Der Auslandseinsatz als interkulturelle Personalentwicklungsmaßnahme (English shop)

Preview

Table of Contents, Datei (26 KB)
Extract, Datei (62 KB)

Introduction
The internationalisation of the market requires companies to send their employees to their worldwide locations within the company. This serves both to meet economic motives and to foster employees in their personal and professional development. However, this is only possible if the challenges that expatriation poses to those involved are proactively addressed through appropriate support measures. For mismanagement can lead not only to enormous costs due to the loss of know-how, but also to irreparable damage to the company’s image abroad.

Objective
The aim of this work is to identify, through the analysis of different assignment models and strategies, the challenges that arise for managers, expatriates and intercultural human resource development in the course of an assignment, and to recognise the potential for all those involved. In this way it is possible to develop proposals for optimising the individual processes in the assignment cycle, which could ultimately result in a competitive advantage for companies as well as in improved promotion of the development opportunities of expatriates.

Target group and benefit
The target groups of this work are, on the one hand, entrepreneurs and interested employees.
For entrepreneurs insofar as they wish to pursue new paths, such as intercultural human resource development measures, in order to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.
Interested employees of internationally operating companies gain from this work an idea of a possible foreign assignment and recognise themselves in expatriates and their experiences. Moreover, the work offers a theoretical framework for these experiences. The assignment can be reflected upon and the benefits better generated.
On the other hand, academics, for whom the topic is exciting insofar as it deals with the organisational implementation of intercultural human resource management in different culture transfer strategies.

Advantage compared with other books on the market
There is a vast amount of German- and English-language literature on the market on intercultural (human resource) management and on expatriation. Material specifically on intercultural human resource development and on foreign assignments against the background of intercultural human resource development is rare. This area is covered by the present work.

Building on a substantial theoretical section on culture, intercultural management and assignment management, and drawing on practical examples, the readers of this work can recognise the benefit of intercultural human resource development. They can identify potentials and fields of action for themselves and orient themselves in their individual situation on the basis of the proposed solutions presented.

Methodology
The examination of the subject is carried out, on the one hand, through the study of relevant German- and English-language literature as well as the review of data from internationally conducted studies on expatriate management. On the other hand, it is strongly practice-oriented, based on the author’s own experiences from the pilot study conducted within the framework of the practical project at a service company specialising in “relocation services” in India in 2007. Furthermore, an expert interview with a human resources manager is conducted and best-practice examples (the Bayer Group and EA Generali Versicherungs AG) are compared.

Results
As a result of this work it can be stated that professionally planned and implemented foreign assignments can be of enormous benefit to companies and that competitive advantages on the global labour market can thus be achieved.
Intercultural human resource development must invest a great deal in employee retention. Employees will develop in their personality and in their abilities through the foreign assignment above all if the framework conditions provided by intercultural human resource development are appropriate. It is important, precisely in the sense of long-term and sustainable human resource development through foreign assignments, to link all steps in the assignment cycle seamlessly. Since all phases influence one another reciprocally, the accompanying measures must be continuous. The accompanying measures should include both the expatriate and his or her family environment. Always with the consideration of when and where they need this support and assistance from human resource development and when they should have their very own intercultural learning experiences.
This sustainable human resource development is, however, only possible if management, on the one hand, shows interest, the appropriate attitude and an awareness of the problem and, on the other hand, is prepared to provide the financial means or other support measures to intercultural human resource development.
If companies do not regard their employees merely as a cost factor, but grant them the important role of a valuable resource within the company and make use of their potential, this can contribute to an enormous increase in the value of the company.