Tasha Haight

Professor Shapero
International Management
November 20, 2014
Chapter 14
Just like with any business-related task, there are costs and benefits with hiring people for
overseas assignments. For example, many people wish to use home-country nationals to start up
operations, provide technical expertise, and to help the MNC keep the financial control over the
project. There are many other reasons people hire home-country nationals such as the belief of
some companies that a home country manager is the best person for the job (Home-Country
Nationals, 498). People tend to avoid home-country nationals because of the somewhat uncertain
returns and increasing availability of host-country and third-country nationals. Host-country
nationals are often selected because many countries expect the MNC to hire local talent, and the
use of host-country nationals is a good way to meet that expectation (Host-Country Nationals,
498) as well as provide expertise in the foreign country and fulfil any government regulations
requiring some degree of nativization. These regulations have substantial costs in that shielding
local employees from international competition may create a sense of entitlement and result in
low productivity (Host-Country Nationals, 499). Many benefits have arisen for choosing thirdcountry nationals, including a lower salary and benefit package. They may also have regional
expertise and fill a labor shortage. They would be sort of an alien to the company, being from
neither the home country nor the host country.
Offshore outsourcing presents significant opportunities for cost savings and lower
overhead but because of cheap telecommunications, almost any job can be done in India for a
fraction of US wages. Qualified personnel is harder to find when outsourcing, although the
companies do save money. Even though wages in India are so cheap, the typical outsourcing
contract between an American company and an Indian vendor saves less than half as much as the
wage differences would imply (Subcontracting and Outsourcing, 502). It can also create quality
control problems within a company, yet the trend is increasing.
To be employed for international assignments, it is important to maintain skills and
qualifications such as adaptability to cultural change, physical and emotional health, age,
experience, education, language training, motivation for a foreign assignment, and leadership
ability. Graduate degrees and multi-lingual skills help a lot. These selections are influenced by
the MNCs experience and often are culturally based (Selection Criteria for International
Assignments, 503). Good training in these areas and listening to the advice of the MNC can help
prepare anyone for an international assignment.