International Business Mindsets of Successful Expats Companies

International Business

Mindsets of Successful Expats

Companies compete in a global environment; the increasing participation in the global environment has seen a rise in the need for international managers who can work in overseas operations in an effective manner. Firms have been selecting expatriate for many years, often using well established processes, which focus on skills and knowledge of the job, but not the issues associated with cultural adaptability (Deresky, 2011). Research undertaken by Mansour Javidan focuses on the mindset characteristics that are likely to indicate success as an expatriate worker; these are divided into three sets of attributes; intellectual capital, psychological capital and social capital (Dereksky, 2011).

Intellectual capital refers to knowledge, skills and cognitive attributes, allowing them to deal with the changes in culture by understanding how and why attitudes and practices maybe different. Those individuals how are likely to be successful as expatriate workers have a greater capacity to accept and incorporate different viewpoints in the workplace which is also likely to be backed up with the required knowledge to operate in the different cultures, but also the skills and global knowledge needed by the local operations; the need to acquire knowledge is the reason why expatriate workers are brought in (Javidan et al., 2005).

Psychological capital refers to the ability of the individual to adapt and function in a different country or culture, referring to the internal processes, values and attitudes which impact on that functioning (Javidan et al., 2005). Expats which are likely to be successful will have a strong motivation and willingness to experience the international cultures; participating rather than simply observing (Javidan et al., 2005). Two key characteristics associated with this are the presence of cultural sensitivity, with recognition and respect for the potential differences, and the way in which they may impact on ideas values and actions without the presence of cultural judgment, and secondly the presence of psychological fortitude in order to deal with the unfamiliar or different environments (Javidan et al., 2005).