Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-5nwft Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-27T11:42:32.677Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Repatriation and Career Development

from Part I - The Expatriation Process of Corporate Expatriates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 November 2020

Jaime Bonache
Affiliation:
Carlos III University of Madrid
Chris Brewster
Affiliation:
University of Reading
Fabian Jintae Froese
Affiliation:
University of Goettingen
Get access

Summary

The chapter discusses the important role that repatriation plays in career development or an international assignee’s personal and professional career outcomes acquired, developed, and accumulated over time. Attention is devoted to understanding how different types of career resources and competencies, categorized as “knowing how”, “knowing whom”, and “knowing why”, are developed as a function of living and working in another country. The chapter continues by drawing on the traditional bounded and emerging proactive career perspectives to help us understand why returning home is often more complex and difficult than perceived. Next, the chapter examines repatriation “success” from both the organizational and the individual repatriate’s points of view, highlighting objective and subjective interpretations of career success. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the challenges facing the repatriation process at the individual-, team-, organizational-, and country-levels and suggests interventions that could be considered in an effort to improve the likelihood of repatriation success. Implications for future research are also discussed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arthur, M. B. & Rousseau, D. M. 1996. The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organizational Era. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Arthur, M. B., Hall, D. T., & Lawrence, B. S. 1989. Generating new directions in career theory: the case for a transdisciplinary approach. In Arthur, M. B., Hall, D. T., & Lawrence, B. S. (eds.), Handbook of Career Theory: 725. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banai, M. & Wes, H. 2004. Boundaryless global careers: the international itinerants. International Studies of Management and Organization, 34(3): 96130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baruch, Y. 2006. Career development in organizations and beyond: balancing traditional and contemporary viewpoints. Human Resource Management Review, 16(2): 125138.Google Scholar
Baruch, Y., Altman, Y., & Tung, R. L. 2016. Career mobility in a global era: advances in managing expatriation and repatriation. Academy of Management Annals, 10(1): 841889.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baruch, Y. & Reis, C. 2016. How global are boundaryless careers and how boundaryless are global careers? Challenges and a theoretical perspective. Thunderbird International Business Review, 58(1): 1327.Google Scholar
Black, J. S. & Gregersen, H. B. 1991. When Yankee comes home: factors related to expatriate and spouse repatriation adjustment. Journal of International Business Studies, 22(4): 671694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, J. S. & Gregersen, H. B. 1999. The right way to manage expats. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/1999/03/the-right-way-to-manage-expats.Google Scholar
Bolino, M. C., Klotz, A. C., & Turnley, W. H. 2017. Will refusing an international assignment derail your career? Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2017/04/will-refusing-an-international-assignment-derail-your-career.Google Scholar
Bossard, A. B. & Peterson, R. B. 2005. The repatriate experience as seen by American expatriates. Journal of World Business, 40(1): 928.Google Scholar
Brookfield 2015. Global Relocation Trends: 2015 Survey Report. Chicago: Brookfield Global Relocation Services.Google Scholar
Cao, L., Hirschi, A., & Deller, J. 2012. Self-initiated expatriates and their career success. Journal of Management Development, 31(2): 159172.Google Scholar
Carraher, S. M., Sullivan, S. E., & Crocitto, M. M. 2008. Mentoring across global boundaries: an empirical examination of home-and host-country mentors on expatriate career outcomes. Journal of International Business Studies, 39(8): 13101326.Google Scholar
Cerdin, J.-L. & Le Pargneux, M. 2009. Career and international assignment fit: toward an integrative model of success. Human Resource Management, 48(1): 525.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chi, S. C. S. & Chen, S. C. 2007. Perceived psychological contract fulfilment and job attitudes among repatriates: an empirical study in Taiwan. International Journal of Manpower, 28(6): 474488.Google Scholar
Chiang, F. F., van Esch, E. Birtch, T. A., & Shaffer, M. A. 2018. Repatriation: what do we know and where do we go from here. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(1): 188226.Google Scholar
Cho, T., Hutchings, K., & Marchant, T. 2013. Key factors influencing Korean expatriates’ and spouses’ perceptions of expatriation and repatriation. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(5): 10511075.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clegg, A. 2016. Expatriate employees struggle to readjust to old lives. Financial Times. www.ft.com/content/7e77b478-a1da-11e6-aa83-bcb58d1d2193.Google Scholar
DeFillippi, R. J. & Arthur, M. B. 1994. The boundaryless career: a competency-based perspective. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 15(4): 307324.Google Scholar
Dickmann, M. & Harris, H. 2005. Developing career capital for global careers: the role of international assignments. Journal of World Business, 40(4): 399408.Google Scholar
Dickmann, M. F. & Doherty, N. 2008. Exploring the career capital impact of international assignments within distinct organizational contexts. British Journal of Management, 19(2): 145161.Google Scholar
Doherty, N. T. & Dickmann, M. 2009. Exploring the symbolic capital of international assignments. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(2): 301320.Google Scholar
Doherty, N. T., Dickmann, M., & Mills, T. 2011. Exploring the motives of company-backed and self-initiated expatriates. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22(3): 595611.Google Scholar
Dowling, P. J., Festing, M., & Engle, A. D. 2013. International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context, 6th ed. Mason: Thomson.Google Scholar
Eby, L. T., Butts, M., & Lockwood, A. 2003. Predictors of success in the era of the boundaryless career. Journal of Organizational Behavior: International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 24(6): 689708.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ernst & Young 2014. Strategic Global Mobility: Unlocking the Value of Cross-border Assignments. www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-global-mobility-cross-border-assignments-value/#FILE/ey-HBR-Report.pdf.Google Scholar
Feldman, D. C. & Tompson, H. B. 1993. Expatriation, repatriation, and domestic geographical relocation: an empirical investigation of adjustment to new job assignments. Journal of International Business Studies, 24(3): 507529.Google Scholar
Furuya, N., Stevens, M. J., Oddou, G., Bird, A., & Mendenhall, M. E. 2007. The effects of HR policies and repatriate self-adjustment on global competency transfer. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 45(1): 623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Furuya, N., Stevens, M. J., Bird, A., Oddou, G., & Mendenhall, M. 2009. Managing the learning and transfer of global management competence: antecedents and outcomes of Japanese repatriation effectiveness. Journal of International Business Studies, 40(2): 200215.Google Scholar
Geissler, C., Kuhn, L., & McGinn, D. 2011. Developing Your Global Know-How. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2011/03/developing-your-global-know-how.Google Scholar
Gregersen, H. B. & Black, J. S. 1996. Multiple commitments upon repatriation: the Japanese experience. Journal of Management, 22(2): 209229.Google Scholar
Gregersen, H. B. & Stroh, L. K. 1997. Coming home to the Arctic cold: antecedents to Finnish expatriate and spouse repatriation adjustment. Personnel Psychology, 50(3): 635654.Google Scholar
Guo, C., Porschitz, E. T., & Alves, J. 2013. Exploring career agency during self-initiated repatriation: a study of Chinese sea turtles. Career Development International, 18(1): 3455.Google Scholar
Hall, D. T. 1976. Careers in Organizations. Glenview: Scott, Foresman.Google Scholar
Hall, D. T. 2004. The protean career: a quarter-century journey. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 65(1): 113.Google Scholar
Hall, D. T. & Moss, J. E. 1998. The new protean career contract: helping organizations and employees adapt. Organizational Dynamics, 26(3): 2237.Google Scholar
Harrison, M. 2016. The Decline of the Traditional Expat? Employee Conditions Abroad. www.eca-international.com/insights/articles/may-2016/the-decline-of-the-traditional-expat.Google Scholar
Harrison, D. A., Shaffer, M. A., & Bhaskar-Shrinivas, P. (2004). Going places: roads more and less traveled in research on expatriate experience. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, 23: 199247.Google Scholar
Haslberger, A. & Brewster, C. 2009. Capital gains: expatriate adjustment and the psychological contract in international careers. Human Resource Management, 48(3): 379397.Google Scholar
Herman, J. L. & Tetrick, L. E. 2009. Problem-focused versus emotion-focused coping strategies and repatriation adjustment. Human Resource Management, 48(1): 6988.Google Scholar
Hyder, A. S. & Lövblad, M. 2007. The repatriation process–a realistic approach. Career Development International, 12(3): 264281.Google Scholar
Judge, T. A., Cable, D. M., Boudreau, J. W., & Bretz, R. D. Jr 1995. An empirical investigation of the predictors of executive career success. Personnel Psychology, 48(3): 485519.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kraimer, M. L., Shaffer, M. A., & Bolino, M. C. 2009. The influence of expatriate and repatriate experiences on career advancement and repatriation retention. Human Resource Management, 48(1): 2748.Google Scholar
Kraimer, M. L., Shaffer, M. A., Harrison, D. A., & Ren, H. 2012. No place like home? An identity strain perspective on repatriate turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 55(2): 399420.Google Scholar
Kulkarni, M., Lengnick-Hall, M. L., & Valk, R. 2010. Employee perceptions of repatriation in an emerging economy: the Indian experience. Human Resource Management, 49(3): 531548.Google Scholar
Lazarova, M. & Caligiuri, P. 2001. Retaining repatriates: the role of organizational support practices. Journal of World Business, 36(4): 389401.Google Scholar
Lazarova, M. & Cerdin, J. L. 2007. Revisiting repatriation concerns: organizational support versus career and contextual influences. Journal of International Business Studies, 38(3): 404429.Google Scholar
Lazarova, M., & Tarique, I. 2005. Knowledge transfer upon repatriation. Journal of World Business, 40(4): 361373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linehan, M. & Scullion, H. 2002. Repatriation of European female corporate executives. International Human Resource Management Journal, 13(2): 254267.Google Scholar
Mäkelä, K. & Brewster, C. 2009. Interunit interaction contexts, interpersonal social capital, and the differing levels of knowledge sharing. Human Resource Management, 48(4): 591613.Google Scholar
Mäkelä, K. & Suutari, V. 2009. Global careers: a social capital paradox. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(5): 9921008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCall, M. W. & Hollenbeck, G. P. 2002. Developing Global Executives. Cambridge: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Molinsky, A. & Hahn, M. 2016. 5 tips for managing successful overseas assignments. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/03/5-tips-for-managing-successful-overseas-assignments.Google Scholar
Monat, A. & Lazarus, R. S. (eds.) 1991. Stress and Coping. An Anthology, 3rd ed. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Oddou, G., Osland, J. S., & Blakeney, R. N. 2009. Repatriating knowledge: variables influencing the ‘transfer’ process. Journal of International Business Studies, 40(2): 181199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Sullivan, S. 2002. The protean approach to managing repatriation transitions. International Journal of Manpower, 23(7): 597616.Google Scholar
Paik, Y., Segaud, B., & Malinowski, C. 2002. How to improve repatriation management: are motivations and expectations congruent between the company and expatriates? International Journal of Manpower, 23(7): 635648.Google Scholar
Reiche, B. S., Kraimer, M. L., & Harzing, A. W. 2011. Why do international assignees stay? An organizational embeddedness perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 42(4): 521544.Google Scholar
Reichers, A. E. 1986. Conflict and organizational commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 71(3): 508514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ren, H., Bolino, M. C., Shaffer, M. A., & Kraimer, M. L. 2013. The influence of job demands and resources on repatriate career satisfaction: a relative deprivation perspective. Journal of World Business, 48(1): 149159.Google Scholar
Riusala, K. & Suutari, V. 2004. International knowledge transfers through expatriates. Thunderbird International Business Review, 46(6): 743770.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenbaum, J. E. 1979. Tournament mobility: career patterns in a corporation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(2): 220241.Google Scholar
Rousseau, D. M. 1989. Psychological and implied contracts in organizations. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2(2): 121139.Google Scholar
Shaffer, M. A., Kraimer, M. L., Chen, Y. P., & Bolino, M. C. 2012. Choices, challenges, and career consequences of global work experiences: a review and future agenda. Journal of Management, 38(4): 12821327.Google Scholar
Shen, Y. & Hall, D. T. 2009. When expatriates explore other options, retaining talent through greater job embeddedness and repatriation adjustment. Human Resource Management, 48(5): 793816.Google Scholar
Stahl, G. K., Chua, C. H., Caligiuri, P., Cerdin, J. L., & Taniguchi, M. 2009. Predictors of turnover intentions in learning-driven and demand-driven international assignments: the role of repatriation concerns, satisfactions with company support, and perceived career advancement opportunities. Human Resource Management, 48(1): 89109.Google Scholar
Stevens, M. J., Oddou, G., Furuya, N., Bird, A., & Mendenhall, M. 2006. HR factors affecting repatriate job satisfaction and job attachment for Japanese managers. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(5): 831841.Google Scholar
Sullivan, S. E. 1999. The changing nature of careers: a review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 25(3): 457484.Google Scholar
Sullivan, S. E. & Baruch, Y. 2009. Advances in career theory and research: a critical review and agenda for future exploration. Journal of Management, 35(6): 15421571.Google Scholar
Super, D. E. 1957. The Psychology of Careers. New York: Harper.Google Scholar
Suutari, V. & Brewster, C. 2003. Repatriation: empirical evidence from a longitudinal study of careers and expectations among Finnish expatriates. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 14(7): 11321151.Google Scholar
Suutari, V. & Mäkelä, K. 2007. The career capital of managers with global careers. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(7): 628648.Google Scholar
Suutari, V., Tornikoski, C., & Mäkelä, L. 2012. Career decision making of global careerists. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(16): 34553478.Google Scholar
Unruh, G. C. & Cabrera, A. 2013. Join the global elite. Harvard Business Review, 91(5): 135139.Google Scholar
Vaiman, V., Haslberger, A., & Vance, C. M. 2015. Recognizing the important role of self-initiated expatriates in effective global talent management. Human Resource Management Review, 25(3): 280286.Google Scholar
Vidal, M. E. S., Valle, R. S., & Aragón, M. I. B. 2008. International workers’ satisfaction with the repatriation process. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(9): 16831702.Google Scholar
Yan, A., Zhu, G., & Hall, D. T. 2002. International assignments for career building. Academy of Management Review, 27(3): 373383.Google Scholar
Zhao, H., Wayne, S., Glibkowski, B. C., & Bravo, J. 2007. The impact of psychological contract breach on work-related outcomes: a meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 60(3): 647680.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×