Expatriate Deployment Strategy: Dubai and Hong Kong

Background and City Selection

The company has decided that in order to expand globally, it will need to send two expatriates to two different countries: one to Dubai to run the EMEA business, and one to Hong Kong to run the APAC business. This report presents a significant discussion of business cultures in those cities and their respective regions, and outlines what the company must do to ensure a successful expatriate deployment.

The first thing the company must understand is that we cannot send people who have no international experience on this type of assignment. The initial expansion requires people on the ground who understand what they are getting into — individuals who have travelled extensively and done business in the regions in question. So much rides on these individuals that an early return would put the entire global expansion at risk. This is why it is critical to understand what a strong candidate for international duty looks like. To minimize risk, we need people who already know what they are getting into. This is simply no job for rookies — if the basics of different cultures need to be explained to a candidate, they are the wrong person for the role.

There are several reasons why these two cities were recommended. Both are major regional hubs and financial centers. They are relatively straightforward from a visa perspective, and each has a major international airport with extensive regional connections. Hong Kong is particularly central in East Asia and well-connected with Australia. Because the PRC is expected to be the largest market, Hong Kong makes more sense than a mainland city. Why the SAR rather than the mainland? It is considerably easier to live there. While entrenched expatriate communities exist in Beijing and Shanghai, Hong Kongers speak more English, modern amenities familiar to Westerners are readily available, and residents operate on the open side of the Great Firewall. Sydney and Melbourne are obviously even easier places to live, but they sit at the periphery of the region.

Dubai might initially seem like an odd choice for EMEA, but the region will include the Indian subcontinent. London is a viable option as well, though somewhat peripheral. Dubai is extremely well-connected throughout the region, and the company sees tremendous potential in India — and there is no Indian city even remotely as easy to live in as Dubai. For foreigners, Dubai presents a fairly low degree of difficulty, even with respect to matters such as alcohol, and it offers a thriving expatriate community, a full slate of amenities, and English as the lingua franca. The only consideration that might tip the balance back toward London is proximity to the home office, but for now Dubai is the chosen base for EMEA.

Benefits and Risks of Using Expatriates

The company has the option of hiring expatriates or drawing from the local talent pool. We have determined that the local talent pool in our industry is relatively weak in both Dubai and Hong Kong. Expatriates will therefore be needed to identify key talent in those markets and forge relationships with resellers and other partners in their respective regions. Typically, an expatriate can accomplish these tasks far more easily than someone working from the domestic home office, given the need for physical meetings, time zone considerations, and the importance of demonstrating genuine commitment to these markets.

There are, however, several risks associated with expatriate deployment that management should be aware of. The first is cost. Not only is there the base cost of the expatriate's compensation, but also a full living allowance if the person is deployed from the home country. If family members accompany the expatriate, costs will be substantially higher.

A second risk is reduced oversight. Because expatriates are so physically removed and operating in entirely different time zones, managing their activities is inherently more difficult. An expatriate needs to be a self-starter with strong personal discipline, and the company must trust the individual implicitly given the scale of investment being made.

A third risk is early return due to burnout (Laird, 2015). Expatriates frequently burn out, and even when they do not, their families sometimes do. Building a foreign subsidiary from scratch with only limited, long-distance support from the home office is enormously stressful. Even if the selected individual can handle the assignment, a spouse or children may not adapt as well. Family pressures are among the leading causes of early return.

Selection Criteria

Expatriate candidates must meet the following criteria. First, they must have direct experience in their respective regions. We cannot afford to send a rookie overseas. If encountering a menu written entirely in Chinese characters would unsettle a candidate, they are not the right person. If Dubai's heat would be a problem, they are not the right person. Experience is non-negotiable. "Cultural familiarity" is not a substitute. The background of a Chinese-American or Arab-American who was born and raised in the United States is not sufficient — this is not about ethnicity, but about one's firsthand understanding of life in another culture and the ability to adapt to it. A person can have heritage ties to a country and still be completely unprepared for daily life there. This is why direct experience is paramount, above all other proxies.

Proficiency in at least one additional language is also required. Mandarin is preferred for the APAC role, though Cantonese or Japanese would also be acceptable. For most of the EMEA region, English is the language of business and is widely spoken across the Middle East and Indian subcontinent. A major European language — German, French, or Spanish — or Turkish is preferred. Arabic is desirable but not essential, as English is commonly used in the region.

A third selection criterion is psychographic. The candidate must be determined, patient, and highly adaptable. Research on successful expatriate deployments consistently identifies adaptability and openness as key traits. There will be many challenges, a great deal of on-the-fly learning, and the candidate must be able to navigate difficult situations without panic, discouragement, or the urge to return home. Given the change in environment combined with the business stakes, the degree of mental toughness required is exceptional.

Finally, no financial incentive will be offered to encourage acceptance of an expatriate role. This is a demanding life for anyone who is not fully and unconditionally committed. Only candidates who are genuinely excited about the challenge should apply — the decision to accept must be made entirely on the merits of the assignment itself.