I am sure we all remember our school and university years, when we were filled with lots of theoretical and practical knowledge to be used in our future lives and careers. I am also sure we all remember the first days and weeks in our professional careers, when we realized that all that knowledge is […]
Corporate Volunteering Initiatives: What are the Benefits for Global Companies?
The globalization of business goes hand in hand with global mobility. Indeed, global mobility of employees is necessary to expand a company abroad, to establish partnerships with foreign companies, and generally, to sustain the international status of a company. As such, there are many different goals international assignments might aim to fulfill, which is why […]
Psychological Difficulties of Expatriation: When Inaction is the Best Action
Several of my recent posts emphasized the ‘dark’ sides of expatriation, namely the psychological difficulties of repatriation, loneliness when moving without family, and insecurities when adjusting to life abroad. Whether these are self-doubts, extensive tensions, critical thoughts or negative feelings that arise in challenging situations, we can all agree that such undesirable states are quite […]
Split Family Assignments: From Mere Inconvenience to Feelings of Loss
In one of my recent posts I discussed the issue of dual-career couples. As noted, dual-career challenges remain one of the key expatriation challenges, influencing both the decision to accept an assignment and the assignment experience itself. Due to several possible reasons, families may decide to split for the period of the assignment, so that […]
Homeland: When Returning Back Home Turns into a Drama
All of us enjoy watching TV series! And so, the one I am currently enjoying is the recent American drama series ‘Homeland’, which is considered to be a great success, winning both Golden Globe and Emmy awards. The reason I am bringing it up here is that apart from being exciting and entertaining in itself, […]
Dual-Career Challenges: What Can Companies Do?
A few weeks ago, when reviewing the latest stats from industry surveys on expatriates, I noted that there is a slowly emerging shift towards younger and less attached expatriates. Yet, the average profile of an expatriate still remains quite traditional, including a dominance of male employees, who are married or have a partner. Given this […]
Global Leadership: Inner Talent or Learned Skill?
When I recently looked into publications on global leadership and talent management, my attention was caught by two different articles, which surely would make for a heated discussion if put together. On one hand is a recent blog entry by David Livermore, who emphasizes that global leadership is not based on natural qualities or dispositions, […]
Expat Motivation: The Role of Goal Orientation
In last week’s entry I reviewed the sources of expat motivation, as derived from the standpoint of self-determination theory. Specifically, I brought up the argument that the more self-determined one’s behavior, the more intrinsically motivated this behavior. On the other hand, as mentioned in my previous post, goals or tasks can also be viewed as […]
The Psychology of Expat Motivation: From Theory to Practice
If we think about the reasons why people engage in different activities, devote their time and effort to these activities, and persist in doing what they do despite various difficulties and challenges, one central concept that comes to mind is motivation. Indeed, motivation can be seen as a ‘push-button’ that elicits, controls and directs behavior. […]
The Expatriate Population: Latest Findings from Industry Surveys
Recently, two of the leading global relocation companies, Brookfield GRS and Cartus, have published their annual surveys. As in previous years, both surveys shed light on the most relevant trends in global mobility, describing current international assignee populations, their main motives and challenges, as well as the challenges faced by employers and relocation professionals. I […]
Online Freelancing: A ‘Dream Job’ in the Globalized World?
Today is different than before. Long, long time ago people used to settle in one place and remain there for their lifetimes, in large because there were no roads or public infrastructure available. Then people built roads, invented cars and trains, and started moving between cities. Next, planes were invented, people started learning languages, and […]
Gender Diversity on a Global Scale: Different Perspectives
Gender diversity in organizations and female underrepresentation in management teams has been a widely discussed topic in global business. While I have already reviewed it in several of my previous blog posts, there are more recent publications that are very relevant and worth discussing. So, why are women still underrepresented in leadership positions? Is it […]
Long Road to Work: The Case of Supercommuting
The majority of us share the same daily routine of getting to and from work. In busy London and New York many take the subway, in sunny Barcelona and environmentally friendly Copenhagen it is possible to get around with a bike, while in smaller and less expensive cities many might use private cars. And even […]
Immigrants: Why Would Any Country Want Them?
On April 16, 2013 the United States Senate was introduced to a new immigration reform bill, called The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. The reform bill aims to increase border security, streamline legal immigration, and address the issue of undocumented immigrants already settled in the country. In regards to the […]
Extreme Cases of Repatriation: Not your ‘Average Joe’ Story
When we usually talk about an expatriate, we tend to consider the ‘average Joe’: the one who relocates abroad for a work assignment for a definite or indefinite period, who faces challenges with adjusting abroad, and who most probably encounters reverse cultural shock and readjustment problems upon repatriation back home. However, there are far more […]
A GLOBAL World of…LOCAL Businesses
Today it is possible to cross borders of different countries and still manage to eat in the same places, shop for the same brands, and stay in the same hotel chains. Plainly speaking, this is the era of globalization. Many new businesses are trying to expand abroad and find a place in the global market; […]
