Vesa Suutari

Making their own way: international experience through self-initiated foreign assignments

Studies of international transferees have generally assumed that they are sent to a foreign country by their employer. In practice, many of these transferees make their own arrangements to get work abroad and this paper presents new information on this largely unstudied group, drawn from graduate engineers from Finland. It identifies similarities with the more traditional expatriate forms and some important differences. It goes on to suggest that this group of employees is itself composed of identifiable subgroups that have different characteristics.

Career capital during international work experiences: contrasting self-initiated expatriate experiences and assigned expatriation

This article explores the career capital of expatriates, differentiating between self-initiated expatriates (SEs) and company assigned expatriates (AEs). Previous research has considered issues such as individual background variables, employer and task variables, motives, compensation, and repatriation. The present study adds new perspectives related to the development of career capital. The article uses a survey of more than 200 Finnish expatriates to explore these concepts in relation to international work experiences; finding considerable similarities and some differences in the development of career capital of those sent on an expatriate assignment by an organization, and those having a self-initiated expatriate experience.

Repatriation: empirical evidence from a longitudinal study of careers and expectations among Finnish expatriates

Abstract One of the newer areas of research in the field of international human resource management concerns the repatriation of international assignees at the end of their time abroad. This paper is one of the first examples of a longitudinal cohort analysis of repatriates. Tracking the same group of well-qualified Finnish expatriates from their time abroad to after they return home, we are able to compare their views while abroad with their experience on return. We find that, as anticipated in the literature, many expatriates change employer as, or soon after, they return, but that they are in general satisfied with the effects of the foreign experience on their careers. Among this cohort at least, their expectations were met more often than not, though this was less because the organization made use of their international experience than because they were personally successful.

Expatriation: A developing research agenda

This introductory article briefly reviews the current state of research into expatriation, focusing on the critical issues of strategy, selection and predeparture, compensation, performance management, repatriation, and career management. The burgeoning research in the field is set into context and a plea made for a more varied and imaginative research agenda. The articles in the rest of this special issue are located in this context.

Global managers: career orientation, career tracks, life‐style implications and career commitment

The need for developing a cadre of global managers who are capable of working in international key positions wherever the needs of companies require it, has been widely stressed. Typically, the literature on international careers still deals with international assignments as “once‐in‐a‐lifetime” experiences and thus as a continuum from selecting the right candidates to repatriating them back to the home country. Less attention has been devoted to so‐called global managers who are committed to international careers for a longer term. In the present study, career orientations, career tracks, career commitment and life‐style implications of global managers are analysed. The results indicate that the majority of managers were originally interested in an international career. In their career they typically vary between positions abroad and in the home country instead of moving from one international assignment to another. Typically they consider the positive implications to override the negative implications of such a career with respect to both themselves and their families. As a result, they are often firmly committed to working in international environments in the future.

Career anchors of managers with global careers

The importance of understanding the careers of global leaders, who typically have careers including various international positions and assignments, has increased due to the globalization of business. One relevant approach to such careers is the internal career approach. Here the career anchor is seen as a persons self‐concept, consisting of self‐perceived talents, values, and the evolved sense of motives as they pertain to the career. The present study provides new evidence regarding such career anchors of global leaders through a qualitative research setting. The results of the study indicate that most managers saw that their decisions are based on two or even three career anchors instead of one dominating anchor. The most typical career anchors of the original career anchor classification were managerial competence and pure challenge. The key conclusion is the importance of the new internationalism anchor among the global leaders: the clear majority of them ranked the internationalism anchor as their major anchor or among the few major anchors.

Expatriation and careers: perspectives of expatriates and spouses

The relationship between foreign assignment and career development has been stated to be unclear, and further research has been called for with regard to career challenges and career management programmes of expatriates. Furthermore, today an extensive proportion of marriages are dual‐career partnerships with both partners employed, and thus a need to take this into account has been stressed in expatriate literature. The present study covers these issues based on the experiences of about 300 Finnish expatriates. Career arrangements after repatriation was a very prominent concern among expatriates. On the other hand, the results also indicate that career‐related support practices were not very common in this sample, but there was clear inconsistency between perceived necessity and actual use of these programmes. Dual‐career couples’ career considerations played a central role as in the case of expatriates. However, dual‐career support was not commonly available although it was again seen as necessary.

The career capital of managers with global careers

– The purpose of this paper is to address the research question of “How does a global career involving multiple international relocations influence the career capital of an individual manager?”, and to examine the typical career‐capital‐related characteristics, drivers and outcomes associated with global careers. The importance of understanding the careers of global leaders, whose work paths typically include various international positions and assignments, has increased due to the globalization of business. A particularly relevant approach for studying such careers is through a framework of career capital, which adopts an individualistic perspective to explain how actors consciously acquire portable capabilities, construct networks and identify their own motivations, applying them in their specific work contexts., – The study adopts a qualitative design based on interviews with 20 managers on a global career path involving multiple international assignments., – The results indicate that international work experience has an extensive developmental effect on the career capital of managers. First, the interviewees reported that their global careers had strongly increased their knowing‐why career capital, referring to meaning and self‐awareness. With regard to knowing‐how career capital, their multiple international experiences had considerably enhanced several work‐related competencies. The key drivers behind this development included the broad range of responsibilities, the nature of the international environment, a high level of autonomy, and cross‐cultural differences. Finally, in terms of knowing‐whom capital, the results of the study indicate that the contact network managers acquire during their international assignments was of very high importance for their future careers. As a further outcome of their global careers, the managers were found to have a very strong career identity., – This paper provides a novel perspective on a topic that is of increasingly critical importance in todays global business.

Global leader development: an emerging research agenda

The globalization of business has challenged companies to rethink their strategies, structures, and necessary competencies of managers. The existing studies indicate that typically companies do not have enough leaders within global competencies and that competition for such resources will be even more intensive in the future. The basic prerequisite for the selection and development of global managers is that the necessary competencies of global managers are understood. On the other hand, it has been argued that this is not yet the case and thus companies do not know what competencies they should focus on. Similarly, it has been argued that the development of international competencies is not a well‐advanced process within companies. The research on these areas is still scarce. In the present paper, the literature on these areas is reviewed and, on the basis of this review, further research needs are identified.

Global HRM: aspects of a research agenda

Purpose – This paper introduces this special issue.Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines some of the key themes in global human resource management.Findings – By reviewing, briefly, the existing literature in these areas, the paper outlines a limited but crucial research agenda and sets the papers in this special issue in context.Originality/value – This paper presents some new empirically‐based work on human resource development.