<p>Bakgrund: I samband med en utlandsvistelse förekommer enligt litteraturen kulturchockar. Chocken kan uttryckas på många olika sätt, exempelvis genom oro, frustration, känsla av isolering, depression eller förvirring. Genom detta påverkas våra värderingar och referenser, något vi kanske inte uppfattar förrän vi återvänder till hemlandet och inser att vi blivit främlingar. Det är lätt att tro att det inte innebär några problem att återkomma hem igen. Många faktorer hinner dock förändras under tiden expatrien är borta, kanske mestadels småsaker vilka kvarvarande människor inte ens lägger märke till. Även i denna omvända riktning riskerar, enligt litteraturen, individen att stöta på en kulturchock. Förutom detta talas det om en oroväckande hög personalomsättning efter avslutade uppdrag. </p><p>Syfte: Med utgångspunkt i aktuell befintlig teori om repatriation ämnar vi presentera ett enkelt tillvägagångssätt för repatriation, anpassat till den svenske repatrien. </p><p>Metod: Studien utgör en fallstudie genomförd på fyra organisationer från både privat och offentlig sektor, i flera olika branscher. Empirisk data har samlats in med hjälp av 15 intervjuer, vilka analyserats för att besvara uppsatsens frågeställningar och syfte. </p><p>Resultat: Vi ser inte repatriation som ett stort problem i svenska företag idag. Vi har funnit att våra respondenter skulle uppskatta viss typ av stöd under repatriationen, men de människor som åtar sig utlandsuppdrag är ofta självgående och internationella och förväntar sig egentligen inte någon hjälp från företaget. Vi har dock funnit centrala faktorer som kan underlätta och påskynda återanpassningen till hemlandet vid återkomsten.</p>

<p>Expatriates’ roles as knowledge senders are well known, but apart from this, expatriates can also acquire knowledge abroad. The repatriation process offers an opportunity to transfer and apply this knowledge back into the organization. However, few studies have been conducted with the purpose of mapping out how repatriates could contribute to the organization. This paper will explore how organizations can capture repatriates’ knowledge and the research will be carried out by a case study on the well-known company Electrolux. The expected contributions of this paper are to create an increased awareness of the neglected repatriation process and to broaden the current repatriation research base by investigating a Swedish multinational company. An effective repatriation process based on theory will be discussed and a model for knowledge transfer by repatriates will be presented and extended by conducting interviews with a HR manager and repatriates. We argue that an effective repatriation process will serve to reduce repatriates’ uncertainty and anxiety. In our case study the repatriates will transfer knowledge whether they are aware of it or not and independent of the organization’s receptivity, since they are still able to transfer knowledge on an on-going basis trough their daily work.</p>

Bakgrund: I samband med en utlandsvistelse förekommer enligt litteraturen kulturchockar. Chocken kan uttryckas på många olika sätt, exempelvis genom oro, frustration, känsla av isolering, depression eller förvirring. Genom detta påverkas våra värderingar och referenser, något vi kanske inte uppfattar förrän vi återvänder till hemlandet och inser att vi blivit främlingar. Det är lätt att tro att det inte innebär några problem att återkomma hem igen. Många faktorer hinner dock förändras under tiden expatrien är borta, kanske mestadels småsaker vilka kvarvarande människor inte ens lägger märke till. Även i denna omvända riktning riskerar, enligt litteraturen, individen att stöta på en kulturchock. Förutom detta talas det om en oroväckande hög personalomsättning efter avslutade uppdrag. Syfte: Med utgångspunkt i aktuell befintlig teori om repatriation ämnar vi presentera ett enkelt tillvägagångssätt för repatriation, anpassat till den svenske repatrien. Metod: Studien utgör en fallstudie genomförd på fyra organisationer från både privat och offentlig sektor, i flera olika branscher. Empirisk data har samlats in med hjälp av 15 intervjuer, vilka analyserats för att besvara uppsatsens frågeställningar och syfte. Resultat: Vi ser inte repatriation som ett stort problem i svenska företag idag. Vi har funnit att våra respondenter skulle uppskatta viss typ av stöd under repatriationen, men de människor som åtar sig utlandsuppdrag är ofta självgående och internationella och förväntar sig egentligen inte någon hjälp från företaget. Vi har dock funnit centrala faktorer som kan underlätta och påskynda återanpassningen till hemlandet vid återkomsten.

Background: Going abroad for a number of years to live and work in a different country and culture is a major change for most people. To make this easier and minimize the risks of facing adjustment difficulties for these people going abroad, companies’ Human resource departments, in particular, have great responsibilities. It is also mainly their responsibility to ensure a smooth re-adjustment for employees returning to home country after a completed international assignment. Today many companies not only underestimate the problems related to an unsuccessful repatriation process, but also do not acknowledge the difficulties that the expatriates face upon return. Moreover, there is evidence showing that only a minority of companies invest substantial resources in the task of creating an Effective Repatriation process, even though researchers have confirmed repatriation to be more challenging than expatriation. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to find out how companies can improve and facilitate the repatriation of their employees. This will be done by examining factors affecting how an expatriate perceives the repatriation process and by identifying the most critical actions in achieving an effective repatriation process. Method: In order to fulfill the purpose of this thesis a qualitative method was chosen. A case study was conducted over Volvo Construction Equipment in Eskilstuna, based upon personal interviews with expatriates as well as representatives of the Volvo International Assignment Management (VIAM) and Human Resource department of Volvo Construction Equipment in Eskilstuna. Further, the case study included a preliminary study based on a question and answer format, answered by 20 expatriates at Volvo CE in Eskilstuna. With support from information gathered through the preliminary study, later 10 personal interviews were carried out with expatriates at Volvo CE. Conclusion: The findings of this thesis propose 10 main factors, which influence how an expatriate perceives the repatriation process. These are; (1) the Purpose for why an expatriate is sent abroad, (2) the Picture of the repatriation process and responsibility areas communicated by the home company, (3) the perceived Communication and support, (4) the utilization of Mentorship, (5) Reverse culture shock issues, (6) Career issues, (7) Organizational issues, (8) Practical issues, (9) Family issues and finally,(10) the existence of an Evaluation. Further, the result of this thesis suggest that there are four critical actions in achieving an effective repatriation process; preplanning, communicating and providing support, proactive repositioning process and finally, applying an evaluation.

Expatriates’ roles as knowledge senders are well known, but apart from this, expatriates can also acquire knowledge abroad. The repatriation process offers an opportunity to transfer and apply this knowledge back into the organization. However, few studies have been conducted with the purpose of mapping out how repatriates could contribute to the organization. This paper will explore how organizations can capture repatriates’ knowledge and the research will be carried out by a case study on the well-known company Electrolux. The expected contributions of this paper are to create an increased awareness of the neglected repatriation process and to broaden the current repatriation research base by investigating a Swedish multinational company. An effective repatriation process based on theory will be discussed and a model for knowledge transfer by repatriates will be presented and extended by conducting interviews with a HR manager and repatriates. We argue that an effective repatriation process will serve to reduce repatriates’ uncertainty and anxiety. In our case study the repatriates will transfer knowledge whether they are aware of it or not and independent of the organization’s receptivity, since they are still able to transfer knowledge on an on-going basis trough their daily work.

This paper investigates how expatriates experience that their knowledge gained from international assignments is transferred and exploited by the MNC. The results from 93 expatriates from eleven Large Cap companies suggest that knowledge is not exploited trough formal mechanisms. Instead informal mechanisms of knowledge transfer such as networks and own initiatives seem to be a more common way of transferring and exploiting knowledge in the investigated MNCs. The findings indicate that the knowledge that the expatriates that failed their mission abroad gained is not exploited to the same extent as the expatriates that successfully completed their assignments.

Due to increased globalization, MNCs are increasingly relocating employees on international assignments. During their international assignments, expatriates gain a vast amount of knowledge that can be valuable to the firm. This valuable source of knowledge often remains untapped however and MNCs do often not exploit and harvest knowledge from expatriates. Given this problem we have investigated what the process of knowledge transfer looks like and how MNCs exploit knowledge from Swedish expatriates. We also wanted to find out how factors such as knowledge characteristics, corporate culture, debriefing, and post-assignment position effected this process. By conducting qualitative interviews with former expatriates, we could conclude that formal programs or structured mechanisms to harvest knowledge from expatriates were not very common, the corporate culture had a fairly big impact on expatriates’ well-being, and debriefing sessions varied depending on the size of the company, position of the expatriate as well as the number of expatriates a MNC had. Furthermore, we were able to conclude that the MNCs we investigated utilized knowledge from expatriates by giving them suitable post-assignment positions. Given the tacit nature of expatriates’ knowledge, we recommend managers to assign more time for socialization between coworkers.

The purpose of this study was to examine how Swedish-based MNCs handle their repatriation process with a focus on knowledge transfer upon return. Moreover, the study reviewed whether a global mindset is present or not in the companies and if it is associated with how repatriates’ knowledge is utilized. The study was conducted through interviews with seven repatriates and six HR managers in six different MNCs. The findings show a lack of awareness about what the repatriates have learnt during their assignments, and that there are no routines in place for capturing the knowledge upon return. Also, it identifies a gap between the companies’ and the repatriates’ views about the goals of the assignment and the value of the overall international experience. Finally, the study suggests various improvements for companies on how to better utilize their resources and enhance their global mindset in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage.

<p>Background: Going abroad for a number of years to live and work in a different country and culture is a major change for most people. To make this easier and minimize the risks of facing adjustment difficulties for these people going abroad, companies’ Human resource departments, in particular, have great responsibilities. It is also mainly their responsibility to ensure a smooth re-adjustment for employees returning to home country after a completed international assignment. Today many companies not only underestimate the problems related to an unsuccessful repatriation process, but also do not acknowledge the difficulties that the expatriates face upon return. Moreover, there is evidence showing that only a minority of companies invest substantial resources in the task of creating an Effective Repatriation process, even though researchers have confirmed repatriation to be more challenging than expatriation.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to find out how companies can improve and facilitate the repatriation of their employees. This will be done by examining factors affecting how an expatriate perceives the repatriation process and by identifying the most critical actions in achieving an effective repatriation process.</p><p>Method: In order to fulfill the purpose of this thesis a qualitative method was chosen. A case study was conducted over Volvo Construction Equipment in Eskilstuna, based upon personal interviews with expatriates as well as representatives of the Volvo International Assignment Management (VIAM) and Human Resource department of Volvo Construction Equipment in Eskilstuna. Further, the case study included a preliminary study based on a question and answer format, answered by 20 expatriates at Volvo CE in Eskilstuna. With support from information gathered through the preliminary study, later 10 personal interviews were carried out with expatriates at Volvo CE.</p><p>Conclusion: The findings of this thesis propose 10 main factors, which influence how an expatriate perceives the repatriation process. These are; (1) the Purpose for why an expatriate is sent abroad, (2) the Picture of the repatriation process and responsibility areas communicated by the home company, (3) the perceived Communication and support, (4) the utilization of Mentorship, (5) Reverse culture shock issues, (6) Career issues, (7) Organizational issues, (8) Practical issues, (9) Family issues and finally,(10) the existence of an Evaluation. Further, the result of this thesis suggest that there are four critical actions in achieving an effective repatriation process; preplanning, communicating and providing support, proactive repositioning process and finally, applying an evaluation.</p>

This dissertation considers the Native North American repatriation movement as a sociocultural study, in which traditional knowledge and other information accompany returns to tribes. I engage this process with the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes of northeastern Oregon (the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation) as they present, preserve, and perpetuate tribal history and culture at their museum, Tamástslikt Cultural Institute. I also explore self-representation and Native participation at the Pendleton Round-Up rodeo and "wild west" pageant in the neighboring town of Pendleton, Oregon. Investigating the connectivity between repatriation, collaboration, and representation, I ask how repatriation defines itself beyond the return of objects of cultural patrimony to influence the development of a tribal cultural and historical narrative. I argue that newly developed tribal perspectives are therefore a bi-product of repatriation. By presenting tribal perspectives based in negotiation, repatriation thus leads to self-representation via collaborative processes. Collaborative processes allow for anthropological research and knowledge to be shared, accessed, and controlled by Native communities, thus allowing for multiple forms of repatriation to manifest. Working within a collaborative framework based primarily in grounded and emergent theory, I also brought theories of the diaspora, historical memory, and trauma to bear on my research in hopes of exploring how return is further complicated in both a literal and a figurative sense. I am informed by Native American and Cultural Studies, yet rather than rejecting or discarding the historical relationship of contact between Anthropology and Native America, this dissertation favors a discussion of changes and adjustments within it. My work contributes to the anthropological literature on tribal museums and representation, and to new understandings of the repatriation of identity and knowledge. I also hope to contribute to growing collaborative action/advocacy-based ethnographic models for conducting research with Native North Americans. An applied and collaborative methodology was employed as I assisted in realizing projects initiated by the Tribes' and operating within a particular Native worldview, spanning from curation to interpretation, at Tamástslikt. While remaining separate and distinct, my own dissertation project was nevertheless structured, informed, and achieved alongside, and in conjunction with, tribally controlled projects.