Missed Some Great Expat Twitter Links? (December 14-15 edition)

Hi Everyone, I hope you are enjoying a great week! Here are some expat links I have tweeted recently, that might interest you...

New: Results From 2011 HSBC Expat Explorer (Expat) Survey
http://bit.ly/sRfJKs

BBC Video: The Life Of The Trailing Spouse Who Wants To Work Abroad, But Cannot
http://bbc.in/uDfvnC

Top 10 Global Topics Most Discussed On Facebook In 2011
http://bit.ly/rYnNr1

Which U.S. Companies Import The Most Talent From Abroad?
http://read.bi/vHIT0s

Best of 2011: Books For, By & About Expats
http://bit.ly/t89EfP

25 Australian Travel Blogs & Bloggers To Watch In 2012
http://bit.ly/rt7sih

How To Live Safely Abroad
http://bit.ly/sycBbR

I Miss The Food & The Massages, But There's Life After China
http://tgr.ph/vMfPB5

More Americans Go Abroad For Economic Opportunities
http://bit.ly/uasXI7

The True Cost Of Expat Living In Australia
http://fb.me/tsv7DedJ

And finally... my personal news of the week via Twitter...

"It's official... Our family's moving again! Kuala Lumpur-to-Sydney-to-Sunshine Coast (Australia) in 4 months... Can't keep up? Neither can I sometimes..." Andrea :)

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To follow me in 'real time' and keep up with even more great expat links on Twitter, please click here.

If you reading this blog post online and you are not already an Expat Women member, please support us and sign up here to receive our monthly, motivational newsletters.

Thanks for your support and I wish you a sensational day/evening! Andrea @andreaexpat

Missed Some Great Expat Links On Twitter?

Hi Everyone, Here are some expat-related articles and links that I have tweeted about recently, that might interest you:

Expats: Looking for a way to shop conveniently from any US website? Check out our new Sponsor: US Global Mail! http://bit.ly/cNHNu2

Number of expat executives set to grow in next 5 years...? http://bit.ly/9tTjwe

Clements Receives 2010 Communicator Award for Expat Youth Scholarship Website http://tinyurl.com/2aln3t6

Many Expatriates - Many Voices - a study by Prudential: http://wp.me/p12mbU-1N

Did you move between 2008-2010? Take Association's PCS survey to win 1 of 2 $50 gift cards. http://bit.ly/PCSsurvey

Expat Focus 2010 Survey - Can You Help? http://bit.ly/boJleS

Use Social Media To Make Your Overseas Move A Success http://bit.ly/bUTocT

Worldwide ERC's October edition of Mobility now online http://bit.ly/cCxqXK

UK and US Expats wanted for brain mapping experiment at university in Beijing http://bit.ly/aigzbG

Global Mobility Summit - Presentations from New York Conference now online http://bit.ly/9zdRMM

Thinking of becoming an expat? 6 things to consider http://bit.ly/do1NGr

Interview with Robin Pascoe on Expats Radio http://almerimarlife.com/a-broad-abroad

FAWCO registration open: Morocco conference March 2011: American Expat Women & FAWCO Club members invited: Get 30 Euro discount http://bit.ly/bh4wRi

Expats in Vietnam? 101 Reasons To Love Living In Hanoi http://bit.ly/c9VXCw

Congrats Expatica! 4000+ visitors at their expat fair in Amsterdam http://bit.ly/cZlgeQ

To follow me in 'real time' and keep up with even more great expat links on Twitter, please click here.

Thanks for your support! Andrea

Survey: What is an Expat Woman's Role in Top-Level Management Decision-Making?

Hi Everyone, Pamela Muñoz is an expat in South Korea who is doing her thesis on professional/working expat women in Asia and needs your help...

If you fit her criteria above, Pamela would love 10 minutes of your time to please complete her online survey entitled "Expat Women's Role in Top-Level Management Decision-Making".

"I would like to ask for your help in getting participants to answer a survey I have developed for all working, professional expat women.  I'd like to know what types of work they do, what industry, what country and how empowered they feel in their positions.

My theory is that many of the high-level women professionals, in male-dominated societies, are still not being regarded as a true asset. This has been my experience working in Korea, along with some of my other female colleagues.

My thesis is trying to identify if this is only true of Korea or in other countries as well.  All too often, the expat (male or female) is simply a figure head to show how 'global' the company is but that person has little say in true decision making for the firm.  This is a quantitative study to either prove or disprove my theory." Pamela

Please click here to participate in the survey, or click here to email Pamela directly.  Thanks.

Expats Employed Abroad: Looking For Survey Participants

Hi Everyone, Lisa Gulick is a student at George Mason University, completing her Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology. She is currently working on her dissertation, which investigates the role of international experience on expatriate adjustment and performance.  She is desperately seeking 75 more respondents to her expat survey. If you can help, please do.  Thanks. 

"I would like to survey individuals currently working abroad in a country that is not their native country of residence. The survey would be confidential, administered via a web link, and should take about 20 minutes to complete. To participate, please click here.  Thank you!"  Lisa Gulick, lgulick @ gmu.edu

Survey About Cultural Adaptation: Can You Help Jessie?

Hi Everyone, Jessie Wilson is looking for survey respondents please to her survey about how individuals adapt to living in new cultural environments. If you can help, either click the survey link, email Jessie or email her research supervisor, Professor Colleen Ward.

Many thanks, on behalf of Jessie Wilson, PhD Candidate, Centre for Applied Cross-Cultural Research School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, Wellington, NZ.

Survey for Expat Trailing Partners

Hi Everyone, expat coach Louise Wiles is looking for participants for her survey asking trailing partners about the challenges and issues they face when moving abroad and the types of support they would find most helpful.

"My aim is to achieve over 100 responses as this will help to make the survey results more representative and therefore valid. The survey builds on a piece of research I conducted in 2002 for a dissertation as part of a Masters in Occupational Psychology. This investigated the expectations trailing partners had regarding organisational support and the impact its provision had on their adaptation to their lives in Portugal (where I was living at the time)."

Click here to email Louise to ask her questions and/or to request a copy of her 2002 results.

Click here to complete her survey.

Thanks on her behalf!

Research: Female Minority Expatriates

Hi Everyone, IOR Global Services is conducting research on the experiences of female minority expatriates to be presented at Families in Global Transition conference in March 2010.

If you consider yourself a minority female, you have been sent on an international assignment and you would like to help with this research, please take the short confidential online survey here.

Please contact Charisse Kosova for any questions or to register your interest for the results. Many thanks.

Background: "Recent studies, and IOR Global Service’s own observations, have revealed that an increasing number of women, and particularly minority women, are accepting expatriate assignments. IOR is conducting research to highlight this demographic shift and to capture the important observations that expatriate minority women have made in both the selection process and during the expatriate experience.

Qualitative data collection will take place in two parts:
(1) completion of this 5-minute survey; and
(2) a 30-minute interview with participants.
The 30 minute interview is not mandatory.
All responses will remain completely anonymous."

Survey Participants Needed: Study Of Emotional Well-Being Of International Mobility Versus Residential Stability

Hi Everyone, Katarina Tova is doing the following research study for her Master's thesis and needs the help of willing participants please:

"If you are between the ages of 22 and 35 and are proficient in English language, then you are invited to participate in a research study that investigates the emotional well being of individuals who were internationally mobile during childhood and/or adolescence.

Please note, the study excludes those whose mobility was primarily determined by their parents' work as missionaries, military personnel or those who have had a legal status as refugees.

The purpose of this study is to deepen our understanding of the impact on emotional well being of international mobility versus residential stability."

Click here to participate. Or if you have questions, please email Katarina directly. Thanks.

"Questions about your rights as a human subject may be directed to Jane Calhoun, Harvard Committee on the Use of Human Subjects, , 617 495 5459 or 617 495 5459. This study has been reviewed and approved by the IRB office at Harvard University."

Researcher In The UK Looking For Expatriate Survey Participants

Hi Everyone, Another research request today... This time for Bruno Arba who is studying International Human Resources Management at the London South Bank University.

Bruno's dissertation is about the management of expatriates and expatriate family issues by MNCs. He is looking for expats who can spare 10-15 minutes to complete his 2-page (Microsoft Word document) questionnaire. If you can help, please kindly request the survey documents directly from Bruno here.

Completed surveys need to be submitted by 30 November. Thanks.

Expat Mini-Survey For Trailing Spouses

Hi Everyone, Job and Career Transition coach Jennifer Bradley, Ph.D. is seeking input for her presentation for the upcoming Families in Global Transition Conference in March 2010.

If you are a trailing spouse (accompanying partner), have 5-10 minutes to spare and would like to help Jennifer by completing her quick, online survey about your experiences abroad, please click here or email Jennifer directly if you have questions. Thanks.

Expatriate Research Survey: Looking For UK Repatriates

Hi Everyone, Claire Hardy (Doctoral Researcher at the University of Nottingham) is looking to contact UK employees and their spouses who have returned from an expat assignment of 12 months or more (even if they have subsequently left UK shores again).

If you can help, or know someone who can, here are the 20 minute online anonymous survey links:
Survey link for assignees
Survey link for accompanying spouses/partners

If you have any questions, please email Claire or contact her via LinkedIn. Thanks.

Would Your Company Like To Participate In The Global Relocation Trends Survey?

Hi Everyone, If you are in the global mobility industry, you would probably already be aware of this very well-respected survey. If your company does not already participate, here is their chance...

"Woodridge, Ill., Oct. 7, 2009 - Brookfield Global Relocation Services today invited companies worldwide to participate in its acclaimed annual "Global Relocation Trends Survey."

Now in its 15th year, the survey has become the definitive study of companies' global employee-relocation practices, mobility policies and trends. The survey's longevity and deep reservoir of data enable Brookfield Global Relocation Services to compare each year's results with historical averages, which help gauge the relative importance of annual variations. Brookfield Global Relocation Services will release the results of the annual survey, along with its analysis, in early 2010. The questionnaire for the upcoming survey is available here. All participants will receive a complimentary copy of the survey results.

...Brookfield Global Relocation Services is a leading, full-service outsourcing partner of end-to-end employee relocation, assignment management and mobility consulting services for multinational organizations worldwide. The company serves corporations throughout the world and manages more than $2 billion in relocation-related transactions."

Repatriate Knowledge Study: Phase Two

Hi Everyone, Stacey M. Peterson at the Florida Institute of Technology is looking for respondents for the second phase of her research study...

"This study investigates how the social dynamics of an organization’s culture may affect the utilization of repatriate international knowledge.

To be eligible for this study, you must:

1. Work at an organization with repatriates (you do not need to be a repatriate)
2. Be employed at your current organization (does NOT need to be an American company) for a minimum of four months.

Participation in this study consists of answering a number of questions in an anonymous survey and will take approximately 20 minutes. Your personal information will not be recorded and, therefore, will not be connected to any of your responses. Your responses are greatly appreciated.

If you meet all the criteria and wish to participate, please complete the survey online here. If you have any questions, the researcher can be reached at sfehir@fit.edu or visit our repatriate group on LinkedIn at Repatriate Professionals for further discussions. Thanks. "

Expat Jobs: Some Industries Hiring, Some Industries Firing

Hi Everyone, Brookfield Global Relocation Services released today a supplementary report to their widely-recognised 2009 Global Relocation Trends Survey. Here are some extracts from their press release:

"Woodridge, Ill. (Sept. 14, 2009) - The ongoing economic downturn has forced many companies to dramatically scale back the number of employees they are relocating for international assignments, but has left other industries virtually unscathed, a new report exploring international mobility trends from Brookfield Global Relocation Services has found.

In fact, certain industries - among them telecommunications, oil and gas - are experiencing an uptick in their employee relocation activities due to mergers, emerging global markets and other factors, according to a recently released report, International Mobility: The Impact of the Current Economic Climate.

The report queried senior international mobility professionals responsible for international assignment strategy at a number of the world's leading companies. Combined, the mobility managers interviewed from a select group of corporations representing a worldwide employee population of more than 2.2 million employees."

**

"The report's findings pointed to four key trends currently facing multinational companies:

1. A reduction in the volume of assignments due to the recession. This is occurring in industries that have been hit especially hard by the economic downturn, including: automobile manufacturing, information technology service and the financial services sectors.
2. Changes in the volume of assignments. However, these changes are not directly caused by the recession. This trend is impacting the high technology, engineering, retail, financial and information services industries.
3. No impact so far, but companies expect a general tightening soon. These industries include pharmaceutical, food and consumer products manufacturing, and logistics sectors.
4. An increase in the number of employee relocations. This trend is primarily occurring in the telecommunications, oil and gas sectors, and with some professional services firms.

"...companies and industries that are experiencing increased relocation activity are typically involved in:

1. Moving into new international partnership arrangements;
2. A merger or acquisition Developing emerging markets;
3. Creating global tools, processes and programs;
4. Creating a cohesive culture or employer brand; and/or
5. Closing long-term global capability and skills gaps."
   

**

"Brookfield will host a complimentary webinar presentation exploring the findings of this study on Thursday, Sept. 17 (US). Participation in the webinar is free and limited to the first 100 registrants. To register, go to: http://www.brookfieldgrs.com/insights_ideas/grts/2009_GRTS_Economic_Climate_Webinar.asp"

Expatica Survey - Expat Health Concerns Abroad - Win a 100 Euro Amazon Voucher

Hi Everyone, Expatica are running a survey on their site where you could win an Amazon voucher to the value of 100 Euros.

It is primarily about expat health concerns abroad, presumably to feed results back to a health insurance company, but it is not too personal and if you are someone who likes to enter competitions, you might like to spend the 10 minutes or so completing it. I did.

Expat Survey: Italy & The Netherlands

Hi Everyone, Chiara Giordano is looking for expats in Italy and The Netherlands to complete a survey for her thesis research...

"My name is Chiara, an Italian 24 year-old girl living near Milan. I'm currently enrolled in the master of social and political communication at the "Università degli di Studi di Milano".

At this moment I'm involved in my degree thesis concerning the expatriates coming in Italy and in the Netherlands: the process that the expatriate and in particular their family goes through while adapting and adjusting to the host country.

I have prepared a short survey about the move of the expatriate to Italy and the Netherlands... and... I really need your help because it is difficult for me to reach expatriates. Thank you in advance for your cooperation!"

Here are the links with the survey:
Expats in the Netherlands
Expats in Italy

If you can help Chiara, please do. Thanks.

Measuring Expat ROI - New Report From Yvonne McNulty

Hi Everyone, Our friend Yvonne McNulty in Singapore released last week her new industry report: Measuring Expatriate Return On Investment In Global Firms, which is a great read for anyone working or interested in the field of expatriate management, talent recruitment and/or human resources.

To gather data for the report, Yvonne surveyed 51 expatriates from five global firms. The combined total employee population represented by those firms was 653,000.

Two key findings in the report:

• 36% of expatriates seek external job opportunities during their assignments - which infers that HR needs to focus not just on retention at the end of international assignments, but throughout employee assignments abroad; and

• Expat ROI is not formally measured. Companies rely instead on the employee performance appraisal process - however, how effective is this process of measurement, when the expats surveyed believed the performance appraisal process measured the wrong things?

Yvonne, perhaps best known for her Trailing Spouse Survey four years ago, is a PhD candidate in the Department of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Monash University, Australia. She is a sought-after speaker on the topic of expat return on investment (ROI) and can be contacted here.

Well done, Yvonne, and happy reading everyone!

Permits Foundation Global Survey Results

Hi Everyone, Breaking news... The summary report of the Permit Foundation's global survey last October is now available here.

"This survey examined the views of 3300 expatriate spouses and partners of 122 nationalities, currently accompanying international employees working in 117 host countries for over 200 employers in both the private and public sector.

It provides evidence that a lack of spouse or partner employment opportunities adversely affects global mobility of highly skilled international employees.

A few focused and simple improvements on the part of employers and governments can make a triple win for families, employers and the countries in which they work."

Very interesting reading - and definitely something you will need if you are formally presenting on topics in this arena. Happy reading!

Robin Pascoe's Survey Summary Is Up!

Hi Everyone, Followers of this blog will know that Robin Pascoe (aka The Expat Expert) conducted a large international relocation survey earlier this year, sponsored by Canadian movers AMJ Campbell International, entitled "Family Matters!"

The survey returned an amazing 655 workable responses from expats and their family members (14 years of age and above). In addition to 30% of the respondents being male, one of the other notable aspects of the survey was its array of open-ended questions - which in turn resulted in a wealth of very open, honest, heartwarming and heartbreaking responses.

To be one of the first to see the results (as Robin has literally only put it up an hour ago), just click here. Happy reading! And well done Robin and associates!

Best wishes for your weekend, Andrea.

Highlights From Expat Expert Robin Pascoe's "Family Matters!" Survey

Hello Everyone, For those of you following our previous blogposts about Robin Pascoe's Family Matters! Survey in the expat community, here are three key highlights sent around by Robin today:

"1. The survey confirmed there is a distinct 'disconnect' in communication about relocation policy between headquarters and expat families as 64 per cent of respondents said no one - neither employee nor family members - were offered any training whatsoever. Yet, according to the latest GMAC Global Relocation Trends survey, 154 global companies reported that 84 per cent of their organizations made cross-cultural preparation available to at least one member of the family. So while it may be policy to offer training, it would appear from your responses that this news is not being communicated.

2. Marital breakdown was the highest rated factor to impact negatively on the stress of an assignment. It ranked higher than children's education, spousal resistance to move in the first place, spousal career concerns, and adjustment in general. The reasons for an assignment failure are clearly more nuanced than simply "family failure to adjust" which we hear quoted so often.

3. The number one request for inclusion in any relocation policy - well above cross-cultural training and career counseling, both of which came in almost at the bottom of the list - was "assurances of a new contact at the new destination for help settling in." Anecdotally, you informed me that in the absence of ground support in your new locales, however, other expats, through spousal organizations, schools committees, and community clubs, are stepping up to assist you."

When Robin releases her official Executive Summary of her survey findings, we will be sure to let you know. Enjoy your day!