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A Successful International Assignment Depends on These Factors

• Boris Groysberg
• Robin Abrahams

Your marriage, your family, and your career will all benefit from advance planning.

The prospect of an international assignment can be equal parts thrilling and alarming: Will it make or break your career? What will it do to your life at home and the people you love? When you’re thinking about relocating, you start viewing questions of work and family — difficult enough under ordinary circumstances — through a kind of high-contrast, maximum-drama filter.

• BG Boris Groysberg is a professor of business administration in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School and a faculty affiliate at the school’s Race, Gender & Equity Initiative. He is the coauthor, with Colleen Ammerman, of Glass Half-Broken: Shattering the Barriers That Still Hold Women Back at Work (Harvard Business Review Press, 2021). bgroysberg
• Robin Abrahams is a research associate at Harvard Business School.

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Employee Relations

ISSN : 0142-5455

Article publication date: 6 November 2017

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of personality and mentorship on expatriates’ psychological well-being. The authors argue that certain personality traits (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience) have positive effects on expatriates’ psychological well-being and that these personality traits enable them to derive a greater benefit from mentorship. By doing so, this study identifies for which personality traits which type of mentoring (home or host country mentor) is most beneficial.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on socioanalytic theory, the authors develop theory-driven hypotheses and test them against data of 334 expatriates.

The study shows that several personality traits as well as home country mentorship have a significant positive impact on psychological well-being, whereas host country mentorship shows no significant positive effects. Moreover, the study indicates that home and host country mentorship partially moderates the relationship between personality traits and psychological well-being.

Originality/value

Since the authors derive important implications for the selection process of expatriates as well as for the implementation of mentoring in multinational corporations, this study is of value for researchers and practitioners in the areas of human resource management and organizational studies.

• Expatriates
• Personality traits
• International assignments
• Psychological well-being

Schuster, T. , Ambrosius, J. and Bader, B. (2017), "Mentoring in international assignments: a personality traits perspective", Employee Relations , Vol. 39 No. 7, pp. 1100-1130. https://doi.org/10.1108/ER-09-2016-0180

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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Lessons from an international assignment

Robert S. DeVries

An international assignment has long been seen as providing executives with an opportunity for personal growth and professional development, while enabling companies to place executives in markets where specific capabilities are needed or to spread corporate values and best practices throughout the organization. With business footprints expanding and international markets becoming increasingly important drivers of revenue and profit growth, companies need executives who are global thinkers with broad-based business perspectives and the agility to master an array of markets, cultures, competitors and workforce differences.

As these capabilities become even more important, having a meaningful assignment outside one’s own market has become a critical element of executive experience and is likely to become a prerequisite for career advancement at a growing number of multinational companies.

We asked several senior executives to think back to their first or most memorable international assignment and share how those experiences helped to shape or influence their leadership styles. What surprised them the most? What did they learn and how have they continued to apply those lessons in their current leadership roles? Finally, what advice would they give to other executives about succeeding in an international assignment?

Philippe Bourguignon

Vice chairman, revolution places, and ceo, club med, what surprised you.

Someone who was born and raised in his country and, when he is 25, 28, 30, is posted abroad, obviously, learns so much during his first assignment. I was raised in Morocco. My father worked for a U.S. company, and I came to the U.S. almost every year when I was a young boy. Therefore, I’ve been exposed and living international from basically almost the time I was born. It is more a way of life, and, by the way, this has been a huge gift. My two children were born in New York and raised in the U.S., and today they are totally bicultural.

What have you learned?

I like to say that I’ve learned patience in Asia, and I’ve learned what competition means in the U.S., because I’m from a country where there is no patience and limited competition.

What I also learned by working internationally is that if you keep good sense — remain grounded in basic business judgment and rules — you can work in any foreign environment. Good sense is key. Some people try too hard to be too local, understand everything, but you will never understand a foreign country as well as you understand your native country, even if you speak the language. But good sense is the same everywhere.

What advice would you give to others based on your experience?

To an executive, my advice would be to listen and be humble. Listening is very important. Be humble and respectful. The tendency, particularly if you go into emerging countries, is to consider that everything else is not as well done. But being humble and respectful of people buys you tremendous mileage no matter where you go. You need to be more humble abroad than you are at home and more respectful.

When you are abroad, things are over-amplified. Being abroad over-amplifies your body language, your words and your decisions. Whatever you say is listened to twice as carefully as when you say it at home. You are watched much more closely than you are at home — for both good and bad.

John Doumani

Managing director, australasia for fonterra cooperative group, what did you learn.

The business issues were not that hard to discover, but the bigger issues for me were actually more cultural. The culture in the U.K. was similar to here, and there was a relatively informal work environment where you can joke around a bit. This is my style and it translated really well. However in Italy and the U.S., the work environment is more formal, and I had to adjust my style to be conscious of this. Had I not done so, I would not have been able to be effective working for the organization. You have to be very careful not to offend people. If you want people to follow your leadership, you have to engage them in a way that works for them.

Seventy percent of what you know about business will translate, but the other 30 percent — the difference between success and failure quite often — comes down to truly understanding the business dynamics that might be different. Market dynamics vary greatly in terms of regulations, trade and competitive structures. You’ve got to make sure you get your head around this because it will affect your ability to implement what you want to do, and you have to modify whatever you do to fit in.

The bigger issue is to be really sensitive to cultural differences. There’s no shortcut in being able to do this other than to have an open mind and be willing to accept any differences. You can’t go with the attitude of, “I’m just going to do what I do and if they don’t like it, stuff it!” The first thing is to accept that the cultural issues are really important. Accept the fact that it may be different and be really open-minded. The sooner you identify and are open to any differences, the better.

Philip Earl

Executive vice president and general manager, publishing for activision blizzard, what most surprised you.

Having worked in Saudi Arabia, having worked in Australia, having worked in Los Angeles, what surprised me the most is that there are more similarities than differences in the people across countries.

I learned the importance of understanding the pace of change: how much to do and how quickly. You have to be very astute in understanding the capabilities of the organization in the marketplace. It can be too fast, but can also be too slow. There is no right or wrong answer. You have got to accept that you can have a very strong strategy and you can have a very good vision, but unless you bring the team with you, it is just disconnected. Your people capability platform will determine whether to go faster or slower.

What people leadership insights have you gained?

Something interesting I have learned is the fact that people are motivated by different things, and understanding what most drives a specific individual lies at the heart of leadership. Often you assume people are concerned about money. It almost always isn’t the case. There has to be a base level of remuneration, but in three years working with video games people, I have Harvard graduates who just want to work in that industry; it motivates them to be part of something amazing. It is a passion for them. Some people are motivated by a very strong sense of family and a sense of community. If you are not careful and gloss over individual motivations, you never get the most out of people. You have got to understand people. There can be 10 nuances of what motivates them, and if you get that right, despite cultural differences, you can usually do quite well.

My advice is to “be in.” When you go to a new market, don’t hang around on the side; just get in there. Absorb the culture, language, food, sport, everything. You get a reaction from your work colleagues that is really incredible and makes you feel that you really want to be here, and as a consequence, they see you as an expat wanting to be here.

Conrado Engel

Chief executive officer, hsbc bank brazil.

The most important thing was how careful you have to be about managing cultural differences. People react differently to situations, and this is very challenging. For example, the way you interact with a Chinese company is completely different from an Indian one. Individuals can interpret situations very differently. Early during my assignment in Hong Kong, after a meeting where we were assigned tasks for a particular project, I asked an executive for a status update prior to the due date. I realized later that this made the executive feel very uncomfortable, because, as he said, he would fulfill his commitments; it was part of his responsibility. Again, it demonstrates the importance of understanding cultural differences.

What personal or professional lessons from your international experience have remained with you?

Managing any business is about managing people. Dealing with different cultures and reactions is crucial. I learned to listen more and reflect more before taking immediate action. I also learned that people can significantly benefit from each other’s experience. For example, I believe that my experience in dealing with crisis management as a Brazilian executive was very beneficial to the HSBC Group when I was in Hong Kong.

You have to visit people, go and visit the countries and the operations, and establish strong professional connections. Personal relationships may also help. Understanding the cultural environment is of vital importance. Learning how to navigate a large organization like HSBC — with a strong internal culture, with very strong roots in Asia — is also critical for success.

It is always best to listen, comprehend and then act.

Kirk Kinsell

President of the americas, intercontinental hotels group.

Based in London, with responsibilities for Europe and Africa, the things that surprised me were the diversity of thinking and the distinctive cultures and, therefore, how people felt, how people thought, how they processed information and what was important to them varied tremendously. As a result, there was more dialogue, which oftentimes meant debate. Having to have that broader discussion on issues was intriguing, challenging and fulfilling. Initially, the discussion can feel like it’s slowing things down, but when you reset expectations and build in opportunities for debate, what I have found is that, even though people may not agree with the ultimate decision, the process allows people to align and walk out of a meeting on the same page.

What personal or professional lessons have remained with you?

I made it a point to get underneath the differences between my new environment and what I was used to at home, and understand the history and the stories behind the surface. I began to appreciate the differences for how they enrich the environment that I was in, creating a more holistic and colorful tapestry from an aesthetic standpoint.

Coming back to the United States, I find myself wanting to go deeper with people who I otherwise would have thought were just like me. As a result, I think I have the potential to build stronger relationships. I have the potential to be a better leader. Because our job as leaders is to unlock the potential of the people we work with and the people we have the privilege of leading and managing. And, therefore, I can get perhaps a better perspective of who they are and their motivations and how they align with the company’s purpose and objectives.

What advice would you give others based on your experience?

To another American, I would say dialing down the fact that you’re American and dialing up being a global citizen is probably a much more effective way of engaging people. It doesn’t mean that you change your principles or your beliefs or your value system; it means being sensitized to how you come across. Saying things like, “We do it this way back there” — meaning that was the only good way — can come off as being too American, too know-it-all, too celebratory, too cheerleading, too shallow, all those things that are sometimes attributed to being American.

Murilo Portugal

President of febraban (brazilian federation of banks).

My most relevant international experience was to work with International Monetary Fund. It provided me a great opportunity to understand the reality of other countries. Since I was responsible for the fund’s relations with 81 countries in all five continents — from advanced countries such as Sweden to developing countries such as Bhutan — I had to understand different environments and market dynamics. In this role, I came into direct contact with the reality of different countries, different economic cycles and stages of development, from crisis to growth moments. What did not surprise me, unfortunately, was the reaction in some places to the economic crisis in 2008, in particular, the difficulty of entering into a discussion with governments and the denial about the gravity of the problems.

Do not postpone the inevitable. Trying to escape an inevitable conclusion will increase the costs related to the decision, but it is hard to define what you should fight for, and what to give up.

What personal or professional lessons from the experience have remained with you?

Life is the best teacher. The only problem is that there is only one pedagogy. You learn when you hit a wall, and usually you have to go through this painful process to learn. Even if you rationally know what to do, usually you only change when you hit a wall, because of the limitations in the decision-making process and human behavior.

Respect the level of the professionals who work with you, and learn how to best deal with very smart people and motivate them. Well-qualified people, of course, have their own ambitions and personal interests. It is critical to maintain the enthusiasm of people in a multicultural environment, and devote time for that. You have to be a manager of people, otherwise you will fail even if you are capable of managing processes and tasks. Technical knowledge alone will not make you successful.

This article is included in Point of View 2012 .

• DOI: 10.1108/ER-09-2016-0180
• Corpus ID: 148794829

Mentoring in international assignments: a personality traits perspective

• Tassilo Schuster , J. Ambrosius , Benjamin Bader
• Published 2 November 2017
• Psychology, Business
• Employee Relations

17 Citations

Mediating role of mentoring functions on linking personality and occupational commitment in indian organizations, the role of extraversion and openness on host country nationals’ task performance and contextual performance at work, broadening international mentoring: contexts and dynamics of expatriate and hcn intercultural mentoring, the effect of openness to experience on trust behavior: the moderating role of situational strength, effect of outgroup social categorization by host-country nationals on expatriate premature return intention and buffering effect of mentoring, a process perspective on the expatriate social capital – knowledge transfer and expatriate adjustment relationships, the expanded model of cultural intelligence and its explanatory power in the context of expatriation intention, knowledge sharing of inpatriates, an empirical analysis of research paradigms within international human resource management: the need for more diversity, 164 references, personality predictors of participation as a mentor., expatriate personality and cultural fit: the moderating role of host country context on job satisfaction, individual profiles as predictors of expatriate effectiveness, the relationship between expatriates' personality traits and their adjustment to international assignments.

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THE ROLE OF PERSONALITY IN CANDIDATE SELECTION FOR INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS

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Selecting Candidates for Overseas Assignment

Anne morris.

• 2 December 2023

IN THIS SECTION

Given the level of investment required to enable effective international working , organisations have to see the value and return in their global mobility programmes.

International assignments have the potential to impact all aspects of an individual’s life – their family, their career, their health. While HR and mobility departments focus on building and maintaining the Policies, Procedures and Processes that facilitate effective global mobility – it is critical not to lose sight of the fourth, pervasive ‘P’ – People.

And for Millenials and Gen Z workers, who together now make up the majority of the workforce, international experience remains highly desirable, and competition for overseas placements are  is likely to be high. This makes it important that employers optimise their selection process to choose the right individuals for the assignment.

It is incumbent on employers to ensure they are supporting their people throughout the process – starting at the outset, by selecting the right candidates for overseas posts.

Candidate selection criteria

Developing the right selection criteria will determine the impact of the assessment exercise.

Focus on achieving objective insight into candidate suitability and capability in relation to the specific demands of the assignment.

Issues that have the potential to prevent a candidate from pursuing an assignment should be identified early on in the process. You are looking to establish if and how you as an employer can support individual employees’ requirements in undertaking an international post. Identifying deal-breakers will ensure you are not pursuing no-goers, saving cost and time, and allowing you to focus on those candidates that do meet your requirements.

For example, selection criteria could cover:

• Technical – what are the specific skills, qualifications and/or experience required for the assignment?
• Leadership – what level of managerial or leadership experience and/or capability is needed?
• Linguistic – what, if any, language skills are required for the post?
• Flexibility – how adaptable and willing is the candidate to meet the demands and cope with the upheaval (or adventure!) of an international posting?
• Personal – does the candidate’s personal situation present any issues, or deal-breakers?
• Eligibility – is the candidate (and their dependants) precluded from or ineligible to meet the immigration requirements of the host country?

Common reasons for overseas assignment attrition and failure

The extent to which an organisation is willing or able to support or be flexible to employees’ individual needs will dictate the approach to dealing with issues raised during the selection process.

Common ‘deal breakers’ or problems can include:

Spouses and dependants

Naturally employees’ spouses and dependants play a significant role in an employee’s willingness and ability to undertake an international assignment.

Primarily there will be eligibility considerations, dictated by the local immigration rules of the host country.

Reluctance for personal reasons may derive from a spouse’s own career aspirations; concerns about children (disruption to education and friendship groups); elderly relatives requiring care and support; or, as is becoming increasingly common, whether they can bring a beloved pet.

Faced with any of these issues, employers may choose take a solutions-driven approach to supporting the employee in taking on the overseas assignment. Financial support for spouses and dependants is costly, and an area of support employers are increasingly moving away from. But in instances of exceptional talent where the pool of suitable candidates is limited, issues such as spousal support could tip the balance for the employee in favour of the assignment.

For example, if a spouse intends to stop working while on assignment, this can have implications financially and emotionally for the family unit. Would you provide financial or career support to spouses who have left employment to follow their spouse on assignment?

Or where an employee has responsibility for an elderly relative, the employer may offer to extend home visits during the assignment, or support the elderly relative(s) to accompany the candidate on assignment.

Whether pets can join on assignment will depend on the local laws, which could allow certain breeds and species only, or require specific vaccinations and special travel and quarantine arrangements to be made. Research will be key here.

As a broader-brush approach to addressing personal issues related to overseas assignments, employers are seeing the benefit of training as a valuable means of supporting employees and their dependants to prepare for the assignment and the associated upheaval.

This could include language training and cross-cultural training. Online training for example is preferred by younger generations, to be accessed ‘on-demand’, which in the long term is also a more cost-effective and consistent solution for employers.

Linking Talent & Mobility

A fundamental requirement of effective candidate selection is close alignment of talent management and global mobility . Clarity of objective around the assignment itself – for example, does the post form part of strategic succession planning? Or is it meeting an operational need (e.g. opening new regional headquarters)?

One tactic to enable the link between career development and mobility programmes is to operate formal pools of candidates, segmented by skill set, experience, salary level, risk factors.

Again, clarity of process and selection will ensure expectations are managed, and that objective and effective candidate selection meets the specific assignment goals.

Salary & support package

What financial support is available to meet the specific needs of the assignment and the candidate? And to what extent are reward packages needed to incentivise key employees to take up overseas assignments?

Expectations of salary and support package relating to an overseas assignment should be managed from the outset. For example, remuneration may become more of an issue for candidates whose spouses’ intend to give up employment to join them on assignment.

For you as an employer, using candidate selection assessment will provide insight into the motivators and non-negotiables employees are seeking as part of an overseas assignment. Aligning this with the commercial objectives of the post will provide insight into relative candidate suitability.

The location of the assignment will also have a bearing on the attractiveness and suitability to candidates.

Again, eligibility candidates will be determined by local immigration rules, which are becoming increasingly protectionist across the board and governments seek to preserve the right of their respective domestic labour markets. There may be requirements for example to attend health checks, criminal background checks.

Language, culture, climate – candidates and their dependants will attribute varying degrees of significance to these characteristics and the wider experience or an assignment beyond the role itself.

Assignments to emerging markets for example are increasing in number. While travel to these areas creates new areas of risk, it appears the millennial cohort has a strong appetite to gain professional and life experience within different cultures.

Your selection process should draw these preferences out.

Repatriation issues

The motivator here is to avoid instances of returning employees leaving soon after overseas assignment, and taking their experience with them – inevitably impacting the return on the employer’s investment in the assignment.

While employers generally recognise the importance of providing support to returning employees, the mistake is to leave this too late in the assignment – typically in the final stages in the run up to homecoming.

Repatriation should feature from the outset, as part of the assignment preparation stage. Be open and transparent about links between gaining international experience and career development. What progression opportunities will be available on return? What are the timescales involved?

Keep open lines of communication throughout the assignment. This should involve HR as well with the individual’s direct team in the home location.

Ultimately, employers should seek to offer returning employees certainty about their position and their prospects within the organisation.

Need assistance?

A formal approach to candidate selection for overseas assignment will enable employers to operate more effective global mobility programmes, while maximising return on the organisation’s mobility investment. Contact us for guidance on global mobility programme management and best practice.

Last updated: 2 December 2023

Founder and Managing Director Anne Morris is a fully qualified solicitor and trusted adviser to large corporates through to SMEs, providing strategic immigration and global mobility advice to support employers with UK operations to meet their workforce needs through corporate immigration.

She is a recognised by Legal 500 and Chambers as a legal expert and delivers Board-level advice on business migration and compliance risk management as well as overseeing the firm’s development of new client propositions and delivery of cost and time efficient processing of applications.

Anne is an active public speaker, immigration commentator , and immigration policy contributor and regularly hosts training sessions for employers and HR professionals

• Anne Morris https://www.davidsonmorris.com/author/anne/ Right to Work: Prove & Check Eligibility
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About DavidsonMorris

As employer solutions lawyers, DavidsonMorris offers a complete and cost-effective capability to meet employers’ needs across UK immigration and employment law, HR and global mobility .

Led by Anne Morris, one of the UK’s preeminent immigration lawyers, and with rankings in The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners , we’re a multi-disciplinary team helping organisations to meet their people objectives, while reducing legal risk and nurturing workforce relations.

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The matters contained in this article are intended to be for general information purposes only. This article does not constitute legal advice, nor is it a complete or authoritative statement of the law, and should not be treated as such. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the information is correct at the time of writing, no warranty, express or implied, is given as to its accuracy and no liability is accepted for any error or omission. Before acting on any of the information contained herein, expert legal advice should be sought.

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Cultural intelligence (CQ) in action: The effects of personality and international assignment on the development of CQ

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review

We examined (1) the effect of international assignments on the development of cultural intelligence - CQ over time (2) whether crucial personality traits (i.e., extraversion and openness to experience) had a moderating role in the relationship between international assignments and CQ in a longitudinal design. A total sample of 145 military personnel participated in the study at the beginning of the deployment (Time 1) and 121 persons participated at the end of the deployment (Time 2) in a multinational and multicultural military organization. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance showed that the 6-month international assignment did have a statistically significant effect on the development of all four facets of CQ over time. Moreover, moderated multiple regression analyses demonstrated that individuals who are high on extraversion improved their metacognitive CQ and behavioral CQ more than did individuals who are low on extraversion. Similarly, individuals who are high on openness to experience improved their motivational CQ more than did individuals who are low on openness to experience. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

• Cultural intelligence
• International assignment
• Multicultural environment
• Personality

Access to Document

• 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.11.002

Other files and links

• Link to publication in Scopus

Fingerprint

• Cultural Intelligence Keyphrases 100%
• International Assignments Keyphrases 100%
• Extraversion Psychology 100%
• Openness to Experience Psychology 100%
• Deployment Time Keyphrases 50%
• Personality Trait Psychology 33%
• Multiple Regression Analysis Psychology 33%
• Multivariate Analysis Psychology 33%

T1 - Cultural intelligence (CQ) in action

T2 - The effects of personality and international assignment on the development of CQ

AU - Şahin, Faruk

AU - Gurbuz, Sait

AU - Köksal, Onur

N1 - Copyright: Copyright 2014 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2014/3

Y1 - 2014/3

N2 - We examined (1) the effect of international assignments on the development of cultural intelligence - CQ over time (2) whether crucial personality traits (i.e., extraversion and openness to experience) had a moderating role in the relationship between international assignments and CQ in a longitudinal design. A total sample of 145 military personnel participated in the study at the beginning of the deployment (Time 1) and 121 persons participated at the end of the deployment (Time 2) in a multinational and multicultural military organization. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance showed that the 6-month international assignment did have a statistically significant effect on the development of all four facets of CQ over time. Moreover, moderated multiple regression analyses demonstrated that individuals who are high on extraversion improved their metacognitive CQ and behavioral CQ more than did individuals who are low on extraversion. Similarly, individuals who are high on openness to experience improved their motivational CQ more than did individuals who are low on openness to experience. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

AB - We examined (1) the effect of international assignments on the development of cultural intelligence - CQ over time (2) whether crucial personality traits (i.e., extraversion and openness to experience) had a moderating role in the relationship between international assignments and CQ in a longitudinal design. A total sample of 145 military personnel participated in the study at the beginning of the deployment (Time 1) and 121 persons participated at the end of the deployment (Time 2) in a multinational and multicultural military organization. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of covariance showed that the 6-month international assignment did have a statistically significant effect on the development of all four facets of CQ over time. Moreover, moderated multiple regression analyses demonstrated that individuals who are high on extraversion improved their metacognitive CQ and behavioral CQ more than did individuals who are low on extraversion. Similarly, individuals who are high on openness to experience improved their motivational CQ more than did individuals who are low on openness to experience. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

KW - Cultural intelligence

KW - International assignment

KW - Multicultural environment

KW - Personality

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84897021977&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.11.002

DO - 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2013.11.002

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84897021977

SN - 0147-1767

JO - International Journal of Intercultural Relations

JF - International Journal of Intercultural Relations

• Help & FAQ

Selection for international assignments

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

The selection of individuals to fill international assignments is particularly challenging because the content domain for assessing candidates focuses primary attention on job context rather than attempting to forecast the ability to perform specific tasks on the job or more generally, the elements listed in a technical job description. International assignment selection systems are centered on predicting to the environment in which the incumbents will need to work effectively rather than the technical or functional job they are being asked to do which in many cases is already assessed or assumed to be at an acceptable level of competence. Therefore, unlike predictors of success in the domestic context where knowledge, skills, and abilities may dominate the selection strategy, many psychological and biodata factors including personality characteristics, language fluency, and international experience take on increasing importance in predicting international assignee success. This article focuses on the predictors affecting the outcome of international assignments and the unique selection practices, which can be employed in selection for international assignments. In addition, this article discusses the practical challenges for implementing the suggestions for selecting international assignees.

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

• Applied Psychology
• Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Access to Document

• 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.02.001

Other files and links

• Link to publication in Scopus
• Link to the citations in Scopus

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• International Assignments Business & Economics 100%
• Job Description Medicine & Life Sciences 57%
• Predictors Business & Economics 39%
• Mental Competency Medicine & Life Sciences 35%
• Personality Medicine & Life Sciences 33%
• Biodata Business & Economics 30%
• Language Medicine & Life Sciences 29%
• Psychology Medicine & Life Sciences 25%

T1 - Selection for international assignments

AU - Caligiuri, Paula

AU - Tarique, Ibraiz

AU - Jacobs, Rick

PY - 2009/9

Y1 - 2009/9

N2 - The selection of individuals to fill international assignments is particularly challenging because the content domain for assessing candidates focuses primary attention on job context rather than attempting to forecast the ability to perform specific tasks on the job or more generally, the elements listed in a technical job description. International assignment selection systems are centered on predicting to the environment in which the incumbents will need to work effectively rather than the technical or functional job they are being asked to do which in many cases is already assessed or assumed to be at an acceptable level of competence. Therefore, unlike predictors of success in the domestic context where knowledge, skills, and abilities may dominate the selection strategy, many psychological and biodata factors including personality characteristics, language fluency, and international experience take on increasing importance in predicting international assignee success. This article focuses on the predictors affecting the outcome of international assignments and the unique selection practices, which can be employed in selection for international assignments. In addition, this article discusses the practical challenges for implementing the suggestions for selecting international assignees.

AB - The selection of individuals to fill international assignments is particularly challenging because the content domain for assessing candidates focuses primary attention on job context rather than attempting to forecast the ability to perform specific tasks on the job or more generally, the elements listed in a technical job description. International assignment selection systems are centered on predicting to the environment in which the incumbents will need to work effectively rather than the technical or functional job they are being asked to do which in many cases is already assessed or assumed to be at an acceptable level of competence. Therefore, unlike predictors of success in the domestic context where knowledge, skills, and abilities may dominate the selection strategy, many psychological and biodata factors including personality characteristics, language fluency, and international experience take on increasing importance in predicting international assignee success. This article focuses on the predictors affecting the outcome of international assignments and the unique selection practices, which can be employed in selection for international assignments. In addition, this article discusses the practical challenges for implementing the suggestions for selecting international assignees.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=67649531910&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=67649531910&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.02.001

DO - 10.1016/j.hrmr.2009.02.001

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:67649531910

SN - 1053-4822

JO - Human Resource Management Review

JF - Human Resource Management Review

Influence of Personality Traits on Plagiarism Through Collusion in Programming Assignments

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BLM In Belize: Employees Participate in International Assignment Taking Them From Districts of Utah to Caves of Central America

Located just beyond the shared Belizean and Guatemalan border, the BLM team consisting of Savanna Agardy and Kyle Voyles found themselves navigating through thick jungle and looking ahead to the prospect of six days of work mapping one of the largest cave systems in the world with the help of Friends for Conservation and Development (FCD), Department of Interior (DOI) and the International Technical Assistance Programs (ITAP) cave experts.

Spider Monkeys swinging overhead, beetles flying around at dusk, and the alarm clock of parrots singing at sunrise. It sounds nothing like the experience of a typical Utah resident but, instead, a tale from BLM cave explorers that begins with baths in the caves, fresh-flowing water, and nights ending in swaying hammocks.

After waking up to the distinct sounds of parrots and toucans and with the occasional late-night Howler Monkey call, the team got to work in what Agardy describes as “an experience of a lifetime”.

Packing up camp and moving into the unknown Agardy, Voyles and accompanying members from the Belizean Institute of Archaeology (the government agency that oversees all of Belize's archaeological heritage) successfully mapped a remote section of the Chiquibul Cave System (CCS) measuring an approximate mile. While this task seems daunting by itself, mapping wasn't the only assignment at hand: the team additionally identified 50 archaeological features and over a dozen artifacts from 200-900 AD, a time frame known as the Classic Maya Period. 

After learning all they could from the story that the CCS had to tell, it was time that the team turned their focus towards teaching, walking the FCD staff through cave rescue methods with help from Gretchen Baker (DOI-ITAP team member) and Kyle Rybacki, a former BLM employee.   

After a long flight bringing the team back to Utah, Agardy and Voyles continue to work on their findings, with some help from digital technology in designing maps and reporting archeological finds.

All this effort would be futile without help from the DOI-ITAP with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development/Guatemala , which assists and encourages our teams' continued exploration efforts.

With skies covered by jungle canopies and caves of mysterious heritage still left to explore, visit https://www.doi.gov/itap/opportunities to find out how to get in on the action and experience the unmapped regions of the earth calling to be discovered and questioned.

Thomas Cogdell, BLM Utah Public Affairs Intern

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Dodgers' Top International Prospect Gets a Big Promotion

Maren angus-coombs | aug 6, 2024.

• Los Angeles Dodgers

A set of game notes has reportedly confirmed the promotion of Los Angeles prospect Hyun Seok Jang.

According to Jang's transaction page, the promotion hasn't officially been confirmed but the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes have him listed as Thursday's starter against Fresno.

BREAKING: Hyun Seok Jang pitching for Rancho on Thursday, August 8th pic.twitter.com/Rb40P8gwJA — Tim Rogers 2080 ✝️🇺🇸⚾️ (@TimRogers2080) August 4, 2024

The 20-year-old Korean pitching prospect signed for $900,000 last year and the Dodgers are hoping his ascension to the big leagues will produce talent similar to two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani.

A native of Changwon, a port city on South Korea’s southern coast, Jang emerged as not only the nation’s top high school player but as a promising pitching prospect.

His 6-foot-4 frame and upper-90s fastball are just a couple of tools that should help him reach the major leagues.

“We see a future with top-of-the-rotation starter stuff,” Dodgers’ director of minor league pitching Rob Hill said . “It’s just a matter of getting there and doing it. He can do so much with the ball. He’s so adept at trying to improve. I think the sky’s the limit.”

If Jang stayed in Korea, he most likely would have been the No. 1 pick in the KBO League draft. Instead, he decided to forge his own path by signing with Major League Baseball.

“He would’ve started in the KBO, at the top level, right away,” said Daniel Kim , an independent South Korean journalist who has contributed to ESPN’s coverage of the nation’s domestic league. “If you’re a top one, two, three [high school] player, you get a lot of recognition.”

Jang opted to move to the United States to help expedite his path to the big leagues. After 13 games in the Arizona Complex League, he seems to be taking the first big step toward achieving his dream.

“It was a tough decision for me because I dreamed of pitching both in the KBO and MLB,” Jang said in a statement last August , according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency. “But ultimately, I wanted to challenge myself in the best league in the world and decided to take a crack at MLB.”

According to Dodgers vice president of player development Will Rhymes, Jang is still at least two to three years away from the big leagues. That was his opinion in March, his thoughts could have changed since then.

In Jang, the Dodgers see an opportunity to develop another future star from the other side of the world and make up for missing out on the developing Ohtani years.

MAREN ANGUS-COOMBS

Maren Angus-Coombs was born in Los Angeles and raised in Nashville, Tenn. She is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State and has been a sports writer since 2008. Despite growing up in the South, her sports obsession has always been in Los Angeles. She is currently a staff writer at the LA Sports Report Network.