topic refers to Edström and Galbraith’s now classic 1977 Administrative Science
Quarterly article. Borg perfectly describes this unanimous support in his disser-
tation: ‘The study of Edström and Galbraith (1977), which is very often quoted
in both articles and textbooks, seems to be the only one which theoretically
explains why international transfers of managers occur’ (Borg, 1988: 41). A fur-
ther investigation, however, revealed a substantial number of German studies,
both conceptual and empirical, on this topic. The fact that they appeared in the
German language only seems to have blocked their access by the Anglophone
research community. A summary of these studies and a comparison of their
classifications to the one by Edström and Galbraith can be found in Table 10.3.
260 International Human Resource ManagementMotives for international transfers according to various authors
Organisation
Edström and development
Galbraith Management (coordination &
(1977) Position filling development control)
Pausenberger and To ensure transfer To develop the To ensure
Noelle (1977) [our of know-how; To expatriate’s homogeneous
translation] compensate for a management practices in the
lack of local capabilities; To company; To
managers; Training develop managers’ ensure a common
and development global awareness. reporting system
of local managers. in the company;
Presence of
different view-
points in decision-
making bodies.
Welge (1980 [our Position filling; International Coordination;
translation] Transfer of experience; Use Change
know-how. management management.
potential.
Kenter (1985) Lack of qualified Development of Control and
[our translation] local managers parent country coordination;
available; Transfer nationals. Increase loyalty
of know-how; and
Training of local trustworthiness
managers. of expatriates.
Kumar and Transfer of Headquarters want To ensure
Steinmann (1986) know-how; Japanese managers coordination with(Continued)TABLE 10.3