Abstract
In the actual business environment, expatriates are a highly valuable resource for companies going abroad. Indeed, globalization created a global market for high skill personnel, which was also facilitated by the decrease of the travelling costs. However it must be stated that expatriation is not a new fact. Some famous people were already living in foreign countries at the end of World War 1, such as Ernest Hemingway and Henri Miller who were living in Paris.
Generally an expatriate is a person living in another country than the one where he is a citizen. It generally applies to business professionals sent abroad by their companies. These expatriates fill needs thanks to their skills; those needs could not be fulfilled by local workers. A difference is made between high skills professionals living in a foreign country and called expatriates and the low skilled workers living abroad called immigrants.
Expatriates are so valuable for companies that they have organizations and processes to welcome them in the hosting countries and also to stabilize their personal life. Some companies use process such as coaching or mentoring of the expatriates and also give a voice to the spouses in the decision making process.
Expatriation has become so frequent and valuable within companies, that they now use short or medium term expatriation where the family stays behind. This new trend in expatriation reinforces the cultural shock as expatriates do not integrate to the new culture in a few months and also are only in contact with the elite of the hosting country.
