Third‐country Managers in Multinational Corporations

Zeira, Yoram; Harari, Ehud

doi:10.1108/eb055325

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…One category of international management staff that has largely been neglected in research is the category of third-country nationals (TCNs), i.e. outstanding managers from one country, assigned by an MNC’s headquarters in a second country to work in a subsidiary located in a third country (Zeira and Harari, 1977a). TCNs can, in the long run, develop hybrid identities as a result of international assignments (Lee, 2014) and especially through their various boundary-spanning activities (Yagi and Kleinberg, 2011).…”

Section: Research Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…TCNs are nationals from one country, assigned by the MNC’s headquarters in a second country, to work in a subsidiary in a third country (Zeira and Harari, 1977a, 1977b; Reynolds, 1997). Appendix 1 provides a synopsis of the main studies on TCNs with their definitions, roles, advantages and disadvantages, showing that the TCN definition has not developed substantially since the 1970s.…”

Section: Research Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At an individual level, however, TCNs are exposed to lower acceptance and legitimacy from colleagues because of their frequent change of context. At an organizational level, they may experience role conflicts and disorientation, because, in the corporate context of the MNC, TCNs belong “nowhere” (Zeira and Harari, 1977a; Harzing and van Ruysseveldt, 2004). However, the TCNs’ uniqueness seems to come from their ability to virtuosically deal with cultural complexity which means that they do not only solve intercultural problems but also reflect their own strategies as well as the extent to which they reveal these strategies to the people they interact with.…”

Section: Research Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Third-country nationals as intercultural boundary spanners in multinational corporations

Barmeyer

Stein

Eberhardt³

2020

MBR

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Purpose This paper aims to investigate the central roles, functions and competences of third-country nationals (TCNs) in intercultural boundary spanning in multinational corporations (MNCs): Why are TCNs particularly important for reducing complexity at the overlapping functional, geographic and external boundaries of MNCs with their related interferences and which role do they play as boundary spanners in cross-boundary collaboration? Design/methodology/approach After introducing the theoretical background on boundary spanning and TCNs, the methodology applied in this paper is a theory-driven, qualitative approach based on 13 in-depth semi-structured interviews with TNCs conducted in 10 MNCs. Findings The authors aggregate TCNs’ activities into four roles: disembedded cosmopolitan, intermediary, third party and team-related boundary spanner. They show that TCNs tend to understand the complex intercultural context between headquarters and subsidiaries, balance power asymmetries, use their in-between neutrality to create trust, and act in an interculturally highly competent way by using a great variety of intercultural and linguistic skills. The TCNs’ meta-competence permits a higher level, intellectual and abstract perspective, enabling TCNs to consider structures, objects and interactions from an affective distance. Research limitations/implications The differences between TCNs and “regular” expatriates or other interface managers are examined and methodological limitations as well as research implications are critically discussed. MNCs can intentionally assign TCNs with their related competence profiles when expecting boundary-spanning tasks. Originality/value This paper is one of the few published that undergirds the TCN concept with empirical data and illustrates the suitability of specific role-takers such as TCNs for some complex challenges in international and intercultural management settings.

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Section: Research Interestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Research Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Third-country nationals as intercultural boundary spanners in multinational corporations

Barmeyer

Stein

Eberhardt³

2020

MBR

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“…Internal career ceilings at high levels in subsidiaries may not be enough to retain talent. This may also be true for TCN staff in complex cross-cultural role relations, as both HQs and HCN employees might sometimes feel low confidence in their ability and willingness to fulfil their expectations of the role (cf Zeira and Harari, 1977;Torbiorn, 1985). Thus, in cross-cultural settings, rolerelations, visibility of performance and the use of 'fair' criteria for appraisal might create problems in keeping competence within firms.…”

Section: Competence Goalsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Staffing for international operations

Torbiörn

1997

Human Res Mgmt Journal

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his paper aims to illustrate the relevance of a strategic approach to international human resource management (IHRM) as regards the staffing of international T activities. Among European multinational corporations (MNCs) activities are traditionally staffed according to operative rather than strategic goals, or in Mintzberg's (1987) terms, staffing patterns reflect 'emergent' rather than 'deliberate' strategies. Thus staffing, especially concerning the use of parent country nations (PCNs), mainly reflects operational needs of control and co-ordination or the need to transfer know-how. Where such needs are great, companies are inclined to staff key positions by PCNs as long as local conditions do not particularly promote the use of host country nationals (HCNs). Operational needs tend not to advocate the use of third country nationals (TCNs) in particular, although most MNCs use them on grounds of personal professional qualifications.These patterns or strategies cannot simply be labelled wrong or right. They appear logical in the internationalisation processes of firms from relatively small national markets or cultures. Different staffing patterns may apply for American MNCs, which use fewer PCNs, and Japanese firms which use more (cf Tung, 1988). These procedures might mirror 42 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL -VOL 7 N O 3 lngemar Torbiorn, Stockholm University

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“…For example, Edwin Miller published a slew of empirical and theoretical articles about expatriate selection well into the 2000s (e.g., Miller, 1972aMiller, , 1976Stahl et al, 2002) in some of the best journals (then, and now) including the Journal of International Business Studies (Miller, 1972b(Miller, , 1975(Miller, , 1977Miller and Cattaneo, 1982), Management International Review (Miller et al, 1981;Miller and Cheng, 1978;Tung and Miller, 1990) and Academy of Management Journal (Miller, 1973). Yoram Zeira was similarly productive up until the 2000s (e.g., Izraeli et al, 1980;Zeira, 1975Zeira, , 1976bBanai, 1984, 1985;Zeira et al, 2004) with a substantial number of publications covering topics that heretofore had not been previously researched, such as third country nationals (TCNs) (Zeira and Harari, 1977; see also Daniels, 1974), and host country nationals (HCNs) and subsidiary management within the context of expatriation and MNEs' internationalization efforts (Harari and Zeira, 1974;Zeira, 1976aZeira, , 1979aBanai, 1981, 1985;Harari, 1979a, 1979b;Zeira et al, 1975; see also Daniels, 1973;Toyne, 1976). Although long forgotten today, we owe a debt of gratitude to Cecil Howard, John Ivancevich, Yoram Ziera, Anant Negandhi and Edwin Miller (among others) for pioneering early expatriate studies.…”

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confidence: 99%

Introduction: overview of early expatriate studies, 1952 to 1979

McNulty¹,

Selmer²

2017

Research Handbook of Expatriates

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, or perhaps a little earlier with the now-seminal study by Anders Edstrom and Jay Galbraith (1977) about the reasons for using expatriates, a review of extant literature shows that a substantial body of expatriate research existed well before this time. While much of this early literature, and most especially pre-1970, was lacking in theoretical grounding and with only a few empirical studies published, it nonetheless provided an initial foundation upon which subsequent research and interest in expatriate studies would come to be based.

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Third‐country Managers in Multinational Corporations

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Third-country nationals as intercultural boundary spanners in multinational corporations

Third-country nationals as intercultural boundary spanners in multinational corporations

Staffing for international operations

Introduction: overview of early expatriate studies, 1952 to 1979

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