{"id":713,"date":"2012-01-31T23:35:39","date_gmt":"2012-01-31T22:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/?p=713"},"modified":"2025-03-27T12:37:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T11:37:43","slug":"staffing-with-inpatriate-managers-a-recent-study-on-the-role-of-interpersonal-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/2012\/01\/31\/staffing-with-inpatriate-managers-a-recent-study-on-the-role-of-interpersonal-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Staffing with inpatriate managers: A recent study on the role of interpersonal trust"},"content":{"rendered":"

Inpatriates are seen as a viable staffing alternative in global organizations. As discussed in my last year\u2019s post<\/a>, the value of inpatriates is high, as they fulfil the role of connectors or so-called linking pins between subsidiaries and the headquarters (HQ). Thus, staffing organizations with inpatriate managers is likely to be beneficial in the sense of creating intra-organizational relationships.<\/p>\n

Given my continuous interest in the topic of inpatriates, I co-authored a recently published article \u2018Developing effective global relationships through staf\ufb01ng with inpatriate managers: The role of interpersonal trust\u2019. Together with my colleagues Michael Harvey and Miriam Moeller, we examine inpatriates and their trust building as a means to develop effective global relationships. The question we raise is the following: How can global organizations manage inpatriates by building strong and committed relationships, keeping in mind the temporary and at times short-term nature of their assignments?<\/p>\n

We find that one of the key elements of effective global relationships lies within building trust among individual inpatriates and their counterparts at the corporate headquarters (HQ). Having familiarity with both global and local organizations, inpatriate managers are a valuable source of facilitating change and bringing differences to global decision-making processes. However, to do so inpatriate managers need to become part of the HQ management team, which will require them to be perceived as trustworthy.<\/p>\n

Elaborating on the importance of reciprocal trust building between the inpatriate and the organization, we conceptualize three main outcomes of trust building for both the organization and the individual inpatriate. Specifically, we propose that trustworthy relationships can improve organizational capabilities of global talent management, inpatriate commitment and loyalty, and inpatriates\u2019 career progression.<\/p>\n

First, we argue that trust between inpatriates and HQ staff will positively in\ufb02uence a global organization\u2019s ability to develop its talent globally. Specifically, the successful management of inpatriates sends an important message for prospective assignees, indicating that accepting inpatriation is worthwhile. Drawing on practical implications for organizations, it is important to note that current inpatriates may serve as mentors for new inpatriates in the future. Moreover, mentoring is highlighted as a tool for creating acceptance among HQ colleagues, thus making integration for inpatriates easier.<\/p>\n

Second, we argue that from an organizational perspective, trust between inpatriates and HQ staff as representatives of the parent organization may help to increase inpatriate loyalty and commitment to the global organization and, in turn, maintain interpersonal trust over time. Keeping inpatriates in the organization long-term is especially important taking into account the economic consequences of turnover and effective knowledge retention.<\/p>\n

Finally, from the inpatriates\u2019 perspective, we argue that trust relationships may entail career benefits for the individual. Good and trustworthy relationships stimulate the exchange of job-related information and recommendations. Perceived possibilities for career progression are again needed for retaining inpatriates within the organization, especially upon repatriation.<\/p>\n

To conclude, we argue that the pivotal role of inpatriate managers requires a higher level of trust by and for the inpatriate manager. The discussed outcomes of trustworthy relationships imply the long-term benefits for both the organization, through inpatriates\u2019 role as boundary spanners; and the inpatriate, through increased career opportunities. Thus, keeping the long-term perspective in mind, the development of such competencies as trust building becomes vital.<\/p>\n

Further reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Harvey, M.,\u00a0 Reiche, B. S. and Moeller, M. (2011). \u2018Developing effective global relationships through staffing with inpatriate managers: The role of interpersonal trust\u2019, Journal of International Management<\/em>, 17, 2, 150-161.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Inpatriates are seen as a viable staffing alternative in global organizations. Specifically, inpatriate managers are a valuable source of facilitating change and bringing differences to global decision-making processes. However, to do so inpatriate managers need to become part of the HQ management team, which will require them to be perceived as trustworthy. Take a look at the review of a recent article on the topic. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18330],"tags":[18424,18422,18423,18425],"class_list":["post-713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-views-and-news-about-expatriates","tag-global-relationships","tag-inpatriate","tag-interpersonal-trust","tag-staffing"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3601,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions\/3601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/expatriatus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}