Author's abstract : To keep pace with todays fast changing and highly competitive global economy, more
and more companies look beyond national boundaries and expand into foreign markets,
and thus need an internationally mobile workforce. Since international assignments
represent an important financial investment (in training, relocation and compensation
for example), it is essential that they are a success, characterised by performance during
the international assignment as well as retention of repatriates and use of the
internationally acquired knowledge and skills upon their return. Therefore, it is crucial
for companies to develop a better understanding of the factors that influence expatriate
success. Existing literature often concentrates on isolated factors such as personal
characteristics or organisational factors and rarely considers a more holistic approach.
For this reason, the present work seeks to explore the field of expatriate success and to
develop an empirically grounded, holistic model based on expatriates experience.
