The role of political competence in global assignments of expatriate managers

The role of political competence in global assignments

of expatriate managers

Michael Harveya,*, Milorad Novicevicb

aSchool of Business Administration, University of Mississippi, University, MS 38677, USAbUniversity of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, USA

Abstract

Many expatriate managers have had difficulty in successfully adjusting to the demands of

increasingly complex global assignments. There has been a wide range of generic explanations why

the level of dissatisfaction with expatriate global competence has increased. One aspect that has not

received significant attention when examining this problem has been the assessment of expatriate

managers’ political competence. The self-confidence and the social astuteness, plus the ability to adapt

to social settings, to gain the confidence of others, to have influence on others and being viewed as

genuine/sincere, are the indicators of an expatriate manager’s political competence. This paper

employs a political competency-based approach to global assignments. Therefore, a means to assess

the level of political competence of expatriate managers is developed in the paper.

D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Expatriate manager; Political competence; Emerging countries; Competency-based view; Global

assignments

1. Introduction

The competencies necessary to be an effective manager in the global arena are more

sophisticated and diverse than those needed by managers in the domestic organization

(Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1987a,b, 1998; The Quest, 1991; Black and Porter, 1991; Quelch,

1992). Due the level of uncertainty and variety of operating environments that expatriate

1075-4253/02/$ – see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.

PII: S1075 -4253 (02 )00093 -5

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-662-915-5820; fax: +1-662-915-5821.

E-mail address: [email protected] (M. Harvey).

Journal of International Management

8 (2002) 389–406

managers may encounter, it becomes imperative that developmental programs for

expatriate managers should be implemented to address such needs (Garten, 1996,

1997). These competencies must go beyond the functional expertise used on the job

to incorporate competencies of social influence (Hofstede, 1980, 1992; Schneider, 1992).

The social influence competence of particular value in global assignments is expatriate

political competence (Ferris and Judge, 1991). In particular, political competence is a

combination of various social influence abilities, skills, knowledge and behaviors that

managers’ possess/acquire/exhibit and can be used to influence effectively decision-making

in an organization context (Ferris et al., 2001). This effectiveness is valuable because it

augments the global mindset and global leadership capital of the organization.

The need for expatriate political competence is accentuated when implementing

corporate initiatives in high context cultures such as those found in Eastern Europe and

many of the emerging countries in Asia. If expatriate managers have had difficulties in the

past adjusting and successfully learning to lead in Europe and the rest of the developed

world, one would expect that learning failure rates could be much higher in the culturally/

socially distant emerging countries. The primary reasons given for these higher than

average failure rates of expatriate managers in acquiring global leadership competencies

have been: (1) a lack of adequate training relative the level of stress and tension associated

with the overseas transfer; reduced organizational support for the manager prior, during

and after the transfer; (2) career impact ambiguity and the value of the overseas

assignment; (3) the level of cultural/economic ‘‘novelty’’ (i.e., magnitude of differences

between home/host countries); (4) ad hoc, case-by-case negotiation of compensation/

benefit programs for managers; (5) a lack of motivation and willingness to participate

in foreign assignments; (6) the number one reason given for expatriate failures, problems

with the family members adjusting to the host country environment; and (7) the lack of

political awareness and skill to effectively address the social/political environments found

during foreign assignments (Brewster and Pickard, 1994; Chen, 1994; Fish and Wood,

1996; Caligiuri et al., 1998; Florkowski and Fogel, 1999; Harvey, 1998; Harvey and

Novicevic, 2000; Harvey et al., 1999).

To assess expatriate managers’ ability to effectively adapt to the decision-making differ-

ences between the home and host country macro/organizational environments, a political

competency inventory of each expatriate manager would appear to be a valuable assessment

tool (Drory and Romm, 1990; Friedman and Lipshitz, 1994). The more adept expatriate

managers are in utilizing their political competencies the higher the probability of these

expatriate managers to learn successfully how to become global leaders (Harvey, 1997).

Therefore, one could conclude that a critical competency not only of operating effectively in a

foreign country but also of leading globally could be political in nature (Ferris and Judge,

1991; Ferris et al., 1994, 2001).

This paper examines expatriate political competence within the context of global

assignments. The purpose of this article is to propose a competency-based approach to

improving the selection, development and staffing of expatriate managers in global

assignments through the appropriate assessment and development of political compet-

ence.

M. Harvey, M. Novicevic / Journal of International Management 8 (2002) 389–406390

2. A competency-based view of expatriate selection, development and staffing for global

assignments

A competency-based view of the relationship between human resource management and

expatriate selection, development and staffing for global assignments suggests that input,

managerial, and transformation-based competencies operate interdependently creating firm-

specific competencies that can produce a sustained competitive advantage (Lado and Wilson,

1994). A competency-based perspective explicitly addresses the dynamic nature of the global

environment by acknowledging that, the initial set of competencies (i.e., organizational and

individual) should be renewed by the development of new competencies through orchestrated

selection and development of competent expatriate managers. This renewal suggests that a

global organization should formulate its strategic intent to discover and develop new

competencies of strategic relevance through development of the complementary competen-

cies to those possessed by past expatriate managers (Sanchez et al., 1997).

Exhibit 1 illustrates the basic components of a competency-based strategic choice process.

Competencies are divided into three distinct categories: (1) input competencies—capital,

labor, physical assets and other factor inputs to the global organization; (2) managerial

competencies—top management team (TMT) capabilities, managerial social knowledge,

Exhibit 1. Competency-based strategic choice process.

M. Harvey, M. Novicevic / Journal of International Management 8 (2002) 389–406 391

informal internal/external business networks of global organizations and personal social

capital of expatriate managers that can be used to accomplish the mission of the organization;

and (3) transformation-based competencies—the ability of management to accomplish the

tasks necessary to gain competitive position in the marketplace, which assumes adaptability

and learning capabilities embedded in the expatriate manager as well as the global

organization (Harvey et al., 1999).

As is depicted in Exhibit 1, the three types of competencies can be bundled to provide a set

of strategic choice options. A greater set of competencies throughout the operating entities of

the global organization equates to improved strategic options. The strategic choice options are

weighed against the opportunities across the host country contexts. As the level of

competencies increases and the local contexts become more uncertain, management may

make future strategic choices to position the global organization dynamically in the business

landscape based on the competent advice from the expatriates on global assignments. This

continuous expatriate-sourced reassessment of interdependent local opportunities and market

changes allows the organization to develop a global competency set (i.e. input, managerial

and transformational) unique from other organizations competing in hypercompetitive market

segments (Harvey and Novicevic, 2000). Each of the three distinct categories of compe-

tencies will be briefly discussed in the following parts of this section.

2.1. Input competencies

Input resources play a critical role in developing sustained competitive advantage within

the firm value chain. These are the same competencies that would be identified in a resource-

based view of the firm: the bundled tangible and intangible internal resources (Oster, 1990)

that are valuable, rare, imperfectly mobile and inimitable (Barney, 1991). These input

resources may include physical assets, organizational capital and specific human resources

that enable an organization to effectively compete in the global marketplace with valued

products and services (Lado and Wilson, 1994).

Specific to global organizations attempting to develop dynamic capabilities through

expatriation of managers in global assignments is the identification and selection of an

adequate number of competent managers with a strong desire or interest in managing in and

across subsidiaries. These input human resources may also include third country nationals

employed in overseas subsidiaries who share their tacit knowledge of the local context with

members of the home country organization.

2.2. Managerial competencies

Managerial competencies focus on the global organizations vision of the top management

team (TMT) and the decisions and actions necessary to realize that vision (Lado et al., 1992).

Managerial competencies may create sustained competitive advantage directly if the TMT is

able to exploit unique expatriate specific competencies. These competencies are particularly

valuable to the organization if they provide an institutional bridge between the cultural, social

and political divide often found between the domestic and foreign subsidiaries (Gabby and


Zuckerman, 1998). As these managerial competencies develop, the resulting outcomes from

implementing new strategic visions may reshape the thinking, actions and even the worldview

of the TMT, making it ultimately evolve into a global mindset (Kefalas, 1998; Paul, 2000).

Specific to expatriate staffing of subsidiaries, a competency-based perspective would

suggest that a diverse and heterogeneous set of cognitive perspectives (Mahoney and

Pandian, 1992) and managers’ coordination capabilities (Sanchez et al., 1997) can encourage

superior performance of the network of subsidiaries. The objective would be to create

multidimensional competencies to facilitate effective implementation of global, as well as

local initiatives. Developing this multilevel competency may result in a superior performance

of the organization because such initiatives would be consistent with the organization’s

unique stock of expatriate managerial competencies (Wright, 1994).

2.3. Transformation-based competencies

The TMT may also need to acquire and develop competencies to more effectively address

issues and collaborative relationships with external entities and institutions (i.e., government

agencies, banks, suppliers, customers and strategic alliance partners) and key individuals in

the host countries. This broad set of competencies has been labeled as transformation-based.

Transformation-based competencies are those that enable the foreign subsidiary to transform

inputs into outputs and may include alliance-based technology or marketing innovations that

facilitate new product and customer relationship development (Lado et al., 1992). Similarly,

these competencies may create a collective experience base and/or learning capability

resulting in an organizational culture conducive to learning, that is difficult for competitors

to replicate and therefore can create a relative competitive advantage over other global

organizations (Taylor et al., 1996; Roth and O’Donnell, 1996).

Transformation-based competencies can play a specific role in global organizations and

their subsidiaries. First, there may be situations, outside the global organization’s network of

relationships, which may require tacit local knowledge to explore business relationship

options and exploit opportunities in a specific geographic area or culture. By utilizing

competent expatriates with multiple skills, global organizations are developing a specific

competency of such tacit knowledge that is difficult for global competitors to duplicate.

Furthermore, the tacit knowledge gain through having highly competent expatriate managers

in foreign subsidiaries can be brought back and embedded into the domestic firm-specific

routines, which in turn can facilitate organizational learning ultimately increasing organiza-

tional effectiveness in global competitive positioning.

By combining the three distinct categories of competencies effectively, the global organ-

izations can configure a repertoire of strategic choices relative to a specific national competitive

environment, while at the same time being mindful of the need to maintain consistency among

subsidiary policies/procedures. Such consistency is derived from the development of a TMT

global mindset, which in turn thrives on the creation of an adequate pool of global managers

with complementary competencies and maintains a proactive posture relative to the value of

assembling, motivating and retaining a multicultural management team for use in global

organizations (Kedia and Mukherji, 1999; Kefalas, 1998; Paul, 2000). Therefore, an expatriate


selection, development and staffing system needs to be developed that facilitates effective

deployment of the firm-specific competencies based on individual competencies of expatriates.

The focus of this system is on renewing specific social/political competences of expatriates

required for global assignments.

3. Gaining a clearer understanding of expatriate political competence needed for global

assignments

Expatriate political competence would appear to be an essential competence when one

considers the level of newness, ambiguity and the complexity most global assignments entail

that are focused on exploring and exploiting opportunities in emerging economies. Therefore,

to better understand the potential benefits of expatriate political competence for global

assignments, it is necessary to decompose the concept into its key dimensions. Researchers

(Ferris et al., 2001) have identified four basic dimensions of the political competence

construct (i.e., encompassing the associated abilities, skills, knowledge and behaviors),

which are the following.

3.1. Self and social awareness

The ability to ascertain from social interactions the meaning of one’s actions and the

reactions of others. Being a keen observer of what is taking and/or not taking place in a

particular social setting enables the political astute expatriate to impact outcomes/performance.

The higher the level of social awareness and the greater the success in influencing the behavior

of others, the higher the self-awareness of the self-efficacy of expatriate managers. These highly

self-aware individuals can then translate their success into new situations/problems/environ-

ments in which they will have to make operative decisions although they do not have first-hand

experience. Knowing how to ‘‘read’’ social situations provides the individual expatriate with

political competencies that many of his/her counterparts do not have.

3.2. Interpersonal influence and control

Socially competent expatriate managers have the ability to get others to believe in them as

individuals that can get results and in the broadest sense of the word can lead. The expatriate

managers have to have the ability to adapt their behavior to the social context of the foreign

organization and the cultural/social norms of the host country. The political competence of

these expatriates allows them to have influence beyond his/her hierarchical position in the

organization.

3.3. Genuineness and sincerity

Closely coupled to the level of influence one has in social settings is the perceived

genuineness of the expatriate. The ability to merge the social norms of the host country into


the personification of their actions distinguishes expatriate managers who have inordinate

political abilities/skills/knowledge. A key to build this type of reputation is to ameliorate the

concerns of the organization members that the actions of the expatriate are for their own

benefit. Objectivity in dealing with others, so that the expatriate is viewed as being a ‘‘straight

shooter’’ is a fundamental aspect of gaining political competence.

3.4. Established social capital inside/outside the organization

Political competence is built through the use of preexisting social capital of managers. One

of the fundamental problems with expatriate managers is that they are unceremoniously

‘‘dropped’’ into the host country organization with a more or ‘‘less take it or leave it’’

message from headquarters. Social capital is the organizational ‘‘chits’’ that a manager has

built-up in an organization where reciprocity in assistance is expected due to past interactions.

In the foreign organization, expatriate managers will have limited social capital due to their

newness to the organization and the transitory nature of their assignment. Therefore, the

critical means of ‘‘transporting’’ social capital is through the personal/professional networks

of the expatriate manager.

If these more portable relationships can be used to have a positive impact on the host

country organization, the expatriate may build social capital among the local indigenous

managers by obtaining assistance from headquarters personnel. For example, if the expatriate

has social capital with managers who have control over scarce resources needed in the host

country organization and these resources are made available to the host country managers,

social capital and political influence could quickly be built. The problem of lack of social

capital in the host country can be a significant handicap to expatriate managers and one that is

difficult to overcome due to their inability to effectively interface with host country nationals

(i.e., language difference, cultural distance, lack of experience in the country, limited social/

cultural training prior to expatriating and the like).

The social capital of the expatriate managers in the headquarters organization can provide

them with valuable information, resources, cooperation and trust. From these tangible/

intangible assets, expatriate managers can begin to build trust from the host country

employees/managers. This trust can, over time, be elevated to social capital and political

influence within the host country organization, thereby accelerating the rate at which these

valuable social commodities are obtained. These social obligations become the foundation to

political influence and increase the probability of the expatriate manager to successfully

accomplish tasks during his/her foreign assignment.

Expatriate managers that have a high level of political abilities/skills/knowledge may be

invaluable in maintaining relationships in the headquarters of the home organization and

having the skill to develop new relationships in the host organization. Such an expatriate

plays a boundary-spanning role, bridging the control gap between the domestic and foreign

organizations. The interpersonal competencies of expatriates (i.e., social awareness and self-

awareness), provides the foundation of instrumental relationships with key personnel in the

domestic organization. This social capital can be translated into obtaining commitment from

decision-makers at headquarters. The higher the political competence of the expatriate


manager, the more likely there will be an increase in commitment from managers/employees

in the foreign organization to support the expatriate manager.

Conversely, expatriate managers who possess a high level of political competence have an

equally important role when examining their impact on the host country organization and/or

managers. Due to their adaptability and social acuity, such expatriate managers appear to have

social knowledge and understanding beyond that of other outsiders. Therefore, higher

political competence allows expatriates to build trust and confidence faster, due to their

perceived genuineness and sincerity. In addition, due to their unique abilities/skills/know-

ledge at adapting to ‘‘foreign’’ social situations, these expatriate managers appear to have

social knowledge beyond what is expected of foreign managers. In particular, they fit the

context and therefore gain acceptance and trust in the organization. Overall, it seems that

political competence is the bedrock of building effective expatriate managers for global

assignments and leadership roles.

4. Assessing and developing political competence of expatriate managers for global

assignments

Political competence is both generic and context-specific construct. Therefore, a manager’s

political competence inventory in a domestic context may not be effective during a global

assignment. Managing across cultures necessitates a tacit understanding of political reality

within the host country’s culture (Hofstede and Bond, 1988; Fox, 1997; Greenfield, 1997).

Without this cultural anchoring, attempts to use political abilities/skills/knowledge/behaviors to

influence may be misdirected and ineffectual (Newman and Nollen, 1996). In addition, as the

organizational culture in which the manager is assigned may have significantly different beliefs

and values, the political processes can be unique to that organizational setting, thereby, reducing

the political effectiveness of the transferred manager (Reichers and Schneider, 1990; Schein,

1996). Gaining an understanding of these new processes and gaining insights as to how to

exercise one’s political competence is incumbent on the expatriate. If the utilization of political

competence is contingent on the local context, then expatriate managers’ political competence

must be evaluated and developed in a unique fashion when compared to their domestic

counterparts.What are the critical dimensions to be considered whenmaking the initial political

competence assessment and what competences need to be developed when managing in a

global context?

The basic premise of assessing the political competence of expatriate managers in global

assignments is that each manager has multiple intelligences or ‘‘IQs’’ (see Exhibit 2) that

need to be inventoried to determine the political abilities of each manager (Sternberg, 1996).

Subject to the abilities, each manager has a ‘‘potential’’ to learn additional political skill and

behaviors. But, one’s learning style will likely impact the learning process of new

competencies. By having an insight into a learning style, political competence development

programs can be designed to complement/match individual managers’ learning style (Kolb,

1974, 1978; Mumford, 1999).


The ability (i.e., multiple IQ inventory and learning styles) is the basis of learning the

political skills and behaviors required to effectively exhibit competence needed in complex

global assignments. But, one must look beyond abilities and learning styles of the manager to

determine an expatriate manager’s propensity to act (i.e., thinking styles) and assess how the

multiple intelligences (i.e., IQs) and learned political skill of an expatriate interact in solving

complex managerial problems characteristic for global assignments (Sternberg, 1994a,b,

1997; Ceci, 1996). The context-specific task-related variables also influence the assessment

of expatriate competence. To understand better all of these influences, each of the building

blocks in the model of assessment and development of expatriate political competence will be

discussed in the remaining parts of this section.

4.1. The use of multiple IQs

The assessment of managers’ political competence can be initiated by measuring their

multiple IQs. The political competence of managers is based on a composite of IQs, which

later can be used as a template to determine how to more effectively develop each manager’s

political competence. Three categories of IQs are modeled after the triarchic theory of human

intelligence (Sternberg, 1996) and are classified in the following manner (the references

below represent background research on each IQ): (A) Analytical intelligence—the planning,

implementation, evaluation of problem solving processes and knowledge acquisition, which

Exhibit 2. Global political skill development process.


includes: (1) cognitive intelligence (Binet and Simon, 1916; Wechsler, 1950) and (2)

emotional intelligence (Cooper and Sawaf, 1997; Gardner, 1999; Goleman, 1995; Dulevicz).

(B) Practical intelligence—tacit knowledge that can derive common sense/intuition, and

‘‘street smarts’’ knowledge to adapt to an environment or to shape the environment to the

problem facing the manager, which includes: (3) political intelligence (Ferris et al., 1994,

2001), (4) cultural/social intelligence (Cantor and Kihlstrom, 1987; Sternberg and Smith,

1985; Searle and Ward, 1990), (5) organizational intelligence (Wagner and Sternberg, 1991;

Davenport and Prusade, 1998), (6) network intelligence (Albrecht and Adelman, 1987; Smith,

1997; DeBurca and McLaughlin, 1988; Ford, 1998). (C) Creative intelligence—the ability to

develop innovative solutions to new problems in novel environments, which includes: (7)

innovative intelligence (Lubart and Sternberg, 1995; Sternberg and Lubart, 1995, 1996), (8)

intuitive intelligence (Keegan, 1982; Parikh, 1994; Shirley and Langan-Fox, 1996; Weick,

1998; Andersen, 2000).

The use of the multiple intelligences provides the human resource management with a

detailed inventory of the potential expatriate political competence, while at the same time

establishing a systemic assessment that can be used for an on-going development program for

each manager. Once the ability inventory is taken, the next stage of the political competence

assessment is to examine the learning styles of managers that could influence their absorptive

capacity to acquire new political competences during global assignments.

4.2. The influence of learning styles

Researchers have developed a model of learning that is characterized by a four-stage cycle

(Jensen and Kolb, 2000). Across the four stages, the learning process is envisioned not only

as being active and passive but also as concrete and abstract. The four states of the learning

process are: (1) concrete experience, followed by (2) observation and reflection, which leads

to (3) the formation of abstract concepts and generalization, which engenders (4) hypotheses

to be tested in future action, which in turn close the cycle leading to exposure to new

experiences (Kolb, 1978). Each stage of the learning cycle may take differing amounts of

time, but the learner will attempt to structure each stage of the learning cycle in a formal or in

an informal manner (Curry, 2000; Jensen and Kolb, 2000; Rayner, 2000; Saddler-Smith,

2000).

Four types of learning styles have been identified through research and clinical observa-

tions over the past 30 years using the Learning Styles Inventory (Kolb, 1974, 1978). These

learning styles are the following.

(1) Divergent learning style: The focus of learning in this learning style is on cognitive

adaptation to a specific context by emphasizing reflective observation prior to taking any

action (Kolb et al., 1995). The strength of this style of learning in the innovative manner,

through the generation of multiple alternative ideas and in developing an array of potential

solutions to managerial problems, seems as an appropriate for potential expatriate candidates

assigned to complex global assignments in emerging markets. In addition, it has been found

that such ‘‘divergers’’ have both broad cultural interests and the propensity to assimilate into

diverse groups by interacting effectively within heterogeneous cultural settings. The divergent


learning style often has a positive influence on the relationship between multiple IQs of

individuals and their judgment, given the openness of these individuals to learning from

diverse and complex environmental cues.

(2) Convergent learning style: The ‘‘converger’’ is an individual that has the ability to learn

through abstracting both the problem and the context/setting of the problem. They are very

good at structured problem solving, and testing alternative solutions (Bond and Wilson,

1998). Specifically, as the structured problem solving by relying on their cognitive IQ is the

fundamental strength of expatriates with this learning style (Leonard et al., 1999), it is best

suited to technical, specified problems with little need to interact with others. Expatriate

managers that are assigned for technical competence and have less to do with managing a

diverse social set of individuals would best be selected if they were converger type of

learners.

(3) Assimilation learning style: Like the converger, the assimlator type learner has the

ability to abstract complex problems/situations but, in contrast, uses inductive rather than

deductive reasoning to find solutions to decisions. This ‘‘model building’’ type of learners is

prone to combining a variety of disparate information into an integrated model to solve

problems (Mumford, 1999). As they often view the process of learning as an end in itself,

expatriate managers with an assimilation learning style are cautious to act upon the

information or on the model that they have built. As a result, the appropriate expatriate

assignment for assimilators would be in a staff capacity to assist with technical issues or to

support more decisive learners in the organization.

(4) Accommodative learning style: As this learning style is goal-oriented, getting things

done is the primary value of expatriate managers with this learning style. Expatriate

candidates with such learning style are appropriate candidates for multiple assignments

because this style stimulates risk taking, exploration of new opportunities and interaction with

a diverse set of individuals through cognitive adaptation to novel contexts (Lam, 1998;

McMurray, 1998). These expatriate managers could be utilized best in situations where

informal interaction with a variety of individuals is a business necessity. Particularly, they are

well suited for marketing and sales type expatriates that are required to interact with others

outside the foreign subsidiary (i.e., with customers, suppliers, governmental officials and the

like).

The learning style assessment (Kolb, 1978) becomes critical in the selection process, in

identifying how on-going development of each expatriate manager should be undertaken, as

well as in forming the bases for assignment tasks for various expatriate candidates. However,

as the type of learning style influences the relationship between a candidate’s IQs and critical

thinking, the role and structure of expatriate thinking styles in a competency-based expatriate

selection process need to be explored (Gadzella and Masten, 1998).

4.3. Developing an understanding of individual thinking styles

The multiple IQs and learning styles of expatriate managers’ contribute to the potential

development of expatriate political competence. But just as with any potential, there must be

a mechanism to turn that potential into an actionable format. The action aspect of the


assessment of expatriate candidates’ potential to gain political competence during global

assignments starts with determining their thinking styles (Sternberg, 1997). A thinking style

is a preferred way of thinking in terms of how an individual translates his or her abilities and

learning into intent for actions. In other words, expatriate thinking styles involve integrative

utilization of their abilities and learning styles. In effect, putting competencies to work, given

having ability and motivation to learn, yields effective performance.

Researchers have depicted individual thinking styles in the following manner: (1)

monarchical thinking style—the single-minded individual that is driven to succeed, may

be counted on to reach assigned objectives, and is less likely to be strongly influenced or

distracted by the environmental uncertainty (i.e., a subsidiary performance-oriented expat-

riate with a high goal commitment and achievement orientation); (2) hierarchical thinking

style—the individual thinking style that is based on setting priorities and recognizing that

not all goals can be reached; therefore, these individuals tend to establish priors for others

in the organization (i.e., an expatriate providing structure and a set of priorities for the

foreign subsidiary); (3) oligarchial thinking styles—a thinking style that is based upon

doing more than one thing at a time and on willingness to undertake multitask assignments.

Given their interest in performing multiple tasks, individuals with this thinking style have

difficulty in establishing priorities and are frequently unwilling to focus on the primary

goal/objective (i.e., these expatriates may be perceived as not being decisive); and (4)

anarchical thinking style—the expatriates that lack focus in their thinking, frequently

appear to be disorganized or random in their thinking processes, but are sometimes thought

of as being highly creative thinkers. These individuals also appear to have difficulty in

making adjustments to the task environment when it becomes dynamic in nature (Sternberg,

1997).

When determining political competence of expatriate managers, knowing their thinking

styles prior to their assignment can also be used to assist in developing missing elements

in their competence portfolio for global assignments. The type of the assigned tasks, as

well as the task environment (i.e., including its internal and external characteristics), can

differentially influence the relationship between expatriate thinking style and the exe-

cution of strategies. The thinking styles of some expatriates are more effective for solving

less structured, new and complex problems, characteristic of global assignments that

require the expatriates with well-developed political competences. These expatriate

candidates are more readily willing to come up with their own way of doing things,

and prefer to decide for themselves what they will do and how they will do it (Sternberg,

1997). In contrast, there are those who prefer to follow existing routines and procedures,

and only want to improve the efficiency of the processes rather than to rely on their

political expediency.

Expatriate managers seldom want to reassess and reevaluate the existing routines/

procedures in order to modify them and make the process fit the tasks more closely

(Sternberg, 1988, 1997). Overall, a thinking style of an expatriate manager reflects the

manner in which the expatriate attempts to make decisions given the appropriateness of his or

her abilities, learning styles and skills to solving complex problems. This propensity for

action is an important component in the determining a managers’ utilization of political


competence, as it must match the task, environmental demands and the organizational

capabilities relevant for the success of the global assignment (Harvey, 1996).

4.4. The influence of the type of task

Tasks that expatriate managers face can be in general categorized into three types and /or

categories of problems to be resolved: (1) Coordinative tasks—tasks that are integrative in

nature and can be illustrated by the following examples of tasks: developing a marketing plan,

initiating an organizational change in a foreign subsidiary, or selecting foreign suppliers.

These tasks require a finely orchestrated interaction between the domestic organization and

the subsidiary where the expatriate manager is located as the boundary spanner, and where

speed, accuracy and reliance on others are essential for the expatriate manager to accomplish

such tasks successfully. (2) Computational tasks—are more structured tasks that require

utilization of an established body of knowledge and techniques for successful accomplish-

ment. There is less ambiguity in these tasks and there are known beginning and ending points

in the set of activities comprising these tasks. While most computational tasks are fairly

procedural and may require a great deal of effort on the part of the expatriate manager, they

demand a low level of expatriate coordination with others. (3) Creative tasks—are tasks that

do not have ‘‘proven’’ answers or established processes to find their solution and are

dependent on the creative insights of the expatriate to find acceptable solutions. These tasks

can be approached and/or framed in a number of different ways because a wide variety of

information sources are to be scanned for creative task accomplishment (Hambrick et al.,

1998). As a result, it is particularly difficult to measure the result/outcomes of performing

such tasks (Sternberg, 1996).

4.5. The internal/external cultural boundary

The level of political competence of an expatriate manager in a global assignment is

dependent on the type of cultural environment to which the individual will be assigned

(Harvey, 1996). The cultural distance between the home and host countries needs to be

assessed in the expatriate selection process because it affects the nature of the expatriate task

(i.e., whether the task is programmable or not). It is significantly more difficult for expatriates

to contribute to the expertise of foreign operations if the cultures of the two countries are too

dissimilar. In order to enrich the knowledge base of the organization, the expatriates have to

‘‘translate’’ the typical variables of the global assignment into the operating format of the

organization (Bender and Fish, 2000).

Measured as a composite index of Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions, cultural distance

affects an expatriate’s understanding of decision-making processes, work values, negotiation

patterns, conflicts in J/Vs and wholly owned subsidiaries, and fairness in reciprocity (Gomez-

Mejia and Palich, 1997). Also, the degree of cultural distance may likely influence

performance ambiguity and task definition (Hamilton and Kashlak, 1999). In effect, an

expatriate’s task programmability and performance measurability will be inversely related to

the cultural distance.


Like cultural distance, other influential factors from the local environment, such as host-

country political risk and economic instability, also decrease an expatriate’s task programm-

ability and output measurability. Although a recent measure that combines both of these two

factors has been developed (Fatehi, 1994), it is still a challenging problem for human resource

management to define the appropriate format for an expatriate’s use of political competence

to accomplish given tasks in unique foreign settings.

Once a political competence inventory is taken for each expatriate manager, an effort

should be made to develop a program to increase the political competence level of the

expatriates. As political competence is an essential ingredient of success in global assign-

ments, the increase of the political acumen of expatriate managers emerges as a necessary

development program to be designed by human resource managers.

5. Summary/conclusions

The growing importance of competing on a global scale has placed a strain on finding a

sufficient number of competent managers capable of successfully filling global assignment

positions. With the growth of global assignments, many of the expatriate managers have not

met expectations of acquiring global competences. While there have been several explan-

ations developed for expatriate managers not successfully making the transition from

domestic to global assignments, one aspect that has not been closely examined in past

research is the issue of political competence of expatriates. This void in past research is

addressed in this paper.

Successful expatriate managers need to use their social and communication competences to

effectively influence others in the organizations because these managers need to be seen as

being trustworthy when implementing global corporate initiatives across borders. Therefore, to

be successful, managers that are being considered for global assignments need to undergo an

assessment of their political competence. By developing an inventory of managers’ political

competence, it can be determined if these managers have the necessary social acuteness,

awareness and self-efficacy to undertake a complex global assignment. The expatriate

managers scoring highest on political competence inventory will likely become high perform-

ing global managers once on foreign assignment. But, the foreign environment characteristics

also need to taken into consideration for expatriate managers’ developmental needs relative to

their political competence enhancement. Therefore, the training and development of managers

being expatriated should include the program of how to adapt their social skill and awareness in

order to be politically effective in increasingly complex global assignments.

References

Albrecht, T.L., Adelman, M.B., 1987. Social support and life stres: new directions communication research.

Human Commun. Res. 11, 3–32.


Andersen, J., 2000. Intuition in managers: are intuitive managers more effective? J. Manag. Psychol. 15 (1), 46–63.

Barney, J., 1991. Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. J. Manage. 17 (1), 99–120.

Bartlett, C., Ghoshal, S., 1987a. Managing across borders: new strategic requirements. Sloan Manage. Rev.,

Summer, 7–17.

Bartlett, C., Ghoshal, S., 1987b. Managing across borders: new organizational responses. Sloan Manage. Rev.,

Fall, 45–53.

Bartlett, C., Ghoshal, S., 1998. Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution. Harvard Business School

Press, Cambridge.

Bender, S., Fish, A., 2000. The transfer of knowledge and the retention of expertise: the continuing need for global

assignments. J. Knowl. Manag. 4 (2), 125–137.

Binet, A., Simon, T., 1916. The Development of Intelligence in Children. Williams and Wilson, Baltimore.

Original Work published 1905.

Black, S., Porter, L., 1991. Managerial behaviors and job performance: a successful manager in Los Angeles may

not succeed in Hong Kong. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 22, 99–114.

Bond, C., Wilson, V., 1998. Experiential learning—from theory to practice. Lifelong Learn. Eur. 3, 139–147.

Brewster, C., Pickard, J., 1994. Evaluating expatriate training. Int. Stud. Manage. Organ. 24 (3), 18–29.

Caligiuri, P., Hyland, M., Joshi, A., Bross, A., 1998. A theoretical framework for examining the relationships

between family adjustment and expatriate adjustment to working in the host country. J. Appl. Psychol. 83 (4),

598–614.

Cantor, N., Kihlstrom, J., 1987. Social intelligence: the cognitive basis of personality. In: Shaver, P. (Ed.), Review

of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 6. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA, pp. 15–34.

Ceci, S., 1996. One Intelligence. . .More on Less: A Bio-Ecological Treatise on Intellectual Development. Prentice

Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Chen, M., 1994. Chinese and Australian concepts of intelligence. Psychol. Dev. Sci. 6, 101–117.

Cooper, R., Sawaf, A., 1997. Executive EQ: Emotional Intelligence in Leadership and Organizations. Perigie

Books, New York.

Curry, L., 2000. Review of learning style, studying approach, and instructional preference research in medical

education. In: Riding, R.J., Rayner, S.G. (Eds.), International Perspectives on Individual Differences. Ablex,

Stamford, CT, pp. 214–235.

Davenport, T., Prusade, L., 1998. Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know. Harvard

Business School Press, Boston.

DeBurca, S., McLaughlin, D., 1988. Business network research: a grounded theory approach. In: Nauda, P.,

Turnbull, D. (Eds.), Network Dynamics in International Marketing. Pergamon, Oxford, UK, pp. 88–111.

Drory, A., Romm, T., 1990. The definition of organizational politics: a review. Hum. Relat. 43 (11), 1133–1154.

Fatehi, K., 1994. Capital flight from Latin America as barometer of political instability. J. Bus. Res. 30, 187–195.

Ferris, G., Judge, T., 1991. Personnel/human resources management: a political influence perspective. J. Manage.

17 (3), 447–488.

Ferris, G., Fedor, D., King, T., 1994. A political conceptualization of managerial behavior. Hum. Resour. Manage.

Rev. 4, 1–34.

Ferris, G., Perrewe, P., Anthony, W., Gilmore, D., 2001. Political skill at work. Organ. Dyn. 28, 25–37.

Fish, A., Wood, J., 1996. A review of expatriate staffing practices in Australia. Int. J. Hum. Resour. Pract. 7 (4),

846–865.

Florkowski, G., Fogel, P., 1999. Expatriate adjustment and commitment: the role of host-unit treatment. Int. J.

Hum. Resour. Manage. 10 (5), 8783–8802.

Ford, D., 1998. Two forms of interaction, relationships and networks. In: Nauda, P., Turnbull, D. (Eds.), Network

Dynamics in International Marketing. Pergamon, Oxford, UK, pp. 264–273.

Fox, C., 1997. The authenticity of intercultural communications: a social skill perspective. Int. J. Intercult. Relat.

21 (3), 85–103.

Friedman, V., Lipshitz, R., 1994. Human resources or politics: framing the problem of appointing managers in an

organizational democracy. J. Appl. Behav. Sci. 30 (4), 438–457.


Gabby, S., Zuckerman, E., 1998. Social capital and opportunity in corporate R&D: the contingent effect of contact

density on mobility expectations. Social Science Research, vol. 27, 189–217.

Gadzella, B.M., Masten, W.G., 1998. Relation between measures of critical thinking and learning styles. Psychol.

Rep. 83 (3), 1248–1250.

Gardner, H., 1999. Intelligence Reframed: Multiple Intelligences for the 21st Century. Barrie Books, New York.

Garten, J., 1996. The key emerging markets. Columbia J. World Bus. 31 (2), 6–31.

Garten, J., 1997. Trouble ahead in emerging markets. Harv. Bus. Rev., May–June, 38–49.

Goleman, D., 1995. Emotional Intelligence. Bantam Books, New York.

Gomez-Mejia, L., Palich, L., 1997. Cultural diversity and the performance of multinational firms. J. Int. Bus. Stud.

28 (2), 309–335.

Greenfield, P., 1997. You can’t take it with you: why ability assessments don’t cross Cultures. Am. Psychol. 52

(10), 1115–1124.

Hambrick, R., Davidson, S., Snell, S., Snow, C., 1998. When groups consist of multiple nationalities: towards a

new understanding of the implications. Organ. Stud. 19 (2), 181–205.

Hamilton, R.D., Kashlak, R.J., 1999. National influences on multinational corporation control system selection.

Manage. Int. Rev. 39 (2), 167–189.

Harvey, M., 1996. The selection of managers for foreign assignments: a planning perspective. Columbia J. World

Bus., Winter, 102–112.

Harvey, M., 1997. Inpatriate training: the next challenge for global human resources management. Int. J. Intercult.

Relat. 21 (3), 393–428.

Harvey, M., 1998. Dual career couples during international relocation: the trailing spouse. Int. J. Hum. Resour.

Manage. 9 (2), 309–320.

Harvey, M., Speier, C., Novicevic, M., 1999. Inpatriate managers: how to increase the probability of success.

Hum. Resour. Manage. Rev. 9 (1), 51–82.

Harvey, M., Novicevic, M., 2000. Staffing global marketing positions: what we don’t know can make a difference.

J. World Bus. 35 (1), 67–78.

Hofstede, G., 1980. Culture Consequences: International Differences in Work Related Values. Sage, Beverly Hills.

Hofstede, G., Bond, X., 1988. Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Sage,

Beverly Hills, CA.

Hofstede, G., 1992. Cultural dimensions in people management: the socialization perspective. In: Pucik, V., Tichy,

N., Barnett, C. (Eds.), Globalizing Management: Creating and Leading the Competitive Organization. Wiley,

New York, pp. 128–139.

Jensen, P., Kolb, D.A., 2000. Learning style and meaning making in conversation. In: Riding, R.J., Rayner, S.G.

(Eds.), International Perspectives on Individual Differences. Ablex, Stamford, CT, pp. 233–245.

Kedia, B., Mukherji, A., 1999. Global managers: developing a mindset for global competitiveness. J. World Bus.

34 (3), 230–247 (Fall).Keegan, W., 1982. Keegan Type Indicator Form B. Warren Keegan Associates Press, London.

Kefalas, A.G., 1998. Think globally, act locally. Thunderbird Int. Bus. Rev. 40 (6), 547–562.

Kolb, D.A., 1974. On management and the learning process. In: Kolb, D.A., Rubin, I.M., McIntyre, J.M. (Eds.),

Organizational Psychology. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Kolb, D.A., 1978. Learning Style Inventory Technical Manual. McBer and Co., Boston.

Kolb, D., Osland, J., Rubin, I., 1995. Organizational Behavior: An Experimental Approach, 6th ed. Prentice-Hall,

Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Lado, A., Wilson, M., 1994. Human resource systems and sustained competitive advantage: a competency-based

perspective. Acad. Manage. Rev. 19, 699–727.

Lado, A., Boyd, N., Wright, P., 1992. A competency-based model of sustainable competitive advantage: toward a

central integration. J. Manage. 18 (1), 77–91.

Lam, S.S.K., 1998. Organizational performance and learning styles in Hong Kong. J. Soc. Psychol. 138 (3),

401–402.


Leonard, N.H., W., S.R., Kowalski, K.B., 1999. Information processing style and decision making. J. Organ.

Behav. 20 (3), 407–420.

Lubart, T., Sternberg, R., 1995. An investment approach to creativity: theory and data. In: Smith, S.M., Finke, R.

(Eds.), The Creative Cognition Approach. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp. 269–301.

Mahoney, J.T., Pandian, J.R., 1992. The resource-based view within the conversation of strategic management.

Strateg. Manage. J. 13 (5), 363–380.

McMurray, D., 1998. Learning styles and organizational behavior in Japanese EFL classrooms. J. Fukui Prefec-

tural Univ. (13), 31–47.

Mumford, A., 1999. Learning styles and learning organization. In: Landale, A. (Ed.), Grower Handbook of

Training and Development, 3rd ed.

Newman, K., Nollen, S., 1996. Culture and congruence: the fits between management practices and national

culture. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 27 (4), 753–779.

Oster, S.M., 1990. Modern Competitive Analysis. Oxford University Press, New York.

Parikh, J., 1994. Intuition: The New Frontier of Management. Blackwell, Cambridge, MA.

Paul, H., 2000. Creating a global mindset. Thunderbird Int. Bus. Rev. 42 (2), 187–200.

Quelch, J., 1992. The new country manager. McKinsey Q. 4, 155–165.

Rayner, S.C., 2000. Reconstructing style differences in thinking and learning: profiling learning performance. In:

Riding, R.J., Rayner, S.G. (Eds.), International Perspectives on Individual Differences. Ablex, Stamford, CT,

pp. 430–452.

Reichers, A., Schneider, B., 1990. The role of climate and culture in productivity. In: Schneider, B. (Ed.),

Organizational Climate and Culture. Josey-Bass, San Francisco, pp. 37–52.

Roth, K., O’Donnell, S., 1996. Foreign subsidiary compensation strategy: an agency theory perceptive. Acad.

Manage. J. 39 (3), 678–703.

Saddler-Smith, E., 2000. Cognitive style and learning in organizations. In: Riding, R.J., Rayner, S.G. (Eds.),

International Perspectives on Individual Differences. Ablex, Stamford, CT, pp. 329–340.

Sanchez, R., Heene, A., Thomas, H., 1997. Dynamics of Competence-Based Competition. Pergamon, Oxford, UK.

Schein, E., 1996. Culture: the missing concept in organizational studies. Adm. Sci. Q. 41 (2), 229–240.

Schneider, S., 1992. National vs. corporate culture: implications for human resource management. In: Pucik, V.,

Tichy, N., Barnett, C. (Eds.), Globalizing Management: Creating and Leading the Competitive Organization.

Wiley, New York, pp. 157–174.

Searle, W., Ward, C., 1990. The prediction of psychological and sociocultural adjustment during cross-cultural

transitions. J. Intercult. Relat. 14, 449–464.

Shirley, D., Langan-Fox, J., 1996. Intuition: a review of the literature. Psychol. Rep. 79, 563–584.

Smith, R.L., 1997. Intercultural network theory: a cross-paradigmatic approach to Smith R.L. Int. J. Intercult.

Relat. 23 (4), 629–658.

Sternberg, R., 1988. Beyond IQ: A Triarchic Theory of Human Intelligence. Cambridge Univ. Press, New York.

Sternberg, R., 1994a. Thinking styles: theory of assessment at the interface between intelligence and person-

ality. In: Sternberg, R., Ruggis, P. (Eds.), Intelligence and Personality. Cambridge Univ. Press, New York,

pp. 169–187.

Sternberg, R., 1994b. Allowing for thinking styles. Educ. Leadersh. 52 (3), 36–40.

Sternberg, R., 1996. Successful Intelligence: How Practical and Creative Intelligence Determine Success in Life.

Simon and Schuster, New York.

Sternberg, R., 1997. Thinking Styles. Cambridge Univ. Press, New York.

Sternberg, R., Lubart, T., 1995. Defying the Crowd: Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of Conformity. Free Press,

New York.

Sternberg, R., Lubart, T., 1996. Investing in creativity. Am. Psychol. 51, 677–688.

Sternberg, R., Smith, C., 1985. Social intelligence and decoding skill in nonverbal communication. Soc. Cognit. 2,

168–192.

Taylor, S., Beechler, S., Napier, N., 1996. Toward an integrative model of strategic international human resource

management. Acad. Manage. Rev. 21 (4), 959–985.


The Quest for the International Manager, 1991. Economist Intelligence Unit, London.

Wagner, R., Sternberg, R., 1991. Tacit Knowledge Inventory for Managers. Psychological, San Antonio, TX.

Wechsler, D., 1950. Cognitive, conative and non-intellective intelligence. Am. Psychol. 5, 78–83.

Weick, K., 1998. The attitude of wisdom: ambivalence as the optimal compromise. In: Srivasta, S., Cooperider, D.

(Eds.), Organizational Wisdom and Executive Courage. Lexington Press, San Francisco, pp. 40–64.

Wright, R., 1994. The Moral Animal. Vintage, New York.


Date post:	19-Sep-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	michael-harvey
View:	213 times
Download:	0 times

The role of political competence in global assignments of expatriate managers

Documents