Expatriates

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Expatriate (plural -s ; from English expatriate ; from Latin ex 'out', 'out' and patria 'fatherland'), expat for short , often refers to a specialist or manager who is employed by an international organization (e.g. from a business enterprise) for which she is employed is temporarily posted to a foreign branch as part of a foreign assignment. From the perspective of the receiving organization, it is also referred to as an impatriate .

definition

A classic definition of the expat relates to - mostly highly qualified - skilled workers who are sent abroad by their employer for a limited time to work in branches or outsourced projects. Essential features are the time limit (usually one to five years), the posting by an organization and the maintenance of ties to the home country or the posting company. The goal of the sending organization is often the transfer of know-how, improvement of communication and the desire for control. From the expatriate's perspective, the focus is often on professional or personal development.

If the initiative for studying abroad not by a company, but by the person himself, is in scientific publications of self-initiated Expatriation ( self-initiated expatriation spoken). These executives are known as " Foreign Executives in Local Organizations " ( FELO ).

The term “expatriate” is often given a broader meaning, especially beyond scientific publications. In particular, the term expatriate is also used for people who want to stay permanently in the destination country and thus mixes with other forms of labor migration . It should be noted that the term “expatriate” is preferably used for labor migrants from highly developed countries with a high social status and thus differs from the - sometimes negative - term immigrants or guest workers .

Human resource management aspects

Frequency of the phenomenon

In the mid-2000s it was estimated that between 0.5% and 1% of the workforce in large German companies were expatriates. It is now assumed that the importance of traditional long-term assignments will decrease in the future in favor of short-term assignments, frequent flyers and virtual collaboration.

Personnel selection

In principle, companies with branches abroad can choose between four staffing strategies:

  • ethnocentric : v. a. Skilled workers sent from the head office to the branch.
  • polycentric : Positions in the branch are filled by locals. (In this case, there is no posting.)
  • Regiocentric : Positions in the branch are filled with specialists from or for the region. There are numerous postings between branches within a region.
  • geocentric : The company sees itself as a global company with numerous secondments both in the headquarters and in the branches.

Mixed forms of these strategies are the rule. The suitability of staff for a posting can be determined by means of intercultural assessment centers .

Preparation abroad

The classic instrument for preparing expatriates abroad is intercultural training . In these, the expatriates mostly learn intercultural competence , knowledge about the destination country and ways of minimizing a culture shock in advance of their posting .

Expenses for international posting

In addition to the costs of preparing for a foreign assignment, relocation and administration, a foreign allowance for expatriates may also have to be calculated. In addition to their specialist or managerial salary, expatriates can receive compensation for costs (e.g. moving costs, school costs for children, costs for home trips) or expenses arising from the foreign location. The expatriation allowance provides an additional financial incentive for posting. According to different estimates, it is calculated that a seconded manager causes around 40% more costs than a comparable employee in the home company.

Personnel support during the posting and preparation for return

Relocation Management deals with the integration of expatriates at their new place of residence (e.g. registration regulations, looking for accommodation) . During the stay abroad, coaching or mediation offer opportunities for personnel support. Unresolved questions regarding reintegration / return are among the greatest uncertainty factors for expatriates. It is often not clear which position can be taken over in the home country or a return to the old position is unsatisfactory. Problems of working as an expat can, for example, be (loyalty) conflicts between the head office and branch, challenges with language and communication in the host country and high work stress (time pressure, requirements, expectations). The adverse effects on private and family life should also not be neglected: private social contacts in the home country are no longer applicable, and equivalent networks are difficult to establish in the target country. (Spouses) partners may find themselves without their own professional activity or in an unfamiliar “housewife role”, children are also torn from their environment.

Recruitment and Return Promotion

Several European countries - including France, Italy, Portugal, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, but not Germany - are courting high-income expatriates by granting them tax breaks for a few years.

For Germany see also: Return funding # Return of highly qualified people to Germany

Suffrage

The right to vote for foreigners is handled very differently around the world, and vice versa, the right to vote in the country of origin . Few countries grant foreigners the right to vote, mostly limited to the municipal level, while most countries allow their nationals living abroad to vote. The right to vote in the country of origin can be subject to restrictions or expire in the event of long stays abroad. Voter registration and voting can also be very time-consuming.

See also

literature

  • Katja Gelbrich, Stefan Müller: Handbook International Management. Oldenbourg, Munich 2011.
  • Friederike Groeger: Influence of Expatriates on the Organizational Structures of German Subsidiaries in Russia - An Investigation of the Institutionalization Process of Personnel Management Practices and Corporate Culture. In: CWG dialogue. Journal of the Chemnitzer Wirtschaftswwissenschaftliche Gesellschaft e. V., edition 02/2006, p. 1 ff.
  • Reinhold Mauer (Ed.): Personnel deployment abroad - personnel management, labor law, social security law, tax law. 2nd Edition. Verlag C. H. Beck, Munich 2013, ISBN 978-3-406-63866-4 .
  • Alois Moosmüller: The worlds of 'expatriates'. In: Jürgen Straub, Arne Weidemann, Doris Weidemann (eds.): Handbook of intercultural communication and competence. Basic concepts - theories - fields of application. Verlag J. B. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2007, ISBN 978-3-476-02189-2 , p. 480 ff.
  • Ruth Stock-Homburg: Personnel Management: Theories - Instruments - Concepts. 2nd Edition. Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-8349-1986-1 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Expatriate  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Christoph Barmeyer : Pocket dictionary interculturality . V&R, Göttingen 2012, p. 25-27; 58 f .
  2. ↑ Frithjof Arp: Emerging giants, aspiring multinationals and foreign executives: Leapfrogging, capability building, and competing with developed country multinationals . In: Human Resource Management . 53, No. 6, 2014, pp. 851-876. doi : 10.1002 / hrm.21610 .
  3. ↑ Katja Gelbrich; Stefan Müller: Handbook International Management . Oldenbourg, Munich 2011, p. 403 .
  4. ^ A b Frithjof Arp: Foreign Executives in Local Organizations. 2012, accessed on May 22, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b c Jürgen Bolten : Introduction to intercultural business communication . V&R, Göttingen 2007, p. 203-205 .
  6. ↑ Alois Moosmüller: Living worlds of expatriates . In: Jürgen Straub; Jürgen Weidemann; Arne Weidemann (Ed.): Handbook Intercultural Communication and Competence . Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2007, p. 480-488 .
  7. ↑ a b c d Frithjof Arp: Typologies: What types of foreign executives are appointed by local organizations and what types of organizations appoint them? . In: German Journal of Research in Human Resource Management / Zeitschrift für Personalforschung . 27, No. 3, 2013, pp. 167-194. doi : 10.1688 / 1862-0000_ZfP_2013_03_Arp .
  8. ^ Günter Stahl; Wolfgang Mayrhofer; Torsten Kühlmann: International personnel management: new tasks, new solutions . Hampp, Munich 2005.
  9. ^ Mark Mendenhall, Gary Oddou: The overseas assignment . In: Business Horizons . No. 31 (5) , 1988, pp. 78 (English).
  10. ↑ K. Inkson, MB Arthur, J. Pringle, S. Barry: Expatriate Assignment Versus Overseas Experience: Contrasting Models of International Human Resource Development. In: Journal of World Business. 32 (4) (1997), pp. 351-368.
  11. ^ V. Suutari, C. Brewster: Making Their Own Way: International Experience Through Self-Initiated Foreign Assignments. In: Journal of World Business. 35 (4) (2000), pp. 417-436.
  12. ↑ Frithjof Arp, Kate Hutchings, Wendy A. Smith: Foreign executives in local organizations: An exploration of differences to other types of expatriates . In: Journal of Global Mobility . 1, No. 3, 2013, pp. 312-335. doi : 10.1108 / JGM-01-2013-0006 .
  13. ↑ Rosie Spinks: You Say "Immigrant," I Say "Expat". November 25, 2014, accessed July 8, 2016 .
  14. ↑ Nic Subtirelu: Expats and immigrants: How we talk about human migration. In: linguistic pulse. March 15, 2015, accessed July 8, 2016 .
  15. ↑ Katy Scott: Who's an expat anyway? Retrieved July 8, 2016 .
  16. ↑ Mawuna Remarque Koutonin: Why are white people expats when the rest of us are immigrants? In: the Guardian. March 13, 2015, accessed July 8, 2016 .
  17. ↑ Paul Evans, Vladimir PÚČIK, Jean-Louis Barsoux: The Global Challenge - frameworks for international human resource management . Mc Graw-Hill, Boston 2002.
  18. ↑ Jürgen Bolten: Introduction to intercultural business communication . V&R, Göttingen 2007, p. 201-202 .
  19. ↑ Jürgen Bolten: Introduction to intercultural business communication . V&R, Göttingen 2007, p. 218-222 .
  20. ↑ a b c Katja Gelbrich; Stefan Müller: Handbook International Management . Oldenbourg, Munich 2011, p. 332 .
  21. ↑ Katja Gelbrich; Stefan Müller: Handbook International Management . Oldenbourg, Munich 2011, p. 104 .
  22. ↑ Jürgen Bolten: Introduction to intercultural business communication . V&R, Göttingen 2007, p. 223 .
  23. ^ A b Günter Stahl: International deployment of managers . Oldenbourg, Munich / Vienna 1998.
  24. ↑ Jens Kemle: Border experiences III - Working abroad. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine. November 3, 2006, accessed May 22, 2018 .
  25. ↑ Claudia Wanner: With these tricks Italy and France are vying for Brexit refugees. In: world. November 2, 2018, accessed March 3, 2019 .