A1: An examination of work and personal life conflict, organizational support, and employee health among international expatriates
Elisa J. Grant-Vallonea,*, Ellen A. Ensherb
Grant-Vallone, E.J., & Ensher, E. A. (2001). International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 25(3), 261-278. doi: 10.1016/S0147-1767(01)00003-7

Abstract: This study analyzes the effect of two types of work and personal life conflict and organizational support on expatriate employees’ mental well-being. Survey data were obtained from a culturally diverse sample of 118 employees working in Europe. Overall, employees reported higher levels of work interfering with their personal life, than personal life interfering with their work. Results demonstrated that work–personal life conflict was related to employees’ depression and anxiety and personal–work life conflict was related to employees’ concern for their health. Organizational support had significant main effects on well-being and conflict; however, organizational support did not buffer the effects of conflict on expatriates’ well-being. Although organizations are often concerned with the reduction of personal life interfering with work for expatriates (e.g., spouse employment, schooling for children), this study suggests that organizations should also concerned with how work is interfering with expatriates personal lives (e.g., reevaluate extensive travel, long hours.) Thus, programs that address both types of conflict are imperative to retain high quality employees. Finally, this study suggests that informal types of organizational support (e.g., a perception that the organization is concerned with one’s personal life) are important for expatriate success, and should be incorporated into expatriate programs. # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Discussion:
The majority of employees who participated in this study suggested that their work hours, extensive travel, and professional demands negatively affected their personal life and family responsi- bilities. the spillover between work and personal life had serious implications for employees’ mental well-being. Employees who perceived high levels of work–personal life conflict reported higher levels of depression and anxiety and employees with high levels of personal–work life conflict were more likely to be concerned with their health.
Organizational support had several important effects on employees. Employees who perceived that their organization offered a supportive environment reported lower levels of depression, anxiety, concern for their health, and work–personal life conflict. However, there was no evidence of buffering effects.

A2: The repatriate experience as seen by American expatriates
Annette B. Bossarda,*, Richard B. Petersonb,1
Journal of World Business 40 (2005) 9–28. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2004.10.002
Discussion:
Quite a large number of respondents felt left alone when they came back and had to find a new job within their company.
They thought the company had not done enough to help them in finding a new and interesting position where they would be able to use their newly acquired skills and nowledge.
A promotion upon repatriation is quite rare, and usually the repatriates felt their overseas job had been more interesting than their new work.
As to the communication between head-quarters and the expatriates, several respondents had the feeling of being ‘‘out of sight, out of mind’’.

that can be made is to improve intra-company communication. Many expatriates feel as if they are ‘‘out of sight, out of mind’’ while on the foreign posting, and they miss a lot of information about what is going on at headquarters in the meantime. This is often a problem when they come back home, because they do not know anymore who is doing what, how the new performance evaluation system works, what happened to the previous co-workers, and so forth. Better communication might also help the companies to gain a better picture of what their expatriates are actually doing while on assignment. Last, but not least, if the top managers of the MNCs had more international experience themselves, they would probably be better able to understand what it means to successfully complete a foreign assignment, and they could better appreciate the value of such an assignment.

A3: A new perspective on the female expatriate experience: The role of host country national categorization
Arup Varma a,*, Soo Min Toh b,1, Pawan Budhwar c,2
Journal of World Business 41 (2006) 112–12 doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2006.01.010 Discussion and conclusion
In addition, research has shown that the U.S. is a highly individualistic society, with little or no emphasis on in-group and out-group categorization, while India is highly collectivistic (Hofstede, 1980). In India, individuals are often driven by the need to take care of those in their in-group, which is typically made up of extended family, and friends. Indeed, India is ranked as one of the most ‘‘collective in-group countries’’ (Javidan & House, 2001), where individuals’ need to take care of the in-group may sometimes overtake the organization’s formal rules.

While there is no doubt that better pre-assignment planning, selection, and training can help organizations find individuals who are better suited to expatriate assignments, there is another rather important variable that needs to be studied—the role of HCNs. Indeed, the perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of HCNs can have a significant effect on the expatriates’ experience, from adjustment to work success, to understanding local norms and practices (Toh et al., 2004).
This examination will help us better understand the processes by which HCNs decide their reactions and subsequent behavior toward their expatriate co-workers. In this connection, Toh et al. (2004) argue that in-group/out-group social categorization by HCNs can influence the willingness of HCNs to offer social support to expatriates.
Given the significant cultural differences between these two countries, it is very likely that HCNs from either country would perceive expatriates from the other country as dissimilar in values. Clearly, this is a critical issue, and likely to prove a stumbling block in the expatriates’ attempts to gain cooperation from the HCNs. While expatriates cannot be expected to change their values for purposes of their assignment, perhaps they could emphasize the shared values between the two nations (e.g., democracy), in the initial stages of the assignment. Pre-departure training could play a critical role here, by exposing potential expatriates to the shared values of the home and host countries.
Another possible reason for this finding might be found embedded in the cultural differences between the two countries we studied. In contrast to the U.S., India is a highly collectivistic society, where traits such as nurturance, group orientation, and harmonious relation- ship building are emphasized. Indeed, these are the very characteristics that are often attributed to females, and it is thus possible that Indian HCNs prefer female expatriates as they see them as representing these values.
Clearly, our results suggest that female expatriates from the U.S. might actually have a distinct advantage over their male counterparts on expatriate assignments in India. This finding supports Adler’s (1987) finding that female expatriates from North America do not face discrimination in Asia. Perhaps it is time for organizations to make special efforts to recruit females for expatriate assignments, as females might very well be the ‘‘model global manager (Tung, 2004).

A4: The relationship between expatriate job level and host country national categorization: an investigation in the UK
Varma, A., Pichler, S., & Budhwar, P. (2011). The relationship between expatriate job level and host country national categorization: an investigation in the UK, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22:01, 103-120, DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2011.538971 host country nationals (HCNs) in the UK, we investigated relationships between expatriate gender, national origin, and job level, and HCN characteristics and willingness to help expatriates. Results showed that HCNs from the UK are likely to categorize expatriates as in-group or out-group members based on perceived values similarity, ethnocentrism, and collectivism. This categorization is also likely to affect HCN willingness to provide role information and social support to expatriates. Overall, our results suggest that HCNs would be more likely to provide role-related information to subordinates and peers than supervisors, and social support to male peers regardless of their nationality (i.e. USA vs. India). The analysis contributes to the fields of expatriate management, social categorization, and international human resource management. It also has key messages for multinational companies regarding the development of efficient expatriate management systems.
Discussion:
Expatriate assignments play a critical role in multinational organizations, yet the factors that might help determine the level of success on these assignments continue to baffle and bother practitioners and researchers. As the number of MNEs establishing and/or expanding their operations in other countries grows, the need for expatriate assignments will also continue to grow (Tung and Varma 2008).
While several organizational and individual level factors potentially contributing to expatriate success have been investigated, one important aspect of the expatriate assignment process, namely, the role played by HCNs, has gone mostly unexplored.
As we noted in the introduction, the majority of the research on expatriate issues seems to have been based on the belief that the home organization and the expatriate control most, if not all, of the factors affecting the expatriate’s experience on assignment. While there is no doubt that better pre-assignment planning, selection, and training can help organizations find individuals who are better suited to expatriate assignments, there is another rather important variable that needs to be studied – the role of HCNs.
In terms of this study, our results reveal some interesting findings. First, HCNs in the UK tend to categorize expatriates based on the perceived values similarity, ethnocentrism, and collectivism. In other words, when HCNs perceive expatriates to have similar values, they are more likely to include them in their in-groups, while excluding those who are perceived to have dissimilar values.
Given that individuals often tend to ascribe similar values to those who are from similar backgrounds, especially in terms of ethnicity or national origin, this finding is notable, as it suggests that British HCNs are more likely to perceive expatriates from the USA as having similar values than those from India. while the UK is generally regarded as a highly individualistic country overall, those within the population with higher degrees of collectivistic feelings are more likely to include American expatriates into their in-groups, rather than Indian expatriates.
First, participants were more likely to provide role-related information to peers and subordinates than to supervisors, and further, participants were more likely to provide role- related information to subordinates than peers.
This is an interesting finding, and warrants further discussion. Given that such information can often prove crucial in getting started on a new assignment in a new location, this finding is worth noting, especially for MNCs. One implication of this finding is that organizations may need to better prepare individuals being sent on expatriate assignments, especially those who are assigned supervisory roles, or take independent charge of overseas operations. These individuals may need to look outside the organization for role-related information, perhaps from peers, including other expatriates in similar roles.
These findings have important implications for multinational organizations sending expatriates to the UK. First, it is imperative that organizations pay close attention to their pre-departure expatriate training programs in order to pay emphasis on educating the expatriate on the history, culture, language, and social characteristics of the host country (in this case, the UK).

Less social support from HCNs
In terms of social support, we found that HCNs were more likely to provide social support to male peers regardless of their nationality. This perhaps reflects the fact that, for decades now, MNCs have primarily sent their male employees on expatriate assign- ments, leading to HCNs having a level of comfort dealing with male expatriates – thus, they are not sure of how to deal with female expatriates, especially when it comes to nonwork-related interaction. Next, we found that our participants were more likely to provide social support to male supervisors from the USA, and more likely to provide social support to male subordinates from India.

A5.
Foster, N. (1997). 'The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates': a reappraisal. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8(4), 414-433. doi: 10.1080/095851997341531
Poor performance and personal problem makes some expatriates to return home earlier than the agreed end of the international assignment.

Another concern is not only for employers but also for the increasing number of dual-career couples are getting affected for International Assignment.

Repatriation:
International assignments can pleasurable, commercially profitable and career developing experiences for expatriates. But the management of repatriation is getting critical for MNEs. In UK 37% of expatriates reported ‘reduced work status’ problems and 18 % reported ‘adjustment problem with new management styles' after coming home.

Long-term traditional assignment plan to convert assignees into truly international managers is often seems to be ridiculous. In terms of this concept the rhetoric of internationalization in to the actual HRM can turn to expatriate failure.

A6:
Clegg, B., & Gray, S. J. (2002). Australian expatriates in Thailand: some insights for expatriate management policies, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13:4, 598-623, doi: 10.1080/09585190110092802

and geocentric. For an Australian working in South-East Asia, the relevant philosophies are ethnocentric, where the employer is Australian and believes that home-country citizens should staff their foreign subsidiary, and geocentric, where the employer holds that nationality is irrelevant and the best candidate should be chosen.

A7:
Kollinger, I. (2005). Women and expatriate work opportunities in Austrian organizations, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16:7, 1243-1260.doi: 10.1080/09585190500144186
The issue involves with female managers as an international expatriates. This is caused by lack of female talent available for the relevant functions of international positions, prejudice of host country nationals about female managers, and due to personal reasons female shows less interest in international assignments Kollinger, I. (2005). Female are taking primary responsibility to take care children, aging parents and households, mainly they concentrate on their spouse or partner’s career more then their own. So, they less tend to go overseas assignment or fail to complete assignment successfully for their family priority.
Conclusion:
Female always takes the major responsibility for family and spouse career are the most core reason for frequent refusal of international assignment/re-assignment of female managers. several counter-arguments indicate that female managers can be successful in international management: because female expatriates differ in their appearance, their actions and finally by their professional status from local women, they will experience different treatment and acceptance (Grove and Hallowell, 1997)

A8:
Collings, D. J., Scullion, H., Morley, M. J. (2007). Changing patterns of global staffing in the multinational enterprise: Challenges to the conventional expatriate assignment and emerging alternatives. Journal of World Business, 42, 198–213. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2007.02.005
Alongside the conventional expatriate assignment, we point to the emergence of a portfolio of alternatives to the traditional international assignment including short-term assignments, commuter assignments, international business travel and virtual assignments. In the context of these developments, we argue that a standardised approach to international assignments is untenable and that it is essential to develop HR policies and procedures that reflect differences in the various forms of emerging alternative international assignments and their associated complexities. Here recruitment and selection, training, reward, and occupational health and safety issues and implications are all explored.
Why do organisations use expatriates?
Before considering the challenges associated with the traditional expatriate assignment it is important to briefly outline the key strategic reasons why MNCs use expatriates, as the literature is characterised by a number of well-articulated advantages associated with the deployment of expatriates in the staffing of international subsidiaries and operations.
Owners of international organisations thus realised the benefits of utilising people known to them and socialised into the organisation in minimising the agency problems (Jensen & Meckling, 1976)
In their landmark study, Edstro ̈m and Galbraith (1977) proposed three motives for using expatriates. Firstly, as position fillers when suitably qualified host country nationals (HCNs) were not available. Secondly, as a means of management development, aimed at developing the competence of the individual manager.
D.G. Collings et al. / Journal of World Business 42 (2007) 198–213 199
200 D.G. Collings et al. / Journal of World Business 42 (2007) 198–213
Thirdly, as a means of organisational development, aimed at increasing knowledge transfer within the MNC and modifying and sustaining organizational structure and decision processes.
In the European context the repatriation problem has become particularly acute because internationalization had often taken place at the same time as downsizing of the domestic business which reduced opportunities for expatriate managers on re-entry (Scullion, 1994).
A final constraint on the supply of international management talent in many MNCs is the weaknesses of talent management systems, which may be defined as approaches to recruit, retain, develop and motivate a competent cohort of managerial talent with appropriate international experience in the global business environ- ment (Briscoe & Schuler, 2004; Scullion & Collings, 2006b).
Scullion and Starkey (2000) demonstrated that a key integration role for the corporate HR function in the international firm was the strategic management of talent on an international basis. However, despite the rhetoric and hype about talent management, there is little evidence to suggest that many companies practice talent management in a co-ordinated and efficient way (Cohn, Khurana, & Reeves, 2005). Recent research highlighted that many MNCs are frequently unaware of where their best talent is located (Evans et al., 2002) and, in addition, many MNCs have difficulties in identifying their high performers (Michaels, Handfield-Jones, & Axelrod, 2001).

2.6 Costly for expatriates
The problem involves with long-term traditional assignment turns to high cost for MNEs and individuals due to poor performance and failure of expatriates (Collings et al., 2007).
Selmer, (2001) estimated that, the cost related with the international assignment is between three and five times an expatriate’s home salary per year. Collings et al., (2007) argued that in traditional expatriate assignments the personal costs often tolerated by employees and their families. UK and North America are two most expensive countries for long-term assignments. So, Kakapo’s expatriates does not willing to go back those two countries once they come back. But Australia is less expensive for NZ expatriates. So, they does no fe
4.6 cost recommendation:
Kakapo’s HRM policies and practices can focus on family friendly staffing policies to make non-traditional assignment more successful for both organisations and expatriates (Mayrhofer & Scullion, 2002; Mayerhofer et al., 2004).