How to manage a good expatriation?

Résumé du document

Two main reasons may explain the choice between an expatriate and a local worker when it comes to the skill set. First and foremost, the skills needed are not always found within the companies. Thus in some countries where there is a foreseeable lack of engineers, executives and other experts, many firms have to integrate the system of expatriation in their development to educate the local workers.

Actually, the expatriate has the role of being a coach and a teacher for his successors, which is often included in contracts (particularly in China). The skills required depend on the area of the world, the history of the country…

Secondly, an expatriate is often supposed to know the company, its values and its expertise. Moreover, his management puts trust into him. In addition, he might be considered as the shepherd of the company abroad. Hence, most of the time, the function of financial manager is given to expatriates while sales managers are usually local workers because this function requires closer connection to the head office.

Nevertheless, before leaving the mission must be clearly defined in order for the expatriate not to be disappointed once he is in the new country. In fact, many failed missions are due to a lack of information and a failure in communication at the root.

Extraits

[...] How to manage a good expatriation? The mission of the expatriate Two main reasons may explain the choice between an expatriate and a local worker when it comes to the skill set. First and foremost, the skills needed are not always found within the companies. Thus in some countries where there is a foreseeable lack of engineers, executives and other experts, many firms have to integrate the system of expatriation in their development to educate the local workers. Actually, the expatriate has the role of being a coach and a teacher for his successors, which is often included in contracts (particularly in China). [...]

[...] Honeymoon stage: ] individuals are fascinated by the new culture and are excited about all the new and interesting ‘sights and sounds'”. Disillusionment or culture shock stage: ] the individual must seriously cope with living in the new culture on a day-to-day basis”. Adjustment stage: There is a ] gradual adoption to the new culture and learning how to behave appropriately according to the cultural norms of the host country”. Mastery stage: Finally there are only ] small incremental increases in the individual's ability to function effectively in the new culture”. [...]

[...] Nevertheless 3 main types of expatriates seem to appear. The young The young are the most favourite target for expatriation because they are the most mobile part of the population of the young from business schools begin their career abroad) and they often hope to give an incentive to their careers by leaving their home countries. According to E Delon, some European firms are following the British model concerning recruitment for young expatriates. Such firms as l'Oreal advertise the expatriation issue on university campuses in order to create a cultural melting pot to boost their international development. [...]

[...] Before leaving the home country the trainee may be involved in other expatriation processes with the purpose to explain to the employee his mission and issues he might be confronted with, without forgetting an explanation about the country itself and its culture. Taking this point of view, it would be best to develop a few procedures to prepare the future expatriate for the problems he might be confronted with. -Documentary programs, which show people a new culture through written documents on the history, the social and political aspects of the country, its geography, its economy. -Programs of assimilation, which bring the employee closer to critical incidents connected with the success of the interaction with a new culture. -Preparation of language skills. [...]

[...] How does the integration process work or U-curve Theory”! Three authors (Black, Mendenhall, and Oddou) have developed a theory about the integration in other countries. The main theory underlying the cross- cultural adjustment is the so-famous “U-Curve Theory” of Adjustment (UCT). Therefore, the authors are examining the UCT from a theoretical point of view as the underlying reason for expatriate adjustment and culture shock. The purpose of their study is to find out whether the UCT gives an accurate explanation of why many expatriates experience are said to be a culture shock. [...]