Managing Inpatriation

This chapter provides an overview of this paper. In Section 1.1, the context relevant terms multinational company (MNC) and international human resource management (IHRM) are described. Inpatriation, the assignment of subsidiary personnel to headquarters (Harvey, 1997), as a research domain is introduced. The different orientations in strategic international human resource management (SIHRM) are used to formally distinguish between inpatriation and expatriation.

This chapter provides an understanding of the field of study and the theoretical foundation for this paper. First, forms of global staffing in MNCs are addressed to better classify inpatriation (Section 2.1). Second, major objectives and benefits connected with the idea of inpatriation are presented (Section 2.2). Third, adjustment issues faced by inpatriates and challenges of diversity management associated with the deployment of inpatriates are stated (Section 2.3).

Taking the theoretical foundation for inpatriation as a basis, the specific research questions and hypotheses regarding managing inpatriation with more effective assignments in mind are presented in this chapter. Three dimensions of assignment effectiveness – competence build-up (Section 3.1), performance improvement (Section 3.2), and career development (Section 3.3) – are singled out and determining factors are proposed. Finally, the generic research model is illustrated (Section 3.4).

Following the development of hypotheses and of a research model for assignment effectiveness, a qualitative pre-study was used to explore the practical relevance of the competence, achievement, and development based construct of assignment effectiveness. Furthermore, technical and managerial competence areas of interest were identified for use in the subsequent quantitative analysis of competence build-up through inpatriation. A case study approach was applied in cooperation with a large German MNC with profound inpatriation experience.

To recap, following the introduction of the field of study and a review of the theoretical foundation of inpatriation, specific research questions were derived and corresponding hypotheses developed. This led to the proposed conceptual model of assignment effectiveness. A qualitative pre-study in the form of a case study was used to explore the practical relevance of the considered dimensions of assignment effectiveness and to identify competence areas of interest for the analysis of competence build-up through inpatriation.

In the previous chapter, the research design and methodology were explained. In this chapter, the relationship between certain inpatriate assignment characteristics and assignment effectiveness is examined and the results of the quantitative study are presented. It was assessed if there was a correlation between (1) competence build-up and the variables: preparatory competence training, task complexity, and task support; (2) goal achievement and the variables: usefulness of acquired competencies, satisfaction with HQ manager discussions, and usefulness of HQ contacts; and (3) career development and the variables: age level, mutual trust with subsidiary manager, and goal achievement.

The main purpose of this study was to contribute to inpatriation research as part of IHRM research by empirically investigating factors that might be related to certain dimensions of inpatriation effectiveness. This was based on benefits, issues, and success strategies associated with inpatriation. In this chapter, the achieved results are discussed and compared with previous studies (Section 7.1).