The myth of the 'international manager'

Forster, Nick

doi:10.1080/095851900340024

Cited by 156 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Empirical studies confirm the requirement for MNCs to develop a more strategic approach to repatriation and international career management (Stroh et al, 1998) which is becoming increasingly necessary in order to retain valuable employees and to encourage the acceptance of international positions (Forster, 2000).…”

Section: Issues Related To Retention Of Expatriate Employeesmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Due to increasing female participation rates in the labour force, particularly in developed countries, those targeted for expatriate assignments are no longer necessarily male sole-breadwinners, with spouses who are willing, and able, to follow their partners abroad for the period of the assignment. There is some evidence to suggest that families are less willing to accept the disruption of personal and social lives associated with international assignments than was the case in the past (Forster, 2000). In addition, dual career problems and disruption to children's education are seen as major barriers to future international mobility in many different countries and pose considerable restrictions on the career development plans of multinationals (Harvey, 1998;Mayrhofer and Scullion, 2002) and are considered a worldwide trend that is posing a major dilemma for both multinationals and employees alike (Harvey, 1998;Dowling and Welch, 2004).…”

Section: Issues Related To Recruitment Of Potential Expatriate Employmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Changing patterns of global staffing in the multinational enterprise: Challenges to the conventional expatriate assignment and emerging alternatives

Collings

Scullion

Morley

2007

Journal of World Business

562

456

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We argue that many MNCs continue to underestimate the complexities involved in global staffing and that organisations and academics must take a more strategic view of staffing arrangements in an international context. We suggest that the context for the management and handling of the international assignment has altered significantly, leading in some quarters to a fundamental reassessment of the contribution of, and prospects for, the international assignment as conventionally understood. We explore a variety of supply side issues, cost issues, demand side issues and career issues as triggers to this reassessment. Alongside the conventional expatriate assignment, we point to the emergence of a portfolio of alternatives to the traditional international assignment including short-term assignments, commuter assignments, international business travel and virtual assignments. In the context of these developments, we argue that a standardised approach to international assignments is untenable and that it is essential to develop HR policies and procedures that reflect differences in the various forms of emerging alternative international assignment and their associated complexities. Here recruitment and selection, training, reward, and occupational health and safety issues and implications are all explored.

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Section: Issues Related To Retention Of Expatriate Employeesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Issues Related To Recruitment Of Potential Expatriate Employmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changing patterns of global staffing in the multinational enterprise: Challenges to the conventional expatriate assignment and emerging alternatives

Collings

Scullion

Morley

2007

Journal of World Business

562

456

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Tarique et al, 2006;Soltani and Wilkinson, 2011), which should be explored more in-depth in SCML. The latter individual viewpoint leads towards a subsequent controversial issue: the myth of the "international manager" (Forster, 2000). Its natural evolution may advance in two new directions: global manager and, even most interestingly, global TMTs (Sambharya, 1996;Kiessling et al, 2004).…”

Section: The International Hrm and Scml: Discussion On Mapping The Comentioning

confidence: 99%

Global organizations and supply chain

González‐Loureiro

Dabić

Puig

2014

International Journal of Physical Distribution &Amp; Logistics Management

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to aim at proposing a research agenda in the intersection of strategic supply chain management and logistics (SCML) of global organizations from the perspective of international human resource management (IHRM). Design/methodology/approach – To disclose the intellectual structure of research to date across both fields, the content of up to 280 articles dealing with IHRM and 174 papers addressing challenges in SCML in global organizations from a human resource management (HRM) viewpoint were analyzed. A stepwise hierarchical cluster and discriminant analysis were conducted to map a joint research agenda. Approaches from Upper Echelons theory and Co-Evolutionary theory of global organizations were adopted. Findings – Top management teams (TMT) are crucial to manage SCML successfully in today’s global organizations. Research on this intersection should draw attention to find antecedents, consequences and the process showing how those talented people grouped in dispersed teams can be a source of competitive advantage. Six different areas of research are proposed. It is proposed that future research should focus on the human capital (HC); meaning those key individuals of an organization that make things happen. In the near future, the global organization’s competitiveness will be shaped by how the organization manages its HC in SCML. Methodologies such as meta-analysis are suggested to summarize the extant literature on IHRM when applied to SCML in global organizations. Research limitations/implications – The search was conducted in SSCI-ISIWoK and Scopus databases. As a limitation, some articles and other scientific contributions not abstracted there were not included. Nevertheless, both searches enabled obtaining balanced results between scope and richness of content. Originality/value – Only a marginal portion of literature reviews have been conducted by using mixed methods in the fields of IHRM and SCML. The results will be useful for scholars of both fields in their attempts to enlarge the knowledge boundaries in these areas. From a practitioner’s viewpoint, this research may provide an integrative framework for global organizations to build a competitive advantage based on managing HC and its SCML strategically.

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“…Despite the high cost of the process and the various arguments (i.e. Cole & Nesbeth, 2014;Harzing & Christensen, 2004;Forster, 2000) the continued use of expatriates seems unlikely to diminish. The increasing use of 'inpatriates' however is adopted as an attractive alternative to the use of expatriates since the beginning of the new millennium.…”

Section: Part 3: International Managersmentioning

confidence: 99%