International Human Resource Management A26E00700

Aalto University, Summer 2011

International Training and Development

Chunfang Tang

Satu Mäkelä

V.S.L.Anupama.

Madhuri Voleti

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Table of Contents:

1 Introduction……………………………………………………….………………………….3

2 Reasons for international training………………………………………...………………….4

2.1 Cultural Dimensions……………...……………………………………………………...5

2.2 Problems……………………………………………………………...………………….8

3 Components of pre-departure training……………………………………………………….8

3.1 Area Studies …………………………………………………………………………….9

3.2 Cultural Assimilators………………………………………………………………...…..9

3.3 Language Training……………………………………………………………………..12

3.4 Sensitive Training………………………………………………………………….…...12

3.5 Field experiences……………………………………………………………………….13

4 Repatriation…………………………………………………………………………………14

4.1 Why Repatriates are Jumping Ship…………………………………………….………16

4.2 Overcoming repatriation……………………………………………………….…….....19

4.3 What Companies Can Do………………………………………………………....……19

5 Case examples………………………………………………………………………………23

5.1 Example of Emirates Airlines………………………………………………………….24

5.1.1 Introduction…………………………………….………………………….……24

5.1.2 The need for human resource management……………………………………24

5.1.3 Training and Orientation……………………………………………………….25

5.1.4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..27

6 References…………………………………………………………………………………….28

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1 Introduction

With the growth in global business, the success of business operations in all geographic spheres of

operation has become more critical to the success of multinational firms. The success of

international business operations is frequently tied to the success of the expatriates sent by

headquarters in maintaining essential communications between headquarters and international

operations (Harzing, 2001).

Multinational companies send employees on different kinds of overseas assignments for multiple

reasons. Most common examples of these overseas assignments are expatriate contracts that are

normally made for 1-3 years. According to Evans et al. (2002) expatriates are dispatched abroad

mainly for three reasons. The first is simply to fill positions that cannot be staffed locally because of

a lack of technical or managerial skills. The second reason is to support management development,

enabling high potential individuals to acquire international experience. The third reason is

organizational development – meaning the control and coordination of international operations

through normative control and/or informal social networks (Evans et al. 2002, p. 139). Therefore

there is a demand for individuals who can function effectively and efficiently in a foreign

environment (Tung, 1981).

After selecting the most competent employee for the given assignment, many companies offer some

kind of cross-cultural training for expatriates and their spouses. The training programs are more

often organized for expatriates from the parent company than for people from other countries.

Programs are not mandatory and in reality, many expatriates receive absolutely no pre-departure

training. However, the greater the cultural distance from the host country and the more social

interaction the job involves, the higher importance there is to organize pre-departure training for

expatriates.

The reason for organizing international training is to prepare the employee for the numerous

obstacles expatriates confront, both in the overseas workplace and in the foreign society. These

experienced obstacles include culture shock, differences in work-related norms, isolation,

homesickness, differences in healthcare, housing, schooling, cuisine, language, customs, sex roles,

and cost of living, to mention just a few (Mendenhall et al., 1987).

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2 Reasons for international training

The reason employees are provided with pre-departure training is mainly to prepare them to

confront the possible cultural shock and also to be able to communicate efficiently with the local

co-workers in the overseas destination. Employees should also be given a proper starting point for

the best possible performance in the overseas assignment. Employees chosen for these overseas

assignments need support from the home company to be able to give their best performance and

succeed in the given career opportunity. Moving to a new overseas destination is a big issue in any

individual’s life and also if there is a family moving along, it makes it even bigger change in a life

of a family.

Series of academic literature suggest that much of expatriate’s success depend on the training

gained before the overseas assignment. Success in expatriation is the goal of all businesses because

it contributes to the success of the firm in the global environment (Varner and Palmer, 2005). It is

difficult to estimate the number of aborted overseas assignments, since the difficulty of getting such

data from MNC’s. According to some estimates (Mendenhall et al. 1987), between 20 to 50 percent

of personnel sent abroad return prematurely from their overseas assignment. It is obvious that also

the financial costs of such premature returns are significant. The inability of expatriates to adjust to

the host culture’s social and business environment is costly in terms of performance, productivity in

the overseas operation, client relations, and operations efficiency. There are also “invisible costs”

due to the overseas failure: the loss of self-esteem and self-confidence in expatriate’s ability and the

loss of prestige among one’s peers (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985).

In order to avoid these financial and emotional costs associated with the premature return of

expatriates, many MNC’s have instituted overseas relocation programs in their human resource

divisions. Along with careful expatriate selection, companies should provide training for these

expatriate candidates in cross-cultural skills that will prepare them for problems that are unique to

the overseas employee (Mendenhall et al. 1987).

According to Tung (1982), the use of rigorous training programs could significantly improve the

expatriate’s performance in an overseas environment, thus minimizing the incidences of failure.

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Given this finding, it appears all the more important for MNC’s to provide more comprehensive

training for their expatriates.

2.1 Cultural Dimensions

Culture plays a major role in the success of expatriate assignees. Culture has an impact on the way

people communicate and do business with each other. It influences how the business is organized as

well as how business contracts are negotiated. International business, by its very nature, brings

people of various cultures together. As a result, multinational firms face intercultural

communication and management issues daily (Varner and Palmer, 2005).

The cultures of some countries seem to be more difficult to adapt than do the cultures of other

countries. Therefore, how well the expatriate adjust to his/her overseas experience seems to be in

part related to the country of assignment (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985). The experienced cultural

shock depend much on the cultural distance, meaning how far from each other are the culture of

expatriate’s home country compared to the culture of the overseas target country. This experienced

cultural distance can have an enormous effect on the success of the performance of an expatriate.

Being aware of these cultural dimensions help expatriates to be more fluent in communication and

the expected reactions from counterparts can be more easily predicted.

Hofstede (1984) has identified four underlying value dimensions along which the countries could be

positioned. The four dimensions represent elements of common structure in the cultural systems of

the countries.

1. Individualism versus Collectivism

Individualism stands for a preference for a loosely knit social framework in society wherein

individuals are supposed to take care of themselves and their immediate families only. Its opposite

collectivism, stands for a preference for a tightly knit social framework in which individuals can

expect their relatives, clan, or other in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning

loyalty. The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a

society maintains among individuals. It relates to people's self-concept; "I" or "we".

2. Large versus Small Power Distance

Power distance is the extent to which the members of a society accept that power in institutions and

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organizations is distributed unequally. This affects the behaviour of the less powerful as well as of

the more powerful members of society. People in Large Power Distance societies accept a

hierarchical order in which everybody has a place which needs no further justification. People in

Small Power Distance societies strive for power equalization and demand justification for power

inequalities. The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is how a society handles

inequalities among people when they occur. This has obvious consequence for the way people build

their institutions and organizations.

3. Strong versus Weak Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance is the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with

uncertainty and ambiguity. This feeling leads them to beliefs promising certainty and to maintaining

institutions protecting conformity. Strong uncertainty avoidance societies maintain rigid codes of

belief and behavior and are intolerant towards deviant persons and ideas. Weak uncertainty

avoidance societies maintain a more relaxed atmosphere in which practice counts more than

principles and deviance is more easily tolerated. The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension

is how a society reacts on the fact that time only runs one way and that the future is unknown:

whether it tries to control the future or to let it happen. Like power distance, uncertainty avoidance

has consequences for the way people build their institutions and organizations.

4. Masculinity versus Femininity

Masculinity stands for a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness, and material

success. Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for relationships, modesty, caring for the

weak, and the quality of life. This fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the way in

which a society allocates social (as opposed to biological) roles to the sexes. Some societies strive

for maximum social differentiation between the sexes. The norm is then that men are given the

more outgoing, assertive roles and women the caring, nurturing roles. As in all societies most

institutions are populated by men. Such maximum-social-differentiation societies will permeate

their institutions with an assertive mentality. Such societies become "performance societies" evident

even from the values of their women.

Other societies strive for minimal social differentiation between the sexes. This means that some

women can take assertive roles if they want to but especially that some men can take relationship-

oriented, modest, caring roles if they want to. Even in these societies, most institutions are

populated by men (maybe slightly less than in masculine societies). The minimum-social-

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differentiation societies in comparison with their opposite, the maximum-social-differentiation

societies, will permeate their institutions with a caring, quality-of-life orientated mentality. Such

societies become "welfare societies" in which caring for all members, even the weakest, is an

important goal for men as well as women.

"Masculine" and "feminine" are relative qualifications: they express the relative frequency of values

which in principle are present in both types of societies. The fact that even modern societies can be

differentiated on the basis of the way they allocate their social sex role is not surprising in the light

of anthropological research on non-literate, traditional societies in which the social sex role

allocation is always one of the essential variables. Like the Individualism-Collectivism dimension,

the masculinity-femininity dimension relates to people's self-concept: “who am I and what is my

task in life?“

One more dimension worth considering is introduced by Varner and Palmer (2005). Also,

understanding these dimensions can help communication between people from different cultural

background. The perception of similarities and differences of cultures and the perceptions of

superiority and inferiority of cultural behavior also play a role in the adjustment to different

cultures. The awareness of one’s own self-reference criterion (SRC) and mindset can contribute to a

better understanding of the other side’s cultural priorities and values (Varner and Palmer, 2005).

High context versus low context

Low context cultures spell things out. They are precise and leave nothing to chance. High context

cultures, on the other hand, derive meaning from the context rather than the actual words.

In low context cultures, contracts, and precise words are important, whereas high-context cultures

focus on the building of relationship, face, and belonging. Because of this, high context cultures

tend to be more group oriented and hierarchical.

To maintain harmonious relationships, members of high-context cultures tend to emphasize non-

verbal and indirect communication. By the standards of low context cultures, communication in

high-context cultures is more ambiguous and vague. Individuals from low context cultures get

easily frustrated with what they perceive to be “circuitous” communication that does not get

anywhere. Individuals from high-context cultures, on the other hand, feel just as frustrated in

low-context cultures with the emphasis on rules and procedures.

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The stress associated with the need to cope with different communication patterns can also lead to

frustration and burnout. Stress can be further heightened by a lack of awareness and consciousness

of one’s own cultural communication patterns and preferences.

2.2 Problems

A number of studies (Tung, 1981, 1982, 1984; Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985, 1986) report that

quite many of the companies involved in international trade do not provide any preparatory training

for employees destined to work abroad. When such training support is not offered, the probability

of failure increases dramatically, because the initial months abroad are the hardest, and normally

during that time period the home office often has the highest expectations for performance.

Therefore, without preparation in key cross-cultural skills, that particular time period has the

highest likelihood of producing the poorest performance during the interim of the overseas

assignment and sets the tone for the rest of the overseas stay (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1986)

Mendenhall et al. (1985, 1987) have listed reasons given by MNC personnel for not focusing efforts

and resources to the cross-cultural training of expatriates:

The belief that cross-cultural training programs are not effective

Past dissatisfaction with the training program on the part of expatriate trainees

The lack of time between selection and relocation prohibits in-depth cross-cultural training

because there is not enough time to expose the expatriate to “quality” training

The perception that because the overseas assignment is relatively short (1-3 years) it does

not warrant budget expenditures on training

The trend toward employing local nationals in management

No perceived need for such programs on the part of top management

Also, many personnel administrators believe that the dimensions of acculturation are simply not

known well enough to devise sound training programs (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1986).

3 Components of pre-departure training

Training programs designed to prepare personnel for cross-cultural encounters were classified into

five major categories. Presented in ascending order of rigor with which the program sought to

impart knowledge and understanding of a foreign country, the five important components are: (1)

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Area studies, which are to explain the history, geography, economy, politics, and other general

information about the host country and region. (2) Cultural assimilators, to provide a written set of

situations that the trainee might encounter in living or working in the host country. Trainee selects

one from a set of responses to the situation and is given feedback as to whether it is appropriate and

why. (3) Language training to promote fluency in a foreign language and gain a better

understanding of the foreign country. (4) Sensitive training to develop attitudinal flexibility, like

general cross cultural skills, orientation to sensitive aspects of the host culture. e.g. religious,

political & social sensitivities. (5) Field experiences are to provide an opportunity for the trainee to

go to the host country or another unfamiliar culture to experience living and working for a short

time (Rosalie L. Tung, 2001).

3.1 Area studies

Area studies programs include environmental briefing and cultural orientation programs. They are

designed to provide the trainee with information about a particular country’s sociopolitical history,

geography, stage of economic development, and cultural institutions. The content is factual in

nature, and they prepare the individual for the particular environment to which he has been

assigned.

The basic assumption behind this approach is that “Knowledge will increase empathy, and empathy

will modify behavior in such a way as to improve intercultural relationships” (Campbell, 1969, p.

3). Although there is some indication that increased knowledge will remove some of the fear and

aggression that tend to be aroused by the unknown, the evidence that knowledge will invariably in

increased empathy is sparse and usually not the result of rigorous experimental control. Besides,

there is evidence to indicate that “understanding” and “endorsement” of a different culture are not

necessary linked (Useem, Useem and Donoghue, 1963; Deutsch, 1970).

3.2 Cultural assimilators

The cultural assimilator has become one of the most effective approaches to cross-cultural training.

A cultural assimilator is a programmed learning technique that is designed to expose members of

one culture to some of the basic concepts, attitudes, roles of perceptions, customs, and values of

another. These assimilators are developed for each pair of cultures. For example, if an MNC is

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going to send three U.S. managers from Chicago to Caracas, a cultural assimilator would be

developed to familiarize the three Americans with Venezuelan customs and cultures. If three

Venezuelan managers from Caracas were to be transferred to Singapore, another assimilator would

be developed to familiarize the managers with Singapore customs and cultures.

In most cases, there assimilator requires the trainee to read a short episode of a culture encounter

and choose an interpretation of what was happened and why. If the trainee’s choice is correct, he or

she goes on to the next episode. If the response is incorrect, the trainee is asked to reread the

episode and choose another response.

One of the major problems in constructing an effective cultural assimilator is deciding what is

important enough to include. Some assimilators use critical incidents that are identified as being

important. To be classified as a critical incident, a situation must be meet at least one of the

following conditions:

An expatriate and a host national interact in the situation.

The situation is puzzling or likely to be misinterpreted by the expatriate.

The situation can be interpreted accurately if sufficient knowledge about the culture is

available.

The situation relevant to the expatriate’s task or mission requirements.

These incidents are typically obtained by asking expatriates and host nationals with whom they

come in contact to describe specific intercultural occurrences or events that made a major difference

in their attitudes or behavior toward members of the other culture. These incidents can be pleasant,

unpleasant or simply non-understandable occurrences.

After the cultural assimilator’s critical incidents are constructed and the alternative responses are

written, the process is validated. Making sure that the assimilator is valid is the crux of its

effectiveness. One way to test an assimilator is to draw a sample from the target culture and ask

these people to read the scenarios that have been written and choose the alternative they feel is most

appropriate. If a large percentage of the group agrees that one of the alternatives is preferable, this

scenario is used in the assimilator. If more than one of the four alternatives receives strong support,

however, either the scenario or the alternatives are revised until there is general agreement or the

scenario is dropped.

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After the final incidents are chosen, they are sequenced in the assimilator booklet and can be put

online to be taken electronically. Similar cultural concepts are placed together and presented,

beginning with simple situations and progressing to more complex ones. Most cultural assimilator

programs start with 150 to 200 incidents, of which 75 to 100 eventually are included in the final

product.

In addition to assimilators, a variety of other approaches are used in preparing managers for

international assignments. The best “mix” of training often is determined by the individual’s length

of stay. The longer that a person will be assigned to an international locale, the greater the depth and

intensity of the training should be. The following illustrates this idea.

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Source: From M.E. Mendenhall, E. Dunbar, and G.R. Oddou, “Expatriate selection, traning and career-pathing: A review and critique,” Human

Resource and Management, Fall 1987, p. 338.

Using the model in this figure, if the expected level of interaction is low and the degree of similarity

between individual’s culture and the host culture is high, the length of the training should be less

than a week, and methods such as area and cultural briefings should be used. Conversely, if the

level of interaction is going to be high and the individual will be gone for 1 to 3 years, use of

assessment centers, field experiences, and simulations should be considered. The degree, type, and

length of training are results of expected integration and length of stay. Simply put, today’s MNCs

use a contingency approach in developing their training strategy.

3.3 Language training

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One recognized weakness of many MNCs is that they do not give sufficient attention to the

importance of language training. English is primary language of international business, and most

expatriates from all countries can converse in English. However, those who can speak only English

are at a distinct disadvantage when doing business in non-English-speaking countries. Language

can be a very critical factor as it can be the most effective indirect method of learning about a

country, as well as the value system and customs of its people. Thus, the expatriate to be taught a

language of the country, which he or she is assigned, is usually necessary. This often involves

months, or sometimes years, before an expatriate can master the language.

3.4 Sensitive training

These programs focus upon learning at the effective level and are designed to develop attitudinal

flexibility within the individual so that he can become aware of and eventually accept that

“unfamiliar” modes of behavior and value systems can also be valid ways of doing things in a

different culture.

Although the effectiveness of sensitivity training sessions has been questioned, there is some

indication that “sensitivity training may well be a powerful technique in the reduction of ethnic in

psychological anomy” (Rubin, 1967, p. 30). The Peace Corps developed a strategy whereby such

sessions were supplemented with field experiences, discussed below.

3.5 Field experiences

These involve sending the expatriate to the country of assignment or “Micro-cultures” nearby (e.g.,

Indian reservations, urban black ghettoes) where the trainees may undergo some of the emotional

stress that can be expected while living and working with people from different subculture.

Research indicates that even though differences in cultural content exist between these micro-

cultures and the country to which the trainee is ultimately assigned, trainees seem to benefit from an

encounter with people whose way of life is different from their own, since “the process problems

that grow out of confrontation are similar” (Harris and Harris, 1972, p.9).

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Given the financial resources available to international corporations and the ready accessibility to

micro-culture’s home, it appears that international companies could easily introduce their

expatriates for overseas assignments to such types of training programs. The field experience of

living and working with members of a micro-culture need not involve months, or even several

weeks, away from the company. Often a full week’s “live-in” experience would expose the

expatriate to the emotional stress of living with members of a different culture. Many of other

training programs that are designed to improve technical or human relations skills involve weeklong

sessions. Consequently, such field experiences of living in a micro-culture could not be dismissed

as a waste of scarce executive time.

The five types of training programs outlined above focus upon different kinds of learning-cognitive

versus affective- and vary in terms of medium of instruction, information content, and time and

resources required. These five types of programs are by no means mutually exclusive and should

not be construed as such. Rather, they should be complementary and seen as part of a continuum

ranging from low rigor (area studies type) to highly rigorous training programs (sensitivity training

and field experiences). Depending upon the type of job and the country of foreign assignment, the

individual should be exposed to one or several of these programs. This proposal will be elaborated

further in the subsequent section.

4 Repatriation

Many expatriate employees encounter problems that limit their contribution to the company when

they return home. A largely overlooked but critically important issue in the training and

development of expatriate is to prepare them for re-entry into their own home country organization.

Repatriation is defining as the activity of bringing the expatriate back to the home country. When

return at home, expatriates face an organization that doesn’t know what they have done for the last

few years, doesn’t know how to use their new knowledge, and doesn’t particularly care. This ‘re-

entry shock’ often occurs as people are less prepared for their return home to present problems of

adjustment.

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The word “Repatriation” comes from a Latin word “Repatriare” meaning to restore or return to

country of origin, or citizenship. Repatriation is opposite of expatriation. Repatriation involves that

the International Assignee (IA) goes back to the parent company and the home country (sweet

home) from the foreign assignment.

The international projects have become an integral part of individual’s careers and an indispensable

tool for attracting, developing and retaining talent. The Multi National Corporations (MNCs) have

tried to select the “best and the brightest” for the foreign assignment. The MNCs make a significant

investment nearly over one (1-2) million dollars when they send an employee overseas but most of

the expatriates (expats) around fifty (50) percent leave within a year of their return home or resign.

Re-entry positions signal the importance of international experience. There are many job-related

and social factors, which may cause re-entry problems for the repatriate. The prime job-related

factors identify is career anxiety due to no post-assignment guarantee of employment, loss of

visibility, employment relationship, re-entry position, devaluing the overseas experience, coping

with new role, demands loss of status, isolation changes in home, family adjustment, social

networks and the effect of partners career.

Repatriation is usually not considered problematic as expatriation since the individual is now

returning home. Research studies however indicate that repatriation is more difficult than

expatriation. Repatriation gets less attention because organization are unaware of the real, very

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painful things that happen to expatriates coming home. Many expatriates find the process much

more stressful.

.

4.1 Why Repatriates are Jumping Ship

“To their great surprise many returnees and their families soon discover that they are returning

neither to the home they remember nor to the homecoming they had anticipated,”

First, reverse culture shock- many people living in a host country for several years. Experience

what one repatriate called a “transformational” process. When immersed in a culture different from

their own they undergo a broadening of mind and outlook. It’s often more than the enrichment of

living in a different culture. Some have Epiphanies—they finally “get it” that what they have

always taken for granted as THE WORLD- AS-IT-IS constitutes only an infinitesimal slice of the

human experience. The attitude with which the expatriate views the repatriation is very important.

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Some returnee becomes re-socialized, some become alienated and some become proactive

returnees.

Re-socialized returnees forget the overseas experience and they work for organization without the

global orientation. They neither use culturally acquired skills nor try to fit back into the organization

and act like they have not been away. Alienated returnees praise everything foreign and are critical

to domestic behavior. They disassociate themselves from the home culture and the home

organization. Proactive returnees incorporate the best experience from both the foreign and the

domestic cultures. They integrate the overseas and the home domestic culture. Usually the longer is

the foreign assignment and greater is the cultural adjustment abroad, the more time the returnee will

take to return to domestic work environment.

Largely, one doesn’t; it is literally a “you had to be there” phenomenon that for some repatriates

creates an unbridgeable chasm between themselves and people with whom they formerly shared a

similar worldview.

Second, misleading memories- on another level, most expatriates do miss home . So much so, in

fact, that with the passage of time tricks of memory enhances its plain, prosaic realities. Homesick

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expatriates develop “myths about the general environment and culture of their home country” that

no reality can match. When they do return home the pleasant myths and heightened memories

quickly succumb to plain facts. The reality they encounter can’t equal the myths their mind has

woven. When their idealities are vanquished by reality, expatriates can feel morose and diminished.

Third, change happens- this disconnects between myth and reality takes place not only in the

mind of the repatriate but also in the fact that even the reality they left has changed. It is not just a

matter of the new supermarket where the old grammar school was razed, the dualization of Route 1,

the modernistic renovations to First Community Church and the annoying traffic light interrupting

the flow of main street traffic. It’s also the people. Some of the old friends and acquaintances have

departed and been replaced by outsiders. Others have found new, time-consuming pursuits and

aren’t available much. With others it is just hard to reconnect. All in all, repats returning home

yearn for familiar comforts and the routine of continuity. Within several days they say to

themselves and each other, “This is not what I thought it would be like.” The incongruity between

expectation and reality has hit hard.

Fourth, unwelcome lifestyle changes- On a practical level, unpleasant adjustments in life style

may prove necessary. While on foreign assignment the employee and family are often able to live in

a semi-luxury that can’t be sustained in the home country. After returning to the US following

seven years abroad, one woman, self-sufficient in many ways, sheepishly admitted that one of the

most jarring adjustment of her resettlement in the US was the absence of domestic help.

Fifth, people again- many repatriates could gladly dispense with the elites if only the non-elites

with whom they have reunited were more interested in their slide shows of foreign fauna and stories

of what at the time seemed like grand adventures. But they are immersed in their own worlds and

activities.

Finally, loneliness-To top it all off, when expats ask what they miss most about their global

experience many cite the closely-knit expatriate community. They realize now that it was artificial

in some ways, but it was also warm, vivid, embracing and fun. Even if wild beasts had prowled the

outer walls of the expatriate compound and mandated convivial togetherness, they still felt cared for

and safe. This community, forged by the commonality of a tiny minority in a strange land, has no

equivalent at home.

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For most repatriates the kicker is that they had no idea it would be like this. They feel almost

betrayed, perhaps by the company, certainly by their own naïve expectations. That they have

themselves, in part, to blame, does not stem the onrush of jumbled emotions like sadness,

embarrassment, anger and loneliness. “You can go home again, but it’s no longer home.” At least

the employee has a place he can go where he can feel affirmed in his global accomplishment,

flushed with subdued pride and the expectation of reward. But again, reality disappoints.

Further conversation dispels the employee’s hopes for the immediate gratification of promotion and

generous financial remuneration. It may take a couple days of murmured exchanges around the

corporate campus until the repatriate is plumped down in a position that not only neglects the skills

he left with but makes no use of those he gained while away. And it is all rather vague, hard to get

hold of. Nobody really explains it to him straightforwardly and in this absence of information and

convincing reassurances unhappy thoughts take shape. This is the sort of situation that led one

recent repatriate to comment, “I can’t come up with anything positive…I would say zero positive

aspects from repatriating, professionally…no, absolutely zero positives professionally. Zero.”

In one of the Global Benchmarking Survey they found that two-thirds of the Human Resources

respondents believed international assignments essential to career mobility in their companies. But

immediately upon their return many repatriates are alarmed to find that nobody knows what to do

with them. They are stuck in lower level, temporary jobs that nobody knows the precise duration of.

The old position is gone, either filled or absorbed by other functions and a job of equal challenge

and authority did not materialize in honor of his return. Before he can blink twice the repatriate

experiences “a reduced work status, downward career move and loss of autonomy.”

Within a week’s time the employee’s commitment to the company plummets. This disillusionment,

seasoned with pinches of reverse culture shock, persuades the employee to evaluate his other

options. From this point it is only a matter of time before he becomes another attrition statistic.

4.2 Overcoming repatriation

Repatriation is often the ‘forgotten’ phase of the expatriation cycle; the emphasis for support is

mostly on the actual period abroad.. However, these difficulties are highly influenced by a number

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of factors including self-management, spouse's adjustment, time spent abroad and skill utilization.

What is crucial is that every individual perceives these factors in a different way.

Direct managers and HR staff often notice the difficulties a repatriate experiences, but they are not

always able to act on it. Budget shortcomings and time constraints are frequently cited as reasons

why it fails to be an agenda priority. Solutions for repatriation difficulties do not have to be

expensive and can lead to great benefits for the company.

4.3 What Companies Can Do

Addressing painful issues of repatriation is not the responsibility of the company alone. But if

looking for a rationale for action, companies can review Michael Harvey’s 1989 study, in which he

says, “The work-role transition that repatriation represents is of great importance for the company

because of the vast amount of financial resources invested in the person during the foreign

assignment. It is a huge investment, and due to this, a “return on investment” in which the employee

puts into practice his or her newly acquired knowledge or experience is expected. In short, to

preserve their ROI companies need to take decisive steps to prevent widespread repatriate

disaffection. Fortunately, the causes of repatriate disaffection are straightforward and so are the

remedies.

Companies need to close the gap between expectation and reality. In some cases information and

education can bring expectations into conformance with reality. In others companies need to bring

reality into closer proximity with expectation. With intentionality and planning, both can be

accomplished.

A successful repatriation is one in which, upon return, the repatriate: gains access to a job which

recognizes any newly acquired international competences, experiences minimal cross-culture

readjustment difficulties; and reports low turnover intentions.” Companies can help produce such

happy outcomes with a modicum of planning.

These are some of the greatest risks generally quoted by the companies:

• family difficulties posed by assignments,

• selecting candidates that are either unsuitable or unwilling to accept assignments,

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• not taking advantage of the skills and knowledge acquired by assignees.

• losing employees after repatriation.

• remaining competitive while trying to control costs and provide consistent policy coverage.

• security of assignees.

• non-compliance to various laws and regulations by assignees (sometimes caused by

“stealth expatriates”).

By instituting repatriation practices companies address three of the first four items of concern.

Some suggest that repatriation planning should begin when the expatriate has about six months

remaining on his assignment.

“The time to begin planning for reentry is even before sending employees on foreign

assignment.”

“Set post-assignment expectations before the assignment begins.”

Comprehensive and effective repatriation programming addresses itself to the threefold structure of

the repatriation event.

1. The expatriation and assimilation stages have to be handled properly, there should now be no

unpleasant surprises. Casual friends may not badger them for slide shows or for detailed

characterizations of host country foliage but the returnees will know that this has nothing to do with

them, but is simple how things are. The key is no unpleasant surprises.

2. Within one to two weeks of repatriation the employee and family are invited (or mandated, as in

the case of the employee) to attend a day of activities that includes an informal debriefing on the

expatriate experience, open conversation on what repatriation has been like so far, training on

reverse culture shock from somebody who has experienced it and, if at all possible, informal

conversation with other employees and family members about the jolts of repatriation, jolts that

should now be relatively minor because in some cases expectations have been adjusted to the reality

and in others the reality brought into conformance with legitimate expectations. Ideally, these

events should be led by a consultant to encourage honest conversation and protect employee

confidentiality.

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3. The early reentry phase of repatriation is not known to promote a high level of intimate partner-

to-partner sharing. Both parties are under strain and understandably preoccupied with their own

agendas. Though solid figures are hard to come by, the coming months can be maritally vulnerable.

4. One of the most common repatriate complaints is that the talent and expertise gained while on

global assignment is not put to use upon return. Even if the employee’s first job does not draw on

global learnings, attentive company officials can provide repatriates with speaking opportunities by

sponsoring seminars, luncheon Q&A sessions and other informal events. This will go a long way

toward helping repatriates feel valued.

5. Lastly, we spoke earlier of the vital role played by the close-knit expatriate community. It is

impossible to duplicate this on the home front but this does not negate the possibility of forming

groups of repatriates to meet periodically in order to provide support and share coping strategies.

The problems of repatriates is commonly noted and discussed, as is the ongoing inaction of the

keepers of the corporate tills. Since repatriate desertions come under the human resources retention

under the human resource retention umbrella, it properly falls to human resources to tackle the gap

between understanding and corrective action.

One problem may be that those with the most to gain by human resource initiatives are already

headed for the door, thereby depriving the cause of its most motivated constituency. If this is the

case, then human resources needs to bring the cause more vigorously to current expatriates and their

managers. In doing so they are bound to encounter the classic counter-intuitive nature of the

difficulty.

In short Basic support can consist, for example, of good communication in advance, during and

after the international assignment, or a mentor program to assist the repatriate. The expatriate and

his/her family should feel understood by his or her company. Support can increase job satisfaction,

thereby protecting the investment made by the company.

Where the facts drive a coherent narrative that stresses the financial hit companies are taking,

intuition will need to excuse itself from the conversation. The mention of current expatriates as a

natural constituency to advocate for change brings us to our query: why don’t expatriates press

repatriation issues more vigorously? The simplest answer is that their dispersion around the globe

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makes concerted action difficult to organize. And perhaps they too are displaying the common

human trait of assuming that for them it will be different.

5 Case examples

Organizations worldwide often react to economic downturns and uncertainty abroad by cutting

training for expatriates and international business travelers. That shortsighted response is unwise

and counterproductive.

The European company Unidata, formed to challenge IBM's domination of the global computer

market, was a high-profile alliance of Dutch, German, and French computer producers. That

alliance formed many multicultural businesses and technical teams. After several years of

acrimonious infighting, the entire venture was dissolved without launching a single product.

Siemens and Westinghouse. These two powerhouses planned to team up and sell worldwide a range

of industrial automation and control systems. The project, however, never survived negotiations.

The stated cause: lack of common ground between partners.

Renault and Volvo. According to Ward's Automotive International, the deal between these two

automotive giants failed due to "overwhelming cultural differences." Expatriates and international

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business travelers know the importance of making a positive impression. Failure not only

undermines the mission of their organizations, but also hinders expats from making local allies.

The costs associated with failed expatriate assignments may be avoided by using proper selection

procedures when choosing managers for expatriate assignments (Stone, 1991; Tung, 1982).

Although research seems to indicate that there are numerous factors to consider when selecting an

employee for an expatriate assignment, many firms still emphasize the importance of technical

skills in the selection process (Pucik and Saba, 1998; Tung, 1987). Tung (1981) identified several

sets of selection variables that lead to expatriate success which are: family situation, technical skills,

personality traits, and environmental characteristics. She also indicates that the kind of tasks that the

expatriate will engage in (e.g., Tasks of a CEO, functional head, technical expert) will affect the

importance of these selection criteria. Stone (1991) surveyed multinationals from several countries

and found out that the ability to adapt, spouse and family adaptability and technical competence

were the top three selection criteria.

5.1 Example of Emirates Airlines

5.1.1 Introduction

Emirates Airlines is one of the fastest growing airline companies in the world amongst all the other

international airlines even though it is one of the youngest airlines flying the skies. Emirates airline

was born just 20 years ago as an official airline, which is an international airline of the UAE.

Emirates main goal from the beginning was of attaining quality and not quantity. The government

of Dubai made an investment in the beginning in emirates and looked at it as a purely independent

business entity ant till date the growth of emirates has never been below 20 percent yearly.

5.1.2 The need for human resource management

The human resource management is responsible for the employees’ satisfaction and how efficiently

they work. The human resource management has a goal of helping the organization to meet its

objectives and strategic goals by effectively managing employees and maintaining them.

Political /Legal Factors:- emirates is a government owned airline and gets a competitive advantage

over other airlines in United Arab Emirates since it has its own separate terminal and traffic moving

in and out of this terminal makes it convenient faster and easier for them.

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Economical Factors:- emirates always had the government support due to this emirates again

always had an advantage, for example when the economy is booming it can make further

investments such as buying more aircrafts. During recession the human resource management

reduced the inflow of employees or it can even be said that they froze the recruitment of any further

employees.

Socio-cultural Factors:- Dubai is a cultural hub so it has a multi-cultural population which gives

emirates an international exposure as it is bound to have flights to many international destinations

thus giving it more international coverage.

Technological Factors:- A380 as a technological asset for emirates which most of the other air

carriers don’t have. And A380 currently flies to over nine different locations which are “London

Heathrow, Sydney, Auckland, Bangkok, Toronto, Paris, Seoul, Jeddah and Beijing.” this again

came to them as an advantage that the human resource management invested in A380 before

recession came and after that no other airline could match up to this airbus a380. (emirates A380

flight Schedule, 2010)

5.1.3 Training and Orientation

Emirates cabin crew is regarded as one of the best. The cabin crew is of a variety of nationalities

from around the world. According to the Emirates annual report, the crew come from over a

hundred and twenty countries, and speaks over eighty languages (Emirates, 2009). Since the cabin

crew are constantly in immediate contact with the customers and also responsible for all on-board

operations, Emirates spends about five to six percent of their revenues on training and development,

as opposed to other airlines that spend a mere three to four percent (as stated by Mr. Brendon

Noonan, Senior Vice President, Group Learning and Development). Training and Development are

a very important process for an organization. Training emphasizes on the skills an employee will

learn which would be used in their immediate job. Big payoffs for the employer are guaranteed in

terms of productivity and contribution, if employees are provided with training at the right time

(About.com).

Emirates Airlines follows a systematic approach to training. Theoretically, this refers to a three step

process: assessment, which is basically a question as to what is needed, where when and by whom.

The second step is training activity, which helps attain the objectives of that would satisfy the

airlines goals. The third step is the evaluation process, which is measuring the outcome of the

various training activities (Stone, R., 2005). According to Mr. Noonan, Emirates Airline recognized

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that frequent flyers wanted a better of quality service when they flew from one destination to

another. Hence this was the assessment stage. This fueled their objectives as Emirates Airline did

the best they could to provide this service to their valued customers, a service offered that was

better than any other competitor.

The Emirates Airlines training facility is a specifically built only for employee training. It is a seven

story, state of the art center (Emiratesgroupcareers.com). The training activity phase of the three

step process to systematic training is further broken down into different types of training activities

and processes. Classroom education is one such type. This form of training is the most economical

and also enables trainees’ to share their opinions and exchange ideas with each other, hence

expanding each individual’s knowledge. Most airlines use this type of education as their primary

training method, where as Emirates Airlines uses it only as a basic method, which is collaborated

with many other types of training methods. Since Emirates Airlines also owns the Dubai Duty Free,

and also has an on-board shopping store, classroom training is used to educate their trainees and

provide them with sufficient information on the entire range of products available. Specific

classrooms are allocated for this purpose (Emiratesgroupcareers.com).

Simulation is another form of training that is usually one of the most expensive type of training

methods. Emirates Airlines uses simulation training in the form of machine simulation. Machine

simulation is a term given to facilities that are provided to employees that are exact replicas of the

equipment in the actual work environment. Emirates Airlines has commissioned thirteen such

simulators that cover all types of aircrafts (Emirates Annual Report, 2009). These are exact copies

of the actual cabins in the aircrafts. These simulators are very important with respect to safety and

emergency training of employees. They are equipped with smoke simulators and visual and audio

displays, as well as two flight demonstration kitchens with fully functioning equipment

(Emiratesgroupcareers.com).

On the job experience is another method used by Emirates Airlines to train their employees. When

on duty, the emirates employees are to use the purpose-built, exclusive departure and arrivals

terminal. This type of training extinguishes the issue of transferring the learning situation to the job

(Stone, R., 2005). Action Learning is also a type of training that deals with learning by experience.

Emirates Airlines also provides their cabin crew with ‘mock-ups’ that enable the employees to

receive hands on training, as Mr. Noonan said. They are also given assignments related to issues

and problems that are dealt with on the job and assessed as to how they react to these issues and

solve them. These assignments are either individual or group assignments. Project based group

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assignments aid in enhancing an individual’s tolerance for team building and coordination. Mr.

Noonan believes that Emirates Airlines uses this method of training to evaluate one’s strengths and

weakness, thus playing to the strengths and developing the weaknesses.

Lastly, with respect to the different types of technologies used in training of employees, Emirates

uses Multimedia training and Web-Based training. Multimedia training is a combination of both

Audio-Visual and Computer-Based training. Computer-Based training helps in developing the

computer skills of an individual where as Audio-Visual training is the use of interactive video’s so

as to help trainees understand actual on-duty situations and interactions with customers (Stone, R.,

2005). Web-Based training is provided to employees through a internet or intranet browser. Hence

it is accessible anywhere, thus working to the advantage of Emirates Airlines’ cabin crew who are

constantly traveling.

The last step, evaluation, is a process of measuring the training activities and determining as to if

they attained the objectives and to what level. As in the case with Emirates Airlines, they have

attained innumerable awards for their service quality. They are known for the experience they

provide their customers and are considered one of the best airlines in the world.

5.1.4 Conclusion

Thus to conclude, Emirates Airlines is one the leading airlines in the airline sector and the credit

goes to the practices and strategies they follow. The HR department at Emirates integrates the aims

and vision into the strategies. Besides this, they also have facilities for internal growth of employees

and an up-to-date training and development program. Finally, for the expatriates to travel round the

world and make themselves comfortable in different environments for their short term and long

term assignments, the company takes good care of its employees and it takes the long term goal of

retaining the employees.

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