<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>

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.

In an increasingly more globalized world the international competition is fierce. Today, working across borders is a new normality. It calls for greater demand to send employees abroad on international assignments. Therefore, employers need to address implications that come along with this increasing demand. One of the main implications is the issue to retain employers after return from international assignments since many of them tend to resign. Research about this issue has been conducted. However, this research has primarily taken an employer standpoint and thereby employees have been overlooked. This thesis presents both (1) an employee point of view of the repatriation process as well as (2) a more updated and comprehensive take on the entire repatriation process as a three step process beginning already prior departure. The paper concludes that high turnover rate after return remains a major problem among expats. Lastly,a final model is suggested to facilitate the transition and decrease this high turnover rate. By applying this approach on the repatriation process, companies could hopefully benefit in terms of decreased turnover cost as well as more satisfied employees.