Analysing the Functions of Short-term Expatriate Assignments

This paper aims to provide a clearer picture of the main functions of short-term expatriate assignments. It is based on the results from an empirical study with involving 84 interviewees from different companies located in different host countries. The interviewees were managers mainly from Malaysian, Australian, and Singaporean companies that operated internationally. The duration of the interviews was in average of 1 hour 30 minutes. Extensive notes and voice recordings were made during the interviews. Thematic analysis and the converging interviewing technique were used to analyse the data to develop categorisations, that formed the nature of the short-term assignments. This paper discusses the reasons of short-term expatriate managers were sent overseas instead of long-term expatriate managers and provides useful knowledge about the differences between short and long-term assignments to human resource managers.