3. Selection and Training of Expatriates
Expatriate is the employee who relocates with or without family for a for a foreign
country for completion of job .Selecting the right person is important else there may be
problem of premature return of the expatriate and complications in international
business operations. . Ronen (1989) describes five categories of attributes of success:
(1) job factors (2) relational dimensions, (3) motivational state (4) family situation, and
(5) language skills. These five selection criteria are found to be effective in deciding on
the suitability of an expatriate for a foreign assignment.
Training of expatriates and employees involved in international business is a decisive
factor deciding the quality and performance of HR in international business. The
training should include.
• Cross Cultural training – it should foster an understanding and appreciation
of host country’s culture.
• Language training – the training must provide the knowledge of the language
used to communicate in the host country i.e. the rules of verbal, written, oral
and non verbal communication prevalent in host country must be introduced.
• Job specific/technical training – every job assignment is unique and the
employee must be trained to deal with the specific requirements of the job.
Mendenhall et al. (1987) distinguish between three types of training, namely,
(1) information giving approaches, which have a relatively low level of rigour;
(2) affective approaches which address people’s feelings as well as ‘facts’; and