Expatriation: challenges and success factors of an international career
2017
Rocke, D., Vilnius Univ., Kaunas (Lithuania). Kaunas Faculty
Economic globalisation has opened new opportunities not only for business enterprises, but their employees as well. The practice of expatriation has been used increasingly for successful operations on a world scale, thus providing the employees with the opportunity to gain some international experience and develop their international career. The aim of this article is to analyse the challenges and success factors of an international career. Objectives of the article: (1) to reveal the conceptual essence of expatriation process; (2) to determine issues faced by expatriates during their international assignment; (3) to list the success factors of an international career. The methods of the article: analysis of scientific literature, synthesis, generalization. Analysis of scientific sources has revealed that expatriates (qualified employees who are usually sent to work to another branch of the same company located abroad) are usually used for three main reasons: technical competence, management development and control. Employees who agree to leave for international assignments are usually motivated by skill acquisition, opportunities of personal development, higher salary and future career prospects. Despite the advantages of expatriation practice, there are many challenges as well (for example, difficult adaptation, various problems related to expatriate’s family, and difficulties during repatriation), that might be faced by people assigned to work abroad. It is noteworthy that failures of international assignments have a negative affect both on expatriates and organisations. It has been determined that the success of expatriation process and international career of employees is mostly determined by personal individual and organisational factors.
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