Skip to main content

The Social Capital of Traditional and Self-Initiated Expatriates

  • Chapter
Talent Management of Self-Initiated Expatriates

Abstract

Self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) represent an increasingly important part of the global workforce, and typically come with considerable knowledge and skills and high motivation to work internationally. This, together with the growing corporate need for managers who are able to deal with global integration and coordination work (Harvey et al., 1999; Gregersen et al., 1998), makes them a potentially highly valuable part of the international workforce. In fact, SIEs are predicted to become the largest group of internationally mobile managers within the next decade (Peiperl & Jonsen, 2007; Suutari & Brewster, 2000; Tharenou & Caulfield, 2010).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Adler, P. S., & Kwon, S.-W. 2002. Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept. Academy of Management Review, 27, 17–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baruch, Y. 2006. Career Development in Organizations and Beyond: Balancing Traditional and Contemporary Viewpoints. Human Resource Management, 16, 125–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Biemann, T. & Andresen, M. 2010. Self-initiated Foreign Expatriates versus Assigned Expatriates. Two Distinct Types of International Careers? Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25, 430–448.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Black, J.S., Morrison, A.J. & Gregersen, H.B. 1999. Global Explorers: The Next Generation of Leaders. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boland, R.J. & Tenkasi, R.V. 1995. Perspective Making and Perspective Taking in Communities of Knowing. Organization Science, 6 /4, 350–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. 1983. The Forms of Capital. Originally published as Ökonomisches Kapital, kulturelles Kapital, soziales Kapital. In Kreckel, R. (ed.). Soziale Ungleichheiten. Goettingen: Otto Schartz and Co., 183–198. Reprinted in Granovetter, M. and Swedberg, R. 2001. The Sociology of Economic Life. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brass, D.J., Galaskiewicz, J., Greve, H.R. & Tsai, W. 2004. Taking Stock of Networks and Organizations: A Multilevel Perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 6, 795–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burt, R.S. 1992. Structural Holes. Boston: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, R.S. 1997. The Contingent Value of Social Capital. Administrative Science Quarterly, 422, 339–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burt, R.S. 2000. The Network Structure of Social Capital. In Sutton, R.I. and Staw, B.M. (eds). Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 22. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Retrieved on 13 September 2005 from http://gsbwww.uchicago.edu/fac/ronald.burt/research/.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burt, R.S., Hogarth, R.M. & Michaud, C. 2000. The Social Capital of French and American Managers. Organization Science, 11, 2, 123–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cerdin, J.L. & Le Pargneux, M. 2010. Career Anchors: A Comparison between Organization-assigned and Self-initiated Expatriates. Thunderbird International Business Review, 52, 287–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coleman, J.S. 1988. Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94, S95–S120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cross, R. & Cummings, J.N. 2004. Tie and Network Correlates of Individual Performance in Knowledge-Intensive Work. Academy of Management Journal, 47, 6, 928–937.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daft, R.L. & Lengel, R.H. 1986. Organizational Information Requirements, Media Richness and Structural Design. Management Science, 325, 554–571.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doherty, N., Dickmann, M. & Mills, T. 2011. Exploring the Motives of Company-backed and Self-initiated Expatriates. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 22, 595–611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, P., Pucik, V. & Björkman, I. 2011. Global challenge: international human resource management. ( 2nd ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fukuyama, F. 2001. Social Capital, Civil Society and Development. Third World Quarterly, 22, 1, 7–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gargiulo, M. & Benassi, M. 2000. Trapped in Your Own Net? Network Cohesion, Structural Holes and the Adaptation of Social Capital. Organization Science, 11, 2, 183–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granovetter, M. 1973. The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78, 1360–1380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregersen, H.B., Morrison, A.J. & Black, J.S. 1998. Developing Leaders for the Global Frontier. Sloan Management Review, fall, 21–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, D.T. 1996. Protean Careers of the 21st Century. Academy of Management Executive, 10, 8–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, M.T. 1999. The Search-Transfer Problem: The Role of Weak Ties in Sharing Knowledge across Organization Subunits. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44, 82–111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, M.T. 2002. Knowledge Networks: Explaining Effective Knowledge Sharing in Multiunit Companies. Organization Science, 13, 232–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, M., Speier, C. & Novicevic, M.M. 1999. The Role of Inpatriation in Global Staffing. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 10, 3, 459–476.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harzing, A.-W. 2001. Of Bears, Bumble Bees, and Spiders: The Role of Expatriates in Controlling Foreign Subsidiaries. Journal of World Business, 36, 4, 366–379.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Inkson, K., Arthur, M.B., Pringle, J. & Barry, S. 1997. Expatriate Assignment versus Overseas Experience: Contrasting Models of International Human Resource Development. Journal of World Business, 32, 4, 351–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jokinen, T., Brewster, C. & Suutari, V. 2008. Career Capital during International Work Experiences: Contrasting Self-initiated Expatriate Experiences and Assigned Expatriation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19, 979–998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim, Y. 2002. Executive Social Capital and Its Impacts on Job Promotion. Academy of Management Proceedings, Best Paper Series, J1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kostova, T. & Roth, K. 2003. Social Capital in Multinational Corporations and Micro-Macro Model of Its Formation. Academy of Management Journal, 45, 215–233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leana, C.R. & Van Buren, H.J. 1999. Organizational Social Capital and Employment Practices. Academy of Management Review, 24, 3, 538–555.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lin, N. 2001. Social Capital: A Theory of Social Structure and Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lin, N., Cook, K. & Burt, R.S. 2001. Social Capital: Theory and Research. New York: Walter de Gruyter.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Littleton, S.M., Arthur, M.B. & Rousseau, D.M. 2000. The Future of Boundaryless Careers. In Collin, A. and Young, R.A. (Eds). The Future of Career. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mäkelä, K. 2007. Knowledge Sharing through Expatriate Relationships: A Social Capital Perspective. International Studies of Management and Organization, 37, 3, 108–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mäkelä, K. & Brewster, C. 2009. Interunit Interaction Contexts, Interpersonal Social Capital, and the Differing Levels of Knowledge Sharing. Human Resource Management, 48, 591–613.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mäkelä, K. & Suutari, V. 2009. Global Careers: A Social Capital Paradox. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20, 992–1008.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manev, I.M. and Stevenson, W.B. 2001. Nationality, Cultural Distance, and Expatriate Status: Effects on the Managerial Network in a Multinational Enterprise. Journal of International Business Studies, 32, 285–303.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nahapiet, J. & Ghoshal, S. 1998. Social Capital, Intellectual Capital and the Organizational Advantage. Academy of Management Review, 23, 242–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peiperl, M.A. & Jonsen, K. 2007. Global careers. In Gunz, H.P. and Peiperl, A.A. (Eds). Handbook of Career Studies (pp. 350–372 ). Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Peltokorpi, V. 2008. Cross-cultural Adjustment of Expatriates in Japan. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19, 1588–1606.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peltokorpi, V. & Froese, F.J. 2009. Organizational Expatriates and Self-initiated Expatriates: Who Adjusts Better to Work and Life in Japan. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20, 1096–1112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portes, A. 1998. Social Capital: Its Origins and Applications in Modern Sociology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 1–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R.D. 1995. Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital. Journal of Democracy, 6, 65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raider, H. & Burt, R. 1996. Boundaryless Careers and Social Capital. In Arthur, M. and Rousseau, D. (eds). The Boundaryless Career: A New Employment Principle for a New Organisational Era. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reagans, R. and McEvily, B. 2003. Network Structure and Knowledge Transfer: The Effects of Cohesion and Range. Administrative Science Quarterly, 48, 2, 240–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, J. & Lewis, J. 2003. Qualitative Research Practice. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stahl, G.K. & Cerdin, J. 2004. Global Careers in French and German Multinational Corporations. Journal of Management Development, 23, 9, 885–902.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suutari, V. & Brewster, C. 2000. Making Their Own Way: International Experience through Self-Initiated Foreign Assignments. Journal of World Business, 35, 4, 417–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Suutari, V. & Mäkelä, K. 2007. The Career Capital of Managers with Global Careers. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, 7, 628–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. 2007. Creating Social Capital in MNCs: The International Human Resource Management Challenge. Human Resource Management Journal, 17, 4, 336–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsai, W. 2001. Knowledge Transfer in Intraorganizational Networks: Effects of Network Position and Absorptive Capacity on Business Unit Innovation and Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 5, 996–1004.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tsai, W. 2002. Social Structure of ‘Coopetition’ within a Multiunit Organization: Coordination, Competition, and Intraorganizational Knowledge Sharing. Organization Science, 13, 2, 179–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wenger, E. 1998. Communities of Practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Woolcock, M. 1998. Social Capital and Economic Development: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis and Policy Framework. Theory and Society, 27, 151–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woolcock, M. & Narayan, D. 2001. Social Capital: Implications for Development Theory, Research, and Policy. The World Bank Research Observer, 15, 2, 225–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yan, A., Zhu, G. & Hall, D.T. 2002. International Assignments for Career Building: A Model of Agency Relationships and Psychological Contracts. Academy of Management Review, 27, 3, 373–391.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2013 Kristiina Mäkelä and Vesa Suutari

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mäkelä, K., Suutari, V. (2013). The Social Capital of Traditional and Self-Initiated Expatriates. In: Vaiman, V., Haslberger, A. (eds) Talent Management of Self-Initiated Expatriates. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230392809_12

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics