Expatriates of host-country origin: ‘coming home to test the waters’

Thite, Mohan; Srinivasan, V.; Harvey, Michael; Valk, Reimara

doi:10.1080/09585190802670532

Cited by 40 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In fact, we met at a café in Mumbai shortly after he attended his Hindi language class: Although one limitation of this study is that I did not interview respondents' employers or Human Resources (HR) managers to ascertain their views of the second generation, respondents' narratives suggest that prospective employers in India were skeptical of hiring non-nationals of Indian origin. While a recent study of Indian HR managers of 15 MNCs in India (Thite et al 2009) found that they view secondgeneration Indian-Americans as lacking cultural sensitivity and being condescending to other Indians, the respondents in my study generally described their reception in the workplace in glowing terms. 5 Echoing others' views, one respondent explained, 'I've had a really good reception and people have been very open, curious about why we are here' .…”

Section: Constructing Sameness Through Ethnic Indian-nessmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Rights of ‘Return’: Ethnic Identities in the Workplace among Second-Generation Indian-American Professionals in the Parental Homeland

Jain

2011

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

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This article explores the salience of ethnicity for second-generation Indian-American professionals who 'return' from the US to their parental homeland, India. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 48 second-generation Indian-Americans in India, it examines when and how they adopt ethnic identities in the workplace. My findings suggest that, bolstered by their transnational experiences and backgrounds, returnees construct ethnic identities and utilise ethnic options that reflect the cultural and economic environments of their adopted homeland. At the same time, and often contemporaneously, work relationships, experiences and personal interactions with those they encounter in the parental homeland factor into their transnational identity constructions. Also proposed is a preliminary framework within which to explore the conditions that facilitate the construction and assertion of returnees' ethnic identities in the workplace in India.

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Section: Constructing Sameness Through Ethnic Indian-nessmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Rights of ‘Return’: Ethnic Identities in the Workplace among Second-Generation Indian-American Professionals in the Parental Homeland

Jain

2011

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

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“…Thite and colleagues argue that such ‘expatriates of host‐country origin’ (EHCOs) are especially qualified for key positions in foreign subsidiaries because of their specific knowledge and skills related to both the parent country of a multinational company (MNC) and the host country. Additionally, EHCOs were especially likely to accept an international assignment (Thite et al ., ). So, the question arises, is this relatively new practice a ‘golden parachute’ in international staffing?…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In a study on international staffing practices, Thite et al . () consider the following example. When the Germany‐based auto components manufacturer Bosch had to fill a management position in a subsidiary in India, the management chose a person of Indian origin who had previously studied and worked in Germany.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Expatriates of Host‐Country Origin in South Eastern Europe: Management Rationales in the Finance Sector

Bešić

Ortlieb

2018

European Management Review

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Multinational companies coming to grips with the major challenges of international staffing have developed a new practice. In recent years management scholars observed the assignment of so-called 'expatriates of host-country origin' (EHCOs), that is, employees of migrant backgrounds in the companies' parent country sent to work in their country of origin. This paper explores management rationales behind this practice focusing on the posting of employees to transition economies in south eastern Europe. Data from Austrian banks and insurance firms operating in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Croatia provide the empirical basis. The analysis reveals that headquarters' management believe that due to their specific competencies EHCOs facilitate the relationship between the headquarters and the subsidiary, enhance resource accrual and offer competitive advantage. As institutional complexity in the host country and the cultural distance between parent and host countries increase, so do the relative advantages of EHCOs for management.

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“…In fact, many multinational corporations (MNCs) assign expatriates who share the same ethnicity as the local employees (called ethnically similar expatriates in this article) to local subsidiaries, believing these expatriates will be more effective than ethnically different expatriates. Although we are not aware of any official statistics on this, researchers have identified that this is a prevalent practice, especially in subsidiaries located in emerging economies such as India and China (Björkman & Schapp, ; Goodall & Warner, ; Thite, Srinivasan, Harvey, & Valk, ). However, ethnic similarity has also been found to be associated with distrust, conflicts, and negative feelings, which researchers have attributed to expatriates' unrealistic expectations or unequal organizational policies (Hung, ; McEllister, ; Selmer & Shiu, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The benefits of being understood: The role of ethnic identity confirmation in knowledge acquisition by expatriates

Fan

Cregan

Harzing

et al. 2017

Human Resource Management

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In this article, we propose that the concept of ethnic identity confirmation (EIC), the level of agreement between how expatriates view the importance of their own ethnic identity and how local employees view the importance of expatriates' ethnic identity, can explain why expatriates who are ethnically similar to host-country employees are sometimes less effective than expected when working overseas. Multinationals often choose ethnically similar expatriates for international assignments, assuming these expatriates can more effectively acquire knowledge from local employees. Thus, understanding the specific challenges that endanger the realization of this potential is crucial.Our survey, administered to a sample of 128 expatriate-local employee dyads working in China, reveals that both ethnically similar and ethnically different expatriates acquire more local knowledge when EIC is high. However, the association between ethnic (dis)similarity and knowledge acquisition is direct for ethnically different expatriates, whereas for ethnically similar expatriates it is indirect via their perception of local employees' trustworthiness. We discuss this study's important implications and provide recommendations for multinationals on how to provide tailored support to expatriates who face different identity challenges. K E Y W O R D Sdiversity, international HRM, knowledge management, social identity theory, trust

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Expatriates of host-country origin: ‘coming home to test the waters’

Cited by 40 publications

References 36 publications

The Rights of ‘Return’: Ethnic Identities in the Workplace among Second-Generation Indian-American Professionals in the Parental Homeland

The Rights of ‘Return’: Ethnic Identities in the Workplace among Second-Generation Indian-American Professionals in the Parental Homeland

Expatriates of Host‐Country Origin in South Eastern Europe: Management Rationales in the Finance Sector

The benefits of being understood: The role of ethnic identity confirmation in knowledge acquisition by expatriates

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