<p>Background: For companies operating globally, expatriates represent a knowledge resource. When different ways of thinking, different experiences and ideas meet, new ideas and knowledge are created. Managers who have lived and worked abroad make an essential addition to the range of ideas and experiences that a company can make use of. While going on an international assignment offers the opportunity to acquire knowledge, finishing one, and moving on, offers the opportunity to transfer this knowledge and utilize it in the organization. </p><p>Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine how a global corporation utilizes the knowledge its expatriates gain during international assignments. </p><p>Realization: We have looked at utilization of expatriates’ knowledge at Tetra Pak from both the HR managers’ and the expatriates’ point of view. We conducted five interviews with HR managers and sent out questionnaires to 60 expatriates, of which 21 replied. </p><p>Conclusion: Knowledge management is highly topical at Tetra Pak right now. To open up for learning and to spread knowledge are priorities. Utilization of expatriates’ knowledge can be looked at on two levels, the individual- and the organizational level. On the individual level, it is very much a question of career management. On the organizational level, it is a matter of knowledge transfer and sharing. Transfer of knowledge in general is very much intended at Tetra Pak, but there is no focus on expatriates’ knowledge. Knowledge sharing on the other hand, seems to more or less “just happen”, it is a matter of learning by accident rather than intent.</p>

Using one subsidiary of one international consumer goods company as an example, the author shows the main challenges of HR Management and their consequences for business activities in Russia. This empirical study details HR practices at the Russian subsidiary of one international consumer goods manufacturer with headquarters in Western Europe (hereafter referred to as ABC Russia for confidentiality). The author spent a few weeks in Moscow with the task of 1) reviewing the recruitment market and establishing trends with regard to the availability of candidates, salary movements and turnover of employees; and 2) making recommendations on how ABC Russia should proceed based on the findings. It was a great opportunity to observe ABC Russia employees and partly participate in their daily business; have access to some internal information, especially to HR procedures and rules; talk to some employees and get their impressions on what it means for a well-known international company doing business in Russia. (author´s abstract) / Series: WU Online Papers in International Business Communication / Series One: Intercultural Communication and Language Learning

Syfte och utgångspunkt:    Att utifrån fyra organisationer undersöka faktorer som är viktiga för arbete med expatriering och att använda Mendenhall, Dunbar och Oddous modell som inspiration för att skapa en egen modell med faktorer värdefulla för en expatrieringsprocess.   Forskningsresan:                 Utifrån referensram samt ett empiriskt resultat av intervjuer identifieras fyra kategorier, betydelse av att ta med familjen, mentorskap och stöd, anpassning till kultur och karriärplanering. Det empiriska resultatet samt referensramen är sedan grunden till analys och slutsats.   Slutsats:                              I slutsatsen presenteras betydelsefulla faktorer för utgången av studiens syfte.   Dessa faktorer används sedan i den modell författarna skapat. Modellen visar hur behovet av de fyra kategorierna är beroende av den planerade utlandsstationeringens längd.   Metod:                                Författarna av studien utgår från en kvalitativ ansats med djupintervjuer som metod. Det empiriska resultatet baseras på det material som framkommit genom djupintervjuer med  respondenterna från de fyra organisationerna. / Purpose and starting point: That based on a study with four organizations identify factors that are important to work with regarding expatriation and to use Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddous model as inspiration to create a separate model with factors of value to an expatriation process.   Research - Journey:            Based on the framework and the empirical results of the interviews identify four categories: importance of including family, mentoring and support, adaptation to culture and career planning. The empirical results and the reference frame is the base for analysis and conclusion.   Conclusion                          The conclusion presents significant factors for the outcome of the study's purpose. These factors are then used in the model, which the authors created. The model shows how the need for the four categories depends on the planned length of expatriation.   Method:                              The authors of the study base the study on a qualitative approach with in-depth interviews as a method. The empirical result is based on the material obtained through interviews with respondents from the four organizations.

This dissertation aims to expand our understanding of how lifestyle migrants from the Global North impact the urban space of a Global South city, particularly the built environment. In order to situate the questions posed in this dissertation, I focus on how lifestyle migrants from the Global North and their foreign capital transform the city of Granada, Nicaragua through processes of gentrification, and how the social and economic climate of the city and its residents are impacted. This research allows for empirically informed theoretical critiques to be made about the economic and social implications of the globalization of gentrification resulting from heterogeneous lifestyle migration. The property markets in many Global North locations, most notably the US, have pushed lifestyle migrants to look abroad; gentrification has gone international, spreading to the Global South. For reasons such as affordability and proximity to the US and Canada, many Global North property-buyers are looking to the colonial historic city center of Granada, Nicaragua as a site for relocation and investment. These migrants are purchasing and remodeling colonial-style homes as part of a broader transformation of the historic center to cater to international tourism and elite consumption. Many lifestyle migrants involved in the gentrification processes occurring in Granada are choosing transnational lifestyles by maintaining citizenship in their home countries, and simultaneously engaging in economic and social relationships in both Nicaragua and their home (or other) countries. The advantages that accompany their positions as migrants from the Global North greatly affect the lifestyle migrants’ roles in the transformation of the city, regardless of their own personal social and economic status at home. Many lifestyle migrants embrace a role of economic and social developers, and often enact a racist and neocolonialist understanding of the Nicaraguan people and culture as needing “improvement”. Lifestyle migrants are generally able to benefit from capital accumulated in Global North markets and their Global North citizen status enables them to live a mobile, transnational lifestyle. Such economic and mobility opportunities are unavailable for many Nicaraguans, further exacerbating the inequalities between local Nicaraguan residents and privileged lifestyle migrants.

The provision of consular services is an obligation of every government to its citizens who are living abroad. In providing such services, efforts must be made to ensure that they are accessible to all citizens, wherever they may be. Under the current economic climate, maintaining an extensive network of embassies and consulates around the world is an expensive venture. It is against this background that governments must be innovative in providing services by ensuring that private and third sector organizations are involved, in order to complement their work of ensuring that consular services reach their citizens at affordable costs - wherever they are. Besides rendering consular services to South African (SA) citizens, consular offices can be a vital investment vehicle of the government abroad, by ensuring that much-needed investment is obtained. Furthermore, the consular services can serve as the first line of defence of a country, by ensuring that people who can cause harm to the country do not enter it. Despite the daunting challenges facing the post-apartheid government in SA, a number of changes have been undertaken to ensure that consular services are modernized. However, those changes have been inadequate and have fallen short of meeting the expectations of most South African citizens who are living abroad. This study makes a vital contribution on the concept of using partnership and outsourcing as tools for increased access to consular services in one of the critical missions of SA abroad - the United Kingdom, by showing that the traditional way of rendering consular services from a diplomatic mission is inadequate to reach potential customers scattered in parts of the host country. The study concludes with significant recommendations that, inter alia, include even using post offices and the internet to ensure that consular services reach all parts of the United Kingdom, where South Africans live. Given that consular services have inherent security implications, the study also notes that among factors that must be taken into account before outsourcing consular services, or even setting up a partnership, the chosen service providers must, amongst other things, be able to maintain and protect the confidentiality of their customers. / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The provision of consular services is an obligation of every government to its citizens who are living abroad. In providing such services, efforts must be made to ensure that they are accessible to all citizens, wherever they may be. Under the current economic climate, maintaining an extensive network of embassies and consulates around the world is an expensive venture. It is against this background that governments must be innovative in providing services by ensuring that private and third sector organizations are involved, in order to complement their work of ensuring that consular services reach their citizens at affordable costs - wherever they are. Besides rendering consular services to South African (SA) citizens, consular offices can be a vital investment vehicle of the government abroad, by ensuring that much-needed investment is obtained. Furthermore, the consular services can serve as the first line of defence of a country, by ensuring that people who can cause harm to the country do not enter it. Despite the daunting challenges facing the post-apartheid government in SA, a number of changes have been undertaken to ensure that consular services are modernized. However, those changes have been inadequate and have fallen short of meeting the expectations of most South African citizens who are living abroad. This study makes a vital contribution on the concept of using partnership and outsourcing as tools for increased access to consular services in one of the critical missions of SA abroad - the United Kingdom, by showing that the traditional way of rendering consular services from a diplomatic mission is inadequate to reach potential customers scattered in parts of the host country. The study concludes with significant recommendations that, inter alia, include even using post offices and the internet to ensure that consular services reach all parts of the United Kingdom, where South Africans live. Given that consular services have inherent security implications, the study also notes that among factors that must be taken into account before outsourcing consular services, or even setting up a partnership, the chosen service providers must, amongst other things, be able to maintain and protect the confidentiality of their customers. / Thesis (M. Development and Management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The increase in globalisation has led many organisations world-wide and in South African to send more employees on international assignments than ever before, with every indication that the use of expatriates will continue to expand into the 21st century. Expatriate assignments are important to the success of multinational companies because they can help build the level of global competence within the organisation, and expatriates often fill critical positions in host countries (e.g. new market development, technology transfer, joint venture negotiations and subsidiary management). Given the strategic importance multinational companies attach to global assignments, the harm an unsuccessful expatriate may cause in the host country can be detrimental to the multinational company's future global business. Implications of poor expatriate cross-cultural adjustment include inadequate performance, psychological stress, premature termination of the assignment, negative effects on the expatriates' families and the long-term career repercussions upon repatriation after failed expatriate assignments. Thus, in order to remain competitive in today's global marketplace, multinational companies have recognised that the attraction, selection, development and retention of employees who can live and work effectively outside their own national borders are crucial to their success. This study proposed that personality dispositions, coping, stress and expatriates' motivation for accepting the assignment can predict three criteria of expatriate success, namely (a) the desire to terminate the assignment, (b) performance, and (c) the cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates. The study population consisted of 95 expatriates from eight multi-national organisations. The research method for each of the three articles consists of a brief literature review and an empirical study. A cross-sectional survey design was used to achieve the research objectives. Descriptive statistics ( e g means, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis) were used to vii analyse the data. Cronbach alpha coefficients and exploratory factor analysis were used to assess the reliability and validity of the measuring instruments, and multiple regression analyses was conducted to determine the percentage of the variance in the dependent variables that is predicted by the independent variables. The Neo-Personality Inventory Revised, Work Locus of Control Scale, Expatriate Stress Inventory, a biographical questionnaire, which included expatriates' motivation for accepting the assignment (independent variables) and expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment. their desire to terminate the assignment and their performance (dependent variables) were administered. The results showed that external locus of control is related to avoidance. Avoidance coping of expatriates' was best predicted by an external locus of control and approach coping of expatriates' was best predicted by an internal locus of control. The results showed that expatriates' desire to terminate the assignment is related to their cross-cultural adjustment and that personality dimensions are related to their cross-cultural adjustment and their desire to terminate the assignment. Personality dimensions explained 12% of the variance in expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment. Assertiveness and cross-cultural adjustment explained 17% of expatriates' desire to terminate the assignment. The results showed that cultural stress explained 17% of the variance in expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment. Assertiveness and cross-cultural adjustment explained 28% of expatriates' desire to terminate the assignment and extrinsic motivation explained 20% of expatriates' performance. Recommendations are made regarding future research and practical implications for expatriate management. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2005.

Do Christian missionaries who exhibit good person-job fit, (‘aligned’ with host nation colleagues and ‘in harmony’ with expatriate colleagues), experience more positive work attitudes? Personjob fit was conceptualized in terms of competencies. Perspectives on what competencies the role of missionary requires were obtained from 3 groups of subject matter experts: host nation colleagues, missionaries, and mission agency leaders. In Study I, subject matter experts (host nation colleagues, n=22, missionaries, n=25, and agency leaders, n=23) rated the ‘Universal Competency Framework’ (SHL) 20-level competencies. Host nation colleagues differed significantly on 3 of the competencies, suggesting that in this sample, the perspective of expatriates on the role of a missionary was not fully aligned with that of host nation colleagues. In Study 2, a sample of 130 current overseas missionaries self-assessed their performance and provided their own ratings of the importance of the competencies used in Study 1. Measures of Person-Job fit (Demands-Abilities fit, Supplies-Values fit and Perceived Performance) were regressed against outcome variables (job satisfaction, work engagement and satisfaction with life). Results indicated that a person’s fit with the job as described by both host nation colleagues (Alignment) and other expatriates (Harmonization) is positively associated with job satisfaction, work engagement and satisfaction with life. These results offer support for competencies as an effective method of describing missionary roles. Possible implications for enhancing the effectiveness and well-being of missionaries, and other aid and development workers, are discussed.

Studies of expatriate adjustment have traditionally focused on corporate expatriate assignments where foreign employees are often the only expatriate, or one of a handful in a host organisation. Multicultural not-for-profit organisations such as United Nations organisations have largely been ignored. It was hypothesised that classic predictors of expatriate adjustment – Spousal Adjustment, Culture Novelty and Acculturation Style, and novel variables of Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment would predict Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw prematurely from the assignment. 181 expatriates representing 38 countries from all economic levels completed an online survey investigating their experiences on assignment to a United Nations Organisation in Rome, Italy. Black & Stephens (1989) classic scales of Expatriate Adjustment, Spousal Adjustment, Culture Novelty and Cognitions to Withdraw were employed along with Acculturation Style, Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment measures designed for this study. Qualitative data was also collected around expatriates’ cognitions to withdraw from their assignment and reasons to stay in order to gain a richer understanding of the expatriate experience. The best predictors of Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw for United Nations expatriate employees in Rome were classic predictor Culture Novelty and novel predictors Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment. Structural Equation Modelling indicated the best fitting model of Expatriate Adjustment and subsequent Cognitions to Withdraw demonstrated moderate fit (!2 = 1045.19, df = 486, p =.000, TLI = .80, CFI = .82, RMSEA = .08) with Culture Novelty predicting General and Interaction Adjustment; Economic Adjustment predicting General Adjustment; and Adjustment Stage predicting General, Interaction and Work Adjustment. General Adjustment was the only significant predictor of Cognitions to Withdraw. Qualitative analysis suggested that the classic adjustment measures used did not adequately capture the experiences of these expatriates and that caution should be taken in generalising the literature to not-for-profit populations. Furthermore the outcomes of this study suggest that the inclusion of novel variables of Economic Adjustment and Stage in Assignment as predictors of expatriate adjustment could be warranted for future research. Sample size and adequacy of measures both limited the extent to which analysis could be conducted and results generalised. More research into the expatriate experience in the not-for-profit sector is desperately needed.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis explores the attitudes of South African expatriates in the Middle East towards the Afrikaans language. It also examines the reported language behaviour of South Africans when meeting and interacting with fellow South Africans irrespective of what their first language (L1) is. The participants who form part of the study all work in the educational, medical and business sectors in the Middle East. This study is particularly interested in what the language repertoires of South African expatriates are and whether these repertoires form part of how they define themselves as a group and contribute to their identity construction. Whilst Afrikaans has had a contested history within the South African context, and is often viewed as the language of the oppressor, it has undoubtedly also been a first language to some of the “oppressed” and has served a function as lingua franca (McCormick 2006). This thesis therefore focuses specifically on attitudes towards Afrikaans and the use of Afrikaans in linguistic identity construction. This research is informed by literature which views identity not only as complex, contradictory, multivoiced and multifaceted, but also as dynamic and subject to constant negotiation across space and time. The number of South African expatriates around the globe has increased to such an extent that the term “diaspora” (Kotze 2003: 63) has been used on occasion. While there have been some studies done on language repertoires of South African abroad, little is known about the attitudes and ideologies attached to these languages in diasporic contexts. This study uses a multimodal approach in data collection and analysis in an attempt to investigate the multi-semiotic nature of the linguistic identities of the participants. There are 33 participants in this study who are all South African citizens working or living in the Middle East. All participants are bi- and/or multilingual in mainly English and Afrikaans, with some speaking a third or fourth language such as another African indigenous language (for example, Zulu or Xhosa) or an Asian language (such as Urdu). In summary, this study finds that whilst English is clearly regarded as the global language of wider communication, people continue to identify strongly with their languages from “home” or their mother tongues, where these amplify their personal and group identities or are markers of their ethnolinguistic distinctiveness. Data collected in this research points to South African expatriate groupings that prefer communicating in Afrikaans and other indigenous languages outside the borders of South Africa as the languages give them a sense of comfort and belonging. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek die houding van Suid-Afrikaners wat in die Midde-Ooste werk of woon, teenoor die Afrikaanse taal. Dit ondersoek verder die raporteerde gedrag van Suid- Afrikaners wanneer hulle mede Suid-Afrikaners teekom of ontmoet, ongeag wat hul moedertaal is. Die deelnemers aan die studie werk almal in die onderrig, mediese- of besigheidsektore in die Midde-Ooste. Die tesis is spesifiek gemik op die taal repertoire van die groep Suid-Afrikaners in die buiteland, met die fokus op die moontlike bydrae tot hoe die groep hulself defineer en selfs ook bydra tot die konstruering van hul identiteite. Alhoewel die geskiedenis van Afrikaans dikwels gekoppel is aan die van ‘die onderdukker’, dien dit sonder twyfel ook as eerste taal vir baie van die ‘onderdruktes’ sowel as die van ‘n lingua franca (McCormick 2006). Die tesis het dus ‘n spesifieke fokus op houding teenoor Afrikaans en die gebruik van Afrikaans in die skepping van taalidentiteite. Die studie gebruik as uitgangspunt literatuur wat ‘identiteit’ as kompleks, teenstellend, veelstemmig en dinamies beskou. Verder word ‘identiteit’ ook beskou as onderworpe aan konstante heronderhandeling in elke spesifieke situasie en konteks. Die getalle Suid-Afrikaners wat dwarsoor die wereld werk of woon het so vermeerder, dat die term ‘diaspora’ nou as beskrywing gebruik word (Kotze 2003: 63). Alhoewel daar al studies gedoen oor die ‘taal repertoire’ van Suid-Afrikaners in die buiteland, is daar min bekend oor die houding en ideologiee wat met die tale in ‘diasporiese’ kontekste gepaard gaan. Die studie probeer vasstel wat die volle taalrepertoire van elke deelnemer is en of die deelnemers hulself deur middel van taal identifiseer. Die studie maak gebruik van ʼn multimodale metode van data insameling en analise in ʼn poging om die multisemiotiese aspekte van die ‘taalidentiteite’ van die deelnemers te ondersoek. Die 33 deelnemers in die studie is almal Suid-Afrikaanse burgers wat in Midde- Ooste werk of woon. Die deelnemers is almal twee of meertalig, meestal in Engels en Afrikaans en sommige praat ‘n derde of vierde taal soos ‘n inheemse Afrika (byvoorbeeld, Zulu of Xhosa) of Asiese taal (soos Urdu). Opsommend vind die navorsing, dat al word Engels as die wereldstaal van wye kommunikasie beskou, mense nog steeds sterk identifiseer met hul ‘huis’ of moedertale wanneer dit hul individuele en groep identiteite beklemtoon, of n merker is van hul etnolinguisitiese andersheid. Data in hierdie navorsingstudie dui ook daarop dat hierdie Suid Afrikaanse groepe verkies om in Afrikaans of ander Suid Afrikaanse inheemse tale te kommunikeer terwyl hulle buite the grense van Suid Afrika woon en werk, want nie net troos dit hulle nie, maar besorg ook ‘n gevoel van erens behoort.