Researching expatriate types: the quest for rigorous methodological approaches

• Date: 01 April 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12070
• Published date: 01 April 2015
• Author: Phyllis Tharenou

PROVOCATION SERIES PAPER

Researching expatriate types: the quest for

rigorous methodological approaches

Phyllis Tharenou, Flinders University

Human Resource Management Journal, Vol 25, no 2, 2015, pages 149–165

International talent flow is critical to meeting the needs for skilled human capital in global and

multinational organisations and in developed and developing countries. Recent decades have witnessed

a boom in research into long-term skilled international mobility, especially the traditional category of

international assignees, but also skilled immigrants and a relatively new expatriate type: self-initiated

expatriates. The upsurge in empirical interest has highlighted a number of issues relating to the way the

research has been conducted. This article examines methodological issues associated with research into

the three expatriate types and seeks to advise researchers on how future research can be conducted to

improve the robustness of results. In this way, practitioners and policy makers may be able to make more

use of the empirical evidence.

Contact: Phyllis Tharenou, Flinders University, GPO Box2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.

Email: phyllis.tharenou@flinders.edu.au

Keywords: expatriates; research design; skilled migrants

INTRODUCTION

The demand for skilled talented employees by global and multinational organisations for

their foreign operations and by foreign countries for economic development continues to

grow at a rapid pace (Vaiman et al., 2012; Brookfield, 2014; Silvanto and Ryan, 2014). The

demand is consistent with ‘talent flow’, the worldwide circulation of professionals and

managers who expatriate to take advantage of the attractive opportunities on offer (Carr et al.,

2005; Meyskens et al., 2009; Cerdin and Brewster, 2014). In line with this interest, scholars have

increased their investigations into long-term (over a year) skilled (i.e. tertiary-educated)

international mobility (cf. reviews: Andresen et al., 2012; Shaffer et al., 2012; Dabic et al., 2013;

Doherty, 2013). The three major forms of such talented employees are (a) organisational

transfers/international assignees (cf. reviews: Harrison et al., 2004; Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005;

Stroh et al., 2005; Harvey and Moeller, 2009; Takeuchi, 2010); (b) self-initiated expatriates (cf.

reviews: Doherty, 2013; Doherty etal., 2013; Dorsch et al., 2013; Cerdin and Selmer, 2014); and

(c) skilled (im)migrants (e.g. OECD, 2008; Syed, 2008; Al Ariss et al., 2012).

In this analysis, I reflect on the ways by which recent empirical studies in the area of HRM

into these three forms of skilled long-term international mobility – international

assignees/assigned expatriates (IA/AEs), self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) and skilled

immigrants (SIs) – have been conducted, and I investigate the research design issues linked to

the three streams of enquiry. In doing this, I examine the design issues linked to the three types

of expatriation and advise researchers on how to construct their research design such that it

produces best-quality evidence, which will then be more likely to be used by practitioners and

policy makers (cf. Rousseau and Barends, 2011).

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doi: 10.1111/1748-8583.12070

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, VOL 25 NO 2, 2015 149

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Please cite this article in press as: Tharenou, P. (2015) ‘Researching expatriate types: the quest for rigorous methodological approaches’. Human

Resource Management Journal 25: 2, 149–165.

Background

There are common understandings of the nature of these three types of expatriates. IA/AEs are

professionals or managers who are transferred by their organisation, which arranges and

supports the move, to work in a foreign subsidiary to achieve an organisational goal (e.g.

Collings et al., 2007; Tharenou and Caulfield, 2010; Shaffer et al., 2012). At the end of a set

period, typically between 1 to 5 years, they usually repatriate (Edström and Galbraith, 1977).

By contrast, SIEs are usually professionals or managers who, with no support of an

organisation, go abroad on their own initiative to seek work in a host country for an indefinite

period, although normally over a year (Collings et al., 2007; Tharenou, 2010; Tharenou and

Caulfield, 2010; Shaffer et al., 2012). This is usually a temporary move and they often repatriate

(Cerdin and Selmer, 2014), usually within a decade (e.g. Richardson and McKenna, 2006;

Richardson and Zikic, 2007; Inkson and Thorn, 2010). Skilled (im)migrants (SIs) are managers,

professionals or technicians who usually hold a tertiary degree and who move on their own

initiative from one country to another intending to settle permanently (Cerdin and Selmer,

2014), normally as part of a skilled migration programme or through a job offer sponsored by

an employer in the new home country (OECD, 2008). Most do settle permanently (e.g. Lowell,

2001; Khoo et al., 2008; OECD, 2008; Sahoo et al., 2010). IA/AEs and SIEs can also be

‘immigrants’ if a visa and residence permit are required. Yet not all are, as not all countries have

such requirements (e.g. the European Union does not).

Why consider the methodological bases for empirical studies of the three types? Over the

past decade, HRM scholars have been bringing together the theory and evidence for the three

categories. Studies compare IA/AEs and SIEs empirically (see Tharenou’s, 2013, review of 21

comparative studies), studies of SIEs and SIs qualitatively (Al Ariss and Crowley-Henry, 2013)

and empirically (Al Ariss et al., 2012), and all three types empirically (see review by Andresen

et al., 2012, 2014) to try to establish differences and similarities. Moreover, some scholars have

proposed that the types are interchangeable; for example, that SIEs can be substituted for the

shortage of IA/AEs (cf. Tharenou, 2013). Despite the literature on the three types becoming

integrated, the way the research has been conducted has not yet been examined comparatively

(cf. Al Ariss et al., 2012, for an exception for SIE and SI studies), notwithstanding the fact that

the methodology used may affect the conclusions drawn.

Understanding the link between research design issues and the type of expatriation studied

is important for researchers, but also as well for end-users, who require the best available

scientific evidence for their decision-making (Rousseau and Barends, 2011). HRM practitioners

make use of empirical evidence into skilled international mobility to inform company decisions

and the design of practices and policies (e.g. Stroh et al., 2005; McNulty and Inkson, 2013;

Brookfield, 2014), while government officers also use findings to inform migration policies (e.g.

Hugo et al., 2003; Khoo et al., 2008; OECD, 2008).

Method

I conducted a search for empirical studies into the three expatriate types published in

peer-reviewed journals since 2000 in the field of HRM. I chose the Psych Info and Business

Source Complete (BSC) databases because they provide extensive searches of journals in HRM

and allied areas, including international HRM, international management and international

business (IB). They also include some major non-psychology and non-business journals in other

disciplines relevant to HRM, such as economic geography (e.g. Journal of Economic Geography,

Economic Geography,Demography), migration (e.g. International Migration,Journal of Ethnic and

Migration Studies) and sociology (e.g. Annual Review of Sociology,American Sociological Review,

Researching expatriate types

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© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.