Self Selection instead of Staff Selection? International Assignments in the German Chemical Industry (Selbstselektion statt Personalauswahl? Auslandsentsendungen in der deutschen shemischen Industrie)

Abstract

The German chemical industry is internationally oriented although it consists mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises. Taking this industry as an example we analyse to what extent international assignments are important in international activities. They are in fact much rarer than one would assume in view of the large number of scientific articles dealing with this topic. Regarding the selection of expatriates, companies often do not follow the scientific recommendations for successful employee selection. This does not however lead to an increased risk of international assignment failure, the reason being that expatriate selection is often based on the self-selection of potential candidates so that the expatriates' motivation, an important factor for the success of international assignments, is assured. Therefore it is by no means irrational if enterprises dispense with the complex and costly procedures of staff selection.