International Human Resource Management-MJ Version

(Ann) #1

So should we conclude we can disregard expatriate failure? On the
contrary! Further and more sophisticated research into expatriate failure is long
overdue. Such research would first of all involve using a much broader defini-
tion of failure. The current definition used by the overwhelming majority of
studies is the expatriate returning before his/her assignment contract expires.
However, in some circumstances a premature return might actually indicate a
success – a job accomplished in less time than originally anticipated – while in
others an expatriate who stays on, but is under-performing, might in fact do
much more damage than one who returns early. And what about the expat
who returns home, but finds that his/her skills developed during the assign-
ment are not really valued in the home company and is so frustrated that
he/she leaves the company soon after returning? Any definition of expatriate
failure should therefore include under-performance and repatriate failure.
Companies should also acknowledge that the costs of expatriate failure might
go well beyond a simple calculation including the expatriate’s salary, relocation
costs and training costs. They might include indirect costs such as damage to
customer relationships and contacts with host government officials and a neg-
ative impact on the morale of local staff. Expatriate failure will also be very
traumatic for the expatriate and his/her family and might impact his/her future
performance. A high incidence of expatriate and repatriate failure will also
make it more difficult for the company to recruit managers for international
assignments.
Expatriate failure is often due to the inability of either the expatriate or the
expatriate’s spouse to adjust or the expatriate’s inability to cope with the larger
international responsibility (Tung, 1981). Addressing expatriate failure there-
fore involves paying more attention to many of the same factors indicated
under adjustment:



  • an acknowledgement that expatriate adjustment involves not just adjustment to
    another job, but also adjustment to the interaction with host country nationals
    from another culture as well as more general adjustment to living in a foreign
    country;

  • use of sophisticated selection procedures that include selection criteria such as
    cross-cultural competence and language fluency;

  • a job design that maximises role discretion and role clarity, minimises role con-
    flict and compensates a high level of role novelty with proper training and/or
    selection of a candidate with a high level of international experience;

  • provision of proper organisational support systems, both through logistical sup-
    port and support from supervisors and co-workers in the host country;

  • inclusion of the spouse in any training and support programme.


274 International Human Resource Management
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