Selecting expatriates for increasingly complex global assignments

As 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. 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 1 Predicting success/failure of expatriate managers [ 70 ] Michael Harvey and Milorad M. Novicevic Selecting expatriates for increasingly complex global assignments Career Development International 6/2 [2001] 69±86 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 selfconfidence. 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 of expatriate 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 ] Michael Harvey and Milorad M. Novicevic Selecting expatriates for increasingly complex global assignments Career Development International 6/2 [2001] 69±86