Training Global Managers to Prepare and Train Expatriates for More Efficiency and Effectiveness

Abstract

Abstract-While many employees have become expatriates and traveled thousands of miles to represent their companies and organizations in overseas ventures and start-up new locations, a common problem experienced by many is the lack of proper training and preparation. The cause for this ill-preparation or training can be linked to many different causes, but the aim of this paper will be to focus on what can be done to break down the barriers of miscommunication or improper training (or lack of it) in order to help prepare and training global managers to better prepare their expatriate staff or better efficiency and effectiveness. The paper will examine the past and current ways expatriates have been recruited, selected, and trained for overseas placement. Then there will be a focus on what happens to the expatriate once he or she is overseas and the role and function of the global manager. Finally, the last segment of this paper will look at how expatriates deal with the process of repatriation and if it is effective or note. While some organizations have developed best practices in this area, not all organizations take the time to benchmark what other organizations have been doing to better prepare expatriates and global managers in these areas.Index Terms-Expatriate, global management, online training, virtual management. I. INTRODUCTIONWhat companies have learned over the years in many of their global ventures is that the "wheel does not need to be reinvented," but rather how it is used might be of more use to them in the future. In essence, they have learned from previous mistakes and those mistakes of others that it is important to capture their "learning" for later use and perhaps to save some time and money from more "roadblocks" and "slowdowns" in their business pursuits and expectations. Nonetheless, while many organizations are starting to wake up and realize the importance of having a learning organization that constantly monitors and tries to improve upon its current practices and strategies, as well as reflecting on lessons learned, they are starting to realize that there are some areas that need more improvement than others. For example, while many companies are seeing global ventures, they have learned from past experiences that there may be something missing in their approach and how they apply what they have learned from these errors. According to Senge (1990), "learning organizations [are] organizations where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, Manuscript received June 3, 2013; revised August 6, 2013. Bob Barrett is with the School of Business at American Public University, Charles Town, WV 25414 USA (e-mail: docjob00@msn.com).and where people are continually learning to see the whole together." [1] If companies and organizations tend to step back and realize that specific performance requirements are normally a set of requisites, conditions, and/or ex...

The importance of expatriate training for living and working abroad

“…Razvijena strategija obuke, takođe utiče i na veću efikasnost, jer su posvećeni i dobro obučeni zaposleni efikasniji po više osnova, u zavisnosti od posla koji obavljaju. Većina organizacija može jasno da odredi gornju i donju granicu poboljšanja ako žele da povećaju efikasnost svojih zaposlenih (Barrett, 2014). Кros-kulturna obuka posebno je značajna za kompanije koje su internacionalizovale poslovanje, jer su negativni efekti neadekvatno pripremljenih zaposlenih za rad u inostranstvu mnogo veći od troškova obuke.…”