Article
For success in a cross-cultural environment, choose foreign executives wisely
Global Business & Organizational Excellence
(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,
- cultural distance,
- management team
Disciplines
Publication Date
2012
DOI
10.1002/joe.21462
Publisher Statement
Written to illustrate two of the four types of foreign executives in local organizations (FELOs) found in fieldwork studies.
Citation Information
Frithjof Arp. "For success in a cross-cultural environment, choose foreign executives wisely" Global Business & Organizational Excellence Vol. 32 Iss. 1 (2012) p. 40 - 50 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/frithjof_arp/2/