Prof.

Preeti Bhaskar
Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies
Noida

 Approaches of staffing
Recruitment and Selection Procedures of
Expatriates
Expatriates Success and failure factors
Women Expatriate
Non expatriates their roles
Issues in staff selection

International recruitment have 3

important questions -

From what country/ies to recruit (home,

host or third)?
What Techniques to be used when
recruitment is planned out side home
country?
Whether to centralized recruitment
activities in home country or
decentralize in foreign subsidiaries?

Different sources of employees

First, the company can send employees from its
, which are referred to as
expatriates, expats or home country nationals.
Second, it can recruit
(natives of the host country),
Third, it can hire
who are
natives of a country other than the home country
or the host country.

Challenging aspects
First, the initial cost of airfare, living expenses and
transportation in the host country.
The second expense incurred with bringing expatriates
in to the international operation is the training involved
in making sure the people going to the host country are
familiar with, laws, rules, culture, languages and
expectations in the new country.

International employee selection based on

four issues in the context of staffing global
business:
Linking staffing plans with the evolution of
the MNC.
Staffing orientation/ approach of staffing
Managing expatriates
Female expatriates

Linking staffing plans with the

evolution of the MNC:
Staffing strategies differ based on the life cycle of the
MNCs like:
Setting up the host unit
Establishing the technology team to begin core operational
activities.
Full blown operations of the host unit with significant role in
establishing global objectives and targets,
Strong operational leadership at the unit level while globally
consolidating with parents.

Approaches to staffing
Ethnocentric policy
Polycentric policy
Geocentric policy
Regiocentric policy

Ethnocentric policy
Home countrys culture is to be imposed on subsidiaries
MNCs exports its HR Policy from Home country to foreign
location.
Strategic decisions are made at headquarters
Key positions in domestic and foreign operations are
hold by headquarters personnel

Three factors are to be

considered in the staff:
Should be able to adjust in family, cultures and
personality problems to avoid failure.
To succeed, should enjoy local entertainment,
develop local
relationships and communicate with locals.
To achieve success, expatriates to have open
attitude and take training towards host country.
Under ethno centric, lines of communication are one
directional, i.e. advice from headquarters. In fact,
home country attitude and culture
dominates.

Polycentric
MNCs seeks to adapt to the local cultural needs of
subsidiaries
Each subsidiary is a distinct national entity with some
decision-making autonomy
Host-country nationals manage subsidiaries who are
seldom promoted to HQ positions
Parent company
positions

nationals

hold

key

headquarter

Poly centric: Here primary positions are filled

by nationals from host country( HCNs)y.
Advantages of this are:

Advantages of Polycentric
It eliminate the high cost of relocating expatriate manager and
families.
Offer a great degree of autonomy in decision making to subsidiary
heads.
Host country nationals are less expensive than parent country used
and Training Host countrys nationals results in low cost
Better local knowledge
Reduce personal problems
Host country managers can protect a MNC from hostile treatment by host
Government.
Here subsidiary is allowed some autonomy but financial controls are kept.
Top people are limited to subsidiary and not for corporate position.

For example, in international manufacturing and

processing facilities in Mexico, companies recruit
with a sign announcing job openings outside the
facility or by employees introducing family
members who are looking for jobs.
Another example is Hungary, where government
attempts to combat unemployment have led to the
requirement that an organization must get
permission from the Ministry of Labor before hiring
an expatriate

Geocentric
A global approach - worldwide integration
View that each part of the organization makes a unique
contribution
Nationality is ignored in favor of ability:
Best person for the job
Color of passport does not matter when it comes to rewards,
promotion and development.

Regiocentric
Reflects a regional strategy and structure;
Regional autonomy in decision making;
Staff move within the designated region, rather
than globally.

Nationals

Advantages

Disadvantages

PCN

Org. control and

coordination are
maintained & facilitated
Promising managers are
given international Exp

The promotional opportunities of

HCNs are limited.
Adaptation to host country may
take a long time.

HCN

Language and other

barriers are eliminated.
Hiring costs are
reduced and no work
permit is required

Control and coordination of HQ

may be
impeded
HCNs have limited career
opportunity
outside the subsidiary

TCN

Salary and benefits

requirements may be
lower than for PCNs.
TCNs may be better
informed than PCNs
about the host country
environment.

Transfer must consider possible

national animosities (e.g. India
and Pakistan) The host
government may Present hiring
of TCNs.

Choosing an Approach to IHRM

Political and legal concerns

Level of development in foreign locations
Technology and the nature of the product
Organizational life cycle
Age and history of the subsidiary
Organizational and national cultural
differences

Issues in Employee Selection

Staffing
Orientation
(Ethnocentric,
Polycentric etc.)

Linkage between
Staffing and
growth /lifecycle
of MNC

Staffing
MNCs

Female
Expatriate

Managing
Expatriate
HCN, TCN, PCN

Selection criteria for

International Staffing
International selection is a two way process between the individual and the
organization. A prospective candidate may reject the expatriate assignment
either for personal reasons, such as family considerations, or for situational
factors.
However, after an extensive review of literatures on the selection of expats,
the researcher identified 18 variables and grouped them into four categories

Technical Competency
Relational Skills
Ability to cope with variables and
Family Situation

Individual Criteria

Family Support

Expatriate
An expatriate is an employee who is
working and temporarily residing in a
foreign country.
Expatriate work as an agent between
two countries
Also known as
International Assignees

Selection techniques of
expatriates:
Interview structured interview
The
monitoring
and
targeting
of
disadvantaged group (staffing practices
are strongly influenced by norms and
values that are not covered by the law)
Psychological Testing- mentally fit for
international assignment
Assessment
centre

Competency
assessment

Selection Techniques in General, important

steps are-:
Screening the applicants background on the basis of work
experience with cultures other than ones own,
previous overseas travel, knowledge of foreign
language and overall Performance.
Testing the candidate's ability to adapt to the new culture
and environment.
Testing the ability of the spouse and family members of the
candidates to the foreign culture and environment.
Predicting the adjustment of the candidate
Testing the skill of adjustment with the host nationals.
Job duties and responsibilities

Therefore expatriate must meet 6

basic criteria:
They must be willing and motivated to go
overseas
They must be technically able to do the job
They must be adaptable
They must have good inter personal skills and
able to form relationship
They must have good communication ability
and
They must have supportive families

Expatriates Success factors:

Rosalie Tung studied the factors that contributed to expatriate
success and
identify different variables that affect success. She groups them
into 4 general
categories:
1. Job competence
2. Personality traits
3. Relational abilities
4. Environmental variables and family variables
Which are further divided into two heads: general factors and
specific ones

General Factors

Specific Attributes

JOB Competence

Technical skills: knowledge of HQ and host country

operations, general managerial skills, administrative
competence and creativity

Relational Traits

Social Skill: Ability to tolerate ambiguity, Courtesy

and tact
Respect, kindness and behavioral flexibility
Cultural empathy and ethnocentrism
Integrity confidence and emotional stability

Personality Traits

Diplomatic Skill: Believe in the mission

Congruence of assignment with career path
Interest in overseas experience
Willingness to acquire new behavior patterns and
attitudes
Interest to learn Host country language and practice
Adopting attitude of Non verbal communication
Ability to interact with business associates

Environmental and
Family variables

Motivational Skill: Willingness of the spouse to live

overseas
Adaptability and supportiveness of spouse
Stability of marriage

Expatriate problem
Expatriate failure: premature return of the
expatriate manager to his/her home country

Cost of failure is high:

Estimate = 3X the expatriates annual salary plus
the cost of relocation (impacted by currency
exchange rates and assignment location)

Reasons for early return

1.Family concerns
2.Accepted new position in the company
3.Completed assignment early
4.Cultural adjustment challenges
5.Security concerns
6.Career concerns
7.Quality of life
8.Remuneration

Reducing Expatriate failure

Reduce expatriate failure rates by improving
selection procedures
An executives domestic performance does not
(necessarily)
equate
his/her
overseas
performance potential

Employees need to be selected not solely on

technical expertise but also on cross-cultural
fluency

4 dimensions for successful expatriate

selection
1. Self-oriented
Expresses adaptive concern for self-preservation, selfenjoyment, mental hygiene.
2. Perceptual
Accurately understands why host nationals behave the
way they do.
3. Others-oriented
Cares about host national co-workers and affiliates
with them.
4. Cultural-toughness
Able to handle the degree to which the culture of the
host country is incongruent with that of the home
country.

Family-friendly policies
Inter-company networking
Job-hunting assistance
Intra-company employment
On-assignment career support

Adaptability to culture change

Adaptability of men
expatriate
Faster adjustment after
first year when the age
group is 30-35 and higher
level of satisfaction.
Gradual adjustment after
third and forth year when
the age group is 25-30
and medium level of
satisfaction.

Adaptability of women
expatriates:
Slow adjustment after first
year when the age group
is 30-35 and lower level
of satisfaction .
Faster adjustment after
third and forth year when
the age group is 25-30
and medium level of
satisfaction

Roles of Non-expatriates
People who travel internationally yet are not
considered expatriates as they do not relocate to
another country
Road warriors, globetrotters, frequent fliers

Much of international business involves visits to

foreign locations, e.g.
Sales staff attending trade fairs
Periodic visits to foreign operations

Non-expatriates enjoy positives as:

A Glamorous life
Excitement and thrills of conducting business
deals in foreign locations
Life style (top hotels, duty-free shopping,
business class travel)
General exotic nature

Female Expatriate
?

Barriers to females taking international

assignments

Causes of low representation of

Females
Stereotyping

Host country
attitude

Capabilities

Barrier of
female
expatriate
Family
constraints

Sexual
harassment

Male dominant
society

Advantages of Female Expatriate

Better at Relationship skills
Novelty foreign clients believe that those
who are expatriated are the best.
Role Models

Recent trends in International

Staffing
Workforce
diversity

Dual career
couples

Off- shoring

Trends

Recruiting
sources

Background
check

Current Expatriate profile:

Global Staffing
Japan

China

Hire young people out of school

Most hired from school, fewer from other

companies

Slow promotion through the ranks

Slow but regular alary increase

Performance Appraisal once or

twice a year

Performance review usually once a year

Loyalty to the company

Lack of loyalty to both company and

profession

Appraisal of long term performance

5 years plan; short term target

Promotions based on long term

performance and other criteria.

Promotion based on Performance,

Potential ability, and Education but
family ties / good relations with top
managers are important

Training and development

considered a long term investment

Training program available, state exam

administered for managers.

Life time employment common in

companies

Job Security virtually life time

employment.