Having just returned from our annual family skiing trip I have been reminded of how important it is to conserve and restore your energy resources. A few consecutive, full days of skiing can easily sap your physical energy. But we all know that our mental energy is a finite resource as well. And sometimes it […]
Expatriate Gig Workers: Opportunities and Considerations
The gig economy is on the rise – we can experience it while downloading yet another on-demand service app, meeting yet another freelancer, or seeing an increasing amount of temporary project-based job openings. The gig economy is also a highly discussed trend in different media outlets and industry reports. Some time ago I discussed the gig economy in […]
French Victory: Another Socio-political Statement?
The World Cup is over and this time France claimed mastery of the game. Naturally though, the big event and this big victory are not isolated from important social and political issues. As discussed in my previous blog post, in general, this World Cup has been Russia’s political statement and branding campaign. France’s World Cup win […]
Latest Global Mobility Trends
Over recent years I have talked about several megatrends and globally impactful changes in this blog: Brexit and Trump are shaking the geopolitical landscape and spreading protectionist tendencies; automation changes the world of work; the migration crisis and climate change stand as ongoing global issues; Europe foresees challenges of an aging population, while Chinese citizens […]
The World Cup: Soccer or Geopolitical Statement?
It is the second week of the soccer World Cup in Russia, which has already offered its surprising goals and disappointing misses to billions of soccer fans around the world, and there are still several weeks of excitement to come. Apart from exciting emotions though, such major sporting events do present opportunities far beyond sports. […]
Chinese Travelers: The More Outbound Movement, the More Tensions?
I guess we have all seen, heard or experienced the notorious Chinese tourists – the flag-following groups with impressive photographic equipment, who seem to be everywhere. Although the first part of the description can be easily seen as stereotypical, the notion about them being ubiquitous seems to become more and more supported by actual numbers. […]
Cosmopolitan Imaginary: Insights from the Latest Research
How do we understand the idea of cosmopolitanism? As an ideology and notion of self that doesn’t belong to any culture or country? As belonging to the world as a whole with no narrower cultural identifications? According to Gianpiero Petriglieri of INSEAD, cosmopolitanism is the aspiration to become a citizen of the world, it is […]
Another One of Trump’s Decisions
On Tuesday, U.S. president Donald Trumpwithdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. This is probably the second biggest decision, after him pulling out from the Paris climate accord, which reflects his ‘America first’ philosophy on a global scale through his foreign policies. The decision means that Trumpquits the multilateral deal that was meant to hold back […]
The Outdated Question of ‘Where Do You Work’?
Where do you work? A simple and common question we all know, right?! When asking such a question we are naturally interested in the position and organization one is working for… at the same time, the question also implies some indication of location, doesn’t it? In the past, this probably made perfect sense, and people […]
Human Diversity: Benefits for CEOs and Their Companies?
Embracing human diversityis not the strongest side of human nature. Plenty of social psychology concepts and research indicate how we tend to prefer people who are like us, form relationships with people who are alike rather than different, and categorize people similar to us into an ‘in-group’ and dissimilar people into an ‘out-group’. Evolutionary psychologists […]
Dear CEOs, Whose Side Are You on?!
Plato argued that everyone has an obligation to participate in politics… and although the share of the population that actively engages in elections is a challenging issue for many governments, the current reality is possibly closest to Plato’s vision than ever before. If before people would discuss political and social issues around the dining table […]
Global Mobility Functions: So Much to Do, so Little Time
A couple of years ago I wrote a blog post about the changing focus of the global mobility function, which was encouraged to move from a rather administrative to a more strategic role. It seems that today the trend is still relevant and the call for change is even more urgent than before. The recent […]
Gender Gap: From Concepts to Numbers
Gender imbalance is a topic that doesn’t seem to lose its relevance any time soon. Just recently I wrote about gender imbalance and related prospects of the AI economy, yet, today there is another reason to take on the discussion. Following the British government’s regulation of reporting information on the gender-pay gap, employers are gradually […]
‘Saving Globalization’ in Davos
Just about a year ago, I wrote about the feeling of uncertainty in light of globalization struggles and a global populist movement, which seemed to be taking off. The uncertainty and concerns seemed to be a shared mood also during the World Economic Forum in Davos back then. Now, as a year passed and the […]
Gender Imbalance and Prospects of the AI Economy
Gender imbalance has been on the agenda of businesses for quite some time now: women are underrepresented in higher-paying jobs, there are too few women on management and C-suite teams, and the majority of international assignees are also male. Be it our gender bias based on stereotypical gender traits, or congruent upbringing and environmental factors, […]
Into 2018 with Optimism
2018 – here we are! I believe that for many it is exciting to welcome the New Year, as it symbolises the beginning of something new, fills us with new energy and hope. Many times this momentum of a new beginning drives people to conclude ‘the past’ and create all sorts of resolutions and multiple […]
Latest Research: Effective Personality Traits of Expats
One of the traditional and still common purposes of expatriation is managing a foreign subsidiary, hence, traditional expatriate roles are to be found in senior executive levels and senior management teams. Given the responsibilities attached to these positions, and the costs of expatriation for the organization, the importance of success for such international assignments can […]
