factors in expatriate selections.

International Human Resource Management BM025-3-3-INHRM

Individual assignment

Mohamed Naufal Al Masri


Contents1.0 Introduction...................................................3

2.0 Technical ability..............................................43.0 Cross-cultural suitability.....................................5

4.0 Family requirements............................................64.0 Country/cultural requirements..................................7

5.0 Language ability...............................................76.0 Multinational enterprise (MNE) requirements....................8

7.0 Conclusion.....................................................88.0 References.....................................................9



1.0 IntroductionThe word Expatriate means an individual living in a country

other than their country of citizenship, often temporarily and

for work reasons. An expatriate can also be an individual who

has relinquished citizenship in their home country to become a

citizen of another. Expatriates are able to play tremendously

significant roles during worldwide assignments. The

internalization of business has resulted in the increasing use

of expatriates by organization to fulfil a variety of

functions in their offshore operations. The effective

management of such personnel has been the focus of

considerable attention of Human Resource Management (IHRM)

literature, (Suutari and Brewster, 2000).

To achieve competitive advantage in an increasingly global

economy, organization from both the private and public sector

need to view the selection management or criteria of

expatriates as a critical part of their international human

recourse management strategy. Taking an expatriates assignment

no longer automatically leads to a promotion on return.

Individual now need to network and be proactive in determining

their own path forward.



The organisations strategic positions and vision should

take the view on international human resource management and

how it can be integrated into the organisation. "According to

Dowling and Schuler, (1990) selection is the process of

gathering information for the purpose of evaluating and

deciding who should be employed in a position."

For the human resource practitioner in charge, it can

be challenging to determine what selection criteria to use

when selecting employees for international assignments. The

factors involved in the expatriation selection is, 1)

Technical Ability 2) Cross-Cultural Suitability 3) Family

Requirements 4) Organisation-Specific Requirements 5) Language

and 6) MNE requirements. These factors are all related so they

should not be revised separately. Technical Ability, Cross-

Cultural Suitability and Family Requirements, are the factors

related to the individual, and the Organisation-Specific

Requirements, Language and MNE requirements

are mostly influenced by the working situation they need

to enter.



Figure 1: show factors in expatriate selections.

Source: Adapted from Doweling & Welch, 2004, p 98

2.0 Technical abilityKindly, the person’s ability to perform the required

terms is an important consideration. Technical and managerial

skills are therefore an essential criterion. Indeed, research

findings consistently indicate that multinationals place heavy

reliance on relevant technical skills during the expatriate

selection process. This is not surprising given that ‘position

filling’ is the most common reason for an international

assignment. Reinforcing the emphasis on technical skills is

the relative ease with which the multinational may assess the

candidate’s potential, as technical and managerial competence

can be determined on the basis of past performance. Since

expatriates are predominantly internal recruits, personnel

evaluation records can be examined and checked with the



candidate’s past and present superiors. The dilemma though is

that past performance may have little or no bearing on one’s

ability to achieve a task in a foreign cultural environment,

(M. Birdseye and J. Hill, 1995).

However, the assessment of the potential candidate is

usually based on their previous working experience, where

statements and evaluation records from the candidates

superiors is available. When the candidate needs to solve a

problem in a new international business environment, it must

be noted that experience is not that serious. Technical

abilities are fundamentally the knowledge required to carry

out a task; technical abilities is associated to the working

of tools. An example of technical abilities can be that

financial managers need to make use of business appraisal

tools to assess and set up financial statements like the

income statement and balance sheet, (M. Birdseye and J. Hill,

1995).

3.0 Cross-cultural suitabilityAccording to Dowling and Welch, (2004) important things

to consider when assessing the candidates cross-culture

suitability, is language skills, culture empathy, the attitude

toward new cultures and the level of personnel and emotional

stability." In practice, it is not easy to evaluate the cross-

culture suitability of a candidate as it

is hard precisely know what factors should be included. The

multinational enterprise (MNE) emphasizes the importance of



expatriate’s abilities to create and maintain

a natural relationship, but means to measure such abilities is

not always accurate enough. Efficient relationships for

example, an analysis of the hypothesis that culture with

evident male dominance is more belligerent and it can be

perplexed, because the mock-up of cultures is not autonomous.

In addition, while inter-cultural competence is

recognized as important, it is difficult to precisely define

what this comprises, let alone assess a candidate’s

suitability in this regard. One has to take into consideration

aspects such as the individual’s personality, attitude to

foreigners, ability to relate to people from another cultural

group and so on. Multinationals may indicate that, for

example, relational abilities are an important expatriate

selection criterion, but few will assess a candidate’s

relational ability through a formal procedure such as

judgement by senior managers or psychological tests. As we

will discuss shortly, testing procedures are not necessarily

the answer.

Cross-cultural competence also comes into play in

management styles. Expatriates may soon discover that

participative management is not always the best method to use

in their new setting. This different is particularly profound

in hierarchical societies, where asking for input in front of

colleagues may be viewed with suspicion, and as a possible



ploy to either catch people who don't know the right answer or

setting them up to "lose face."

Finally, successful expats typically accept their new

host culture and become less affected by the cultural

differences. They become more comfortable dealing with

unfamiliar situations and more tolerant of cultural habits

that they may previously have been disturbed by. In the Middle

East, for example, one will observe veteran male Western

expats greeting their Arab colleagues with the familiar light

slapping of the other person's hand before shaking hands

rather than insisting on the typical Western handshake. On the

other hand, the customs of rubbing of noses and male kissing

of some Arab men is probably best left to the locals, P.

Caligiuri,(2000).

4.0 Family requirementsThe contribution that the family, particularly the

spouse, makes to the success of the overseas assignment is now

well documented, as we mentioned above in relation to the

impact of the accompanying spouse/partner on early return.

Despite the importance of the accompanying spouse/partner.

From the multinational’s perspective, expatriate performance

in the host location is the important factor. However, the

interaction between expatriate, spouse/partner and family

members’ various adjustment experiences is now well

documented. It should be pointed out the spouse (or

accompanying partner) often carries a heavy burden. Upon



arrival in the country of assignment, the responsibility for

settling the family into its new home falls on the spouse, who

may have left behind a career, along with friends and social

support networks (particularly relatives), M.A. Shaffer and

D.A. Harrison,(2001).

In developing countries the employment of house servants

is quite common but this is an aspect of international living

that many Westerners from developed countries such as U.S have

some difficulty adjusting to. It is often not possible for the

spouse/partner to work in the country of assignment and the

well-being and education of the children may be an ongoing

concern for the spouse. Though the majority of spouses are

female, accompanying male spouses/partners face similar

problems of adjustment. In fact, when one adds cultural

adjustment problems to such a situation, it is perhaps not so

surprising to find that some couples seek to return home

prematurely, (M. Harvey, 1985).

4.0 Country/cultural requirementsIncreasingly, multinationals are finding that the

inability of the spouse to work in the host country may cause

the selected candidate to reject the offer of an international

assignment. If the international assignment is accepted, the

lack of a work permit for the accompanying spouse or partner

may cause difficulties in adjustment and even contribute to

failure. For these reasons, as reported above, some

multinationals provide assistance in this regard.



Further, the host country may be an important

determinant. Some regions and countries are considered

‘hardship postings’: remote areas away from major cities or

modern facilities; or war-torn regions with high physical

risk. Accompanying family members may be an additional

responsibility that the multinational does not want to bear.

There may be a reluctance to select females for certain South

East Asian regions such as China, Saudi Arabia and other

totalitarian Islamic States in the Middle East and in some

countries a work permit for a female expatriate will not be

issued. These aspects may result in the selection of HCNs

rather than expatriates.

5.0 Language ability Language skill is a significant factor, knowledge of the

host country’s language can be considered essential for many

top level management positions, along with the aptitude to

communicate successfully. Knowledge of the host country’s

foreign language helps the expatriates and their

families/spouse feel more contented in the new

environment. When adopting a corporate language, which is

different from what the, expatriate local, language, is

a fundamental that language skills need to be viewed as

selection criteria.

The ability to speak the local language is an aspect

often linked with cross-cultural ability. However, we have



chosen to stress language as situation-determined in terms of

its importance as a factor in the selection decision. Language

skills may be regarded as of critical importance for some

expatriate positions, but lesser in others, though some would

argue that knowledge of the host country’s language is an

important aspect of expatriate performance, regardless of the

level of position. Differences in language are recognized as a

major barrier to effective cross-cultural communication, (New

York: HarperCollins, 1992). Yet, in terms of the other selection criteria they have

examined above, from the multinational’s perspective, language

is placed lower down the list of desirable attributes. For

example, the ORC Worldwide survey results rank language

ability as the fifth most important selection criteria. In the

past, US multinationals have tended to place a relatively low

importance on foreign language skills, For example, in a 1990

study of US multinationals, Fixman found that foreign language

skills were rarely considered an important part of

international business success, (C. Fixman, 1990).

6.0 Multinational enterprise (MNE) requirements

The MNE’s requirements have an enormous impact on the

decisions and which selection criteria to use. Training skills

are very important, so that expatriates can train locals and

emphasize negotiating skills in new international business

environments. The period of the assignment is another factor



influencing family/spouse. “According to Harris and Brewster,

(1999) they suggested that international managers has many

similar characteristics as those managers working in less

complex environments, but are in need of additional skills

regarding to handle the problems that may arise

internationally.”

Technical abilities is an important factor in the case of

selecting international staff, it provides the employee with

the basic understanding of what is included in their tasks and

what they believe they are capable of doing. The multinational

enterprise (MNE) view the experience of expatriate as very

important, prolong experience is needed to have the

appropriate knowledge to develop a successful organisation.

7.0 ConclusionThe purpose of this study was to gain a better

understanding and knowledge of the selection criteria when

selecting international staff for international assignments.

The criteria for selecting expatriates have been discussed,

and it was noted that it does not differ much from the regular

employee selection process. In order for an international

organisation to operate successfully in a foreign country they

first need to selected an international strategy to enter the

international market/environment. Once the organisation as

entered the market they need to know what staffing approach is

best suitable to the strategy they are following. If the

organisation has determined there strategy and approach, they



then have to take in consideration what criteria they are

going to make use of to select the best expatriate manager for

the international assignment. International organisations have

to take in consideration every aspect of selecting the

appropriate candidate, as the failure of expatriation can be

extremely expensive, A.L. Hixon,(1986).

8.0 References

Websites: UK Essays, A. A. 2014. Criteria For Selecting Staff For International

Assignments Management Essay. [online] Available at:

http://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/criteria-for-

selecting-staff-for-international-assignments-management-

essay.php [Accessed: 6 Jan 2014].

UK Essays, A. A. 2014. Expatriation. [online] Available at:

http://www.ukessays.com/essays/human-resources/expatriation

.php [Accessed: 6 Jan 2014].

Journals:

M. Birdseye and J. Hill, ‘Individual, Organizational/Work and

Environmental Influences on Expatriate Turnover Tendencies:

An Empirical Study’, Journal of International Business

Studies, Vol. 26, No. 4 (1995), pp. 787–813; and E.



Naumann, “Organizational Predictors of Expatriate Job

Satisfaction”, Journal of International Business Studies,

Vol. 24, No. 1 (1993).

P.J. Dowling and D. Welch, ‘International Human Resource

Management: An Australian Perspective’, Asia-Pacific

Journal of Management, Vol. 6, No. 1 (1988).

P. Caligiuri, ‘The Big Five Personality Characteristics as

Predictors of Expatriate’s Desire to Terminate the

Assignment and Supervisor-rated Performance’, Personnel

Psychology, Vol. 53 (2000).

M.A. Shaffer and D.A. Harrison, ‘Forgotten Partners of

International Assignments: Development and Test of a Model

of Spouse Adjustment’, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol.

86, No. 2 (2001).

M. Harvey, ‘The Executive Family: An Overlooked Variable in

International Assignments’, Columbia Journal of World

Business, Spring (1985), pp. 84–93.

D. Victor, International Business Communication (New York:

HarperCollins, 1992).

C. Fixman, ‘The Foreign Language Needs of US-based

Corporations’, ANNALS, AAPSS, Vol. 51 (September 1990), p.

25.

H. Harris and C. Brewster, ‘The Coffee-Machine System: How

International Selection Really Works’, International

Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 10, No. 3



(1999).

M.G. Harvey, ‘The Impact of Dual-Career Families on

International Relocations’, Human Resource Management

Review, Vol. 5, No. 3 (1995).

A.L. Hixon, ‘Why Corporations Make Haphazard Overseas Staffing

Decisions’, Personnel Administrator, Vol. 31, No. 3 (1986).


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