Vaccine and Medicine Essay Example for Free

Vaccine and Medicine Essay According to Company Spotlight, GlaxoSmithKline (2011), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is a renowned UK-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company. GSK is rated as the second largest among the biggest pharmaceutical and healthcare companies in the world. This company engages in a range of business activities including manufacturing of pharmaceutical products such as the anti-infectives, medicines used for central nervous conditions, respiratory conditions, oncology issues and gastrointestinal conditions. GSK is also famous for producing vaccine products. In addition, it is concerned with the management of the consumer healthcare operation. This service is mainly focused on the production of nutritional drinks, over the counter drugs and other healthcare items (Weise, 2013). GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) SRL (2012) reports that this company had been formed after unity between Glaxo Well come company and SmithKline company. Since its inception, GSK has remained a pertinent player in the pharmaceutical industry where it has researched on medicines and vaccines that have been rated as the top priority by the World Health Organization. This company owns 7% of the total global pharmaceutical products. It has penetrated many countries including developing the world where its products sell cheaply. Noteworthy, this company enjoys the strongest global presence, as it is available in 70 countries. GSK sells its products in three distinct categories such as consumer healthcare, prescription medicines and vaccines (GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) SRL, 2012). Therefore, this report has focused on medicines and vaccines business unit in GSK. Both internal and external business environment affecting the company is also considered, with reference to appropriate theoretical frameworks. In addition, the current strategies deployed are also considered. Eventually, this report gives proposed strategies, vital in enhancing the business unit’s performance. 2. External Environmental Analysis on Vaccine and Medicine Production2.1 PESTLE  AnalysisPESTEL analytic tool is a model used in conducting analysis on a business organization in regard to the external environmental factors. This tool helps the business organizations in identifying some of the potential environmental aspects that affect their operations and performance. The factors of analysis in this framework include Political issues, Economic issues, Socio-cultural issues, Technological issues, Legal issues and the Eco-Environmental issues (Pestle Analysis, 2014). Figure 1: PESTEL Model Figure: PESTEL model Source: Arnold Oakley, 2013 2.1.1 Political FactorsGSK depends on the UK-government legislation on production and trade. Although the government of United Kingdom is one of the stable governments, GSK has experienced significant political challenges that have affected the rate of operation. For instance, the implementation of GSK marketing strategy depends on the trade laws in the UK (Andersen, Denrell Bettis, 2007). It has been noted that some of the trade regulations on the pharmaceutical products, mainly introduced by China and India affect the competitive nature of the company. Introduction of legislation by the government of UK has also affected the operations of GSK in manufacturing of vaccines and medicines. Ideally, UK laws that focus on consumerism, taxation, environmental issues, health and safety measures and consumer protection laws have influenced the activities of the company (Arnold Oakley, 2013). 2.1.2 Economic FactorsThe biggest economic challenge to GSK Company is the trend in international trade on pharmaceutical products. The high rate of economic growth in countries such as China and India remains a bigger challenge to GSK in UK (Datamonitor: GlaxoSmithKline Plc, 2011). This is because India and China have both joined the market with highly competitive ambition. In addition to this, the current economic changes in the UK that have affected GDP continue to suppress the performance of GSK on their production of drugs and vaccines. On the other hand, high inflation rates have affected the sale and production of pharmaceuticals. For instance, while China and India are enjoying a robust economic growth, UK experiences an economic slump. This makes the UK-based companies such as GSK less competitive when it comes to manufacturing of vaccines and medicines (Shakhshir, 2014). 2.1.3  Social-Cultural FactorsSocial, cultural issues include consumer lifestyles, shift in the consumer attitudes towards a particular product as well as consumer opinions. Since the UK-population comprises of the aging majority, the choice on pharmaceuticals is greatly affected. One of the major problems that GSK faces is the issue on the large profits that they have made from sales of their medicines and vaccines. Customer resentment by GSK is a major social problem that a ffects the performance of GSK despite the fact that it is one of the major pharmaceutical companies in the UK. On the other hand, availability of the other pharmaceutical products has also influenced the competitiveness of the company (Bass, 2008). 2.1.4 Technological FactorsThe trends in technology used in the pharmaceutical industries affect the operations of GSK in producing vaccines and medicines. Due to the unwavering changes that occur in drug manufacturing plants, GSK meets stringent regulations that in turn, influence their performance. On the other hand, GSK experiences hard time when it comes to licensing and patenting of newer drug production technologies. The government also ensures that the levels of developing the industry technologies meet the standards that are required. This major hurdle affects the development of the industry technology for GSK (Shakhshir, 2014). 2.1.5 Environmental FactorsSince GSK is a manufacturing company, it faces the challenges that most of the industries face. For example, GSK faces the challenges of global warming as well as the challenges attached to industrial waste disposal. One of the main problems that this company faces is the reaction of the stakeholders on the impact of wastes produced by GSK (Ienciu, 2012). 2.1.6 Legal FactorsLegal issues affecting GSK include the direct and indirect regulations and laws that affect the company’s operations as well as the local markets where this company sells its products. The European and international trade rules, regulations and agreements affect the operations of GSK in production of medicines and vaccines (Robson, 2013). 2.2 Porters 5 ForcesPorter’s Five Forces model is a tool used by various companies to study the external forces that affect a company’s competitive position. Porter’s five-force diagram is shown below in figure 2. Figure 2: Porter’s Five-Force Model Source: Koo, Koh Nam, 2004 2.2.1 Threat of New EntrantsGSK enjoys competitiveness since the costs of producing vaccines and medicines are too high for most of the companies in the UK. This phenomenon has made entrants into the pharmaceutical industries too small. It has been noted that development of newer medicines and drugs, involves painstaking research and investment that most of the companies in UK may not afford. The action of the federal laws together with the influence of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have also created barrier for most of the companies that intend to join pharmaceutical industry. In addition to this, new entrants avoid the recurrent renewal of the patents that expire after every 20 years. Since GSK is an old player in the pharmaceutical industry, it has garnered insurmountable trust and connection with the customers on its brand names. This makes it hard for newer entrants in the market to compete against GSK (Azadi Rahimzadeh, 2012). 2.2.1 Threat of SubstitutesThe introduction f many generic drug medicine has been a threat to GSK medicines and vaccines. Such generic drugs have substituted some of the GSK products thus creating replacement for the medicines produced by GSK. Complimentary Alternative Medicine (CAM) is also considered as a reliable substitute for the GSK medicines. Given individuals in UK, believe that the effects of the medicines and vaccines produced generically are similar to the GSK medicines; people often prefer the generic products whose costs are relatively cheaper (Koo, Koh Nam, 2004). 2.2.3 Bargaining Power of CustomersAlthough GSK is one of the pharmaceutical companies that produce vaccines and medicines, it does not rely much on the power of buyers. This is because GSK has a large customer base that translates to lower bargaining power. Noteworthy, vaccines and medicines have lower number of customers. This makes GSK to experience high customer bargaining power. GSK focuses on research and development of newer vaccines and medicines, which are then consumed, by the doctors, patients, pharmacists and other healthcare facilities (Azadi Rahimzadeh, 2012). 2.2.4 Bargaining Power of SuppliersGSK supply market comprises of labour, raw material suppliers, trial staff, patients in clinical trials, investigators and other marketing distribu tors. Contrary to customers, the suppliers have strong bargaining power that can affect the operation of the company. Whenever the suppliers withhold the supplies or change the quality of the supplies that they trade to GSK, the company risks losing the quality  of its medicines and vaccines. This will in turn affect the competitiveness and the performance on the company in the pharmaceutical industry (GlaxoSmithKline Plc SWOT Analysis, 2012). 2.2.5 Intensity of RivalryPharmaceutical industry has many players leading to increased rivalry. Since there is unending patterns of newer products in the pharmaceutical industry, firms and companies forced to thrive competitively for market shares. Product differentiation has also led to introduction of alternative products that are cheaper. This has led to competitive advantage for certain firms. This trend propagates competitive rivalry that leaves only the strongest and adherent company in the market. However, reports indicate that GSK uses an accurate forecast that helps it in positioning itself at a point where it can sustain rivalry in production of medicine and vaccines from the other companies for a long time (Juliano, 2013). 3.0 Value Chain AnalysisGlaxoSmithKline value chain is a resourceful tool that is applied by the managers to identify major activities that are operational within the firm. The primary activities that are undertaken at GlaxoSmithKline have potential capabilities of defining the firm competitive advantages (Griffin, 2012). The competitive advantage of the company lies within the capability to undertake some of the vital activities that are carried across the value chain with the aim of being better that the business rivals. Figure3: Value Chain Analysis Model Source: Ienciu, 2012 Firstly, GlaxoSmithKline value chain has been able to combine values of the firm key activities with the functional parts. The assessment that is undertaken in the principal activities defines the organization overall additional values that are created. Under its value chain, the company has been able to differentiate its main primary activities that are directly related to the production and the supporting activities that are directly related to effectiveness and efficiency of GlaxoSmithKline operation. GlaxoSmithKline primary and support activities are discussed in details (Shakhshir, 2014). The company has taken a consideration of its inbound activities. Inbound activities in GlaxoSmithKline are concerned with the process of receiving materials from suppliers that are used in the  production of drugs and medicines. As well, storing of these raw materials in the warehouse and handling them within the company is an art of the essential activities that play a crucial role in the va lue chain. In addition, GlaxoSmithKline has a consideration of operation activities. This incorporates all activities that have direct relationship with production, services and product that are within the firm. Outbound logistic is another primary activity that the company has highlighted its concern. These activities involve distribution of the medicines and vaccines (final product). This has been entailing the manner at which the company has been distributing its products to the customers, distributors, chemists, hospitals and other business-related areas (Juliano, 2013). Additionally, GlaxoSmithKline has a functional area that relate to sales and marketing. This is a crucial area that analyze all the need and wants if the clients. As well, this operational are is wholly responsible for the creation of awareness of the firm product among the target group. The company has been using some marketing techniques such as advertisements and sales promotion to ensure they attract more customers to use their products (Koo, Koh Nam, 2004). Finally, GlaxoSmithKline has undertaken a vital supporting activity that considers the function of procurement. Procurement incorporates functions that are directly accountable for purchases of materials that are significant for the production. GlaxoSmi thKline has an efficient procurement department that is capable of obtaining the highest quality raw materials at the best prices that are favourable for the company (Shakhshir, 2014). 4. SWOT Analysis Some of the internal strengths and weaknesses affecting GSK can be analysed using the SWOT analysis tool. This tool will identify and analyse some of the internal environmental opportunities as well as the strengths that GSK has. This SWOT analysis will ensure that GSK’s maximum strength and opportunities are highlighted. However, this analysis will minimise on the threats and the weakness that the company has. This analysis will help in explaining GSK’s position in the market, the reason for its position and the possible plans and strategies that can be used to improve the company’s position in the market (GlaxoSmithKline Plc SWOT Analysis, 2014). Below is a diagram of SWOT analysis. Figure 4: SWOT analysis Source: GlaxoSmithKline Plc SWOT Analysis, 2014 4.1 StrengthsGSK being a large company has robust resources and funds that can fuel both the sales, as well as strong marketing mechanism. GSKs strong marketing and sales mechanism has placed it at an accessible ground for the customers. This company has richly invested in both tele-visual and printed media to promote its products. This has placed GSK on top of the other smaller pharmaceutical companies. GSK is rated as the biggest financier of most of the research and development projects in the UK. This places it at a dominant position in the pharmaceutical industry. It has also ensured proper resource utilization with over 97,000 employees who help in the exploration of newer markets. 4.2 WeaknessDespite being a pharmaceutical major in the UK, GSK also has weaknesses that affect its operations. With its robust production of medicine and vaccines, this company make losses due to expired pharmaceuticals. In addition, some sporadic cases of safety affect the company’s image in relation to their customers. The research and development issues have also affected the quality of some pharmaceuticals that this company produces. Ideally, some cases of poor quality, expiry dates and quantity of products have affected the production of medicines and vaccines. Therefore, these weaknesses continue to dent the image of this big company in the UK (GlaxoSmithKline Plc SWOT Analysis, 2012). 4.3 OpportunitiesGSK has the opportunity of engaging into the production of oncology products, biologics as well as the preparation of various antibodies. Through its robust existence, it can facilitate productive mergers, as well as acquisition using its influential financial stance. On the other hand, the increase in demands for healthcare products such as medicines and vaccines has placed GSK at a greater opportunity ground. With its resources and significant fund, GSK has better laboratories that give them the opportunity for expanding and leveraging the production of medicines and vaccines (GlaxoSmithKline Plc SWOT Analysis, 2014). 4.4 ThreatsIn as much as GSK thrives to be a pharmaceutical major in the UK, reports have indi cated that this company faces threatening situations. Ideally, the risks involved in the introduction of newer products affect the ability of the company to maintain its image. With the introduction of more regulations, this company  finds it hard to maintain precision in its operations (Research, 2012). On the other side, slowdown in the European markets remains a serious threat in the marketing of the medicines and vaccine products from this company. In addition to this, the availability of conventional medicines has affected the demand for the medicines produced by this company. Overall, the cases of complacency, subject to the marketing leadership that the company has earned in the past years have placed it under thorough scrutiny by the UK government. This makes it difficult for this company to be able to follow all the stringent rules and regulations (BBC, 2012). 5. Current StrategyGSK is a large business that relies on the strategic priorities such as increasing the growth of the company, reducing the risks as well as increasing the long-term financial performance. This company has focused on growth of the company as their main idea of improving their performance. This large company has ensured their second place in the pharmaceutical industry. It has managed to leverage its p roduction where it produces up to 7% of the global pharmaceutical products. Their large scales and resources have provided them a robust growth in the pharmaceutical sphere. With their growth strategy, GSK has created balanced businesses and product portfolio that have leveraged their sales growth mainly centred on vaccine and medicines in United Kingdom (Azadi Rahimzadeh, 2012). GSK has also relied on the successful commercialising and launching of newer products. They have targeted the emerging markets for vaccines and medicines. GSK have improved their performance in developing newer oncology medicines, antibiotics as well as vaccines. GSK has increased investments in emerging markets for Medicine and vaccines as a strategy to remain viable. Moreover, this company seek further opportunities for optimisation of the product value (Shakhshir, 2014). Additionally, GSK has managed to improve the research and development organisation making it able to handle robust products whose effects have changed lives. Their efforts have injected newer medicines and vaccines that have also increased the rates of return. GSK also uses its resources to invest in many parts of UK to improve their returns and penetration of the markets. Responsibility remains a central strategy in GSK, making them able to ensure success in delivery of vaccines and medicines (Juliano, 2013). 5.1 . Proposed StrategyIn their future strategy, GSK could employ Bowman’s strategy to leverage its  competitiveness. Ideally, this approach helps companies to be able to identify its competitive edge by meeting their customer’s needs. In this case, the strategy allows a company to be competitive against other companies in the same market. For instance, GSK should consider that many pharmaceutical companies sell medicines and vaccines with negligible differences from their pharmaceuticals. Therefore, GSK should focus on the prices and degree of success in their products so that they may become more competitive than the other companies may (Arnold Oakley, 2013). GSK should rely on generic strategies, which are, cost leadership, product differentiation and market segmentation. The strategies will help GSK to ensure that their pharmaceuticals are low-priced, useful and provided with the customers’ specifications. Whenever their vaccines and medicines will sell lower than the other companies will, GSK will become more competitive Price and value of pharmaceuticals is a major concern when it comes to competitiveness in the pharmaceutical industry. GSK should ensure that their products meet the recommended value specifications demanded by the customers (Morrow Jr. Sirmon, Hitt Holcomb, 2007). Using the Bowman’s strategy, one can adjust the three porter’s positions to eight while explaining the benefits of value and cost of the products. Therefore, GSK should embrace Bowman’s strategy in improving their competitiveness in the pharmaceutical industry (Koo, Koh Nam, 2004). 6. ConclusionGlaxoSmithKline remains the leading pharmaceutical and healthcare company in the sector of Vaccines and Medicines in United Kingdom. This company enjoys a robust growth despite the dynamism in the pharmaceutical markets. Despite its successful performance in production of vaccines and medicines, GSK has also faced several challenges such as competitive pharmaceutical companies, stringent political issues and economic downturns. GlaxoSmithKline is a renowned pharmaceutical company whose products are common in the pharmaceutical industry. The primary goal of GSK is to achieve a competitive nature. However, this will require improvement of the quality and value of the products as it eliminates the weaknesses and threats. GSK must utilize its opportunities with the aim of delivering first-class safe and quality drugs and vaccines. On the other hand, GSK has a task of pioneering safety of medicine and vaccine use through the media. This company should focus on production of quantities that can feed the markets without unnecessary surpluses that  affect the returns to the company. Growth of market all over the world is also a good idea that should be embraced by the company. Idyllically, GSK remains one of the largest pharmaceutical companies whose products are distributed throughout the world. Noteworthy, GSK has a strong position in the pharmaceutical industry.   References Andersen, T. J., Denrell, J., Bettis, R. A. (2007) ‘Strategic responsiveness and Bowmans risk–return paradox’, Strategic Management Journal, 28(4), pp. 407-429.Arnold, D. G., Oakley, J. L. (2013) ‘The Politics and Strategy of Industry Self-Regulation: The Pharmaceutical Industrys Principles for Ethical Direct-to-Consumer Advertising as a Deceptive Blocking Strategy’, Journal of Health Politics, Policy Law, 38(3), pp. 505-544. Azadi, S., Rahimzadeh, E. (2012) ‘Developing Marketing Strategy for Electronic Business by Using McCarthys Four Marketing Mix Model and Porter’s Five Competitive Forces’, Emerging Markets Journal, 2(2), pp. 46-58. Bass, A. (2008) Side Effects: A Prosecutor, a Whistleblower, and a Bestselling Antidepressant on Trial, Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. BBC, (2012) GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3bn in US drug fraud scandal [Online]Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18673220[Accessed : 29 October 2014]. Company Spotlight, GlaxoSmithKline (2011) ‘PharmaWatch: CNS’, 10(5), pp. 27-34. Datamonitor: GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (2011) ‘GlaxoSmithKline, PLC SWOT Analysis,’ pp. 1-8. Dykeman, D., Abramson, D. (2011) ‘Patent strategies for life sciences companies to navigate the changing patent landscape’, Journal of Commercial Biotechnology, 17(4), pp. 358-364. doi:10.1057/jcb.2011.30 GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) SRL (2012) ‘SeeNews Research Profiles (Company Profiles)’, pp. 2836-2839. GlaxoSmithKline Plc SWOT Analysis (2014) ‘GlaxoSmithKline, PLC SWOT Analysis’, pp. 1-10. GlaxoSmithKline Plc SWOT Analysis. (2012) GlaxoSmithKline, PLC SWOT Analysis’, pp. 1-8. GlaxoSmithKline Plc SWOT Analysis. (2014) GlaxoSmithKline, PLC SWOT Analysis’, pp. 1-10. Griffin, R. W. (2012) Fundamentals of management.6th ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Ienciu, I. (2012) ‘Environmental Reporting and Corporat e Governance for Ftse 100 Listed Companies,’ Annals of The University Of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 21(2), pp. 681-687. Juliano, R. L. (2013) ‘Pharmaceutical innovation and public policy: The case for a new strategy for drug discovery and development’, Science Public Policy (SPP), 40(3), pp. 393-405. Koo, C., Koh, C, E, Nam, K. (2004) ‘An Examination of Porters Competitive Strategies in Electronic Virtual Markets: A Comparison of Two On-line Business Models’, International Journal Of Electronic Commerce, 9(1), pp. 163-180. Morrow Jr., J. L., Sirmon, D. G., Hitt, M. A., Holcomb, T. R. (2007) ‘Creating value in the face of declining performance: firm strategies and organizational recovery’, Strategic Management Journal, 28(3), pp. 271-283. Pestle Analysis, (2014) ‘Poland Country Profile’, pp. 14-46. Research and, M. (2012) Research and Markets: GlaxoSmithkline Consumer Healthcare Ltd.: Company Profile and SWOT Analysis. Business Wire (English). Robson, K. (2013) Service-ability create a customer centric culture and gain competitive advantage. 1st ed. Chichester, West Sus sex, United Kingdom: Wiley. Shakhshir, G. (2014) ‘Positioning Strategies Development’, Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series, 23(1), pp. 979-988. Weise, K. (2013) ‘Company News: Apple, GlaxoSmithKline’, Alibaba Group, Starbucks, U.K. Internet Operators. Businessweek.Com, p. 24

Organizational Structures that are Suitable in the Business Circumstances Today :: Papers

Organizational Structures that are Suitable in the Business Circumstances Today The world today is experiencing the most rapid pace of change in its history. The purpose of this essay is to discuss what organizational structure is suitable in the business circumstances of today. This essay will argue that ‘the environment of the 21st century is such, that to be effective, organizations are tending towards less formalized structures than used in the past’. To support this argument, firstly organizations will be defined, and then the properties that make an organization effective will be identified. Next organizational structure will be appraised, and what constitutes business environment will be established. Finally the influences globalisation and technology have had on the will be addressed in relation to changes in organizational structure. Robbins et al. define an organization as ‘a deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose’ (2000: 5). While Wood et al. consider organizations as ‘collections of people working together in divisions of labour to achieve a common purpose’ (1998: 15). These definitions fits a wide variety of groups such as sporting clubs, religious bodies, voluntary associations etcetera however for this essay will concentrate on business organizations. A Business organizations’ purpose is to deliver and product or service in such a way that a benefit is gained for the organization, profit or goodwill for example. The Macquarie dictionary is defines effective as ‘producing the intended or expected result and producing a striking impression’ (1990). Thus an effective organization is an arrangement of people that successfully achieved their purpose, ie. a large profit of fine product, and have done so in a noteworthy, exemplary, commendable method or fashion. It is understood that to be effective an organization must be efficient. Efficiency is defined as ‘the relationship between inputs and outputs, the goal of which is to minimize resource cost’ (Robbins et al., 2000: 8). Usually a business organizations’ success is primarily measured in financial profit, though this is not the only benchmark. Organizational structure is defined as ‘the organization’s formal framework by which job tasks are divided, grouped and coordinated’ (Robbins et al., 2000: 351). Generally an organizations’ structure is considered to be the managerial framework that directs the non-managerial employees. Traditionally western organizational structure can be argued to have developed from the feudal system of government where a strict pyramidal power and class structure existed.

Impact of Employees Turnover

A Conceptual Model of Expatriate Turnover Author(s): Earl Naumann Reviewed work(s): Source: Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3 (3rd Qtr. , 1992), pp. 499-531 Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals Stable URL: http://www. jstor. org/stable/155094 . Accessed: 09/10/2012 02:27 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www. jstor. org/page/info/about/policies/terms. jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive.We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email  protected] org. . Palgrave Macmillan Journals is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of International Business Studies. http://www. jstor. org A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER Earl Naumann* Boise State University Abstract. Many factorsmay contributeto the high rate of expatriate turnover experienced by U. S. ultinational corporations. The objective of this article is to present a comprehensive model of the expatriateturnoverprocessby identifyingthe key contributing factors and suggesting intermediate linkages and relationships. The model appears to have both managerial and theoretical implications. The majority of U. S. multinationalcorporations(MNCs) suffer from an abnormally igh turnover ateamongexpatriate anagers, articularly hen h r w m p t T compared o bothforeign-based NCsanddomesticoperations. he turnover M ate commonly falls in the 20%-50%range for expatriatetransfers[Black 1988; Black and Stephens 1989; Copelandand Griggs 1985; Mendenhall and Oddou 1985;Tung 1988;ZeiraandBanai 1985], althoughturnover ay m be as high as 70% for some firns, particularlyn less developed countries i [Desatnick and Bennett 1978; Lanier 1979]. The problem of expatriate i turnovers more evidentamongU. S. -basedMNCs thanamongforeign-based MNCs. Tung [1982] noted that turnoverrates among U. S. MNCs are two to three times higher than foreign MNCs. For example, Tung's research M ndicatedthatonly 3%of European NCs and 14%of JapaneseMNCs had turnoverrates greaterthan 10% of expatriatetransferswhile 76% of U. S. MNCs had turnoverrates exceeding that level. b t Althoughdirectcomparisons etweendomestic(U. S. ) andexpatriateurnover ratesaredifficult,expatriateurnover atesappear o be at leasttwice domestic t t r rates. â€Å"Expatriateturnover†or â€Å"expatriatefailure† typically includes all individualswho quit or transferback to the U. S. priorto the completionof theirexpectedforeignassignments. ome researchersontendthat†expatriate S c turnover†may also occur up to a year or more after repatriation[Adler 1986; Harvey 1989].Conversely,virtuallyall domestic studies of turnover refer to the separationof the emp loyee from the organizationwith the o o t T preponderancef the studiesconcentratingn voluntaryurnover. o illustrate, in McEvoy ndCascio's 1987]meta-analytic a reviewof turnoverndperformance, a [ *Earl Naumannis Professorof Marketingat Boise State University. He received his Ph. D. from ArizonaState University. The authorwould like to thankthe reviewersfor their effort and contributions hich helped signifiw cantly improvesome crudeideas. Received: September1990; Revised: February,June, September1991 & January1992; Accepted: February1992. 499 500JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 twenty-four studies involving 7,717 individuals were cited. External turnover rates varied from 3% to 106% annually with a median of 22%. However, the subjects in the studies were drawn from nineteen rather generic job s categories including aerospace employees, pharmaceutical cientists, engineers, navy enlisted personnel, nurses, bank tellers, and small business new hires, for examp le. None of the subjects are directly comparable to expatriate managers. If the assumption can be made that expatriate managers are more similar to individuals such as engineers, scientists, and exempt lectronic employees than to individuals such as nurses, enlisted personnel, or small business new hires, the â€Å"normal domestic† turnover rate is more likely to approximate 10% annually [McEvoy and Cascio 1987]. This figure is consistent with the average of 12% for 303 firms reported by Mercer [1988]. Further, turnover rates typically decline at higher organizational levels so managerial turnover rates are likely to be less than the overall average figure. Thus, while no empirical research exists that directly compares turnover, the expatriate turnover rate appears to be at least twice the domestic rate.The extreme expatriate turnover rate results in high direct and indirect costs to U. S. MNCs. The direct costs associated with each expatriate turnover are estimated to be be tween $55,000 and $150,000 [Copeland and Griggs 1985; Harvey 1985; Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou 1987; Misa and Fabricatore 1979; Zeira and Banai 1985]. Therefore, the aggregate direct costs for expatriate turnover for U. S. MNCs are quite high [Copeland and Griggs 1985]. Additionally, the indirect costs associated with expatriate turnover are estimated to be even greater [Harvey 1985].The indirect costs include items such as reduced productivity and efficiencies, lost sales, market share, competitive position, unstable corporate image, and tarnished corporate reputation. While turnover is costly in domestic operations, turnover is apparently even more costly and troublesome in overseas operations. Due to the relatively high frequency of expatriateturnoverand the associated costs, the international business literature has been punctuated with efforts to isolate the factors causing difficulty in cross-cultural-adjustment.The three areas receiving the greatestinteresthave been the sele ction of the â€Å"ideal† expatriate manager [Abe and Wiseman 1983; Church 1982; Mendenhall and Oddou 1985; Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou 1987; Tung 1982, 1988; Zeira and Banai 1985], the underdeveloped state of expatriation and cross-cultural training programs [Black 1988; Black and Mendenhall 1990; Brislin 1979; Mendenhall and Oddou 1985; Kohls 1985; Schwind 1985; Torbiorn 1982; Tung 1982, 1984], and the difficulties encountered by the expatriate's spouse and/or family [Black 1988; Black and Stephens 1989; Grain and Cooper 1981; Harvey 1985; Tung 1982].While these factors are undoubtedly contributors to the turnover problem, study of these variables in isolation or jointly is likely to result in very little advancement of the understanding of the expatriate turnover problem. The reason for the low probability of significant improvements flowing from this stream of research is that there are CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATE TURNOVER 501 t t manyothervariableshatinfluence heturn over rocess. pecifically, onceptual p S c a models of the domesticturnover rocesshave pursued more comprehensive p pproachthan that found in the international usiness literature,and these b r i modelshavebeen generally alidated y subsequent esearchn organizational v b behaviorand appliedpsychology. While there have been numerousattemptsto model the domestic turnover process, two turnovermodels have received the strongestsupportbased on the frequency of citations in subsequentliteratureand on the number of attemptsto empiricallyvalidatethe constructsandrelationships. he model T of Mobley, Griffeth,Handand Meglino [1979] suggestedthatcharacteristics of the organization,he individual, ndthe environmenthapean individual's t s perceptionsand satisfactionleading to the formationof intentionsto stay or quit. The Steers and Mowday [1981] model addedadditionalconstructs of job performancelevel, efforts to change the situation, and non-work influences. In addition, he SteersandMowdaymodel exp andedthe affective t responsesto the job to includejob satisfaction,organizational ommitment, c andjob involvement. The satisfaction,commitment,and involvementof an w t individual ould lead to the formation f intentions o stay or quit. Together, o these models have guided or influencedturnoverresearchfor a decade.In thattime, both models have generallystood the test of empiricalvalidation. Thus,it appearsthatconstructs entralto these models may be generalizable c to the internationalnvironment ndhelp explainexpatriateurnover. y using e a t B theoretical odelsfromthe areaof appliedpsychology,this approach ttempts m a to address the criticisms of the internationalliteraturefrequentlyvoiced [BlackandMendenhall 990;Kyi 1988;Newmann, hattandGutteridge 978]. B 1 1 These authors ave notedthatthe internationalusinessliterature ften is not h b o integratedinto a theoreticalframeworkand appearspiecemeal and ad hoc.The purposeof this articleis to presenta model of expatriate urnover ased t b o n constructs entralto the Mobley,et al. [1979] andthe Steersand Mowday c [1981]models. Additionally,he expatriateurnover odelattemptso integrate t t m t concepts from the international usiness literature here possible. By purb w suing a more comprehensive heoreticalapproach nd recognizingthe comt a plex interactiveand longitudinaleffects, an improvedunderstanding f the o expatriateturnoverprocess may result. This improvedunderstanding ay m contributeto the developmentof retentionstrategiesthat would reduce the high turnoverrate.Lee and Mowday [1987] provided several reasons for the value of comprehensive odelsof turnover. irst,comprehensive odels m F m identify and categorizethe variousfactorsthatpreviousresearchhad found to be important. Second, models provide directionfor empiricalresearch, thus imposing discipline on researchers nd reducingthe occurrenceof an a ad hoc researchagenda. Finally, models help managersthink heuristically about a broaderrange of causes of turnoverrather than concentratingon one or two factors. Therefore,the model of expatriateturnovermay be of value to both researchers nd practicingmanagers. 502 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 THE MODEL The basic rationale that underlies this model is that the fundamentalconcepts associated with the turnover process in domestic situations can be adapted to model the expatriate turnover process. Thus, the discussion of major constructs will summarize the existent body of research where possible although there is an absence of empirical studies of a variety of unique international factors. Also, the model of expatriate turnover is implicitly oriented toward middle to upper level managers.These organizational levels appear to be most commonly represented among expatriates [Tung 1981]. While many of the constructs will also apply to operatives, the propositions and discussions adopt a managerial orientation. The discussion of the model (Figure 1) will flow from the predicto rvariables through intermediate linkages to the turnover decision. The sequence of discussion is intended to follow the direction of predominant causality in this turnover model. Three categories of predictor variables have received general empirical support domestically as being important elements of the o mployee turnoverprocess:job/task characteristics, rganizationcharacteristics, three groups of variables collectively and worker characteristics. These influence an expatriate's degree of job satisfaction, commitment to the organization, and involvement in the achievement of the organization's goals. These attitudes are formed with respect to the parent organization, and, since most expatriates are initially transfers from domestic positions, the attitudes have probably been formulated predominantly in a domestic environment.The expatriate's general satisfaction with, commitment to, and involvement in the organization may be moderated by perceptions of the career path resulting fr om the international assignment or by the overall level of cross-culturaladjustment. The expatriate's satisfaction, commitment, and involvement may also be moderated by the employee's family situation and the family's overall satisfaction with the international experience or by o the characteristics f the countryto which the expatriateis assigned.Collectively these factors will lead to the modification of satisfaction, commitment, and involvement with respect to the organization in the foreign assignment. Due to the developmental state of the international business literature and the small percentage of international human resource articles appearing in leading business journals [Black and Mendenhall 1990; Boyacigiller and Adler 1991; Rosenzweig and Singh 1991], the specific international variables influencing expatriateattitudes are largely unknown.However, these attitudes toward the organization in the foreign assignment may result in the expatriate clarifying the intent to change employers, stay with the same employer but transfer â€Å"home,† or stay in the international assignment. The expatriate's intentions may be modified by perceptions of both external and internal employment alternatives. The intentionsmay result in explicit search behavior, ultimately resulting in an initial turnover decision. The turnover decision, even if the choice is to stay, may result in changes in the employee's job CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 03 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~0c U 0~~~~~~~0 0 .. 1 I=- I z0 LL †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ E 0 4) ll l la E L, k . ; ~~~~0 , 504 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 and career expectations and influence subsequent performance. A decision to leave may not be manifested for an extended time period and may result in other withdrawal cognitions. To assist in clarifying the expected relationships in the model, research propositions are presented after each discussion. The degree of detail in each propos ition is largely a reflection of the existent body of research.If research is available that suggests specific relationships and the direction of influence, the propositions are relatively detailed. If research is lacking and the expected relationships are based instead on intuitive reasoning, the propositions are stated very generally. Also, although this is a model of expatriate turnover, only a few of the propositions deal explicitly with turnover. The reason for this is that turnover is the behavioral outcome of a complex process and the propositions address the specific antecedent relationships among variables. Each of these variables will be addressed individually.However, clarifying the relatively ambiguous concept of â€Å"turnover† may be useful first. Turnover Turnover among domestic operations typically refers to the separation of the individual employee from the firm. This definition is too narrow for the international environment and must be broadened to include several other dimensions of turnover since expatriate turnover often involves transfers internal to the organization. Turnover may be categorized as external or internal, voluntary or involuntary, and functional or dysfunctional. External turnover occurs when an individual leaves an organization to seek employment elsewhere.While this type of turnoveris most common domestically, there is no research indicating the frequency of external turnover as a component of total expatriate turnover. By any measure, external turnover is costly and results in reduced short-term efficiency, at the very least. Internal turnover occurs when an individual changes positions but remains in the same firm. This situation is apparently more common in international operations than in domestic situations [Tung 1984]. Essentially this occurs when an expatriate manager is transferred back to the U. S. or another internationallocation.Research has indicated that many expatriate managers find the repatriation process much more stressful and frustrating than the initial expatriationand repatriationexperiences may be a cause of subsequent turnover [Adler 1980; Harvey 1989]. Also, many expatriates may develop an intention to quit while on foreign assignment and view the transfer â€Å"home† as simply an intermediate step to leaving the firm [Harvey 1989]. Turnover may also be voluntary or involuntary (from the employee's viewpoint). Voluntary turnover occurs when the employee quits or requests and receives a transfer.Involuntary turnover occurs when an employee is fired or transferred at the will of the organization. By integratingthese concepts, a four-celledmatrixcan be developed (Figure 2). The turnover models of Mobley, et al. [1979] and Steers and Mowday CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 505 r [1981] and much of the subsequentdomesticturnover esearchin organizational behavior and applied psychology concentrateon cell 1, voluntary external turnover,and to a lesser degree, on cell 2, involuntaryexternal f turnover. The international usiness literature ocuses primarilyon cells 3 b i a and4, voluntary ndinvoluntarynternal urnover, ith little or no distinction. t e Very little discussionin the international usiness literature xists of cell 2, b involuntaryexternal turnover,or cell 1, voluntaryexternal turnover. The model presentedhere will apply generally to all four types of turnover. f While the model is conceptuallymost appropriateor both types of voluntary turnover,the model also has implicationsfor both types of involuntary w turnover. he implicationsor the varioustypes of turnover ill be addressed T f in subsequentsections of this article.Turnovermay also be conceptualizedas functionalor dysfunctionalto the firm. Functionalumoveris typicallyviewed as beneficialto the organization. t An example might be when a low-performingexpatriatequits or is fired, t thus creatingan opportunity o staff the position with a more capable indit vidual. Anotherexampleo f functional urnover ightbe the internaltransfer m and/or promotionof a high-performing xpatriate. There appearsto be a e dark side of functional turnoverthat may be easily overlooked. When a t â€Å"low performing†expatriate eaves the organization, he departure ay be l m he organization s a resultof the individual'snability o effectively a t viewedby i o make the cross-cultural djustment r as a result of spouse or family proba lems [Tung 1982]. However, it appearslikely that the cause of â€Å"low performance† may be mistakes made by the organizationin many cases. To illustrate,the selection criteriafor expatriatemanagersmay be inappropriate, expatriation raininginadequate or nonexistent),the job may be poorly t ( designed, the performanceexpectationsunreasonable,or the performance W appraisal rocessinadequate. hilethe expatriate ay be a â€Å"low performer,† p m he low performance ay be due to the organization'smismanagednternam i tional efforts,not the expatr iate'sncompetence. ennings[1985] noted that i J companies are often the cause of their high turnoverrates due to poor managementdevelopment and misuse of talented people. Failure by the t organization o use the skills developedin the international nvironment y e b a the expatriates apparently commonsourceof dissatisfactionmongrecently i a repatriated anagers [Harvey 1989]. If an expatriateis viewed as a low m t t perforner,identifying he causesof low performancesppears o be important. a oViewing the departure f a low perfonneras a good thing may, indeed, be very simplistic. Dysfunctionalturnoverdamagesthe firm in some way by having a valued employee quit or requestan early transfer. Dysfunctionalturnoveris most as commonly onceptualized beinginitiated y theemployee lthoughnvoluntary c b a i internaltransfersare also undoubtedly ysfunctionalin the short tenn. d The functional/dysfunctionalonceptualization ould apply to all four types c c of turnoverin Figure 2. The point to be made h ere is that not all turnover 506 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992FIGURE 2 Types of Turnover Voluntary (For the Employee) External (To the Organization) Involuntary (For the Employee) I Quit! You're Fired! 12 34 Internal (To the Organization) Transfer Me! You're Transferred! is bad; some turnover may actually be beneficial and afford the organization an opportunityto improve. However, since a significant portion of expatriate managers are initially â€Å"internal transfers† from a domestic assignment rather than â€Å"new hires,† the expatriates are likely to be high performers in the domestic environmentdue to the expatriateselection process.Specifically, a manager's â€Å"domestic track record† is often a major factor in the expatriate selection process [Mendenhall and Oddou 1987; Tung 1981]. Thus, it may be hypothesizedthat dysfunctionalturnoveris more common among expatriates than among domestic managers (i. e. , losing valued empl oyees). A further complication to the traditional approach to turnover research also t appearsnecessary regardingthe appropriate ime horizon. Turnovermay occur significantly after repatriation but be caused by the international experience or the repatriationprocess.An expatriatemanager may become disenchanted while on the international assignment and actually formulate an intention to quit [Adler 1986]. However, the expatriate may simply â€Å"gut it out† until b transferred ack to the U. S. , and a new job is found. Alternatively, a expatriate may become disenchanted with the organization due to events occurring during the repatriation process and subsequently leave the organization. However, turnover after repatriation introduces many issues not addressed in the expatriate turnover model presented here.Therefore, the discussion in this article is limited to turnover that occurs while an expatriate is actually on the foreign assignment. The model does adopt a decidedly tempo ral dimension, however. Steers and Mowday [1981] contend that the intention to quit is usually manifested behaviorally within a year and that the relationship between intention and turnover subsequently weakens. The reason that an extended time horizon is necessary in turnover studies is the existence of gradual changes in worker attitudesleading to behavioralchanges, a phenomenareferredto as â€Å"progression theory† [Rusbult, Farell, Rogers and Mainous 1988].Specifically, declining CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 507 workerattitudesdo not instantlyresultin the formationof intentionsto quit. For example,an expatriate ay experiencelow levels of attitudes or several f m monthsbeforethinking boutquitting ndthenultimatelyormingthe intention a a f to quit. Likewise, an employee may have low levels of attitudes,but the t situationmay improve,resultingin an intention o stay with the organization. Since the expatriateturnover ate appearsto be roughlytwice the domestic r ate, a variety of unique internationalfactors apparentlycontributeto a gradualdeterioration f worker attitudesover a period of time for many o expatriates. anyexpatriates ay have positive attitudesinitiallybut graduM m ally develop more negative attitudes. Thus, a longitudinalperspective is t important o the model. t Regardlessof the type or timing of turnover, he ultimateturnoverdecision is precededby antecedent ariablesandintermediateinkages. The predictor v l variablesof job/task,organization, nd workercharacteristics re the initial a a startingpoint in many studies of employee turnover.Job/Task Characteristics Of the threebroadcategoriesof predictorvariables,job/taskcharacteristics have received the most researchattentiondomestically[Glisson and Durick 1988] while receiving very little attention internationally. eceiving the R strongest support as predictorsof employee attitudes are role ambiguity [Teely, French and Scott 1971; Lyons 1971; Abdel-Halim 1981; Bedeian and Armenakis 1981 ] and skill variety [Bartel 1982; Marsh and Manari 1977; Price and Mueller 1981; Dewar and Werbel 1979; Gerhart 1987; Glisson and Durick 1988; Blau and Boal 1989].Thus, the greaterthe role clarity and the more diverse the skills needed, the more likely the worker is to be satisfied,committed,and involved. Additionally,the characteristics of role conflict, task identity, and task significance have received support as predictor ariables. It appears,therefore, hatissues relatedto the specific v t task environmentcan influence the satisfaction,commitment,and involvement of workersat a variety of organizationalevels. l The uniquenessand dynamismof international nvironments ay lead both e m to more role ambiguity and task variety among expatriates.The volatile externalenvironment ay cause MNCs to have less clarityin theirposition m descriptionsas managersrequiremore flexibility to respond to changes. m Therefore, orerole ambiguity ay exist whichmay lead to reducedsatisfacm tion amongexpat riate anagers. owever,overseasassignments ftenrequire m H o managersto use a broaderrange of general managementskills than their domestic counterpartsCzinkota,Rivoli and Ronkainen1989; Edstromand [ Galbraith1977]. This implies that increasedtask varietywill contributeto a higher level of satisfaction among expatriatemanagers.Thus, job/task characteristics ay offset one anotherin theircontributiono an expatriate's m t workattitudes. Withone exception,these constructs enerallyhave not been g investigatedin the international nvironment. e 508 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 While most of the studies cited above utilized domestic U. S. subjects, Black [1988] found that role ambiguity, conflict, overload, and discretion were related to the cross-cultural adjustment of American expatriates in Japan. The direction of Black's findings was generally consistent with the domestic literature.A potentially importantconsideration in the international situation is the similarity of the domestic and foreign jobs performed by the expatriate [Dowling and Schuler 1990]. If the foreign job requirementsare quite similar to the domestic position previously held, the transition and work adjustment should be easier. If the domestic and foreign positions are highly divergent, the expatriate must adjust to both a new work environment as well as a new cultural and physical environment. Another job/task characteristic that may be of importance internationally is the concept of work grouphomogeneity. Althoughusing a domestic U.S. sample frame, O'Reilly, Caldwell, and Barnett [1989] found that aspects of work group homogeneity were related to the degree of social integration which was negatively related to turnover. Since foreign work groups in U. S. MNCs are often composed of U. S. expatriates, host country nationals, and third country nationals, a good deal of work group heterogeneity is likely to exist. This diversity is likely to inhibit the individual soci alization process and result in lower levels of cohesiveness. The lower level of social integration may contributeto reduced attitudesthat would ultimately lead to increasedturnover.Work group homogeneity may also be conceptualized on a broader, more macro level. In addition to the fit between the expatriate and other job associates, the degree of homogeneity between the foreign subsidiary and parent corporation may be important [Brittain and Freeman 1980; Lincoln, Olson and Hanada 1978]. The more similar the composition and functioning of the foreign work group to the parent, the more positive the expatriate's attitudes are likely to be. Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan [1991] contend that MNCs attempt to apply isomorphism to foreign subsidiaries as a mechanism of control and continuity.Based on the literature that addressed job/task characteristics, both domestically and internationally, the following propositions were developed. Proposition 1 There is a positive relationshipbetwee n skill variety, task identity, autonomy, and task significance and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. b Proposition 2 Thereis a negativerelationship etweenrole ambiguity and role conflict and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. Proposition 3 The degree of similarity between the expatriate's domestic and foreign jobs is positively related to xpatriate atisfaction,commitment,and involvement. s CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 509 Proposition4 There is a positive relationship between work group homogeneity and expatriate satisfaction, commitment,and involvement. OrganizationCharacteristics Behavioral, structural,and demographiccharacteristicsof organizations have received researchattentionas predictorsof satisfaction,commitment, and involvement. Behavioralissues such as participationn decisionmaking i have received strong support [Gladstein 1984; Glisson and Durick 1988; Millerand Monge 1986].Leadership onsideration as also receivedsupport c h [Morrisand Sherman1981;Batemanand Strasser1984; Glisson andDurick 1988; Blau and Boal 1989]. Dimensions of organizationstructuresuch as centralization Child 1972; Hage and Aiken 1969], differentiation Redding [ [ and Hicks 1983; Bimbaum and Wong 1985], and formalization[Redding andHicks 1983;Child1972;HageandAiken 1969]havealso beenempirically validatedas predictors f attitudes. emographic rganizationalactorssuch o D o f as organization ge, workgroupsize, andtype of industry ave receivedweak a h upportas predictive variables. Cotton and Tuttle's [1986] meta analytic review providesa more comprehensive eview of these variables,and their r findings indicated U. S. studies differed from non-U. S. studies in several ways. In U. S. studies, an employee's genderhad less impacton satisfaction and unions had more influence on turnover. Satisfactionwas less reliably tled to turnoverin non-U. S. firms. In the internationalnvironment varietyof othervariables ppear otentially e a a p A import ant. s Dowling and Schuler[1990] noted, a firm's structure, ontrol c echanisms, and human resource policies are linked to the evolutionary P processof globalization. ucik[1985] also notedthatthe evolutionary rocess p is continuousas organizationscontinuallyadapt to dynamic international environments. Although there are several organizationchange models, the concept of organizationlife cycles (OLC)has been applied internationally Adler and [ Ghadar1989; Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan 1991]. As organizations progressfrom one stage to another fouror five stages are typicallyincluded) ( an MNC's strategy, structure,and human resource policies also need to change.Milliman, Von Glinow and Nathan [1991] noted that change is needed so that MNCs can optimizetheir â€Å"fit. † There is a need to optimize the externalfit of the foreign subsidiaryto the local environmentand the parent ompanyto the domesticenvironment. hereis also a need to optimize c T the internalfit between the parent and foreign subsidiary. Complicatingthe optimizationof both externaland internalfit is the need for flexibility due to environmental ifferencesand changes. For example,Black, Mendenhall d and Oddou [1991] noted that flexibility in the work environmentis related to aspects of cross-cultural djustment. illustratethe importance f these T a o concepts, when an organization becomes more experienced internationally, 510 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 the amount of role conflict and role ambiguity may be reduced as the a s organization trategically daptsmore effectivelyto the foreignenvironment. ( c m Also, the adaptation ay lead to a differentstructural onfiguration foreign sales agent versus foreign sales office versus vertically integratedforeign operation)that could enhance satisfaction,commitment,and involvement though improvedjob design. t uThe open systems approach sed by manyorganizationalheoryresearchers [Lawrenceand Lorsch 1967; Pfeffer and Salancik 1978; Thompson 1967] d clearly implies that the natureof the environment ictates the appropriate e w S structure. ince most researchers ould agreethatinternationalnvironments a t relative o the U. S. , thenmoreflexible,decentralized,utonomous aredynamic, T foreign structureswould be appropriate. his view of more decentralized foreignsubsidiariesis also consistentwith the trendtowardflatterstructures in the U. S. and with the trend of workerempowerment. Specifically, as a rganizations ttemptto become more innovativeand responsive,decisionl making authorityis often forced to lower organization evels. While these variablesare intuitivelylogical predictorsof satisfaction,commitment,and e involvementand may be relatedto a firm's multinational volution in the been very little empiricalinvestigationor international ontext, there has c validationof these constructs. h training ave receiveda good deal of attention a Expatriationnd cross-cultural D business literature. espite the rapidincreas ein world in the international o e tradeflows in the pasttwentyyearsandtherelated mergence f multinational f e corporations, xpatriation rainingfor managersin U. S. multinationalirms is still in its infancy. Specifically, in multinationalcorporations,training a programs re generallysuperficialand incompleteor nonexistent. In Tung's [1981] study, only 32% of respondingfirms had formalizedtrainingprot t grams. Furthermore,he focus of the formaltrainingprograms endedto be t c on environmental oncerns. Country-level rainingin cultureand language was uncommon. DunbarandEhrlich[1986] and Schwind[1985] also found t that the majorityof firms had no formalexpatriation rainingfor managers. i thatthe stateof expatriation rainingn U. S. multinational Tung [1981]suggests corporationsis a major reason for expatriateturnoverrates in U. S. firms a being two to threetimes the level of those in European nd Japanesefirms. That is, the resultof underdeveloped xpatriationrainingprograms ay be m t e that expatriate anagers xperiencevery high levels of initialrole amtbiguity m e f P s and conflict which in turnreduces workattitudes. roviding upport or this t position is Black and Mendenhall's[1990] review of cross-culturalraining i research. They noted that cross-culturalraining s positivelyrelatedto skill t a development, djustment,ndperformance. t c An additionalfactorthatmay be an important ontributoro turnoveris the c t conceptof corporate ulture. Organizationsypicallydevelopa predominant, identifiableculturealthoughit is rarelystatedexplicitly [Wilkinsand Ouchi 1983]. Also, an organization'sculture can vary across functional areas, CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 511 operatingdivisions, or geographicallocations [Gregory1983; Wilkins and Ouchi 1983]. Since most expatriatemanagersare internaltransfersrather than new hires, the assumptionprobably can be safely made that most i xpatriates ave been socially integrated nto the parentfirm's predominant h culture. If the work gro up at the foreign location has developed a unique and differentcorporateculture,the expatriatemay experience adjustment c difficultiesdue to the divergent otporate ulture. pecifically,the expatriate's c S w valuesandorganizationaleliefs may be incongruent ith the local operation, b hence decreasedwork attitudesmay result. While this issue is conceptually similar to work group homogeneity, subunit corporateculture is a more p b training rograms. pervasiveconceptandcouldbe influenced y cross-cultural bProposition5 There is a significantrelationship etween dimena sions of a foreign subsidiary'sstructure nd expatriatesatisfaction,commitment,and involvement. t The moredecentralizedndautonomoushe foreign a subsidiary,the more positive the work attitudes. b Proposition 6 Thereis a positiverelationship etweenthe quality of expatriationrainingand expatriate atisfaction, t s commitment,and involvement. b Proposition 7 Thereis a positive relationship etween an organization'sstageof multination al evolution, articipation p in decisionmaking,leadershipconsideration,and s a expatriateatisfaction,ommitment,ndinvolvement. Proposition8 There is a positive relationshipbetween the similarity of a firn's predominantcorporateculture and local foreign corporatecultureand expatriate satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. Worker Characteristics o Empiricalinvestigationdomesticallyof characteristics f the workerhave o a c yielded mixed resultsas predictors f satisfaction, ommitment, nd involvement. Personality[Staw and Ross 1985; Staw, Bell and Clausen 1986], age [Dewar and Werbel 1979], being female [McNeely 1984], and job tenure [Coverdaleand Terborg1980] have received weak supportas predictorsof satisfaction.However, personality [Hulin and Blood 1968; Steers and Spencer 1977], marital status [Porterand Steers 1973], age [Morris and Sherman1981], tenurein the organization Stevens,Beyer and Trice 1978], [ and education[Steers 1977] have received strong supportas predictorsof commitm ent. Age, tenure, and maritalstatus (being married)are usually y w positivelyassociatedwith commitment hile yearsof education, earsin the samejob, and alternative mployment pportunitiesre negativelyassociated o a e with commitment. Althoughmicro level contingencytheory models would contend that individual characteristicswould be importantpredictorsof 12 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 attitudes in different work contexts, there is apparently little research that provides consistent direction in this area [Glisson and Durick 1988]. The level of performance of the employee is also a possible predictor of satisfaction, commitment, and involvement. Research has generally supported the contention that performance leads to satisfaction [Ivancevich 1978; Lawler and Porter 1967; Sheridanand Slocum 1975]. Therefore,an individual's performance level is generally thought to be positively associated with satisfaction, commitment, and involvement.In the international context, a variety of worker characteristics have been discussed or empirically investigated. Worker characteristics postulated as important to expatriates are technical competence [Hawes and Kealey 1981; Tung 1982], relational abilities [Tung 1982; Mendenhall and Oddou 1986], and stress reduction [Abe and Wiseman 1983; Hammer, Gundykunst and Wiseman 1978; Barrettand Bass 1976; Ratiu 1983]. Other possibly important workercharacteristics re personality[Torbiom 1982; Dapsin 1985; Mendenhall a and Oddou 1986] and tolerance for ambiguity [Hammer, Gundykunst and Wiseman 1978; Ratiu 1983].Another worker characteristicthat may be positively associated with intemational success is the individual's years of previous international experience [Black and Stephens 1989; Church 1982]. An individual who was unsuccessful in a previous international ssignmentwould likely limit subsequentinternational a assignments. Conversely, an individual who has experienced success internationally may be more re ceptive to subsequent international assignments. Thus, simple trial and errormay result in an expatriate's years of international experience being positively related to satisfaction, commitment, and involvement.Somewhat related to internationalexperience, particularlyin a specific country, is an expatriate's linguistic ability. The more fluent the expatriate in the language of the host country, the easier the social integration to both the work and general environment. Thus, linguistic ability should be positively related to work attitudes. Two other rather controversial types of worker characteristics exist, an expatriate's sex and marital status. The majority of expatriates are male, 97% in Adler's [1984] study, and most are married [Black 1988].Since most expatriatesare male, does the high turnoverrate caused by an expatriate's gender, coincidentally vary with it, or is it totally unrelated to it? Unfortunately, this topic has not been empirically investigated in an international environment. Thai and Cateora [1979] noted that being a woman expatriate can be a significant liability due to the culturalbias in some foreign countries (i. e. , in the Middle East, Latin America, and Japan). However, Adler [1984, 1986] and Adler and Izraeli [1988] contend that cultural bias against women in management often does not apply to expatriates.Cultural views of women are often restricted primarily to women of that country. A woman expatriateis usually viewed predominantlyas a foreigner,who also incidentally happens to be a woman. In some cases, being a woman was enough of a CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 513 novelty to be viewed as a positive asset. As Adler and lzraeli [1988] noted, the overwhelming conclusion about women expatriatesis their scarcity. While there are more U. S. women managersand expatriates(as a percentage of the total workforce) thanin most countries,the proportion f women o anagersin almost all countriesis low due to the same general reasons: culturalsanctions, educationalbarriers,legal restrictions,corporateobstacles, and women's disinterestin pursuingmanagerialcareers. Due largely to the scarcity of women expatriates,there is no data that suggests that women would have more, or less, positive work attitudesthan men. Maritalstatus has also received researchattention,but with mixed results. i Some authors ontendthatbeing marrieds a stabilizing actorfor expatriates, f c while otherscontendthatspouse and family problemsare the leading cause of expatriate ailure[Tung 1984].While some MNCs develop cross-cultural f f i trainingprograms or an expatriate's pouse, the assumption s usuallymade s thatthe expatriate s male andthe spouse is female [Adlerand Izraeli 1988]. i t o Unfortunately, he literature f the impact of maritalstatus is scarce so no directionof relationshipcan be inferred. SteersandMowday[1981]contended hatworker xpectations ay be related t e m to subsequentattitudes. Their discussion focused on â€Å"met expect ations,† or the extent to which pre-employmentexpectations were subsequently fulfilled by job expenrences. n arguingfor realismin pre-employmentnterI i iews, Steersand Mowdayfelt that â€Å"met expectations† nd workerattitudes a were positively related. The same concept may apply internationally. f a I manager's pre-international xpectations differ greatly from subsequent e experiences,an expatriate'sattitudeswould likely decline. While expatriation trainingmay provide an opportunity or a realisticjob preview, other f techniquessuch as preview trips, may also help clarify expectations. Proposition9 Thereis a positive relationship etween an expab triate's tenure, organizationlevel, performance, yearsof previousinternationalxperience, inguise l tic ability,age, andrelational bilityand expatriate satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. Proposition10 Thereis a positiverelationship etweenthe degree b to whichan expatriates9sre-intemational p expectaaremetin subsequentnterna tional tions i experiences and satisfaction,commitment,and involvement. a T t C Satisfaction, ommitmen4nd Involvement owardhe ParentOrganization a i l Satisfaction,commitment, nd involvementare importantntermediateinkages between predictorvariablesand employee tumoverdecisions. Because of theirimportance, hese constructs ave receivedextensiveconceptualand t h empiricalattention. Models of employee turnover ave explicitly addressed h heirrole [Blau and Boal 1987; Bluedom 1982; Mobley, et al. 1979; Steers 514 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 and Mowday 1981; Price 1977]. Additionally, over one hundred empirical studies have validated these constructs and have indicated the strength and direction of intermediate linkages (see Miller and Monge [1986] and Cotton and Tuttle [1986] for meta analytic reviews). Therefore, only a brief definition and discussion of these variables will be presented here. Job satisfaction has been defined as â€Å"the positive emoti onal state resulting from the appraisalof one's job or job experiences† [Locke 1976].Organization commitment is defined as the worker's â€Å"strong belief in the organization's goals and values, a willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization, and a strong desire to remain a member of the organization† [Mowday, Porter and Steers 1982]. Job involvement is defined as â€Å"the extent to which an individual identifies psychologically with her/her job† [Blau 1985]. Although these constructs are related, each is distinct due to measurement of attitudes about the individual (satisfaction), the job (involvement), or the organization (commitment) [Blau and Boal 1987; Morrow 1983].For example, employees with high job satisfaction may feel positive about their jobs due to fulfillment of personal needs and values [Miller and Monge 1986]. For individuals with high levels of job involvement, the job is important to the worker's self-image [Kanungo 19 82]. Workers with a high level of organizational commitment feel positive about their employer, identify with the organization,and wish to maintain membership in it [Porter, Crampton and Smith 1976]. While these constructs are conceptually distinct, interactive effects have been shown to exist between commitment and involvement [Blau and Boal 1989], nd satisfaction and commitment [Glisson and Durick 1988] and satisfaction, commitment, and involvement [Lee and Mowday 1987]. However, satisfaction, commitment, and involvement generally complement one another as intermediate linkages between predictor variables and turnover [Blau and Boal 1987]. Attempts have been made to identify a causal orderingbetween these attitudinal variables. The implicit assumptionof these attemptsis thatsince satisfactioncan be formulated quickly, satisfaction leads to commitment and involvement which are more long lasting and enduring [Steers 1977; Stevens, Beyer and Trice 1978].Attempting to test this conten tion, Williams and Hazer [1986] found strong interaction between satisfaction and commitment but could not infer causality due to the cross-sectional nature of the data. However, Farkas and Tetrick [1989] used a longitudinal design but were unable to identify causal direction. They did identify that satisfaction and commitment are differentially related over time, and the relationship may be cyclical or reciprocal. Therefore, the model presented here assumes that these variables are strongly and positively related to one another, but does not assume any causal relationship.Since the majority of expatriates are internal transfers ratherthan new hires, the workers have probably achieved some degree of social integration into CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 515 the organization. Accordingly,the argumentis made that expatriatesstart theirinternational ssignmentwith attitudesthatare reasonablywell formua lated. Also, as transfers,expatriates ay have reasonablypositive attitudes m initially. Althoughthereis no empiricalsupportfor this contention,it seems intuitivelylogical that a disgruntled mployee would be an unlikely candie t date for an internationalransfer.The situationfor new hires is more complex. While new hires apparently constitutea small portionof expatriates,new hires' attitudesare probably more formative than internaltransfers. Since new hires would have little i b t opportunityo achievesocial integrationntothe organization eforedeparting for the foreignassignment, he local foreignorganization ould be relatively t w i more importantn shapingworkattitudes. Also, pursuingthe logic of Steers and Mowday [1981], pre-employmentexpectations would be relatively more importantin shaping new hires' work attitudessince expectations w a regarding oththe organization ndthe foreignassignment ouldbe clarified. Whetherthe expatriateis an internaltransferor a new hire, the expatriate initially arrives in the foreign assignmentwith some level of satisfaction, b co mmitment nd involvement. dditionally, ased on the domesticresearch, a A these three attitudesare positively relatedto one another. Proposition 11 Thereis a positive elationshipmongan expatriate's r a satisfaction,commitment,and involvementwith respectto the organization. Attitudestowardthe Organizationin the Foreign AssignmentThe traditionalturnovermodels of Mobley, et al. [1979] and Steers and Mowday [1981] postulatethat satisfaction,commitment,and involvement collectively result in an employee formulatingintentions to stay in the organization r to quit. In the international ontext,an expatriate anager's o c m a family situation,the careerpathingperceptions,countrycharacteristics, nd the degree of cross-cultural djustment ppearto be moderatingvariables. a a Thus, the employees' attitudetowardthe parentorganization ay be modim fied to resultin attitudestowardthe organization n the foreign assignment. These attitudeswould still conceptuallyinclude satisfaction,commitment, and involve ment,but the constructswould be more directlyinfluencedby the international xperience. e Supportfor the changes in an expatriate'sattitudestowardthe organization in the international ontext is providedby Gregersonand Black [1990a]. c Their researchindicatedthat expatriatesare often differentiallycommitted to the organization nd local foreignoperations. urthermore,on-jobfactors a F n were significantly related to local commitment. These findings appearto f t and c rovide upportorthecontentionhatcountry haractenrstics an expatriate's s family situationwill affect the expatriate'ssatisfaction,commitment,and involvementwith respectto the organizationn the international ssignment. i a 516 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 Unfortunately,the concept of dual commitments, or dual attitudes in general, has received very little research attention internationally. Therefore, it is unknown whether attitudes toward the parent organization or attitudes toward the local f oreign organization would dominate in the formation of behavioral intentions.However, the model explicitly assumes that the expatriate's initial attitudes do not remain constant. As suggested by the high expatriate turnover rate, the expatriate's attitudes generally deteriorate due to a variety of unique internationalfactors. Some of the factors were discussed previously within the three categories of predictor variables. The remaining unique internationalfactors of family situation, country characteristics,career pathing, and cross-cultural adjustment appear quite important and will be addressed individually in the following sections.The assumption is made, however, that there is a â€Å"spill-over effect† between an expatriate's attitudes toward the parent organization (probably formulated domestically) and attitudes toward the international assignment. Expatriates with very positive attitudes toward the organization in general are also likely to have more positive attitude s internationally. Expatriates who possess lower levels of attitudes toward the organization in general are likely also to have lower levels of affective responses internationally.This explicitly assumes that each of the three attitudes can be formulated at a more macro level toward the organization in general or at a micro level that is more closely related to the foreign assignment. While the dual levels of commitment and satisfaction have been well identified in the domestic literature, it seems intuitively logical that the same could be said for job involvement. For some expatriates, attitudes toward the organization may remain positive while negative international attitudes may develop. Such a situation may result in an internal transfer.For other expatriates, initially positive attitudes toward the organization may deteriorate internationally leading to external turnover. Proposition 12 There is a positive relationship between job satisfaction,commitment,and involvement (with respect to the organization) and expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement (with respect to the international assignment). Expatriate's Family While an employee's family situation may not be central to the domestic turnover process, the family situation is apparently a critically important oderatingvariable in the expatriateturnoverprocess. Harvey [1985] contends that the family situation may be the most important contributorto expatriate turnover. Supportfor Harvey's contentionis providedby Tung's [1982] research that indicated that two of three most frequently cited causes for expatriate failure were family related. Specifically, â€Å"the inability of the expatriate's family/spouse to adjust to a different physical or cultural environment† and CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATETURNOVER 517 â€Å"otherfamilyrelatedproblems†receivedstrongsupport. espitethe apparent D mportanceof the family, less than half of MNCs interviewthe spouse in the expatriate election p rocess [Black and Stephens1989; Tung 1981] and s expatriation rainingfor the family is very rare [Black and Stephens 1989]. t If a spouse or family memberis undergoingcultureshock or experiencing t difficulty in makingthe cross-cultural djustment, he morale,performance a and work attitudesof the expatriatemanagermay be adversely affected [Harvey 1985; Mendenhall,Dunbarand Oddou 1987; Tung 1982]. Since the majority of expatriatemanagers are male [Adler 1984], the greatest impact of a foreign relocationmay be experiencedby the wife [Gaylord 1979].The wife may experiencehigh levels of stress due to a disruptionof i children'seducation,loss of self-worthand identity,particularlyf she was previouslyemployed, lack of contactwith friends and relatives, and social or culturalostracism in the foreign country [Harvey 1985]. Furthermore, children are often resistantto moving, even domestically. The problems faced by childrenregarding ducation,linguisticdifferences,social relatione ships, and c ulturalvalues also can be the sourceof stress and conflict. Thus, the greaterthe numberof children,the more likely adjustment roblemsare p o occur. Also, older children such as teenagers are more likely to have t developedstrongpeer social relationships nddisrupting hose relationships a for an internationalransfer ay have negativeresults. Despite the apparent t m importanceof these variables,there is apparentlyittle empiricalinvestigal on expatriateturnover. tion of the impactof the family situation However,as noted by Black and Stephens[1989], the family situationis an e t intuitivelyimportant lementof the expatriate urnover rocess. They noted p t hatthereappearso be botha positiveandnegative†spillovereffect†between expatriatesand their spouses' perceptionsof an international ssignment. a w Specifically, expatriateand spouse adjustment ere significantlyand positively correlated, nd were relatedto the expatriate'sintentionto stay in the a foreign assignment. Even if an e xpatriatemanageris very positive about the foreign assignment, a transfer â€Å"home† may be the result of family dissatisfaction. Conversely,a positive family situationis likely to enhance an expatriate's attitudes and cross-culturaladjustment,and increase the probabilityof a successful foreign experience.Theredoes appearto be a potentialproblemin evaluatingthe impactof the spouse or family situationon turnover. Attributingexpatriateturnoverto the failure of the spouse to adjustmay be simplistic [Dowling and Welch 1988]. Expatriatesmay use their spouses as scapegoats,ratherthan admit theirown failuresto adjust. This may reducethe negativecareerimplications of an early transferhome. Likewise, top level corporateexecutives may attributeexpatriatefailure to the expatriate'sfamily ratherthan critically evaluatetheir own firm's expatriation rogramswhich may be deficient. p There are many dimensions of an expatriate'sfamily situation that may w oderate orkattitudes. nfortunately, ost of these variables ave received h m U little or no researchattention. Therefore,the following propositionhas been 518 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 stated very generally as a global measure of â€Å"family satisfaction,† which is undoubtedly a multifaceted concept. Proposition 13 The expatriate's family satisfaction with the international experience has a positive moderating influence on the expatriate's job satisfaction, commitment, and involvement with respect to the organization in the foreign assignment. The more ositive the expatriate's family attitudes, the more likely the expatriate is to develop positive work attitudes internationally. Proposition 14 The fewer the number of children that relocate with the expatriate, the more positive the expatriate's work attitudes. Proposition 15 The younger the children that relocate with the expatriate, the more positive the expatriate's work attitudes. CountryCharacteristics All foreign assignme nts are not created equal. Dramatic differences exist both between and within countries that can influence expatriates', and their families', cross-cultural adjustment and their subsequent attitudes.In many cultures, foreigners are viewed with distrust and skepticism. As a result, building social relationships with local nationals may be impossible. For example, few western women find the Arabic countries enjoyable due to the constrained role of women in those societies [Thai and Cateora 1979; Dowling and Schuler 1990]. As a result, some companies may prefer to select managers who are unmarried for foreign assignments in the belief that a single person will have fewer adjustments.However, many single male expatriates are socially ostracized, and they may have a more difficult social adjustment than a married couple who can provide each other mutual support. In addition to social and cultural factors, expatriates can experience dissatisfaction due to living conditions and health prob lems. A foreign oil company executive with extensive international experience expressed his preference for having Americans on international projects because they were always the first to get sick if a health problem existed. The Americans were his â€Å"miner's canary† that served as an early warning of potential health problems.Issues such as these have been referred to as â€Å"cultural toughness† and â€Å"cultural novelty† [Black and Stephens 1989; Mendenhall and Oddou 1985; Torbiorn 1982]. Cultural toughness describes the difficulty that a western expatriate would have adapting to certain cultures. For example, Torbiorn [1982] noted that western expatriates experienced higher levels of dissatisfaction with assignments in India, the Middle East, North Africa, CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF EXPATRIATE TURNOVER 519 East Africa, and Liberia. Thus, some cultures are very different from western cultures and are also very difficult to adjust to.Other countries may have a ve ry different culture, but are much easier to adapt to for expatriates and their families. The concept of culturaldifferences influencing the cross-cultural adjustment process is intuitively logical. However, there appears to be a lack of consensus regarding conceptualizations of this factor. For example, the terms â€Å"cultural toughness,† and â€Å"cultural novelty,† appearin the international business literature. Unfortunately, tightly developed definitions and consistent research operationalizations are generally lacking. Hofstede [1980] perationalized â€Å"cultural distance† along four indices of work-related values, but most researchershave used a broader,more macro level approach. Harbison and Myers [1959] conceptualized cultural differences in stages of economic development and the role of the firm in that process. Farmer and Richman [1980] conceptualizeddifferences along socio-cultural,legal-political, economic, and educational dimensions. Nath [1988] described behavioral differences that included cultural factors such as attitudes, beliefs, value systems, behavioral patterns, and management philosophies.Negandhi and Prasad [1971] evaluated differences in the task environment such as distributors, suppliers, employees, consumers, government, and community. Consensus regarding the appropriatedimensions to use in measuring cultural differences is lacking, but there is apparently strong support for the general concepts of cultural toughness, cultural novelty, and/or cultural distance. Each country presents the expatriate, and the expatriate's family, with a unique set of adjustmentproblems. The more divergent a foreign assignment and location from the home country environment, the greater the potential of experiencing culture shock.Indirectly supporting this contention was Beamish's [1985] finding that MNCs are more likely to be dissatisfied with the performance of operating units located in less developed countries that are likely to be â€Å"culturally tough. † The more â€Å"culturally tough† a foreign country, the more likely the expatriate's work attitudes will be negatively affected. Therefore, the following proposition was developed. Proposition 16 The culturaland environmentalsimilarity of home and host countries has a positive, moderating influence on expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement (with respect to the international assignment).The more similar the foreign culture and environmentto the home environment, the more positive the impact on expatriate satisfaction, commitment, and involvement with respect to the organization in the foreign assignment. Career Pathing Research on the career value of foreign assignments in MNCs is inconsistent. The inconsistency may result from the fact that the human resources function constitutes the weakest link in the overall strategic planning process in 520 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONALBUSINESS STUDIES, THIRD QUARTER 1992 most U. S. MNCs [L orange and Murphy 1983; Tung 1984].Thus, many foreign assignments appear haphazard rather than part of a planned process to develop certain managerial skills. As a result, international assignments appear to be avoided by some high performing managers due to potential negative career consequences [Adler 1980]. For example, Edstrom and Galbraith [1977] suggested that expatriates often viewed the purpose of their overseas assignment as development for future executive responsibility. However, Gonzalez and Negandhi [1966] found that about half of former expatriates were in low level positions fifteen years later.Howard [1973] and Harvey [1989] found that a good deal of uncertainty and conflict surrounded the expatriation and repatriation process and skills developed by expatriates were seldom used after their return home. These results led Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou [1987] to note that the â€Å"overseas assignment is a haphazard, ill-planned affair that is usually accompanied with vertical advancement. † They concluded that the impetus for overseas staffing seems to be more to meet immediate manpower needs than to create an integrated career development strategy for future corporate executives.This lack of career path clarity may cause expatriate managers to reevaluate their own career goals and the congruity of those goals with the organization. Since career counseling is very rare regarding international transfers, many expatriates are probably unaware of some career issues until they are actually on foreign assignment.

Human Inequality - 1327 Words

Nothing in life is guaranteed, but there is one thing that we all expect to receive throughout our lifetime. Every human demands to be treated equally in the same manner as the person next to them. This general consensus of modern day was not the norm throughout the history of America. No matter how much we try not to look back upon our obtuse behavior towards particular ethnic groups, what took place cannot be undone. The only positive effect that can be derived from the past is to learn from these mistakes. Less than a century after abolishing what had become a two hundred year old practice of enslaving African Americans, the Land of the Free again displayed its disregard for human equality as Japanese Americans were stripped of†¦show more content†¦Slaves could never expect to receive any sort of the liberties and rights, which were customary to their white counterparts because slaves were regarded as being nothing more than mere property. Over time, slavery managed to separate the nation into two opposing forces. The South was in favor of maintaining the enslavement of African Americans while the North argued for its riddance. After over two hundred years of this atrocious mistreatment, President Lincoln finally put an end to slavery in 1865. With the 13th Amendment, slavery was prohibited from taking place in the United States. Given the fact that as times change, perspectives change as well, people should acknowledge and appreciate the notion of human equality after such a monstrous act as slavery. All humans no matter what ethnicity or religion or shoe size for that matter should be treated and viewed in the same way as the next person. Despite over eighty years of time given to reflect upon the indecency performed against African Americans, a different group was now to be alienated. With the Japanese surprise attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, it was the Japanese Americans who became persecuted. 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