International employee adjustment : how to efficiently facilitate peak performance of new international hires

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this master thesis, is to condense established insight into the aspects which hampers the performance of International Hires in academic institutions , and provide managers with a guide to how to tackle the challenges in order to make the hire successful and value creating. Design/Methodology/Approach - An exploratory and qualitative research approach will be used. Interviews will be conducted with both parts of the international hiring process, namely domestic managers/administrators and international hires currently working in domestic businesses, bu t mostly with the international hires themselves. Findings - There is no doubt that any change in culture, either national, regional or corporate, will influence a person’s well - being , and hence performance. In this paper, I have looked at the direct caus es of p erformance degradation. Solutions as to how to limit the degradation, with a focus on Norwegian academic institutions , have been suggested. Limitations – The interviews were performed at two Norwegian Academic Institutions at the University level. Therefore the conclusions derived from this research cannot be carelessly applied to firms in the private sector, more research is needed. Originality/Value - This paper has been aimed at giving a better understanding of the problems facing companies that hire foreign employees, and how the company can deal with the performance issues related to the transition process , notably the drop in performance immediately following relocation.