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REPATRIATES AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER IN MNCS: A CASE STUDY OF SHELL

IN NIGERIA

A Case Study of Shell, Nigeria

Chapter 4: Research Findings and AnalysisResearch Proposal

Submitted By

MSc International Human Resource Management

Chapter 4: Research Findings and Analysis

4.0 Introduction
Chapter 4 looks at rResearch findings and analysis is the fourth section of the study. It
analyses the empirical findings accruing from the empirical data obtained grounded onin
terms of four main themes as analysed suggested in chapter two of this study. These four
themes are knowledge transfer, expatriation, repatriation and organisational support.
Additionally, the conclusion of the main findings emanating from this study are delineated in
this study. Finally, practical implications of this study as well as suggestions for future studies
are provided. The case company in this study is Shell Nigeria which is picked due to its
reputation as one of the biggest multinational company in Nigeria. Moreover, the company
has also been picked due to its utilisation of repatriates and expatriates which is the context
under which this study is based.
4.1 Expatriation management in Shell Nigeria
HR managers in Shell were interviewed in order to To gain a perspective on
expatriation management in Shell, the opinion of HR managers in Shell were sought. To this
end, the opinion of two managers of Shell; Rita and Paul were obtained through interview
method.The pseudonymns Rita and Paul are used here. According to the HR two HR
managers of Shell interviewed, , the main reasons why Shell sends its staff to perform some
international tasks are: (1) to enable employees to pick up some skills, (2) transfer some
specific knowledge within a timeframe, (3) to have a mixed and a balanced workforce
comprising of employees from diverse cultures. .
When asked why they send employees on international assignment,

Rita says that, Okay. So not everyone who goes on international assignment is an expatriate
mangers. We have different categories, and its used for different things. So there are different
kinds of assignments, . Wwe do have short term assignments and these typically are either
used for individuals who need to go pick up eh.. particular skills, but they can do it within
eh.. limited window of up to one year and then they come back. Em.. or you could also use it
for those who are going to go transfer specific knowledge within a time frame as well.
Similarly, Paul who have been in the company for one and a half years also shared
Ritas opinion of sending employees on international assignment to pick up some skills. .
However , for the reasons indicated by Rita, Paul has different reasons adds other reason for
sending people on an international assignment, including to include diversity and
inclusiveness. For instance, Paul said
Paul says And I think it is also a diversity and inclusiveness angle, in terms of
having a mixed and balanced workforce.
Few years ago, Brossard and Peterson (2005) highlighted three most critical reasons
why firms send their employees on international assignments. These reasons are: controlling
international operations, filling international posts with knowledgeable employees, acquire
better global perspectives and prepare workers for future assignments. However, in terms of
from the interview with Rita and Paul, Shell seems to be mainly focusing on the acquisition
of transfer of knowledge within a timeframe. According to the respondents in this study, Shell
operates in nations with different cultural backgrounds that require inclusiveness and
diversity of employees to operate effectively. Such diversity and inclusiveness can only be
achieved effectively through transfer of knowledge, within a timeframe as stressed by Rita.
When asked about the process of repatriation in Shell, both Paul and Rita expressed
similar views. Both of the HR managers acknowledged that there exists a formal process used
by Shell to select employees to be sent on international assignment. According to these two

managers, selection process is very open and gives each and every employees willing to
apply for international job a chance.
Rita says, So there are different processes, right. So em.. in Nigeria for instance we
have what we call an international assignment listing, so there are certain criteria for
individuals to get on that listing and that is to ensure that we are putting our best foot
forward.
Paul also says, So basically, each year within our leadership team, we will sit down and
start looking at data. We have basic criteria that we look at to try and identify what we call
cross postings. So people that go on overseas, we look at their performance history to ensure
that they are one of the top performers, we look at their future potentials to ensure they are
the type of person that would benefit from an international posting
These findings are in line with the theoretical discourses which arguesthe idea that
traditionally, expatriation process has often been the sole responsibility of the HR managers
and department (e.g. Gill, 2010). It is thus the role of the HR managers to choose the most
appropriate employees for international assignments to make those assignments successful.
The opinion were however different results were however discerning across the
expatriates interviewed. While expatriates like Greg and Elias shared the sentiments of the
HR managers, Dorcas and Abimbola expressed different opinions. Greg and Elias, who
acknowledgeds that Shell uses a system known as Managed Open Resourcing to select
expatriates based on ranking. On the contrary, the openness in the selection process in Shell,
as claimed by Paul, and Rita and Greg, is challenged by expatriates like Abimbola and
Dorcas.
As lamented by Abimbola states, there are some people who are specifically selected by HR
managers to apply for international jobs every year.

The sentiments of Abimbola are also shared by Dorcas, who sees selection for international
assignment in Shell to be through a handshake where one is just appointed as opposed to a
formal system. This view was which were echoed by Greg and the two HR managers; Paul
and Rita.
When asked on whether she applied for international job, Dorcas says Rita says, I was
given an opportunity, I didn't apply for it. I was given a window, an opportunity to go on the
international assignment..
These findings are contrary to the changing HR practices in the contemporary world. The
contemporary theoretical literatures. For instance, Holtbrugge and Berg (2004) the
contemporary business world necessitate that companies employ open policies in selection of
employees for international assignment to reduce chances of failures. (Holtbrugge and Berg,
2004).

4.2 Expatriate support in Shell

The level of contact and support that HR managers have with expatriates varies according to
respondent across the two HR managers interviewed. When asked abouton the training and
development process in Shell,
Rita said:
Rita says, Regardless of whether you are on international assignment or whether you are
eh.. Working locally, we have a standard process for training and development. This is often
through individual development plan where the expatriate gets an opportunity to get a review
on his or her strengths, weaknesses.
Paul on the other hand says that, the company provides expatriates with enough training
right before they apply for jobs. Such support is usually through coaching them on how to
write good resumes as well as practical mentoring on life overseas.

A common theme for the managers interviewed is that employees are offered training
before their departure for international assignments. These findings aare supported by
Holtbrugge and Berg (2004) who say that the acquiring of skills and knowledge in a learning
culture is promoted by features of the environment of an organization. Thus, supporting
expatriates through activities like coaching is instrumental in ensuring expatriates acquire
knowledge effectively.
Different opinions are however expressed by expatriates interviewed. When asked
whether there they were given any support prior to being sent on international assignment,
Elias, Greg and Dorcas said that there exists no formal support.
Elias for instance says,
I would say no and I think that is an area we can improve. At the minimum, em.. When
people are going on an assignment, like when I came back it is actually one of the
suggestions I made.
Similarly, Greg and Dorcas say that there exists no formal training prior to being sent for
international duties. Nonetheless, these two respondents acknowledge that some form of
informal support exists, but not necessarily training are available. For instance,
Greg says, No, em.. if you use the word training, there is no training but there is an off
boarding em.. set of activities that are conducted prior to leaving. And there is an on
boarding set of activities that is performed when you arrive at your new location or at your
host location
These findings are in line with Hodgett and Luthans (1997) view that HR should
make more use of social networking. The interview with expatriates reveal a huge
gap in training expatriates in Shell prior to being sent on international assignment in
Shell. Particularly, the findings are in line with past literatures by Malek, Buthwar
and Reichie (2014). Malek, Buthwar and Reichie (2014) stressed that HR managers Thus,

the HR managers need to be aware of and take training into accountinto account the
learning style, demographics and language of the employees to be trained to in
other to properly develop an effective development intervention. (Malek, Buthwar
and Reichie, 2014).
4.3 Management of repatriation in Shell

Knowledge on management of repatriation in Shell was gained by interviewing both

repatriates and HR managers. According to the two HR managers interviewed, were of the
opinion that the main expectation of repatriation is to enable employees to gain transferable
knowledge. Rita for instance says, At the end of that assignment we expect that they would
have picked up the skills that is required and all of that and be in a position to come back to
contribute
On the other hand, Paul when asked on what he expect from the managers, Paul says
Well I mean, it party comes back to what's the rational for sending the person in the first
place. So i think its a clear development opportunity then you want to understand how and
where there are going to develop. Cause ultimately at the end of the assignment he obligation
is for them to return back to their home country and for you to see the benefit from that
additional learning
On repatriation process, all the HR managers interviewed also agreed that Shell has an
established repatriation process to give support to returning managers in the firms.
Rita for instance says, The first step in repatriation process is the identification of the right
job for the repatriates.
Similar opinions are also echoed by Paul also , who says, Shell has placed a transfer
advisor that facilitate successful return of employees from international assignments.
However, the views of the HR managers differ with regards toregarding how the company
monitors the performance of the repatriates on international duties.

For instance, Paul says, there is leadership presentation where the repatriates illustrate
what they did while on international assignments.
These findings are however contrary to earlier studies by Lazarova and Cerdin (2007).
Lazarova and Cerdin (2007) pointed out that the gloomy records of repatriate retention in
most multinational firms have been as result of failure of firms to put effective repatriation
processes into place. However, these findings resulting from expatriates interviewed also
provide good insights into the absence of better incentives to facilitate knowledge transfer by
the repatriates.
Abimbola, for instance, laments says that, coming from the international assignment is no
guarantee of promotion when an employee comes back.
These views are suppored by sentiments of Abimbola gain support from earlier studies by
Lazarova and Cerdin (2007), who points out say that a different reason has emerged for the
low repatriate turnover is rather caused by other than the lack of support from organizations.
That is the desire for employees to take charge of their career development and the
accessibility of better job opportunities outside their present employers. Such views are
nonetheless, challenged by Rita who maintains repatriation process in Shell is effective.
Rita says, Continuous engagement with the employees on international assignments is
maintained by Shell. Such engagements allow the company to know the progress of the
employees abroad even before they come back from international duties and use that
assessment to offer promotions or job to them

4.4 Knowledge transfer management in Shell Nigeria

To gain insight on management of knowledge transfer in ShellTo gain some
perspectives on management of knowledge transfer in Shell Nigeria, two HR managers as

well as four expatriates were interviewed., the opinions of the HR managers and expatriates
were sought. On the transfer of knowledge, Aall the HR managers interviewed agreed that
there is no formal culture in Shell to support dissemination and transfer of knowledge.
Rita for instance says, Shell does not force the employees returning from
international to hold conferences and transfer knowledge. However, such culture is often
informal where the employee is expected to be transfer the knowledge they learnt while back
in the company.
Similarly, Paul also acknowledged that skills are often naturally transferred to
employees when they come back from international assignments through their daily work..
However, there is no formal mechanism to force these employees to transfer the knowledge
they have learnt.
Paul says, Since some of the knowledge learnt by employees on international assignments
might not be applicable and thus there is no need to have a formal knowledge dissemination
mechanism.
These sentiments were also echoed by one of the expatriates; Elias when asked on whether,
their knowledge are valued by Shell Nigeria when they come back. He said
Elias laments, It was a great shock to me him since no one bothered to ask mehim.
The views provided by the two managers interviewed is that, two HR argue that, in
most cases, the knowledge learnt during international assignments might not be applicable
back in the company. . Thus, putting HR policies for transfer of knowledge is of no use as
knowledge will just be transferred naturally. These findings are nonetheless, contrary to
earlier findings by Webb and Birkin (2008), who found that. According to Webb and Birkin
(2008) inappropriate infrastructure and HR policies are examples of barriers to knowledge
transfer among other factors like language barriers. Moreover, Beamish (2013) also stressed
that knowledge should be given significance since it enables a company gain competitive

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edge. Thus, it can be suggested that, Shell should put in place an effective HR policies with
regards to knowledge transfer to be successful. Apparently, A look at the findings of this
study, Shell does not possess a clear objectives and goalsobjective for utilisation of the
knowledge acquired by the expatriates. According to all the two HR managers who took part
in this study, there is no formal dissemination mechanism for knowledge in Shell as
knowledge transfer is expected to occur just naturally. For instance, there exist no appropriate
communication mechanism between the expatriates and the home nation during international
assignments. Such lack of communication mechanisms This result into Shell o the home
nation not having appropriate insight into what is being learned by the expatriates. Though
the HR managers gave the opinionsaid that knowledge dissemination occurs naturally, they
did not provide a clear illustration of how this is achieved in the firm. These findings are
contrary to what is suggested by internalisation literature. According to Beamish (2013),
internalisation literature which suggest that knowledge should be given significancet
importance since it enables a company gain competitive edge (Beamish, 2013). Thus, more
significance should be placed on learning from the environment of the host nation. A crucial
explanation for this opposite situation in this study accrue from the fact that there exist no
appropriate communication mechanism between the expatriates and the home nation during
international assignments. This result into the home nation not having appropriate insight into
what is being learned by the expatriates.
The expatriates interviewed are also of the view that, above views are also supported
by the other four expatriates interviewed who argue that, though there is no formal
knowledge transfer mechanism, they were still able to transfer knowledge. For instance,
Elias says, Eh.. well by giving me a job and having people working under me as a
manager and around me and so I transfer the knowledge

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Greg also argue says that he has been able to transfer the knowledge back in the company
through working with histhe team.
Greg laments, Its very early days here and the first thing which i am trying do is to em.. look
at the team. I think my first, this is second week em.. i think i see a need to improve the
efficiency of the team,
The common thread that spread across the expatriates interviewed is that, though
there is no formal knowledge transfer mechanism in Shell Nigeria, they are still able to
transfer knowledge through other means. These informal mechanisms exists in the company.
These meanechanisms mainly consists of putting employees on higher oversight roles such as
team leading positions. Such promotions enable repatriates to naturally transfer knowledge to
through leading their everyday jobs like through project teams. These views gain support
from Project teams is acknowledged by Lazarova and Tarique (2005) who acknowledge
project teams as a vivid example of an effective knowledge transfer tool. These finding
challenges an earlier studyies by Beamish, (2013), who found that . Beamish (2013) argued
that, international assignment is being used in most multinational firms being as a one-way
process; transferring knowledge from the parent nation to the host nation.
Furthermore, a model of effective repatriation put forward model by Jassawalla et al
(2004) who suggest that upon return, it is very important to offer support to repatriates to
motivate transfer of knowledge among them. Empirical literature Beamish (2013) suggest
recognition as is part of as a wider part of such supports. However, from most of the
repatriates interviewed, it emerges that majority of the repatriates were not recognised.the
current study finds no evidence of such support

Elias says, I came back to a higher job but the same pay.

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Usually, higher job rankings are often associated with higher responsibility and the
need to have higher levels of skillswith people having much knowledge. Thus, to motivate
expatriates This implies that, for such employees to be motivated to transfer such knowledge,
they should be offered incentives such as bonuses and pay increase. According to the
expatriates interviewed, these incentives seems to be lacking in Shell. For instance, as Elias
laments, I came back to a higher job but the same pay.

Lack of incentive could possibly lead to ineffective transfer of knowledge by the

repatriates in Shell.
4.5 Conclusion of findings
One of the main aims of this study was to improve awareness of the process of
expatriation and repatriation, as it has that has often remained been neglected by manyost
multinational firms. Thus, taking Using the case of Shell Nigeria as the case company played
a major role in the understanding of expatriation and repatriation in multinational firms.. This
study provides some very useful suggestions for repatriation and expatriation policies and
thus a great contribution to practice. Following Snchez, et al (2008) By the findings of the
theoretical review, this study establishes that effective management of repatriation and
expatriation minimises the feeling of anxiety and uncertainty among repatriates. Thus, the
Moreover, the arguments of Snchez et al (2008) are supported by earlier studies on Finish
expatriates by Suutari and Brewster (2003). Following Suutari and Brewster (2003) the effect
of effective implementation of repatriation process on repatriates is that it makes expatriates
them feel appreciated, valuable, and supported by the firm. Nonetheless, not all the four
expatriates in the study saw a need for the process of repatriation. These findings are in line
with some other work, previous theoretical discourses that have found outwhich suggests
that that approximately 60% of expatriates showed repatriation concerns (Benson, 2011).

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In the process of this study, it was also found out that there exist no formal
repatriation process in Shell. This can absence can be attributed to the difficulties experienced
in the implementation of a functioning repatriation process. For instance, it is very difficult to
gauge or know the filter out useful knowledge that should be transferred by repatriates since
most of these knowledge are often not necessary.
According to this study, , the lack of repatriation process in Shell could be due to the
absence of understanding of the need for repatriation both from the side of the repatriates and
HR managers. Moreover, both the host and the home organisation home nations are not
willing to take responsibilities for repatriates and expatriates in the long-run. Seemingly, both
the repatriates and expatriates agree on this point, and demonstrate an awareness of and are
aware of such problems problems. The most predominant with the sturdiest consistent
concern was in regards to being a transfer of knowledge, with an agreement that and they
anonymously agree that knowledge transfer tools are lacking.
Nonetheless, this study seems to suggest argues that the transfer of knowledge by the
repatriate will occur independent of the receptivity of the firm or whether they are either
aware of it or not. Knowledge will still be transferred by repatriates through their daily work.
LastlyAdditionally, Nonetheless, to further ensure effective transfer of knowledge by
repatriates, the results of this study suggest have found out that enoughthat incentives should
be given to repatriates. This study has revealed that, such iIncentives like promotion,
increasinge in pay as well as allowances play a great role in knowledge transfer and thus
should be implemented. When implemented, transfer of knowledge would be enhanced as
repatriates would have a feeling that the company recognises their contributions.
4.6 Recommendations on enhancement of knowledge transfer and repatriation process
The study supports some From this study, some suggestions about improving
repatriation processescan be offered to firms that endeavor to implement the process of

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repatriation. Firstly, such firms should commence by researching on the need for repatriation
processes. Particular attention should be paid to The case study in this research shows that the
critical repatriation elements are training programmesprogramss, career planning and
mentorship. Moreover, it is also worth of ensuring that expatriates are informed about the
policies, problems and expectationsthe corporate culture of the host organisation prior to their
departure for international assignments. Further, this study suggests is of the view that
holding seminars for managers and expatriates to inform them of repatriation and expatriation
issues might be usefulis very critical. Additionally, dThe significance of direct
communication between the HR managers in the parent firm and the expatriates information
must also be taken into consideration. Such considerations n are because, since unawareness
and misunderstanding from repatriates, and HR managers are likely to occur as a result of
lack of effective communication. Lastly, to transfer and utilise skills and knowledge of the
expatriates and improve the competitive nature of the firm, various tools such as
presentations, lectures and discussions should be utilised.
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