assignments Harris (2000). Likewise, Welch et al. discuss various forms of international assignments, specifically focusing on virtual assignments (Welch, 2003; Welch et al., 2003). Second, there seems to be an increasing pressure on the speed and diversity of international assignments. Classic expatriation relied on the tacit or manifest assumption that people would be sent to a specific country for a limited, nevertheless substantial period of time, e.g. three to five years. Given this assumption, it made sense to prepare, to train, etc. With the increasing occurrence of quasi-expatriation, which often includes frequent, although shorter, visits to different countries in a different cultural context, things have become more complicated and multi-faceted. If, for example, quasi-expatriation means more frequent visits to the same location instead of a longer, continuous stay there, the basic situation remains unchanged. Preparation and training for the encounter with people and a culture different from one’s own seems necessary. Even in such a case, however, an additional element emerges. Coping with a great number of micro-transitions, e.g. the weekly to and fro, replaces the classic expatriation cycle or develop as an overlay to this cycle. Therefore, coping with such specific types of transitions becomes a new topic for preparatory measures. Other forms of quasi-expatriation provide a different setting. If such working arrangements include several countries and/or cultures, other, more substantial problems arise. Given a wide range of countries and/or cultures, at least the issue of culture specific training becomes questionable. Time pressure, the wide scope of possibly different issues and costs are providing obstacles rather than support for such a preparation. In any case, it seems clear that “standardised” preparation and training programs will not fit such a situation. Given the tempo and recency of some of these developments at the level of careers in general and for global careers in particular, it is not very surprising to see comparatively little theoretical insight into these developments. Although some empirical evidence about the new career landscape exists (Arthur et al., 1999; Peiperl et al., 2000), there are few theoretical frameworks allowing a comprehensive view on the “new” context of careers and the interplay between various analytical levels, especially the individual, the organisation and the organizational context. Nevertheless, the importance of these issues makes more insight into these phenomena an urgent need. Departing from a sociological perspective and using the theoretical framework of late French Sociologist Pierre Bourdiu, this paper takes a career field and habitus perspective of careers. Based on that, it tries to identify areas of contribution for the global career discussion that can develop from such an approach. Specifically, the paper tries to (1) enhance the understanding of the arena in which global careers take place; and (2) take a look at the scope of development and change that can be expected from individuals during global careers. After briefly outlining the career field and habitus perspective these two issues will be addressed in turn from the chosen perspective.

2. Career field and habitus perspective The existing literature offers many different frameworks for the explanation of career patterns with its own merits (Arthur et al., 1989b; Bru¨derl, 1991; Forbes, 1987; Haller et al., 1985; Lipset and Bendix, 1952; Rosenbaum, 1979). Most career scholars would agree that such frameworks are especially fruitful if they, among others, . allow for multi-level analysis; . offer a reflexive relationship between action and structure; . go beyond the organisation as main point of reference; . avoid the selective bias or one-sided choice of objective vs subjective career as well as the micro vs macro level; and . include neglected areas like power distribution, social inequalities, etc. As these points address crucial areas of career research (refer Mayrhofer et al. (2000), for a more in-depth discussion), they should be included into such a framework. The work of late French Sociologist Pierre Bourdieu provides a basis for doing just this. It avoids a choice between objective or subjective careers and a macro or micro perspective, at the same time strengthening or reintroducing themes like multi-level analysis, simultaneous action-structure view, combining “objective” and “subjective” perspectives, power distribution, social hierarchy and thus, social inequalities into career research. Field, habitus and capital are its major elements that can be used and applied to the area of career (for a more detailed view see Iellatchitch et al., 2003). 2.1 Career fields For Bourdieu, a social field is a patterned set of practices which suggests competent action in conformity with rules and roles as well as a playground or battlefield in which actors, endowed with a certain field-relevant capital, try to advance their position. As such, they constitute a network of positions, a playground where actors try to follow individual strategies. Playing according to the rules of the game as defined by the specific set of capital most valuable for holding power within the field contributes to the reproduction of the fields ( Bourdieu, 1977, 1986). Career fields are the social context within which individual members of the work force make their moves. They are equipped with a specific portfolio of field-relevant capital and try to maintain or improve their place in the given and unfolding network of work related positions. This is done through a patterned set of practices which are enabled and constrained by the rules of the field and, in turn, contribute to the shaping of these rules. Career fields have a dynamic quality. This reflects the focal relationship between work and time (Arthur et al., 1989a). Careers themselves are not a field, but unfold within a field and are the sequence of positions that is the result of work related efforts. 2.2 Career habitus For Bourdieu, habitus is an ensemble of schemata of perception, thinking, feeling, evaluating, speaking, and acting that preformates all the expressive, verbal, and practical manifestations and utterances of an actor (Krais, 1988). It definitely has a corporal dimension, being the embodied history, the active presence of the whole past of which it is the product (Bourdieu, 1990b). Through habitus, regular action patterns over time which neither are the product of external structures nor of mere


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subjective intention can be explained. The habitus is continually adjusted to the current context. Although the primary socialisation is of great importance, the development of habitus cannot be restricted to that period. Habitus is constantly reinforced or modified by further experience, i.e. by positive and negative sanctions during a whole life. Habitus and field are linked in a circular relationship. Involvement in a field shapes the habitus which, in turn, shapes the actions that reproduce the field (Crossley, 2001). In order to understand and explain the action of players in the field, one needs information about their dispositions and competence – their habitus – and about the state of play in the game as well as the players’ individual location in the field. The actors’ logic is shaped by both their habitus and requirements and logic of the game as it unfolds. While the general habitus can be regarded as a durable, but evolving system of dispositions potentially actualised, the career habitus is more confined. Career habitus is a habitus which “fits” to a particular career field. It is specifically related to a career field and may be defined by the dispositions which tend to be actualised “automatically” within this field. A particular career habitus ensures that an actor acts, perceives and thinks according to the rules of the field, and his movements within the field of career appear as “natural”. He acts “intentionally without intention” ( Bourdieu, 1987, 1990a, p. 12). The idea of progression and a desire for growth is central in career habitus. This dynamic quality may take different forms depending on the field’s rules: climbing the hierarchical ladder, increasing reputation or level of expertise, etc. 2.3 Career capital Bourdieu (1986) differentiates between three basic types of capital: economic, social, and cultural capital. (1) Economic capital appears, above all, in the form of general, anonymous, all-purpose convertible money from one generation to the next. It can be more easily and efficiently converted into cultural, social and symbolic capital than vice versa ( Postone et al., 1993). (2) Social capital involves relationships of mutual recognition and acquaintance, resources based upon social connections and group or class membership. (3) Cultural or informational capital appears in three forms: . incorporated, i.e. durable dispositions of habitus; . objectivised through cultural products like books, paintings, machines, etc.; and . institutionalised through academic titles and degrees, which are relatively independent of the actually incorporated cultural capital. As a fourth type of capital, symbolic capital is closely related to the respective fields. The rules of a particular social field specify which combination of the basic forms of capital will be authorised as symbolic capital, thus becoming socially recognised as legitimate. Career capital is the particular sort of capital valued within the fields of career. Every individual within a specific career field has got an unique portfolio of capitals. The genetic disposition when entering life, the social context one is born into and the interplay between these two provide a starting point for the development of capitals in

general. Through personal, educational and professional development processes, an increasing portfolio of career field relevant career capitals evolve. From a different theoretical perspective, “knowing-why, knowing-how, and knowing-whom” have been identified as components of career capital linking the individual and the collective level (Arthur et al., 1999). Career capital has two sides. Looking at it from the career field, it is symbolic capital recognised by other actors and the rules of the field as legitimate, valid and useful. From the outside perspective of the economic system the process of recognition reflects this system’s assumption about the usefulness of career capital in economic terms. This is shown in Figure 1.


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3. Understanding global careers – potential contributions from a career field and habitus perspective The view unfolded above allows a “cross-sectional” look on global careers that does not solely rely on “traditional” concepts like organisation, labour markets, profession or job. Instead, it focuses on the interplay between the individual actor and a set of practices that can cut across these traditional “visible phenomena”. In this way, a number of new facets of global careers come into focus. At the present stage of elaboration of the concept, issues in terms of questions for further work rather than full answers can be formulated. 3.1 Global career arenas When talking about global careers, there seems to be an implicit understanding that “global” is something different than “international”. This is hardly surprising, as, for example, the discussion about doing business across borders or HRM in different types of multinational companies reflect a similar distinction ( Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989; Welge and Holtbru¨gge, 1998). Intuitively it seems clear that “global” assigns a more far reaching meaning, potentially encompassing careers that cover the whole globe while

Figure 1. The making of career capital

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“international” involves only the crossing of at least one national border. However, things start to become difficult when trying to be more specific. For example: . What transforms an international career into a global one: when at least two of the large cultural clusters are involved, when at least two continents are involved, when in addition to some of the features mentioned before the international career lasts for certain period of time, when a multinational company is involved? . What dimensions does it need to determine to identify global careers: the number of countries involved, the number of cultures involved, the degree of cultural difference between the different positions within the career, the degree of geographical distance between the different positions within the career, the role of organisations in general and multinational companies in specific within the career moves, the number of different positions occupied, etc. . Does it make sense to differentiate between international and global careers in the sense of dichotomous differentiation or is it rather a continuum between local/national careers on the one end of the spectrum and global careers at the other end? And if yes, what are the determinants that contribute to the position on such a continuum (see above)? Given these difficulties, we will use “international” and “global” interchangeably for the purpose of this paper. Even so, the issue of understanding the global career arena, i.e. the context in which global careers take place, is conceptually difficult to grasp. From a career field and habitus perspective a number of issues can be raised that potentially contribute to a fuller, but by no means complete understanding of global career arenas, in other words, about the global career field and its sub-fields. 3.1.1 Constituting mechanisms and rules that govern the global career field/different sub-fields. In Bourdieu’s framework, a field is a social playground for individual and collective actors with its own rules, thus constituting to a certain degree an autonomous space. Autonomy is relative insofar no field can completely escape from the constraints of the macrocosm, i.e. the social space enclosing all the fields. It also means that observing a particular field leads to the question of its degree of autonomy vis-a`-vis other fields. The more autonomous a field, the greater the extent to which production in this field is only for other producers in that field and not for consumers in other social fields (Lash, 1993). Insofar, the degree of autonomy remains relative and a moving characteristic of each field. At least two major systems can be regarded as primary reference systems for the global career field: the economic system and the legal system. The economic system and the global career field are related in the form of a continuous sequence of exchange process. Actors at the global as well as the local level of the economic system depend, among others, on the contributions of individual actors within the global career field or some of its sub-fields. Thus, they can find crucial resources only in this specific field. Vice versa, individual actors in the global career field can use their career capitals only in relation with actors of the economic field. Very often, these actors are organisations. The legal system – again at a global and local level – constitutes the second major system of reference. Here, the relationship is not one of mutual dependence. Rather, the legal system has a strong influence on the economic system, on the global career field

and on the relationship between the economic system and the global career field. Whereas the relation between fields of career and economic system is characterised by mutual dependence, the situation is different when it comes to the legal system. It has a strong influence on the economic system, on career fields and on the relationship between the economic system and the career fields. The influence of the legal system on the economic system is obvious as many aspects of business and work are more or less legally regulated at the national and the global level. Likewise, the legal system also has a great impact on the career field. The positions are available within the field, and the evaluation of these positions and the capitals that individual actors in the field possess are partly the result of legal influence. For example, if legal regulations demand a university degree for specific positions in the public sector, this kind of cultural capital will be highly recognised. Given these issues, the following questions seem to be important to advance a more comprehensive and, at the same time, detailed understanding of the global career arena: . What crucial rules govern the relationship between the economic system, the legal system and the global career field? . Within the global career field, what are the major “rules of the game” that enable and restrict players within that field? . What types of sub-fields can one identify within the global career field and in what respect do these sub-fields differ from the global career field in general? 3.1.2 Process of generating and acquiring career capital portfolios valued in the global career field/different sub-fields. Based on the capitals individuals have, the actions within the global career field make increasingly clear whether these capitals are valued in this specific field. Individual actors use their capitals to make an investment. However, such an investment does not follow a rational choice type of decision, but rather results from the habitus as the unique mixture of “external determination” and deliberate strategy, or in Bourdieu’s words: a strategy without strategic intentions (Bourdieu, 1990a, pp. 11-12). At the same time, the process of investing capital potentially leads to the creation of career capital. In a reciprocal process, investing capital does not necessarily lead to its extinction, but it creates the basis for a process of generating and acquiring career capital. It is important to notice that it is not the isolated types of capitals themselves that provide the worth for the individual. Very much like “real” capital it is the capital structure or, in other words, the capital portfolio that is crucial. The interplay between various types of capitals, which can partly replace each other, provides the individual with the basis for their action. Given these considerations, the following questions arise in relation with the global career arena: . What career capital portfolio is valued in the global career field and its sub-fields? . How do different career capital portfolios contribute to the career movements of individual actors within the global career field? . How do career capital portfolios change over time due to the influence of major systems of reference, especially the economic and the legal system?


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3.1.3 Circular relationship between individual behaviour within global career patterns and the global career field/different sub-fields. As indicated above, the concept of career field and habitus proposes in line with the concept of Bourdieu, a reflexive, circular relationship between action and structure, here: between the individual behaviour within global career patterns and the global career field or its different sub-fields as well as the career capitals linked with these fields which are, in turn, closely related to the career habitus. Figure 2 shows these relationships. Given this assumption, the following questions arise which can enhance our understanding of the global career field: . Which characteristics of the global career field are of crucial importance for different types of global career patterns? . Is there a specific type of interplay between career habitus and career capital within the global career field that leads to specific global career patterns? . To what extent does the emergence of new global career patterns influence the global career field, its rules and the career habitus as well as career capital of this field? 3.2 Modifying global career behaviour Two basic assumptions characterise the discussion about preparing individuals for global careers. First, individuals can voluntarily adapt to new situations, they can learn and change their behaviour. At the surface level, this is documented through the extensive discussion about cultural adaptation ( Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985; Ward, 1996), expatriate pre-departure training ( Mendenhall et al., 1987; Thomas, 1995), and intercultural training ( Stahl et al., 1999; Thomas, 1996; Thomas and Hagemann, 1992). Second, the individual is the ultimate point of reference when discussing behaviour in a global context. Again, much of the personnel development literature and the intercultural training literature can be used as an example here. These assumptions are well grounded in both theoretical and empirical terms. However, even when accepting them, the questions of scope of development and

Figure 2. Global career field and career pattern

relative importance of various factors contributing to individual behaviour remain open and debatable. Within the variety of views on this point, the career field and habitus perspective takes a cautious, maybe even sceptical position on two aspects: first, the changeability of persons and their behaviour and second, the relative importance of personal factors as determinants of career behaviour. The main reason for this position is the concept of career habitus and the underlying assumptions about its genesis and its importance for human behaviour. In a nutshelll, this concept claims that habitus is the embodied history of an individual. As such, new experience is evaluated against this embodied history, thus being put in perspective. Given the weight of this previous experience and its incorporation into the habitus, changes because of new experience, e.g. in a culturally mixed situation or in intercultural training, are not easy. In addition, the embodied history is not only or even mainly personal history in the sense of intrapersonal phenomena. Rather, it is also an incorporation of the social environment which provided and provide the context for the individual’s life and career trajectory. Therefore, individual behaviour is strongly shaped not only by the current but habitus through also by past environmental factors. In more detail: habitus as defined above may be seen as a kind of matrix which retains the product of the past experiences in the body of each individual. This is also expressed through notions like “embodiment”, “disposition” or “cognitive structure”. Bourdieu avoids a too substancialist definition of the habitus by insisting on its (relative) unpredictability. The habitus is a “transforming machine” ( Bourdieu, 1990b) which takes individual trajectories into account, and is definitively not a simple mechanic determinism which expresses nothing else than a logic of reproduction (Boudon, 1996). Focusing on primary socialisation – which is highly tributary of the social position and origin of the parents – and on the individual life trajectory, the formation of the habitus permits to insist on both diversity of individual habitus and similarity of group habitus. A specific habitus associated with a particular field may develop an enchanted relationship to the world, to the field and its particular stake and rules. This kind of relationship is obtained through the transformation of a cultural constraint into “natural” inclination. The cultural constraint is so deeply internalised that there is, as a matter of fact, no more choice, since a particular choice imposes itself as obvious and natural. The sooner and the more regular and intense socialisation has been, i.e. the corporal internalisation of habits, the greater the chances are for the development of such a “second nature”. Thus, the concept of (career) habitus heavily emphasises the stability of (career) behaviour acquired during the course of one’s life and career. On the other hand, this does not mean that no change is possible. Individual dispositions will be the more non-unified and flexible, the more an individual was confronted, simultaneously or successively, with a plurality of heterogeneous or even contradictory social contexts and the earlier this kind of experience has been lived through. The “enchantment of the world” permitted by the “right habitus in the right field” should only be seen as a particular case, related to a particular psychic structure. The relative capacity of adaptation of the habitus has been frequently underlined by Bourdieu. He defines it as a “generative principle” (Bourdieu, 1990a), i.e. not only a “reproductive principle”, although this capacity to generate new practices is constrained by the weight of the past.


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Career habitus may be defined by the dispositions which tend to be “automatically” actualised within the field of career. It is a generic term which designates an infinity of different possibilities. Whether dispositions are actualised or not depends mainly on contextual opportunities. Obviously, not all factors which potentially influence the actualisation of dispositions can be investigated. Nevertheless, some crucial socio-psychological and psychological variables bring valuable knowledge about the process of actualisation because they allow to paint a limited “psychological portrait” of each individual in a work context. These measures are based on four assumptions within Bourdieu’s concept of habitus (Krais, 1988; Mu¨ller, 1986): (1) Unconsciousness. Habitus operates at the subconscious level throughout life and is therefore, largely resistant to reflection and modification. (2) Stability. Habitus is primarily formed by constraints and freedoms given by class situation prevailing in childhood socialisation, and is largely of an inert disposition. This does not imply that habitus is innate; it can be modified by the influence of a “career”, i.e. by secondary, professional and organizational socialisation. For example, membership of a profession can exercise a kind of censorship going beyond institutional or personal constraints. Certain questions one does not and cannot ask (Bourdieu, 1992). (3) Incorporation of social structures. Habitus may be defined as a cognitive, perceptive and action matrix (Bourdieu, 1977), whereby cognitive structures are regarded as internalised social structures; thus, socialisation is a process of incorporation of social structure. (4) Strategy. Habitual thinking, acting and perceiving is directed towards objects specific for a particular social field. These objects of interest are regarded as specific combinations of economic, cultural and social capital. These assumptions help to make the habitus operational as well as they enable us to link socio-psychological constructs traditional within career research with a career field and habitus perspective. There are two types of variables that contribute to the formation of the career habitus. On the one hand, these are variables related to the accumulation of educational, economic and social capital within the family of origin. On the other hand, these are variables that represent elements of the general habitus or are at the interface between the general habitus and the career habitus. The former consist of personality traits which can be understood as somehow representing the dimension of unconsciousness. The latter encompass variables concerning social and strategic behavioural dispositions and openness for social contacts. Figure 3 shows an overview. Given these considerations, it is not surprising that the career field and habitus perspective focuses more on stability than on change and on a wide set of influencing factors that contribute to career behaviour. As the global career habitus is developed during life span and embodied history, it can “be changed” only gradually and over a longer time period, i.e. the incorporated ensemble of field adequate dispositions is slowly “modifying itself”. When selecting people for new positions within a global career, the focus from this perspective is more on the selection process than on training and development. Given that this perspective takes a cautious view on the speed of individual change, it seems only consequent that the emphasis is on what individuals already have and not


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Figure 3. General habitus, career habitus and its variables

primarily on what they might become. Nevertheless, this view by no means excludes learning or change, but, as mentioned, takes a cautious position about the scope of change that can be expected. In addition, it emphasises that it is the interplay between global career fields, global career habitus and global career capitals that influences the behaviour of people in a global career. 4. Concluding remarks The starting point of this contribution was the hope that a theoretical perspective like the career field and habitus perspective could contribute to a more diverse and comprehensive view of global career arenas as well as individual career behaviour and development, thus adding to the existing and already fruitful ways. Clearly, further theoretical work and related empirical research are needed to refine the theoretical concept, generate a better empirical understanding of the new developments and develop practical tools for dealing with these issues. Nevertheless, we hope that this concept and its application to the global career discussion can provide some valuable insight through the specific positions taken, thus contributing meaningfully to the theoretical and empirical discussion about a fascinating phenomenon: global careers. References Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.B. (Eds) (1996), The Boundaryless Career. A New Employment for a New Organizational Era, Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford. Arthur, M.B., Hall, D.T. and Lawrence, B.S. (Eds) (1989a), “Generating new directions in career theory: the case for a transdisciplinary approach”, Handbook of Career Theory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England, pp. 7-25. Arthur, M.B., Hall, D.T. and Lawrence, B.S. (Eds) (1989b), Handbook of Career Theory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, England. Arthur, M.B., Inkson, K. and Pringle, J.K. (1999), The New Careers, Sage, London.

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Global careers in French and German multinational corporations Gu¨nter K. Stahl

Global careers in multinational corporations 885

INSEAD, Singapore

Jean-Luc Cerdin ESSEC, Cergy-Pontoise Cedex, France Keywords Career development, Expatriates, International organizations, France, Germany, National cultures Abstract This paper sheds light on an apparent paradox: managers continue to accept offers of international assignments even though they tend to view them as a risky career move. Based on a review of the literature and a survey of expatriate managers of 20 French and 30 German companies on assignment in 59 countries, the paper examines the nature of the expatriate career concept, the career development implications of international assignments, and the effectiveness of corporate expatriate career management and repatriation systems. Most of the research on the career implications of international assignments has been conducted using the US samples of expatriates. By exploring expatriate career issues in a cross-national sample of French and German expatriates, this study seeks to yield new and significant insights into whether the emerging concept of boundaryless careers is beginning to take hold in countries other than the US, and whether there are cross-national differences in the nature of the expatriate career concept. The findings show that many expatriates are frustrated with how their companies manage their international assignments, especially the long-range planning of their repatriation. However, there are clear differences between the French and German expatriates in terms of repatriation concerns. Despite widespread dissatisfaction in both groups, the German expatriates seem relatively nonchalant regarding their repatriation. This finding can be explained by the fact that the German expatriates are more willing to leave their companies upon return than their French counterparts, thus showing strong evidence of a “boundaryless career” orientation. An important finding is that companies that fail to take an integrated approach to international assignments and do not have effective international career development and repatriation systems, tend to end up with highly dissatisfied managers who, depending on their nationalities, may be quite willing to leave their companies upon repatriation. In spite of my successful expatriation, return was a failure because my experience was not put to use... (Repatriate of a French retailing company) The better you perform overseas, the more you get screwed when you come home. . . (Repatriate of a German bank; in Stahl and Mendenhall, 2003)

These experiences of two French and German expatriates illustrate that, from the perspective of returning expatriate managers, the career implications of an international assignment are often frustrating. Recent studies of expatriate careers found that most multinational corporations (MNCs) lack effective repatriation The authors gratefully acknowledge Chei Hwee Chua’s contribution to this paper, as well as the helpful comments of two anonymous reviewers.


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practices and international career development systems (Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001; Hammer et al., 1998; Stahl et al., 2002). Specifically, these studies found that the majority of repatriates feel that their international assignments had a negative impact on their careers; that their re-entry positions are less challenging and satisfying than their overseas assignments; that their international experience is not valued by their companies; and that there are limited opportunities for using their newly acquired knowledge and skills in the home organization. As a result, a substantial percentage of expatriates leave their company upon return. Black et al. (1999) found that some European and US companies have lost between 40 and 55 percent of their repatriates within three years after return from their overseas assignments through voluntary turnover. Those who stayed with their company upon repatriation often become professionally unproductive and personally dissatisfied because their companies fail to utilize their international expertise (Adler, 2002). Thus, from the individual manager’s point of view, an expatriate career may appear as an increasingly unattractive and risky alternative (Selmer, 1998). However, if this is the case, why do managers continue to accept the offer of an international assignment? In this paper, we will review the expatriate career literature and offer a tentative explanation for this apparent paradox by drawing on the notion of the “internal” or “boundaryless” career and examining our assumptions in a cross-national sample of French and German expatriates. So far, most of the research on the career implications of international assignments has been conducted using the US samples of expatriates. By exploring expatriate career issues in a cross-national sample of European expatriates this study can yield some insight into whether the emerging concept of boundaryless careers is beginning to take place in countries other than the US, and whether there are cross-national differences in the nature of the expatriate career concept.

A review of the expatriate career literature If MNCs consistently fail to reward managers for pursuing an international assignment (in terms of career progression) and to integrate expatriate assignments into long-term career paths, as the foregoing discussion suggests, then, why do managers continue to accept the offer of an international assignment? To explain this paradox, Tung (1998) suggested that managers may increasingly view an expatriate assignment as enhancing their internal, rather than external, careers. According to Schein (1996), the “internal” career involves a subjective sense of where one is going in one’s work life, whereas the “external” career essentially refers to advancement within the organizational hierarchy. For individuals pursuing internal careers, one’s work life may no longer be perceived as a progression of jobs within a single organization. Rather, individuals will move from one company to another to pursue the best opportunities for their professional development. Thus, career progress comes not from intra-company hierarchical advancement, but rather from inter-company self-development (Parker and Inkson, 1999). Under this perspective, careers can be viewed as “boundaryless” (Arthur and Rousseau, 1996). DePhilippi and Arthur (1996, p. 116) define a boundaryless career as “a sequence of job opportunities that go beyond the boundaries of a single employment setting.” Boundaryless careers are different from traditional careers. Based on a literature

review, Sullivan (1999) singles out seven criteria on which traditional and boundaryless careers differ: (1) employment relationship – job security for loyalty vs employability for performance and flexibility; (2) boundaries – working only in one or two firms vs multiple firms; (3) skills – firm specific vs transferable; (4) measure of success – pay, promotion and status vs psychologically meaningful work; (5) responsibility for career management – organization vs individual; (6) training – formal programs vs on-the-job training; and (7) milestones – age-related vs learning-related. The crossing of boundaries is central to the concept of boundaryless careers. It can entail various kinds of boundaries such as industry, work/nonwork, occupational, national or organizational. In this paper, we are interested in showing how the crossing of one type of boundary, the national one, may have an impact on the crossing of another one, the organizational boundary. Hall and Mirvis (1996) have proposed a recursive model of career in which the career is considered as a succession of various steps that take place during a short period of time, and that are renewed constantly. This model does a good job of describing the increasing discontinuity of new careers. The insight of such a model is that expatriation appears to be a specific career step for the individual, a crossing toward what he or she values (Cerdin, 2004). The psychological contract between the employees and the organization is getting more transactional, based on the exchange between parties, than relational, based on the loyalty between parties (Altman and Post, 1996). Concerning expatriation, Yan et al. (2002) have argued that when this contract is transactional, the individual may see an international assignment as instrumental to career advancement and as a means to promote his or her marketability. Expatriation, as a specific time period in one’s career, might be conducive to a change of organization, particularly when the individual does not feel that an international assignment is beneficial to his or her career within the expatriating organization. The emerging notions of “internal” or “boundaryless” careers suggest that managers may value an international assignment for the opportunity it brings for skill acquisition, personal development, and long-term career enhancement, even though it may not have a direct impact on advancement in the organization hierarchy. Tung (1998), in the survey of US expatriates, found that boundaryless careers are indeed becoming the pattern for international managers. Most of the expatriates surveyed were not guaranteed a job upon repatriation and were seriously concerned about repatriation, yet an overwhelming majority of them perceived an international assignment as essential to their subsequent career advancement either within their current organization or elsewhere. Further, most of the expatriates in the sample viewed their overseas position as an opportunity to acquire skills and expertise usually not available at home. These findings suggest that expatriates value an international assignment for the experience and the opportunities it brings for personal development and career enhancement, even though it may not be with their current company. Tung


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concluded that the positive attitude that many expatriates have toward their international assignments, despite problems with repatriation, support the emerging notion of boundaryless careers. Other authors (Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001; Inkson et al., 1997; Peltonen, 1998) have also suggested that “boundaryless” careers are becoming the pattern for international assignees – as with other high demand professionals, such as management consultants or information technology engineers. International assignments provide expatriates with an opportunity to improve their general management skills, acquire a “global mindset”, and create a network of international contacts – assets that are important at higher organizational levels (Gregersen et al., 1998; Mendenhall, 2001). Since international experience is a competitive asset that makes managers more valuable for the external labor market, companies that do not provide adequate opportunities for professional growth and career advancement upon repatriation may lose a valuable human capital investment to a competitor (Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001). Research conducted by Black et al. (1999) has shown that retention of internationally experienced professionals is in fact a major challenge for companies. The emerging notion of boundaryless careers suggests that many repatriates deliberately choose to leave their company, and that they do not perceive the organizational exit as a negative career move. International leadership development in French and German MNCs In response to the increased pace and scope of globalization, establishing a sound international career development system has become increasingly important to European companies. The purpose of this paper is to examine the career orientations of expatriates of French and German MNCs, and the effectiveness of these companies’ international career development systems. French and German companies were selected for this study because France and Germany are leading economic players in Europe. In 2001, France was the world’s second-largest investor abroad, after the United States. Strongly involved in the globalization process, French organizations pursue an international development strategy. This strategy requires increased international mobility of employees (Chenillat and Darmaillacq, 2001). According to Cindex, a French association of the 44 leading French multinationals, the number of expatriates within those companies increased by 28 percent between 1997 and 2000. In 2001, Germany was the world’s fifth-largest investor abroad. German companies are generating an average of 60 percent of their sales outside of Germany, and non-German employees already represent about 50 percent of the workforce in MNCs such as Bayer, Siemens, and Volkswagen (Ku¨hlmann, 2001). In the recent past, German companies have been heavily involved in cross-border alliances and mergers and acquisitions, and there are large numbers of German managers and professionals working abroad. An increasing number of French and German MNCs, including LVMH, L’Oreál, Siemens, and Bosch, are beginning to utilize international assignments as a means of leadership development – they send their high-potential managers abroad, not only to fill local skill gaps, but to give them the opportunity to improve their general management skills, gain local market knowledge, acquire foreign language skills, and create a network of contacts around the globe (Cerdin, 2003; Ku¨hlmann, 2001;

Mendenhall and Stahl, 2002). These company objectives coincide with those of the candidates for an international assignment. Regarding the motives for accepting an international assignment, studies of European managers suggest that, in addition to monetary considerations and career-related motives, managers place a high intrinsic value on learning and development. For example, studies of Swedish expatriates found that most managers are motivated by the desire for new professional and personal experience as well as financial consideration and increased prospects for future promotion (Borg, 1988; Torbio¨rn, 1982). Studies of German (Stahl, 2000) and French expatriates (Cerdin, 2002) also found that motives related to professional development and career advancement rank among the most important factors in their decision to accept an international assignment. These findings suggest that for French and German MNCs, there are both internal and external pressures to internationalize their leadership development and career management systems. Career development practices differ widely across countries and regions, and French and German companies have traditionally pursued very different approaches to talent identification and leadership development. Petit and Scholz (1998) have argued that the basic values of Germany, which rest on the equality of rights and opportunities have led to the refusal of the notion of elitism in this country. In contrast, France strongly values elitism, in particular through its elitist education system that propels early career professionals to high responsibilities (Roussillon and Bournois, 1998). This corresponds to the elite political approach to management development described by Evans et al. (1989) where potential top managers are identified as early as during the recruitment process and the process is based mainly on elite educational qualifications. In this “Latin” model, potential development rests on a political tournament where the political process is likely to outweigh achievement. On the other hand, the German approach to management development, which follows the functional model described by Evans et al. (1989), promotes mainly functional career paths and expertise-based competition. These different approaches to management development not only have an impact on career development policies and practices in the two countries but also are likely to influence the nature of French and German managers’ career concept. Research by Laurent (1983) on the perceived determinants of career success in American MNC clearly highlights the elitist feature of the French model. In the US parent company, behaviors such as getting results, skills in leading people, and interpersonal skills were considered as important determinants of career success. In contrast, the managers in the French subsidiary agreed only on a single determinant of success: “being labeled as a high potential”. In Germany, technical and functional skills were high on the list (see Evans et al., 2002, pp. 371-9, for a discussion of the different national heritages and policies concerning career development). While the implications of these findings for international career development are not clear, they suggest that French and German managers might differ in their career orientations and attitudes toward an international assignment. For example, from the perspective of the functional, “Germanic” model, expatriation might be seen as an important stepping stone to climb the organization ladder. Thus, expatriation might be perceived as more instrumental to promotion for German expatriates than for the French expatriates who might perceive an international assignment as more risky


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because they believe that the distance from corporate headquarters puts them at an informational and networking disadvantage. In the absence of comparative research on expatriate career issues, it is difficult to substantiate trends of cross-national divergence or convergence in expatriate career orientations and international career development practices of MNCs. The comparative study of French and German expatriates described in the following section constitutes a modest step toward increased understanding of these issues.

A study of expatriate careers in French and German MNCs: method and results In an attempt to further our understanding on what motivates European expatriates to accept an international assignment, whether they perceive corporate expatriate management policies and practices as enhancing their careers, and what the nature of their career concept is, we surveyed expatriate managers of 20 French and 30 German companies in 59 countries. The companies in our sample represented a variety of industries, including electronics, cars, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, consumer products, telecommunication, air travel, rail transport, and financial services. Since the purpose of this study was to explore the international career development issues from the perspective of expatriate managers, rather than that of the organization, we gathered data only from expatriates. Data were collected through a standardized questionnaire. The English version of the questionnaire was translated into French and German and, based on the methodological guidelines provided by Brislin (1986), was back-translated into English to ensure literal accuracy and idiomatic equivalence between the two versions. For the French sample, an online survey was used. HR professionals forwarded an e-mail to expatriates, explaining the objectives of the research along with a URL address, a log-in and a password to gain access to the online questionnaire. Of the 1,373 survey questionnaires mailed, 550 were returned; 535 were usable, for a response rate of 38 percent. In this study, we focused only on expatriates that had been on their expatriate assignment for less than two years, with 341 survey questionnaires returned, and 330 usable. For the German sample, a survey questionnaire, along with self-addressed envelopes for return, were sent to HR professionals working in the corporate head offices of the participating companies. The HR professionals then forwarded the questionnaires to expatriates who had been posted to their overseas locations no longer than two years. The completed questionnaires were returned directly to the German co-author to ensure confidentiality of responses. Of the 1,058 survey questionnaires mailed, 549 were returned; 494 were usable, for a response rate of 47 percent. Table I shows the demographic profile of the French and German expatriate samples. The “typical” respondent in this survey was male, married with children, and below 40 years of age. In terms of position level, both samples consist of expatriates at various levels of the organization, from senior executives to management trainees and employees in non-supervisory positions. However, the majority of respondents held management positions in their overseas locations. The French sample consists of a larger percentage of college-degree holders and is more internationally experienced than the German sample. In both samples, the career emphasis is either on international assignments or a mixture of domestic and international responsibilities.

Demographic variables

French Frequency Percentage

Marital status (x2 ¼ 13.58***) Married/Living with someone but unmarried 232 Unmarried/Divorced/Separated/Widowed 46 Children (x2 ¼ 34.96***) Yes 216 No 64 Gender (x2 ¼ 3.40) Male 259 Female 16 Age (x2 ¼ 13.89***) Below 40 years old 167 40 years old and above 114 Position level (x2 ¼ 11.59**) Senior management 81 Middle management 123 121 Lower management/ Non-supervisory/Management trainee/ Professional/Technical/Specialist Educational level (x2 ¼ 18.08***) Non-degree holder 98 Degree holder 179 Previous international assignment experience (x2 ¼ 39.77***) Yes 207 No 118 Career emphasis (x2¼40.65***) Domestic operations 12 Mixture of domestic and international 188 assignments International assignments/responsibilities 91

German Frequency Percentage

83.5 16.5

348 138

71.6 28.4

77.1 22.9

270 214

55.8 44.2

94.2 5.8

440 47

90.3 9.7

59.4 40.6

353 134

72.5 27.5

24.9 37.8 37.2

109 134 231

23.0 28.3 48.7

35.4 64.6

247 234

51.4 48.6

63.7 36.3

197 283

41.0 59.0

4.1 64.6

55 200

11.5 41.8

31.3

224

46.8

Notes: *p , 0.05, **p , 0.01, and ***p , 0.001

Since some of the research questions addressed in this study focus on the career orientation and job choice process prior to the international assignment, the sample for this study was drawn from expatriates who had been on their expatriate assignment for less than two years. The logic was that this group of expatriates would be able to provide more reliable retrospective accounts of their motives and the job choice process prior to their international assignments than expatriates who had been living abroad for many years. Although this study examined the career implications of an international assignment from the perspective of expatriates, we also investigated their companies’ objectives (as perceived by the expatriates). Figure 1 shows the various reasons for sending managers and professionals on a long-term international assignment. One point to note is that respondents were allowed to indicate more than one company objective. Consistent with prior research on expatriation (Edstro¨m and Galbraith, 1977; Ondrack, 1985; Stahl, 2000) the findings show that knowledge transfer, improving communication between the foreign subsidiary and the head office, and coordination and control are the most important objectives of long-term international


Table I. Demographic profile of French and German expatriate samples

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Figure 1. Objectives of international assignments

assignments. Leadership development is also reported as an important objective, but there are clear differences between the French and German samples. Gaining experience and acquiring skills for future positions within the headquarters or the foreign subsidiaries is more frequently reported by French expatriates than by German expatriates. A similar pattern can be observed for most of the other objectives. These findings suggest that although both French and German companies send their expatriates on international assignments with multiple objectives in mind, French companies tend to pursue more objectives at the same time. Another research question addressed the personal motives for accepting an international assignment. Expatriates were asked to rank order the five most important motives. Figure 2 shows that the French and German expatriates agree on most of the reasons for accepting an international assignment. In both samples, motives such as personal challenge and professional development played a major role in the decision to accept an international assignment, while future opportunities for career advancement or monetary considerations seem slightly less important. Thus, aside from viewing their current expatriate assignment as a prerequisite for future career advancement, French and German expatriates place a high intrinsic value on the international experience per se. Despite these similarities, there are several noteworthy differences between the two samples concerning the motivation to accept an international assignment. German expatriates are more attracted by the personal challenge posed by living and working overseas, the opportunities for career advancement and anticipated job success, whereas for French expatriates, monetary incentives, family considerations and encouragement from spouse/partner play a more important role in their decision to accept an international assignment. The latter finding can in part be explained by


Figure 2. Five most important reasons for accepting an international assignment

differences in marital status and/or family situation between the two samples. Compared to the German managers, a larger percentage of French managers were accompanied by the partner and children. Prior research on expatriation has emphasized the negative role that the family plays in the decision to reject an international assignment (Brett et al., 1993). The findings of this study suggest that, at least for French managers, the family or partner played a positive role in motivating them to accept an expatriate assignment. The main focus of this study is on the effectiveness of international career development practices and the perceived career implications of an expatriate assignment. A number of questions related to satisfaction with expatriation practices and concerns about career development addressed these issues. Figure 3 shows that a substantial percentage of expatriates, both French and German, were dissatisfied with how their companies handled various aspects of their overseas assignments, especially the long-term planning of their repatriation. Almost two thirds of expatriates indicated that they were dissatisfied with how their companies managed the repatriation process. This finding is consistent with prior research indicating that most companies are lacking effective repatriation planning systems (Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001; Stahl, 2000; Tung, 1998).

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Figure 3. Satisfaction with expatriation policies and practices

Given the widespread frustration among expatriate managers with the quality of their companies’ career planning and repatriation systems, one would expect respondents to be highly concerned about repatriation. This is exactly what we found, but only for the French sample. Figure 4 shows that the majority of French expatriates were concerned about most aspects of their repatriation, such as limited opportunities for career advancement, reduced autonomy and responsibility, reduced size of the compensation package, and limited opportunities for using their newly gained international expertise upon return. In contrast, a much smaller percentage of German expatriates were

Figure 4. Concerns about repatriation

concerned about the various aspects of their repatriation, despite their dissatisfaction with how their company approached the repatriation process. Two other findings from this study can help explain these seemingly contradictory results. Figure 5 shows that the vast majority of expatriates, both French and German, believe that their international assignment will have a positive career impact. Although roughly one-third of the French and German expatriates are skeptical that their international assignment will help them advance within their current companies, an overwhelming majority are confident that it will have a positive impact on their future career opportunities among other possible employers. Further, the vast majority of expatriates believe that their overseas assignment will help them improve their professional, managerial, and intercultural skills. Thus, most of the expatriates in this sample are confident that their international assignment will have a positive impact on their overall careers, but some are doubtful that it will lead to hierarchical advancement within their current company. Why are French expatriates more concerned about repatriation than their German counterparts? This finding can be explained by the fact that German expatriates are more willing to leave their companies upon return. Asked whether they would leave their company upon repatriation for a better offer from another company, more than half of the German expatriates said they are willing to do so, whereas only one-third of the French expatriates indicated that they are willing to leave their company upon return (Figure 6). Given the traditionally great loyalty of German professionals toward their employers, this finding provides strong support for the notion of boundaryless careers. It also explains why only a relatively small percentage of German expatriates are seriously concerned about career advancement within their companies upon repatriation. Apparently, they are confident that there is a high demand for their international expertise on the labor market and therefore, they should be able to find better jobs elsewhere.


Figure 5. Perceived impact of international assignment on career development

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Figure 6. Willingness to leave company for a better job in another company

Table II summarizes the similarities and differences between the French and German expatriates. Summary of main findings and implications for future research International human resource management policies and practices of MNCs have been characterized as “ad hoc” (Forster, 1997), “haphazard” (Mendenhall et al., 1987), “insufficient” (Feldman and Thomas, 1992), or “irrelevant” (Selmer, 1998). Specifically, prior research has shown that repatriation is the Achilles’ heel in the international assignment cycle, and that most companies lack effective international career development practices and repatriation planning systems (Adler, 2002; Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001; Mendenhall et al., 2002; Tung, 1998). As a consequence, managers often perceive a disconnection between an expatriate assignment and their long-term career plans, and they are reluctant to accept the offer of an international assignment for fear that it may result in a negative career move. This study of expatriate career issues in French and German companies suggests that such fears are in fact justified. The findings show that a large percentage of expatriates are frustrated with how their companies manage their international assignments, especially the long-term planning of their repatriation. However, there are differences between the French and German expatriates in terms of their repatriation concerns. Most of the French expatriates are concerned about the different aspects of repatriation examined in this study while many German expatriates, despite a widespread dissatisfaction with their companies’ career planning and repatriation

There is a high level of dissatisfaction with the company’s long-term planning of the repatriation

– The vast majority of expatriates believe that their international assignment will have a positive career impact and will help them improve their professional, managerial and intercultural skills A significant portion of expatriates are willing to leave their company upon repatriation or are neutral which means that they may or may not leave

Satisfaction with expatriation

Repatriation concerns

Perceived career impact

Willingness to leave the company

Personal motives

Transfer of know-how and coordination and control are the main objectives Multiple objectives are pursued with international assignments Intrinsic motives, such as personal challenge and professional development are the most important reasons for accepting an international assignment

Company objectives

Similarities

French expatriates are less willing to leave their company upon repatriation than German expatriates

Control, coordination, and leadership development are more important for French companies French companies pursue more objectives at the same time than German companies Monetary incentives, family considerations and encouragement from spouse/partner are more important for French expatriates Personnel challenge, career advancement opportunities and anticipated job success are more important for German expatriates French expatriates are more dissatisfied with the quality of pre-departure preparation and cross-cultural training German expatriates are more dissatisfied with the compensation and benefits package French expatriates are more concerned about various aspects of their repatriation, particularly their career advancement upon repatriation –

Differences


Table II. Main similarities and differences between the French and German expatriates

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systems, are relatively nonchalant regarding their repatriation. This counterintuitive finding can be explained by the fact that German expatriates are more willing to leave their companies upon return than their French counterparts, thus showing strong evidence of a “boundaryless career” orientation. This finding is consistent with Tung (1998) earlier research on the US expatriates, and it can explain why the vast majority of respondents in this study had a positive attitude toward their international assignments, despite their frustration with how their companies managed the expatriation and repatriation process. Rather than merely viewing the international assignment as a prerequisite for future career advancement within their companies, most expatriates – both French and German ones – see their international experience as a competitive asset that makes them more valuable for the external labor market, and many are willing to leave their company upon return. At the same time, they place a high intrinsic value on the international assignment per se – they view it as an opportunity for learning, personality development and enrichment of their personal lives. This study provided some new insights into the perceived career implications of an international assignment. However, there are several possible limitations and avenues for future investigations as well. First, this study found that French and German expatriates differ significantly in terms of personal motives for accepting an expatriate assignment, satisfaction with different aspects of the international assignment, repatriation- and career-related concerns, and willingness to leave the company upon repatriation. However, since the French and German samples differed not only in terms of nationality but also in terms of demographic characteristics such as age, marital status, position level, and previous overseas work experience, it could be argued that the results of the between-country comparisons reflect differences in demographic characteristics rather than differences in nationality (of the firms and the expatriates). We believe that at least some of the observed differences between the French and German expatriates can plausibly be explained by the fact that the German sample is younger and less internationally experienced than the French sample. Future research would probably benefit from a closer examination of demographic characteristics that enhance or constrain expatriate careers. Another critical question is related to the external validity of the findings. Emerging from a study of samples of expatriates of only two nationalities, the generalizability of the results is limited, and can only be established by further research. While the results corroborate those of a large-scale study of the US expatriates (Tung, 1998), and therefore, suggest that findings about expatriate careers are to some degree generalizable across different national samples, future studies should replicate and elaborate these findings by collecting data from nationally more diverse samples. Implications for international career development in European MNCs The implications of these findings for corporate career development systems and international human resource management practices are clear. On the whole, the problems identified in this study pose more of a problem for the companies than for the expatriates themselves, particularly in terms of return on investment. While international assignments present a host of career-planning and repatriation problems, the results of a recent study of Fortune 500 companies conducted by Daily et al. (2000) suggest that having international experience in one’s career portfolio

may enhance the likelihood of being appointed to a top management position at another firm. They found that, when replacing a CEO with an outside successor, boards tend to select a person with extensive international experience. Daily et al. (2000, p. 522) conclude that “demonstrated international experience does, in fact, increase opportunities for a position in the executive suite, even though that position may not be in the focal organization”. This observation may not be limited to the top management level. While expatriates, in general, may be the “winners” in terms of professional development and long-term career enhancement, companies that do not make international assignments an integral part of the career development process and fail to provide adequate opportunities for development and career advancement upon repatriation may lose valuable human capital investments to competitors. This is evident from the research done by Black et al. (1999) who found that some European and US companies have lost a substantial percentage of their repatriates through voluntary turnover. In our study, more than half of the German expatriates and one-third of the French expatriates said they are willing to leave their company upon return, and an additional one-fourth of expatriates in both samples were neutral, meaning that they might be persuaded to leave with the right conditions. Although it is impossible to predict how many of them will actually leave the company upon return (which obviously depends on the business conditions and the labor market situation at the time of the repatriation), these findings illustrate that companies risk losing large numbers of internationally experienced managers and professionals. In terms of organizational career development programs, the notion of integrating international assignments into logical career paths seems to be the most critical variable in facilitating expatriation and repatriation success. There are various international workforce planning tools and repatriation procedures that can assist companies in the successful career-pathing and repatriation of expatriate managers (Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001; Mendenhall et al., 2002; Selmer, 1999). For example, managing expatriates’ career expectations, providing career-path information, organizing participation in networking activities that allow expatriates to stay in touch with key people in the organization, providing ongoing coaching or mentoring during the international assignment, and improving expatriates’ career self-management skills can all facilitate the career-pathing of international managers. However, while well designed repatriation programs can assist in the effective repatriation and retention of managers after an international assignment, companies will not be able to fully capitalize on the overseas experience of their workforce unless they make international assignments an integral part of the career development process and start rewarding the international expertise of the managers in whom they have invested a lot of money during their expatriate assignments. References Adler, N.J. (2002), International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 4th ed., South-Western College Publishing, Cincinnati, OH. Altman, B.W. and Post, J.E. (1996), “Beyond the social contract: an analysis of the executive view at twenty-five large companies”, in Hall, D.T. et al. (Ed.), The Career is Dead-Long Live the Career, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, pp. 46-71.


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Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.M. (1996), The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era, Oxford University Press, New York, NY. Black, J.S., Gregersen, H.B., Mendenhall, M.E. and Stroh, L.K. (1999), Globalizing People Through International Assignments, Addison-Wesley Longman, New York, NY. Borg, M. (1988), International Transfers of Managers in Multinational Corporations, Acta Universitatis, Upsaliensis, Uppsala. Brett, J.M., Stroh, L.K. and Reilly, A.H. (1993), “Pulling up roots in the 1990s: who’s willing to relocate?”, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 14, pp. 49-60. Brislin, R.W. (1986), “The wording and translation of research instruments”, in Lonner, W.J. and Berry, J.W. (Eds), Field Methods in Cross-Cultural Research, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, pp. 137-64. Caligiuri, P.M. and Lazarova, M. (2001), “Strategic repatriation policies to enhance global leadership development”, in Mendenhall, M.E., Ku¨hlmann, T.M. and Stahl, G.K. (Eds), Developing Global Business Leaders, Quorum, Westport, CT, pp. 243-56. Cerdin, J-L. (2002), L’expatriation, 2nd ed., Editions d’Organisation, Paris. Cerdin, J-L. (2003), “LVMH: career development through international mobility”, in Gooderham, P.N. and Nordhaug, O. (Eds), International Management: Cross-boundary Challenges, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 316-35. Cerdin, J-L. (2004), “L’expatriation: Un temps de carrie`re particulier”, in Guerrero, S., Cerdin, J-L. and Roger, A. (Eds), La gestion des carrie`res: Enjeux et perspectives, Editions Vuibert, Paris, pp. 265-82. Chenillat, D. and Darmaillacq, C. (2001), “Pre´sence française a` l’e´tranger”, Les Notes Bleues de Bercy, Vol. 213, pp. 1-8. Daily, C.M., Trevis Certo, S. and Dalton, D.R. (2000), “International experience in the executive suite: the path to prosperity”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 21, pp. 515-23. DePhilippi, R.J. and Arthur, M.B. (1996), “Boundaryless contexts and careers: a competency-based perspective”, in Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.M. (Eds), The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era, Oxford University Press, New York, NY, pp. 116-31. Edstrom, A. and Galbraith, J.R. (1977), “Transfer of managers as a coordination and control strategy in multinational organizations”, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 22, pp. 248-63. Evans, P., Lank, E. and Farquhar, A. (1989), “Managing human resources in the international firm: lessons from practice”, in Evans, P., Doz, J. and Laurent, A. (Eds), Human Resource Management in International Firms, MacMillan, London, pp. 113-43. Evans, P., Pucik, V. and Barsoux, J-L. (2002), The Global Challenge: Frameworks for International Human Resource Management, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Feldman, D.C. and Thomas, D.C. (1992), “Career management issues facing expatriates”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 23, pp. 271-94. Forster, N. (1997), “The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates: a reappraisal”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 8, pp. 414-33. Gregersen, H.B., Morrison, A.J. and Black, J.S. (1998), “Developing leaders for the global frontier”, Sloan Management Review, Vol. 40, pp. 21-32. Hall, D.T. and Mirvis, P.H. (1996), “The new protean career: psychological success and the path with a heart”, in Hall, D.T. et al. (Ed.), The Career is Dead-Long Live the Career, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, pp. 15-45.

Hammer, M.R., Hart, W. and Rogan, R. (1998), “Can you go home again? An analysis of the repatriation of corporate managers and spouses”, Management International Review, Vol. 38, pp. 67-86. Inkson, K., Pringle, J., Arthur, M.B. and Barry, S. (1997), “Expatriate assignment versus overseas experience: contrasting models of international human resource development”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 32, pp. 351-68. Ku¨hlmann, T.M. (2001), “The German approach to developing global leaders via expatriation”, in Mendenhall, M.E., Ku¨hlmann, T.M. and Stahl, G.K. (Eds), Developing Global Business Leaders: Policies, Processes and Innovations, Quorum, Westport, CT, pp. 57-71. Laurent, A. (1983), “The cultural diversity of western conceptions of management”, International Studies of Management and Organization, Vol. 13, pp. 75-96. Mendenhall, M.E. (2001), “New perspectives on expatriate adjustment and its relationship to global leadership development”, in Mendenhall, M.E., Ku¨hlmann, T.M. and Stahl, G.K. (Eds), Developing Global Business Leaders: Policies, Processes and Innovations, Quorum, Westport, CT, pp. 1-16. Mendenhall, M.E. and Stahl, G.K. (2002), “The rise and demise of the Euromanager: lessons for the development of global leaders”, in Scholz, C. and Zentes, J. (Eds), Strategic Management: A European Approach, Gabler, Wiesbaden, pp. 305-19. Mendenhall, M.E., Dunbar, E. and Oddou, G.R. (1987), “Expatriate selection, training and career-pathing: a review and critique”, Human Resource Management, Vol. 26, pp. 331-45. Mendenhall, M.E., Ku¨hlmann, T.M., Stahl, G.K. and Osland, J. (2002), “Employee development and expatriate assignments”, in Gannon, M.J. and Newman, K.L. (Eds), Handbook of Cross-cultural Management, Blackwell, Oxford, pp. 155-83. Ondrack, D.A. (1985), “International transfers in North American and European MNEs”, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 16, pp. 1-19. Parker, P. and Inkson, K. (1999), “New forms of career: the challenge to human resource management”, Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 37, pp. 76-85. Peltonen, T. (1998), “Narrative construction of expatriate experience and career cycle: discursive patterns in Finnish stories of international career”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 9, pp. 875-92. Petit, M. and Scholz, C. (1998), “Le refus de la notion d’e´lite en Allemagne”, in Bournois, F. and Roussillon, S. (Eds), Pre´parer les dirigeants de demain, Editions d’Organisation, Paris, pp. 161-87. Roussillon, S. and Bournois, F. (Eds) (1998), “La permeábilite´ des e´lites dans les entreprises françaises”, Pre´parer les dirigeants de demain, Editions d’Organisation, Paris, pp. 137-59. Schein, E.H. (1996), “Career anchors revisited: implications for career development in the 21st century”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 10, pp. 80-8. Selmer, J. (1998), “Expatriation: corporate policy, personal intentions and international adjustment”, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 9, pp. 996-1007. Selmer, J. (1999), “Corporate expatriate career development”, Journal of International Management, Vol. 5, pp. 55-71. Stahl, G.K. (2000), “Between ethnocentrism and assimilation: an exploratory study of the challenges and coping strategies of expatriate managers”, Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, IM, pp. E1-E6. Stahl, G.K. and Mendenhall, M.E. (2003), “Andreas Weber’s reward for success in an international assignment – a return to an uncertain future: (A) his decision; (B) teaching note”, INSEAD Case 01/2003-5080.


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Stahl, G.K., Miller, E. and Tung, R. (2002), “Toward the boundaryless career: a closer look at the expatriate career concept and the perceived implications of an international assignment”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 37, pp. 216-27. Sullivan, S.E. (1999), “The changing nature of careers: a review and research agenda”, Journal of Management, Vol. 25, pp. 457-84. Torbio¨rn, I. (1982), Living Abroad: Personal Adjustment and Personnel Policy in the Overseas Setting, Wiley, New York, NY. Tung, R.L. (1998), “American expatriates abroad: from neophytes to cosmopolitans”, Journal of World Business, Vol. 33, pp. 125-44. Yan, A., Zhu, G. and Hall, D.T. (2002), “International assignment for career building: a model of agency relationships and psychological contracts”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 27, pp. 373-91.

Literati Club Awards for Excellence E. Joy Mighty and William Ashton University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada are the recipients of the journal’s Outstanding Paper Award for Excellence for their paper

“Management development: hoax or hero?” which appeared in the Journal of Management Development, Vol. 22 No. 1, 2003 Dr E. Joy Mighty is Director of the Instructional Development Centre at Queen’s University in Canada and Professor of Management in the Queen’s School of Business. She earned her PhD in organizational behaviour from York University in Toronto Canada. Previously a professor in the Faculty of Administration at the University of New Brunswick and Coordinator of the UNB Teaching and Learning Centre, Dr Mighty is an award winning teacher with a wealth of experience and expertise as an educational developer, management educator, researcher and consultant in organizational behaviour. She has presented widely at national, regional and international conferences, and has published in various conference proceedings, journals and books. Her primary interests include the management of diversity, the dynamics of diversity in teaching and learning, and organizational development and change. Dr Mighty was recently elected Chair of the Educational Developers’ Caucus of the Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. William Ashton is the Research Director at the University of New Brunswick’s College of Extended Learning, Professional Development Group. He is located in the capital city, Fredericton. William is a professional, with a master’s degree and a long-time practitioner of adult education. He has been involved with projects, training and continuing education for nearly 20 years. In addition, he brings proven abilities in project management with universities and the public and business sectors from across Canada. He researches and consults on issues related to workplace training, practical management development and creating opportunities for sustained learning. He has experienced first-hand the challenges associated with making work-transitions from full-time positions to contracts and back again. He is also a PhD student with an interest in the professional development of professions who make policy. William continues to be a life-long learner and brings this positive attitude to all his efforts. He is a member in several professional associations and an active volunteer. His research interests include learning from organizational change and leadership development.

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The Journal of Management Development, Volume 23, Number 9, 2004

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Volume 15, Number 8, 2004

Journal of Intellectual Capital, Volume 5, Number 2, 2004

The Perl Journal (Volume 9, Number 2, February 2005)

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Volume 16, Number 4, 2005

British Food Journal (Volume 105 Number 9 2003) Food retailing

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Volume 32, Number 11, 2004

Disorders of the lunotriquetral joint Atlas of the Hand Clinics - Volume 9, Number 1, March 2004

JWSR Volume X, Number 1 (2004)

JWSR Volume X, Number 3 (2004)

The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (Volume 62, Number 6, 2008)

Socio-Economic Approach to Management : Journal of Organizational Change Management (Volume 16 Number 1 - 2003)

The International Journal of Systems & Cybernetics, Volume 31, Number 9 10, 2002

Compel (Vol. 23, 2004)

Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 55, Number 1, Spring 2010

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions (Volume 9, Number 1, 2009)

Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions (Volume 9, Number 2, 2009)

Journal of Managerial Psychology, Volume 20, Number 3 4, 2005

East-West Journal of Mathematics (Volume 1, Number 1)

Journal of Workplace Learning, Volume 17 Number 1 2 2005

International Journal of Social Economics, Volume 32, Number 3, 2005

Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 54, Number 2, Autumn 2009

Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 54, Number 1, Spring 2009

Journal of Semitic Studies, Volume 55, Number 2, Autumn 2010

Canadian Journal of Philosophy, Volume 40, Number 4, December 2010

Microsoft Architects Journal: Journal 1 (January, 2004)

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