Career Mobility in a Global Era: Advances in Managing Expatriation and Repatriation

Abstract

The surge of interest in expatriation and repatriation within the broader discourse on labor mobility of professionals and high-skilled labor, human capital development and the theory and practice of people management, serves as the backdrop to this paper. We propose that expatriation and repatriation be framed in the context of global careers and embedded in the wider social-economic environment of globalization through the lens of a career ecosystem theory. We chart the evolution of scholarly publications on career mobility over the past four decades and highlight current trends, in particular the emergence of self-initiated expatriation as a pivotal change in the direction of expatriation studies and derived practice. We assess the rigor of empirical findings, weigh theoretical underpinnings, offer a research agenda for future research and outline managerial implications.

Job satisfaction of returnees to Japan

“…The most dominating topic in the academic literature about transfer of managers remains the expatriate research (Edstroem and Galbraith, 1977;Bhaskar-Shrinivas et 4 al., 2005;Hechanova et al, 2003;Baruch, Altman and Tung, 2016;Takeuchi, 2010). In contrast to expatriate research, repatriate issues received less attention (Chiang et al, 2015;Suutari andBrewster, 2003, Hyder andLövblad, 2007).…”

“…In order to better understand expatriation and repatriation and to better manage the difficulties that come along exchanging headquarter employees, Baruch, Altman and Tung (2016) proposed an expatriation and repatriation framework that enables a global career to be embedded in a wider social-economic environment of globalization. This concept can be seen through the lens of a career ecosystem and replies to an increasing number of both employers and employees still reporting their frustration from the process of repatriation (Paik et al 2002).…”

“…In the urge of globalization, multinational corporations are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of a global workforce, consisting of employees with international experience (Bossard and Peterson, 2005;Yeung and Olds, 2000). In order to globalize a firm, especially the expatriation of headquarter managers to foreign affiliates was seen as a smart way to bridge challenges and has therefore been a popular topic in academic research for many years (Edstroem and Galbraith, 1977;Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al, 2005;Hechanova et al, 2003;Baruch, Altman and Tung, 2016).…”

Why does repatriate career success vary? An empirical investigation from both traditional and protean career perspectives

“…Hence, recent literature reviews highlight the need for further clarification on why individuals' career success varies upon return from an IA (Baruch, Altman, & Tung, 2016;Breitenmoser & Bader, 2016;Shaffer, Kraimer, Chen, & Bolino, 2012). Our study aims to address this need.…”

Global Talent Management and Staffing in MNEs: An Introduction to the Edited Volume of International Business and Management

“…The talent management process is often focused and limited to the expatriate assignment, which can result in poor planning for the repatriation process. Failure to plan for how the returning expatriate would be utilized means that not only does the organization miss out on the knowledge that the individual gained during their expatriate assignment, but also risk losing the individual to a competitor (Baruch, Aitman, & Tung, 2016;Greer & Stiles, 2016). Research in this area suggests that organization can experience a high percentage of repatriate turnover due to poor repatriation process and lack of career planning for the individuals (Black & Gregersen, 1999;Harzing & Christensen, 2004).…”