Abstract:
The existing expatriation literature concentrates on what individuals need to
perform in an international assignment (IA) but neglects what they gain from
their foreign work experience. Using a dual-dependency perspective this study
presents results from 26 in-depth interviews with international secondees within
two UK-based organizational contexts. The paper explores the perceived impact of
an IA on the career capital of individuals, showing that the outcomes of IAs can
be equivocal for expatriates. Each firm concentrated their human resource
mechanisms on developing different types of career capital and this focused
individual behaviour on diverse career capital activities. In one of the
organizations there was an internal misalignment between organizational and
individual assignee focus. Based on the research a number of propositions were
developed. This study provided an exploratory insight into points of departure
rather than complementarity in individuals' international careers in
organizations, which has been at the core of much recent research and writing. A
more complex, contextualized picture of the effects of IAs on the careers of
individuals emerged.
