| Multinational corporations (MNCs), in order to compete in today's global economy, need to have trained professionals who can succeed as expatriates. However, what demands do such professionals face? The purpose of the study was to explore critical influences on expatriate performance during overseas assignments. Thirteen former Taiwanese expatriate managers from 5 Taiwan-based MNCs participated in the study. Data were gathered from in-depth interviews about the participants' experiences during their overseas assignments. Through open, axial, and selective coding procedures associated with micro- and comparative analyses of a grounded theory research approach, a conceptual model explaining the nature of the success of expatriate managers on their out-of-home-country assignments was developed. Five major explanatory categories that were constructed from 11 propositions included competency, resistance to challenges, motivation, personality characteristics, and benefits for the professional and his organization. These results indicated that the identified competencies and characteristics complemented one another because they were all highly interrelated. |
