Typologies: what types of foreign executives are appointed by local organisations and what types of organisations appoint them?

Current issues in international human resource management include global careers that differ from traditional expatriate assignments. A number of foreign executives have in recent years been appointed to positions in the headquarter operations of culturally distant organisations. These appointments of foreign executives in local organisations (FELOs) can be viewed as a specific form of self-initiated expatriation (SIE), with several distinct types of FELOs found in fieldwork studies. This article offers typologies of the individuals and organisations involved in the FELO phenomenon. These typologies elucidate that FELO appointments do not necessarily indicate a geocentric hiring approach, and assist in identifying which FELO workplaces produce successful outcomes as well as those which are likely to fail. The applicability to other country contexts, implications for theory on diversity in management teams, and key criteria for FELO hiring practices are discussed

Microfinance for poverty alleviation: do transnational initiatives overlook fundamental questions of competition and intermediation?

Numerous microfinance initiatives around the world aim to alleviate poverty in developing countries. However, debate persists about their effectiveness and sustainability – a concern for transnational corporations and the international business community, which contribute about $9.4 billion to microfinance funding. In this policy-oriented article we aggregate findings from two studies in Indonesia that help explain why moneylending can still thrive when low-interest microfinance is widely available and why the poorest borrowers benefit less than the less-poor. To avoid methodological debates about validity, we interview market participants and triangulate the perspectives of borrowers with those of formal and informal lenders. Importantly, our research includes current and past borrowing from formal and informal sources, prompting participants to draw comparisons. We find that the importance to borrowers of key characteristics of informal lending is insufficiently recognized and that inappropriate human resource management and informal intermediation are significant problems. The latter can be an unintended consequence of formal microfinance: The availability of formal low-interest microfinance creates informal intermediation opportunities for entrepreneurs, often developing from casual intermediation into systematic deception. We discuss implications for microfinance policy with reference to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and offer suggestions for further research

Responsible practices in the wild: an actor-network perspective on mobile apps in learning as translation(s)

Competence to enact responsible practices, such as recycling waste or boycotting irresponsible companies, is core to learning for responsibility. We explore the role of apps in learning such responsible practices ‘in the wild,’ outside formal educational environments over a 3-week period. Learners maintained a daily diary in which they reflected on their learning of responsible practices with apps. Through a thematic analysis of 557 app mentions in the diaries, we identified five types of app-agency: cognitive, action, interpersonal, personal development, and material. Findings were interpreted from an actor-network perspective using the lens of ‘translation.’ To understand how apps enabled the learning of responsible practices, we analyzed app agency throughout four moments of translation: problematization, interessement, enrolment, and mobilization. Based on our analysis of how students’ app mentions changed over time, we further theorize learning as a sequence of subtranslations that form the larger translation process: learning as translation(s). Each subtranslation cycle is centered on enrolling a different set of human and nonhuman actors, with their competence, into the network. We contribute to the learning for responsibility field by showcasing how app-enabled learning may create real-life actor networks enacting responsibility, and by priming an actor-network pedagogy for ‘learning in the wild.’ We also contribute to the actor-network learning discussion by conceptualizing heterogeneous human–nonhuman competence and the first processual model of learning as translation(s)

Intra-corporate plagiarism?: conceptualising antecedents and consequences of negatively perceived mobility of ideas

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine and reflect on the mobility of ideas between multinational corporation (MNC) headquarters and subsidiaries. Does it always represent (positively perceived) knowledge transfer or can it sometimes constitute (negatively perceived) intra-corporate plagiarism? What are antecedents and consequences of negatively perceived mobility of ideas? Design/methodology/approach - The authors conceptualise inter-unit knowledge transfer in MNCs without recognition of originators as an act of intra-corporate plagiarism. The conceptualisation is informed by theoretical perspectives in the literature and indicative data emerging unexpectedly from a study designed to examine knowledge transfer in MNCs. These illustrate the concept, point to factors affecting the propensity to plagiarise, and provide preliminary insight on both negative and positive consequences. Aiming to build theory, the authors offer propositions for further research. Findings - The conceptualisation suggests that adopting units lose access to the original sources of ideas as plagiarism victims may establish defensive strategies. Originators of ideas may experience loss of trust, be unsupportive of implementation and erect barriers to future mobility. There is risk of reputation loss and rejection of ideas and practices from other units. However, the conceptualisation also suggests that, ironically and counterintuitively, plagiarism may increase the mobility of ideas within MNCs. Research limitations/implications - The authors do not test hypotheses and make no claims from the data about statistical validity or prevalence of the phenomenon. As the emergent data are not longitudinal, and specific to human resource management practices, the authors cannot empirically establish all antecedents and consequences of intra-corporate plagiarism. Hence, the theorisations primarily rely on perspectives in the literature. The study merely offers the theoretical conceptualisation of the phenomenon and propositions for future research. Practical implications - Drawing on theoretical perspectives in the literature at the country level (ethnocentrism, dominance effects, legitimacy, capability) and organisation level (not-invented-here syndrome, micro-politics), the study indicates consequences that MNCs may wish to consider in their knowledge management. Originality/value - The first contribution is the conceptualisation of inter-unit knowledge transfer in MNCs without recognition of originators as an act of intra-corporate plagiarism. Second, the authors point out that knowledge transfer directionality reported in other research may be based on intentional or unintentional misrepresentation. Third, the authors theorise intra-corporate plagiarism as potentially useful in mitigating ethnocentrism, country-of-origin dominance effects and perceptions about legitimacy and capability

Does microfinance really alleviate poverty? The 34-billion-dollar question

Article on the problems for research into microfinance for poverty alleviation. Advocates a sceptic approach and describes the methods used for studies recently published in a journal article for UNCTAD. "The Conversation" is an independent source of news and knowledge, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered for use by the wider public.Global Perspectives. The Conversation https://theconversation.com/does-microfinance-really-alleviate-poverty-the-34-billion-dollar-question-8747

Does microfinance really alleviate poverty? The 34-billion-dollar question

Article on the problems for research into microfinance for poverty alleviation. Advocates a sceptic approach and describes the methods used for studies recently published in a journal article for UNCTAD. "The Conversation" is an independent source of news and knowledge, sourced from the academic and research community and delivered for use by the wider public.Global Perspectives. The Conversation https://theconversation.com/does-microfinance-really-alleviate-poverty-the-34-billion-dollar-question-8747

For success in a cross-cultural environment, choose foreign executives wisely

This article illustrates two of the four types of foreign executives in local organisations found through fieldwork. It should be read in conjunction with:Arp, F. (2013). Typologies: What types of foreign executives are appointed by local organisations and what types of organisations appoint them? German Journal of Human Resource Management / Zeitschrift für Personalforschung (ZfP), 27(3), 167-194, DOI:10.1177/239700221302700302International audienceThe 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 an FELO appointment and the reasons that actually make a cross‐cultural workplace 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

Linkage of student services: Reference letters, career advice and personal tutor systems

Arp, Frithjof (2016). Linkage of student services: Reference letters, career advice and personal tutor systems. Accepted for and presented at the 2nd Teaching & Learning Conference, The University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China 2 September 2016. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15413

Reference letters as components of the personal tutor and career services systems: Action research and policy formalisation

Arp, Frithjof (2016). Reference letters as components of the personal tutor and career services systems: Action research and policy formalisation. Teaching Development Seminar, Nottingham University Business School, Ningbo, China 21 September 2016. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16015

Foreign executives in local organisations (FELOs)

Foreign executives in local organisations (FELOs) of culturally distant countries are a rare international management phenomenon that differs significantly from expatriate assignments in the subsidiaries of multinational organisations. The phenomenon has not been systematically researched, although media reports and executive search firm publications see it as ‘fairly new, highly visible, and sometimes controversial’ with demand for FELOs in Asia ‘likely to continue’. The purpose of this research is to address the gap in the literature through a systematic investigation of the FELO phenomenon. It adopts a qualitative approach to examine what and when foreign executives contribute to local organisations, why they are appointed, and how cultural distance is bridged. To achieve its purpose, the study analyses data from in-depth semi-structured interviews with foreign executives (n=46) from 13 countries and their local colleagues (n=25) from various cultural backgrounds, in organisations founded and headquartered in Malaysia. Dyadic data is used for the triangulation of findings, while non-dyadic data, socio-biographical data, as well as ‘between’ and ‘within’ group analysis, adds to the richness of the findings and is utilised to establish typologies. The research setting allows the exploration of organisational and individual perspectives across multiple cross-cultural boundaries in a single language common to all participants. Utilising this heterogeneity of perspectives, the study identifies differences between FELOs and other phenomena (such as expatriate assignments), and distinguishes country-specific influences from those that are generalisable to FELO workplaces in other settings. The key findings of the research include that FELOs are initially appointed for temporary roles and their hard skills, and to help open foreign markets, enhance organisational reputation and portray internationalisation. Assumptions about the remuneration of FELOs are a potential source of resentment from host-country nationals, although many FELOs are learning- and experience-driven rather than motivated purely by income. The research further suggests that some FELOs remain in their positions due to their soft skills, progress with the internationalisation of the local organisations for which they work, and because of a unique ‘in/out group’-status that has developed based on their host-country involvement. For many FELOs, this involvement includes engagement in local industry associations, private relationships with host-country nationals, and bridging roles between groups of local colleagues. The originality, theoretical contribution and significance of this research lie in its exploration and analysis of an international cross-cultural workplace phenomenon that has been overlooked by research primarily focused on expatriate assignments. In distinguishing between individual (that is, psychological) and collective (that is, socio-cultural) distance, the study helps to explain how cultural distance can be asymmetric and contingent on direction. It generates new insight on the theoretical constructs of ‘degree of internationalisation’ and the ‘global mindset’ of management teams. The study also holds important practical implications, as it elucidates the career-paths and career-capital of the individuals involved in the FELO phenomenon, and the contribution these individuals make to local organisations through leverage of their unique ‘in/out group’-status.Table of contents released for public access by author