Running Head: INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 1 INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS 8 Assignment 2: International Assignments Julie Schoman Bus 325 03/01/2015 Components of pre-departure training It is known that the essential components of pr-departure training which contribute to efficient and effective transition to a foreign location is inclusive of; cultural awareness and training program, day to day matters, language instructions and assistance and preliminary visits (Chruden & Sherman, 2006). Cultural Awareness The expatriate employee in order to be effective must be connected to the host country and not feel isolated. A proper cultural awareness program is very important since it will help the employee to embrace the host country’s culture and be able to behave accordingly. The components of cultural awareness training usually vary according to duration of stay, purpose of transfer, and the individual providing the transfer (Chruden & Sherman, 2006). As part of the training there are five categories of this training which includes; environmental training and orientation, sensitivity training, field experience, language training and cultural assimilators. There is a contingency framework that can be able to assist in determination of the extent of training (Chruden & Sherman, 2006). Day to day matters The expatriate employee in order to be able to carry out the duties that are designated to them, one is supposed to be trained on day to day matters that they have to go through as they fulfill their duties abroad. They have to be trained on how to move around the job area and the city, basic rules of going about the different places and areas are also vital for any expatriate (Chruden & Sherman, 2006). Language instructions In order to be able to go about daily routine and life in a foreign country, the expatriate employee has to learn basic language such as greetings, requests and various forms of courtesies that will enable one to work with others, both natives and fellow expatriates (Daly, 2005). The language instructions are taught prior to teaching of cultural matters so that the expatriates can be able to attach meaning to culture and language Preliminary visit It is important that expatriate gets a reconnaissance of the area that they are going to work in. This is important so that they can be able to familiarize with the environment and the people. It will not be easy for expatriate employee to get straight to the foreign country and get directly to carry out the duties without knowing the environment fast (Daly, 2005). Criteria for assessing performance The three most common criteria that are used to determine the expatriate success are; how they complete the foreign assignment, how they are able to adjust to cross cultural issues while they are out on the assignment and lastly the performance on the foreign assignment. It is important that the expatriate is able to complete the assignment within the time that they have been alloc.

1. Running Head: INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS
1
INTERNATIONAL ASSIGNMENTS
8
Assignment 2: International Assignments
Julie Schoman
Bus 325
03/01/2015
Components of pre-departure training
It is known that the essential components of pr-departure
training which contribute to efficient and effective transition to
a foreign location is inclusive of; cultural awareness and
training program, day to day matters, language instructions and
assistance and preliminary visits (Chruden & Sherman, 2006).
Cultural Awareness
The expatriate employee in order to be effective must be
connected to the host country and not feel isolated. A proper
cultural awareness program is very important since it will help
the employee to embrace the host country’s culture and be able
to behave accordingly. The components of cultural awareness
training usually vary according to duration of stay, purpose of
transfer, and the individual providing the transfer (Chruden &
Sherman, 2006). As part of the training there are five categories
of this training which includes; environmental training and
orientation, sensitivity training, field experience, language
training and cultural assimilators. There is a contingency
framework that can be able to assist in determination of the
extent of training (Chruden & Sherman, 2006).
Day to day matters

2. The expatriate employee in order to be able to carry out the
duties that are designated to them, one is supposed to be trained
on day to day matters that they have to go through as they
fulfill their duties abroad. They have to be trained on how to
move around the job area and the city, basic rules of going
about the different places and areas are also vital for any
expatriate (Chruden & Sherman, 2006).
Language instructions
In order to be able to go about daily routine and life in a foreign
country, the expatriate employee has to learn basic language
such as greetings, requests and various forms of courtesies that
will enable one to work with others, both natives and fellow
expatriates (Daly, 2005). The language instructions are taught
prior to teaching of cultural matters so that the expatriates can
be able to attach meaning to culture and language
Preliminary visit
It is important that expatriate gets a reconnaissance of the area
that they are going to work in. This is important so that they can
be able to familiarize with the environment and the people. It
will not be easy for expatriate employee to get straight to the
foreign country and get directly to carry out the duties without
knowing the environment fast (Daly, 2005).
Criteria for assessing performance
The three most common criteria that are used to determine the
expatriate success are; how they complete the foreign
assignment, how they are able to adjust to cross cultural issues
while they are out on the assignment and lastly the performance
on the foreign assignment. It is important that the expatriate is
able to complete the assignment within the time that they have
been allocated. For example an auditor send out on duty in a
foreign country to audit the books of a multinational company

3. will be given the time limit with which they should be able to
operate and ensure that they have gathered all the relevant
information to write an audit report (Devinney, 2010).
The other important criterion is whether they have been able to
carry what has been assigned to them effectively and as per the
required specifications. An officer send out to oversee the
closure of an oversea branch should be able to come back with a
complete closure report from which the management can assess
the situation. The last important criteria is to determine how has
the expatriate been able to interact with the foreign colleagues
which is what is referred to as cross cultural adjustment
(Devinney, 2010). This is important since the official may be
needed to carry out other assignments in the future which may
not be possible if they will have failed to adjust to the culture
of the new environment.
Recruiting and selection strategy
The recruiters for expatriates should be well selected and
carefully trained. The strategy for recruitment and criteria for
expatriates should be in line with the requirements of the job.
The following are what should be judged from an expatriate;
Adaptability to new culture
The best candidate for any expatriate job should be able to
adjust to the new environment and the ways of the new country.
It will be difficult to carry out the duties assigned if one cannot
be able to understand the cultures and way of life of the host
country (Devinney, 2010).
Flexibility
The best candidate for an expatriate role should be able to show
qualities of being flexible. They should not be rigid to the old
culture, the ways of doing things and they should be easy to
teach new ways. It is through the new ways that they can be
able to carry out the duties assigned to them and learn fast
(Devinney, 2010).

4. Professional expertise
The expatriate being selected should be able to carry out the
duties professionally since they will be acting as goodwill
ambassadors of the country and the firm or organization that is
sending them out. If in any way they fail to exhibit those
qualities they will have failed then they will have the company
and they will have failed on what they are supposed to carry out
(Devinney, 2010).
Language ability
For any expatriate it is important they need to be quick in
learning foreign language so that they will be able to
communicate. Communication is vital and learning a foreign
language is not easy and that individual who is ideal for any
foreign duty must have a history of learning other different
languages (Devinney, 2010).
The two alternatives that is available for our company is that we
can use either of these two staffing approaches;
Ethnocentric Staffing will mean that our own country’s citizens
will be employed to fill the major managerial positions and
other tasks since they are already familiar with the goals and the
roles that they will have to perform. They are also familiar to
the products and the policies of the company and therefore they
will need little training which will be easy to provide. It will be
effective since they are in a better position to report to us if
they find that there is a short fall in the company abroad. This
will be effective to go in line with our centralized global policy
(Venkateswaran, 2012).
Polycentric staffing approach where we will be able to hire the
nationals of the host country and avoid all the basic trainings
that an expatriate needs, we will only have to teach foreigner
our company’s policies and procedures and have them carry out
the duty that we expect of them. This will not be the best option
though since our intention is not to act local. This approach will

5. only be important if within our staff we cannot be able to find
employees who are adaptable and well acquainted to foreign
duties. The main difficulty with this approach is that there will
be difficulty in coordinating the activities between the head
office and the regional office (Venkateswaran, 2012). This
approach in most cases will challenge our staff to act harder in
ensuring that they gain the proper qualification to be able to
carry out foreign duties for the company.
High quality mentoring
In most cases today, when people are sent on external duty they
fear loss of visibility and that through isolation and being away
from parent company will affect their career adversely. They
believe that by being away from the parent company it will
affect their career path. It is important that our company
monitor these expatriate career developments through
international mentoring (Venkateswaran, 2012). Many
expatriates believe that mentoring is so helpful to their career
development. Developing a mentoring system, it needs to be
informal since a formal mentoring may be time consuming
taking into account the fact that the expatriates have had to be
taken through certain forms of training before being sent out on
duty.
The mentor needs to be up to date with the structural changes
that come in the company so that they are able to advice the
assignee on how best they can be able to cope while the
company advances and creates new positions. A good example
where an assignee is given mentoring is when it comes to
dealing with the issues at home company while on duty at the
foreign post. They have to be taught how they can be able to
adjust to the fact that they have to develop a new career point
which will give them better opportunities in future
(Venkateswaran, 2012).
Measuring ROI on international assignment
The critical step when faced with such situation is to assess and
be able to assign value as well as expense. The value then is

6. weighed against the cost. The process will call for paradigm
shift which is accompanied by combination of difficult and
quantifiable data which needs high use of technology. Many
companies are in the process of creating the systems and
processes that help in calculating of value. It will be possible to
measure value through taking a holistic view, the costs from
department can be put together but the value is long term and
cannot be determined as quickly as such.
The most important thing to do when measuring value is to
determine the value drivers. These are the reason as to why the
expatriates were sending out (Hersey & Blanchard, 2002). The
first can be governance where one is sent to transfer culture,
another could be technology transfer and lastly it could be skills
shortage. If through sending out expatriates the shortage is
plugged then the purpose will have been achieved which is part
of the value that the organization must have been trying to
create. At certain times the employees are able to fulfill more
than what the value driver provides. They can be able to fulfill
the portion of governance which in most cases is restricted to
senior management (Hersey & Blanchard, 2002). Through
understanding governance they will be able to communicate
vision and make use of the technological assignment which is
very important for the achievement of the main goal of the
company.
References
Chruden, H., & Sherman, A. (2006). Personnel management (5th
ed.). Cincinnati: South-Western Pub.
Daly, J. (2005). Training in developing nations: A handbook for
expatriates. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.
Devinney, T. (2010). The past, present and future of
international business & management. Bingley, UK:
Emerald.

7. Hersey, P., & Blanchard, K. (2002). Management of
organizational behavior: Utilizing human resources (4th ed.).
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall.
Venkateswaran, N. (2012). International business management
(2nd ed.). New Delhi: New Age International.