2 BENEFITS FROM EXPATRIATE ASSIGNMENTS
Benefits from the perspective of the individualStrategically beneficial for the MNC, global assignments also have indispensable
value – both personal and professional – for the individual assignee. Upon return,
an overwhelming majority of assignees report the uniqueness of their inter-
national experience has enabled them to develop valuable knowledge, skills and
abilities that can greatly enhance their professional expertise and improve their
performance (Adler, 1981, 1997; Caligiuri and Di Santo, 2001; Tung, 1998;
Inkson et al., 1997; Pickard and Brewster, 1995). Such reports fit well with the
commonly held view of international assignments as a tool for developing global
competence. However, a comprehensive review of existing research found little
agreement among various writers as to the precise definition of global compe-
tence and pointed out that there really is not much empirical support that inter-
national assignments truly lead to the attainment of such global competence
(Caligiuri and Di Santo, 2001; Levy et al., 1999).
A recent study by Caligiuri and Di Santo (2001) addressed both these issues
and provided preliminary evidence that global assignments can be used as an
effective method for developing global leadership. First, Caligiuri and DiSanto
found that multinational organizations define global leadership competencies
in terms of specific dimensions of knowledge (for example, increase in an indi-
vidual’s knowledge of international business issues and increase in a company’s
worldwide business structure), abilities (for example, increase in individual abil-
ity to transact business in another country and an increase in an individual’s
ability to effectively negotiate in another country), and personality characteris-
tics (for example, openness, flexibility). Caligiuri and DiSanto (2001) then
examined the extent to which these dimensions can indeed be developed by
global assignments. The results of their study indicated that personality charac-
teristics (by definition relatively stable and immutable) did not change as a
result of assignments. This is consistent with past research on personality char-
acteristics related to expatriate success (Caligiuri, 2000a, 2000b). In contrast,
global assignments were successfully achieving their developmental goals by
developing the knowledge-based aspect of global competence. It is interesting to
note that with respect to the ability dimensions of global leadership compe-
tence, repatriates and expatriates self-reported lower scores compared to those
who had never been sent on a global assignment. The authors interpreted this
interesting finding by noting that being on assignment helps people under-
stand what they do not know. In other words, compared to those who have
never been on assignment, expatriates and repatriates become more sensitive
to the challenges of working in another culture and realize how difficult the
process of adaptation to new and unfamiliar environments can be (see also
Repatriation and Knowledge Management 335