Patriation of global cultural 'nomads': the reconceptualization of repatriation in a global context

The issues associated with the repatriation of expatriate managers have remained a major concern for human resource managers over the last thirty years. There are a number of organizational variables that should be taken into consideration related to the expatriation of managers that can influence the repatriation of managers back to the home country, those being: 1) the quality and volume of communications with the expatriate managers once they are on the overseas assignment; 2) level of repatriation training given to expatriate managers before, during, and after the foreign assignment; 3) the availability of a support mechanism such as mentoring during the overseas assignment that focuses attention on both the expatriation and repatriation phases of that assignment (i.e., for both the expatriate and their family); 4) the lack of clearly delineated roles for global expatriate managers during a foreign assignment; and 5) the organizational support and training provided upon the repatriation of the expatriate manager/family (Baruch, Steele & Quantrill, 2002; Brewster & Suutari, 2005; Caligiuri & Phillips, 2003; Fenwick, 2005; Furuya, Stevens, Bird, Oddou, & Mendenhall, 2009; Hyder & Lovblad, 2007; Johnson, 2005; Paik, Segaud, & Malinowski, 2002; Scullion & Collings, 2006; Suutari & Brewster, 2003)