No abstract

Addressing international mobility confusion-Developing definitions and differentiations for self-initiated and assigned expatriates as well as migrants.

Contemporary global work comprises a wide and growing array of different modes of international work configurations. In this article, we offer a multidimensional framework for conceptual (theoretical and practical) underpinning of these different modes. Building on the extant literature and the Delphi approach, seven dimensions emerged: (i) time of exposure; (ii) intensity of international contact through work; (iii) breadth of interaction; (iv) legal context; (v) international work instigator; (vi) extent of cultural gap between an individual's country-of-origin and the context in which the international work takes place; and (vii) key cultural-related requirements of one's job/role. To these dimensions, we add individual and organizational contextual variables, e.g. diversity and occupational patterns, as well as career systems with a particular focus on the importance of globally orientated work. Furthermore, we list the major modes of global careers and draw a global career glossary. Both the multidimensional framework and the glossary should facilitate scholars and managers to systematize, analyse, manage and further develop their expatriation and repatriation career strategies, policies and practices.

This article is one of the first to examine the long‐term effect of expatriation on careers, comparing the impact of international work experience on the career success of assigned and self‐initiated expatriates. Our sample consists of employees who were working abroad in 2004, and we examine their subjective and objective career success eight years later. Despite the “dark side of international careers” arguments associated with the repatriation literature, we find that the long‐term impacts of international work experience on career success are generally positive and mainly unrelated to whether the work experience was acquired as an assigned or self‐initiated expatriate. Companies recruit employees with international experience externally but are much more likely to offer further internal jobs to assigned expatriates. This reinforces the need for further research and for companies to see all those with international experience as important elements of the workforce. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Creating organizational processes which nurture global careers is a key task for global companies. International assignments are normally viewed as positive by both individuals and organizations for the development of global career competencies. This paper reports a qualitative study into the effects of international assignments on global careers. Adding to the literature, the research takes account of the dual dependency within global careers by contrasting individual and organizational perspectives. It highlights the importance of informal norms and develops a more nuanced picture of the impact of an international assignment on the career capital of individuals within one global organization.