MGMT3025 Chap.7 International Training, Development and Careers
International Training, Development and Careers
This chapter follows an international assignment from preparation to return. It begins with the difference between training, which improves current skills, and development, which builds ability for future roles, and with the questions a multinational must answer about who delivers training abroad and how it is adapted to local culture and language.
It then covers cross-cultural training: the three dimensions of method, rigour and duration, and how expected interaction and cultural novelty decide how much preparation an assignee needs. The eight components of pre-departure training are set against survey evidence on what firms actually provide.
The second half turns to careers: global leadership competencies and the global mindset, the knowledge and skills an assignment builds, and repatriation, including its three parties, reverse culture shock, the predictors of maladjustment and the strategies that make re-entry smoother. The Week 7 seminar used a video case about a family posted to Paris to discuss preparation and repatriation expectations.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Training compared with development in an international firm
- 02
Seven imperatives and the key questions for global training
- 03
Method, rigour and duration of cross-cultural training
- 04
Expected interaction and cultural novelty as drivers of training depth
- 05
Eight components of pre-departure training and organisational support
- 06
Global leadership competencies and the global mindset
- 07
Repatriation, reverse culture shock and predictors of maladjustment
- 08
Strategies for a smooth re-entry
Worked example · free
Auditing an airline repatriation policy that starts only at the return
- +2Before departure: nothing is agreed, so add a written repatriation agreement and a first career planning conversation about the role to come back to.
- +1On assignment: no link to home is kept, so add a home mentor and extended home visits so the captain and the home fleet stay informed about each other.
- +1Return: the reorientation week is the one phase covered; keep it and add an adjustment period with personal financial and tax advice.
- +1First years back: nothing ensures the new skills are used, so plan a role or project that draws on the experience gained abroad.
- +1Judge the gaps: the policy acts only after the problems have formed, so the missing agreement before departure matters most.
Key terms
- Cultural novelty
- The extent to which a host culture differs from the assignee's native culture, used to set the depth of training.
- Pre-departure training
- Preparation given before an international move, from cultural awareness and language to security briefings and practical help.
- Global mindset
- The capacity to live and work effectively across cultures, at the centre of global leadership development.
- Reverse culture shock
- Distress on returning home when a repatriate finds that home life and the organisation have changed.
International Training, Development and Careers FAQ
How much cross-cultural training does an assignee need?
The lecture uses Mendenhall, Dunbar and Oddou's three dimensions of method, rigour and duration. Duration and rigour are set against the expected degree of interaction with host nationals and the cultural novelty of the location. A similar culture with little interaction needs the shortest and least rigorous training; a novel culture with heavy interaction needs the most.
What are the components of pre-departure training?
The lecture lists eight: programs that build cultural awareness, language tuition, practical everyday help, visits before the move, security briefings, training for the training role, training for third-country and host-country nationals, and preparation for non-traditional assignments. Firms also support the move with career planning, help with visas and the home, and partner employment counselling.
What do expatriates gain from an international assignment?
Five kinds of gain are listed: market-specific knowledge of a country's political, social and economic systems, language and customs; personal skills such as self-confidence, flexibility and tolerance; job-related management skills; network knowledge from meeting a diverse range of people; and broader general management capacity from wider responsibilities.
Why do repatriates struggle when they come home?
Many experience reverse culture shock because home and the company have changed while they were away. Predictors of maladjustment include long periods abroad, unrealistic expectations of jobs at home, downward job mobility, reduced work status and a feeling that the employer offered little support. Role clarity, autonomy, use of new skills and family support ease adjustment.
Who is involved in the repatriation process?
Three parties. The individual updates skills, expectations and career plans; the receiving unit identifies a suitable position and assigns support such as a mentor; and the family reintegrates socially and practically into home life. Because all three matter, the strongest strategies start before departure with a written agreement about the return.
Exam move
Draw the 2 by 2 grid of expected interaction against cultural novelty and practise placing invented assignments in it, saying whether the training should be short and light or longer and more rigorous and which of the eight pre-departure components matter most.
Then sketch the assignment as a timeline and attach re-entry strategies to each phase, noting how many of the lecture's re-entry actions happen before the assignee comes home. Learn the predictors of maladjustment and the moderators of re-entry as two contrasting lists. Keep the survey figures as supporting evidence only, quoting each with its source and year.
Finally, rehearse the four global leadership competencies and the five gains from an assignment, and practise matching a short description to each one.
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