Repatriation as an essential part of intercultural training in the context of intercultural management

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  

  1  

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  

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.

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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”. 6 Repatriation is similar to expatriation because every re-entry is a new start and requires adaptations 7 . In particular, it is an active process of readjusting the home country environment, the working conditions and the socio- cultural patterns 8 . It is considered being the final part of the process of a foreign assignment 9 . 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 syndrome 12 . 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- orientation 14 . 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 diversity 15 . 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 account 16 . 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 perspectives 17 . 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 competences 18 . 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 high 19 . 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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society – faces debates about multi- culturalism and equality of cultures. Laws of anti- discrimination are launched. Behaving intercultural correct is an overall topic, nowadays 20 . Above all, intercultural competences are significant for multinational firms who want to be successful and who are highly influential in term of lobbyism. Having well trained staff their chance of working more economically efficiently is much higher. Furthermore, over the last 10 years foreign assignments have become crucial for the corporate strategy of personnel development and functional reasons (e. g. finishing or supporting projects, signing contracts, relaunch new products or push ahead a potential cooperation). International assignments belong to everyday business. Nevertheless lots of problems occur especially after having returned home. That is why training for repatriates and a profound preparation for both the repatriate and the company is required 21 . Besides training is important to prevent expatriate failure because the cost of failure can be three times higher than an annual domestic salary 22 . In other words, “organisations make a significant financial investment in expatriates to compensate them for working internationally and to develop the skills they need to be successful.” 23 There from a logical chain can be conducted. If re- entry fails, the repatriate is unsatisfied with the company, is not motivated, so that the company may not benefit from his/ her work. The returnee will promote his/ her bad experiences of the repatriation to the other employees. The bad treatment may be an indicator for the overall treatment, i. e. the employees conduct how well or bad the company takes care for its workers. As a consequence the readiness for mobility shrinks and the company will possibly not find potential expatriates for future foreign assignments. In the end the firm will loose further opportunities abroad and may not benefit anymore from international relationships. Moreover “poor reintegration gives expatriate experience a bad reputation” 24 . This bad reputation can be assigned to the entire company and the frustrated returnees can damage the company’s image across the board. Above that the necessity of intercultural training can be explained

20 Comp. Chevrier 2003, p. 1 ff.

21 Comp. IFIM, Presse- Service, 2-2002, Rückkehr als Stiefkinder?, p.1, in:

http://www.ifim.de/aktuell/pr-service/PR2-02.pdf, 19.10.2007 22 Cavusgil/Ghauri/Agarwal 2002, p. 110, in: http://www.google.de/books?id=N5cWQziqR- oC&printsec= frontcover & dq = reintegration+of+expatriates#PPA110,M1, 08.11.07 23 Cox 2004, in: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=MImg&_imagekey=B6V7R-4D45RPF-2- 1&_cdi=5849&_ user=799618&_orig =search&_ coverDate =05% 2F01% 2F2004 & _sk=999719996&view=c&wchp=dGLbVtb-zSkWW& md5=f6a4aca 2859da288bf 77 0d7cbcbf5997&ie=/sdarticle.pdf, 27.10.2007 24 Storti 2001, p. 81, in: http://www.google.de/books?id=to8KVFt66Ig C&printsec=frontcover &dq= reintegration+of+expatriates#PPA81,M1, 08.10.2007

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by one main objective of multinational firms. One target is the “need for cross- fertilization of ideas and practices that assist in developing and maintaining competitive advantage” 25 . Only if employees send abroad are well trained they can guarantee the achievement of this goal. On the contrary if the company does not offer reintegration support it accepts a loss of knowledge, experiences and competences. Sometimes that forces the repatriate to leave the company and join another one because he/ she felt unneeded, desperate, and unimportant in the original company. In the end the competitor will benefit from the vital and valuable experiences of the repatriate effectively paid by the old company. It follows that by devaluing and not promoting and accepting the repatriate (these are all parts of repatriation programmes that will be explained later) a company can make high losses; not only financial losses, but also losses of human capital, competences and networks. Concluding it can be stated that this is the main reason why repatriation as part of intercultural training is highly important.

2.3 Repatriation Difficulties

After having explained why intercultural training is necessary it should be pointed out which problems can occur when the expatriate comes back. As already mentioned the returnee experiences more problems than expected. The first question which has to be answered is which factors cause these problems. Then the different problems will be pointed out.

2.3.1 Causes of problems

In most cases the repatriate experiences a reverse culture shock. Culture shock in general is defined as the reaction to a new, unpredictable environment. It is a natural response to the stress when immersing oneself in a new environment 26 . For the repatriate there is a second culture shock when coming home because he/ she has adapted the foreign culture. He/ she became part of it and back home his/ her home culture seems to be new und unknown. Therefore he/ she has to adjust once more the old-new culture. Re-entry shock means that a longer stay away from home often results in alienation to the home culture and society 27 . The returnee recognises a 25 Comp. Dowling/ Welch 2004, p. 174 26 Adler 2002, p.264 27 http://www.ifim.de/faq/index.htm, 19.10.2007

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distance. People behave differently from his/ her own expectations. A more severe withdrawal than suggested is identified 28 . He/ she does not know how to react, what is right or wrong, which behaviour is appropriate. Some habits or reactions might appear to be strange in his/ her opinion so that he/ she feels as a stranger again. It is more complicated to define his/ her own cultural identity because of carrying parts of the old culture plus parts of the new one. The reintegration is sometimes harder than the expatriation because of the unexpectedness of the problems. Repatriates often underestimate re-entry problems and are not prepared to difficulties. Normally it seems to be counterintuitive to expect difficulties when returning home. On the one hand the “repatriate appear to be unprepared for psychological distress and discomfort that accompanies a return home” 29 . On the other hand the home country supporting network of family, friends and colleagues is unprepared for repatriation difficulties. Back home a large discrepancy between expectations and experiences occur. Often the returnee is disillusioned with the home country because he/ she had a wrong image in mind during the time abroad. Further factors that emphasise possible problems are a loss of social privileges, responsibilities or a reduction of status and influence as well as the changing social and professional situation at the home base 30 . The repatriate may feel desperate, unsatisfied, disappointed and frustrated because of several readjustment problems. He/ she experiences coincidently an organisational and societal culture shock 31 .

2.3.2 Professional difficulties

First of all lots of returnees experience career anxiety. Either the company cannot guarantee employment after the return. There is no possible redundancy or there is no satisfying/ appropriate position available so that the repatriate just gets a mediocre or makeshift job. Moreover he/ she can feel isolated. Destruction of departments, merger, sale or outsourcing of business units can also have negative influences on the reintegration 32 . Second difficulty concerns work adjustment. This contains the relationship to chefs and colleagues, false information that leads to a feeling of betrayal and violation of psychological contact, and missing organisational 28 Comp. http://www.ifim.de/aktuell/pr-service/PR2-02.pdf, 19.10.2007 29 Sussman 2001, p.110, in: International Journal of Intercultural Relations 25/2001, in: http://www.sciencedirect.com 30 Comp. Hölper 2003, p. 39 ff., in: http://www.grin.com/de/fulltext/bwu/22938.html 31 Comp. Adler 2002, p. 275 32 Comp. Dowling/ Welch 2004, p. 162 ff.

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support. A third issue concerns the position at work. Biggest problem is the demotion of the former position and a reduction of accountability. The repatriate is disappointed getting a less satisfying re-entry position. The returnee starts at a lower level with reduced responsibilities and status than before the foreign assignment. He / she can also be repositioned in a new department without friends and no access to management. This causes a feeling of being overqualified. Another difficulty is that colleagues or even the boss do not show any interest in the returnee’s experiences. The so called xenophobic response which can be easily explained by the sentence: “You are at home, only our rules are important”, can highly demotivate and frustrate the repatriate 33 . Sometimes the repatriate is seen as a know-it-all. This can be the fault of the repatriate himself because he/ she cannot explain the experiences in a way that the others become interested in 34 . An Australian repatriate once stated that “You gain a lot of experience, but it is dismissed here.” 35 This shows that companies do not use or involve the returnee’s expertise. The problem of devaluation is a case in point. There is a big contradiction between the status and role abroad and at home: Abroad the expatriate had a high level of responsibilities, greater autonomy. He/ she was the decision maker and had a prominent role in the local community. At home he/ she is a normal company executive, so he/ she changed roles from“ a big fish in a small pond back to a small fish in a big pond” 36 . In most cases the repatriate returns to a less comfortable life. On the whole the expatriate’s turnover rate exceeds

40 % and more than half of the returnees experienced problems 37 .

2.3.3 Social and personal problems

The loss of comfort expresses itself also in private life. For example the housing: Often an expatriate is provided with a better house abroad and some extras such as a housekeeper or a chauffeur. Back home the standard will possibly be lower which enhances reintegration problems. The “re-entry reminds [the repatriate] that life is not static” 38 . Every family member who accompanied the expatriate has its own readjustment problems because expected life at home has not frozen during their absence. The leisure activities at home may seem to be boring in comparison to 33 ib., p. 162 ff.

34 http://www.ifim.de/aktuell/pr-service/PR2-02.pdf, 19.10.2007 35 ib, p. 165 36 ib., p. 169 37 Dowling/ Welch 2004, p. 162 38 ib., p. 170

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those of the foreign country. Glamorising the other culture can be a consequence. Re-establishing social networks can be a further challenge. Friends may have moved away or the repatriate has to return to another town. Furthermore everybody may seem to be too busy to show interest in the returnee’s experience. Some returnees explained that “It was as if my years overseas were unsharable” 39 . Conversation becomes difficult because of missing common activities, different experiences and no common topics to talk about. Concerning repatriate’s children, re-entering into peer groups, gaining acceptance, finding new friends and language problems are really hard to handle; above all if the school or university does not accept accreditation of the school abroad. For the spouse it is as hard to re-enter as for the repatriate himself. She/ he can be totally disillusioned when returning home. A feeling of being a foreigner in your own country often occurs 40 . The spouse’s life has changed completely because in most cases he/ she has given up everything at home and therefore the re-entry is even harder and more complicated.

2.4 Possible Responses to difficulties

Now that the problems of reintegration have been explained possible responses to the difficulties should be listed. It is important to find out what the repatriate himself and the company have to do in order to guarantee a successful repatriation. The re-entry can follow a certain process explained by Dowling and Welch 41 . There is a first preparation phase (according to the pre-departure training) which should develop plans for the future regarding to future position in the company. A checklist of items should be considered for the repatriate and the transfer home should be planned. The next step is the physical relocation that includes the remove of personal effects plus personalised assistance in order to avoid stress, uncertainty and disruption. It follows a transition phase where arrangements for housing, schooling and administrative tasks (e. g. medical insurance, renewing drivers licence, back accounts) should be covered. The final step is the readjustment which can be the most difficult phase because the repatriate and his/ her family have to cope with the reverse culture shock, the corporate and social changes, the career demand, the contact to colleagues and friends and relatives.

39 Adler 2002, p. 274 40 Adler 2002, p. 317 ff.

41 Comp. Dowling/ Welch 2004, p. 160 ff.

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Moreover the repatriate should be assigned a mentor, which means a person from sending work unit who knows the expatriate personally, who cares for him/ her during the foreign assignments and who supports his/ her re-entry 42 . The main tasks of the mentor should be to provide the expatriate with current information, to stay in contact with him/ her during the time of absence, to remind the home base of the expatriate so that he/ she should not be forgotten when important decisions regarding to career and positions are made. On the whole such a mentor, also called coach, serves as a constant contact person. It would be favourable if the coach himself has intercultural experiences. He should actively participate in the repatriation process 43 . Furthermore the family support should play an important role in the repatriation programme. The home company should interview and support not only the repatriate but also his/ her spouse about problems, ideas, experiences. To find a school and to pay the fees would be a further positive support. Summarising these facts, a company should pay attention to following items of repatriation process:

• Debriefing of direct environment at home base

• Showing interest in repatriate’s experiences

• Regular feedback about personal and professional development of the expatriate, the acculturation process and/ or the acceptance/ social integration with colleagues and clients abroad

• Early and well organised planning 44

• Relocation service

• Financial assistance

• Career path assistance

• Support for reverse culture shock (psychological support)

• Family support (schooling of children, housing, support the spouse to find a job)

• Communication related training

• Information about corporate and socio- political changes

• Help forming new contacts and establishing networking opportunities 45 .

42 ib, p. 176 ff.

43 http://www.ifim.de/aktuell/pr-service/PR2-02.pdf, p.5, 19.10.2007 44 http://www.ifim.de/aktuell/pr-service/PR2-02.pdf, 19.10.2007 45 Dowling/ Welch 2004, p. 176

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