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Expatriate Training

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THE 21ST CENTURY OFFERS MANY ALTERNATIVES TO THE TRADITIONAL CONCEPT OF ENGAGING IN THE EXPENSIVE AND FRAUGHT RIDDEN ACTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH EXPATRIATE STAFF. CRITICALLY EVALUATE THIS ISSUE GIVING YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS TO AN ORGANISATION CONSIDERING ABANDONING ITS EXPATRIATE PROGRAMME, CITING APPROPRIATE MODELS AND EXAMPLES TO SUPPORT YOUR KEY ARGUMENTS.

INTRODUCTION
The world economy is moving away from the traditional economic system where national markets were considered as distinct entities which were isolated from each other by trade barriers of distance, time and culture. This has been in place since the advent of globalisation. In a bid for internationalisation, companies tend to use expatriates which serves as a home manager …show more content…

Labour intensive operations can be shifted to countries that can provide cheap labour, like most manufacturing firms are now relocating their base to Asian countries like India, china, due to the low cost of labour. In certain cases availability of raw material might provide an advantage. Tax advantages and incentives could also lead to cost advantages. A third reason for multinational companies to prefer operating in many countries is to spread the risks. If a company puts all its capital in a single country, it is susceptible to the vagaries in that country and can be affected by factors such as general economic depression, interest rate rise, exchange rate variation and so on. Operating from several countries insures the company against such risks.

DRAW-BACKS OF EXPATRIATE ASSIGNMENTS
This section of the essay identifies key factors responsible for the setback of expatriate assignment. These include; costs, the supply and demand issues, expatriate performance and failure and finally career dynamics.
Costs: The high cost of funding the expatriate programme has over ages been a major challenge for companies. Sparrow et al. (2004:139) conclude on the basis of empirical study that few organisations had a true grasp of the costs associated with expatriate assignments, they also highlighted that generally MNCs had little knowledge of the benefits accruing from the

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