International HRM & Staffing Policies

Research program 1: International HRM, expatriation, inpatriation, knowledge sharing and identity confirmation

Anne-Wil Harzing - Sat 6 Feb 2016 16:10 (updated Thu 12 Sep 2024 07:00)

My first research publications were in the area of comparative industrial relations and international HRM. Blogposts summarzing research in this program include:

Textbook on International HRM

My research-based textbook on IHRM (1995) was my first significant publication. Although marketed as a textbook, it received wide recognition among researchers in the field. Unlike many other textbooks, all contributors were experts and active researchers in their topic area. A second edition was published in 2003, a third edition in 2010, and a fourth edition in 2014. By its fifth edition, published in 2019, the book had been used by over 25,000 students across 130 countries. The book is now in its 6th edition.

Expatriate staffing, control, and expatriate failure

My work was the first to establish empirically that expatriates play a major role in controlling subsidiaries, both through direct supervision and through socialisation and the creation of informal communication networks. It also was the first providing detailed information about staffing policies in a large sample of MNCs. Up till then academics had mostly relied on a single, much smaller scale, study conducted in the 1970s.

My work on the myth of high expatriate failure rates generated considerable interest and the related 2002 article on academic referencing is now included in many PhD courses. A final article in this series suggest to abandon the concept of expatriate failure altogether.

Picking up the theme of expatriate staffing, a recent paper with Maria Bastida and Luisa Pinto (No room at the top?) highlights how women’s under representation in international assignments results from a complex system of recursive effects that jeopardizes women’s professional development and undermines both their own career progression to top management and firms’ competitive advantage and international growth.

Finally, in a paper with Hyun-Jung Lee and Katsu Yoshikawa, published in Organization Studies, we took a fresh look at this classic research problem and questioned whether an “ethnocentric” culture - the predominant explanation for PCN staffing policies in the cross-cultural management literature - is sufficient to explain this practice (see: Beyond ethnocentrism: why do MNCs send their nationals to subsidiaries?).

Expatriates, inpatriates, and knowledge sharing

My work with Barry Hocking (MRes) showed that learning by expatriates is an underestimated strategic assignment outcome and that varying combinations of global and local knowledge access and communication are crucial in achieving the MNC's goals of global efficiency, national responsiveness and worldwide learning.

Work with PhD student Sebastian Reiche (now a full professor at IESE, University of Navarra, Spain), looked at the role of social capital in knowledge sharing through expatriate assignments. A revised version of his conceptual model and an empirical paper were both published in Journal of International Business Studies. The latter paper was winner of the 2011 International HR Scholarly Research Award from the HR Division, Academy of Management.

A major international survey on language in HQ subsidiary relationships (see prog 5) in a wide range of host countries (Australia/NZ, China, Japan, Korea, France, Germany, Spain, UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway & Sweden) resulted in a paper for Human Resource Management on the bridging role of expatriates and inpatriates in multinational corporations, looking at the relationship between changing patterns of international staffing and knowledge transfer.

A paper with Florence Duvivier and Carine Peeters, published in Journal of World Business, significantly advanced research through a systematic analyisis of how different types of international assignments (long term expatriation, short term expatriation, inpatriation) transfer different types of knowledge (declarative, procedural, axiomatic, relational), in different directions (both from and to HQ), and at different times (both during and after the assignment).

Finally, a paper with Heejin Kim and Sebastian Reiche, published in Journal of International Business Studies demonstrates the process through which inpatriates’ knowledge transfer contributes to subsidiary capability building and subsidiary evolution over time, and explains why successive inpatriation is thus critical to enhance subsidiary performance.

Expatriates and locals: (ethnic) identity and language

Work with PhD student Shea Fan (now at RMIT Melbourne) investigates the phenomenon of ex-host country nationals, expatriates that share an ethnicity with host country employees, for instance Chinese-American expatriates sent to China.

A dyadic survey paper on this topic was published in Human Resource Management and an experimental paper with host country employees in Journal of World Business. A conceptual paper on the antecedents and consequences of ethnic identity confirmation was published the International Journal of Human Resource Management. Finally, a practitioner-oriented paper based on Shea’s preliminary interviews was published in Organizational Dynamics.

We show shared ethnicity is a double-edged sword and investigate the role of identity confirmation in the relationship between these expatriates and host country employees and its impact on trust, expatriate adjustment and knowledge transfer. A 1-minute video of this work can be found here.

Work with Ling Zhang looks at the role of the host country language in the interaction between expatriates and local employees in China, culminating in a book on Managing Expatriates in China: a language and identity perspective. It also argues cultural identity might be more fluid than previously thought and outlines various identity negotiation strategies.

The importance of the topic of identity is clearly evidenced by the fact that articles by Shea Fan and Ling Zhang were reprinted in the book Intercultural Management In Practice. If you are looking for a short and accessible summary check them out: Intercultural Management in Practice: Expatriate identity.

Publications

Online papers - Full list of publications

Kim, H.; Harzing, A.W. (2024) Applying IB knowledge to IB researchers: The academic capability building and knowledge creation process, AIB Insights, Available online... - Publisher's version (free access) - Related blog post
Kim, H.; Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2022) How does successive inpatriation contribute to subsidiary capability building and subsidiary evolution? An organizational knowledge creation perspective, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 53, no. 7, pp. 1394-1419. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access) - Related blog post - Short video
Lee, H.-J., Yoshikawa, K. Harzing, A.W. (2022) Culture and Institutions: Dispositional and contextual explanations for country-of-origin effects in MNC “ethnocentric” staffing practices, Organization Studies, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 497–519. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access) - Related blog post - Short video
Reiche, B.S.; Tenzer, H.; Harzing, A.W. (2022) International Human Resource Management, 6th edition, London: Sage Publications. More about this book...
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2022) International Assignments, in: Reiche, B.S.; Tenzer, H.; Harzing, A.W. (2022) International Human Resource Management, 6th edition, London: Sage Publications.
Fan, S.X.; Harzing, A.W. (2021) The double-edged sword of ethnic similarity for expatriates, Organizational Dynamics, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 1-10. Available online... - Publisher's version - Related blog post
Li, C, Zhang, LE, & Harzing, A.W. (2021). Expatriate Cultural Identity Negotiation Strategies: A Dynamic Framework, in: Chavan, M. and Taksa, L. (eds). Intercultural Management in Practice, Bingley: Emerald, pp. 131-140. Available online... - Publisher's version - Related blog post
Fan, SX, & Harzing, A.W. (2021). By Mutual Agreement: How Can Ethnically Similar Expatriates Engage Host Country Employees, in: Chavan, M. and Taksa, L. (eds). Intercultural Management in Practice, Bingley: Emerald, pp. 83-95. Available online... - Publisher's version - Related blog post
Bastida, M.; Pinto, L.H.; Harzing, A.W. (2021) No room at the top? A system dynamics view of the recursive consequences of women’s underrepresentation in international assignments, Journal of Global Mobility, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 361-381. Available online... - Publisher's version - Related blog post - JGM BitBlog
Fan, S.X.; Harzing, A.W.; Köhler, T. (2020) How you see me, how you don't: Ethnic Identity Self-verification in Interactions between Local Subsidiary Employees and Ethnically Similar Expatriates, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol 31, no. 19, pp. 2407-2433. Available online... - Publisher's version - Related blog post - 1-minute video
Li, C.; Zhang, L.E.; Harzing, A.W. (2019) Of Ostriches, Frogs, Birds and Lizards: A Dynamic Framework of Cultural Identity Negotiation Strategies in an Era of Global Mobility, Journal of Global Mobility, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 239-254. Available online... - Publisher's version - Related blog post
Li, C.; Zhang, L.E.; Harzing, A.W. (2019) Expatriate Cultural Identity in the Changing Global Era: An Integrative Framework paper presented at the AIB 2019 Annual Meeting, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 24-27, 2019.
Duvivier, F.; Peeters, C.; Harzing, A.W. (2019) Not all international assignments are created equal: HQ-subsidiary knowledge transfer patterns across types of assignments and types of knowledge, Journal of World Business, vol. 54, no. 3, pp. 181-190. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access!) - Related blog post
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W.; Tenzer, H. (2019) International Human Resource Management, 5th edition, London: Sage Publications. More about this book...
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2019) International Assignments, in: Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W.; Tenzer, H. (2019) International Human Resource Management, 5th edition, London: Sage Publications. Available online...
Fan, S.X.; Cregan, C.; Harzing, A.W.; Kӧhler, T. (2018) The benefits of being understood: The role of ethnic identity confirmation in expatriate-local employee interactions, Human Resource Management, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 327-339. Available online... Publisher's version (read for free) - Related blog post - 1-minute video
Zhang, L.E.; Harzing, A.W.; Fan, S.X. (2018) Managing Expatriates in China: A Language and Identity Perspective, London: Palgrave. More about this book...
Fan, S.X.; Harzing, A.W. (2017) Host country employees' ethnic identity confirmation: Evidence from interactions with ethnically similar expatriates, Journal of World Business, vol. 52, no. 5, pp. 640-652. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access!) - Related blog post - 1-minute video
Fan, S.X.; Harzing, A.W.; Köhler, T. (2017) Ethnic identity verification in interactions between local subsidiary employees and ethnically similar expatriates, paper presented at the 16th European Academy of Management annual meeting, June 21-24, Glasgow, UK. [2nd runner-up of the Journal of Global Mobility (JGM) Best Paper Award, EURAM 2017 Conference]
Zhang, L.E.; Harzing, A.W. (2016) From Dilemmatic Struggle to Legitimized Indifference: Expatriates’ host country language learning and its impact on the expatriate-HCE relationship, Journal of World Business, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 774-786. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access!)
Yoshikawa, K.; Lee, H-J.; Harzing, A.W. (2016) The determinants of MNE ethnocentric staffing: Are they emotional or rational?, paper presented at the 73rd Academy of Management annual meeting, August 5-9, Anaheim, California, USA.
Fan, S.X.; Cregan, C.; Harzing, A.W.; Kӧhler, T. (2016) The role of ethnic identity confirmation in expatriate-local employee interactions, paper presented at the 73rd Academy of Management annual meeting, August 5-9, Anaheim, California, USA.
Harzing, A.W.; Pudelko, M.; Reiche B.S. (2016) The bridging role of expatriates and inpatriates in knowledge transfer in multinational corporations, Human Resource Management, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 679–695. Available online... - Publisher's version (free access!) - ESI top 1% most Highly Cited Paper
Yoshikawa, K.; Lee, H-J.; Harzing, A.W. (2016) Won’t localize or can’t localize?: Emotional and rational explanations for MNE ethnocentric staffing practices, paper presented at the 2016 annual meeting of the Academy of International Business, June 27-30 2016, New Orleans, USA.
Fan, S.X.; Cregan, C.; Harzing, A.W.; Kӧhler, T. (2016) The benefits of being understood: The role of ethnic identity confirmation in expatriate-local employee interactions, paper presented at the 15th European Academy of Management annual meeting, June 1-4, Paris, France.
Fan, S.; Köhler, T.; Harzing, A.W.; Cregan, C. (2015) Insider knowledge or insider liability? The role of ethnic identity of overseas Chinese returnees, paper presented at the 72nd Academy of Management annual meeting, August 7-11, in Vancouver, Canada.
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2014) International Assignments, in: Harzing, A.W.; Pinnington A. (2014) International Human Resource Management, 4th edition, London: Sage Publications.
Harzing, A.W.; Pinnington A. (2014) International Human Resource Management, 4th edition, London: Sage Publications. More about this book...
Fan, S.; Köhler, T.; Harzing, A.W.; Cregan, C. (2014) Does it matter who I am? The role of ethnic identity confirmation in expatriates’ knowledge acquisition, paper presented at the 2014 annual meeting of the Academy of International Business, June 24-June 26, Vancouver, Canada.
Fan, S.; Köhler, T.; Harzing, A.W.; Cregan, C. (2014) The role of ethnic identity confirmation on knowledge transfer between expatriates and host country employees in MNCs, paper presented at the first HR Division International Conference (HRIC), 15-16 June, 2014, Beijing, China.
Harzing, A.W.; Pudelko, M.; Reiche, B.S. (2013) Developments in knowledge transfer activities of expatriates and inpatriates, paper presented at the 2012 annual meeting of the Academy of International Business, July 3-July 6, Istanbul, Turkey.
Harzing, A.W.; Pudelko, M.; Reiche, B.S. (2013) How international assignees affect knowledge transfers in MNCs: A multinational comparison, paper presented at the 26th annual meeting of the Association of Japanese Business Studies (AJBS), July 2-3, Istanbul, Turkey.
Fan, S.; Köhler,T.; Harzing, A.W. (2012) Applying identity theories in expatriate management studies, conference proceedings of the 2012 Annual Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM), Perth, Australia.
Harzing, A.W., Pudelko, M., Reiche, B.S. (2012) Changing patterns of international assignee staffing and their role in knowledge transfer, paper presented at the European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM) 10th Workshop on International Strategy & Cross-Cultural Management, October 19-20, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Fan, S.; Kӧhler, T.; Harzing, A.W. (2012). Ethnic identity confirmation in knowledge transfer between expatriates and host country employees, paper presented at the 69th Academy of Management annual meeting, August 3-7 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Fan, S.; Kӧhler, T.; Harzing, A.W. (2011) Do I have to be one of you? The role of ethnic identity in relationships between expatriates and host country employees, conference proceedings of the Australian New Zealand Academy of Management, Wellington, 7-9 December 2011.
Fan, S.; Kӧhler, T.; Harzing, A.W. (2011) Do you really know me? Identity confirmation in expatriate assignments, paper presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the Academy of International Business, June 24-28 2011, Nagoya, Japan.
Reiche B.S.; Kraimer, M.L.; Harzing, A.W. (2011) Why do international assignees stay? An organizational embeddedness perspective, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 42, no. 4, pp. 521-544. Available online...
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2011) International Assignments, in: Harzing, A.W.; Pinnington A. (2011) International Human Resource Management, 3rd edition, London: Sage Publications. Available online...
Harzing, A.W.; Pinnington A. (2011) International Human Resource Management, 3rd edition, London: Sage Publications.
Reiche, B.S.; Kraimer, M.L.; Harzing, A.W. (2009) Why do international assignees stay? A job embeddedness perspective, paper presented at the 35th EIBA annual conference, Valencia, 13-14 December 2009.
Reiche B.S.; Kraimer, M.L.; Harzing, A.W. (2009) A social capital perspective of international assignee retention, paper presented at the 68th Academy of Management annual meeting, August 7-11, 2009 - Chicago, Illinois.
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W.; Kraimer, M.L. (2009) The role of international assignees' social capital in creating inter-unit intellectual capital: A cross-level model, Journal of International Business Studies, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 509-526. Available online...
Reiche, B.S.; Kraimer, M.L.; Harzing, A.W. (2009) Inpatriates as agents of cross-unit knowledge flows in multinational corporations, in: Sparrow, P.R. (ed.) Handbook of International HR Research: Integrating People, Process and Context. Oxford: Blackwell. Available online...
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W.; Kraimer, M.L. (2008) A social capital perspective of knowledge sharing and career outcomes of international assignees, paper presented at the 2008 Academy of Management annual meeting, August 8-13, 2008 - Anaheim, California.
Hocking, J.B.; Brown, M.; Harzing, A.W. (2007) Balancing global and local strategic contexts: Expatriate knowledge transfer, applications and learning within a transnational organization, Human Resource Management, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 513-533. Available online...
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2006) Inpatriates as conduits of knowledge flows: The roles of social capital, intellectual capital, and career opportunities, paper presented at the 66th annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Atlanta, August 11-16.
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2005) Managing turnover of local staff at multinational companies: The role of international staffing, conference proceedings of the ANZIBA annual meeting, November 10-11, Melbourne, Australia.
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2005) The role of inpatriate assignments in multinational corporations: An exploratory case study, conference proceedings of the 8th conference on International Human Resource Management, June 14-16, 2005, Cairns, Australia.
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2005) Knowledge flows in multinational corporations: The role of inpatriate assignees' social capital, paper presented at the 65th annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Honolulu, August 5-10.
Reiche, B.S.; Harzing, A.W. (2005) The role of inpatriate assignments in multinational corporations: An exploratory case study, paper presented at the 65th annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Honolulu, August 5-10.
Harzing, A.W. (2004) Ideal jobs and international student mobility in the enlarged European Union, European Management Journal, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 693-703. Available online...
Christensen, C.; Harzing, A.W. (2004) Expatriate failure: Time to abandon the concept?, Career Development International, vol. 9, no. 7, pp. 616-626. Available online...
Harzing, A.W.; Mockaitis, A. (2004) Working in the enlarged European Union: Ideal jobs and international mobility among university students in sixteen European countries, conference proceedings of the 30th EIBA conference, December 5-8, 2004, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Hocking, J.B.; Brown, M.; Harzing, A.W. (2004) Tacitness and time: Contributors to the strategic outcomes of transnational knowledge transfer, paper presented at the 64th annual meeting of the Academy of Management, New Orleans, August 6-11.
Hocking, J.B.; Brown, M.; Harzing, A.W. (2004) A knowledge transfer perspective of strategic assignment purposes and their path-dependent outcomes, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 565-586. Available online...
Harzing, A.W. (2004) Internationalization and the international division of labour, in: Harzing, A.W.; Van Ruysseveldt, J. (eds.), International Human Resource Management, 2nd edition, London: Sage Publications, 2004, pp. 9-32.
Harzing, A.W. (2004) Strategy and structure of multinational companies, in: Harzing, A.W.; Van Ruysseveldt, J. (eds.), International Human Resource Management, 2nd edition, London: Sage Publications, 2004, pp. 33-64.
Harzing, A.W. (2004) Composing an international staff, in: Harzing, A.W.; Van Ruysseveldt, J. (eds.), International Human Resource Management, 2nd edition, London: Sage Publications, 2004, pp. 251-282.
Harzing, A.W.; Van Ruysseveldt, J. (eds.) (2004) International Human Resource Management, 2nd edition. London: Sage Publications, 2004. More about this book...
Hocking, J.B.; Brown, M.; Harzing, A.W. (2003) The strategic outcomes of expatriate assignments: Are they deliberate or emergent?, paper presented at the 7th Conference on International Human Resource Management, June 4-6, 2003, Limerick, Ireland.
Harzing, A.W. (2002) Are our referencing errors undermining our scholarship and credibility? The case of expatriate failure rates, Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 127-148. Available online...
Harzing, A.W. (2001) Of bears, bumble-bees and spiders: The role of expatriates in controlling foreign subsidiaries, Journal of World Business, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 366-379. Available online...
Harzing, A.W. (2001) An analysis of the functions of international transfer of managers in MNCs, Employee Relations, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 581-598. Available online...
Harzing, A.W. (2001) Who's in charge: an empirical study of executive staffing practices in foreign subsidiaries, Human Resource Management, Summer 2001, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 139-158. Available online... [reprinted in International Human Resource Management, Editors: Pawan Budhwar, Randall S. Schuler, Paul R. Sparrow, Sage Publications 2009]
Harzing, A.W. (2001) Why do we send them out? An analysis of the functions of international transfers, paper presented at the 61st annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Washington, 3-8 August.
Harzing, A.W. (2000) De rol van expatriates bij het beheersen van buitenlandse dochterondernemingen, Bedrijfskunde, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 93-102.
Harzing, A.W. (1999) - MNC Staffing policies for the CEO-position in foreign subsidiaries. The results of an innovative research method, in: Brewster, C.; Harris, H. (eds.) International HRM: Contemporary Issues in Europe, Routledge, pp. 67-88.
Harzing, A.W. (1999) Who's in charge: an empirical study of executive staffing practices in foreign subsidiaries, conference proceedings of the 25th EIBA conference, Manchester, 12-14 December.
Harzing, A.W. (1997) Research Note: About the paucity of empirical research in IHRM: A test of Downes framework of staffing foreign subsidiaries, Journal of International Management, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 153-167. Available online...
Borg, M.; Harzing, A.W. (1996) Karrierepfade und Effektivität internationaler Führungskräfte - Profile und Erfolgspotentiale, in: Macharzina, K.; Wolf, J. (Hrsg.), Handbuch Internationales Führungskräfte-Management, Stuttgart: RAABE Verlag, pp. 267-278.
Harzing, A.W. (1995) The persistent myth of high expatriate failure rates, International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 6, May, pp. 457-475. Available online...
Harzing, A.W. (1995) International Human Resource Management, Harzing, A.W.; Van Ruysseveldt, J. (eds), London: Sage Publications, 384 pp., ISBN 0-8039-7950-9 and ISBN 0-8039-7951-7 (pbk). More about this book...
Harzing, A.W. (1995) Internationalization and the international division of labour, in: Harzing, A.W.; Van Ruysseveldt, J. (eds.), International Human Resource Management, London: Sage Publications, pp. 1-24.
Harzing, A.W. (1995) Strategic planning in multinational firms, in: Harzing, A.W.; Van Ruysseveldt, J. (eds.), International Human Resource Management, London: Sage Publications, pp. 25-50.
Borg, M.; Harzing, A.W. (1995) International Staffing, in: Harzing, A.W.; Van Ruysseveldt, J. (eds.), International Human Resource Management, London: Sage Publications, pp. 179-204.
Harzing, A.W. (1995) MNC staffing policies, in search of explanations for variety, paper presented at the 21st annual meeting of the European International Business Academy, Urbino, December.
Harzing, A.W. (1994) Organizational bumble-bees: international transfers as a control mechanism in multinational companies, paper presented at the doctoral tutorial of the 20th annual meeting of the European International Business Association, Warsaw, 11-14 December.

research interests international hrm expatriation multinational companies geographic diversity knowledge transfer inpatriation

Anne-Wil Harzing is Emerita Professor of International Management at Middlesex University, London. She is a Fellow of the Academy of International Business, a select group of distinguished AIB members who are recognized for their outstanding contributions to the scholarly development of the field of international business. In addition to her academic duties, she also maintains the Journal Quality List and is the driving force behind the popular Publish or Perish software program.

Anne-Wil Harzing's profile and contact details >>