Miriam Moeller

Expatriate Mangers: A Historical Review

As expatriate managers continue to be a viable means for exercising control over foreign operations, they can have a direct impact on organizational performance, and therefore a delineation of the history of these key leaders in order to enhance our understanding of their continued significant impact is a laudable goal. The paper discusses each stage of the human resource management process, beginning with the identification and concluding with the repatriation stage of expatriate managers. Each stage is discussed in terms of the successes as well as problems/failures associated with the individual, organizational, environmental and systemic unit in mind. The paper concludes with future implications emphasizing the necessity to create new and/or enhance current practices relating to the development of expatriate managers’ maximum global impact depending on the evolving nature of the globalization of business.

Mentoring global female managers in the global marketplace: Traditional, reverse, and reciprocal mentoring

A stream of research exists that focuses on traditional mentoring (senior female managers mentoring junior members in a domestic organization). The literature further indicates that females are increasing in number but may receive less mentoring than males and expatriates may receive less mentoring than domestic employees. A new paradigm, reverse mentoring, has emerged (e.g., a junior person, knowledgeable of the rapid technological change and globalization of business, acts as the mentor for a senior person). This paper proposes a third type of mentoring, ‘reciprocal’, as essential for competition in global markets. It is argued that mentoring can become a strategic tool in the organizational knowledge creation and transfer process. Moreover, mentoring could serve as a competitive advantage in creating an effective support system for female global female managers.

Socialization of inpatriate managers to the headquarters of global organizations: A social learning perspective

Understanding the intricacies of managing the life cycle of international personnel is a conundrum that continues to perplex HR managers in the global business arena. Although the notion of adjusting to a socioeconomically and culturally distant environment has been explored extensively from the expatriate perspective, the critical issue to discern is the attention inpatriates need to facilitate successful, long-term integration into a novel setting. With regard to the relatively new staffing option of “inpatriation,” the current literature seeks to acquire an understanding of the contextual implications vital for an adjustment process that allows for the successful and lasting incorporation of such individuals in the headquarters of global organizations. As a result of this gap, this article examines the relationship between institutional and individualized socialization tactics and sociocultural and psychological adjustments in conjunction with a proposed moderator effect of cultural distance that inpatriates may undergo. Overall, the article argues that the successful socializing of such individuals will in part depend on their set of psychological reference points during the acculturation stages.

Inpatriate marketing managers: Issues associated with staffing global marketing positions

This article addresses the strategic role of an inpatriate marketing staffing approach in the development of a global marketing mind-set within global organizations. The premise lies in addressing the liability-of-foreignness concept, which, the authors suggest, impedes the inpatriate marketing managers integration process, from the individual level of analysis. Drawing from reference point theory, the article highlights potential hardships manages face with an analysis of the managerial and contextual liability of foreignness that inpatriate marketing managers may perceive in their transition from home countries to headquarter locations. Implications of identifying and attending to such hardships are important in light of the significance attributed to these semipermanent to permanent assignments across different cultural contexts.

Globalization and its impact on global managers' decision processes

Globalization of business can have a profound impact on the decision-making processes of managers responsible for making these complex interrelated decisions. This paper explores the global decision-making processes of global managers. The first element examined is the multiple intelligences that global managers need to be able to address the issues associated with global decisions. These eight IQs are considered critical elements in the decision-making capabilities of global managers. Following this discussion, the composition of global groups and their impact on the decision-making process is explored to determine how the composition of the group inhibits/supports the global manager. The next step in the decision-making process discussed in the paper is that of the nature of the task(s). The type of task can have a direct impact on the effectiveness as well as the efficiency of global managers decision-making. The crux of the issue is that a global orientation to decision-making is poised as being significantly different from decision processes use by managers in a multinational context.

Managerial self-concept in a global context: An integral component of cross-cultural competencies

The level of sociocultural adaptation a global manager undergoes when relocating from his or her home country affects the rate and severity of adjustment for that individual. To reduce the potentially negative impact of the lack of cross-cultural competencies, it is critical for individuals to have a concise understanding of their self-concept, recognizing their strengths and weaknesses. Self-concept is critical to learn how to effectively gain cross-cultural competencies. It is suggested that in their home country a manager has three points of reference to determine one’s self-concept—individual, group, and organization. The culture of the international posting country provides a fourth reference point. This article draws on a competency-based view to form the basis for self-evaluation and the development of a composite self-concept. Moreover, it proposes an implementation “roadmap” for developing cross-cultural competencies of global managers.

The influence of political skill on the acceptance of foreign nationals at the home country organization: an examination of cultural stigmatization

The purpose of this article is to examine the impact of the four dimensions of political skill (i.e. social astuteness, interpersonal influence, networking ability and apparent sincerity) on the relationship between the cultural stigmatization of a foreign national and their level of acceptance by headquarter personnel as measured by the frequency of interaction. Grounded in self-congruity theory, we examine the dynamics involved in overcoming various stigmatizing marks of foreign nationals as they interact in a home country organization environment. Implications for practitioners are consequently discussed.

A view of entrepreneurship and innovation from the economist “for all seasons”: Joseph S. Schumpeter

Purpose – The paper seeks to examine the influence of the Austrian School of Economics and its views of innovations and entrepreneurship on one of their champions, Joseph Schumpeter. Schumpeters insights on innovation and entrepreneurship issues are discussed and compared to previous literature.Design/methodology/approach – The paper is conceptual in nature, highlighting that the key process in economic change is the introduction of innovations; the central innovator is that of the entrepreneur.Findings – Insights gained from Schumpeter include the following: in the context of increasing global competition, the importance of innovations by entrepreneurs is becoming more important. The challenge though is for firms to find and make use of these individual for their survival. Another link is the distrust of the government and the ability of the free market to function, though imperfectly, without interference.Originality/value – The paper suggests that innovation and entrepreneurship are the essence of the...

Commemorating Chandler through the lens of his revisionists

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to commemorate Alfred Chandler, a truly outstanding business historian, through the unique lens of his revisionists.Design/methodology/approach – By developing a classifying framework, Chandlers revisionists is analyzed based on the extent to which they critique Chandlers interpretation of the role of managers in large organizations.Findings – The revisionist critiques of Chandlers works is traced and examine how they can contribute to the intent of commemorating Chandler and his works.Practical implications – The most relevant revisionists of Chandlers works are highlighted in a manner that might be valuable for the understanding of how Chandlers revisionists can be interpreted within both functional and critical paradigms.Originality/value – The unique contributions of this study is its focus on providing a specific form of commemoration through the lens of Chandlers revisionists and thus putting “Chandler in a larger frame” of management history.

n-Culturals, the next cross-cultural challenge Introducing a multicultural mentoring model program

This article advances current conceptualizations of multicultural identities by identifying constituent elements of multicultural identity as knowledge, identification, internalization, and commitment. This new conceptualization is labeled n-Culturalism and posits that there are individuals who operate at the intersection of multiple cultures by maintaining salience of their multiple cultural identities. We illustrate that n-Culturals are assets to organizations because they are creative synthesizers that are able to facilitate organizational goals and can also serve as models for others who are struggling in a multicultural environment. This article provides some solutions to managing multicultural challenges in organizations, such as conflicting values and identities. It also offers solutions on how individuals and organizations can leverage their identities in relation to the multiculturalism continuum to achieve desired workplace outcomes. Further, we introduce the multicultural mentor modeling program for organizations, which, if implemented, can help struggling multiculturals to address challenges in their social cognition and to develop appropriate and effective behaviors in and outside of the workplace.