By Ihar Sahakiants, Marion Festing, Manfred Froehlecke I would rather lose money than trust. Robert Bosch...

    
 

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By Ihar Sahakiants, Marion Festing, Manfred Froehlecke "I would rather lose money than trust. Robert Bosch the report, which described the highlights of 2010 with respect to new markets, particularly noting: January 18. New presence in Southeast Asia: Bosch Communication Center opens branch in the Philippine capital Manila It was raining in Stuttgart. The new task which Klaus Meier, an employee of Robert Bosch GmbH's Ger- man headquarters" central International Assignments department, received last week from his direct super- visor Michael Stein was simultaneously interest- ing and extremely challenging: a new international assignment policy had to be designed for the whole Bosch Group. The importance of a new international assignment policy is hard to overestimate. First it may be useful to take a look at some statistics for 2010 from the latest annual report of the Bosch Group. The report, citing 2010 as 'a year of historic recovery' after 'recession on a historic scale", highlighted that Bosch Group sales had skyrocketed by about 24 per cent to 47.3 billion euros. About 41 per cent of the company's total sales were made outside Europe (see Figure 1). Out of 283,597 worldwide employees, 169,950- or about 60 per cent of the total headcount located outside Germany, the home country of the corporation, Moreover, 34.18 per cent of these per- sonnel were located outside Europe (see Figure 2). Statistics on the importance of international oper- ations for Robert Bosch were indeed impressive. but the figures on international mobility within the Bosch Group were even more so. In 2010, there were approximately 2200 managers on international projects requiring relocation to a foreign country and lasting over two years, while the number of inpatriates from Asia, the Americas, and Europe on assignments in Germany over the same two-year period reached 400 employees. Each new location and new market meant addi- tional flows of expatriate and inpatriate ermployees within the Bosch group. Klaus opened pages 12-13 of May 13. Bosch steps up its activities in Southeast Asia: new headquarters opened in Singapore July 5. Indian software subsidiary expands its operations: Robert Bosch Engineering and Busi- ness Solutions opens location in Vietnam September 13. Market entry in China. Bosch delivers 40,000 start-stop systems to the auto- maker ChangAn October 11. Bosch builds new plant in India: Packaging Technology invests four million euros in a facility near Goa; SB LIMotive opens a new production plant: in Ulsan, Korea, lithium-ion battery cells for hybrid and electric vehicles will be manufactured November 16. New proving ground in Japan: in the north of Hokkaido, an extended proving ground has been inaugurated - twice as big as the predecessor. 2were (Robert Bosch GmbH, 2011: pp. 12-13). Although a whole range of issues related to international mobility needed to be addressed in the new international assignment policy, Klaus wanted to start with the finan- cial aspects of the operation. As an international mobility professional himself, he knew only too well about the high costs of expatriation. These costs included not only expensive expatriate compensation packages but also huge administration expenses and the costs of expatriate failure, e.g. the premature termination of an assignment. These total costs had the potential to make long-term assignments prohibitively expensive. Bosch. CASE 6 EXPATRIATE OOMPENSATION AT PCBERT BOSCH GEH 319 FIGURE 1 Bosch Group sales by region, 2010 FIGURE 2 Headcount at Bosch Group by region, as per 1 January 2011 Americas A amet 23% Europe 59% Germany 113,557- Rest of Europe 73,045 Asia Pacific 18% "Including other countries Americas To gain an overview of the situation at Bosch, Klaus planned to study the details of several actual assign- ments in various locations. First of all, he examined the personnel file of Hendryk van den Bosch, an old friend of his. He took the first and the last balance sheet cal- 33,689 Asia Pacific"/ 63,216 "including other countries Source: Robert Bosch GmbH (2011: p. 19 culations prepared for Hendryk's international assign- ments: an inpatriate assignment to Germany in 1999 and an expatriate assignment to Korea in 2009. Hendryk van den Bosch started his career at Robert Bosch BV, Noofddorp (Netherlands) as a SAP project coordinator in 1994. In only two years he became issue in many other countries, where the exchange rate of local currencies fiuctuated significantly in rela- tion to the Deutsche mark or euro. The host-country component of Hendryk's net salary (65 per cent of the salary paid in host-country currency) was adjusted for cost-of-living expenses, on top of which a foreign assignment bonus was pro- vided. There were no further costs related to the for- manager of the data processing department for the regional subsidiary in Holland. From 1997, he was responsible for the whole Benelux region (Beigium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). In 1999, he accepted the position of system planning department manager at the company's hescou tgart, Germany. The balance shest s in Germany was a starde d tor expatriate assignments within the Bos- Group (see Figure 3 overleaf). At that time, there was no single currency in Europe. Thus, according to the company rule, expatri- ate compensation had to be paid in the host country, although was calculated both in Holland fiorins (HFL) and Deutsche marks (DEM) - the national currencies before the Euro. In doing so, 35 per cent of the net income was guaranteed in the home-country currency in order to minimize any currency exchange risks for the expatriate employee. The host-country currency portion of pay was adjusted at the end of each year to eliminate possible negative effects arising from exchange rate fluctuations. Klaus knew about the importance of currency adjustment for expatriates. Although the exchange rate between HFL and DEM had been relatively stable over the years, it was a big eign assignment in the host country. It was Hendryk's decision to remain in the Dutch social security system in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No. 1408/71, while housing expenses in Germany were covered by the employer. As the rent costs in the home country had been previously borne by Hendryk from his net income, and would not be incurred during his assign- ment in Germany, a housing expenses 'Rent in Home Country' equivalent (ie. an equivalent apartment rent in the home country to the amount of 18,600 HFL) was deducted from the benefits component. Hend- ryk's rent in the host country was therefore zero because, in line with the assignments guideline, this amount was paid directly by Bosch. On 1 September 2003, Hendryk van den Bosch returned to Stuttgart, Germany as the Head of the Organization and Information Systems unit from his most recent assignment in Brazil, In 2009, he was expatriated again, this time to Korea as Regional Sales Director. s new position CASE 6 EXPATRATE COMPENSATION A sCH GMEH SCH GMBH 321 The pay calculation for his assignment to Korea was more complex (see Figure 4 overleaf). At that point, Hendryk had two children, which meant addi- tional expenses in the host country as well as the loss of child allowance in Germany (then 1848 euros per child, per year). However, the latter was compensated by Robert Bosch GmbH in accordance with internal company policy, while housing expenses in the host country were again borne by the company. A couple of years prior to that, several changes were introduced in the assignment policy, triggered initially by increasingly refined market data comparisons. For instance, a change of the cost-of-living data provider made it possible to make a differentiated use of indices and technically sophisticated and detailed calculations. Although this also contributed to a reduction in assign- ment costs for the Bosch Group, the primary goal of these changes in the compensation policy was to offer assignment conditions in line with local market conditions. According to the new policy, the foreign assignment allowre was determined and frozen at the beginning of t signment. As such, cost-of-living calculations wee sed on two indices: a more generous Standard Hc Rase Index and a sc-nticd Cost Effective Home Bas (CEHB) Index. The C ard Home Base index short-term international assignments lästing up to one year, frequent flyer assignments, commuter and rota tional assignments, global virtual teams, and so on. Many of these forms were becoming more and more popular due to the rapid development of telecommu- nication technologies and transport, and they were being used increasingly at Bosch. Moreover, one of the explicit goals of the Bosch Group was to increase the percentage of local senior executives in its foreian loca- tions to at least 80 per cent. However, although it was a strong cost-reducing factor, this measure could not possibly hinder the rapid increase of standard expatri- ate assignments given the importance of international markets. Thus, Klaus had to consider first and fore- most a number of cost reduction opportunities related to standard expatriate assignments. Based on an analysis of multiple sources stemming from the academic literature, as well as management consulting and practitioner publications, Klaus made a list of feasible potential cost-reducing solutions. in order to form an idea of the prevalence of these measures among leading international companies, he checked the latest 'Global Assignment Policies and Practices' survey by KPMG. He started his analysis with the top five positions on the list: d years of the assign- was used in the first an ment, whereas, only star Tthe third yer pat- ate compensation was calcuteied based on E Index, The decision to usG the latter index was n the assumption that cost of living decreases a the course of an assignment. This logic was based uri the notion that, over time, an expatriate employee would be expected to use less expensive shopping opportunities and to refrain from expensive imports by increasingly using cheaper local products. However, calculations for the first year were also based on the CEHB Index in order to indicate to the expatriate his future income and to make clear that using the Standard Home Base Index represented more generous support at the start of an international assignment. Therefore, the differ- ence between CEHB-based and Standard Home Base Index-based income was compensated as a cost-of- iving supplement. Furthermore, lump-sum payments were used in order to facilitate cost control. Klaus knew all too well howa group discussion on ways to reduce expatriation costs might proceed. One of the proposed solutions was to use increasingly alter- native forms of international assignments, including Relocation allowance. A way to reduce costs related to the relocation allowance is to provide lump-sum payments at the beginning and at the end of an assignment. According to the KPMG survey about 54 per cent of all compa- nies, including 47 per cent of European partic- ipants, implement this policy. Only 13 per cent of respondents worldwide do not provide any relocation allowance at all. Efficient calculations of the cost-of-living allowance. There is a clear trend among multi- nationals to increasingly implement an 'efficient purchaser index' in their cost-of-living calcula- tions. According to the KPMG survey, 32 per cent of all responding companies use this index, a 10 per cent increase since 2003. Cap on allowances. Capping expatriate allow- ances makes it possible to reduce significantly the overall costs of foreign assignments. All allowances, including the cost-of-iving, hardship, or other com- y-specific allowances, can be frozen for expatri- ates with an expatriate income exceeding a certain level. The KMPG survey shows that the majority of companies still do not cap the major allowances. ing potential expatriates, the impact of international USCH GMBH 323 Housing allowance and/or costs. There are several ways to reduce housing costs. One way is to select residence areas comparable to those used by local employees in comparable posi- tions, thus avoiding expensive residence areas being used mainly by expatriate employees. Another way is to follow the recommendations of housing data providers and to offer additional Incentives for finding housing less expensive than the standard cost recommendations. However, The rain had passed through the city and shafts of sunlight appeared through the grey clouds. Klaus recalled the themes of 'courage, curiosity, and change at the recent corporate meeting he had attended in Berlin. The Berlin conference was one of some 850 activities staged worldwide in 2011 to mark the 125th anniversary of the Bosch company and the 150th anniversary of Robert Bosch's birth. He returned to his desk and began working to apply these themes. as reported by KPMG, the overwhelming majority of companies (82 per cent) still do not provide this type of incentive. Questions: Travel expenses. There is a trend to provide 'economy-class' travels to expatriate employees. About 56 per cent of companies surveyed by KMPG implement such a policy, 3 per cent more than in 2010. 1 Why did Bosch state the cost-of-living allowance amount as a CEHB-based sum and a separate cost-of-living supplement in the first and the sec- ond years of the assignment in the balance sheet for Korea? Many of the above cost reduction measures were already being implemented at Bosch. Apart from the allowances, yearly economy-class flights to the home country had become the standard option for com- pany travel. However, longer flights for business rea- sons could still be carried out using business class. The challenge, however, was to further improve exist- ing policies by comparing several cost options, data providers, and outsourcing alternatives. This would be just the first step towards esigning an all-encompass- ing assignment policy, as er steps would analyze tax-efficient ways of providi xpatriate perquisites, as well as organize taxation as social security cover- age during international assigrumonts in co-operation with a team of international legal advisors. Nevertheless, enthusiastic and confident of success as he was, Klaus knew that designing a new interna- tional assignment policy was going to be a long and drawn-out process involving multiple calculations as well as negotiations with colleagues and external mobility services providers. This was especially the case because the cost issue was only one aspect of the wider issue of the co-ordinated and strategi- cally effective use of international assignments. There 2 Which expatriate compensation elements at Bosch Group were already based on cost-reduction con- siderations listed in the case study? Please suggest ways in which these could be improved further. 3 What further cost-reduction measures could be implemented? 4 Do you believe it is possible to design a Bosch Group international assignment policy covering both expatriate and inpatriate employees at all international locations? 5 One of the measures used to reduce the costs of expatriation was to outsource elements of the administration function to external service provid- ers, Please discuss the advantages and disadvan- tages of such a policy. 6 Do you believe that alternative assignments can substitute for traditional expatriate assignments in the long run? Please discuss the major opportuni- ties and barriers. 7 What are the m barriers to the localization of expatriate mah yers? were many more related concerns - such as motivat- ing potential expatriates, the impact of international assignments on professional careers, repatriation management, dual-career issues, and family income. The more Klaus thought about it, the more he saw the linkages and implications operating across multiple HR practices and multiple product and geographic units. 8 Many international companies do not provide any additional foreign assignment allowances (e.g. relocation or hardship allowance). Do you think it would have been feasible to implement this system at Bosch? What would be the related advantages and disadvantages? By Ihar Sahakiants, Marion Festing, Manfred Froehlecke "I would rather lose money than trust. Robert Bosch the report, which described the highlights of 2010 with respect to new markets, particularly noting: January 18. New presence in Southeast Asia: Bosch Communication Center opens branch in the Philippine capital Manila It was raining in Stuttgart. The new task which Klaus Meier, an employee of Robert Bosch GmbH's Ger- man headquarters" central International Assignments department, received last week from his direct super- visor Michael Stein was simultaneously interest- ing and extremely challenging: a new international assignment policy had to be designed for the whole Bosch Group. The importance of a new international assignment policy is hard to overestimate. First it may be useful to take a look at some statistics for 2010 from the latest annual report of the Bosch Group. The report, citing 2010 as 'a year of historic recovery' after 'recession on a historic scale", highlighted that Bosch Group sales had skyrocketed by about 24 per cent to 47.3 billion euros. About 41 per cent of the company's total sales were made outside Europe (see Figure 1). Out of 283,597 worldwide employees, 169,950- or about 60 per cent of the total headcount located outside Germany, the home country of the corporation, Moreover, 34.18 per cent of these per- sonnel were located outside Europe (see Figure 2). Statistics on the importance of international oper- ations for Robert Bosch were indeed impressive. but the figures on international mobility within the Bosch Group were even more so. In 2010, there were approximately 2200 managers on international projects requiring relocation to a foreign country and lasting over two years, while the number of inpatriates from Asia, the Americas, and Europe on assignments in Germany over the same two-year period reached 400 employees. Each new location and new market meant addi- tional flows of expatriate and inpatriate ermployees within the Bosch group. Klaus opened pages 12-13 of May 13. Bosch steps up its activities in Southeast Asia: new headquarters opened in Singapore July 5. Indian software subsidiary expands its operations: Robert Bosch Engineering and Busi- ness Solutions opens location in Vietnam September 13. Market entry in China. Bosch delivers 40,000 start-stop systems to the auto- maker ChangAn October 11. Bosch builds new plant in India: Packaging Technology invests four million euros in a facility near Goa; SB LIMotive opens a new production plant: in Ulsan, Korea, lithium-ion battery cells for hybrid and electric vehicles will be manufactured November 16. New proving ground in Japan: in the north of Hokkaido, an extended proving ground has been inaugurated - twice as big as the predecessor. 2were (Robert Bosch GmbH, 2011: pp. 12-13). Although a whole range of issues related to international mobility needed to be addressed in the new international assignment policy, Klaus wanted to start with the finan- cial aspects of the operation. As an international mobility professional himself, he knew only too well about the high costs of expatriation. These costs included not only expensive expatriate compensation packages but also huge administration expenses and the costs of expatriate failure, e.g. the premature termination of an assignment. These total costs had the potential to make long-term assignments prohibitively expensive. Bosch. CASE 6 EXPATRIATE OOMPENSATION AT PCBERT BOSCH GEH 319 FIGURE 1 Bosch Group sales by region, 2010 FIGURE 2 Headcount at Bosch Group by region, as per 1 January 2011 Americas A amet 23% Europe 59% Germany 113,557- Rest of Europe 73,045 Asia Pacific 18% "Including other countries Americas To gain an overview of the situation at Bosch, Klaus planned to study the details of several actual assign- ments in various locations. First of all, he examined the personnel file of Hendryk van den Bosch, an old friend of his. He took the first and the last balance sheet cal- 33,689 Asia Pacific"/ 63,216 "including other countries Source: Robert Bosch GmbH (2011: p. 19 culations prepared for Hendryk's international assign- ments: an inpatriate assignment to Germany in 1999 and an expatriate assignment to Korea in 2009. Hendryk van den Bosch started his career at Robert Bosch BV, Noofddorp (Netherlands) as a SAP project coordinator in 1994. In only two years he became issue in many other countries, where the exchange rate of local currencies fiuctuated significantly in rela- tion to the Deutsche mark or euro. The host-country component of Hendryk's net salary (65 per cent of the salary paid in host-country currency) was adjusted for cost-of-living expenses, on top of which a foreign assignment bonus was pro- vided. There were no further costs related to the for- manager of the data processing department for the regional subsidiary in Holland. From 1997, he was responsible for the whole Benelux region (Beigium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg). In 1999, he accepted the position of system planning department manager at the company's hescou tgart, Germany. The balance shest s in Germany was a starde d tor expatriate assignments within the Bos- Group (see Figure 3 overleaf). At that time, there was no single currency in Europe. Thus, according to the company rule, expatri- ate compensation had to be paid in the host country, although was calculated both in Holland fiorins (HFL) and Deutsche marks (DEM) - the national currencies before the Euro. In doing so, 35 per cent of the net income was guaranteed in the home-country currency in order to minimize any currency exchange risks for the expatriate employee. The host-country currency portion of pay was adjusted at the end of each year to eliminate possible negative effects arising from exchange rate fluctuations. Klaus knew about the importance of currency adjustment for expatriates. Although the exchange rate between HFL and DEM had been relatively stable over the years, it was a big eign assignment in the host country. It was Hendryk's decision to remain in the Dutch social security system in accordance with Regulation (EEC) No. 1408/71, while housing expenses in Germany were covered by the employer. As the rent costs in the home country had been previously borne by Hendryk from his net income, and would not be incurred during his assign- ment in Germany, a housing expenses 'Rent in Home Country' equivalent (ie. an equivalent apartment rent in the home country to the amount of 18,600 HFL) was deducted from the benefits component. Hend- ryk's rent in the host country was therefore zero because, in line with the assignments guideline, this amount was paid directly by Bosch. On 1 September 2003, Hendryk van den Bosch returned to Stuttgart, Germany as the Head of the Organization and Information Systems unit from his most recent assignment in Brazil, In 2009, he was expatriated again, this time to Korea as Regional Sales Director. s new position CASE 6 EXPATRATE COMPENSATION A sCH GMEH SCH GMBH 321 The pay calculation for his assignment to Korea was more complex (see Figure 4 overleaf). At that point, Hendryk had two children, which meant addi- tional expenses in the host country as well as the loss of child allowance in Germany (then 1848 euros per child, per year). However, the latter was compensated by Robert Bosch GmbH in accordance with internal company policy, while housing expenses in the host country were again borne by the company. A couple of years prior to that, several changes were introduced in the assignment policy, triggered initially by increasingly refined market data comparisons. For instance, a change of the cost-of-living data provider made it possible to make a differentiated use of indices and technically sophisticated and detailed calculations. Although this also contributed to a reduction in assign- ment costs for the Bosch Group, the primary goal of these changes in the compensation policy was to offer assignment conditions in line with local market conditions. According to the new policy, the foreign assignment allowre was determined and frozen at the beginning of t signment. As such, cost-of-living calculations wee sed on two indices: a more generous Standard Hc Rase Index and a sc-nticd Cost Effective Home Bas (CEHB) Index. The C ard Home Base index short-term international assignments lästing up to one year, frequent flyer assignments, commuter and rota tional assignments, global virtual teams, and so on. Many of these forms were becoming more and more popular due to the rapid development of telecommu- nication technologies and transport, and they were being used increasingly at Bosch. Moreover, one of the explicit goals of the Bosch Group was to increase the percentage of local senior executives in its foreian loca- tions to at least 80 per cent. However, although it was a strong cost-reducing factor, this measure could not possibly hinder the rapid increase of standard expatri- ate assignments given the importance of international markets. Thus, Klaus had to consider first and fore- most a number of cost reduction opportunities related to standard expatriate assignments. Based on an analysis of multiple sources stemming from the academic literature, as well as management consulting and practitioner publications, Klaus made a list of feasible potential cost-reducing solutions. in order to form an idea of the prevalence of these measures among leading international companies, he checked the latest 'Global Assignment Policies and Practices' survey by KPMG. He started his analysis with the top five positions on the list: d years of the assign- was used in the first an ment, whereas, only star Tthe third yer pat- ate compensation was calcuteied based on E Index, The decision to usG the latter index was n the assumption that cost of living decreases a the course of an assignment. This logic was based uri the notion that, over time, an expatriate employee would be expected to use less expensive shopping opportunities and to refrain from expensive imports by increasingly using cheaper local products. However, calculations for the first year were also based on the CEHB Index in order to indicate to the expatriate his future income and to make clear that using the Standard Home Base Index represented more generous support at the start of an international assignment. Therefore, the differ- ence between CEHB-based and Standard Home Base Index-based income was compensated as a cost-of- iving supplement. Furthermore, lump-sum payments were used in order to facilitate cost control. Klaus knew all too well howa group discussion on ways to reduce expatriation costs might proceed. One of the proposed solutions was to use increasingly alter- native forms of international assignments, including Relocation allowance. A way to reduce costs related to the relocation allowance is to provide lump-sum payments at the beginning and at the end of an assignment. According to the KPMG survey about 54 per cent of all compa- nies, including 47 per cent of European partic- ipants, implement this policy. Only 13 per cent of respondents worldwide do not provide any relocation allowance at all. Efficient calculations of the cost-of-living allowance. There is a clear trend among multi- nationals to increasingly implement an 'efficient purchaser index' in their cost-of-living calcula- tions. According to the KPMG survey, 32 per cent of all responding companies use this index, a 10 per cent increase since 2003. Cap on allowances. Capping expatriate allow- ances makes it possible to reduce significantly the overall costs of foreign assignments. All allowances, including the cost-of-iving, hardship, or other com- y-specific allowances, can be frozen for expatri- ates with an expatriate income exceeding a certain level. The KMPG survey shows that the majority of companies still do not cap the major allowances. ing potential expatriates, the impact of international USCH GMBH 323 Housing allowance and/or costs. There are several ways to reduce housing costs. One way is to select residence areas comparable to those used by local employees in comparable posi- tions, thus avoiding expensive residence areas being used mainly by expatriate employees. Another way is to follow the recommendations of housing data providers and to offer additional Incentives for finding housing less expensive than the standard cost recommendations. However, The rain had passed through the city and shafts of sunlight appeared through the grey clouds. Klaus recalled the themes of 'courage, curiosity, and change at the recent corporate meeting he had attended in Berlin. The Berlin conference was one of some 850 activities staged worldwide in 2011 to mark the 125th anniversary of the Bosch company and the 150th anniversary of Robert Bosch's birth. He returned to his desk and began working to apply these themes. as reported by KPMG, the overwhelming majority of companies (82 per cent) still do not provide this type of incentive. Questions: Travel expenses. There is a trend to provide 'economy-class' travels to expatriate employees. About 56 per cent of companies surveyed by KMPG implement such a policy, 3 per cent more than in 2010. 1 Why did Bosch state the cost-of-living allowance amount as a CEHB-based sum and a separate cost-of-living supplement in the first and the sec- ond years of the assignment in the balance sheet for Korea? Many of the above cost reduction measures were already being implemented at Bosch. Apart from the allowances, yearly economy-class flights to the home country had become the standard option for com- pany travel. However, longer flights for business rea- sons could still be carried out using business class. The challenge, however, was to further improve exist- ing policies by comparing several cost options, data providers, and outsourcing alternatives. This would be just the first step towards esigning an all-encompass- ing assignment policy, as er steps would analyze tax-efficient ways of providi xpatriate perquisites, as well as organize taxation as social security cover- age during international assigrumonts in co-operation with a team of international legal advisors. Nevertheless, enthusiastic and confident of success as he was, Klaus knew that designing a new interna- tional assignment policy was going to be a long and drawn-out process involving multiple calculations as well as negotiations with colleagues and external mobility services providers. This was especially the case because the cost issue was only one aspect of the wider issue of the co-ordinated and strategi- cally effective use of international assignments. There 2 Which expatriate compensation elements at Bosch Group were already based on cost-reduction con- siderations listed in the case study? Please suggest ways in which these could be improved further. 3 What further cost-reduction measures could be implemented? 4 Do you believe it is possible to design a Bosch Group international assignment policy covering both expatriate and inpatriate employees at all international locations? 5 One of the measures used to reduce the costs of expatriation was to outsource elements of the administration function to external service provid- ers, Please discuss the advantages and disadvan- tages of such a policy. 6 Do you believe that alternative assignments can substitute for traditional expatriate assignments in the long run? Please discuss the major opportuni- ties and barriers. 7 What are the m barriers to the localization of expatriate mah yers? were many more related concerns - such as motivat- ing potential expatriates, the impact of international assignments on professional careers, repatriation management, dual-career issues, and family income. The more Klaus thought about it, the more he saw the linkages and implications operating across multiple HR practices and multiple product and geographic units. 8 Many international companies do not provide any additional foreign assignment allowances (e.g. relocation or hardship allowance). Do you think it would have been feasible to implement this system at Bosch? What would be the related advantages and disadvantages?

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