Despite its everyday occurrence in contemporary business, the international transfer of managers has not been subject to much empirical research. This study builds primarily on two previous studies, extending the scope of research from a single national sample to a multinational sample. Expatriate business managers who were employed by Australian, German, Dutch and Italian firms, and who were currently assigned to Hong Kong, responded to a mail questionnaire. The main issues explored in this article are the pattern of international transfers, the regional connections in that pattern, the duration of assignments and the degree of specialization during successive assignments. These features are related to the parent corporation characteristics of nationality, size and type of operations. The strategic implications of the findings for international resource management are discussed.
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