Changes in Expatriate Use

Interviewees within HealthCo were also asked about what changes to expatriation they had observed during their time working in MedCo. As three out of four assignees interviewed were on their first international assignment, they stated that they were not in a position to comment on whether there had observed any major changes in the use of international assignments. One AE manager, however, commented on the reduction of international assignments available during his time with the firm. This was H4, who explained:

“This is a fairly rapidly evolving business and a quite successful business, and at some point we had more expatriate assignments. But recently business performance has been under a bit more, has faced a few more challenges. So I guess that changes the appetite for

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- H3, Life Sciences (HealthCo)

With regard to the number of expatriates used, H1, the GMM, who had worked in global mobility for just over twenty years, stated that she had not noticed a reduction, but rather shift in how, where and what types of assignments were being used during her twenty years in this field. This interviewee stated that she had observed that there were more commuter assignments as it had become very easy for employees to travel across borders. From an administrative perspective, she explained that this required the development of a separate leadership policy around the needs of individuals on such assignments. About the longer-term international management assignments, H1 stated that there was an increased flow of expatriate managers within specific regions, and that this was directly related to business growth within these geographic areas. These areas included the Europe, Middle East and Africa (indicated in previous comments from H1), as well as China. Within the latter, because of significant growth in this area, there was an increased use of international management assignments within this country. There was currently a push to transfer the necessary skills and competences, not only within specific Chinese subsidiaries, but also within the subsidiary’s external environment. The rationale behind this was explained:

“Because as we see our machines not being sold just in America but being shipped all over the world, particularly Asia and China specifically is a growth area for these scanning machines as they build more and more hospitals as these countries develop, we needed to have manufacturing in the country so that the shipping costs were brought down as well as

the manufacturing costs.” - H1, GMM, HealthCo

This strategy often over-lapped with the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility mandate, and resulted in several international assignees being sent from US offices. H1, explained that this was a key means of accelerating the development of business with the specific country.

5.8. Summary:

This chapter has outlined the findings based on interview data collected within HealthCo, the UK- based subsidiary of the second major case study firm, MedCo. Similar to the US manufacturing

159| P a g e firm ManCo, MedCo assigned expatriate managers to the UK for the purposes of knowledge transfer, management development, and coordination and control. Within MedCo, it was found that the use of international management assignments was driven by the company’s strategic goals of driving infrastructural leadership, and simplifying it organisational processes across the globe to better serve its customers. As a result, managers’ knowledge transfer roles consisted primarily of the dissemination of specific functional and technical skills, as well as a MedCo headquarters perspective. Some managers were also transferred in order to facilitate better knowledge transfer and communication between various organisational stakeholders across the globe. In some cases, this involved co-location of senior managers and their immediate superiors. With regards to managers’ management development role, only one middle-level manager indicated that this was a key part of his assignment mandates. Other managers interviewed indicated that they have indeed benefitted personally and professionally from the assignment, but admitted that this was less important within their current senior post. The middle-manager who indicated that this was one of his priorities, stated that this involved developing a more global perspective and leadership skills, and expanding his global professional network. This was achieved through the daily performance of his job role, interaction with local colleagues, and participation in formal leadership training programmes.

The third role, coordination and control, and one of the primary reasons for which those managers interviewed were transferred, involved the consolidation and or standardisation of local processes, along with the socialisation of local managers into the MedCo headquarter culture. These roles were particularly necessary because of acquisitions made within the UK by MedCo over the last few years. This was also linked to the firm’s push for global simplification, as the senior expatriate managers within this firm were primarily concerned with the consolidation of local activities and the alignment of these with the mandates of MedCo’s US headquarters. It was hoped that this process would reduce excessive duplication within the local subsidiary, and hence clearly communicate the objectives of the business, and where these fit into the company as a whole. Like the other expatriate roles, this role was closely linked to, and dependant on the transfer of knowledge to and from this location. Like the firm ManCo, it was also found that AE managers in HealthCo performed a mixture of these three roles at any given time, however with an emphasis on particular objectives depending on the needs of the organisation, the business and or individual.

160| P a g e The purposes of these assignments were fulfilled through several micro-level activities including daily interpersonal interaction with local employees, phone calls and tele-conferencing with colleagues in different units to coordinate global or regional activities, attendance at leadership or other networking events to expand connections, negotiating with local colleagues about the use of existing organisational systems, and articulating and translating global level policies to fit the local subsidiary context.

Several tangible and intangible outcomes of expatriate use within MedCo were identified, and included increased cultural awareness and understanding, better communication across units, succession planning, the fast tracking of global leadership in specific regions, and increased career advancement and opportunities for AE managers. These outcomes were measured both formally and informally, through daily interactions with superiors, formal meetings and reviews, and the use of a 360 performance appraisal. As HealthCo was the global HQ for MedCo’s healthcare business, all of the managers interviewed reported within this UK-based office. It was also here that their performance appraisals were conducted. The extent to which they maintained contact with MedCo’s global HQ in the US, was dependent on the nature of the job which they were engaged, although leadership development events were also organised through this office.

When asked about what changes had been observed in the use of expatriation during their time with the firm, only two of the five managers stated that they had observed any differences. While one manager stated that he had noticed a reduction in the amount of international assignments after 2009, the GMM in HealthCo stated that there was not a reduction but rather an expansion in the different types of assignments being used by the organisation. Particularly, an increase in the use of commuter assignments was observed and linked to development of transportation arrangements across countries. Finally, another observation made was the increasing flow of international managers for knowledge transfer purposes into less familiar regions as a result of increased economic growth in these areas. The following chapter will go on to examine findings from interviews conducted within the third case study firm, MonCo.

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