The repatriation program as a process

The rapid development of the technology, the liberalization of international trade and the intense international competition has resulted in an increased globalization. It has therefore become more important for multinational corporations (MNCs) to internationalize its business. In the long run this implies that MNCs need to be able to offer its employees the possibility to during a limited period work in subsidiaries abroad called expatriation. The advantages with expatriation are numerous, even though the investment of sending employees on international assignments can be considered high. For employees, the possibility of working abroad is often viewed as a mean of career progression. However, studies have shown that the situation at the expatriate’s return to the home organization, called repatriation is related to many problems, and that these problems not always are taken seriously. The repatriate can, for instance, be offered the same position in the home office as the person held before the international assignment. The fact that the repatriate not is able to use his or her international skills and competences might result in that he or she becomes unsatisfied and even leaves the firm. This results in that MNCs looses valuable personnel and the investment of sending employees on foreign assignments. To conquer these problems MNCs need to develop a strategy concerning the firm’s repatriation. The aim with this thesis is therefore to study the actions that MNCs can do before, during and after the assignment in order to achieve successful repatriation. The study is based on a specific theory that treats these three stages. To achieve this objective we have conducted two case studies with the Swedish Ericsson and the Norwegian Nokia. The result of this thesis is that the actions that MNCs conduct during these three stages vary. However, it should be mentioned that the different actions are more related to the work in the foreign location than to the possibility to achieve successful repatriation.Validerat; 20101217 (root