REPORT TO UNIVERSITY FORUM FOR HRD
EXPLORING THE DIVERSE DEVELOPMENT ISSUES OF FEMALE EXPATRIATES
Dr Sue Shaw & Dr Andrew Rowe
Manchester Metropolitan University
May 2012
Sue Shaw:
Andrew Rowe:
THE AUTHORS
Sue Shaw
Sue is Associate Dean. Learning and Teaching and Head of the Department of Management at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School. She studied History at the University of Southampton before completing an MSc in Manpower Studies and Industrial Relations at the University of Salford and a Doctorate in Business Administration at the University of Manchester. Her teaching and research interests are in international HRM/HRD, individual performance and women in management. She has a number of publications and conference papers in these areas. She leads the MMU accredited McDonald’s in-house Foundation Degree programme in Managing Business Operations and until its conclusion in March 2011, led the School’s four year METP EU/China management development project. Sue is a Chartered Fellow of CIPD and has been actively engaged with the CIPD for a number of years both nationally and internationally.
Andrew Rowe
Andrew is currently a senior lecturer in organisational behaviour at Manchester Metropolitan University, leading a variety of post experience courses and successfully supervising at doctoral level. Prior to joining MMUBS, he completed a PhD in Management Learning at the University of Essex, then becoming a research fellow at the Cranfield School of Management on an EPSRC project looking at teamworking in construction. Recently, alongside researching female expatriation, he has also been investigating executive remuneration as well as the contribution of the arts to organizations: the latter through a metaphorical application of dance, in addition to exploring a spatial understanding of organizational learning. He has published in a range of international journals and has written on Learning and Development for a CIPD publication
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the UFHRD for their generous sponsorship of this research in the form of a research honorarium
Contents
1 INTRODUCTION 5
2 The LITERATURE 8
2.1 Women Expatriates 8
2. 2 Learning and Development for Expatriates 11
3 THE STUDY 19
3.1 Research Aims 19
3. 2 Methodology 20
4 FINDINGS 23
4.1 Motives for Going on an Expatriate Assignment 23
4.2 Previous Work Experience 25
4.3 Expatriate Cycle 26
4.4 Expatriate Learning 45
4.5 Expatriate Career Management and Development 52
4.6 Expatriate Women and Identity 57
4.7 Expatriate Women and Generational Factors 59
5 DISCUSSION 61
5.1 Women’s Learning and Development & the Global Assignment Cycle 61
5.2 Emphasis upon the Product and Process of Learning 63
5.3 Exploring the Potential of Learning & Development to Support Female Expatriates 66
6 IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY 67
6.1 Implications for Organisations 68
6.2 Implications for Individuals 69
7 CONCLUSIONS 70
References 71
APPENDIX 1 INTERVIEW FORMAT 85
APPENDIX 2 BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PARTICIPANTS 87
EXPLORING THE DIVERSE DEVELOPMENT ISSUES OF FEMALE EXPATRIATES
1 INTRODUCTION
This paper examines the development of female expatriates, both traditional and self-initiated expatriates across the expatriate lifecycle. Globalisation has led to an ever increasing cross-border international business activity and it has been estimated that there are currently 850,000 subsidiaries of Multinational Corporations (MNCs) operating worldwide (Colakoglu and Caligiuri, 2008). International staff mobility has emerged a major strategic issue for MNCs and expatriate numbers are expected to continue to rise steadily over the next decade (Harvey and Moeller, 2009). Consequently, the need for organisations to be able to develop and deploy effective global managers has never been so important (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1998) and this has led to increased academic interest on the global career and role of expatriate workers assigned abroad (Jannssens, Cappellen and Zanoni, 2006). At the same time the rise in protean and boundaryless careers is an emerging issue in the field of international management (Banai and Harry, 2006; Briscoe, Schuler and Claus, 2009; Arthur and Rousseau, 1996).
Traditionally characterised as an ambitious male manager with his ‘trailing spouse’ (Adler, 1984a), research suggests that the expatriate profile is changing in a number of ways. One notable feature is the increasing use made by organisations of alternative forms of international assignment (e.g. commuter, short-term, flexpatriate, etc.), alongside the so-called Independent Internationally Mobile Professionals or international itinerants, who have emerged in the context of boundaryless global careers (Banai and Harry, 2006; Collings, Scullion and Morley, 2007; Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009). First acknowledged in the work of Inkson, Arthur, Pringle and Barry (1997) this group have been referred to variously as self-initiated expatriates (SIE) or self-initiated foreign experiences (Myers and Pringle, 2005). They now constitute a large contingent of workers that are largely invisible to extant research because they are not sponsored by a specific organisation (McKenna and Richardson, 2007). Their importance to organisations in the staffing of foreign subsidiaries in today’s competitive global environment cannot be underestimated (Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009).
Research into expatriates traditionally has focused on those people sent abroad by multinationals. However studies of SIEs whilst increasing are still limited and to date largely exploratory ( Suutari and Brewster, 2000; Forstenlechner, 2010): therefore further studies that look at SIEs are to be welcomed not just because of their distinctive nature but also because of the size of the group (Bozionelos, 2009).
Another notable feature is the changing gender profile of international managers and professionals. Relatively little attention has been given to female expatriates – partly because expatriates have traditionally tended to be male. It is only in recent years that there has been a significant increase in the number and visibility of women in international assignments (Altman and Shortland, 2008). Whilst the number of females that pursue expatriate assignments (particularly Traditional Female Expatriates [TFE] sent by an organisation) continues to remain at a disproportionately low level (Varma, Stroh and Schmitt, 2001; Cole and McNulty, 2011), it is argued that female participation is actually rising to around an estimated figure of between 14% and 23% of the total expatriate workforce (Meyskens, Von Glinow, Werther & Clarke, 2009). Finding that they continue to be faced with a ‘glass border’: women may now be choosing the self-initiated rather than a traditional route into international careers (Altman and Shortland, 2008). Early research into women in international management focused on the very small numbers employed as traditional expatriates sent abroad by their organisations, the reasons for that, the difficulties and challenges women encountered and the ways they surmounted these (Adler,1979, 1984a, 1984b, 1986/7, 1987, Tung 2004). Rather less is known about female expatriate career development needs and experiences particularly within this new context. Yet the business case for having a well developed female cadre of international managers is clear- given the predictions of increasing organisational demand (Harvey and Moeller, 2009). This fact together with the rise of female workers actively seeking international experience and the general interest into alternative options such as the self-iniated route (Fitzgerald and Howe- Walsh, 2008) – in turn challenges the role of HRD in supporting females in this changing international career context. Research that incorporates the perspective of self-initiated female expatriates will deepen our understanding of the development issues facing female expatriates in general.
The issue of expatriate failure rates – measured by the premature return of assignees - and the factors that influence success of an international assignment have been important areas for research (Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou, 1987). Whilst the precise size of the problem has not gone unchallenged (Harzing, 1995, 2002) or suggested varies between nationalities (Lett and Smith, 2009) the occurrence of expatriate failure has highlighted the significance of expatriate preparation such as pre-departure training and cross – cultural training (Tarique and Caligiuri, 2004) with the precise nature and content of learning and development interventions mediated by contextual and situational factors (Mendenhall , Stevens, Bird and Oddou, 2008). HRD can play an important role in equipping expatriates to cope with postings: training, mentoring and career development interventions have been identified as ways of obviating common problems such as personal adjustment, career anxiety and under utilisation of global skills on repatriation (Dowling, Festing and Englel, 2008). However, expatriate managers’ development is traditionally explored from an Organisational (Male) Expatriate perspective notwithstanding the rise of other forms of expatriate described above. The provision of HRD support (particularly the funding of this) is an important issue- especially who pays, how/whether the return on L&D investment is calculated. Existing theories and models of career development fail to adequately explain the experiences of international managers who pursue boundaryless careers (Banai and Harry, 2006) not least of all when those individuals are women.
So, we support the view that it is important for organisations to manage expatriates effectively providing opportunities for them to develop their career through overseas assignments; especially as the skills required for organisational leadership positions require international familiarity (Altman and Shortland, 2008). Those organisations finding it difficult to diversify their expatriate mix can suffer a negative impact on their performance (Rhinesmith, Williamson, Ehlen and Maxwell , 1989) – with the potential loss of knowledge and skills gained by expatriates learnt through their experiences. This means that organisations must in future pay careful attention, not just to managing the development of the traditional expatriate at each stage of the life cycle from selection and pre-departure training to repatriation (Dupuis, Haines and Saba, 2008 ), but also to managing their SIEs (Ariss, 2010; Banai and Harry 2006). A gender understanding is vital if organisations themselves are going to deliver high performance in an international context. However, extant research also highlights how organisations face difficulties in comprehending the specific issues experienced by female expatriates: be it in relation to selection (Harris and Brewster, 1999), ethnicity (Tzeng, 2006), adjustment (Linehan and Scullion, 2001) or work-life balance (Fischlmayr and Kollinger, 2010). For these reasons, further understanding how female expatriates are managing their global careers, what challenges they have encountered in their experience of expatriate working and how they are learning to construct their performance within their working environment are an important contribution to facilitate more effective management of female expatriate employees.
Consequently, this study explores the development issues facing female expatriates in the context of boundaryless careers. It takes the view that human resource development is not only a very broad process that encompasses all learning situations both formal and informal that develop individual, group and organisational knowledge but also one that is socially situated and embedded in interactions with others (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Unpacking this further, the term learning and development refers not simply to the capturing and codification of explicit knowledge – e.g. manuals, information systems and handbooks – but the harnessing of tacit knowledge held in, and developed between, individual’s in practice. Thereby transcending formal organisational boundaries to include communities of practice as vital arenas in which learning can take place (Brown and Duguid, 1991). It refers to the achievement of goals, both at the individual & organisational level, exemplifying a collaborative approach implicating all key stakeholders – governmental, organisational and individual working together to provide opportunities, as well as identify further needs, for learning and development. However, not all believe that this idealism is reflected in practice. Vince (2003: 559) suggests not much has changed at all. He laments at what appears to be an over-simplified view of development at the individual level alone, with too often mechanistic learning based upon a limited range of models. This, he contends reflects no stimulation for staff to learn and develop new knowledge; no concern for the needs of diverse individuals (overlooking gender or cultural issues), and little consideration given for transfer of learning from the individual to the organisation. This raises concerns for the practicalities of the new millennium, with its globalised, organisational workplace. Notwithstanding such scepticism, research into the learning and development of expatriates therefore needs to adopt this broad view.
This paper first examines the relevant literature in relation to women expatriates and learning and development of expatriates particularly in relation to women expatriate development and that of self- initiated expatriates. It then goes to report the study, outlining its aims, the methodology used and the findings. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of the research and highlights areas for future development.
2 THE LITERATURE
2.1 Women Expatriates
2.1.1 Traditional Female Expatriates
Female participation in global assignments has been of academic interest for over three decades since the work undertaken by Adler in the late 1970s and 1980s. Whilst the barriers to women’s increased international representation have been attributed to attitudes of the host country, the reluctance of employers and to the women themselves, there has nevertheless been some attempt to challenge this picture of negativity or what Adler called the three myths about women in international management (Adler, 1984a; Caligiuri and Tung, 1999; Linehan, 2005). Adler’s early finding (1987) that in Asia expatriate women were seen first and foremost as a ‘Gaijin’ (Japanese for foreigner) has been confirmed in later studies. For example, research highlights female expatriates’ reported perceived success -in terms of intentions to repatriate and repatriation – in cultures as diverse as China, Japan and Turkey (Napier and Taylor, 2002) and Mexico, Korea and Germany (Paik and Vance, 2002). Moreover, Varma, Toh and Budhwar’s (2006) study of US and Indian Host Country Nationals (HCNs) found that female US nationals far from being discriminated against were actually preferred as co-workers over male US nationals by Indian HCNs. Whilst this suggests that claims made about foreign prejudice stopping women succeeding abroad need some qualification, not all research has appeared so positive particularly in areas where women are not well accepted in the workforce. In the Middle East for example whereas Bozionelos’(2009) study of self- initiated expatriate nurses in Saudi Arabia found women could succeed in cultures that appear to treat genders differentially provided they were working in a female dominated profession and work environment, Stalker and Mavin’s study (2011: 288) of self-initiated expatriate women in the United Arab Emirates, in contrast, found the women were exposed ‘to gendered discriminatory values and practices without the protection of legal or procedural support’. Moreover, Hutchings, French and Hatcher’s (2008) study of female expatriates in China found that female expatriates perceived themselves to receive less organisational support than men.