Social Capital and Career Success of Expatriates

Abstract

The study has used the social capital perspective in the context of career success of expatriates. With the increasing importance of global mobility, organisations are considering expatriation to send employees abroad on international assignments that help employees gain new knowledge and skills as well as an understanding of global business operations. The international experience expatriates gain from these assignments adds value to the human capital of organizations and also it is substantially important for the careers of employees. However, there are challenges relating to repatriation and it impacts the career success of expatriates. When expatriates return to their home countries, they face challenges of finding suitable roles, and career advancement opportunities, thus it impacts their perceptions of career success. Therefore, the topic of career success of expatriates has gained attention among researchers and practitioners to shed light on the factors that can support and add value to the careers of expatriates.

Concerning this, the social capital perspective has been found as highly valuable and relevant for expatriates’ career success. Expatriates have an edge in terms of having diverse social capital due to their boundaryless nature of work as compared to the employees who do not have international experience. Social connections are of great value for one’s career success and therefore, the study answers the research question that how social capital impacts career success of expatriates.

The data is collected through semi-structured interviews with seven Finnish managers who have been on expatriate assignments. The findings are analyzed using the content analysis approach. The findings of the study highlight that social capital consisting of internal networks (within an organisation) and external networks (outside the organisation) has an impact on different career success outcomes. These networks include both weak and strong ties. The diverse internal and external networks including weak ties were found to be more relevant to achieving promotions, new job offers, and enhancing expatriates’ perceived internal and external marketability. Also, these weak tie networks (professional contacts) provide access to broader information within the organisation as well as career related information outside the organisation. While on the other side, the internal and external networks of strong ties (social contacts) were found more relevant when it comes to describing managers’ career satisfaction. Overall, all managers valued social capital and its positive implications in their careers. The findings add to the previous research on the topic that how social capital contributes to the career success of expatriates. The study offers theoretical and practical implications and shows organisations that they should support expatriates in developing and maintaining diverse networks both in the home and host country organisation. This will support repatriation and expatriates’ career success, ultimately helping the organisations to retain talent and create value at the organisational level.