For Success in a Cross-Cultural Environment, Choose Foreign Executives Wisely
Arp, F. (2012), For Success in a Cross-Cultural Environment, Choose Foreign Executives Wisely, Global Business and Organizational Excellence (Wiley), 32(1), 40-50
Posted: 17 Oct 2012 Last revised: 25 Mar 2013
Date Written: October 16, 2012
Abstract
The increasing globalization of the world economy challenges multinational as well as small and medium-sized local organizations to attract and retain global talent. Academic researchers have lately turned their attention from organizational expatriate assignments to various new types of global careers, including self-initiated expatriation in geographically and culturally distant countries. Among these new global careers, foreign executives in local organizations (FELOs) are a very specific phenomenon. Highly visible and often controversial, FELOs are appointed to help organizations compete with -- and even leapfrog -- international competitors. Research shows that a dichotomy exists between the initial reason for FELO appointments and the reasons that actually make cross-cultural workplaces successful in the long term. Local organizations that appoint foreign executives without regard for contextual influences, people management skills, and capacity development do so at their peril.
Keywords: foreign executive, local organization, internationalization, management team
JEL Classification: J24, J41, O15, M12, M51, N35, F23
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation