Repatriation as an essential part of

Intercultural Training in the context of

Intercultural Management

Intercultural Management

Date: 17.12.

2007

Members: Raphaël

Schmidt

Julien

Widmer

Alban

Blöchlinger

Anne

Tucholka

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Table of contents

1

Preface

3

2

Theoretical Part

5

2.1 Basic concepts and theoretical approach 5

2.2 Necessity of repatriate training 7

2.3 Repatriation Difficulties 9

2.3.1 Causes of problems 9

2.3.2 Professional difficulties 10

2.3.3 Social and personal problems 11

2.4 Possible Responses to difficulties 12

2.5 How to benefit from repatriate and their experiences 15

3

Practical Part

17

3.1 Evaluation of the questionnaire 17

3.2 Question 1: Does your company offer Intercultural Training for repatriates?18

3.3 Question 2: Are you going to implement such a programme? 19

3.4 Question 3: How do you value a repatriation programme? 20

3.5 Question 4: Which of the following items do you offer to a repatriate in order

to support his/ her re-entry and how do you evaluate them? (from 1

=completely to 5 =rarely, n.a.=no answer) 21

3.6 Question 5: Which tasks and costs does your company cover? (n.a. = no

answer)(See Appendix 2 for the diagrams) 22

3.7 Question 6: How long does the preparation phase for the re-entry take? 23

3.8 Question 7: Which role does the repatriate play in your company after his/

her return and how is it valued? (from 1 = very important to 5 = not important,

n.a. = no answer) 24

3.9 Question 8: What benefits does your company get out of the experience of

the

repatriate?(See appendix 4) 24

3.10

Question 9: Which problems occurred for the repatriate? (from 1 =very

often to 5=rarely, n.a. = no answer) (See appendix 5 for the diagrams) ...25

3.11

Question 10: Please give us some personal remarks concerning your

experience

with

repatriates. 26

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3.12

Question 11: If one of your repatriates had time to answer some questions

we would be pleased to make a short interview with him. Therefore we

would appreciate it if you give us his/ her contact details. 26

4

Conclusion

27

5

Appendix

30

5.1 Appendix 1 30

5.2 Appendix 2 38

5.3 Appendix 3 43

5.4 Appendix 4 48

5.5 Appendix 5 52

5.6 Questionaire and Email (English) 55

5.7 Questionaire and Email (French) 59

5.8 Questionaire and Email (German) 63

6

Bibliography

67

2

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1 Preface

"Diversity among employees in terms of cultural background leads to a richer, more

sophisticated and more effective corporate environment."1

World has changed completely and is still on a way of continuous transformation.

Globalisation and international business are keywords nowadays. Introduction of

Intercultural Management and International Human Resource Management has

become inevitable the last few years. Primary reason is globalisation which means a

blossoming of business opportunities, open markets, more resources and newfound

competitors. Therefore it is hard to maintain margins and profitability for global

players2. Companies have to think and act in an international way. In order to be

successful it is necessary to enter new markets and to make international contacts.

The risk of asset loss (capital, knowledge, employees, products) is quite high.

Companies have to deal with unfamiliar business practices and regulations in foreign

countries. This is why there is a high demand for multinational strategies, global

leaders and intercultural experiences. With intercultural well trained leaders a

company gets competitive advantage: global leaders know the customs, culture, and

etiquette of a foreign country and understand the nuances of business practices in

those areas. These skills can be the small difference which determines success3.

The mobility of human resources becomes absolutely necessary. Expatriation of

executives or managers has become an important part of business life. But this

mobility represents a real challenge for multinational organisations. In most cases the

implementation and performance of Intercultural Management and International

Human Resource Management cannot be made without difficulties. Expatriation

failures, deterioration of performance, social or personal problems are just some

examples of intercultural difficulties4. One tool to solve or avoid such problems is

Intercultural Training which consists of two parts: preparation for expatriates who are

going to leave the home country and training for repatriates who come back to the

home country after a foreign assignment.

1 Tessmann- Keys/ Wellins 2007, p. 9

2 Comp. Tessmann- Keys/ Wellins 2007, p. 3

3 Ib. p. 5

4 Comp. Mérignac 2005, p. 2

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The following seminar paper focuses on the repatriation. This part of Intercultural

Training is often badly treated and lots of companies do not pay attention to it. If they

do, their programmes are often incomplete although satisfying reintegration is a key

factor for success or failure of the foreign assignment5. In a first theoretical part

general facts about repatriation, its necessity and meaning will be pointed out.

It follows a practical part that should underline the company′s behaviour towards

repatriation. Therefore a questionnaire was made which can be found in the

appendix. Unfortunately only few companies responded so that this survey is not

representative. Nevertheless it gives an interesting insight into company′s practices

of Intercultural Training. Together with the theoretical facts it allows to draw a general

conclusion about repatriation programmes.

5 Ib., p.11

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2 Theoretical Part

First of all some general definitions must be given in order to create a common basis

for the whole topic of repatriation. It is essential to make clear what repatriation

means and how it can be classified in the context of Intercultural Management.

2.1

Basic concepts and theoretical approach

Repatriation, also called cross-cultural re-entry, or reintegration, is defined as the

"transition from a foreign country back into the home country".6Repatriation is similar

to expatriation because every re-entry is a new start and requires adaptations7. In

particular, it is an active process of readjusting the home country environment, the

working conditions and the socio- cultural patterns8. It is considered being the final

part of the process of a foreign assignment9. Often re- entry is related to several

difficulties; concerning not only professional re- entry problems but also socio-

cultural problems 10 That means there have to be made a distinction between

personal and professional re- entry because both parts have their special difficulties.

Personal re- entry includes the readjustment to social environment, the contacts to

friends and relatives. While being abroad the expatriate himself has changed and has

adopted the new culture. At home the political and socio-cultural environment has

changed too and the repatriate who has come back has to familiarize with its home

culture. For most of them "going home is a harder move"11 because they did not

expect any difficulties. Back at home they have to face the gap between their

idealised image of the home country and reality. Regarding the professional re-

integration it has to be mentioned that the global assignment often has just neutral

effects on the career instead of pushing the career. Sometimes even negative effects

occur that expresses oneself in the way that the repatriate does not get a working

position according to his/ her qualifications so that he/ she has to re-start at a lower

level. Researches have shown that "more than two-thirds of returnees [...] have

6 Adler 2002, p. 272

7 Comp. Hölper 2003, p.39 ff.

8 Rothlauf 2006, p. 576

9 Comp. Dowling/ Welch 2004, p. 159

10 Comp. Voigtlander 2002, p.1

11 Adler 2002, p. 273

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suffered from the out- of- sight, out- of- mind syndrome12. There is no appropriate

position available and the start just like a beginner because work habits, procedures,

norms have changed during their absence. Some repatriates stated that "I lost time"13,

which is a signal for a lack in the evaluation of foreign assignments and the

unsatisfying repatriation process. Reintegration can be summarised in four main

parts: professional re-orientation and adjustment to corporate changes, resumption of

old relationships/ friendships, redefining your own identity and social re- orientation14.

The topic of repatriation is an essential part of Intercultural Management, especially

of intercultural training, as well as International Human Resource Management. This

classification can be declared by the special characterisations. After the French

author Sylvie Chevrier Intercultural Management should give answers to the

questions which difficulties in the management are caused by the different cultures

working together in a multinational company, how theses obstacles can be overcome

and how a company can benefit from cultural diversity15. Intercultural Management

has precise objectives which are directly linked to the expatriation process:

Intercultural interactions should be improved which is directly dependent on personal

experiences of the employees. Moreover with the help of good intercultural

management negative consequences for the individuals of an enterprise should be

minimised and the company should benefit from potential resources of every different

culture. It is all about transferring international management skills and knowledge.

Intercultural Management prepares employees to mind and implement intercultural

principles and behaviour. Always, when employees from another culture are

integrated in a team or when business outruns borders intercultural management

strategies have to be taken into account16. It comes out that the focus is always on

the employee. That is the reason why ex- and repatriation can also be allocated to

International Human Resource Management (IHRM). IHRM has to deal with cross-

cultural management and international perspectives17. It has to analyse, organise,

control and observe employees′ behaviour, their relations and working conditions.

Another important part is to manage and train the staff. As a consequence of a

remarkable growth of trans-national corporations and international human resource

12 Adler 2002, p. 274

13 ib., p. 275

14 http://www.ifim.de/faq/index.html, 19.10.2007

15 Comp. Chevrier, 2003, p. 3

16 Comp. Rothlauf 2006, p. 9 f.

17 Comp. Dowling/ Welch 2004, p.3 ff.

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issues multi-national firms respectively international oriented firms need intercultural

competences- not the firm itself but its most important asset: the employees, the

managers, the executives. One characteristic of IHRM is that staff moves across

boundaries. Foreign assignments have become part of the normal business

operations nowadays. Therefore the IHRM department has to deal with foreign

operations. This is exactly was an expatriate does: he/ she serves as an international

business traveller.

To ensure that the foreign assignment is successful the employee send abroad

needs intercultural training. Such trainings are important for developing intercultural

competences18. They should prepare the employee for a new, different culture, the

language, sensitise him/ her for different behaviour and habits. On the whole the

training should simplify the entry into a new environment and should help to cope

with a foreign culture. Intercultural trainings are not only necessary in advance

(before going to a foreign country) but also after the stay abroad, when re-entering

the home country. Repatriation training or preparation is still underrepresented as a

study of the "Institut für Interkulturelles Management" shows although the

requirement for such training is quite high19. During the whole process of foreign

assignments there is nowhere such a high number of dissatisfaction than during the

phase of repatriation. As already mentioned repatriation is often considered being

harder than expatriation. Anyway, there is a quite good preparation in advance

offered by the companies but missing support for the re-entry. On the whole

repatriation is an essential part of the foreign assignment process. Therefore

Intercultural training for repatriates should be a case in point.

2.2 Necessity

of

repatriate training

The introduction and the first chapter have already shown that during the last years

intercultural questions such as foreign assignments have become more important,

among others because of an increasing number of merger and acquisitions,

collaborations and globalised businesses. There are some more reasons that should

be listed here in order to underline the necessity of intercultural repatriation training.

Without paying attention to intercultural affaires companies run the risk of failure.

Moreover business is part of society. And our modern society ­ especially occidental

18 Comp. Rothlauf 2006, p. 126 f.

19 http://www.ifim.de/aktuell/pr-service/PR2-02.pdf, 19.10.2007

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