It often seems as if the world is shrinking. Satellite, internet and cable technologies make it easier to communicate with friends, colleagues, and strangers in other countries on a realtime basis. Increasingly open borders give access to more countries, and citizens of previously ‘closed’ countries in turn to have access to the rest of the world. Due to these innovations it became possible to learn more about cultural differences as well as similarities. This new situation is especially valuable for companies that operate on an international or global scale. These companies can penetrate new markets to enhance profits but on the other hand these companies face also a complex and rapidly changing global environment. Companies have to deal with global and local competitors plus with multiple cultural settings that might be unfamiliar and difficult to comprehend. To survive in this global environment, companies have to be able to understand and to deal with this complexity. According to Antal (2000) a company has three keys to manage this challenge: a powerful strategic vision, a responsive structure, and internationally skilled people. The author further argues that people create and implement powerful strategic visions and responsive structure and hence the ability to develop employees and to utilize what employees have learned is the core competence organisations require to become and to remain competitive today.
This argument suggests that organisational learning and International Strategic Human Resource Management are interconnected. The knowledge and learning of employees build the foundation for organisational knowledge, and thus organisations are only able to learn when the individual knowledge is transferred to the organisation. Recognizing the importance of internationally skilled people for the organisation is especially important for international operating companies because learning about cultural differences and similarities may determine future success in unfamiliar markets.[...] The implication than for international organisation is that it should absorb as much knowledge from returning expatriates as possible in order to increase competitive competence. But since not all acquired knowledge of expatriates is useful and transformable into organisational knowledge the following core question of this paper arises: How valuable are expatriates to organisational learning? [...]
Table of Contents
1. Introduction:
2. Organisational learning
3. Why expatriates?
4. Expatriates’ knowledge
5. Discussion
6. Conclusion
Objectives and Research Themes
The paper examines the strategic value of expatriates as a source of knowledge for international organizations, aiming to answer how and under what conditions expatriates contribute to organizational learning. It explores the interplay between international assignments, individual knowledge acquisition, and organizational development.
- The theoretical foundations of organizational learning.
- The strategic motivations and roles of expatriate managers.
- Categorization of knowledge acquired by expatriates (declarative, procedural, conditional, axiomatic, relational).
- Mechanisms for transferring individual knowledge into organizational assets.
- Challenges such as expatriate failure, reverse culture shock, and the importance of career management.
Excerpt from the Book
4. Expatriates’ knowledge
Since organisational leaning occurs when individual share knowledge with the organisation, it is absolutely essential to discuss the different forms of knowledge expatriates may gain during their assignment abroad. Here, Antal (2000) distinguishes between five types of knowledge, namely declarative, procedural, conditional, axiomatic and relational.
Declarative knowledge is defined as factual knowledge or knowing ‘what’, it is basically the knowledge about the differences in the foreign country. While exposed to a different country, the expatriates sooner or later will recognize cultural differences, specific local market conditions etc. and start to think comparatively. This means that the expatriates start to compare their cultural values and habits with those of the foreign culture. According to Antal the process of gathering declarative knowledge is the basis to broaden the expatriates’ horizon, so that they are willing to understand that things differ in other parts of the world. Declarative knowledge is important for an organisation because retuned expatriates may introduce new ideas to the organisation and hence contribute to organisational learning.
The meaning of procedural knowledge is the knowledge about how things work. The expatriates in Antal’s study responded that they learned more about general management skills, specialist skills, and about learning how to learn. On the other hand one can argue that this kind of knowledge is not restricted to expatriates because it can also be obtained at home. But it is also true that an international assignment speeds up the process due to its special circumstances. Concerning procedural knowledge, Antal concludes that returned expatriates may challenge the way things are traditionally done in the home organisation and thus create awareness in the organisation that it has to learn new things.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the global business landscape and posits the core question regarding the value of expatriates for organizational learning.
2. Organisational learning: Discusses various models of learning, distinguishing between single-loop and double-loop learning as well as methodological and emergent learning frameworks.
3. Why expatriates?: Explores the motivations behind international assignments, including control, coordination, management development, and the establishment of foreign operations.
4. Expatriates’ knowledge: Categorizes the five types of knowledge (declarative, procedural, conditional, axiomatic, relational) acquired by expatriates abroad.
5. Discussion: Synthesizes the relationship between expatriate knowledge and organizational learning, while addressing the critical risks of expatriate failure.
6. Conclusion: Summarizes the key findings, emphasizing that expatriates can be a vital source of learning if supported by proper training and repatriation strategies.
Keywords
Expatriates, organisational learning, International Strategic Human Resource Management, global business, knowledge transfer, declarative knowledge, procedural knowledge, conditional knowledge, axiomatic knowledge, relational knowledge, expatriate failure, repatriation, management development.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper investigates the contribution of expatriates to organizational learning by analyzing the types of knowledge they acquire and how this knowledge is transferred back to the parent organization.
What are the central themes discussed?
The central themes include the link between international assignments and organizational learning, the classification of different knowledge types gained by expatriates, and the managerial challenges involved in repatriation.
What is the primary research question?
The primary research question is: "How valuable are expatriates to organisational learning?"
Which methodology is applied in this study?
The author uses a literature-based theoretical approach, analyzing organizational learning theories (e.g., Argyris & Schon, Miller, Antal) and applying them to the context of international human resource management.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers organizational learning frameworks, the strategic reasons for using expatriates, a detailed typology of knowledge gained during assignments, and a discussion on preventing expatriate failure.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include organisational learning, expatriates, knowledge transfer, international human resource management, and repatriation.
How does declarative knowledge contribute to an organization?
Declarative knowledge, or "knowing what," allows returned expatriates to introduce new ideas and comparative perspectives to the home office, thereby challenging established ways of doing business.
Why is "relational knowledge" considered of limited value for the wider organization?
While relational knowledge (knowing "who") is crucial for the individual expatriate to navigate foreign markets, it is often tied to interpersonal trust, making it difficult to fully institutionalize or transfer to other employees.
- Quote paper
- Felix Hettlage (Author), 2002, Expatriates A Source of Learning?, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/10976
