section 1: academic papers - sfu mathematics and...

Selecting expatriates for increasingly complex globalassignments

Michael HarveyMichael F. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, Norman,Oklahoma, USAMilorad M. NovicevicUniversity of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA

In a recent survey of Fortune 500 human

resource managers, 85 per cent of the

respondents did not feel that their

organizations had an adequate number of

managers/leaders to manage their future global

business operations (Gregersen et al., 1988).

Introduction

The globalization of business has accelerated

at a pace that has frequently outpaced many

organizations' ability to identify and develop

an adequate number of qualified expatriate

managers (Welch, 1994; Stroh and Caligiuri,

1998; Gregersen et al., 1998). The ability to

compete in increasingly hypercompetitive

global markets necessitates having qualified

global managers who have competencies that

differentiate the organizations' strategic

choices (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1995; Pfeffer,

1994; Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1997). A successful

global manager will have to possess a complex

amalgamation of technical, political, social,

organizational and cultural competencies

beyond those found in many of the expatriates

of the past (Bartlett, 1986; Bartlett and Ghoshal,

1994; Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1997). The ability to

amass the collective managerial skills to

compete in the hypercompetitive global

marketplace may be one of the most important

strategic tasks facing the management of

rapidly expanding global organizations. The

global leadership development through

`̀ superior'' expatriate managers has been

described as a `̀ contest'' for global core

competency (Rumelt, 1994; Heene, 1994).

The purpose of this paper is to: examine

past methods used in the selection of

expatriate managers; develop a competency-

based theoretical foundation for a new

integrated model for the selection of

expatriate managers; explain specific

components/stages of the integrated

expatriate selection model; and illustrate the

managerial implications of the selection

model and develop a recommended

procedure for managerial practice. Each of

these sections of the paper will be discussed

in the following sections of the paper.

The selection of expatriatemanagers: past methods and theirsuccesses and limitations

The selection of expatriate managers for

assignments has had a long and tortured

research history (Fish, 1999; Ones and

Viswesvaran, 1997; Spreitzer et al., 1997).

Initial models documented that technical or

functional expertise has been the primary

criterion for selecting expatriate managers

for assignments (Mendenhall et al., 1987;

Tung, 1981, 1982). Further attempts at

identifying an appropriate model for

selecting expatriate managers focused on

identifying personal characteristics of

candidates that could help improve the

chances of expatriate managers' `̀ survival''

during assignments (for example, see Baliga

and Baker, 1985; Hays, 1971, 1974; Tucker

1978; Tung, 1981). Although models used for

the selection of managers vary with the

nationality of the organization, the core

concepts have centered on functional

capabilities and personal characteristics of

potential candidates (see Levy-Leboyer (1994)

for a review of European selection methods).

While these early studies identified a number

of specific issues that could impact on the

success or failure of expatriate managers,

initially very little was done to develop a

more systemic approach to the expatriate

selection process.

Figure 1 illustrates the individual,

organizational, environmental, and systemic

issues of influence on an expatriate's success/

Section 1: Academic papers

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[ 69 ]

Career DevelopmentInternational6/2 [2001] 69±86

# MCB University Press[ISSN 1362-0436]

KeywordsExpatriates, Project management,

Selection, International operations

AbstractAs organizations globalize their

operations, there is a heightened

need to identify and select

qualified managers for overseas

assignments. The increased

complexity of these foreign

assignments necessitates a

recalibration of the traditional

selection procedures and

processes used in the past. In

particular, there is some evidence

that expatriation becomes

strategic as organizations

increasingly grow and compete

globally. Therefore, the critical

issues, which arise as expatriates'

assignments evolve into a global

assignment scope, must be

viewed in a systematic manner.

This paper develops a unique

theory-based expatriation

selection process based upon a

systemic assessment of potential

expatriate candidates' multiple

IQs, learning styles, thinking

styles, and the nature of the

expatriate assignment. In

addition, a practical step-by-step

managerial process is developed

that can be used in the selection

of expatriate managers for global

assignments.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/1362-0436.htm

failure that were gleaned from research

conducted on expatriate selection. This type of

diagnostic approach to the research of

expatriation did not provide an integrated

theoretical view to guide practice of

expatriate staffing. The explanatory approach

to expatriate selection has, however, been

recently modified toward a more predictive

approach to take into consideration an ex ante

examination of personality characteristics of

potential expatriate managers.

Specifically, researchers have

concentrated their attention on the

predictive power of the big five personality

characteristics for expatriate success. The

five characteristics examined are:

1 extroversion ± individuals that

successfully assert themselves and gain

acceptance in the social environment

through social relationships (Ones and

Viswesvaran, 1997);

2 agreeablenes ± being identified as a team

player through the formation of reciprocal

social alliances and the building of social

capital in the organization (Caligiuri,

2000);

3 conscientiousness ± trusted, diligent

cohorts that are productive and

supportive of increased organizational

performance (Hogan, 1996);

4 emotional stability ± the intrapersonal

ability to adapt and cope with stress in

professional and personal spheres of one's

life (Buss, 1991); and

5 openness and intellect ± having the ability

for individuals to effectively complete

their functional assignment, and at the

same time an awareness of the

environment to allow for adaptation of

their behavior to changing conditions in

that environment (Behling, 1998).

While these personality characteristics are

thought to have a predictive power relative to

the success of expatriate managers, the

empirical research to fully support this

position is somewhat lacking. In a

comprehensive review of 117 empirical

studies using the big five personality

characteristics, Barrick and Mount (1991)

found that conscientiousness was the best

single predictor of individual performance.

The same sort of survey of research was

conducted in Europe, resulting in similar,

although not as strong, results. Moreover, the

tie to organizational performance using the

big five personality characteristics as the

primary selection means is also somewhat

tentative (for a review of the issues see Wood

(1999)). In addition to the big five personality

attributes, the development of classifications

or categories of soft social skills has been

used for the selection of managers.

Figure 1Predicting success/failure of expatriate managers

[ 70 ]

Michael Harvey andMilorad M. NovicevicSelecting expatriates forincreasingly complex globalassignments


Several skill classification schemes illustrate

the intent of the practitioners to establish

multiple means to predict success for

expatriate managers. The Ashridge

Management Research Center identified five

skill categories with multiple items in each

category:

1 strategic awareness and support;

2 adaptability in new/novel environmental

situations;

3 sensitivity and openness to other cultures

and social mores;

4 language capabilities; interpersonal

communication skills (Harris and

Brewster, 1999).

Other studies supporting the `̀ soft'' skill

approach (i.e. skills not directly tied to

technical training and functional expertise)

have extended the number of categories to

include: global awareness, corporate

strategy, cultural empathy, cross-cultural

team building, international negotiation

skills, ethical understanding of conducting

business in foreign countries, and self-

confidence. Many practitioners feel that

these additional screening devices augment

the more traditional personality

characteristics-based selection tools. But

most recently, IHRM has begun to develop a

more systematic approach to the entire

human resource management process.

There is a growing group of academic

IHRM researchers that contend that selection

and other human resource functions should

not be viewed separately, but must be viewed

as an integrated system of human resource

functions (Becker and Gerhart, 1996; Huselid,

1995; Huselid et al., 1997). IHRM researchers

appear to have adopted this systemic

approach toward human resource functions

by developing integrative IHRM frameworks

(for example see, Dowling et al., 1999; Taylor

et al., 1996; Welch, 1994). Therefore, the

selection process would have to be fully

integrated into the other human resource

functions such as training/development,

compensation, performance appraisal and

the like.

These integrated human resource systems

should be attuned to the strategic position

taken by the firm relative to its future global

expectations. By examining all the human

resource functions as a system, it is felt that

better collective human resource decisions

will be made, which will increase the

consistency among the various operating

units in a global network. It would be

difficult at this juncture in evaluating the

selection process for expatriate managers to

claim that the selection of these managers is

a systemic well-articulated and documented

process. The complexity associated with

selection of expatriates to fill changing

assignments is becoming more vexing given

the staffing requirements associated with

global organizations entering emerging

markets. It therefore would appear to be a

propitious time to develop an expatriate

selection process that is keyed to multiple

abilities of candidates, better understanding

of candidates' methods of learning, and the

overall competence of managers across a

broad spectrum of personal and professional

skills. If organizations are going to be

effective global competitors, the competence

repertoire of expatriate managers will play

an integral role in the effective development

and implementation of the organizations'

strategies. Therefore, developing a

competency-based theoretical view of

expatriate selection provides the frame for

examining such a process.

A competency-based view ofexpatriate selection

A competency-based view of the relationship

between human resource management and

expatriate staffing suggests that input,

managerial, and transformation-based

competencies operate interdependently,

creating firm-specific competencies that can

produce a sustained competitive advantage

(Lado and Wilson, 1994). A competency-based

perspective explicitly addresses the dynamic

nature of the global environment by

acknowledging that the initial set of

competencies (i.e. organizational and

individual) should be renewed by the

development of new competencies through

orchestrated selection of better/more

qualified expatriate managers. This renewal

suggests that a global organization should

formulate its strategic intent to discover and

develop new competencies of strategic

relevance through development of the

complementary competencies to those

possessed by past expatriate managers

(Sanchez et al., 1996).

Figure 2 illustrates the basic components

of a competency-based strategic choice

process. Competencies are divided into three

distinct categories:

1 input competencies ± capital, labor,

physical assets, and other factor inputs to

the global organization;

2 managerial competencies ± top

management team (TMT) capabilities,

managerial social knowledge, informal

internal/external business networks of

global organizations, and personal social

capital of expatriate managers that can be

[ 71 ]



used to accomplish the mission of the

organization; and

3 transformation-based competencies ± the

ability of management to accomplish the

tasks necessary to gain competitive

position in the marketplace, which

assumes adaptability and learning

capabilities embedded in the expatriate

manager as well as the global organization

(Harvey et al., 1999).

As is depicted in Figure 2, the three types

of competencies can be bundled to provide

a set of strategic choice options. A greater

set of competencies throughout the

operating entities of the global organization

equates to improved strategic options.

The strategic choice options are weighed

against the opportunities in each of the

host country's environmental contexts.

As the level of competencies increases

and the environmental contexts become

more uncertain, management may make

future strategic choices to position the

global organization dynamically in the

business landscape based on the competent

advice from the globally dispersed

expatriate network. This continuous

expatriate-sourced reassessment of

competencies and market changes allows

the organization to develop a global

competency unique from other

organizations competing in

hypercompetitive market segments

(Harvey et al., 1999). Each of the specific

types of competencies will be briefly

discussed.

Input competenciesInput resources play a critical role in

developing sustained competitive advantage

within the firm value chain. These are the

same competencies that would be identified

in a resource-based view of the firm: the

bundled tangible and intangible internal

resources (Oster, 1990) that are valuable,

rare, imperfectly mobile, and inimitable

(Barney, 1991). These input resources may

include physical assets, organizational

capital, and specific human resources that

enable an organization to effectively compete

in the global marketplace with valued

products and services (Lado and Wilson,

1994).

Specific to global organizations attempting

to develop dynamic capabilities through

expatriation of managers is the identification

and selection of an adequate number of

qualified managers with a strong desire or

interest in managing in subsidiaries. These

input human resources may also include

third country nationals employed in overseas

subsidiaries who share their tacit knowledge

of the local context with members of the

home country organization.

Managerial competenciesManagerial competencies focus on the global

organization's vision of the TMT and the

decisions and actions necessary to realize

that vision (Lado et al., 1992). Managerial

competencies may create sustained

competitive advantage directly if the TMT is

able to exploit unique expatriate specific

competencies. These competencies are

Figure 2Competency-based strategic choice process

[ 72 ]



particularly valuable to the organization if

they provide an institutional bridge between

the cultural, social, and political divide often

found between the domestic and foreign

subsidiaries (Gabby and Zuckerman, 1998).

As these managerial competencies develop,

the resulting outcomes from implementing

new strategic visions may reshape the

thinking, actions, and even the worldview of

the TMT, making it ultimately evolve into a

global mindset (Kefalas, 1998; Paul, 2000).

Specific to expatriate staffing of subsidiaries,

a competency-based perspective would suggest

that a diverse and heterogeneous set of

cognitive perspectives (Mahoney and Pandian,

1992) and managers' coordination capabilities

(Sanchez et al., 1996) can encourage superior

performance of the network of subsidiaries.

The objective would be to create

multidimensional competencies to facilitate

effective implementation of global, as well as

local, initiatives. The importance of global

assignments for expatriate managers is

directly tied to their ability to transfer

knowledge and cultural attributes of the

headquarters to overseas operations (Bender

and Fish, 2000). Developing this multilevel

competency through knowledge transfer may

result in a superior performance of the

organization (Wright et al., 1994).

Transformation-based competenciesThe TMT may also need to acquire and

develop competencies to more effectively

address issues and collaborative

relationships with external entities and

institutions (i.e. government agencies, banks,

suppliers, customers, strategic alliance

partners) and key individuals in the host

countries. This broad set of competencies has

been labeled as transformation-based.

Transformation-based competencies are

those that enable the foreign subsidiary to

transform inputs into outputs and may

include alliance-based technology or

marketing innovations that facilitate new

product and customer relationship

development (Lado et al., 1992). Similarly,

these competencies may create a collective

experience base and/or learning capability,

resulting in an organizational culture

conducive to learning that is difficult for

competitors to replicate and therefore can

create a relative competitive advantage over

other global organizations (Taylor et al., 1996;

Roth and O'Donnell, 1996).

It is imperative to transfer transformational

competencies through cross cultural manager

assignments, thereby building more diverse

and pluralistic management teams in overseas

operations (Fish and Wood, 1997b).

Transformation-based competencies can play a

specific role in global organizations and their

subsidiaries. First, there may be situations,

outside the global organization's network of

relationships, which may require tacit local

knowledge to explore business relationship

options and exploit opportunities in a specific

geographic area or culture. By utilizing

competent expatriates with multiple skills,

global organizations are developing a resource

competency of such tacit knowledge that is

difficult for global competitors to duplicate.

Furthermore, the tacit knowledge gain

through having highly qualified expatriate

managers in foreign subsidiaries can be

brought back and embedded into the domestic

firm-specific routines, which in turn can

facilitate organizational learning, ultimately

increasing organizational effectiveness in

global competitive positioning.

By combining the three types of

competencies effectively, the global

organizations can configure a repertoire of

strategic choices relative to a specific

national competitive environment, while at

the same time being mindful of the need to

maintain consistency among subsidiary

policies/procedures. Such consistency is

derived from the development of a TMT

global mindset, which in turn thrives on the

creation of an adequate pool of global

managers with complementary competencies

and maintains a proactive posture relative to

the value of assembling, motivating, and

retaining a multicultural management team

for use in global organizations (Kedia and

Mukherji, 1999; Kefalas, 1998; Paul, 2000).

Therefore, an expatriate staffing system

needs to be developed that facilitates effective

deployment of the firm-specific competencies

based on individual competencies of

expatriates.

Competency-based model ofexpatriate selection

In an effort to develop a more comprehensive

selection process of expatriate managers for

increasingly complex global assignments, a

model has been developed to highlight the key

decision variables in the method (see Figure 3.

The basic premise of the model is that

potential expatriate managers have multiple

`̀ IQs'' that need to be inventoried to determine

the unique skill set of each candidate

(Sternberg, 1996). In addition, each candidate

has `̀ potential'' to learn additional

competencies, but one's learning style directly

impacts on the learning process of new

competencies. By having an insight into a

learning style, development programs can be

designed to complement the expatriate

[ 73 ]



candidate's learning style (Kolb, 1974, 1978;

Mumford, 1999). The ability (i.e. multiple IQ

inventory and additional learning) is the basis

of the competencies required to effectively

manage in complex global assignments. But

one must look beyond abilities and learning

styles at the expatriates' `̀ action assessment''

styles (i.e. thinking styles) to determine how

the IQs and additional learned skills interact

in solving complex managerial problems with

action in mind (Sternberg, 1994a, 1994b, 1997c;

Ceci, 1996). The action context/environment

and the type of task also interact as important

issues when assessing the performance of

potential expatriate managers. Each of the

elements in the model will be briefly

discussed.

The use of multiple IQsThe selection of expatriate managers can

start by using a series of multiple IQs as

indicators of the abilities of each potential

candidate. By focusing on a set of eight IQs,

expatriate selection can be based on a

composite of IQs, and later can be used as a

template to be matched with the

requirements of the expatriate's overseas

position. Figure 4 provides definitions of

each IQ and explains how the eight IQs, used

in the selection of expatriate managers, are

derived from three theory-based categories.

These three categories of IQs are modeled

after the triarchic theory of human

intelligence (Sternberg, 1985, 1996) and are

classified in the following manner (the

references below represent background

research on each IQ):

1 Analytical intelligence ± the planning,

implementation, evaluation of problem

solving processes and knowledge

acquisition, which includes: cognitive

intelligence (Binet and Simon, 1916;

Wechsler, 1950) and emotional intelligence

(Cooper and Sawaf, 1997; Gardner, 1999;

Goleman, 1995; Dulevicz, 2000).

2 Practical intelligence ± tacit knowledge that

can derive common sense, intuition, and

`̀ street smarts'' knowledge to adapt to an

environment or to shape the environment

to the problem facing the manager, which

includes: political intelligence (Ferris et

al., 1994), cultural/social intelligence

(Cantor and Kihlstrom, 1987; Sternberg and

Smith, 1985; Serale and Ward, 1990),

organizational intelligence (Wagner and

Sternberg, 1986; Davenport and Prusak,

1998) and network intelligence, (Albrecht

and Adelman, 1987; Smith, 1997; DeBurca

and McLoughlin, 1988; Ford, 1998).

3 Creative intelligence ± the ability to develop

innovative solutions to new problems in

novel environments, which includes:

innovative intelligence (Lubart and

Sternberg, 1995; Sternberg and Lubart 1995,

1996) and intuitive intelligence (Keegan,

1982; Parikh, 1994; Shirley and Langan-Fox,

1996; Weick, 1998; Anderson, 2000).

The use of the multiple intelligences to

identify potential expatriate candidates

provides the human resource management

with a detailed inventory of the potential

expatriate competency base, and at the same

time provides a semantic for an on-going

development program for each manager.

Figure 3Global problem-solving potential

[ 74 ]



Once the ability inventory is taken, the next

stage of the expatriate selection process is to

examine how the learning styles of potential

candidates influence their absorptive

capacity to acquire new competencies.

The influence of learning stylesResearchers have developed a model of the

learning process that is characterized as a

four-stage cycle of learning (Jensen and Kolb,

2000). The learning process is envisioned as

being active and passive, as well as concrete

and abstract. The four states of the learning

process are:

1 concrete experience, followed by

2 observation and reflection, which lead to

3 the formation of abstract concepts and

generalization, which engender

4 hypotheses to be tested in future action,

which in turn close the cycle leading to

exposure to new experiences (Kolb, 1978).

Each stage of the learning cycle may take

differing amounts of time, but the learner

will attempt to structure each stage of the

learning cycle in a formal or in an informal

manner (Curry, 2000; Jensen and Kolb, 2000;

Rayner, 2000; Saddler-Smith, 2000).

Four types of learning styles have been

identified through research and clinical

observations over the past 30 years using the

learning styles inventory (Kolb, 1974, 1978).

The learning styles are:

1 Divergent learning style. This style of

learning reflects the view of concrete

situations from many perspectives and

the organization of many relationships

into a meaningful `̀ gestalt''. The focus of

learning in this learning style is on

cognitive adaptation to environmental

context by observation rather than by

taking action (Kolb et al., 1995). As the

strength of this style of learning is in the

innovative manner in which these

individuals attempt to learn, this would be

an ideal learning style for potential

expatriate candidates assigned to complex

global assignments. Specifically, these

individuals are most productive in

learning in situations that call for the

generation of multiple alternative ideas

and in developing an array of potential

solutions to managerial problems. In

addition, it has been found that

`̀ divergers'' have broad cultural interests

and have the ability to assimilate into

diverse groups or interact effectively

within heterogeneous cultural settings.

The divergent learning style often has a

positive influence on the relationship

between multiple IQs of individuals and

their thinking styles, given the openness

of these individuals to learning from

diverse and complex environmental cues.

2 Convergent learning style. The

`̀ converger'' is an individual who has the

ability to learn through abstracting both

the problem and the context/setting of the

problem. The deductive conceptualization

and experimentation with the abstracted

facts by these potential expatriate

convergers signals they are very good at

structured problem solving, testing

alternative solutions, and the formulation

Figure 4Definitions of managerial IQs

[ 75 ]



of a practical theory (i.e. to structure

processes/routines from experience in

order to form the bases for future decision

making) (Bond and Wilson, 1998). The

structured problem solving by relying on

their cognitive IQ is the fundamental

strength of expatriates with this learning

style (Leonard and Kowalski, 1999). The

hypothetical-deductive learning style is

best suited to technical, specified

problems with little need to interact with

others, in that these learners are

characterized by controlling both their

emotions and the need for inclusion.

Expatriate managers who are assigned for

technical competency and have less to do

with managing a diverse social set of

individuals would best be selected if they

were converger type of learners.

3 Assimilation learning style. Like the

converger, the assimlator type learner has

the ability to abstract complex problems/

situations but, in contrast, uses inductive

reasoning to find solutions to decisions.

This `̀ model building'' type of learner is

prone to integrating a variety of disparate

information into an integrated model to

solve problems (Mumford, 1999). As with

the convergent learner, these individuals

are less likely to be effective

interpersonally, particularly within a

heterogeneous group of individuals.

Rather, the assimilator enjoys the process

of learning and understanding. This type

of learner is, however, less likely to want

to actually implement what has been

learned. As they view the process of

learning as an end in itself, expatriate

managers with an assimilation learning

style are less likely to act upon the

information or on the model that they

have built. The ideal expatriate

assignment for assimilators would be in a

staff capacity to assist with technical

issues or to support more decisive

learners in the organization.

4 Accommodative learning style. As this

learning style is goal-oriented, getting

things done is the primary value of

expatriate managers with this learning

style. Such learning style stimulates risk

taking, new opportunities, interaction

with a diverse set of individuals, and

cognitive adaptation to unique

environmental contexts. These

individuals are willing and able to adapt

themselves to new environments and

social settings making them ideal

expatriate candidates for multiple

assignments. The capacity for adaptive

learning of these expatriate candidates is

of particular significance when working/

learning across cultures (Lam, 1998;

McMurray, 1998). Their intuitive decision-

making process relies less on theory and

formalized routines and more on past

experiences and their ability to `̀ read'' the

minds of others. These expatriate

managers would be utilized best in

situations where informal interaction

with a variety of individuals is a business

necessity. Particularly, they are well-

suited for marketing and sales type

expatriates who are required to interact

with others outside the foreign subsidiary

(i.e. with customers, suppliers,

governmental officials and the like).

The learning style inventory (Kolb, 1978) can

be administered to potential expatriate

managers to assist in determining how they

will augment their existing IQ inventories, as

well as what types of overseas assignments

each individual would be best suited to

combine effectively abilities with learning

style. The learning style assessment becomes

critical in identifying how on-going

development of each expatriate manager

should be undertaken, as well as in forming

the bases for assignment tasks for various

expatriate candidates. Given that most

expatriate managers will need to employ a

combination of their IQs in acquisition of

new competencies, learning style analysis is

a critical element in the selection process. As

the type of learning style influences the

relationship between a candidate's IQs and

critical thinking, the role and structure of

expatriate thinking styles in a competency-

based expatriate selection process need to be

explored (Gadzella and Masten, 1998).

Developing an understanding of individualthinking stylesThe multiple IQs and learning styles of

expatriate candidates are the potential for

accumulating competencies by overseas

managers. But just as with any potential,

there must be a mechanism to turn that

potential into action. The action dimension of

the assessment of expatriate candidates'

potential starts with determining their

thinking styles (Sternberg, 1997a). A thinking

style is a preferred way of thinking, not the

natural or acquired ability, but rather, how

an individual translates his or her ability

and learning into intent for actions. In other

words, expatriate thinking styles involve

integrative utilization of their abilities and of

learning styles. Putting knowledge/

competencies to work, beyond having ability

or attempting to learn, yields effective

performance.

[ 76 ]



Individual thinking styles have been

described as taking the following forms:

1 monarchical thinking style ± the single-

minded individual that is driven to

succeed, may be counted on to reach the

self-set or assigned objectives, and is less

likely to be strongly influenced or

distracted by the environmental

uncertainty (i.e. high goal commitment

and achievement orientation);

2 hierarchical thinking style ± the individual

thinking style that is based on setting

priorities and recognizing that not all

goals can be reached; therefore, these

individuals tend to establish priors for

others in the organization (i.e. an

expatriate providing structure and a set of

priorities for the foreign subsidiary);

3 oligarchical thinking style ± a thinking

style that is based upon doing more than

one thing at a time and on willingness to

undertake multitask assignments. Given

their interest in performing multiple

tasks, individuals with this thinking style

have difficulty in establishing priorities

and are frequently unwilling to focus on

the primary goal/objective (i.e. may be

perceived as not being decisive); and,

4 anarchical thinking style ± lack focus in

their thinking, frequently appear to be

disorganized or random in their thinking

processes, but are sometimes thought of as

being highly creative thinkers. These

individuals also appear to have difficulty

making adjustments to the environmental

context when it becomes dynamic

(Sternberg, 1997a).

When selecting expatriate managers,

knowing their thinking styles prior to their

assignment can help to assist in selecting

appropriate managers for particular

assignments. The type of the assigned task, as

well as the task environment (i.e. internal

and external), can differentially influence the

relationship between thinking styles and the

execution of strategies. Some thinking styles

of expatriates are more effective for solving

less structured, new, and complex problems,

which allow the expatriates to think on their

own. These expatriate candidates are more

readily willing to come up with their own

way of doing things, and prefer to decide for

themselves what they will do and how they

will do it (Sternberg, 1997a). In contrast, there

are those who prefer to follow existing

routines and procedures, and only want to

improve the efficiency of the processes.

Expatriate candidates seldom want to

assess and evaluate the existing routines/

procedures and to modify them to make the

process fit the environment or task more

closely (Sternberg, 1997a). Overall, a thinking

style of an expatriate manager reflects the

manner in which the expatriate attempts to

make decisions, given the appropriateness of

his or her abilities and learning styles to

acquire competencies for solving problems.

This action-oriented step is an important

component in the selection of expatriate

managers in that it reflects a pattern of

taking action, which in turn, must match the

task and environmental demands that the

expatriate is assigned to in the global

organization (Harvey, 1996a).

The influence of the type of taskTasks that expatriate managers face can be

categorized into three types:

1 coordinative tasks ± are tasks that are

integrative in nature and can be

illustrated by the following types of tasks:

developing a marketing plan, initiating an

organizational change in a foreign

subsidiary, or selecting foreign suppliers.

These tasks require a finely orchestrated

interaction between the domestic

organization and the subsidiary where the

expatriate manager is located at their

boundary, and where speed, accuracy, and

reliance on others are essential for the

expatriate manager to accomplish such

tasks successfully;

2 computational tasks ± are more structured

tasks that require utilization of an

established body of knowledge and

techniques for successful

accomplishment. There is less ambiguity

in these tasks and there is a known

beginning and ending point in the set of

activities comprising these tasks. While

most computational tasks are fairly

procedural, and may require a great deal

of effort on the part of the expatriate

manager, their demand on expatriates for

coordination with others is lessened; and

3 creative tasks ± are tasks that do not have

`̀ proven'' answers or processes to find

their solution and are dependent on the

creative insights of the expatriate to find

acceptable solutions. These tasks can be

approached and/or framed in a number of

different ways because a wide variety of

information sources are to be scanned for

creative task accomplishment (Hambrick

et al., 1998).

Therefore, it is particularly difficult to

measure the result/outcomes of performing

such tasks.

An additional relevant attribute of a task is

the difficulty of the task that the expatriate

manager is attempting to resolve. In the

determination of the relative `̀ difficulty'' of

[ 77 ]



the expatriate's assignment, there are three

dimensions of the task that have to be taken

into consideration:

1 the complexity of the task structure ± the

array of potential alternative solutions,

the number of cues/information sources

relative to the task, the relationship

between cues and criteria for solution of

the task, and the number of steps or

phases to the task;

2 ambiguity of the task content ± organizing

principles of the task unknown or

unavailable, previous expatriates'

experience with the task limited or not

existent, high likelihood of failure/partial

failure, and cues not clear as to how to

frame the problem or organize the

information to solve the task; and

3 form of task presentation ± only a brief

time span available for judgment,

judgment of cues dependent on

perceptional predisposition of the

expatriate manager. The greater the

overall complexity of the task, the more

skilled and `̀ intelligent'' (i.e. use of

multiple IQs) the expatriate manager

must be to address the cognitively

demanding nature of global assignment

tasks (Sternberg, 1996).

The internal/external environmentalcontextThe selection of an expatriate manager for a

global assignment could be strongly

influenced by the type of cultural

environment to which the individual will be

assigned (Harvey, 1996). The cultural

distance between the home and host

countries needs to be assessed in the

expatriate selection process because it affects

the nature of the expatriate task (i.e. whether

the task is programmable or not). It is

significantly more difficult for expatriates to

contribute to the expertise of foreign

operations if the cultures of the two countries

are too dissimilar. In order to enrich the

knowledge competency of the organization

the expertise of the expatriates have to `̀ fit''

in the knowledge context of the overseas

assignment and the organization to which

they are assigned (Bender and Fish, 2000).

Cultural distance is measured as a

composite index of Hofstede's (1980) cultural

dimensions. Cultural distance affects an

expatriate's understanding of decision-

making processes, work values, negotiation

patterns, conflicts in J/Vs and wholly-owned

subsidiaries, and fairness in reciprocity

(Gomez-Mejita and Palich, 1997). Also, the

degree of cultural distance will influence

performance ambiguity and task definition

(Hamilton and Kashlak, 1999). As a result, an

expatriate's task programmability and

performance measurability will be inversely

related to the cultural distance.

Like cultural distance, other influential

factors from the external environment, such

as host-country political risk and economic

instability, also decrease an expatriate's task

programmability and output measurability.

A recent measure that combines both of these

two factors has been developed (Fatehi, 1994).

The most challenging problem for human

resource management is the definition of an

expatriate's task/performance criteria in the

selection process when all of these three

major environmental variables are salient.

As a result, the decision regarding which

managers to expatriate to these extreme

environments becomes critical.

Also, the nature of an expatriate's task will

likely vary with the industry in which the

organization operates. An expatriate's task

and performance ambiguity will likely be

higher for services than for products, as well

as higher for consumer products than for

industrial products. Finally, the factors from

the internal environment that influence an

expatriate's task and performance should be

taken into analysis, such as the

organization's global ownership patterns, top

management team characteristics, strategic

orientation for geographic and product

diversification as well as cross-border

acquisitions and joint venturing, and the

organization's prior experience in the host

country as well as a candidate's prior foreign

experiences (Harvey et al., 1999).

Managerial implications ofexpatriate selection model:recommended decision-makingprocedure

The specification of critical components of

the model for selection of expatriate

managers for complex global assignments

needs to be translated into a manageable

step-by-step selection procedure. The

sequential selection process, recommended

for managerial practice, is outlined in Figure

5 and briefly discussed below. The process

guides international human resource

managers how to design activities for each of

the stages of the process. To be implemented,

the expatriate selection process should be

institutionalized both in the domestic

organization and the foreign subsidiaries of

the focal organization, because several the

stages of the process occur during the

expatriates' overseas assignment.

[ 78 ]



Step one: identification of potentialexpatriate pool of candidatesPrior to assessing the multiple IQs, the

learning styles, and the thinking styles of

potential expatriate managers, a manager

must ensure that the `̀ pools'' of candidates

have been identified. In particular, if these

expatriates are going to come from outside

the organization, the method of how can they

be identified/attracted must have been

determined. In practice, expatriates most

frequently have come from within the focal

organization for a number of reasons:

1 candidates are easier to identify and

contact;

2 the background and developmental

progress of the candidates are available;

3 candidates are frequently easier to entice

into taking an overseas position;

4 the explicit costs are generally less than

those for the candidates on the market;

5 internal candidates have social knowledge

of the company's culture, and are familiar

with the value of international career

paths; and

6 internal candidates are trusted in the

organization and, therefore, provide a

means to extend control to the global

operations (Harvey, 1996).

Identifying external expatriate candidates is

a daunting task given the inadequate supply

of qualified/experienced managers. The

reservoir of potential external expatriate

managers is limited and difficult to evaluate

because they typically have the corollary

negative characteristics/traits of internal

expatriate candidates (i.e. hard to identify,

background unknown, difficult to entice into

the organization, significantly higher

explicit costs, no prior knowledge of the

company's culture, and low trustworthiness

due to lack of prior interaction with others in

the organization).

There are, however, a number of implicit

costs associated with selecting only

expatriate managers from inside the

organization, such as: reduced talent pool

within the domestic market as competition is

heightened in mature markets; in case of a

higher than average failure rate of expatriate

managers the company could be losing value

managerial talents; and frequently managers

will leave their company to avoid overseas

assignments when dual-career couples are

involved (Harvey 1995, 1996a,b, 1997). Many of

these costs are negated with expatriate

candidates from outside the organization.

The primary problem remains, identifying

an adequate number of qualified external

candidates at a reasonable recruiting cost

and with a high probability of attracting

them to the organization.

Step two: assessment of IQ competenciesof expatriate candidatesThis stage in the expatriate selection process

is directed at testing the eight IQs of the

potential candidates. Each IQ must be

measured and assessed as a complement to

the other IQs and the type of assignment that

is contemplated for the candidates.

Measurement of each IQ can be accomplished

by using existing techniques identified in the

following research:

1 Cognitive IQ. There has been a long

history of measuring cognitive

intelligence with such measures as: Binet

& Simon Basic Intelligence Test (1916);

Thrustone Intelligence Test IV (1919);

Wechsler Intelligence Test (1950); Cattell

Figure 5Expatriate selection process for globalassignments

[ 79 ]



Personality Factor Questionnaire (1949);

Golf and Ackerman Intelligence-as-

Typical Performance Test (1992).

2 Emotional IQ. A variety of tests in

psychology, education, and personal theory

fields have been developed to measure

emotional IQ (Damasio, 1994; Goleman,

1998; Steiner, 1997). For measuring

emotional IQ in organizational settings, an

EQ scale of 16 relevant competencies has

been developed in the Job Competencies

Survey developed by researchers (Dulevicz,

1998; Dulevicz and Higgs, 2000).

3 Political IQ. A measure of political IQ,

which contains 11 items, has recently

been developed reflecting an individual's

ability to exercise influence on others

beyond one's functional and resource

bases (Ferris et al., 2000).

4 Cultural/social IQ. The sociocultural

adaptation scale (SCAC) was developed in

the last decade (Searle and Ward 1990). This

scale was developed based on an earlier

social skills scale (Trower et al., 1978). Most

recently the SCAC has been expanded to

include cognitive as well as behavioral

domains (Ward and Kennedy, 1999).

5 Organizational IQ. The ability to

effectively `̀ get things done'' in an

interorganizational context has a proxy

measure of a team member's tacit

knowledge (Sternberg and Wagner, 1986).

Instruments that measure tacit knowledge

in managers (Wagner and Sternberg, 1991)

and other occupations (Sternberg et al.,

1997) have been developed and tested for

validity and reliability.

6 Network IQ. A network intelligence

measure, which is related to interpersonal

relationships and examines the number of

nodes and ties in personal nets, has been

developed (Albrecht and Adelman, 1987).

This work has recently been expanded

based on the norms established for

members of Western social systems

(Smith, 1997).

7 Innovative IQ. A measure of innovative

intelligence has been developed based on

the investment theory of creativity

(Sternberg and Lubart, 1991, 1995).

8 Intuitive IQ. The Keegan's type indicator

form B (KTI), which has 16 items referring

to the function of sensing and intuition,

was developed in the 1980s (Keegan, 1982).

It has also been suggested that the KTI

instrument be used in conjunction with

the Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI),

first developed by Myers and Caulley in

1985 (Anderson, 2000).

Given the variety of measures for each IQ, it

is possible for the human resource managers

to compare results among tests as well as

retest candidates at some future time. Most of

the tests that have been developed have been

used extensively and are considered reliable

measures for each IQ.

Step three: determination of learningstyles of expatriate candidatesLike the multiple IQs, the individual learning

styles of potential expatriate managers must

be determined. Kolb has undertaken the most

extensive empirical research on learning

styles research over the last 30 years (Kolb,

1974). The learning styles inventory (LSI-IIa)

has been widely used in industry and

education to examine the preferred learning

styles of thousands of individuals (Kolb, 1978).

The LSI assists learners in understanding

their strengths and weaknesses during the

four stages of the learning cycle. The

inventory measures the learner's preferences

in the four stages of learning. Preferences of

one or more stages over others indicate the

preferred learning style. The inventory is

relatively inexpensive and self-administered

by the expatriate candidate. This

straightforward instrument provides the

foundation for understanding the preferred

future learning styles of expatriates, which is

of importance when considering

developmental needs of the candidate.

Step four: determination of thinking stylesof potential expatriate candidatesAs was stated earlier, the thinking styles

reflect the action orientation of the potential

expatriate candidates and are of great value in

ascertaining the expatriates' predisposition to

making actionable decisions. This predilection

to action becomes an important consideration,

given the uniqueness of the expatriate

assignments and the limited procedures/

routines that are established to guide decision-

making by the expatriate managers.

There are a number of key issues associated

with thinking styles that must be taken into

consideration when analyzing the preferred

styles of potential expatriate managers:

1 styles are preferences in the use of

abilities, not abilities themselves;

2 the consistency between thinking styles

and abilities creates synergy, particularly

if the two are consistent with the task

requirements and the context of task

accomplishment;

3 expatriate managers may have profiles/

patterns of styles and are not relegated to

one style in all situations;

4 styles are variable/adaptable across tasks

and situations if the manager has an in-

depth knowledge of their thinking and

learning styles;

[ 80 ]



5 managers may vary fairly significantly in

their thinking style flexibility;

6 the socialization of expatriate managers

can directly influence their thinking

styles and may require that a preferred

thinking style is modified to fit the host

country's organization or culture;

7 managers thinking styles may vary across

their career life-cycle and change, given

their stage of their personal or

professional life-cycle;

8 thinking styles are teachable and trainers

may match their styles with expatriate

managers when they are being trained for

overseas assignments;

9 the expatriate manager's preferred

thinking style may not be `̀ acceptable'' in

a new environmental context (i.e.

culturally unacceptable or taboo within a

cultural context;

10 thinking styles can be measured

(Sternberg, 1997a).

Measurement of thinking styles has been

developed and extensively explored by

Sternberg and Wagner (for example, see

Sternberg-Wagner self-assessment inventory

models in Sternberg (1997a)).

Step five: determination of assignmenttask and its environments (internal/external)A manager must first determine the type of

the assignment task. Marketing and R&D

expatriates commonly have creative tasks;

production expatriates commonly have

coordinative tasks; while finance and

accounting commonly have computational

tasks. The next step is to rank the expatriate

task in terms of difficulty. In general, the

difficulty of an expatriate task increases with

its complexity, ambiguity, and

incompleteness. These task characteristics

are the representations of the variables from

the organization's external and internal

environments.

The most salient variable in the external

environment is the cultural distance between

the country of the expatriate assignment and

the home country of the organization. The

measure for cultural distance was developed

by Kogut and Singh (1988), and has been

validated in subsequent research. The other

two important variables from the external

environment are the political risk and

economic instability of the host country. The

composite measure and the source

publications for these two factors can be

found in Fatehi (1994).

The important variables from the internal

organizational environment which increase

the difficulty of managing as an expatriate,

are: the problems associated with managing

in foreign hybrid organizational

environments generally represented by

combined ownership (i.e. joint ventures,

strategic alliances); the top-managements'

attitude relative to the strategic importance

of the host country operations/market; and

history of the organization's prior experience

in the host country market. This information

is organization-specific and could have an

impact on the expatriate ability to

accomplish task specific objectives during

the foreign assignment.

Step six: assessment of familycharacteristicsIn the past, the number one reason for

expatriate failures has been identified as

problems associated with the expatriate's

family/spouse (Harvey, 1985, 1997, 1998; Fish

and Wood, 1997a). Therefore, in selecting

expatriates for global assignments, it is

imperative to take the spouse and family into

consideration when the selection process is

being developed. The problems with

expatriate spouse/family are becoming

central not only to expatriate failure rates,

but to the increase in refusal to relocate

overseas (Harvey, 1997). These problems are

being accentuated by the level of dual-career

professional couples and concerns of the

trailing-spouses as to how their careers will

be affected by their partners' transfer

(Harvey, 1997; Harvey and Wiese, 1998;

Harvey et al., 1999).

In an effort to reduce the negative impact

of family related problems, a detailed

analysis of the family life-cycle should be

undertaken on each of the potential

expatriate candidates. In this analysis of the

family, the human resource management

needs to determine: what stage of the family

life-cycle the expatriates family unit is in

(Harvey, 1996a); the stage of professional/

career development of the expatriate's

spouse; the number of children and their

stage of educational attainment; extenuating

family considerations such as special

education needs of children, health related

issues for children, and other extended

family considerations (i.e. sick/elderly

parents); employment potential of the

expatriate's trailing spouse, and the past

relocation experiences of the expatriate and

his/her family. This assessment of family

related issues should be undertaken prior to

selecting managers to become candidates for

expatriation and not as an `̀ afterthought''

once the expatriation training/development

has been started (Fish and Wood, 1997a;

Elkins and Phillips, 2000). The family issues

can be significant enough, in that at certain

[ 81 ]



times or conditions, good expatriate

candidates should not be selected for

assignments due to family considerations.

Step seven: development of repatriationprogram prior to expatriationTo ameliorate some of the basic family issues

associated with expatriation, the selection

process should have a basic component that

examines issues associated with repatriating

the manager. Researchers have determined

that the repatriation process plays a

significant role in assisting the expatriate

and their family with reentry adjustment

(Harvey, 1989: Black et al., 1992). Therefore,

repatriation plans for each expatriate

candidate must be examined and plans

established prior to selection. This is

necessary for two reasons: to determine the

complexity of the re-entry problems (i.e. the

length of expatriation assignment, the

cultural/economic distance between home

and host country, the stage of family life-

cycle, the readjustment issues associated

with the spouse and family upon repatriation

and the like); and to provide the expatriate

candidate with vital information concerning

his/her career life-cycle and the preplanning

that the organization is undertaking to

ensure a positive re-entry experience for the

expatriate and their family. The development

of the repatriation plan is also helpful in

developing a succession plan and timetable

concerning the expatriate and the position

that they are filling overseas.

Step eight: selection of expatriatecandidates and assignmentsThe final step in the selection process is the

matching of the candidates with assignments,

or at the least regions in which the candidates

could be assigned. This stage is to underscore

the point that expatriate managers cannot be

seen as equally applicable to all expatriation

assignments. The type of assignment, the

country characteristics, the host organization

culture/climate, and the nature of the task

should all be taken into consideration when

aligning the expatriate with the array of

potential expatriation assignments.

Summary/conclusions

In the new competitive landscape of the

knowledge-rich global economy, effective

innovations, particularly those in human

resource management systems, are the

determining factor in the ability of

organizations to adapt and exploit global

opportunities. The global human resource

management innovations are rooted within a

given set of practices influencing

organizational choices in a global context. In

particular, the practices associated with

transferring organization-specific

knowledge, like the expatriation of key

individuals, are central to generating flexible

strategic options in global markets.

Effective expatriation requires a repertoire

of individual competencies appropriate for

integrating the tacit knowledge of local

subsidiary contexts, which is scarce and

dispersed in the global organization. This

dispersal of knowledge creates coordination

problems that go beyond the control

problems addressed by the routine practice of

expatriation. Rather, the expatriate abilities,

learning, thinking, and acting must go

beyond the mere `̀ Bayesian updating of

priors'' (Foss, 1999, p. 465), to involve setting

up new interpretative frameworks for

handling new types of unforeseen problems

encountered in global markets. Therefore, for

effective organizational choices, to be

supported by such innovative mental

constructs, the development of an innovative

expatriate selection process is necessary.

The proposed competency-based expatriate

selection process heightens a global

organization's alertness to neglected

opportunities in global markets, thus

compensating for the potential problem of

expatriate `̀ hyper-ignorance'' (i.e. expatriates

not knowing what they do not know about new

market opportunities) as the globalization

process advances. Overcoming this cognitive

constraint through appropriate expatriate

selection process is an important activity in

building a global mindset, which goes beyond

the conventional management of information

asymmetry between the headquarters and

subsidiaries. Expatriates selected based on a

set of competencies become the key foci of

dispersed knowledge about global markets,

and can promote the coordination of specific

effective strategic choices. Therefore, the

competency-based expatriate selection may

contribute to the development of global

dynamic capabilities.

Although only a portion of dispersed

knowledge about global markets can be fully

integrated through the competency-based

expatriation, the resulting enhanced

organizational planning ability can, however,

successfully update top management's

knowledge base. Thus, the top management

team may become more informed about which

kind of specific knowledge is present in the

global organization, which learning processes

are evolving in foreign subsidiaries, and

which knowledge and practices may

successfully be transferred to other parts of

the global organization.

[ 82 ]



It should be noted that when expatriate

selection is competency-based, then these

expatriates are able to capture those

elements of the global market environment

that are stable and possess unique features

(i.e. are non-repeatable and idiosyncratic).

The expatriates selected in the traditional

manner would focus on the typical features

and may not identify such specific features.

With competent expatriates as its focuses of

tacit and distributed knowledge, a global

organization faces lower coordination costs,

which arise in the process of acquiring and

coordinating market knowledge in global

markets.

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