Section 1: Academic papers
Selecting expatriates for increasingly complex global
assignments
Keywords
Expatriates, Project management,
Selection, International operations
Abstract
As organizations globalize their
operations, there is a heightened
need to identify and select
qualified managers for overseas
assignments. The increased
complexity of these foreign
assignments necessitates a
recalibration of the traditional
selection procedures and
processes used in the past. In
particular, there is some evidence
that expatriation becomes
strategic as organizations
increasingly grow and compete
globally. Therefore, the critical
issues, which arise as expatriates’
assignments evolve into a global
assignment scope, must be
viewed in a systematic manner.
This paper develops a unique
theory-based expatriation
selection process based upon a
systemic assessment of potential
expatriate candidates’ multiple
IQs, learning styles, thinking
styles, and the nature of the
expatriate assignment. In
addition, a practical step-by-step
managerial process is developed
that can be used in the selection
of expatriate managers for global
assignments.
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001 ] 69±86
# MCB University Press
[ISSN 1362-0436 ]
Michael Harvey
Michael F. Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, Norman,
Oklahoma, USA
Milorad M. Novicevic
University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, Wisconsin, USA
In a recent survey of Fortune 500 human
resource managers, 85 per cent of the
respondents did not feel that their
organizations had an adequate number of
managers/leaders to manage their future global
business operations (Gregersen et al., 1988).
Introduction
The globalization of business has accelerated
at a pace that has frequently outpaced many
organizations’ ability to identify and develop
an adequate number of qualified expatriate
managers (Welch, 1994; Stroh and Caligiuri,
1998; Gregersen et al., 1998). The ability to
compete in increasingly hypercompetitive
global markets necessitates having qualified
global managers who have competencies that
differentiate the organizations’ strategic
choices (Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1995; Pfeffer,
1994; Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1997). A successful
global manager will have to possess a complex
amalgamation of technical, political, social,
organizational and cultural competencies
beyond those found in many of the expatriates
of the past (Bartlett, 1986; Bartlett and Ghoshal,
1994; Ghoshal and Bartlett, 1997). The ability to
amass the collective managerial skills to
compete in the hypercompetitive global
marketplace may be one of the most important
strategic tasks facing the management of
rapidly expanding global organizations. The
global leadership development through
``superior’’ expatriate managers has been
described as a ``contest’’ for global core
competency (Rumelt, 1994; Heene, 1994).
The purpose of this paper is to: examine
past methods used in the selection of
expatriate managers; develop a competency-
based theoretical foundation for a new
integrated model for the selection of
expatriate managers; explain specific
components/stages of the integrated
The research register for this journal is available at
http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers
expatriate selection model; and illustrate the
managerial implications of the selection
model and develop a recommended
procedure for managerial practice. Each of
these sections of the paper will be discussed
in the following sections of the paper.
The selection of expatriate
managers: past methods and their
successes and limitations
The selection of expatriate managers for
assignments has had a long and tortured
research history (Fish, 1999; Ones and
Viswesvaran, 1997; Spreitzer et al., 1997).
Initial models documented that technical or
functional expertise has been the primary
criterion for selecting expatriate managers
for assignments (Mendenhall et al., 1987;
Tung, 1981, 1982). Further attempts at
identifying an appropriate model for
selecting expatriate managers focused on
identifying personal characteristics of
candidates that could help improve the
chances of expatriate managers’ ``survival’’
during assignments (for example, see Baliga
and Baker, 1985; Hays, 1971, 1974; Tucker
1978; Tung, 1981). Although models used for
the selection of managers vary with the
nationality of the organization, the core
concepts have centered on functional
capabilities and personal characteristics of
potential candidates (see Levy-Leboyer (1994)
for a review of European selection methods).
While these early studies identified a number
of specific issues that could impact on the
success or failure of expatriate managers,
initially very little was done to develop a
more systemic approach to the expatriate
selection process.
Figure 1 illustrates the individual,
organizational, environmental, and systemic
issues of influence on an expatriate’s success/
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
http://www.emerald-library.com/ft
[ 69 ]
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
Figure 1
Predicting success/failure of expatriate managers
[ 70 ]
failure that were gleaned from research
conducted on expatriate selection. This type of
diagnostic approach to the research of
expatriation did not provide an integrated
theoretical view to guide practice of
expatriate staffing. The explanatory approach
to expatriate selection has, however, been
recently modified toward a more predictive
approach to take into consideration an ex ante
examination of personality characteristics of
potential expatriate managers.
Specifically, researchers have
concentrated their attention on the
predictive power of the big five personality
characteristics for expatriate success. The
five characteristics examined are:
1 extroversion ± individuals that
successfully assert themselves and gain
acceptance in the social environment
through social relationships (Ones and
Viswesvaran, 1997);
2 agreeablenes ± being identified as a team
player through the formation of reciprocal
social alliances and the building of social
capital in the organization (Caligiuri,
2000);
3 conscientiousness ± trusted, diligent
cohorts that are productive and
supportive of increased organizational
performance (Hogan, 1996);
4 emotional stability ± the intrapersonal
ability to adapt and cope with stress in
professional and personal spheres of one’s
life (Buss, 1991); and
5 openness and intellect ± having the ability
for individuals to effectively complete
their functional assignment, and at the
same time an awareness of the
environment to allow for adaptation of
their behavior to changing conditions in
that environment (Behling, 1998).
While these personality characteristics are
thought to have a predictive power relative to
the success of expatriate managers, the
empirical research to fully support this
position is somewhat lacking. In a
comprehensive review of 117 empirical
studies using the big five personality
characteristics, Barrick and Mount (1991)
found that conscientiousness was the best
single predictor of individual performance.
The same sort of survey of research was
conducted in Europe, resulting in similar,
although not as strong, results. Moreover, the
tie to organizational performance using the
big five personality characteristics as the
primary selection means is also somewhat
tentative (for a review of the issues see Wood
(1999)). In addition to the big five personality
attributes, the development of classifications
or categories of soft social skills has been
used for the selection of managers.
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
Several skill classification schemes illustrate
the intent of the practitioners to establish
multiple means to predict success for
expatriate managers. The Ashridge
Management Research Center identified five
skill categories with multiple items in each
category:
1 strategic awareness and support;
2 adaptability in new/novel environmental
situations;
3 sensitivity and openness to other cultures
and social mores;
4 language capabilities; interpersonal
communication skills (Harris and
Brewster, 1999).
Other studies supporting the ``soft’’ skill
approach (i.e. skills not directly tied to
technical training and functional expertise)
have extended the number of categories to
include: global awareness, corporate
strategy, cultural empathy, cross-cultural
team building, international negotiation
skills, ethical understanding of conducting
business in foreign countries, and self-
confidence. Many practitioners feel that
these additional screening devices augment
the more traditional personality
characteristics-based selection tools. But
most recently, IHRM has begun to develop a
more systematic approach to the entire
human resource management process.
There is a growing group of academic
IHRM researchers that contend that selection
and other human resource functions should
not be viewed separately, but must be viewed
as an integrated system of human resource
functions (Becker and Gerhart, 1996; Huselid,
1995; Huselid et al., 1997). IHRM researchers
appear to have adopted this systemic
approach toward human resource functions
by developing integrative IHRM frameworks
(for example see, Dowling et al., 1999; Taylor
et al., 1996; Welch, 1994). Therefore, the
selection process would have to be fully
integrated into the other human resource
functions such as training/development,
compensation, performance appraisal and
the like.
These integrated human resource systems
should be attuned to the strategic position
taken by the firm relative to its future global
expectations. By examining all the human
resource functions as a system, it is felt that
better collective human resource decisions
will be made, which will increase the
consistency among the various operating
units in a global network. It would be
difficult at this juncture in evaluating the
selection process for expatriate managers to
claim that the selection of these managers is
a systemic well-articulated and documented
process. The complexity associated with
selection of expatriates to fill changing
assignments is becoming more vexing given
the staffing requirements associated with
global organizations entering emerging
markets. It therefore would appear to be a
propitious time to develop an expatriate
selection process that is keyed to multiple
abilities of candidates, better understanding
of candidates’ methods of learning, and the
overall competence of managers across a
broad spectrum of personal and professional
skills. If organizations are going to be
effective global competitors, the competence
repertoire of expatriate managers will play
an integral role in the effective development
and implementation of the organizations’
strategies. Therefore, developing a
competency-based theoretical view of
expatriate selection provides the frame for
examining such a process.
A competency-based view of
expatriate selection
A competency-based view of the relationship
between human resource management and
expatriate staffing suggests that input,
managerial, and transformation-based
competencies operate interdependently,
creating firm-specific competencies that can
produce a sustained competitive advantage
(Lado and Wilson, 1994). A competency-based
perspective explicitly addresses the dynamic
nature of the global environment by
acknowledging that the initial set of
competencies (i.e. organizational and
individual) should be renewed by the
development of new competencies through
orchestrated selection of better/more
qualified expatriate managers. This renewal
suggests that a global organization should
formulate its strategic intent to discover and
develop new competencies of strategic
relevance through development of the
complementary competencies to those
possessed by past expatriate managers
(Sanchez et al., 1996).
Figure 2 illustrates the basic components
of a competency-based strategic choice
process. Competencies are divided into three
distinct categories:
1 input competencies ± capital, labor,
physical assets, and other factor inputs to
the global organization;
2 managerial competencies ± top
management team (TMT) capabilities,
managerial social knowledge, informal
internal/external business networks of
global organizations, and personal social
capital of expatriate managers that can be
[ 71 ]
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
[ 72 ]
Figure 2
Competency-based strategic choice process
used to accomplish the mission of the
organization; and
3 transformation-based competencies ± the
ability of management to accomplish the
tasks necessary to gain competitive
position in the marketplace, which
assumes adaptability and learning
capabilities embedded in the expatriate
manager as well as the global organization
(Harvey et al., 1999).
As is depicted in Figure 2, the three types
of competencies can be bundled to provide
a set of strategic choice options. A greater
set of competencies throughout the
operating entities of the global organization
equates to improved strategic options.
The strategic choice options are weighed
against the opportunities in each of the
host country’s environmental contexts.
As the level of competencies increases
and the environmental contexts become
more uncertain, management may make
future strategic choices to position the
global organization dynamically in the
business landscape based on the competent
advice from the globally dispersed
expatriate network. This continuous
expatriate-sourced reassessment of
competencies and market changes allows
the organization to develop a global
competency unique from other
organizations competing in
hypercompetitive market segments
(Harvey et al., 1999). Each of the specific
types of competencies will be briefly
discussed.
Input competencies
Input resources play a critical role in
developing sustained competitive advantage
within the firm value chain. These are the
same competencies that would be identified
in a resource-based view of the firm: the
bundled tangible and intangible internal
resources (Oster, 1990) that are valuable,
rare, imperfectly mobile, and inimitable
(Barney, 1991). These input resources may
include physical assets, organizational
capital, and specific human resources that
enable an organization to effectively compete
in the global marketplace with valued
products and services (Lado and Wilson,
1994).
Specific to global organizations attempting
to develop dynamic capabilities through
expatriation of managers is the identification
and selection of an adequate number of
qualified managers with a strong desire or
interest in managing in subsidiaries. These
input human resources may also include
third country nationals employed in overseas
subsidiaries who share their tacit knowledge
of the local context with members of the
home country organization.
Managerial competencies
Managerial competencies focus on the global
organization’s vision of the TMT and the
decisions and actions necessary to realize
that vision (Lado et al., 1992). Managerial
competencies may create sustained
competitive advantage directly if the TMT is
able to exploit unique expatriate specific
competencies. These competencies are
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
particularly valuable to the organization if
they provide an institutional bridge between
the cultural, social, and political divide often
found between the domestic and foreign
subsidiaries (Gabby and Zuckerman, 1998).
As these managerial competencies develop,
the resulting outcomes from implementing
new strategic visions may reshape the
thinking, actions, and even the worldview of
the TMT, making it ultimately evolve into a
global mindset (Kefalas, 1998; Paul, 2000).
Specific to expatriate staffing of subsidiaries,
a competency-based perspective would suggest
that a diverse and heterogeneous set of
cognitive perspectives (Mahoney and Pandian,
1992) and managers’ coordination capabilities
(Sanchez et al., 1996) can encourage superior
performance of the network of subsidiaries.
The objective would be to create
multidimensional competencies to facilitate
effective implementation of global, as well as
local, initiatives. The importance of global
assignments for expatriate managers is
directly tied to their ability to transfer
knowledge and cultural attributes of the
headquarters to overseas operations (Bender
and Fish, 2000). Developing this multilevel
competency through knowledge transfer may
result in a superior performance of the
organization (Wright et al., 1994).
Transformation-based competencies
The TMT may also need to acquire and
develop competencies to more effectively
address issues and collaborative
relationships with external entities and
institutions (i.e. government agencies, banks,
suppliers, customers, strategic alliance
partners) and key individuals in the host
countries. This broad set of competencies has
been labeled as transformation-based.
Transformation-based competencies are
those that enable the foreign subsidiary to
transform inputs into outputs and may
include alliance-based technology or
marketing innovations that facilitate new
product and customer relationship
development (Lado et al., 1992). Similarly,
these competencies may create a collective
experience base and/or learning capability,
resulting in an organizational culture
conducive to learning that is difficult for
competitors to replicate and therefore can
create a relative competitive advantage over
other global organizations (Taylor et al., 1996;
Roth and O’Donnell, 1996).
It is imperative to transfer transformational
competencies through cross cultural manager
assignments, thereby building more diverse
and pluralistic management teams in overseas
operations (Fish and Wood, 1997b).
Transformation-based competencies can play a
specific role in global organizations and their
subsidiaries. First, there may be situations,
outside the global organization’s network of
relationships, which may require tacit local
knowledge to explore business relationship
options and exploit opportunities in a specific
geographic area or culture. By utilizing
competent expatriates with multiple skills,
global organizations are developing a resource
competency of such tacit knowledge that is
difficult for global competitors to duplicate.
Furthermore, the tacit knowledge gain
through having highly qualified expatriate
managers in foreign subsidiaries can be
brought back and embedded into the domestic
firm-specific routines, which in turn can
facilitate organizational learning, ultimately
increasing organizational effectiveness in
global competitive positioning.
By combining the three types of
competencies effectively, the global
organizations can configure a repertoire of
strategic choices relative to a specific
national competitive environment, while at
the same time being mindful of the need to
maintain consistency among subsidiary
policies/procedures. Such consistency is
derived from the development of a TMT
global mindset, which in turn thrives on the
creation of an adequate pool of global
managers with complementary competencies
and maintains a proactive posture relative to
the value of assembling, motivating, and
retaining a multicultural management team
for use in global organizations (Kedia and
Mukherji, 1999; Kefalas, 1998; Paul, 2000).
Therefore, an expatriate staffing system
needs to be developed that facilitates effective
deployment of the firm-specific competencies
based on individual competencies of
expatriates.
Competency-based model of
expatriate selection
In an effort to develop a more comprehensive
selection process of expatriate managers for
increasingly complex global assignments, a
model has been developed to highlight the key
decision variables in the method (see Figure 3.
The basic premise of the model is that
potential expatriate managers have multiple
``IQs’’ that need to be inventoried to determine
the unique skill set of each candidate
(Sternberg, 1996). In addition, each candidate
has ``potential’’ to learn additional
competencies, but one’s learning style directly
impacts on the learning process of new
competencies. By having an insight into a
learning style, development programs can be
designed to complement the expatriate
[ 73 ]
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
[ 74 ]
Figure 3
Global problem-solving potential
candidate’s learning style (Kolb, 1974, 1978;
Mumford, 1999). The ability (i.e. multiple IQ
inventory and additional learning) is the basis
of the competencies required to effectively
manage in complex global assignments. But
one must look beyond abilities and learning
styles at the expatriates’ ``action assessment’’
styles (i.e. thinking styles) to determine how
the IQs and additional learned skills interact
in solving complex managerial problems with
action in mind (Sternberg, 1994a, 1994b, 1997c;
Ceci, 1996). The action context/environment
and the type of task also interact as important
issues when assessing the performance of
potential expatriate managers. Each of the
elements in the model will be briefly
discussed.
The use of multiple IQs
The selection of expatriate managers can
start by using a series of multiple IQs as
indicators of the abilities of each potential
candidate. By focusing on a set of eight IQs,
expatriate selection can be based on a
composite of IQs, and later can be used as a
template to be matched with the
requirements of the expatriate’s overseas
position. Figure 4 provides definitions of
each IQ and explains how the eight IQs, used
in the selection of expatriate managers, are
derived from three theory-based categories.
These three categories of IQs are modeled
after the triarchic theory of human
intelligence (Sternberg, 1985, 1996) and are
classified in the following manner (the
references below represent background
research on each IQ):
1 Analytical intelligence ± the planning,
implementation, evaluation of problem
solving processes and knowledge
acquisition, which includes: cognitive
intelligence (Binet and Simon, 1916;
Wechsler, 1950) and emotional intelligence
(Cooper and Sawaf, 1997; Gardner, 1999;
Goleman, 1995; Dulevicz, 2000).
2 Practical intelligence ± tacit knowledge that
can derive common sense, intuition, and
``street smarts’’ knowledge to adapt to an
environment or to shape the environment
to the problem facing the manager, which
includes: political intelligence (Ferris et
al., 1994), cultural/social intelligence
(Cantor and Kihlstrom, 1987; Sternberg and
Smith, 1985; Serale and Ward, 1990),
organizational intelligence (Wagner and
Sternberg, 1986; Davenport and Prusak,
1998) and network intelligence, (Albrecht
and Adelman, 1987; Smith, 1997; DeBurca
and McLoughlin, 1988; Ford, 1998).
3 Creative intelligence ± the ability to develop
innovative solutions to new problems in
novel environments, which includes:
innovative intelligence (Lubart and
Sternberg, 1995; Sternberg and Lubart 1995,
1996) and intuitive intelligence (Keegan,
1982; Parikh, 1994; Shirley and Langan-Fox,
1996; Weick, 1998; Anderson, 2000).
The use of the multiple intelligences to
identify potential expatriate candidates
provides the human resource management
with a detailed inventory of the potential
expatriate competency base, and at the same
time provides a semantic for an on-going
development program for each manager.
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
Figure 4
Definitions of managerial IQs
Once the ability inventory is taken, the next
stage of the expatriate selection process is to
examine how the learning styles of potential
candidates influence their absorptive
capacity to acquire new competencies.
The influence of learning styles
Researchers have developed a model of the
learning process that is characterized as a
four-stage cycle of learning (Jensen and Kolb,
2000). The learning process is envisioned as
being active and passive, as well as concrete
and abstract. The four states of the learning
process are:
1 concrete experience, followed by
2 observation and reflection, which lead to
3 the formation of abstract concepts and
generalization, which engender
4 hypotheses to be tested in future action,
which in turn close the cycle leading to
exposure to new experiences (Kolb, 1978).
Each stage of the learning cycle may take
differing amounts of time, but the learner
will attempt to structure each stage of the
learning cycle in a formal or in an informal
manner (Curry, 2000; Jensen and Kolb, 2000;
Rayner, 2000; Saddler-Smith, 2000).
Four types of learning styles have been
identified through research and clinical
observations over the past 30 years using the
learning styles inventory (Kolb, 1974, 1978).
The learning styles are:
1 Divergent learning style. This style of
learning reflects the view of concrete
situations from many perspectives and
the organization of many relationships
into a meaningful ``gestalt’’. The focus of
learning in this learning style is on
cognitive adaptation to environmental
context by observation rather than by
taking action (Kolb et al., 1995). As the
strength of this style of learning is in the
innovative manner in which these
individuals attempt to learn, this would be
an ideal learning style for potential
expatriate candidates assigned to complex
global assignments. Specifically, these
individuals are most productive in
learning in situations that call for the
generation of multiple alternative ideas
and in developing an array of potential
solutions to managerial problems. In
addition, it has been found that
``divergers’’ have broad cultural interests
and have the ability to assimilate into
diverse groups or interact effectively
within heterogeneous cultural settings.
The divergent learning style often has a
positive influence on the relationship
between multiple IQs of individuals and
their thinking styles, given the openness
of these individuals to learning from
diverse and complex environmental cues.
2 Convergent learning style. The
``converger’’ is an individual who has the
ability to learn through abstracting both
the problem and the context/setting of the
problem. The deductive conceptualization
and experimentation with the abstracted
facts by these potential expatriate
convergers signals they are very good at
structured problem solving, testing
alternative solutions, and the formulation
[ 75 ]
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
3 Assimilation learning style. Like the
4 Accommodative learning style. As this
[ 76 ]
of a practical theory (i.e. to structure
processes/routines from experience in
order to form the bases for future decision
making) (Bond and Wilson, 1998). The
structured problem solving by relying on
their cognitive IQ is the fundamental
strength of expatriates with this learning
style (Leonard and Kowalski, 1999). The
hypothetical-deductive learning style is
best suited to technical, specified
problems with little need to interact with
others, in that these learners are
characterized by controlling both their
emotions and the need for inclusion.
Expatriate managers who are assigned for
technical competency and have less to do
with managing a diverse social set of
individuals would best be selected if they
were converger type of learners.
converger, the assimlator type learner has
the ability to abstract complex problems/
situations but, in contrast, uses inductive
reasoning to find solutions to decisions.
This ``model building’’ type of learner is
prone to integrating a variety of disparate
information into an integrated model to
solve problems (Mumford, 1999). As with
the convergent learner, these individuals
are less likely to be effective
interpersonally, particularly within a
heterogeneous group of individuals.
Rather, the assimilator enjoys the process
of learning and understanding. This type
of learner is, however, less likely to want
to actually implement what has been
learned. As they view the process of
learning as an end in itself, expatriate
managers with an assimilation learning
style are less likely to act upon the
information or on the model that they
have built. The ideal expatriate
assignment for assimilators would be in a
staff capacity to assist with technical
issues or to support more decisive
learners in the organization.
learning style is goal-oriented, getting
things done is the primary value of
expatriate managers with this learning
style. Such learning style stimulates risk
taking, new opportunities, interaction
with a diverse set of individuals, and
cognitive adaptation to unique
environmental contexts. These
individuals are willing and able to adapt
themselves to new environments and
social settings making them ideal
expatriate candidates for multiple
assignments. The capacity for adaptive
learning of these expatriate candidates is
of particular significance when working/
learning across cultures (Lam, 1998;
McMurray, 1998). Their intuitive decision-
making process relies less on theory and
formalized routines and more on past
experiences and their ability to ``read’’ the
minds of others. These expatriate
managers would be utilized best in
situations where informal interaction
with a variety of individuals is a business
necessity. Particularly, they are well-
suited for marketing and sales type
expatriates who are required to interact
with others outside the foreign subsidiary
(i.e. with customers, suppliers,
governmental officials and the like).
The learning style inventory (Kolb, 1978) can
be administered to potential expatriate
managers to assist in determining how they
will augment their existing IQ inventories, as
well as what types of overseas assignments
each individual would be best suited to
combine effectively abilities with learning
style. The learning style assessment becomes
critical in identifying how on-going
development of each expatriate manager
should be undertaken, as well as in forming
the bases for assignment tasks for various
expatriate candidates. Given that most
expatriate managers will need to employ a
combination of their IQs in acquisition of
new competencies, learning style analysis is
a critical element in the selection process. As
the type of learning style influences the
relationship between a candidate’s IQs and
critical thinking, the role and structure of
expatriate thinking styles in a competency-
based expatriate selection process need to be
explored (Gadzella and Masten, 1998).
Developing an understanding of individual
thinking styles
The multiple IQs and learning styles of
expatriate candidates are the potential for
accumulating competencies by overseas
managers. But just as with any potential,
there must be a mechanism to turn that
potential into action. The action dimension of
the assessment of expatriate candidates’
potential starts with determining their
thinking styles (Sternberg, 1997a). A thinking
style is a preferred way of thinking, not the
natural or acquired ability, but rather, how
an individual translates his or her ability
and learning into intent for actions. In other
words, expatriate thinking styles involve
integrative utilization of their abilities and of
learning styles. Putting knowledge/
competencies to work, beyond having ability
or attempting to learn, yields effective
performance.
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
Individual thinking styles have been
described as taking the following forms:
1 monarchical thinking style ± the single-
minded individual that is driven to
succeed, may be counted on to reach the
self-set or assigned objectives, and is less
likely to be strongly influenced or
distracted by the environmental
uncertainty (i.e. high goal commitment
and achievement orientation);
2 hierarchical thinking style ± the individual
thinking style that is based on setting
priorities and recognizing that not all
goals can be reached; therefore, these
individuals tend to establish priors for
others in the organization (i.e. an
expatriate providing structure and a set of
priorities for the foreign subsidiary);
3 oligarchical thinking style ± a thinking
style that is based upon doing more than
one thing at a time and on willingness to
undertake multitask assignments. Given
their interest in performing multiple
tasks, individuals with this thinking style
have difficulty in establishing priorities
and are frequently unwilling to focus on
the primary goal/objective (i.e. may be
perceived as not being decisive); and,
4 anarchical thinking style ± lack focus in
their thinking, frequently appear to be
disorganized or random in their thinking
processes, but are sometimes thought of as
being highly creative thinkers. These
individuals also appear to have difficulty
making adjustments to the environmental
context when it becomes dynamic
(Sternberg, 1997a).
When selecting expatriate managers,
knowing their thinking styles prior to their
assignment can help to assist in selecting
appropriate managers for particular
assignments. The type of the assigned task, as
well as the task environment (i.e. internal
and external), can differentially influence the
relationship between thinking styles and the
execution of strategies. Some thinking styles
of expatriates are more effective for solving
less structured, new, and complex problems,
which allow the expatriates to think on their
own. These expatriate candidates are more
readily willing to come up with their own
way of doing things, and prefer to decide for
themselves what they will do and how they
will do it (Sternberg, 1997a). In contrast, there
are those who prefer to follow existing
routines and procedures, and only want to
improve the efficiency of the processes.
Expatriate candidates seldom want to
assess and evaluate the existing routines/
procedures and to modify them to make the
process fit the environment or task more
closely (Sternberg, 1997a). Overall, a thinking
style of an expatriate manager reflects the
manner in which the expatriate attempts to
make decisions, given the appropriateness of
his or her abilities and learning styles to
acquire competencies for solving problems.
This action-oriented step is an important
component in the selection of expatriate
managers in that it reflects a pattern of
taking action, which in turn, must match the
task and environmental demands that the
expatriate is assigned to in the global
organization (Harvey, 1996a).
The influence of the type of task
Tasks that expatriate managers face can be
categorized into three types:
1 coordinative tasks ± are tasks that are
integrative in nature and can be
illustrated by the following types of tasks:
developing a marketing plan, initiating an
organizational change in a foreign
subsidiary, or selecting foreign suppliers.
These tasks require a finely orchestrated
interaction between the domestic
organization and the subsidiary where the
expatriate manager is located at their
boundary, and where speed, accuracy, and
reliance on others are essential for the
expatriate manager to accomplish such
tasks successfully;
2 computational tasks ± are more structured
tasks that require utilization of an
established body of knowledge and
techniques for successful
accomplishment. There is less ambiguity
in these tasks and there is a known
beginning and ending point in the set of
activities comprising these tasks. While
most computational tasks are fairly
procedural, and may require a great deal
of effort on the part of the expatriate
manager, their demand on expatriates for
coordination with others is lessened; and
3 creative tasks ± are tasks that do not have
``proven’’ answers or processes to find
their solution and are dependent on the
creative insights of the expatriate to find
acceptable solutions. These tasks can be
approached and/or framed in a number of
different ways because a wide variety of
information sources are to be scanned for
creative task accomplishment (Hambrick
et al., 1998).
Therefore, it is particularly difficult to
measure the result/outcomes of performing
such tasks.
An additional relevant attribute of a task is
the difficulty of the task that the expatriate
manager is attempting to resolve. In the
determination of the relative ``difficulty’’ of
[ 77 ]
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
[ 78 ]
the expatriate’s assignment, there are three
dimensions of the task that have to be taken
into consideration:
1 the complexity of the task structure ± the
array of potential alternative solutions,
the number of cues/information sources
relative to the task, the relationship
between cues and criteria for solution of
the task, and the number of steps or
phases to the task;
2 ambiguity of the task content ± organizing
principles of the task unknown or
unavailable, previous expatriates’
experience with the task limited or not
existent, high likelihood of failure/partial
failure, and cues not clear as to how to
frame the problem or organize the
information to solve the task; and
3 form of task presentation ± only a brief
time span available for judgment,
judgment of cues dependent on
perceptional predisposition of the
expatriate manager. The greater the
overall complexity of the task, the more
skilled and ``intelligent’’ (i.e. use of
multiple IQs) the expatriate manager
must be to address the cognitively
demanding nature of global assignment
tasks (Sternberg, 1996).
The internal/external environmental
context
The selection of an expatriate manager for a
global assignment could be strongly
influenced by the type of cultural
environment to which the individual will be
assigned (Harvey, 1996). The cultural
distance between the home and host
countries needs to be assessed in the
expatriate selection process because it affects
the nature of the expatriate task (i.e. whether
the task is programmable or not). It is
significantly more difficult for expatriates to
contribute to the expertise of foreign
operations if the cultures of the two countries
are too dissimilar. In order to enrich the
knowledge competency of the organization
the expertise of the expatriates have to ``fit’’
in the knowledge context of the overseas
assignment and the organization to which
they are assigned (Bender and Fish, 2000).
Cultural distance is measured as a
composite index of Hofstede’s (1980) cultural
dimensions. Cultural distance affects an
expatriate’s understanding of decision-
making processes, work values, negotiation
patterns, conflicts in J/Vs and wholly-owned
subsidiaries, and fairness in reciprocity
(Gomez-Mejita and Palich, 1997). Also, the
degree of cultural distance will influence
performance ambiguity and task definition
(Hamilton and Kashlak, 1999). As a result, an
expatriate’s task programmability and
performance measurability will be inversely
related to the cultural distance.
Like cultural distance, other influential
factors from the external environment, such
as host-country political risk and economic
instability, also decrease an expatriate’s task
programmability and output measurability.
A recent measure that combines both of these
two factors has been developed (Fatehi, 1994).
The most challenging problem for human
resource management is the definition of an
expatriate’s task/performance criteria in the
selection process when all of these three
major environmental variables are salient.
As a result, the decision regarding which
managers to expatriate to these extreme
environments becomes critical.
Also, the nature of an expatriate’s task will
likely vary with the industry in which the
organization operates. An expatriate’s task
and performance ambiguity will likely be
higher for services than for products, as well
as higher for consumer products than for
industrial products. Finally, the factors from
the internal environment that influence an
expatriate’s task and performance should be
taken into analysis, such as the
organization’s global ownership patterns, top
management team characteristics, strategic
orientation for geographic and product
diversification as well as cross-border
acquisitions and joint venturing, and the
organization’s prior experience in the host
country as well as a candidate’s prior foreign
experiences (Harvey et al., 1999).
Managerial implications of
expatriate selection model:
recommended decision-making
procedure
The specification of critical components of
the model for selection of expatriate
managers for complex global assignments
needs to be translated into a manageable
step-by-step selection procedure. The
sequential selection process, recommended
for managerial practice, is outlined in Figure
5 and briefly discussed below. The process
guides international human resource
managers how to design activities for each of
the stages of the process. To be implemented,
the expatriate selection process should be
institutionalized both in the domestic
organization and the foreign subsidiaries of
the focal organization, because several the
stages of the process occur during the
expatriates’ overseas assignment.
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
Figure 5
Expatriate selection process for global
assignments
Step one: identification of potential
expatriate pool of candidates
Prior to assessing the multiple IQs, the
learning styles, and the thinking styles of
potential expatriate managers, a manager
must ensure that the ``pools’’ of candidates
have been identified. In particular, if these
expatriates are going to come from outside
the organization, the method of how can they
be identified/attracted must have been
determined. In practice, expatriates most
frequently have come from within the focal
organization for a number of reasons:
1 candidates are easier to identify and
contact;
2 the background and developmental
progress of the candidates are available;
3 candidates are frequently easier to entice
into taking an overseas position;
4 the explicit costs are generally less than
those for the candidates on the market;
5 internal candidates have social knowledge
of the company’s culture, and are familiar
with the value of international career
paths; and
6 internal candidates are trusted in the
organization and, therefore, provide a
means to extend control to the global
operations (Harvey, 1996).
Identifying external expatriate candidates is
a daunting task given the inadequate supply
of qualified/experienced managers. The
reservoir of potential external expatriate
managers is limited and difficult to evaluate
because they typically have the corollary
negative characteristics/traits of internal
expatriate candidates (i.e. hard to identify,
background unknown, difficult to entice into
the organization, significantly higher
explicit costs, no prior knowledge of the
company’s culture, and low trustworthiness
due to lack of prior interaction with others in
the organization).
There are, however, a number of implicit
costs associated with selecting only
expatriate managers from inside the
organization, such as: reduced talent pool
within the domestic market as competition is
heightened in mature markets; in case of a
higher than average failure rate of expatriate
managers the company could be losing value
managerial talents; and frequently managers
will leave their company to avoid overseas
assignments when dual-career couples are
involved (Harvey 1995, 1996a,b, 1997). Many of
these costs are negated with expatriate
candidates from outside the organization.
The primary problem remains, identifying
an adequate number of qualified external
candidates at a reasonable recruiting cost
and with a high probability of attracting
them to the organization.
Step two: assessment of IQ competencies
of expatriate candidates
This stage in the expatriate selection process
is directed at testing the eight IQs of the
potential candidates. Each IQ must be
measured and assessed as a complement to
the other IQs and the type of assignment that
is contemplated for the candidates.
Measurement of each IQ can be accomplished
by using existing techniques identified in the
following research:
1 Cognitive IQ. There has been a long
history of measuring cognitive
intelligence with such measures as: Binet
& Simon Basic Intelligence Test (1916);
Thrustone Intelligence Test IV (1919);
Wechsler Intelligence Test (1950); Cattell
[ 79 ]
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
[ 80 ]
Personality Factor Questionnaire (1949);
Golf and Ackerman Intelligence-as-
Typical Performance Test (1992).
2 Emotional IQ. A variety of tests in
psychology, education, and personal theory
fields have been developed to measure
emotional IQ (Damasio, 1994; Goleman,
1998; Steiner, 1997). For measuring
emotional IQ in organizational settings, an
EQ scale of 16 relevant competencies has
been developed in the Job Competencies
Survey developed by researchers (Dulevicz,
1998; Dulevicz and Higgs, 2000).
3 Political IQ. A measure of political IQ,
which contains 11 items, has recently
been developed reflecting an individual’s
ability to exercise influence on others
beyond one’s functional and resource
bases (Ferris et al., 2000).
4 Cultural/social IQ. The sociocultural
adaptation scale (SCAC) was developed in
the last decade (Searle and Ward 1990). This
scale was developed based on an earlier
social skills scale (Trower et al., 1978). Most
recently the SCAC has been expanded to
include cognitive as well as behavioral
domains (Ward and Kennedy, 1999).
5 Organizational IQ. The ability to
effectively ``get things done’’ in an
interorganizational context has a proxy
measure of a team member’s tacit
knowledge (Sternberg and Wagner, 1986).
Instruments that measure tacit knowledge
in managers (Wagner and Sternberg, 1991)
and other occupations (Sternberg et al.,
1997) have been developed and tested for
validity and reliability.
6 Network IQ. A network intelligence
measure, which is related to interpersonal
relationships and examines the number of
nodes and ties in personal nets, has been
developed (Albrecht and Adelman, 1987).
This work has recently been expanded
based on the norms established for
members of Western social systems
(Smith, 1997).
7 Innovative IQ. A measure of innovative
intelligence has been developed based on
the investment theory of creativity
(Sternberg and Lubart, 1991, 1995).
8 Intuitive IQ. The Keegan’s type indicator
form B (KTI), which has 16 items referring
to the function of sensing and intuition,
was developed in the 1980s (Keegan, 1982).
It has also been suggested that the KTI
instrument be used in conjunction with
the Myers-Briggs type indicator (MBTI),
first developed by Myers and Caulley in
1985 (Anderson, 2000).
Given the variety of measures for each IQ, it
is possible for the human resource managers
to compare results among tests as well as
retest candidates at some future time. Most of
the tests that have been developed have been
used extensively and are considered reliable
measures for each IQ.
Step three: determination of learning
styles of expatriate candidates
Like the multiple IQs, the individual learning
styles of potential expatriate managers must
be determined. Kolb has undertaken the most
extensive empirical research on learning
styles research over the last 30 years (Kolb,
1974). The learning styles inventory (LSI-IIa)
has been widely used in industry and
education to examine the preferred learning
styles of thousands of individuals (Kolb, 1978).
The LSI assists learners in understanding
their strengths and weaknesses during the
four stages of the learning cycle. The
inventory measures the learner’s preferences
in the four stages of learning. Preferences of
one or more stages over others indicate the
preferred learning style. The inventory is
relatively inexpensive and self-administered
by the expatriate candidate. This
straightforward instrument provides the
foundation for understanding the preferred
future learning styles of expatriates, which is
of importance when considering
developmental needs of the candidate.
Step four: determination of thinking styles
of potential expatriate candidates
As was stated earlier, the thinking styles
reflect the action orientation of the potential
expatriate candidates and are of great value in
ascertaining the expatriates’ predisposition to
making actionable decisions. This predilection
to action becomes an important consideration,
given the uniqueness of the expatriate
assignments and the limited procedures/
routines that are established to guide decision-
making by the expatriate managers.
There are a number of key issues associated
with thinking styles that must be taken into
consideration when analyzing the preferred
styles of potential expatriate managers:
1 styles are preferences in the use of
abilities, not abilities themselves;
2 the consistency between thinking styles
and abilities creates synergy, particularly
if the two are consistent with the task
requirements and the context of task
accomplishment;
3 expatriate managers may have profiles/
patterns of styles and are not relegated to
one style in all situations;
4 styles are variable/adaptable across tasks
and situations if the manager has an in-
depth knowledge of their thinking and
learning styles;
Michael Harvey and 5 managers may vary fairly significantly in
Milorad M. Novicevic their thinking style flexibility;
Selecting expatriates for 6 the socialization of expatriate managers
increasingly complex global
assignments can directly influence their thinking
Career Development styles and may require that a preferred
International thinking style is modified to fit the host
6/2 [2001] 69±86
country’s organization or culture;
7 managers thinking styles may vary across
their career life-cycle and change, given
their stage of their personal or
professional life-cycle;
8 thinking styles are teachable and trainers
may match their styles with expatriate
managers when they are being trained for
overseas assignments;
9 the expatriate manager’s preferred
thinking style may not be ``acceptable’’ in
a new environmental context (i.e.
culturally unacceptable or taboo within a
cultural context;
10 thinking styles can be measured
(Sternberg, 1997a).
Measurement of thinking styles has been
developed and extensively explored by
Sternberg and Wagner (for example, see
Sternberg-Wagner self-assessment inventory
models in Sternberg (1997a)).
Step five: determination of assignment
task and its environments (internal/
external)
A manager must first determine the type of
the assignment task. Marketing and R&D
expatriates commonly have creative tasks;
production expatriates commonly have
coordinative tasks; while finance and
accounting commonly have computational
tasks. The next step is to rank the expatriate
task in terms of difficulty. In general, the
difficulty of an expatriate task increases with
its complexity, ambiguity, and
incompleteness. These task characteristics
are the representations of the variables from
the organization’s external and internal
environments.
The most salient variable in the external
environment is the cultural distance between
the country of the expatriate assignment and
the home country of the organization. The
measure for cultural distance was developed
by Kogut and Singh (1988), and has been
validated in subsequent research. The other
two important variables from the external
environment are the political risk and
economic instability of the host country. The
composite measure and the source
publications for these two factors can be
found in Fatehi (1994).
The important variables from the internal
organizational environment which increase
the difficulty of managing as an expatriate,
are: the problems associated with managing
in foreign hybrid organizational
environments generally represented by
combined ownership (i.e. joint ventures,
strategic alliances); the top-managements’
attitude relative to the strategic importance
of the host country operations/market; and
history of the organization’s prior experience
in the host country market. This information
is organization-specific and could have an
impact on the expatriate ability to
accomplish task specific objectives during
the foreign assignment.
Step six: assessment of family
characteristics
In the past, the number one reason for
expatriate failures has been identified as
problems associated with the expatriate’s
family/spouse (Harvey, 1985, 1997, 1998; Fish
and Wood, 1997a). Therefore, in selecting
expatriates for global assignments, it is
imperative to take the spouse and family into
consideration when the selection process is
being developed. The problems with
expatriate spouse/family are becoming
central not only to expatriate failure rates,
but to the increase in refusal to relocate
overseas (Harvey, 1997). These problems are
being accentuated by the level of dual-career
professional couples and concerns of the
trailing-spouses as to how their careers will
be affected by their partners’ transfer
(Harvey, 1997; Harvey and Wiese, 1998;
Harvey et al., 1999).
In an effort to reduce the negative impact
of family related problems, a detailed
analysis of the family life-cycle should be
undertaken on each of the potential
expatriate candidates. In this analysis of the
family, the human resource management
needs to determine: what stage of the family
life-cycle the expatriates family unit is in
(Harvey, 1996a); the stage of professional/
career development of the expatriate’s
spouse; the number of children and their
stage of educational attainment; extenuating
family considerations such as special
education needs of children, health related
issues for children, and other extended
family considerations (i.e. sick/elderly
parents); employment potential of the
expatriate’s trailing spouse, and the past
relocation experiences of the expatriate and
his/her family. This assessment of family
related issues should be undertaken prior to
selecting managers to become candidates for
expatriation and not as an ``afterthought’’
once the expatriation training/development
has been started (Fish and Wood, 1997a;
Elkins and Phillips, 2000). The family issues
can be significant enough, in that at certain
[ 81 ]
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
[ 82 ]
times or conditions, good expatriate
candidates should not be selected for
assignments due to family considerations.
Step seven: development of repatriation
program prior to expatriation
To ameliorate some of the basic family issues
associated with expatriation, the selection
process should have a basic component that
examines issues associated with repatriating
the manager. Researchers have determined
that the repatriation process plays a
significant role in assisting the expatriate
and their family with reentry adjustment
(Harvey, 1989: Black et al., 1992). Therefore,
repatriation plans for each expatriate
candidate must be examined and plans
established prior to selection. This is
necessary for two reasons: to determine the
complexity of the re-entry problems (i.e. the
length of expatriation assignment, the
cultural/economic distance between home
and host country, the stage of family life-
cycle, the readjustment issues associated
with the spouse and family upon repatriation
and the like); and to provide the expatriate
candidate with vital information concerning
his/her career life-cycle and the preplanning
that the organization is undertaking to
ensure a positive re-entry experience for the
expatriate and their family. The development
of the repatriation plan is also helpful in
developing a succession plan and timetable
concerning the expatriate and the position
that they are filling overseas.
Step eight: selection of expatriate
candidates and assignments
The final step in the selection process is the
matching of the candidates with assignments,
or at the least regions in which the candidates
could be assigned. This stage is to underscore
the point that expatriate managers cannot be
seen as equally applicable to all expatriation
assignments. The type of assignment, the
country characteristics, the host organization
culture/climate, and the nature of the task
should all be taken into consideration when
aligning the expatriate with the array of
potential expatriation assignments.
Summary/conclusions
In the new competitive landscape of the
knowledge-rich global economy, effective
innovations, particularly those in human
resource management systems, are the
determining factor in the ability of
organizations to adapt and exploit global
opportunities. The global human resource
management innovations are rooted within a
given set of practices influencing
organizational choices in a global context. In
particular, the practices associated with
transferring organization-specific
knowledge, like the expatriation of key
individuals, are central to generating flexible
strategic options in global markets.
Effective expatriation requires a repertoire
of individual competencies appropriate for
integrating the tacit knowledge of local
subsidiary contexts, which is scarce and
dispersed in the global organization. This
dispersal of knowledge creates coordination
problems that go beyond the control
problems addressed by the routine practice of
expatriation. Rather, the expatriate abilities,
learning, thinking, and acting must go
beyond the mere ``Bayesian updating of
priors’’ (Foss, 1999, p. 465), to involve setting
up new interpretative frameworks for
handling new types of unforeseen problems
encountered in global markets. Therefore, for
effective organizational choices, to be
supported by such innovative mental
constructs, the development of an innovative
expatriate selection process is necessary.
The proposed competency-based expatriate
selection process heightens a global
organization’s alertness to neglected
opportunities in global markets, thus
compensating for the potential problem of
expatriate ``hyper-ignorance’’ (i.e. expatriates
not knowing what they do not know about new
market opportunities) as the globalization
process advances. Overcoming this cognitive
constraint through appropriate expatriate
selection process is an important activity in
building a global mindset, which goes beyond
the conventional management of information
asymmetry between the headquarters and
subsidiaries. Expatriates selected based on a
set of competencies become the key foci of
dispersed knowledge about global markets,
and can promote the coordination of specific
effective strategic choices. Therefore, the
competency-based expatriate selection may
contribute to the development of global
dynamic capabilities.
Although only a portion of dispersed
knowledge about global markets can be fully
integrated through the competency-based
expatriation, the resulting enhanced
organizational planning ability can, however,
successfully update top management’s
knowledge base. Thus, the top management
team may become more informed about which
kind of specific knowledge is present in the
global organization, which learning processes
are evolving in foreign subsidiaries, and
which knowledge and practices may
successfully be transferred to other parts of
the global organization.
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
It should be noted that when expatriate
selection is competency-based, then these
expatriates are able to capture those
elements of the global market environment
that are stable and possess unique features
(i.e. are non-repeatable and idiosyncratic).
The expatriates selected in the traditional
manner would focus on the typical features
and may not identify such specific features.
With competent expatriates as its focuses of
tacit and distributed knowledge, a global
organization faces lower coordination costs,
which arise in the process of acquiring and
coordinating market knowledge in global
markets.
References
Albrecht, T.L. and Adelman, M.B. (1987),
Community Social Support, Sage Publications,
Newbury Park, CA.
Anderson, J. (2000), ``Intuition in managers: are
intuitive managers more effective?’’, Journal of
Managerial Psychology, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 46-63.
Baliga, G.M. and Baker, J.C. (1985), ``Multinational
corporate polices for expatriate managers:
selection, training, and evaluation’’, Advanced
Management Journal, Vol. 50 No. 4, pp. 31-8.
Barney, J. (1991), ``Firm resources and sustained
competitive advantage’’’, Journal of
Management, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 99-120.
Barrick, M.R. and Mount, M.K. (1991). ``The big five
personality dimensions and job performance’’,
Personnel Psychology, Vol. 44, pp. 1-26.
Bartlett, C.A. (1986), ``Building and managing the
transnational: the new organizational
challenge’’, in Porter, M. (Ed.), Competition in
Global Industries, Harvard Business School
Press, Boston, MA, pp. 367-401.
Bartlett, C. and Ghoshal, S. (1994), ``Changing the
role of top management: beyond strategy to
purpose’’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72
No. 6, pp. 79-88.
Bartlett, C.A. and Ghoshal, S. (1995), ``Changing
the role of top management: beyond structure
to process’’, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 73
No. 1, pp. 86-93.
Becker, G. and Gerhart, B. (1996), ``The impact of
human resource management on
organizational performance: program and
prospects’’, Academy of Management Journal,
Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 779-801.
Behling, O. (1998), ``Employee selection: will
intelligence and concientiousness do the job?’’,
Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 12
No. 1, pp. 77-86.
Bender, S. and Fish, A. (2000), ``The transfer of
knowledge and the retention of expertise: the
continuing need for global assignments’’,
Journal of Knowledge Management, Vol. 4
No. 2, pp. 125-37.
Binet, A. and Simon, T. (1915), ``The development
of intelligence for children’’, in Jenkins and
Paterson, D. (Eds), Studies In Individual
Differences, Appleton-Croft, New York, NY,
pp. 96-111.
Binet, A. and Simon, T. (1916), The Development of
Intelligence in Children, Williams & Wilson
(original work published 1905), Baltimore.
Black, S., Gregersen, H. and Mendenhall, M. (1992),
``Toward a theoretical framework of repatriation
adjustment’’, Journal of International Business
Studies, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 737-60.
Bond, C. and Wilson, V. (1998), ``Experiential
learning ± from theory to practice’’, Lifelong
Learning in Europe, Vol. 3, pp. 139-47.
Buss, D.M. (1991), ``Evolutionary personality
psychology’’, in Rosenzweig M.R. and Porter,
L.W. (Eds), Annual Review of Psychology,
Annual Review Inc, Palo Alto, CA, Vol. 42,
pp. 459-92.
Caligiuri, P. (2000), ``The five big personality
characteristics as predictors of expatriates’
desire to terminate the assignment and
supervisor-rated performance’’, Personnel
Psychology, Vol. 53 No. 1.
Cantor, N. and Kihlstrom, J. (1987), ``Social
intelligence: the cognitive basis of personality’’,
in Shaver, P. (Ed.), Review of Personality and
Social Psychology, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA,
Vol. 6, pp. 15-34.
Cattel, W. (1949), 16 Personality Factor
Questionnaire, Institute for Personality and
Ability Testing, Champaign, IL.
Ceci, S. (1996), On Intelligence. . . More on Less: A
Bio-ecological Treatise on Intellectual
Development, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs,
NJ.
Cooper, R. and Sawaf, A. (1997), Executive EQ:
Emotional Intelligence in Leadership and
Organizations, Perigie Books, New York.
Curry, L. (2000), ``Review of learning style,
studying approach, and instructional
preference research in medical education’’, in
Riding, R.J. and Rayner, S.G. (Eds),
International Perspectives on Individual
Differences, Ablex, Stamford, CT.
Damasio, A. (1994), Decartes’ Error: Emotion,
Reason and Human Mind, Putnam, New York.
Davenport, T. and Prusak, L. (1998), Working
Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What
They Know, Harvard Business School Press,
Boston, MA.
DeBurca, S. and McLaughlin, D. (1988), ``Business
network research: a gounded theory
approach’’, in Nauda, P. and Turnbull, D.
(Eds), Network Dynamics in International
Marketing, Pergamon, Oxford, pp. 88-111.
Dowling, P., Welch, B. and Schuler, R. (1999),
Intention of Human Resource Management:
Managing People in a Multinational Context,
South-Western College Publication, Cincinnati,
OH.
Dulewicz, V. (1998), Personal Competency
Framework Manual, ASN/NFER, Windsor.
Dulewicz, V. (2000), ``Emotional intelligence: the
key to future successful corporate leadership’’,
Journal of General Management, Vol. 25 No. 3,
pp. 1-13.
[ 83 ]
Michael Harvey and
Milorad M. Novicevic
Selecting expatriates for
increasingly complex global
assignments
Career Development
International
6/2 [2001] 69±86
[ 84 ]
Dulewicz, V. and Higgs, M. (2000), ``Emotional
intelligence: a review and evaluation study’’,
Emotional Intelligence, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 341-72.
Elkins, T. and Phillips, J. (2000), ``Job context,
selecting decision outcome, and the perceived
fairness of selection tests: biodata as an
illustration core’’, Journal of Applied
Psychology, Vol. 85 No. 3, pp. 479-84.
Fatehi, K. (1994), ``Capital flight from Latin
America as barometer of political instability’’,
Journal of Business Research, Vol. 30, pp. 187-95.
Ferris, G., Fedor, D. and King, T. (1994), ``A
political conceptualization of managerial
behavior’’, Human Resource Management
Review, Vol. 4, pp. 1-34.
Ferris, G., Perrewe, P., Anthony, W. and Gilmore, D.
(2000), ``Political skill at work’’, Organizational
Dynamics, Vol. 28, pp. 25-37.
Fish, A. (1999), ``Selecting managers for cross-
border assignments: building value into the
process’’, International Journal of
Management Review, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 461-83.
Fish, A. and Wood, J. (1996), `` A review of
expatriate staffing practices in Australia’’,
International Journal of Human Resource
Management, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 846-65.
Fish, A. and Wood, J. (1997a), ``Managing spouse/
partner preparation and adjustment in
developing a portable meaningful life’’,
Personnel Review, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 445-66.
Fish, A. and Wood, J. (1997b), ``Cross cultural
management competence in Australian
business enterprises’’, Asia Pacific Journal of
Human Resources, Vol. 35 No. 1, pp. 37-52.
Ford, D. (1998), ``Two forms of interaction,
relationships and networks’’, in Nauda, P.
and Turnbull, D. (Eds), Network Dynamics in
International Marketing, Pergamon, Oxford.
Foss, N. (1999), ``The use of knowledge’’, Journal of
Institutional and Theoretical Economics,
Vol. 155, pp. 458-86.
Gabby, S. and Zuckerman, E. (1998), ``Social capital
and opportunity in corporate R&D: the
contingent effect of contact density on mobility
expectations’’, Social Science Research, Vol. 27,
pp. 189-217.
Gadzella, B.M. and Masten, W.G. (1998), ``Relation
between measures of critical thinking and
learning styles’’, Psychological Report, Vol. 83
No. 3, pp. 1248-50.
Gardner, H. (1999), Intelligence Reframed: Multiple
Intelligences for the 21st Century, Barrie
Books, New York, NY.
Ghoshal, S. and Bartlett, C. (1997), ``The myth of the
generic manager: new resource competencies
for management roles’’, California
Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 92-107.
Goleman, D. (1995), Emotional Intelligence,
Bantam Books, New York, NY.
Goleman, D. (1998), ``What makes a leader?’’,
Harvard Business Review, November-December,
pp. 93-102.
Golf, M. and Ackerman, P. (1992), ``Personality-
intelligence relations’’, Journal of
Educational Psychology, Vol. 84, pp. 537-52.
GoÂmez-Mejita, L. and Palich, L. (1997), ``Cultural
diversity and the performance of
multinational firms’’, Journal of International
Business Studies, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 309-35.
Gregersen, H., Morrison, A. and Black, S. (1998),
``Developing leaders for the global frontier’’,
Sloan Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 1,
pp. 21-32.
Hambrick, D.C., Davison, S.C., Snell, S.A. and Snow,
C.C. (1998), ``When groups consist of multiple
nationalities: towards an understanding of the
implications’’, Organization Studies, Spring.
Hamilton, R.D. and Kashlak, R.J. (1999), ``National
influences on multinational corporation
control system selection’’, Management
International Review, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 167-89.
Harris, H. and Brewster, C. (1999), ``The coffee
machine system: how international selection
really works’’, The International Journal of
Human Resource Management, Vol. 10 No. 3,
pp. 488-504.
Harvey, M. (1985), ``The executive family: an
overlooked variable in international
assignments’’, Columbia Journal of World
Business, Spring, pp. 84-93.
Harvey, M. (1989), ``Repatriation of corporate
executives: an empirical study,’’ Journal of
International Business Studies, Vol. 21 No. 2,
pp. 131-44.
Harvey, M. (1995), ``The impact of dual-career
families on international relocation’’, Human
Resource Management Review, Vol. 5 No. 3,
pp. 223-44.
Harvey, M. (1996a), ``The selection of managers for
foreign assignments: a planning perspective’’,
The Columbia Journal of World Business,
Winter, pp. 102-18.
Harvey, M. (1996b), ``Addressing the dual-career
dilemma’’, Human Resource Planning, Vol. 19
No. 4, pp. 18-39.
Harvey, M. (1997), ``Inpatriate training: the next
challenge for global human resource
management’’, International Journal of
Intercultural Relations, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 393-428.
Harvey, M. (1998), ``Dual career couples during
international relocation: the trailing spouse’’,
International Journal of Human Resource
Management, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 309-20.
Harvey, M. and Wiese, D. (1998), ``Global dual-
career couple mentoring: a phase model
approach’’, Human Resource Planning, Vol. 21
No. 2, pp. 33-48.
Harvey M., Speier, C. and Novicevic, M. (1999),
``Inpatriate managers: how to increase the
probability of success’’, Human Resource
Management Review, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 51-82.
Harvey, M., Buckley, R.M., Novicevic, M. and
Wiese, D. (1999), ``Mentoring dual-career
expatriates: a sensemaking and sensegiving
social support process’’, Journal of International
Business Studies, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 131-44.
Hays, R.D. (1971), ``Ascribed behavioral
determinants of success failure among US
expatriate managers’’, Journal of
International Business Studies, Vol. 2, pp. 40-6.
Michael Harvey and Hays, R.D. (1974), ``Expatriate selection: insuring
Milorad M. Novicevic success and avoiding failure’’, Journal of
Selecting expatriates for International Business Studies, Vol. 5 No. 1,
increasingly complex global
assignments pp. 25-37.
Heene, A. (1994), ``Foreword’’, in Hamel, G. and
Career Development
International Heene, A. (Eds), Competence-Based Competition,
6/2 [2001] 69±86 Wiley, New York, NY, pp. XXV-XXVII.
Hofstede, G. (1980), Culture Consequences:
International Differences in Work Related
Values, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.
Hogan, R. (1996), Leadership Apsirations Inventory,
Hogan Assessment Systems Inc., Tulsa, OK.
Huselid, M. (1995), ``The impact of human
resource management practices on turnover,
productivity, and corporate financial
performance’’, The Academy of Management
Journal, Vol. 38 No. 3, pp. 635-72.
Huselid, M., Jenkins, S. and Schuler, R. (1997),
``Technical and strategic human resource
effectiveness as determinants of firm
performance’’, Academy of Management
Journal, Vol. 40, pp. 171-88.
Jensen, P. and Kolb, D.A. (2000), ``Learning style
and meaning making in conversation’’, in
Riding, R.J. and Rayner, S.G. (Eds),
International Perspectives on Individual
Differences, Ablex, Stamford, CT.
John, J. (1994), ``Social knowledge as a control
system: a proposition and evidence from the
Japanese EDI behavior’’, Journal of
International Business Studies, Vol. 25 No. 4,
pp. 295-324.
Kedia, B. and Mukherji, A. (1999), ``Global
managers: developing a mindset for global
competitiveness’’, Journal of World Business,
Fall, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 230-47.
Keegan, W. (1982), Keegan Type Indicator Form B,
Warren Keegan Associates Press, London.
Kefalas, A.G. (1998), ``Think globally, act locally’’,
Thunderbird International Business Review,
Vol. 40 No. 6, pp. 547-62.
Kogut, B. and Singh, H. (1988), ``The effect of
national culture on the choice of entry mode’’,
Journal of International Business Studies,
Fall, pp. 411-32.
Kolb, D.A. (1974), ``On management and the
learning process’’, in Kolb, D.A., Rubin, I.M.
and McIntyre, J.M. (Eds), Organizational
Psychology, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs,
NJ.
Kolb, D.A. (1978), Learning Style Inventory
Technical Manual, McBer & Co., Boston, MA.
Kolb, D., Osland J. and Rubin, I. (Eds) (1995),
Organizational Behavior: An Experimental
Approach, 6th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, NJ.
Lado, A. and Wilson, M. (1994), ``Human resource
systems and sustained competitive advantage:
a competency-based perspective’’, Academy of
Management Review, Vol. 19, pp. 699-727.
Lado, A., Boyd, N. and Wright, P. (1992), ``A
competency-based model of sustainable
competitive advantage: toward a central
integration’’, Journal of Management, Vol. 18
No. 1, pp. 77-91.
Lam, S.S.K. (1998), ``Organizational performance
and learning styles in Hong Kong’’, Journal of
Social Psychology, Vol. 138 No. 3, pp. 401-2.
Leonard, N.H., Leonard, W., Leonard, S.R. and
Kowalski, K.B. (1999), ``Information
processing style and decision making’’,
Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 20
No. 3, pp. 407-20.
Levy-Leboyer, C. (1994), ``Selection and assessment
in Europe’’, in Triandis, H., Dunnette, M. and
Hough, L. (Eds), Handbook of Industrial and
Organizational Psychology, Vol. 4, Consulting
Psychologists Press, Palo Alto, CA, pp. 173-90.
Lubart, T. and Sternberg, R. (1995), ``An
investment approach to creativity: theory and
data’’, in Smith, S.M. and Finke, R. (Eds), The
Creative Cognition Approach, MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA, pp. 269-301.
McMurray, D. (1998), ``Learning styles and
organizational behavior in Japanese EFL
classrooms’’, Journal of Fukui Prefectural
University, Vol. 13, pp. 31-47.
Mahoney, J.T. and Pandian, J.R. (1992), ``The
resource-based view within the conversation
of strategy management’’, Strategic
Management Journal, Vol. 13 No. 5, pp. 363-80.
Mendenhall, M., Dunbar, E. and Oddou, G. (1987),
``Expatriate selection, training and career-
pathing: a review and critique’’, Human
Resources Management, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 331-45.
Mumford, A. (1999), ``Learning styles and learning
organization’’, in Landale, A. (Ed.), Grower
Handbook of Training and Development, 3rd ed.
Myers, M. and Caulley, M. (1985), ``The Myers-
Briggs type indicator and leadership’’, in
Clark, K. and Clark, M. (Eds), Measure of
Leadership, Leadership Library of America
Press, West Orange, CA, pp. 381-418.
Ones, D. and Viswesvaran, C. (1999), ``Relative
importance of personality dimensions for
expatriate selection: a policy capturing study’’,
Human Performance, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 275-90.
Oster, S. (1990), Modern Competitive Analysis,
Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
Parikh, J. (1994), Intuition: The New Frontier of
Management, Blackwell Business, Cambridge,
MA.
Paul, H. (2000), ``Creating a global mindset’’,
Thunderbird International Business Review,
Vol. 42 No. 2, pp. 187-200.
Pfeffer, J. (1994), Competitive Advantage through
People, Harvard Business School Press, Boston,
MA.
Rayner, S.C. (2000), ``Reconstructing style
differences in thinking and learning: profiling
learning performance’’, in Riding, R.J. and
Rayner, S.G. (Eds), International Perspectives
on Individual Differences, Ablex, Stamford, CT.
Roth, K. and O’Donnell, S. (1996), ``Foreign
subsidiary compensation strategy: an agency
theory perspective’’, Academy of Management
Journal, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 678-703.
Rumelt, R. (1994), ``Foreword’’, in Hames, G. and
Heene, A. (Eds), Competence-Base Competition,
Wiley, New York, NY, pp. XV-XIX.
[ 85 ]
Michael Harvey and Saddler-Smith, E. (2000), ``Cognitive style and
Milorad M. Novicevic learning in organizations’’, in Riding, R.J. and
Selecting expatriates for Rayner, S.G. (Eds), International Perspectives
increasingly complex global
assignments on Individual Differences, Ablex, Stamford, CT.
Sanchez, R., Heene, A. and Thomas, H. (1996),
Career Development
International Dynamics of Competence-based Competition,
6/2 [2001] 69±86 Elsevier Science, Amsterdam.
Searle, W. and Ward, C. (1990), ``The prediction of
psychological and sociocultural adjustment
during cross-cultural transitions’’, Journal of
Intercultural Relations, Vol. 14, pp. 449-64.
Shirley, D. and Langan-Fox, J. (1996), ``Intuition:
a review of the literature’’, Psychological
Reports, Vol. 79, pp. 563-84.
Smith, R.L. (1997), ``Intercultural network theory:
a cross-paradigmatic approach to Smith
R.L.’’, International Journal of Intercultural
Relations, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 629-58.
Spreitzer, G.M., McCall, M.W. and Mahoney, J.P.
(1997), ``Early identification of international
executive potential’’, Journal of Applied
Psychology, Vol. 82 No. 1, pp. 6-29.
Steiner, C. (1997). Achieving Emotional Literacy,
Bloomsbury, London.
Sternberg, R. (1985), Beyond IQ: A Triarchic
Theory of Human Intelligence, Cambridge
University Press, New York, NY.
Sternberg, R. (1994a), ``Thinking styles: theory of
assessment at the interface between intelligence
and personality’’, in Sternberg, R. and Ruggis, P.
(Eds), Intelligence and Personality, Cambridge
University Press, New York, NY, pp. 169-87.
Sternberg, R. (1994b), ``Allowing for thinking styles’’,
Educational Leadership, Vol. 52 No. 3, pp. 36-40.
Sternberg, R. (1996), Successful Intelligence: How
Practical and Creative Intelligence Determine
Success in Life, Simon and Schuster, New
York, NY.
Sternberg, R. (1997a), ``Intelligence and lifelong
learning: what’s new and how can we use it?’’,
American Psychologist, Vol. 52 No. 10, pp. 1134-9.
Sternberg, R. (1997b), ``Managerial intelligence:
why IQ isn’t enough’’, Journal of
Management, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 475-93.
Sternberg, R. (1997c), Thinking Styles, Cambridge
University Press, New York, NY.
Sternberg, R. and Lubart, T. (1991), ``An investment
theory of creativity’’, Human Development,
Vol. 34, pp. 1-32.
Sternberg, R. and Lubart, T. (1995), Defying the
Crowd: Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of
Conformity, Free Press, New York, NY.
Sternberg, R. and Lubart, T. (1996), ``Investing in
creativity’’, American Psychologist, Vol. 51,
pp. 677-88.
Sternberg, R. and Smith, C. (1985), ``Social
intelligence and decoding skills in nonverbal
communication’’, Social Cognition, Vol. 2,
pp. 168-92.
[ 86 ]
Sternberg, R. and Wagner, R. (1986), Practical
Intelligence: Nature and Origins of Intelligence
in Everyday World, Cambridge, New York, NY.
Sternberg, R., O’Hara, L. and Lubart, T.I. (1997),
``Creativity as instrument’’, California
Management Review, Vol. 40 No. 1, pp. 8-21.
Stroh, L.K. and Caligiuri, P.M. (1998), ``Strategic
human resources: a new source for
competitive advantage in the global arena,’’
The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, Vol. 9, pp. 1-17.
Taylor, S., Beechler, S. and Napier, N. (1996),
``Toward an integrative model of strategic
international human resource management’’,
Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21 No. 4,
pp. 959-85.
Thurstone, L.L. (1919), ``Mental test for college
entrance’’, Journal of Educational Psychology,
Vol 10, pp. 129-42.
Trower, P., Bryant, B. and Argyle, M. (1978), Social
Skills and Mental Health, Methuen, London.
Tucker, M. (1978), The Measurement and Prediction
of Overseas Work Assignments in the Navy (US
Navy Contract Number N00600b73 -D-0780),
Centre for Research and Education, Denver, CO.
Tung, R. (1981), ``Selection and training of personnel
overseas assignments’’, Columbia Journal of
World Business, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp. 68-78.
Tung, R. (1982), ``Selection and training procedures
of US, European and Japanese multinationals’’,
California Management Review, Vol. 25,
pp. 57-71.
Wagner, R. and Sternberg, R. (1991), Tacit
Knowledge Inventory for Managers, The
Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, TX.
Ward, C. and Kennedy, A. (1999), ``The
measurement of sociocultural adaptation’’,
International Journal of Intercultural
Relations, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 659-77.
Wechsler, D. (1950), ``Cognitive, conative and non-
intellective intelligence’’, American Psychologist,
Vol. 5, pp. 78-83.
Weick, K. (1998), ``The attitude of wisdom:
ambivalence as the optimal compromise’’, in
Srivasta, S. and Cooperider, D. (Eds),
Organizational Wisdom and Executive
Courage, The Lexington Press, San Francisco,
CA, pp. 40-64.
Welch, D. (1994), ``HRM implications of
globalization’’, Journal of General
Management, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 52-68.
Wood, S. (1999), ``Human resource management
and performance’’, International Journal of
Management Reviews, Vol. 1 No. 4, pp. 367-413.
Wright, P.M., McMahan, G. and Williams, A. (1994),
``Human resources as a source of sustained
competitive advantage’’, International Journal
of Human Resource Management, Vol. 5,
pp. 299-324.