This special section reflects the way that the growth in the internationalisation of economic systems is being mirrored by both the amount of attention paid to issues of international HRM in research and the increasing internationalisation of this journal. With some notable exceptions, the majority of writing on international transfers has come from the United States, has concentrated on traditional multinational organisations (MNCs) and has tended to follow the relatively easy-to-study cycle of transfers: from selection and training, through the relocation and adjustment to repatriation. This literature has given us extensive knowledge of the HR issues involved in organising international assignments, summarised in the first article here; but, as that article indicates, significant changes are taking place in international HRM creating a new research agenda.

The authors of these articles explore the new issues being raised by a broader analysis of international HRM and the challenges being posed to the need for expatriates; the development of international HRM in newly internationalising companies; the challenge that dual-career couples are providing for employers wishing to expatriate one partner; and an examination of chief executive succession in international subsidiaries.

Most of the articles are developments of papers presented in initial form at a Conference on International Staffing organised by the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management and held at the Universidade do Minho in Braga, northern Portugal.

However, I would particularly like to draw attention to the inclusion of commentaries on some of them from HR practitioners who, in what I feel is an important contribution to opening up the new research agenda, provide their own perspectives on the issues addressed here. Chris Brewster

Cranfield School of Management

A review and agenda for expatriate HRM

Chris Brewster, Cranfield School of Management Hugh Scullion, University of Nottingham

The growth of international business at a time when most international organisations are under increasing cost pressures has led these organisations to take a sharp look at their policies for employees transferring from one country to another - the expatriates. This article attempts to summarise what we know from the existing research on expatriation; to examine what, in the light of the changes that are occurring, is happening to international transfers; and to use that as the basis for proposing a new research agenda for the future.

There is some evidence from the US that multinational corporations (MNCs) initially reacted to the cost pressures and a relatively high expatriate failure rate by trying to cut the number of expatriates they employed (Kobrin, 1988). Although there are some, occasionally quite spectacular, cases of this happening for European MNCs, it is likely that the growth of international trade in Europe, especially among newly international organisations, led to a growth in the overall number of expatriates here (Brewster, 1993). The latest evidence from the US seems to show another resurgence in the use of expatriates by US MNCs (NFTC, 1995).

An understanding of the management of these expatriates is of growing importance at the present time for a number of reasons:

recent years have seen rapid increases in global activity and global competition (Young and Hamill, 1992). As the MNCs increase in number and influence, so the role of expatriates in those MNCs grows in significance (Dowling et al, 1994);

the effective management of expatriates internationally is increasingly being recognised as a major determinant of success or failure in international business (Tung, 1984);

surveys of European firms (International Management, 1986) and, more recently, of British and Irish international firms, reveal that many of the companies had experienced shortages of international managers and that future shortages were anticipated (Scullion, 1992);

the advent of the Single European Market and the rapid growth of British direct investment abroad (Hamill, 1992) mean that issues of expatriate management are increasingly important concerns in a far wider range of organisations than the traditional giant multinationals, particularly among the growing number of smaller and mediumsized companies which have significantly internationalised their operations in recent years (Scullion, 1992);

it is increasingly recognised that the human and financial costs of failure in the international business arena - while not so common as sometimes argued (Harzing and Van Ruysseveldt, 1995) - are considerably more severe than in domestic business (Dowling and Schuler, 1991; Forster, 1997). In particular, indirect costs such as a loss of market share and damage to overseas customer relationships may be considerable (Zeira and Banai, 1984). Also, there is evidence that many companies underestimate the complex nature of HR problems involved in international operations and that business failures in the international arena may often be linked to poor management of expatriates (Tung, 1984).

RESEARCH FINDINGS

In general terms, and with some notable exceptions that we refer to below, the study of expatriation has followed the traditional expatriate 'cycle' - selection, training, relocation and adjustment, pay and performance, and return. Interestingly, in broad terms the development of the research has followed a similar pattern, with early attention on the earlier stages of the assignment and a gradually developing focus on the more complex issues of performance and return. In this section of the article we summarise, briefly, the current state of knowledge in each of these areas.

Research on international staffing has identified a number of principal reasons for employing HQ expatriates in MNCs. The first major reason was the lack of availability of management and technical skills in some countries. The second was the objective of control of local operations (Torbiorn, 1985; Brewster, 1991). A linked reason for using senior expatriates was to maintain trust in key foreign businesses following large international acquisitions: a major factor in the rapid growth in the number and scale of foreign acquisitions by British companies in the 1980s (Scullion, 1991). Using expatriation for management development purposes (Hamill, 1989) was increasing in significance for British multinationals. This practice was in sharp contrast with US MNCs where management development concerns were less significant in international staffing (Dowling and Schuler, 1991).

Research into the recruitment and/or selection of expatriates has generally been focused on the more 'visible' aspects of these issues, such as the criteria used in such decisions. Mendenhall and Oddou (1985) identified a major problem area in expatriate selection as the ingrained practice of operating with the 'domestic equals overseas performance' equation. Technical expertise and domestic track record are by far the two dominant selection criteria. Factors such as language skills and international adaptability come further down the list in all studies, though there is some evidence that these have more importance for European organisations (Tung, 1982; Brewster, 1991).

There has been less attention paid to the strategic antecedents of the appointment decision (ie whether an expatriate was the appropriate way to fill the assignment anyway) or to the manner in which the appointment is made. There has been very little research since the seminal work of Perlmutter and Heenan (1974) into the question of when it is appropriate to use expatriates (see also Ondrack, 1985; Mayrhofer and Brewster, 1996). Indeed, much of the literature fails to question either the use of expatriates or the reality of the manner of their appointment. It should not be assumed that the majority of multinationals adopt a systematic and coherent approach to selection - there is considerable evidence that many continue to operate in this area on an ad hoc basis (Robinson, 1978). In many multinational companies staffing and selection processes are still rather informal, with responses being reactive rather than pro-active (Brewster, 1991). Arguably, a consistent HR strategy that fits the organisation's overall business strategy is much more difficult to achieve with this type of ad hoc approach.

International companies undertaking training and development programmes for expatriates face significant problems. There are two problems in particular which make training and development for international assignments more complex than that for domestic assignments. First, the expatriate not only has to adjust to a new job and a new role, but also to a new culture (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985). Secondly, since the stress associated with a foreign assignment falls on all family members (Harvey, 1985), the issue of training programmes for the spouse and family needs to be addressed. US MNCs tend to use pre-departure training programmes less frequently than the European and Japanese firms (Tung, 1982; Torbiorn, 1982; Brewster, 1991). There is evidence that expatriates themselves are very positive about the value of training programmes (Brewster and Pickard, 1994). Other forms of preparation - briefings, shadowing, `look-see visits' - are more frequent than formal training programmes (Brewster, 1991; Scullion, 1993) and may be more cost-effective.

Cross-cultural training has long been advocated as a means of facilitating effective crosscultural interactions (Brislin, 1986), yet in practice most firms do not use it (Black, 1988; Black and Mendenhall, 1990). The main reason appears to be that top management simply does not believe the training is necessary or effective (Dowling and Schuler, 1991). Models of training and development for expatriate managers - developed over the last decade consider the task, the individual and the environment before deciding the depth of training required (Tung, 1981; Rahim, 1983). Mendenhall and Oddou (1986) have developed a 'crosscultural training approach', consisting of three levels: information-giving approaches, eg factual briefing and awareness training; affective approaches, eg culture assimilator training, critical incidents and role plays; and immersion approaches, eg assessment centres, field experience and simulations. According to this model, the depth of training provided should depend on the length of stay, the degree required to ensure integration into the host culture and the cultural 'difference' of the host country from the home country (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1986; Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou, 1989).

The overall purpose of Mendenhall and Oddou's review was to determine the key dimensions involved in the expatriate adjustment process and to examine the implications of these dimensions for the selection and training of expatriates. Studies by Black (1988), Black and Mendenhall (1990), Ronen (1989), Mendenhall and Oddou (1986) and Tung (1981) bring together the dimensions of expatriate success, identifying five attributes to success: job factors, relational dimensions, motivational state, family situation and language skills. The complexity of the expatriate's role, and the required level of adjustment, has been summarised as a paradox (Brewster, 1993), with expatriates being expected to adjust to the host culture sufficiently well to be effective, but to remain sufficiently independent to act as a representative of headquarters.

The whole question of performance measurement and management in multinational companies involves a complex range of issues (Schuler et al, 1991a) and research to date suggests that rigorous performance appraisal systems for expatriates are far from universal (Brewster, 1991; Schuler et al, 1991a). This is perhaps surprising given the high costs of expatriate under-performance and the growing tendency to see expatriates as key human assets (Adler and Bartholomew, 1992; Forster and Johnson, 1996). The assessment of expatriate performance requires an understanding of the variables that influence an expatriate's success or failure in a foreign assignment. It has been argued that the three major variables include the environment (culture), job requirements and personality characteristics of the individual (Schuler et al, 1991a). Problems in cultural adjustment which may have an impact on work performance should be considered when assessing an expatriate's performance in a new job (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1988).

The literature also identifies a number of significant constraints on strategic performance measurement and management in MNCs. These include the possible conflict between global and subsidiary objectives, the problem of non-comparability of data between subsidiaries, the volatility of the international market and the variable levels of market maturity. These factors make objective appraisal of subsidiary (and expatriate) performance highly complex. Further, it is important to reconcile the tension between the need for universal appraisal standards with specific objectives in local units, and to recognise that more time may be needed to achieve results in markets which enjoy little supporting infrastructure from the parent company (Schuler et al, 1991a).

The repatriation of expatriates has been identified as a major problem for multinational companies in the UK and North America (Harvey, 1989; Scullion, 1993), but is still comparatively under-researched (Brewster and Pickard, 1994). Interestingly, concern over reentry was cited as a significant reason affecting expatriate performance in UK MNCs (Scullion, 1993). For many MNCs this problem has become more acute in recent years, because expansion of foreign operations has taken place at the same time as the rationalisation of HQ operations; there are few unfilled positions suitable for repatriates in the majority of companies. From the repatriate perspective, other problems associated with re-integrating into the home country are loss of status, loss of autonomy, loss of career direction and a feeling that international experience is undervalued by the company. There is growing recognition that where companies are seen to deal unsympathetically with the problems faced by expatriates on re-entry, managers will be more reluctant to accept the offer of international assignments (Scullion, 1993). Many expatriates leave their company on return (Adler, 1986) with the consequent loss of investment and expertise. Yet, while it is widely accepted that the costs of expatriate turnover are considerable, few firms have formal repatriation programmes to assist managers and their families with repatriation difficulties.

CHANGING NATURE OF EXPATRIATION

Merely managing some of these issues better will not resolve the problems for international organisations, because the situation is changing in crucial ways. There are changes in the MNCs, in the host locations, and in the expatriates themselves.

Significant changes have been occurring in international organisations. In the increasing number of trading blocs throughout the world, and most particularly and evidently in the European Union (EU), the growth in expatriation is not so much among the giant `bluechips' (which are new to internationalisation) as in smaller organisations. There are giant organisations which privatisation has recently freed to compete outside the country of origin as well as increasing numbers of small organisations that are beginning to treat the European market, for example, as their own local market. In both cases the experience of internationalisation is limited. Among the larger and more traditionally international players there have been changes too: a much more competitive environment (D'Aveni, 1995) forcing increasing attention to cost reduction and cost effectiveness. Since expatriates are among the most expensive people any organisation employs, and the measurement of expatriate performance is, to say the least, uncertain, this has had a direct effect on the way organisations view their expatriates. This has been made more difficult to handle by a reduction in the number of people in corporate international human resource management (IHRM) departments. More than a few MNCs have lost the central expertise in the management of expatriates that they had built up over many years.

There is little evidence about developments in non-commercial expatriation, but it seems likely that there is growth here, also. There are ever more international governmental and 'non-governmental' organisations, all employing international employees. The growth in international aid organisations and charities also seems likely to be linked to a growth in expatriation. There has been almost no research into expatriation or the management of expatriates in these non-commercial organisations.

There have also been changes in host locations. For commercial organisations at least, the proportion of expatriates going from the developed world to the Third World has reduced. This has been caused to some extent by an increasing unwillingness on the part of the poorer countries to continue taking foreign expatriates, rather than having the MNCs train up and provide jobs for local employees. The greater part of the change, however, has come through a growth in expatriation which does not follow the traditional from-developed-tounderdeveloped-country pattern. There has been a small increase in expatriates moving in the other direction, as the latter develop their own international operations; and a substantial increase in transfers between developed countries, caused by the extensive European and Japanese investments in the US and the cross-border developments in new world trading blocs - particularly, of course, in the EU.

Alongside these changes in the employing organisations and in the host countries there are changes in the expatriates themselves. The traditional, middle-class, crusty, career expat can still be found, but much more rarely. Expatriates now will more often do one assignment and then return home, occasionally undertaking a second assignment later in their career. More of them have degrees or MBAs. One consequence is that they are more likely to see a foreign assignment as part of a career, expecting to come back to headquarters in an improved position and ready to negotiate and argue about their contracts.

Although there is still only a small proportion of women expatriates (Adler, 1986; Scullion, 1994; Harris, 1995), the numbers are increasing. Fewer partners, male or female, are prepared to accept a 'trailing' role - not working, but being expected to support their MNCemployed partner and even act as (typically) 'hostess' for corporate functions. Partners are now more frequently enjoying their own career, or expect to work in the new country.

NEW RESEARCH AGENDA

It has been argued that much of the literature on the management of expatriates is still open to the criticisms of Schollhammer (1975), as being descriptive and lacking in analytical rigour; ad hoc and expedient in research design and planning; self-centred in the sense that the existing research literature is frequently ignored; and lacking a sustained research effort to develop case material.

While it is recognised that the international HR issues which have been researched are of practical importance to personnel managers, this work has recently been criticised by Kochan et al (1992) as focusing too narrowly on functional activities and lacking appropriate theoretical structures. Indeed, they suggest that much of the IHRM literature suffers from the same conceptual and normative limitations of much of the traditional domestic personnel research, and that the work is largely an extension of the field of personnel management designed to meet the needs of international companies.

In summary, the essence of Kochan et al's critique is that the current literature in IHRM defines the field too narrowly. In addition to their concern that the research is influenced by a discussion of concepts and issues with little backing in systematic research, they argue that a new field of IHR studies should be built round a broader set of questions, which considers the lessons and outcomes for all stakeholders and not just multinational firms and their managers.

It is on the basis of these criticisms of previous research and the above noted changes in MNCs, in host locations and expatriates, that we believe there is a need for a new research agenda in the study of expatriation. This should cover both new developments in IHRM and among the expatriates themselves.

Central to the study of expatriation at the organisational level as a research area for the future is the linkage of expatriation policies with international corporate strategy (Scullion, 1996). Expatriation is increasingly being analysed as part of the study of IHRM - a fledgling addition to the fields of international business and comparative HRM (see Boxall, 1995). Recently, research has shifted towards considering staffing questions in a more strategic context. In an effort to consider the range of possible headquarters-subsidiary relationships, researchers are suggesting more 'variety' (Doz and Prahalad, 1986) in approaches to staffing and other IHRM activities (Boyacigiller, 1990; Kobrin, 1988), and urging MNCs to consider global strategy as well as local conditions in determining appropriate staffing approaches (Butler et al, 1991; Hamill, 1989). Attempts have been made to develop models of international assignments, identifying those appropriate for expatriates (Scullion, 1995; Edwards and Brewster, 1996).

The question of when and where expatriates can provide added value is capable of empirical investigation. British multinationals continue to rely heavily on expatriates to run their foreign operations (Scullion, 1991). This raises serious questions about the ability and commitment of some British multinationals to identify and develop host country managers in their foreign operations (Hailey, 1992). Indeed, it has been argued that the failure of the localisation process to create new generations of skilled local staff to take over key positions may in part reflect the self-fulfilling nature of ethnocentrism (Banai, 1992). Alternatively, it has been argued that ethnocentrism may be a rational and effective policy in many cases (Mayrhofer and Brewster, 1996).

Almost all research to date has concentrated on multinational corporations. However, many expatriates are from other kinds of international organisation: government, nongovernmental aid organisations, charities, and intergovernmental bodies such as the UN, ILO and EU. There are many such organisations, employing a huge number of expatriates throughout the world on contracts that range from subsistence-level remuneration and virtually no support from headquarters, to extremely generous salaries with substantial back-up. Within this group there is a wide range of rationales for expatriation and issues for the expatriates themselves and their management, remaining almost entirely unresearched.

The 1980s were characterised by a spread of new forms of international business activity These were primarily non-equity arrangements, such as joint ventures, collaborative arrangements, strategic alliances, licensing agreements, management contracts and subcontracting (Hamill, 1992; Enderwick and Barber, 1992). It has been argued that the effective management of expatriate managers associated with international joint ventures is a critical factor determining the success or failure of these arrangements (Shenkar and Zeira, 1987) There is a particular concern over the skills and competences needed to manage the complex HR issues and problems associated with the growth of international joint ventures (Scullion, 1996). Practice is running well ahead of research in this subject area, and further research is essential to help close this gap (Beaumont, 1991).

It is still the case that the bulk of international HR research has been conducted by American researchers, has primarily been concerned with American expatriates and continues to be written from an American rather than an international perspective (Adler, 1991). There is a need for more research on organisations from Japan, Australia, the Pacific rim, and other areas; particularly, there is a need to build on the increasing amount of research being undertaken in Europe (see, for example, the references cited for Barham, Bournois, Brewster, Forster, Gertsen, Hailey, Hamill, Harris, Janssen, Mayrhofer, Scullion, Suutari and Torbiorn).

Within Europe in particular, though not exclusively, the growth of internationalisation among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) has been spectacular. The opening up of Europe as one market has led many small organisations to look at developing in other countries far earlier than they would have done previously. There is danger in such companies ignoring the lessons of the giant firms, but also dangers in applying such lessons as if they were the same type of organisation. Research into the internationalisation of SMEs is only in its infancy and more empirical data is urgently needed in this area.

The practice of developing host country managers and third country nationals through developmental transfers to corporate headquarters is becoming significant. It has been argued that this type of international transfer exposes host country nationals (HCNs) and third country nationals (TCNs) to the headquarters' corporate culture and facilitates their developing a corporate perspective (Edstrom and Galbraith, 1977). However, since the work by Banai and by Zeira in the late 1970s/early 1980s, little has been done in this area.

Not all cross-border activities are staffed by expatriates. Much activity, particularly in the purchasing and sales areas, has traditionally been conducted by people on short (often, literally, flying) visits. The increasing improvement of travel and technology is making such non-expatriate arrangements more common. Much of Eastern Europe has been opened up by executives 'commuting'. Consultancies have developed specialising in 'interim' managers - sent to a newly-purchased foreign acquisition or to establish a presence for a company in a new country, but only expected to stay three or four months. At the other end of the scale, the increasing use of video conferencing and real-time computer information from around the world has provided alternatives to control by the physical presence of an expatriate (Martinez and Jarrillo, 1991). Again, the implications of the developments for the people involved, and for their management, remain largely unresearched.

International management has long been a masculine preserve in Europe and the US (Adler, 1984). Indeed, the evidence suggests that women in British MNCs are not making as much progress in international management as women in US multinationals (Adler, 1991; Scullion, 1992). The lack of willingness to recruit and develop women as international managers is worrying; recent research suggests that women can be as successful internationally as men (Adler, 1991; Harris,1995).

Increasingly, international mobility is limited by the dual-career factor which also restricts the career development plans of multinationals. The number of potential expatriates in dualcareer relationships is growing, and this is seen as a major disincentive to future international mobility by many companies (Harvey, 1985). Frequently, now, one partner may have to leave a job or career in order to follow the other partner to a foreign country (Hall and Hall, 1987). This is, as yet, a largely unresearched area.

CONCLUSIONS

There has been criticism of the research record on the issue of HRM across frontiers specifically expatriation. However, given the relatively recent emergence of the concept of international HRM, it is arguable that considerable progress has been made. There has been a growing awareness of the importance of HRM in the global business arena and a greater understanding of the international dimensions of HRM. Our calls for more research into expatriation strategies, expatriation in international organisations which are not wholly owned subsidiaries, not giants, not US-based and perhaps not even MNCs, should be seen in this light. The task now is to establish better information about the role and management of HRM across frontiers, to clarify and measure current developments and to place such developments in the context of more adequate theories of international HRM.