Case 9

Should Brittany Miller Accept an

International Assignment?
Prof. Habte G. Woldu
IMS 3310.004
Group 9: Ngan Do, John Harke, Mike Jacobs,
Noreena Khan, Kevin Sohn, Minh Thao Tran
Date: November 18, 2015

Brittany Miller, 37 years old, currently working for Techtonics International was offered
a position headquartered in Shanghai, China. She has two children, 8 years old and 5 years old.
Her spouse is currently working for an accounting firm. She has been put in a position to make a
decision whether she will accept a relocation offer or reject the offer. There are numerous

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November 18, 2015

benefits with accepting this offer; but at the same time disadvantages of accepting the offer must
be considered as well. As benefits, she will be given an opportunity to expand her network with
more senior officers. She will also experience a multicultural work environment. As a result, she
will be able to improve her soft skills, management skills, and leadership skills. On the other
hand, there will be numerous disadvantages that will be presented to her if she decides to accept
the offer. There will be a financial disadvantage, and there might be difficulties for her spouse to
find a new job in China. Her family will have to change their lifestyles to adopt a new culture
and language. Her childrens education problems are priority matter as well. There are many
beneficial factors for Brittany Miller if she decides to take the oversea offer; however, the
consequences overall outweigh the benefits.
The oversea assignment can help to boost her career. However, there will be several
issues that she should consider and think over before taking this assignment. Firstly, from a
professional perspective, her relocation will be financially disadvantageous because an
international assignment contract oftentimes comprises an attractive salary package but moving
to China is also expensive. Housing, communications and fuel costs may be considerably higher.
Often times the cost of the international relocation costs three times as much as employees
annual salary over the course of the assignment. Her spouses career also may be affected if he
cannot find a job in China, as it is very difficult to obtain a work permit; putting his career is put
on hold while outside the United States. At an overall level, she could minimize her career
benefits working abroad; while working in the States she will get her full career acceleration to a
senior level. At her senior level, she will gain developmental and promotional opportunities, thus
the transfer will boost her future career. Moreover, an international assignment will decrease her
management and communication skills because of different working environments; new
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languages problem causes the capacity to slowly absorb information. Business is lost, and
professional and personal relationships can be damaged.
Secondly, from a recreational perspective, an international assignment will require her a
lifestyle change. She will have to familiarize with a new culture, learn new languages and make
global clients. Her children certainly will have to make major changes with their educationmove to a new school, make new friends and adapt to new learning environments and
neighborhoods, which are also difficult. Poor health care and criminal activity are major
concerns for international travel and assignments; she might put her or her familys lives at
unnecessary risk. The assignment entails many openings for adventure and discovery, making
her stay in China a personal advancement experience; however, when she moves far away from
families and friends, she will miss significant life events such as births, illness, weddings, and
birthdays.
Taking an international assignment is always a complicated decision because she is
required to move away from her normal familiar life; thus the fear of the unknown looms large.
However, the excitement of international travel and a new challenge definitely have their appeal.
Varina Nissen, who is Managing Director of Manpowers Australian Operation, as well as being
Senior Vice President for Global Marketing and Communications, said: if you work overseas in
the early or mid-career phase, as this is where you will get you maximum career acceleration.
(Nissen, n.d.) Here are some benefits that Miller might earn if she accepts the assignment.
First of all, the main benefit is building a strong network with people at the center of the
company because of the opportunity to work with more senior managers. Learning to manage
people of different cultures than your own is an increasingly valuable asset today. As Darryl
Gresham, general manager for South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa at Abbott Diagnostics
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Division, says, The most significant benefit is the visibility and exposure because of the
opportunity to meet more senior managers. It is also an opportunity to develop and distinguish
you. Companies also tend to take good care of their ex-pats in terms of homes, cars, and schools
for your children. Typically, you live better than you would in the U.S. (Pope, 2009)
A second benefit is becoming a Multi-Cultural Pro. If she takes an International
Assignment, it will give her an opportunity add to her multi-cultural tools. International work
experience will therefore make her a real asset for every employer and pave her way towards
further international assignments. There were the chance to experience a different culture firsthand, develop a broader worldview, and travel extensively to another country or countries less
expensively. In addition, there is no better way to learn a foreign language than immersion; she
can use the opportunity of an international relocation to pick up a foreign language in a relatively
short amount of time. (Morabito, part 2, 2011)
A last value that Miller might earn or improve are soft skills, management, and leadership
skills. An international assignment will give the opportunity to develop new interpersonal skills:
dealing with a different culture, work ethic, business etiquette, and lifestyles. Moreover, she will
gain and improve some essential soft skills such as patience, perseverance, flexibility, and
communication skills (IA Soft Skills, n.d.). Also, she will increase her management and
leadership skills by becoming tolerant, flexible, adaptable, and humble, as well as better
decision-makers and problem solvers.
Turning down an international assignment may bear a negative impact on Brittanys longterm career. A recent study shows that 7 of 10 Fortune 100 C-Level executives have held
management jobs in foreign climes (Fisher). Being a vice president for Techtonics, her future
may be limited by declining the assignment as hands-on global management has slowly but
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surely moved out of the nice but not necessary category and into a must have priority for those
on the corporate fast track (Adler 347). Being a rare opportunity, another assignment may never
be issued leading to no further career advancement. Along with hindering career development,
she cannot contribute to expanding the companys network or gaining knowledge from abroad.
Brittany was selected as being the right choice for the job. If she refuses the assignment, a
less qualified candidate may be selected to set up operations in East Asia. Poor candidate
selection can lead to an assignment failure which costs the company disrupted relationships
with host-country nationals, revenue losses due to decreased productivity, declines in
organizational morale in the host-location, and damage to a firms reputation and brand
(Thomas 2006). Damaging the firms reputation can negatively impact building a solid network
in the host nation. Brittany also loses out on the opportunity to expand her network abroad and
misses out on career opportunities.
A successful expatriate can bring back extensive knowledge and experience to increase
the companys competitive advantage in the global market (Gustavsson 8). Some of the useful
skills learned are: decision-making skills, negotiation skills, management of diverse teams and
knowledge of different cultures, overseas subsidiaries and international markets (Gustavsson 8).
Repatriates knowledge transfer is a valuable asset towards any multinational firm and also an
excellent career booster. Without accepting the assignment, Brittany may never develop the skills
to help lead the companys global operations.
As one can see, taking the assignment in China does have its advantages and
disadvantages. However, there is another side to this decision, which covers not taking the
assignment and staying in the United States. Moving to a different country does come with its
complications and she needs to make sure she is fine with risking different aspects of her
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lifestyle. As Ruth Mayhew advises, one should not embark upon an overseas employment
opportunity without resolving issues related to the type of assignment or employment, your
compensation and adapting to a new culture (Mayhew 1). Although it may be a unique learning
experience for Mrs. Miller, there are many benefits that she would experience if she were to
remain in the United States.
First, Mrs. Miller needs to consider the needs of her family. Her husband, Jerry Miller,
currently works for an accounting firm in the Los Angeles area. Donald Ball states that about
80 percent of expats are accompanied by a spouse or partner since the number of two-career
families is drastically increasing (Ball 439). This is actually a huge factor since it causes multiple
complications when one is offered a good job overseas. It is said about 82 percent of expat
spouses have university degrees, and nearly 90 percent were working prior to their partners
assignment (Ball 439). In certain countries a spouse may need to have legal rights to work,
which in some cases can be hard for foreigners to acquire. Due to this hardship, only a few can
be employed during an assignment. This could end up causing stages of grief for Jerry and could
lead to him becoming angry, and in denial of his jobless career. Not only will this affect Jerry, but
this will also affect their two children, Jerry Jr. and Susan.
Jerry Jr., 8 years old, and Susan, 5 years old, will more than likely be ignored during this
decision process. Since about 45 percent of expats have children between the ages of 5 and
12, they believe it is not necessary to address the consequences they may face with an
international move. Even though they are young children, they can still end up feeling insecure,
frustrated, and powerless. Not only would this affect their social life and friends, but also this
could affect their overall identity. Their education system, for example, would be completely
different due to new learning styles, new language, and so forth (Ball 439). These children
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would need to have all new abilities, which may actually end up hurting them more than
benefitting.
Second, Mrs. Miller should research and find out more about the health and culture in
China. In different countries, people tend to interact with viruses that may not have affected them
in the United States. Being ill in a country that is far away from home can be scary if youre
not familiar with the availability of medical treatment and health care in your host country
(Mayhew 1). The United States is far more advancemed professionally and technologically.
Countries outside the U.S., such as China, could end up having poor treatment plans and could
end up not treating a patient correctly. There could also be issues with medical coverage or even
purchasing it within that country. On the other hand, she should also research the new culture she
would be moving into. It is said even if your employer pays living expenses and offers
additional compensation to make the adjustment easier, you still need to know if your company
provides a support system once you accept the overseas job (Mayhew 1). This would help assist
Mrs. Miller and her family abroad, and would make the transition a lot easier.
Lastly, Miller could be walking away from future promotions. Having international
experience is indeed more frequently becoming a perquisite for top-level executive jobs says
Mansour Javidan, a dean of research at Thunderbirds Global Mindset Institutes international
business school (Fisher 1). As stated in Donald Balls book, Mrs. Miller had already studied
abroad as a student in Spain and she spent a month in Europe travelling. She also worked for an
exporting company in Poland and she took multiple business trips for Techtonics to Canada and
Mexico. The list of places Mrs. Miller has been is literally endless. She already has high quality
international experiences and her skills are impressive due to these visits. Bruce Raines, who is
the CEO of New York Citys firm Raines International, stated you need at least one
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substantial international assignment if you want to climb the executive ladder (Fisher 1). It
seems as if Miller is already doing so and that she already is a candidate for a higher position. A
senior executive is already mentoring her, and it is certain that she is going to climb the ladder
here in the United States.
As discussed above, there are numerous advantages and disadvantages of accepting the
relocation offer. With acceptance, she will be able to expand her network, experience more
culture, and also improve her skills in variety of ways. But on the other hand, there will be too
many consequences with accepting the relocation. There will be a financial disadvantage; and
her whole family will have to suffer adapting to a new culture and new language. Her children
will have to go through many hardships in a young age, such as adapting to a new educational
system. With many possible potential benefits of accepting the relocation offer to Shanghai,
China, there are too many disadvantages that cannot be ignored or undertaken. As a result,
Brittany Miller should not take the offer of relocation.

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References
Adler, Nancy J., and Allison Gundersen. International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior.
5th ed. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-Western, 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Fisher, Anne. Should You Take an Overseas Job Assignment? Fortune. 29 April 2011. Web. 15
Nov. 2015.
Gustavsson, Malin, and Caroline Peszkowski. "Knowledge Transfer by Repatriates." 2007. Web.
16 Nov. 2015.
IA Soft Skills. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.internations.org/magazine/your-assignment-abroad-its-career-impact15303/international-assignments-and-soft-skills-2.
Morabito, M. (2011, 11 4). part 2. Retrieved from Why You Need to Accept International
Assignment: Why You Need to Accept that International Assignment (Part 2) - See more
at:http://www.paragonrelocation.com/blog/index.php/need-accept-internationalassignment-part-2/#sthash.ka1DLFet.dpuf
Morabito, M. (n.d.). part 1. Retrieved from
http://www.paragonrelocation.com/blog/index.php/need-accept-internationalassignment/.Nissen, V. (n.d.). The value of international assignments. Retrieved from

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http://www.ceoforum.com.au/article-detail.cfm?cid=9148&t=/Varina-Nissen-ManpowerMiddle-East/The-value-of-international-assignments.
Pope, P. (2009). Will an International Assignment Benefit Your Career? Retrieved from
http://diversitymbamagazine.com/going-global-will-an-international-assignment-benefityour-career.
Thomas, D., and M. Lazarova. Expatriate Adjustment and Performance: A Critical Review.
Handbook of Research in International Human Resource Management. ed. G. Stahl and
I. Bjorkman, 247-264. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

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Data
Figure 1

Figure 2

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The number of employers highlighting countries where it is difficult to transfer employees

because of work permit concerns
Figure 3

Employment Before and After

(3300 expatriate spouses and partners of 120 different nationalities surveyed)
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Figure 4

Figure 5

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Items related as helpful in managing a career upon relocation, and those items actually received

http://www.permitsfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Spousal-Survey-Full-RS.pdf
http://www.permitsfoundation.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Permits-Global-EmployersSurvey-2012.pdf
http://rphrm.curtin.edu.au/2004/issue2/expats.html

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