Expatriation: The Solution or the Problem?

Abstract

The internationalization of organizations mandates blending of expatriates with local workforce to stay competitive in the glocal (globally localized) arena. Expatriation has been prevalent in the European and American continents since the industrial revolution era. The paper delves into the expatriation management practices in various developing and developed nations. An extensive literature review reveals that there is no fixed template for expatriate management which can be replicated across organizations or countries. The paper contends that one size fits all approach fails on account of differences in culture, family situation, language skills, support during an international assignment, and so on. It highlights the challenges in dealing with issues like diverse cultures; family adjustments etc. In particular, it examines the practices used by organizations in blending an outsider in an ingroup, drawn from secondary sources of data.

Keywords: expatriate management; challenges; expatriates; organizations