Implications of Flexpatriates' Lifestyles On Hrm Practices**

Zusammenfassung

---

In this paper we argue that flexpatriates' needs and goals are not homogeneous and cannot be met simply by providing standard measures to facilitate working in different cultural locations. We review the nature of flexpatriate lifestyle to examine how employees of multinational enterprises located in Austria face a range of issues in their work, personal and family lives. We present four empirically grounded types, Tough Travelers, Enjoyers, Cosmopolitans and Contactors. The types show various facets of flexpatriates' lifestyles that are essential to understand their significant implications for HR architecture, commitment strategies and HRM practices in order to meet the employees' needs.

Siehe den Gesamtinhalt dieses Dokumentes

Auszug

---

Implications of Flexpatriates' Lifestyles On Hrm Practices**

1. Introduction

Even more so in times of economic crises and high unemployment, companies have to compete worldwide and enter new markets. These conditions contribute to staffing challenges like recruiting talent and establishing a "culturally sophisticated workforce and globally savvy business leaders" (Stahl et al. 2009: 90). To solve these staffing challenges a growing number of alternative international assignments are used complementary to the traditional long term expatriation (Collings et al. 2007). In the paper we focus on !!expatriate assignments, short-term, unaccompanied business travel assignments of people who have a job in a home office and carry a workload in other countries (Mayerhofer et al. 2004a,b). Working in cross border projects supports the development of specific competences, which increases the strategic importance of this group of employees (Harvey et al. forthcoming). A flexible and culturally competent workforce is highly valuable to a company due to its unique human capital. Employees with these kinds of characteristics are one of four archetypes Lepak and Snell (1999, 2002) pointed out in their HR architecture concept, where the HR configuration of commitment is especially relevant for flexpatriates and thus strong HR support is especially important for them.

Flexpatriates blur the boundaries between work and non-work domains (Ilies et al. 2009) while they function as key facilitators of cross-unit interaction and exchange. An increased international workload for professionals means opportunities to develop skills and competences in different cultural contexts but also new physical and psychological demands and new types of work-family tensions (Harvey et al. forthcoming; Suutari 2003).

"Increasingly MNEs have to deal with employees who either seek foreign assignments or who are eligible for such postings." (Briscoe et al. 2009: 186). But only if employees perceive the HR measures as adaptable to their interests, do these measures achieve highly binding effects (Lázaro va/ Caligiuri 2001). Thus, a commitment based HR configuration presumes that flexpatriates have the possibility to satisfy their needs and goals. We argue that flexpatriates' needs and goals are not homogeneous and cannot be met simply by providing standard measures to facilitate wor...

Siehe den Gesamtinhalt dieses Dokumentes

---