Talent Management of Self-Initiated Expatriates ― A Neglected Source of Global Talent

Qualified people are scarce in global business. Company-assigned expatriates used to provide needed talent but this is no longer enough. Self-initiated expatriates, a new and diverse breed of internationally mobile talent, are filling the gap. Talent Management of Self-initiated Expatriates is a collection of research papers which explores who these self-initiated expatriates are and what experiences they have. It answers questions such as: how or when does one become a self-initiated expatriate (SIE)? What are SIEs' motivations and characteristics? What types or sub-types of SIEs are there? What challenges are they likely to face? How do their careers and social capital develop? What is the impact of international experience on their life overall? What are the specific experiences of sub-groups such as academics or female SIEs? As traditional talent management can no longer fulfil the needs of globally operating organisations, self-initiated expatriates have become an ever more important, albeit neglected, source of the global talent flow.

Vlad Vaiman is Professor of International Management at the School of Business, Reykjavik University, Iceland. His research interests include issues of cultural differences and their influence on both organizational behaviour and talent management in international organizations. He is a co-founder and editor-in-chief of the European Journal of International Management (EJIM).

Arno Haslberger teaches at Webster University Vienna, Austria. His research focuses on international assignments and has appeared in journals such as Human Resource Management and the International Journal of Human Resource Management. He is also Associate Editor of the Journal of Global Mobility. Arno was an expatriate for 18 years and has ten years of HRM experience in MNCs.