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    "question_title_h1": "The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com\/2049-8799.htm A comparison of intra- and inter-organizational global careers Comparison of intra-",
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    "question_title_for_js_snippet": "The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www emeraldinsight com 2049 8799 htm A comparison of intra  and inter organizational global careers Comparison of intra  and interorganizational global careers Repeat expatriates' and international itinerants' subjective experiences 183 Malin H  Nasholm Ume School of Business and Economics, Ume University, Ume , Sweden a a a Abstract Purpose   Although research has shown differences between self initiated experiences and expatriation, this differentiation has rarely been made when it comes to more long term global careers  The purpose of this paper is to identify similarities and differences between repeat expatriates and international itinerants in their career paths, subjective experiences, and narratives of how they relate to their context  Design methodology approach   A narrative approach was used and interviews were conducted with ten repeat expatriates and ten international itinerants  The career paths of the 20 Swedish global careerists and how they narrate their careers are analyzed, and the two types of global careerists are compared  Findings   Results show that the repeat expatriates and international itinerants differ in their subjective experiences of global careers, and how they narrate them  Three broad domains are identified that integrate a range of issues that are important for global careerists  These domains are the organization and career domain, the country and culture domain, and the family, communities, and networks domain  The repeat expatriates and international itinerants differ in how they relate to these and what is important to them  Practical implications   The differences found have implications for organizations in terms of recruitment, management, and retention of a global talent pool  Originality value   This research contributes to the understanding of subjective experiences of global careers and integrates a range of aspects in the context of global careerists that are important to them  Moreover, it contributes to the understanding of global careers by differentiating between those with intra  and inter organizational global careers  Keywords Narrative, Global careers, International itinerants, Repeat expatriates Paper type Research paper Introduction It has been shown that there are differences between assigned expatriates and those with self initiated international work experiences, for example in their motivations and characteristics (Doherty et al , 2011  Biemann and Andresen, 2010)  The relevance of expatriation literature for those who are self initiated has even been questioned ( Jokinen et al , 2008)  It has been argued that it is important to conceptually and empirically differentiate between expatriates and those with self initiated international work experiences (Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009)  Similarly, global careers, where the entire career is characterized by international mobility, may be The author would like to thank the participants at the Workshop on New Analyses of Expatriation, 2012, for their comments on an earlier version of the paper  The author is grateful to the two anonymous reviewers and the guest editors of JGM for their helpful comments and suggestions  Journal of Global Mobility Vol  2 No  2, 2014 pp  183 202 r Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2049 8799 DOI 10 1108 JGM 06 2013 0034 JGM 2,2 184 enacted either inter organizationally or within an organization (Suutari et al , 2012  Suutari and Makela, 2007)  While a differentiation rarely has been made between intra  and inter organizational global careerists (see Nasholm, 2011, 2012 for an exception), these can be seen as two different types of global careerists  These are referred to in this paper as repeat expatriates and international itinerants  Repeat expatriates are defined as professionals employed by a company that have, on at least two occasions, been on expatriate assignments and been repatriated by that company  International itinerants are defined as professionals who have been employed by at least two independent companies in at least two countries other than their home country (adapted from Banai and Harry, 2004, p  97)  As subjective experiences have been shown to differ between expatriate assignments and self initiated experiences (Doherty et al , 2011  Biemann and Andresen, 2010  Jokinen et al , 2008  Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009) the stance taken in this paper is that correspondingly there could be meaningful differences between expatriates and those self initiated when considering global careers  More understanding of global careerists and what influences their career moves is needed from the perspective of the global careerists themselves (Suutari et al , 2012)  While research has begun to address global careers, global careerists' career decisions, and the developmental aspects thereof (Suutari and Makela, 2007  Makela and Suutari, 2009  Suutari et al , 2012), more research is needed with a long term career perspective on international work experiences  It has been shown that there are differences in the identity construction processes and identifications of repeat expatriates and international itinerants (Nasholm, 2011, 2012)  This paper addresses the question of which aspects of their context the repeat expatriates and international itinerants find important to their careers  The purpose of this paper is to identify similarities and differences between repeat expatriates and international itinerants in their career paths, subjective experiences, and narratives of how they relate to their context  This paper contributes to our understanding of the subjective experiences of global careers by focussing on how global careerists narrate their careers, how they relate to their contexts, and what is important to them  Moreover, it contributes to the understanding of the nature of global careers by including different international work experiences and considering differences between those with intra  and inter organizational global careers  A better understanding of the differences between different types of individuals with global careers is important from an organizational perspective, since different factors can influence their career decision making  After an introduction to the types of global careers, three domains of the context and important others for global careerists are outlined theoretically in the following section  This leads to the identification of gaps in the existing understanding of what is significant for the two types of global careerists and formulation of additional questions that are addressed in the empirical results  Following Suutari (2003) the career paths of ten repeat expatriates (those with intra organizational global careers sent out several times by the same company) and ten international itinerants (those having more self directed inter organizational global careers) are illustrated and compared  Then the interviews were analyzed using a narrative thematic analysis (Riessman, 2008)  The three broad domains identified integrate a range of aspects important to global careerists  The first domain is the relationship the global careerists have with the organization and career  The second is the countries and cultures they encounter and their relation to the home country  The third domain is the family, communities, and networks they relate to in their careers  Global careers A global career can be defined as   involving multiple international relocations including various positions and assignments in several countries   (Makela and Suutari, 2009, p  992)  Global careers have been seen as boundaryless in their nature, driven by the international business environment and developed networks  Moreover they have been described as cyclical, with individuals frequently making a choice of what to do next, as assignments are time limited (Suutari et al , 2012)  Suutari (2003) found two types of career tracks in his study of global managers, committed to careers internationally  A majority of them had alternated between periods at home and periods abroad, while some of them had moved directly from one assignment to the next or stayed more permanently abroad (Suutari, 2003)  It has been found that in samples of expatriates, for example in Finland, Germany, and France, there were portions who had already been on one assignment or more (Suutari and Brewster, 2003  Stahl and Cerdin, 2004)  Organizations may develop   a pool of mobile expatriate managers   (Selmer, 1998, p  1) who go on multiple assignments for the same organization  Although it has been argued that it can be difficult to retain expatriates, global careerists can be committed to an organization that manages their assignments well and offers developmental international opportunities (Suutari et al , 2012)  Research that has focussed on the sequence of experiences has shown that each consecutive assignment has different developmental influences ( Jokinen, 2010)  It is therefore important to differentiate between those with a single international assignment, as sent out organizational expatriates, and those with several, referred to in this paper as repeat expatriates  Individuals with self initiated international work experiences may also go on multiple assignments or various positions abroad (Suutari and Brewster, 2000  Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010)  Those with self initiated international work experiences have been shown to have different characteristics from expatriates (Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010  Biemann and Andresen, 2010  Suutari and Brewster, 2000)  Those with self initiated international work experiences, often referred to as self initiated expatriates, have been described as more often working for local companies than organizational expatriates  Moreover, self initiated expatriates were shown to more frequently be women, single, or to have a partner from another country (Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009)  Also in samples of self initiated expatriates ( Jokinen et al , 2008  Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010) a large portion has been found to have previous international experience  Among self initiated expatriates it has been found that those who have longer previous international work experience differ from those that are more inexperienced in terms of their motivations to relocate (Selmer and Lauring, 2011)  It therefore seems relevant to make the differentiation between self initiated expatriation and more long term self initiated global careers, those referred to as international itinerants  Any international assignment entails a transition to a new work and organizational context, a new culture, as well as a new social context (Kohonen, 2004)  Nasholm (2011, 2012) showed that there were differences between repeat expatriates and international itinerants in their identity construction processes, as well as in what they identified with  These findings also point to the significance of others in the context of global careerists  The importance of the context for individuals who undergo international work transitions has long been established  In research on expatriate adjustment it has been argued that factors of the work and the organization, as well as factors such as the host culture, social support, and the family's adjustment are important (Black, 1990  Black et al , 1991)  Black et al  (1991) suggested that international adjustment is multifaceted and involves adjustment to work, to the general environment in the host culture, and to interaction with host nationals  That adjustment is seen as multifaceted Comparison of intra  and interorganizational global careers 185 JGM 2,2 corresponds to seeing an international work experience as a shift in work and organizational context, culture, and social context (Kohonen, 2004)  To address what the global careerists see as important in their context, these three aspects are discussed as three broad domains in this paper  These are the organization and career domain, the country and culture domain, and the family, communities, and networks domain  186 The organization and career domain Moving abroad involves an adjustment to a new work context and can imply meeting a new organizational culture (Black et al , 1991)  Research on expatriation has found that the relationship with the home organization may be problematic as the sent out expatriate has to deal with the distance to the home company headquarter and the dual allegiance to the home and host offices (Black and Gregersen, 1992)  Black and Gregersen (1992) found that longer time abroad lessened the commitment to the home organization and that some expatriates were more committed to their own careers  It has been suggested that a high rate of expatriates may end up leaving the organization and that even those who stay may consider leaving, or get other job offers, due to their international experience (Stahl et al , 2002  Suutari and Brewster, 2003)  Research has pointed to the importance of organizational support for expatriates  Such support includes preparation and training of expatriates, repatriation practices, and considering the future career planning of the repatriate (Bonache et al , 2001)  It has been suggested that bigger organizations would be able to offer better opportunities for returning expatriates and therefore would be able to keep them within the organization (Biemann and Andresen, 2010  Suutari et al , 2012)  However, less is known about the importance of organizational support for global careerists  Moreover, little is known about the importance of the employing organizations for those self directed  Career researchers have coined terms such as boundaryless and protean careers to address the increased self direction and mobility argued to have shifted the relationship with employers (Briscoe and Hall, 2006)  Correspondingly, research on international work experiences has noted that not staying with the organization may be seen as positive for the individual (Bonache et al , 2001)  Furthermore, there are many who undertake international work experiences on their own initiative, with different motivations (Suutari and Brewster, 2000)  Stahl et al  (2002) support the notion of the boundaryless career concept being applicable for expatriate careers, but both expatriates and those with self initiated work experiences have been argued to fit the criteria (Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010)  Even though those self initiated move without organizational support and also encounter a new organizational context they perceive the experience as developing their competencies, as do expatriates ( Jokinen et al , 2008)  Global careers are also described as developmental, both professionally and personally, increasing self reflection and self awareness (Suutari and Makela, 2007)  In a study of global careerists, Suutari and Makela (2007) found that their respondents developed a   global career identity   including aspects such as a confidence, self reliance, internal career motivations, trust in employability on a broader global job market, seeking new challenges, and being in charge of the own career  Moreover, they all wanted to keep the international aspects in their careers  Suutari and Makela's (2007) results also showed notable levels of commitment to the organization among global careerists  However, their respondents included both intra  and inter organizational global careers  The first research question therefore becomes  RQ1  What is the importance of the organization and the own career when differentiating between the two types of global careerists  The country and culture domain For a long time, research has addressed the transition of moving to a new country and culture and the associated culture shock and adjustment (Black et al , 1991)  Expatriates can develop coping responses to the stress of adapting and it has been argued that successful adjustment means identifying with both the home and host culture, not drifting too far in either direction (Sanchez et al , 2000)  Adjustment increases expatriates' well being and positively influences their performance (Wang, 2002)  Richardson and McKenna (2006) studied the relationship that self directed expatriates had with the home and host countries and found that the relationships with both countries were dynamic and on five domains  These domains were  family and friends in the home country, actual and intended visits home, official status in the host country, outsiderness, and intention to repatriate  Their findings suggest that the intention to return and keeping in touch is important for the relationship with the home country and that the longer one stays away, the harder it may be to return  Cerdin and Le Pargneux (2010) saw the main thing differentiating self initiated expatriates from those sent out as the missing link to the home country that the employing company provides  For those with self initiated international work experiences attraction to a particular country can be an important motivation (Doherty et al , 2011)  Sussman (2000) argues that as the individual moves abroad the awareness of culture begins to grow and that initially the identification with the home culture is strengthened  As the individual adjusts the cultural identity changes and when repatriating this shift becomes apparent and influences how repatriation is experienced  The expatriation literature has acknowledged that repatriation may be difficult, just as the move abroad (Bonache et al , 2001)  Sussman (2000) suggests that the repatriation experience is influenced by how the individual adjusts and how he or she identifies with the home and host country and that with multiple international experiences the repatriation may be a positive experience  Selmer (2002) found that previous expatriate experience did not help much in the adjustment to a new culture, suggesting that it may be difficult to transfer developed sociocultural skills and that it will be almost like starting over for each new assignment  The second research question consequently is  RQ2  What are the relationships like with the home country and the different countries, and cultures, they encounter for global careerists who experience multiple transitions, and is there a difference between the two types of global careerists  The family, communities, and networks domain Parker et al  (2004) suggest that career relevant communities, based, for example on industry, occupation, or region, can provide career support and influence career decision making  For expatriates the closest people, and perhaps most significant, are their own family  How the family, and in particular how the spouse, adjusts has been argued to be an important factor for the success of international assignments and the expatriate's own adjustment (Black et al , 1991)  Richardson (2004) argues that the role of social contexts and personal relationships needs to be recognized in research on careers  She found that the family was important in self directed expatriates' career decisions to move abroad  Dual career couples, where both spouses work, can mean that one spouse's career is disrupted by moving abroad  It has been argued that this increases dissatisfaction and can lead to stress and conflicts (Harvey, 1998)  However, Comparison of intra  and interorganizational global careers 187 JGM 2,2 188 the interaction between work and family can be positive and be seen as a resource (Schutter and Boerner, 2013)  Lauring and Selmer (2010) found that the expatriate spouse played an important part in supporting the expatriate's career and establishing social networks  For both self initiated and sent out expatriates a lifestyle career anchor and work life balance is important (Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010)  Family concerns have been found to be an important factor in global careerists' decisions on what offers to accept (Suutari et al , 2012)  Social relationships in both the home and host country are important, and those working abroad might experience feelings of outsiderness abroad as well as in their home countries (Richardson and McKenna, 2006)  Expatriates' social networks, in a mix with locals and other expatriates, have been argued to influence their adjustment, well being, and in turn their performance (Wang, 2002)  Expatriate assignments could be argued to be more developmental than self initiated international work experiences when it comes to social capital and networks, both within and beyond the organization, as expatriates often have higher positions and already have networks within the organization ( Jokinen et al , 2008)  Makela and Suutari (2009) found that their respondents with global careers had large and diverse networks, both within the organization and beyond, socially and professionally, stretching to their multiple host countries  However, global careers also involved trade offs and risks  Relationships tended to weaken over time and as people moved around (Makela and Suutari, 2009)  Since Suutari's (2003) respondents also showed that personal relationships, and family relationships, were more difficult with global careers, it is important to explore these further in order to help individuals and organizations deal with these challenges  Therefore the third research question is  RQ3  What, if any, are the differences in the significance of these relationships when considering different types of global careerists  Method Research design The subjective individual experiences, which are the focus of my research, imply that qualitative interpretative approaches are needed to capture this process  The choice of a qualitative approach was also due to the exploratory nature of the aim  A narrative approach was selected for this study as it is the subjective experiences of the individuals that are in focus  Kohonen (2004) found that interviews with expatriates encouraged them to reflect on and analyze their experiences  Moreover, she argues that a narrative approach can be used to understand the way individuals working abroad interpret and make sense of their experiences  Qualitative unstructured interviews were made during 2007 2009 with ten repeat expatriates and ten international itinerants  All of the participants are Swedish  They are referred to in this paper by a fictitious name (Adam John)  The interviews lasted between 50 minutes and two hours and 40 minutes  The participants will be further introduced later in the paper  The interviews After explaining the purpose of the study, the interviews started with the open question   Could you tell me about yourself and your career    This was done so as to incite the participants to tell me stories, in a way similar to the approach of life story interviewing, suggested by Chaitin (2004)  However, the focus in these interviews was the participants' careers  Life story interviewing also starts with an open ended question for the participants to tell their life stories, and what they think is relevant (Chaitin, 2004) and similarly includes both the experiences and the significance that these have had for the individual  The initial narratives, which varied in detail, were followed by questions to get the participants to elaborate on what the experiences meant to them  An unstructured interview guide focussing on who, and what, was important to them in their careers was used  Follow up questions were to a large extent aimed at getting additional details on their initial narratives  Analysis of the interviews Faced with the problem that participants often do not tell their life stories as a temporal ordering of events, Mishler (1995) explains that a method that researchers can use is to reconstruct the   telling   into a temporal ordering of the   told    This then becomes the narrative for further analysis  After transcribing the interviews the first step taken in the analysis was to write out each interview into a story, using the recordings, transcripts, and notes taken during the interviews, in order to reach a better understanding  This narrative configuration of the interview material displays the contextual meaning of events (Polkinghorne, 1995)  The stories were carefully constructed, staying close to the original Swedish transcripts and recordings while continually returning to these  The stories were written in English and the translation from Swedish was done at this stage so as to convey the meaning of passages with the entire stories in mind, without losing the context  As a second step in the analysis, following Suutari (2003), the career paths of the interviewed repeat expatriates and international itinerants were illustrated and compared  The continued analysis followed an approach in narrative inquiry described by Polkinghorne (1995) as analysis of narratives  In this approach, data consists of stories and the analysis produces categories, common elements, or themes across stories, and the relationship between them  Thematic narrative analysis is one such method of analysis of narratives  This was selected as in contrast to grounded theory prior research is allowed to guide the inquiry while the researcher simultaneously searches for novel insights from the empirical material and attends to the sequence and attempts to keep the   story   intact (Riessman, 2008)  The categories that developed in the analysis process were influenced by previous research within the area of expatriation and global careers, the purposes of the study, and the interviews themselves  A thematic narrative analysis (Riessman, 2008) of the participants' career stories was made, identifying themes in how the global careerists narrate what in their context has been significant in their careers  For each interview significant passages and narratives of the story were marked out and coded  The coded segments for each story were compared and grouped into themes  By comparing and contrasting recurring themes in the stories, the narratives were grouped into categories of narratives for repeat expatriates and international itinerants, respectively  Related types of thematic analysis of similarities and differences to identify categories of narratives have been used, for example by Garcia and Hardy (2007), to examine identity construction  The categories of narratives in turn were grouped within the three developed domains of interest in this study  the organization and career, the country and culture, and the family, communities, and networks domain  Results In the following section the global careerists' career paths and the results of the thematic narrative analysis, for each of the three domains, are presented  The repeat Comparison of intra  and interorganizational global careers 189 JGM 2,2 190 expatriates and international itinerants, respectively, were analyzed, and are discussed, separately for each category to highlight similarities and differences  For the two groups there were some shared subjective experiences as well as individual differences  Not all categories were of equal importance for repeat expatriates and international itinerants and therefore the sections may be different, or more or less extensive  As the coding was done so as to maintain the context of each individual's narrative as intact as possible there can be some overlap between the categories, for example as something that was brought up as a career consideration in some narratives was brought up as an important network in some narratives  The repeat expatriates' and international itinerants' career paths The repeat expatriates all worked for a large engineering company with activities in more than 100 countries all over the world  They had been working for this company for the majority of their careers  Often their first international assignments were based on following projects they were working on  Apart from their longer expatriate assignments they had also spent longer, and shorter, periods traveling in their jobs and even when in Sweden their work tended to be international  Their work had included innumerable short business trips as well as longer contracts lasting several months  Half of them were still currently working abroad, while the other half had returned to Sweden within a year from the interview  The repeat expatriates were all male, over 40 years old, and married with children  Only Harry had gotten married and adopted a child while abroad, got divorced and was remarried  The repeat expatriates have often returned to Sweden between their assignments (Table I)  The international itinerants all lived abroad at the time of the interview  They had all worked abroad for more than a single company, and had lived in more than one foreign country  Many of them had an early interest in working and living abroad and had studied abroad  Apart from the longer periods of living abroad the international Adam Brian Casper David Edward Fred George Harry Isaac John Table I  Repeat expatriates' career paths Sweden (8) USA (1,5) USA (1) Sweden (9) Malaysia (1,5) Thailand (2) Sweden (2) USA (2,5) Sweden Sweden (7)  UN mission, Lebanon (0,5)  Germany (2) Sweden (8) Thailand (2) Sweden Sweden (1) Colombia (1) Sweden (7)  Sweden (5)  Sweden (15) Japan (2) Sweden Sweden (4) USA (1) Sweden (4) USA (2) Sweden (4) Indonesia (7) Sweden (2) Mozambique (3) Sweden Sweden (2) USA (10 months) Sweden (4) Malaysia (2) China (3,5) India Sweden (1,5) Japan (0,5) Sweden (3) Kuwait (1) Saudi Arabia (3)  China (2) England (1)  USA (10) Sweden (4) United Arab Emirates (1) Sweden Sweden (2) Canada (13) Sweden (3) Canada (2) Turkey (3) Canada (3) Thailand (3) China (8) Italy  Sweden (3 years, 6 months USA)  Sweden, (5) England (1,5) Sweden (3 months) Saudi Arabia (2) Indonesia (3) Australia (3) Sweden (5) United Arab Emirates Sweden (3) Sweden (4) USA (2) Sweden (10) Malaysia (1) South Africa (1) Saudi Arabia (0,5) the Netherlands  Sweden (10)  Sweden (6) Germany (3 8 months ) Sweden (5) Germany (5) Sweden (4) Singapore Notes  Within the parenthesis is the number of years unless stated in months  Shorter assignments are not included, time away from the company is demarked within   , no difference is made between local employment within the company or expatriation contracts, separate assignments, positions or contracts within the same country are not marked, unless the new assignment involved a move to a new location within that country itinerants had also spent longer and shorter periods traveling a lot in their jobs  Three of the interviewed international itinerants were women, half of them were in their thirties, half of them had children and six were not married  Several of them were married to someone of another nationality and a third of them had gone through at least one divorce  The careers of the international itinerants often included periods of further studies, parallel activities and running their own businesses  Several of them had also moved between different fields, or industries, in their careers (Table II)  Comparison of intra  and interorganizational global careers 191 Categories of narratives in the organization and career domain The first category is different for the two types of global careerists  For the repeat expatriates the relationships with home and host offices are important, while for the international itinerants, with different types of employment, the relation with the employer is not brought up  The repeat expatriates describe themselves in terms of being associated with, and identifying with, the home organization  As the company has become more transnational it works more in the same way everywhere, but the organizational identity is less clear  The level of local establishment of the organization is significant  the transition is easier in locations where the organization is well established  The repeat expatriates become more representative for the organization where it is less established  There is a safety in having a home base, but several express that their relationship with the home organization has deteriorated over time  They have lost touch with colleagues and what is going on in the home office  Some of them also describe being torn between the home and host office  You have, as then, not one manager you have many, it's like a dog that has four masters, it is difficult in some way, but maybe I think you must have a foundation, the dog must have a main master in a way, and it has the advantage that I have had a home base (Brian, Repeat expatriate)  Alex Bill Curt Dennis Ellen Frida Gabriel Herbert Ian Jessica Sweden (3)  Germany (1,5)  England (1,5)  USA England (9, parallel studies 4 3)  Denmark (1, while living in Sweden 3)  Sweden (4 own company) Finland (12) Taiwan USA (2 studies) Japan (1 studies) USA (1 studies 1,5 ) Taiwan (1, parallel own company 1,5, parallel own company own company) Sweden (8 1 1,5 6 ) Germany (8 months) China (3,5)  India (2) Philippines (2 0,5) Indonesia (3,5)  Taiwan Germany (2,5, parallel studies) Sweden (1, parallel studies) China (1, parallel studies) China (1, parallel studies)  Taiwan Austria (1)  Sweden (0,5)  France (0,5 studies)  Sweden (2 studies) Sweden (2 studies) Germany (0,5 internship 0,5 internship, 3 own company and employed 1 ) France Sweden (6) USA (0,5) Sweden (1,5)  Sweden (3) Norway (0,5)  Sweden (0,5) Singapore (2) Sweden (2,5) Japan (3) Sweden (2) Japan (3)  USA (3 months studies)  Sweden (1,5) Hong Kong (4 2 own company) Sweden (3 0,5 studies) Barbados (1 own company) Sweden (2 studies 0,5 2,5 own company  2 studies 4 3) Jordan (1, 8 months) Hong Kong (4 4 own company 1 parallel own company) Sweden (3 parallel studies, 1 ) Sweden (1 2)  USA (2 studies)  England (2)  Sweden (2,5 2) Denmark (2) Norway (2) Scotland (0,5)  USA (4,5)  England (4,5 4 own company)   Hong Kong (2)  England (2 own company) USA (1)  Hong Kong Sweden (2) Switzerland (1 5 1) Hong Kong (8 months studies ) Notes  Within the parenthesis is the number of years unless stated in months  Shorter assignments are not included, periods of studies and internships, own companies, as well as parallel occupations are marked out, moves within countries are demarked and moves between different companies and organizations are demarked within    Table II  International itinerants' career paths JGM 2,2 192 The international itinerants, being locally employed, are more dependent on the local circumstances  They describe their working situations as less predictable as they are not sent out by a company  They see their relation with the organizations as more transactional than the repeat expatriates do  The international itinerants are often on short term contracts and are more committed to their own careers  They stress their networks, and the industry they are in, as important and many of them enjoy the freedom of running their own companies  The international itinerants focus on narrating their own direction of their careers and moving to find something better  Many of them have tried different things, either to develop or if they have been unhappy with their work  other industries, working as consultants or further studies  I'm still curious about new things, I like to see how things can develop so I've never, if something didn't quite work out, I've never rejected any ideas  Yes if it is completely crazy I can reject it, but I think life is quite short and if there is something new that has seemed exiting, so why not try then (Herbert, International itinerant)  For the international itinerants the question of job offer vs location is more crucial than it is for the repeat expatriates  The international itinerants are more often drawn to a specific location, or where there are opportunities, while for the repeat expatriates it is more a question of following the work  They can decide whether to accept an offer although they may prefer some locations  Some repeat expatriates describe being more likely to accept offers to comfortable locations, while others are drawn to challenges  The international itinerants' choices are influenced by the availability of job offers that are financially attractive  They find more opportunities outside Sweden  They apply in specific countries and are willing to leave an employer for a location they prefer  The repeat expatriates' career narratives most often focus on interesting and developing work, rather than on advancing within the company  They discuss the benefits and disadvantages of assignments and describe it as making a choice  Although they see assignments as beneficial, if they are away for too long it could become difficult to return and there are no guarantees of good positions at home  They describe their careers in terms of shorter periods rather than long term planning  For them it is often about the timing of offers  I was asked  I got an offer through him  a manager working on global staffing  to move away later, and then I thought let's go  My wife was pregnant so it could be an opportunity for her to stay at home and the timing was good (Fred, Repeat expatriate)  The international itinerants' careers are more dependent on coincidences and circumstances and they stress the importance of their contacts  Their networks are their safety nets  They describe needing to change jobs to get forward, or becoming restless when staying too long in one place  For some of them the career is not the main priority and they emphasize having freedom and doing new things  Usually things happen very unexpectedly and an opportunity comes up, sort of, and you come to a crossroads somehow and you think  there are maybe one or two or maybe even three ways to go and sometimes you don't really know which one to take, and sometimes it doesn't really matter  Just take whichever one feels better all the time you know (Bill, International itinerant)  The repeat expatriates and the international itinerants tell very similar stories when it comes to the personal and professional development they experience  They describe becoming more confident and self reliant, developing broader perspectives, tolerance, and understanding of cultural differences  Some of the repeat expatriates would like the organization to appreciate and use their development more, although it can lead to additional assignments  The international itinerants claim that organizations do not know how to make use of their knowledge and experiences, and they talk a lot about the transferability of their skills  Both types of global careerists have learnt to be flexible, handle problems that come up, and can better understand other peoples' reactions and thinking  This view is exemplified by one of the international itinerants (Table III)  Comparison of intra  and interorganizational global careers 193 I guess you learn how you work in an unknown situation, because you put yourself into a lot of unknown situations in the beginning and the tolerance for unknown situations increases (Ellen, International itinerant)  Categories of narratives in the country and culture domain For most of the repeat expatriates the ties to Sweden are strengthened  They stress the importance of having a fixed point to relate to  For a few of them the ties to Sweden are Categories of narratives Repeat expatriates International itinerants Home and host offices  employment and companies Level of organization's local establishment matters Identifies with the organization to some extent Associated with home organization Deteriorating relationship with home office Safety in expatriate contract and homebase Job offer vs location Some drawn to challenges, some to more comfortable locations International drive or follow work offers and projects Type of location may be crucial in if to accept offer of assignment Choose to stay longer in country Assignment beneficial if not too long No guarantees on return Short term plans, variation Interesting and developing rather than advancement for most Timing and opportunities Making a choice of a global career and if to be able to go home Tolerance beyond stereotypes Increased confidence, selfknowledge, and self reliance New perspectives and ways of working, flexibility Understanding of cultural differences Locally employed, sent out, or on short term contracts More invested locally and dependent on circumstances and culture Moving on to find something better Commitment rather towards career and network or industry than to an organization Freedom of running own companies More opportunities outside Sweden Availability of offers and finances influence choice Attraction to particular location or influence of family and language skills More dependent on coincidence and circumstance Change jobs to get forward Contacts give opportunities and safety net For some career not main priority Making a choice of a global career, risk and freedom Career Personal and professional development Table III  Categories of narratives in the organization and career domain JGM 2,2 weakened and after longer periods abroad it becomes a decision of whether to return to maintain their swedishness or not  They all maintain contacts to Sweden with yearly visits and contact with family and friends  They follow current events in Sweden and celebrate Swedish holidays  Sweden remains home to them and they maintain their Swedish culture, even though some of them have found a second home abroad  194 You kind of create your own little Sweden where you live  You have pictures up from everywhere, mountain images and landscapes the entire wall  But we are a privileged group if you think about it abroad, going on these terms (Adam, Repeat expatriate)  The international itinerants, although they are seen as, and consider themselves Swedish, describe losing touch with Sweden  Several of them have more than one place that feels like home and they have become less bound to a place  They become more invested in their current location and some describe preserving the Swedish ties mainly for the sake of their children  Some describe that they have lost touch with what goes on in Swedish society   y  and then I can feel that I don't know what is going on anymore, I am not really Swedish anymore since I don't know what they are talking about  That is how it is  you are kind of floating between two worlds (Frida, International itinerant)  The repeat expatriates stress that it is important to be open and humble, and that they go through a period of adjustment when going abroad  While they see themselves as Swedish and often socialize with other Swedes, they sometimes have more in common with others with similar experiences  Although they adapt and incorporate things from other cultures, they describe it as important to not adjust too much and to stay true to who they are  They see it as important to know their culture and feel like they represent Sweden while abroad  I, as a Swede, bring the Swedish with me so to speak, I can never become an Indonesian in Indonesia when I am from Sweden  You just have to adjust like everyone else, act respectfully and then you will be treated respectfully (David, Repeat expatriate)  Several of the international itinerants have multicultural families, have married locals, and to a greater extent seem to have adopted some values of the countries they lived in  They rather stress the cultural differences experienced at work  While the transition to a new country is not always easy, they have learnt to be open, and to find a way to make themselves comfortable  They identify and socialize with other foreigners that have similar experiences and describe that they have learnt to adjust  One can have a greater understanding that people see things differently, and also that there may not be one right answer, but there may be many answers that are correct but in different ways (Gabriel, International itinerant)  The repeat expatriates have all returned to Sweden at some point, and for some of them that was the most difficult transition  Some describe returning as more difficult than they expected since they felt that they have lost touch with the way of working and daily life, but returning is easier for those that have kept in touch  Returning is often described as a slow, boring period  They describe the expatriate lifestyle as addictive and that they have to make the conscious decision to return  The expatriate life is a trap if you like it (Edward, Repeat expatriate)  Some of the international itinerants have not ever worked in Sweden and experience culture shock when visiting  they rather talk of returning to some of the other locations that they have lived in  They have often not returned to Sweden between periods abroad but still maintain some ties, at least with their parents  Few of them even consider it a possibility to return to Sweden, either due to the limited opportunities there or since they have established themselves elsewhere (Table IV)   y  and it's a little bit of a dilemma, that when you have, so to say gone over a certain limit then it's very difficult to return to Sweden (Ian, International itinerant)  Comparison of intra  and interorganizational global careers 195 Categories of narratives in the family, communities, and networks domain Family concerns and the balance between family and career are important for both the repeat expatriates and the international itinerants  For the repeat expatriates the family can either enable or constrain additional moves, and moving with a family means additional concerns  The family is involved in the decision and how the assignment fits the family's situation, for example the children's schooling, can be a factor in when, and where, to go and when to return  With an accompanying family the social situation, as well as safety and other conditions, are told of as more important  Above all it is the family and the family situation  school and housing and communications  That I think is the most important  The work in itself, I think is sort of already cleared, because if the company has said that they have a job, then there is a need for me there (Casper, Repeat expatriate)  For the international itinerants, who often have intercultural families, the family often influences the choice of location  For some of the international itinerants balancing dual international careers has been a concern  They describe the strain on Categories of narratives Repeat expatriates International itinerants Being Swedish and home country Ties to Sweden either strengthened or weakened Decision after long stays abroad Preserve Swedish culture swedishness Sweden home for the majority Place to relate to, fixed point Culture More in common with those with similar experiences than nationality Adapt and bring things from cultures without losing who you are Humble and respectful Adjustment period Returning Making a decision if to return or not Addictive lifestyle Returning between assignments More difficult transition Reestablishing Still Swedish, but left society, seen as Swedish Preserve ties for children More immersed in current location Question possibility of returning More than one home, less bound to a place Other foreigners with similar experiences Many have multicultural families Cultural differences at work Adopting some values Learnt to adjust Often not returned between assignments Few consider returning but maintain some ties Limited job opportunities Established elsewhere Table IV  Categories of narratives in the country and culture domain JGM 2,2 the family that this type of career entails, and several of them have gone through divorces   y  my personal life has been really suffering because I never know from one year to another which country I will be working in so, so yes, in terms of my personal life, I've been through two divorces (Dennis, International itinerant)  196 Both types of global careerists describe their experiences as developing their networks abroad  For the repeat expatriates the relationship with the home office is important and while they develop networks abroad they also struggle to keep their networks in Sweden  They see it as important to visit or be at home for some periods to stay in touch and keep their professional networks in Sweden, and to be able to eventually return  For the international itinerants the networks are crucial for the career  They develop extensive networks, but they also describe that they become used to cutting ties  Many of them describe that their networks in Sweden thin out over the years  All the global careerists establish contacts in the different places they have lived  I have a very wide network of contacts, I get to know people everywhere and have sporadic contact with many people I worked with  Ten years ago I worked with people in say Thailand, we do not call every week or every month, but we are in touch via e mail checking how it is how it is with the family and everything, a lot of it is professional behavior (Herbert, International itinerant)  The repeat expatriates have a lot in common with other sent out expatriates, both within the organization and beyond  Other expatriates understand the repeat expatriates which make it easy to share and ventilate and many have formed networks  Other families in the same situation, Swedish clubs, and groups can be a good source of support, in particular in the beginning  However, not all of the repeat expatriates socialize a lot with these groups as they feel that they may miss out on things during the time abroad if they do  They decide to rather socialize with locals than with Swedes  The local circumstances have an impact on what the relations with locals are like and in some countries you stand out more as a foreigner  The global careerists describe it as harder to come in and to get to know people there, especially with language difficulties  When you are in this type of situation, especially in this type of country you do not get integrated into the society (Harry, Repeat expatriate)  The international itinerants try to get more integrated locally  While the repeat expatriates often turn to other Swedes or expatriates, the international itinerants stress that they are not expatriates, although socializing with other foreigners and those with similar experiences is easier  The contacts with Swedish communities abroad have become less important to them over time  Some of the international itinerants describe sent out expatriates in negative terms and stress how they are different from expatriates  more integrated locally and independent (Table V)  We have completely different perspectives on things, because they  expatriates , who come here for a year, they often live kind of in their own world, they have their way of doing things and they are taken care of (Curt, International itinerant)  Conclusions and discussion Comparing the narratives of individuals with intra  and inter organizational global careers and their subjective experiences, this paper has shown that organizational expatriation and self initiated expatriation is an important distinction to make, even Categories of narratives Family concerns Communities and networks Repeat expatriates International itinerants Additional concerns for situation Constraining and enabling the moves Pulls to return to Sweden Career and family balance Home office relationship important Difficulties in maintaining network at home Develop networks abroad Swedes and expatriates in the same boat share experiences Choosing between Swedes and locals Status as foreigner depends on location International family constellations Influences choice of location Career and family balance, priorities and strains Creating networks imperative Contacts give work opportunities Network spread across nations and organizations Swedes less important over time Other foreigners easier, but not identifying with expatriates Integrating with locals, but depends on location when considering more long term global careers  It was found that the two types of global careerists differ in how they relate to their context and in how they narrate what is important to their careers in terms of the three identified domains  These domains integrate a range of aspects important to global careerists as they undergo multiple shifts in work and organizational, cultural, and social contexts  When comparing the two types of global careerists' career paths, the repeat expatriates to a lesser extent have been driven by international interests early on in their careers  Also mirroring previous findings on self initiated international work experiences (Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010  Biemann and Andresen, 2010  Suutari and Brewster, 2000) the international itinerants were more frequently interested in internationalization and started going abroad earlier in their careers  In line with the findings from a quantitative study of self initiated compared to organizational expatriates, those with self initiated international work experiences were more frequently female, single, and worked in local organizations (Suutari and Brewster, 2000)  As previously found (Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009) those self initiated, the international itinerants, were more often married to locals  When considering the global careerists in this study, it is clear that the repeat expatriates have returned to Sweden between assignments more frequently  The international itinerants are more likely to exhibit the second type of career track identified by Suutari (2003), where they go directly to a different country  The repeat expatriates career paths can therefore be more likened to the cyclical nature of global careers as described by Suutari et al  (2012)  As in Suutari's (2003) study the global careerists in this study see the positive implications as overriding the negative and they are committed to working internationally  The global careerists differ in how they relate to the organizations they work for and how they see their careers  Both types of global careerists show elements of boundaryless careers, not only in terms of physical mobility but also in their perception of their careers (Briscoe and Hall, 2006)  However, the international itinerants have moved more between different types of work, further studies, parallel activities, and running their own businesses  For repeat expatriates the relationships with home, and host, offices are important while for international itinerants the own career is more in focus  They are more dependent on local circumstances and type of employment  In relation to the findings by Suutari and Makela (2007), this study shows that the commitment to the organization differs between the two types of global careerists  The international itinerants are more Comparison of intra  and interorganizational global careers 197 Table V  Categories of narratives in the family, communities, and networks domain JGM 2,2 198 committed to their own careers and have a more transactional relationship with the organization  For the international itinerants the question of job offer vs location is more crucial than it is for the repeat expatriates  This mirrors findings by Doherty et al  (2011) that for self initiated expatriates the characteristics of a particular country and motivation to move to that country are important  Both types of global careerists highlight personal and professional development and intrinsic motivations for their career choices as described by Suutari et al  (2012) as intangible rewards  This is in line with the perceived development of self awareness, understanding of one's own strengths, weaknesses, and interests, and personal growth found in global careers (Suutari and Makela, 2007)  The two types of global careerists also differ in how they relate to the home country and culture, and the different countries and cultures they live in  The repeat expatriates' relationship with the home country is important to them, while the international itinerants describe losing touch and becoming less bound to a place  This could be due to the link to the home country maintained through the home organization, as suggested by Cerdin and Le Pargneux (2010)  The global careerists in this study have learnt to handle moving to a new location  Although the transition of moving to another country still is challenging to them, the repeat expatriates describe the transition when returning to Sweden as the most difficult  This suggests that the problems of adjustment experienced when repatriating (Suutari and Brewster, 2003) do not necessarily become easier with additional assignments  Repeat expatriates' and international itinerants' narratives differ in the family, communities, and networks domain  Family concerns, as well as other Swedes, expatriates, or foreigners, in the host country are important in the global careerists' narratives  However, the two types differ in how they relate to others in their narratives  For the repeat expatriates the relationships to other Swedes and expatriates are more important, while the international itinerants want to distance themselves more from these groups  As found by Peltokorpi and Froese (2009) those self initiated were interacting more with locals and were more frequently married to locals  Both types of global careerists stress the importance of developing and maintaining networks  These influence their career choices and give them a sense of belonging in the transitory global careers  This paper contributes to the literature on global careers by focussing on the subjective experiences of the global careerists themselves, and on how they narrate what is important to them in their careers  In making the distinction between intra  and inter organizational, this paper builds on Nasholm (2011, 2012) and shows that global careerists differ in how they relate to their contexts and in what is important to them  The findings of this exploratory study integrate a range of issues that are important for the subjective experiences of global careers in the three identified domains  Non work factors have been shown to be important to expatriates' adjustment (Black et al , 1991)  However, the global careerists' narratives highlight that additional factors are important with a more long term career perspective  While the domains are broad, they link a number of aspects in the global careerists' context to give a more comprehensive understanding of the global career experience  These findings suggest that research should not neglect that there are different types of global careers  As has been noted with expatriates and self initiated expatriates ( Jokinen et al , 2008) as well as inpatriates (Reiche, 2006), the same ideas may not apply  Future research on global careers can address this distinction and treat these as distinct groups in samples of global careerists  This study also highlights that the role of the employing organization is important even in more long term global careers  The differences between the two types of global careerists have implications for organizations in terms of recruitment, management, and retention of a global talent pool  As suggested by Biemann and Andresen (2010) as well as Suutari et al  (2012) the findings in this study suggest that being able to offer developmental opportunities internationally within the organization is a way of retaining repeat expatriates  They have company specific competencies that are crucial for some assignment purposes (Tharenou, 2013)  With different views on their careers other incentives could be needed to attract international itinerants, and developing human resource practices to do so could give the companies access to valuable talent  It has been argued that for some types of assignments self initiated expatriates is a viable alternative as they have international and cross cultural competencies but can be less costly than sending out expatriates (Tharenou, 2013)  International itinerants may also already be located in, and knowledgeable about, a specific host country's culture  Understanding the aspects that influence the different types of global careerists' career decisions can lead to the development of appropriate support and management practices for both of these types  This study has a number of limitations that needs to be acknowledged, in particular in terms of the limited number of interviews  This was deemed necessary for an in depth understanding of what the global careerists themselves narrated as important in their careers  Further studies could address the differences between repeat expatriates and international itinerants on a larger scale  In addition, the respondents were all Swedish, and further studies could examine differences with global careerists of different origins  As the repeat expatriates were employed by the same organization, that employs the same policies, and has the same view on sending out and employing staff globally, and the international itinerants were working for different organizations the comparison is limited  It should also be acknowledged that the interviews were conducted a number of years ago and that the career situation of global careerists may have developed  The repeat expatriates were all male, and as in previous studies more of those self initiated were female  Further studies could address female global careerists' experiences, career decisions, and motivations  References Banai, M  and Harry, W  (2004),   Boundaryless global careers   the international itinerants ",
    "question_description": "The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com\/2049-8799.htm A comparison of intra- and inter-organizational global careers Comparison of intra- and interorganizational global careers Repeat expatriates' and international itinerants' subjective experiences 183  Malin H. Nasholm Ume School of Business and Economics, Ume University, Ume , Sweden a a a Abstract Purpose - Although research has shown differences between self-initiated experiences and expatriation, this differentiation has rarely been made when it comes to more long-term global careers. The purpose of this paper is to identify similarities and differences between repeat expatriates and international itinerants in their career paths, subjective experiences, and narratives of how they relate to their context. Design\/methodology\/approach - A narrative approach was used and interviews were conducted with ten repeat expatriates and ten international itinerants. The career paths of the 20 Swedish global careerists and how they narrate their careers are analyzed, and the two types of global careerists are compared. Findings - Results show that the repeat expatriates and international itinerants differ in their subjective experiences of global careers, and how they narrate them. Three broad domains are identified that integrate a range of issues that are important for global careerists. These domains are the organization and career domain, the country and culture domain, and the family, communities, and networks domain. The repeat expatriates and international itinerants differ in how they relate to these and what is important to them. Practical implications - The differences found have implications for organizations in terms of recruitment, management, and retention of a global talent pool. Originality\/value - This research contributes to the understanding of subjective experiences of global careers and integrates a range of aspects in the context of global careerists that are important to them. Moreover, it contributes to the understanding of global careers by differentiating between those with intra- and inter-organizational global careers. Keywords Narrative, Global careers, International itinerants, Repeat expatriates Paper type Research paper Introduction It has been shown that there are differences between assigned expatriates and those with self-initiated international work experiences, for example in their motivations and characteristics (Doherty et al., 2011; Biemann and Andresen, 2010). The relevance of expatriation literature for those who are self-initiated has even been questioned ( Jokinen et al., 2008). It has been argued that it is important to conceptually and empirically differentiate between expatriates and those with self-initiated international work experiences (Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009). Similarly, global careers, where the entire career is characterized by international mobility, may be The author would like to thank the participants at the Workshop on New Analyses of Expatriation, 2012, for their comments on an earlier version of the paper. The author is grateful to the two anonymous reviewers and the guest editors of JGM for their helpful comments and suggestions. Journal of Global Mobility Vol. 2 No. 2, 2014 pp. 183-202 r Emerald Group Publishing Limited 2049-8799 DOI 10.1108\/JGM-06-2013-0034 JGM 2,2 184 enacted either inter-organizationally or within an organization (Suutari et al., 2012;   Suutari and Makela, 2007). While a differentiation rarely has been made between intra- and inter-organizational  global careerists (see Nasholm, 2011, 2012 for an exception), these can be seen as two different types of global careerists. These are referred to in this paper as repeat expatriates and international itinerants. Repeat expatriates are defined as professionals employed by a company that have, on at least two occasions, been on expatriate assignments and been repatriated by that company. International itinerants are defined as professionals who have been employed by at least two independent companies in at least two countries other than their home country (adapted from Banai and Harry, 2004, p. 97). As subjective experiences have been shown to differ between expatriate assignments and self-initiated experiences (Doherty et al., 2011; Biemann and Andresen, 2010; Jokinen et al., 2008; Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009) the stance taken in this paper is that correspondingly there could be meaningful differences between expatriates and those self-initiated when considering global careers. More understanding of global careerists and what influences their career moves is needed from the perspective of the global careerists themselves (Suutari et al., 2012). While research has begun to address global careers, global careerists' career decisions, and the developmental aspects     thereof (Suutari and Makela, 2007; Makela and Suutari, 2009; Suutari et al., 2012), more research is needed with a long-term career perspective on international work experiences. It has been shown that there are differences in the identity construction processes and  identifications of repeat expatriates and international itinerants (Nasholm, 2011, 2012). This paper addresses the question of which aspects of their context the repeat expatriates and international itinerants find important to their careers. The purpose of this paper is to identify similarities and differences between repeat expatriates and international itinerants in their career paths, subjective experiences, and narratives of how they relate to their context. This paper contributes to our understanding of the subjective experiences of global careers by focussing on how global careerists narrate their careers, how they relate to their contexts, and what is important to them. Moreover, it contributes to the understanding of the nature of global careers by including different international work experiences and considering differences between those with intra- and inter-organizational global careers. A better understanding of the differences between different types of individuals with global careers is important from an organizational perspective, since different factors can influence their career decision making. After an introduction to the types of global careers, three domains of the context and important others for global careerists are outlined theoretically in the following section. This leads to the identification of gaps in the existing understanding of what is significant for the two types of global careerists and formulation of additional questions that are addressed in the empirical results. Following Suutari (2003) the career paths of ten repeat expatriates (those with intra-organizational global careers sent out several times by the same company) and ten international itinerants (those having more self-directed inter-organizational global careers) are illustrated and compared. Then the interviews were analyzed using a narrative thematic analysis (Riessman, 2008). The three broad domains identified integrate a range of aspects important to global careerists. The first domain is the relationship the global careerists have with the organization and career. The second is the countries and cultures they encounter and their relation to the home country. The third domain is the family, communities, and networks they relate to in their careers. Global careers A global career can be defined as \\\"involving multiple international relocations including   various positions and assignments in several countries\\\" (Makela and Suutari, 2009, p. 992). Global careers have been seen as boundaryless in their nature, driven by the international business environment and developed networks. Moreover they have been described as cyclical, with individuals frequently making a choice of what to do next, as assignments are time-limited (Suutari et al., 2012). Suutari (2003) found two types of career tracks in his study of global managers, committed to careers internationally. A majority of them had alternated between periods at home and periods abroad, while some of them had moved directly from one assignment to the next or stayed more permanently abroad (Suutari, 2003). It has been found that in samples of expatriates, for example in Finland, Germany, and France, there were portions who had already been on one assignment or more (Suutari and Brewster, 2003; Stahl and Cerdin, 2004). Organizations may develop \\\"a pool of mobile expatriate managers\\\" (Selmer, 1998, p. 1) who go on multiple assignments for the same organization. Although it has been argued that it can be difficult to retain expatriates, global careerists can be committed to an organization that manages their assignments well and offers developmental international opportunities (Suutari et al., 2012). Research that has focussed on the sequence of experiences has shown that each consecutive assignment has different developmental influences ( Jokinen, 2010). It is therefore important to differentiate between those with a single international assignment, as sent out organizational expatriates, and those with several, referred to in this paper as repeat expatriates. Individuals with self-initiated international work experiences may also go on multiple assignments or various positions abroad (Suutari and Brewster, 2000; Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010). Those with self-initiated international work experiences have been shown to have different characteristics from expatriates (Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010; Biemann and Andresen, 2010; Suutari and Brewster, 2000). Those with self-initiated international work experiences, often referred to as self-initiated expatriates, have been described as more often working for local companies than organizational expatriates. Moreover, self-initiated expatriates were shown to more frequently be women, single, or to have a partner from another country (Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009). Also in samples of self-initiated expatriates ( Jokinen et al., 2008; Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010) a large portion has been found to have previous international experience. Among self-initiated expatriates it has been found that those who have longer previous international work experience differ from those that are more inexperienced in terms of their motivations to relocate (Selmer and Lauring, 2011). It therefore seems relevant to make the differentiation between self-initiated expatriation and more long-term self-initiated global careers, those referred to as international itinerants. Any international assignment entails a transition to a new work and organizational  context, a new culture, as well as a new social context (Kohonen, 2004). Nasholm (2011, 2012) showed that there were differences between repeat expatriates and international itinerants in their identity construction processes, as well as in what they identified with. These findings also point to the significance of others in the context of global careerists. The importance of the context for individuals who undergo international work transitions has long been established. In research on expatriate adjustment it has been argued that factors of the work and the organization, as well as factors such as the host culture, social support, and the family's adjustment are important (Black, 1990; Black et al., 1991). Black et al. (1991) suggested that international adjustment is multifaceted and involves adjustment to work, to the general environment in the host culture, and to interaction with host nationals. That adjustment is seen as multifaceted Comparison of intra- and interorganizational global careers 185 JGM 2,2 corresponds to seeing an international work experience as a shift in work and organizational context, culture, and social context (Kohonen, 2004). To address what the global careerists see as important in their context, these three aspects are discussed as three broad domains in this paper. These are the organization and career domain, the country and culture domain, and the family, communities, and networks domain. 186 The organization and career domain Moving abroad involves an adjustment to a new work context and can imply meeting a new organizational culture (Black et al., 1991). Research on expatriation has found that the relationship with the home organization may be problematic as the sent-out expatriate has to deal with the distance to the home company headquarter and the dual allegiance to the home and host offices (Black and Gregersen, 1992). Black and Gregersen (1992) found that longer time abroad lessened the commitment to the home organization and that some expatriates were more committed to their own careers. It has been suggested that a high rate of expatriates may end up leaving the organization and that even those who stay may consider leaving, or get other job offers, due to their international experience (Stahl et al., 2002; Suutari and Brewster, 2003). Research has pointed to the importance of organizational support for expatriates. Such support includes preparation and training of expatriates, repatriation practices, and considering the future career planning of the repatriate (Bonache et al., 2001). It has been suggested that bigger organizations would be able to offer better opportunities for returning expatriates and therefore would be able to keep them within the organization (Biemann and Andresen, 2010; Suutari et al., 2012). However, less is known about the importance of organizational support for global careerists. Moreover, little is known about the importance of the employing organizations for those self-directed. Career researchers have coined terms such as boundaryless and protean careers to address the increased self-direction and mobility argued to have shifted the relationship with employers (Briscoe and Hall, 2006). Correspondingly, research on international work experiences has noted that not staying with the organization may be seen as positive for the individual (Bonache et al., 2001). Furthermore, there are many who undertake international work experiences on their own initiative, with different motivations (Suutari and Brewster, 2000). Stahl et al. (2002) support the notion of the boundaryless career concept being applicable for expatriate careers, but both expatriates and those with self-initiated work experiences have been argued to fit the criteria (Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010). Even though those self-initiated move without organizational support and also encounter a new organizational context they perceive the experience as developing their competencies, as do expatriates ( Jokinen et al., 2008). Global careers are also described as developmental, both professionally and personally, increasing self-reflection   and self-awareness (Suutari and Makela, 2007). In a study of global careerists, Suutari   and Makela (2007) found that their respondents developed a \\\"global career identity\\\" including aspects such as a confidence, self-reliance, internal career motivations, trust in employability on a broader global job market, seeking new challenges, and being in charge of the own career. Moreover, they all wanted to keep the international aspects in their   careers. Suutari and Makela's (2007) results also showed notable levels of commitment to the organization among global careerists. However, their respondents included both intra- and inter-organizational global careers. The first research question therefore becomes: RQ1. What is the importance of the organization and the own career when differentiating between the two types of global careerists? The country and culture domain For a long time, research has addressed the transition of moving to a new country and culture and the associated culture shock and adjustment (Black et al., 1991). Expatriates can develop coping responses to the stress of adapting and it has been argued that successful adjustment means identifying with both the home and host culture, not drifting too far in either direction (Sanchez et al., 2000). Adjustment increases expatriates' well-being and positively influences their performance (Wang, 2002). Richardson and McKenna (2006) studied the relationship that self-directed expatriates had with the home and host countries and found that the relationships with both countries were dynamic and on five domains. These domains were; family and friends in the home country, actual and intended visits home, official status in the host country, outsiderness, and intention to repatriate. Their findings suggest that the intention to return and keeping in touch is important for the relationship with the home country and that the longer one stays away, the harder it may be to return. Cerdin and Le Pargneux (2010) saw the main thing differentiating self-initiated expatriates from those sent out as the missing link to the home country that the employing company provides. For those with self-initiated international work experiences attraction to a particular country can be an important motivation (Doherty et al., 2011). Sussman (2000) argues that as the individual moves abroad the awareness of culture begins to grow and that initially the identification with the home culture is strengthened. As the individual adjusts the cultural identity changes and when repatriating this shift becomes apparent and influences how repatriation is experienced. The expatriation literature has acknowledged that repatriation may be difficult, just as the move abroad (Bonache et al., 2001). Sussman (2000) suggests that the repatriation experience is influenced by how the individual adjusts and how he or she identifies with the home and host country and that with multiple international experiences the repatriation may be a positive experience. Selmer (2002) found that previous expatriate experience did not help much in the adjustment to a new culture, suggesting that it may be difficult to transfer developed sociocultural skills and that it will be almost like starting over for each new assignment. The second research question consequently is: RQ2. What are the relationships like with the home country and the different countries, and cultures, they encounter for global careerists who experience multiple transitions, and is there a difference between the two types of global careerists? The family, communities, and networks domain Parker et al. (2004) suggest that career relevant communities, based, for example on industry, occupation, or region, can provide career support and influence career decision making. For expatriates the closest people, and perhaps most significant, are their own family. How the family, and in particular how the spouse, adjusts has been argued to be an important factor for the success of international assignments and the expatriate's own adjustment (Black et al., 1991). Richardson (2004) argues that the role of social contexts and personal relationships needs to be recognized in research on careers. She found that the family was important in self-directed expatriates' career decisions to move abroad. Dual career couples, where both spouses work, can mean that one spouse's career is disrupted by moving abroad. It has been argued that this increases dissatisfaction and can lead to stress and conflicts (Harvey, 1998). However, Comparison of intra- and interorganizational global careers 187 JGM 2,2 188 the interaction between work and family can be positive and be seen as a resource  (Schutter and Boerner, 2013). Lauring and Selmer (2010) found that the expatriate spouse played an important part in supporting the expatriate's career and establishing social networks. For both self-initiated and sent-out expatriates a lifestyle career anchor and work-life balance is important (Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010). Family concerns have been found to be an important factor in global careerists' decisions on what offers to accept (Suutari et al., 2012). Social relationships in both the home and host country are important, and those working abroad might experience feelings of outsiderness abroad as well as in their home countries (Richardson and McKenna, 2006). Expatriates' social networks, in a mix with locals and other expatriates, have been argued to influence their adjustment, well-being, and in turn their performance (Wang, 2002). Expatriate assignments could be argued to be more developmental than self-initiated international work experiences when it comes to social capital and networks, both within and beyond the organization, as expatriates often have higher positions and already have networks within the   organization ( Jokinen et al., 2008). Makela and Suutari (2009) found that their respondents with global careers had large and diverse networks, both within the organization and beyond, socially and professionally, stretching to their multiple host countries. However, global careers also involved trade-offs and risks. Relationships tended to weaken over   time and as people moved around (Makela and Suutari, 2009). Since Suutari's (2003) respondents also showed that personal relationships, and family relationships, were more difficult with global careers, it is important to explore these further in order to help individuals and organizations deal with these challenges. Therefore the third research question is: RQ3. What, if any, are the differences in the significance of these relationships when considering different types of global careerists? Method Research design The subjective individual experiences, which are the focus of my research, imply that qualitative interpretative approaches are needed to capture this process. The choice of a qualitative approach was also due to the exploratory nature of the aim. A narrative approach was selected for this study as it is the subjective experiences of the individuals that are in focus. Kohonen (2004) found that interviews with expatriates encouraged them to reflect on and analyze their experiences. Moreover, she argues that a narrative approach can be used to understand the way individuals working abroad interpret and make sense of their experiences. Qualitative unstructured interviews were made during 2007-2009 with ten repeat expatriates and ten international itinerants. All of the participants are Swedish. They are referred to in this paper by a fictitious name (Adam-John). The interviews lasted between 50 minutes and two hours and 40 minutes. The participants will be further introduced later in the paper. The interviews After explaining the purpose of the study, the interviews started with the open question \\\"Could you tell me about yourself and your career?\\\" This was done so as to incite the participants to tell me stories, in a way similar to the approach of life story interviewing, suggested by Chaitin (2004). However, the focus in these interviews was the participants' careers. Life story interviewing also starts with an open-ended question for the participants to tell their life stories, and what they think is relevant (Chaitin, 2004) and similarly includes both the experiences and the significance that these have had for the individual. The initial narratives, which varied in detail, were followed by questions to get the participants to elaborate on what the experiences meant to them. An unstructured interview guide focussing on who, and what, was important to them in their careers was used. Follow-up questions were to a large extent aimed at getting additional details on their initial narratives. Analysis of the interviews Faced with the problem that participants often do not tell their life stories as a temporal ordering of events, Mishler (1995) explains that a method that researchers can use is to reconstruct the \\\"telling\\\" into a temporal ordering of the \\\"told.\\\" This then becomes the narrative for further analysis. After transcribing the interviews the first step taken in the analysis was to write out each interview into a story, using the recordings, transcripts, and notes taken during the interviews, in order to reach a better understanding. This narrative configuration of the interview material displays the contextual meaning of events (Polkinghorne, 1995). The stories were carefully constructed, staying close to the original Swedish transcripts and recordings while continually returning to these. The stories were written in English and the translation from Swedish was done at this stage so as to convey the meaning of passages with the entire stories in mind, without losing the context. As a second step in the analysis, following Suutari (2003), the career paths of the interviewed repeat expatriates and international itinerants were illustrated and compared. The continued analysis followed an approach in narrative inquiry described by Polkinghorne (1995) as analysis of narratives. In this approach, data consists of stories and the analysis produces categories, common elements, or themes across stories, and the relationship between them. Thematic narrative analysis is one such method of analysis of narratives. This was selected as in contrast to grounded theory prior research is allowed to guide the inquiry while the researcher simultaneously searches for novel insights from the empirical material and attends to the sequence and attempts to keep the \\\"story\\\" intact (Riessman, 2008). The categories that developed in the analysis process were influenced by previous research within the area of expatriation and global careers, the purposes of the study, and the interviews themselves. A thematic narrative analysis (Riessman, 2008) of the participants' career stories was made, identifying themes in how the global careerists narrate what in their context has been significant in their careers. For each interview significant passages and narratives of the story were marked out and coded. The coded segments for each story were compared and grouped into themes. By comparing and contrasting recurring themes in the stories, the narratives were grouped into categories of narratives for repeat expatriates and international itinerants, respectively. Related types of thematic analysis of similarities and differences to identify categories of narratives have been used, for example by Garcia and Hardy (2007), to examine identity construction. The categories of narratives in turn were grouped within the three developed domains of interest in this study; the organization and career, the country and culture, and the family, communities, and networks domain. Results In the following section the global careerists' career paths and the results of the thematic narrative analysis, for each of the three domains, are presented. The repeat Comparison of intra- and interorganizational global careers 189 JGM 2,2 190 expatriates and international itinerants, respectively, were analyzed, and are discussed, separately for each category to highlight similarities and differences. For the two groups there were some shared subjective experiences as well as individual differences. Not all categories were of equal importance for repeat expatriates and international itinerants and therefore the sections may be different, or more or less extensive. As the coding was done so as to maintain the context of each individual's narrative as intact as possible there can be some overlap between the categories, for example as something that was brought up as a career consideration in some narratives was brought up as an important network in some narratives. The repeat expatriates' and international itinerants' career paths The repeat expatriates all worked for a large engineering company with activities in more than 100 countries all over the world. They had been working for this company for the majority of their careers. Often their first international assignments were based on following projects they were working on. Apart from their longer expatriate assignments they had also spent longer, and shorter, periods traveling in their jobs and even when in Sweden their work tended to be international. Their work had included innumerable short business trips as well as longer contracts lasting several months. Half of them were still currently working abroad, while the other half had returned to Sweden within a year from the interview. The repeat expatriates were all male, over 40 years old, and married with children. Only Harry had gotten married and adopted a child while abroad, got divorced and was remarried. The repeat expatriates have often returned to Sweden between their assignments (Table I). The international itinerants all lived abroad at the time of the interview. They had all worked abroad for more than a single company, and had lived in more than one foreign country. Many of them had an early interest in working and living abroad and had studied abroad. Apart from the longer periods of living abroad the international Adam Brian Casper David Edward Fred George Harry Isaac John Table I. Repeat expatriates' career paths Sweden (8)-USA (1,5)-USA (1)-Sweden (9)-Malaysia (1,5)-Thailand (2)-Sweden (2)-USA (2,5)-Sweden Sweden (7)-\/UN mission, Lebanon (0,5)\/-Germany (2)-Sweden (8)-Thailand (2)-Sweden Sweden (1)-Colombia (1)-Sweden (7)-\/Sweden (5)\/-Sweden (15)-Japan (2)-Sweden Sweden (4)-USA (1)-Sweden (4)-USA (2)-Sweden (4)-Indonesia (7)-Sweden (2)-Mozambique (3)-Sweden Sweden (2)-USA (10 months)-Sweden (4)-Malaysia (2)-China (3,5)-India Sweden (1,5)-Japan (0,5)-Sweden (3)-Kuwait (1)-Saudi Arabia (3)-\/China (2)-England (1)\/-USA (10)-Sweden (4)-United Arab Emirates (1)-Sweden Sweden (2)-Canada (13)-Sweden (3)-Canada (2)-Turkey (3)-Canada (3)-Thailand (3)-China (8)-Italy \/Sweden (3 years, 6 months USA)\/-Sweden, (5)-England (1,5)-Sweden (3 months)-Saudi Arabia (2)-Indonesia (3)-Australia (3)-Sweden (5)-United Arab Emirates Sweden (3)-Sweden (4)-USA (2)-Sweden (10)-Malaysia (1)-South Africa (1)-Saudi Arabia (0,5)-the Netherlands \/Sweden (10)\/-Sweden (6)-Germany (3\/8 months\/)-Sweden (5)-Germany (5)-Sweden (4)-Singapore Notes: Within the parenthesis is the number of years unless stated in months. Shorter assignments are not included, time away from the company is demarked within \/\/, no difference is made between local employment within the company or expatriation contracts, separate assignments, positions or contracts within the same country are not marked, unless the new assignment involved a move to a new location within that country itinerants had also spent longer and shorter periods traveling a lot in their jobs. Three of the interviewed international itinerants were women, half of them were in their thirties, half of them had children and six were not married. Several of them were married to someone of another nationality and a third of them had gone through at least one divorce. The careers of the international itinerants often included periods of further studies, parallel activities and running their own businesses. Several of them had also moved between different fields, or industries, in their careers (Table II). Comparison of intra- and interorganizational global careers 191 Categories of narratives in the organization and career domain The first category is different for the two types of global careerists. For the repeat expatriates the relationships with home and host offices are important, while for the international itinerants, with different types of employment, the relation with the employer is not brought up. The repeat expatriates describe themselves in terms of being associated with, and identifying with, the home organization. As the company has become more transnational it works more in the same way everywhere, but the organizational identity is less clear. The level of local establishment of the organization is significant; the transition is easier in locations where the organization is well established. The repeat expatriates become more representative for the organization where it is less established. There is a safety in having a home base, but several express that their relationship with the home organization has deteriorated over time. They have lost touch with colleagues and what is going on in the home office. Some of them also describe being torn between the home and host office: You have, as then, not one manager you have many, it's like a dog that has four masters, it is difficult in some way, but maybe I think you must have a foundation, the dog must have a main master in a way, and it has the advantage that I have had a home base (Brian, Repeat expatriate). Alex Bill Curt Dennis Ellen Frida Gabriel Herbert Ian Jessica Sweden (3)-\/Germany (1,5)\/-England (1,5)\/-USA England (9, parallel studies 4\/3)-\/Denmark (1, while living in Sweden 3)\/-Sweden (4 own company)-Finland (12)-Taiwan USA (2 studies)-Japan (1 studies)-USA (1 studies\/1,5\/)-Taiwan (1, parallel own company\/1,5, parallel own company\/own company) Sweden (8\/1\/1,5\/6\/)-Germany (8 months)-China (3,5)-\/India (2)-Philippines (2\/0,5)-Indonesia (3,5)\/-Taiwan Germany (2,5, parallel studies)-Sweden (1, parallel studies)-China (1, parallel studies)-China (1, parallel studies)-\/Taiwan Austria (1)-\/Sweden (0,5)\/-France (0,5 studies)-\/Sweden (2 studies)-Sweden (2 studies)\/Germany (0,5 internship\/0,5 internship, 3 own company and employed\/1\/)-France Sweden (6)-USA (0,5)-Sweden (1,5)-\/Sweden (3)-Norway (0,5)-\/Sweden (0,5)-Singapore (2)-Sweden (2,5)-Japan (3)-Sweden (2)-Japan (3)\/-USA (3 months studies)-\/Sweden (1,5)-Hong Kong (4\/2\/own company) Sweden (3\/0,5 studies)-Barbados (1 own company)-Sweden (2 studies\/0,5\/2,5 own company\/ 2 studies\/4\/3)-Jordan (1, 8 months)-Hong Kong (4\/4 own company\/1 parallel\/own company) Sweden (3 parallel studies, 1 )-Sweden (1\/2)-\/USA (2 studies)\/-England (2)-\/Sweden (2,5\/2) Denmark (2)-Norway (2)-Scotland (0,5)\/-USA (4,5)-\/England (4,5\/4 own company)-\/ Hong Kong (2)\/-England (2 own company)-USA (1)-\/Hong Kong Sweden (2)-Switzerland (1\/5\/1)-Hong Kong (8 months studies\/) Notes: Within the parenthesis is the number of years unless stated in months. Shorter assignments are not included, periods of studies and internships, own companies, as well as parallel occupations are marked out, moves within countries are demarked and moves between different companies and organizations are demarked within \/\/ Table II. International itinerants' career paths JGM 2,2 192 The international itinerants, being locally employed, are more dependent on the local circumstances. They describe their working situations as less predictable as they are not sent-out by a company. They see their relation with the organizations as more transactional than the repeat expatriates do. The international itinerants are often on short-term contracts and are more committed to their own careers. They stress their networks, and the industry they are in, as important and many of them enjoy the freedom of running their own companies. The international itinerants focus on narrating their own direction of their careers and moving to find something better. Many of them have tried different things, either to develop or if they have been unhappy with their work; other industries, working as consultants or further studies: I'm still curious about new things, I like to see how things can develop so I've never, if something didn't quite work out, I've never rejected any ideas. Yes if it is completely crazy I can reject it, but I think life is quite short and if there is something new that has seemed exiting, so why not try then (Herbert, International itinerant). For the international itinerants the question of job offer vs location is more crucial than it is for the repeat expatriates. The international itinerants are more often drawn to a specific location, or where there are opportunities, while for the repeat expatriates it is more a question of following the work. They can decide whether to accept an offer although they may prefer some locations. Some repeat expatriates describe being more likely to accept offers to comfortable locations, while others are drawn to challenges. The international itinerants' choices are influenced by the availability of job offers that are financially attractive. They find more opportunities outside Sweden. They apply in specific countries and are willing to leave an employer for a location they prefer. The repeat expatriates' career narratives most often focus on interesting and developing work, rather than on advancing within the company. They discuss the benefits and disadvantages of assignments and describe it as making a choice. Although they see assignments as beneficial, if they are away for too long it could become difficult to return and there are no guarantees of good positions at home. They describe their careers in terms of shorter periods rather than long-term planning. For them it is often about the timing of offers: I was asked. I got an offer through him [a manager working on global staffing] to move away later, and then I thought let's go. My wife was pregnant so it could be an opportunity for her to stay at home and the timing was good (Fred, Repeat expatriate). The international itinerants' careers are more dependent on coincidences and circumstances and they stress the importance of their contacts. Their networks are their safety nets. They describe needing to change jobs to get forward, or becoming restless when staying too long in one place. For some of them the career is not the main priority and they emphasize having freedom and doing new things: Usually things happen very unexpectedly and an opportunity comes up, sort of, and you come to a crossroads somehow and you think; there are maybe one or two or maybe even three ways to go and sometimes you don't really know which one to take, and sometimes it doesn't really matter. Just take whichever one feels better all the time you know (Bill, International itinerant). The repeat expatriates and the international itinerants tell very similar stories when it comes to the personal and professional development they experience. They describe becoming more confident and self-reliant, developing broader perspectives, tolerance, and understanding of cultural differences. Some of the repeat expatriates would like the organization to appreciate and use their development more, although it can lead to additional assignments. The international itinerants claim that organizations do not know how to make use of their knowledge and experiences, and they talk a lot about the transferability of their skills. Both types of global careerists have learnt to be flexible, handle problems that come up, and can better understand other peoples' reactions and thinking. This view is exemplified by one of the international itinerants (Table III): Comparison of intra- and interorganizational global careers 193 I guess you learn how you work in an unknown situation, because you put yourself into a lot of unknown situations in the beginning and the tolerance for unknown situations increases (Ellen, International itinerant). Categories of narratives in the country and culture domain For most of the repeat expatriates the ties to Sweden are strengthened. They stress the importance of having a fixed point to relate to. For a few of them the ties to Sweden are Categories of narratives Repeat expatriates International itinerants Home and host offices\/ employment and companies Level of organization's local establishment matters Identifies with the organization to some extent Associated with home organization Deteriorating relationship with home office Safety in expatriate contract and homebase Job offer vs location Some drawn to challenges, some to more comfortable locations International drive or follow work offers and projects Type of location may be crucial in if to accept offer of assignment Choose to stay longer in country Assignment beneficial if not too long No guarantees on return Short-term plans, variation Interesting and developing rather than advancement for most Timing and opportunities Making a choice of a global career and if to be able to go home Tolerance beyond stereotypes Increased confidence, selfknowledge, and self-reliance New perspectives and ways of working, flexibility Understanding of cultural differences Locally employed, sent out, or on short term contracts More invested locally and dependent on circumstances and culture Moving on to find something better Commitment rather towards career and network or industry than to an organization Freedom of running own companies More opportunities outside Sweden Availability of offers and finances influence choice Attraction to particular location or influence of family and language skills More dependent on coincidence and circumstance Change jobs to get forward Contacts give opportunities and safety net For some career not main priority Making a choice of a global career, risk and freedom Career Personal and professional development Table III. Categories of narratives in the organization and career domain JGM 2,2 weakened and after longer periods abroad it becomes a decision of whether to return to maintain their swedishness or not. They all maintain contacts to Sweden with yearly visits and contact with family and friends. They follow current events in Sweden and celebrate Swedish holidays. Sweden remains home to them and they maintain their Swedish culture, even though some of them have found a second home abroad: 194 You kind of create your own little Sweden where you live. You have pictures up from everywhere, mountain images and landscapes the entire wall. But we are a privileged group if you think about it abroad, going on these terms (Adam, Repeat expatriate). The international itinerants, although they are seen as, and consider themselves Swedish, describe losing touch with Sweden. Several of them have more than one place that feels like home and they have become less bound to a place. They become more invested in their current location and some describe preserving the Swedish ties mainly for the sake of their children. Some describe that they have lost touch with what goes on in Swedish society: [y] and then I can feel that I don't know what is going on anymore, I am not really Swedish anymore since I don't know what they are talking about. That is how it is; you are kind of floating between two worlds (Frida, International itinerant). The repeat expatriates stress that it is important to be open and humble, and that they go through a period of adjustment when going abroad. While they see themselves as Swedish and often socialize with other Swedes, they sometimes have more in common with others with similar experiences. Although they adapt and incorporate things from other cultures, they describe it as important to not adjust too much and to stay true to who they are. They see it as important to know their culture and feel like they represent Sweden while abroad: I, as a Swede, bring the Swedish with me so to speak, I can never become an Indonesian in Indonesia when I am from Sweden. You just have to adjust like everyone else, act respectfully and then you will be treated respectfully (David, Repeat expatriate). Several of the international itinerants have multicultural families, have married locals, and to a greater extent seem to have adopted some values of the countries they lived in. They rather stress the cultural differences experienced at work. While the transition to a new country is not always easy, they have learnt to be open, and to find a way to make themselves comfortable. They identify and socialize with other foreigners that have similar experiences and describe that they have learnt to adjust: One can have a greater understanding that people see things differently, and also that there may not be one right answer, but there may be many answers that are correct but in different ways (Gabriel, International itinerant). The repeat expatriates have all returned to Sweden at some point, and for some of them that was the most difficult transition. Some describe returning as more difficult than they expected since they felt that they have lost touch with the way of working and daily life, but returning is easier for those that have kept in touch. Returning is often described as a slow, boring period. They describe the expatriate lifestyle as addictive and that they have to make the conscious decision to return: The expatriate life is a trap if you like it (Edward, Repeat expatriate). Some of the international itinerants have not ever worked in Sweden and experience culture shock when visiting; they rather talk of returning to some of the other locations that they have lived in. They have often not returned to Sweden between periods abroad but still maintain some ties, at least with their parents. Few of them even consider it a possibility to return to Sweden, either due to the limited opportunities there or since they have established themselves elsewhere (Table IV): [y] and it's a little bit of a dilemma, that when you have, so to say gone over a certain limit then it's very difficult to return to Sweden (Ian, International itinerant). Comparison of intra- and interorganizational global careers 195 Categories of narratives in the family, communities, and networks domain Family concerns and the balance between family and career are important for both the repeat expatriates and the international itinerants. For the repeat expatriates the family can either enable or constrain additional moves, and moving with a family means additional concerns. The family is involved in the decision and how the assignment fits the family's situation, for example the children's schooling, can be a factor in when, and where, to go and when to return. With an accompanying family the social situation, as well as safety and other conditions, are told of as more important: Above all it is the family and the family situation; school and housing and communications. That I think is the most important. The work in itself, I think is sort of already cleared, because if the company has said that they have a job, then there is a need for me there (Casper, Repeat expatriate). For the international itinerants, who often have intercultural families, the family often influences the choice of location. For some of the international itinerants balancing dual international careers has been a concern. They describe the strain on Categories of narratives Repeat expatriates International itinerants Being Swedish and home country Ties to Sweden either strengthened or weakened Decision after long stays abroad Preserve Swedish culture\/swedishness Sweden home for the majority Place to relate to, fixed point Culture More in common with those with similar experiences than nationality Adapt and bring things from cultures without losing who you are Humble and respectful Adjustment period Returning Making a decision if to return or not Addictive lifestyle Returning between assignments More difficult transition Reestablishing Still Swedish, but left society, seen as Swedish Preserve ties for children More immersed in current location Question possibility of returning More than one home, less bound to a place Other foreigners with similar experiences Many have multicultural families Cultural differences at work Adopting some values Learnt to adjust Often not returned between assignments Few consider returning but maintain some ties Limited job opportunities Established elsewhere Table IV. Categories of narratives in the country and culture domain JGM 2,2 the family that this type of career entails, and several of them have gone through divorces: [y] my personal life has been really suffering because I never know from one year to another which country I will be working in so, so yes, in terms of my personal life, I've been through two divorces (Dennis, International itinerant). 196 Both types of global careerists describe their experiences as developing their networks abroad. For the repeat expatriates the relationship with the home office is important and while they develop networks abroad they also struggle to keep their networks in Sweden. They see it as important to visit or be at home for some periods to stay in touch and keep their professional networks in Sweden, and to be able to eventually return. For the international itinerants the networks are crucial for the career. They develop extensive networks, but they also describe that they become used to cutting ties. Many of them describe that their networks in Sweden thin out over the years. All the global careerists establish contacts in the different places they have lived: I have a very wide network of contacts, I get to know people everywhere and have sporadic contact with many people I worked with. Ten years ago I worked with people in say Thailand, we do not call every week or every month, but we are in touch via e-mail checking how it is how it is with the family and everything, a lot of it is professional behavior (Herbert, International itinerant). The repeat expatriates have a lot in common with other sent-out expatriates, both within the organization and beyond. Other expatriates understand the repeat expatriates which make it easy to share and ventilate and many have formed networks. Other families in the same situation, Swedish clubs, and groups can be a good source of support, in particular in the beginning. However, not all of the repeat expatriates socialize a lot with these groups as they feel that they may miss out on things during the time abroad if they do. They decide to rather socialize with locals than with Swedes. The local circumstances have an impact on what the relations with locals are like and in some countries you stand out more as a foreigner. The global careerists describe it as harder to come in and to get to know people there, especially with language difficulties: When you are in this type of situation, especially in this type of country you do not get integrated into the society (Harry, Repeat expatriate). The international itinerants try to get more integrated locally. While the repeat expatriates often turn to other Swedes or expatriates, the international itinerants stress that they are not expatriates, although socializing with other foreigners and those with similar experiences is easier. The contacts with Swedish communities abroad have become less important to them over time. Some of the international itinerants describe sent-out expatriates in negative terms and stress how they are different from expatriates; more integrated locally and independent (Table V): We have completely different perspectives on things, because they [expatriates], who come here for a year, they often live kind of in their own world, they have their way of doing things and they are taken care of (Curt, International itinerant). Conclusions and discussion Comparing the narratives of individuals with intra- and inter-organizational global careers and their subjective experiences, this paper has shown that organizational expatriation and self-initiated expatriation is an important distinction to make, even Categories of narratives Family concerns Communities and networks Repeat expatriates International itinerants Additional concerns for situation Constraining and enabling the moves Pulls to return to Sweden Career and family balance Home office relationship important Difficulties in maintaining network at home Develop networks abroad Swedes and expatriates in the same boat share experiences Choosing between Swedes and locals Status as foreigner depends on location International family constellations Influences choice of location Career and family balance, priorities and strains Creating networks imperative Contacts give work opportunities Network spread across nations and organizations Swedes less important over time Other foreigners easier, but not identifying with expatriates Integrating with locals, but depends on location when considering more long-term global careers. It was found that the two types of global careerists differ in how they relate to their context and in how they narrate what is important to their careers in terms of the three identified domains. These domains integrate a range of aspects important to global careerists as they undergo multiple shifts in work and organizational, cultural, and social contexts. When comparing the two types of global careerists' career paths, the repeat expatriates to a lesser extent have been driven by international interests early on in their careers. Also mirroring previous findings on self-initiated international work experiences (Cerdin and Le Pargneux, 2010; Biemann and Andresen, 2010; Suutari and Brewster, 2000) the international itinerants were more frequently interested in internationalization and started going abroad earlier in their careers. In line with the findings from a quantitative study of self-initiated compared to organizational expatriates, those with self-initiated international work experiences were more frequently female, single, and worked in local organizations (Suutari and Brewster, 2000). As previously found (Peltokorpi and Froese, 2009) those self-initiated, the international itinerants, were more often married to locals. When considering the global careerists in this study, it is clear that the repeat expatriates have returned to Sweden between assignments more frequently. The international itinerants are more likely to exhibit the second type of career track identified by Suutari (2003), where they go directly to a different country. The repeat expatriates career paths can therefore be more likened to the cyclical nature of global careers as described by Suutari et al. (2012). As in Suutari's (2003) study the global careerists in this study see the positive implications as overriding the negative and they are committed to working internationally. The global careerists differ in how they relate to the organizations they work for and how they see their careers. Both types of global careerists show elements of boundaryless careers, not only in terms of physical mobility but also in their perception of their careers (Briscoe and Hall, 2006). However, the international itinerants have moved more between different types of work, further studies, parallel activities, and running their own businesses. For repeat expatriates the relationships with home, and host, offices are important while for international itinerants the own career is more in focus. They are more dependent on local circumstances and type of employment. In relation to the findings by   Suutari and Makela (2007), this study shows that the commitment to the organization differs between the two types of global careerists. The international itinerants are more Comparison of intra- and interorganizational global careers 197 Table V. Categories of narratives in the family, communities, and networks domain JGM 2,2 198 committed to their own careers and have a more transactional relationship with the organization. For the international itinerants the question of job offer vs location is more crucial than it is for the repeat expatriates. This mirrors findings by Doherty et al. (2011) that for self-initiated expatriates the characteristics of a particular country and motivation to move to that country are important. Both types of global careerists highlight personal and professional development and intrinsic motivations for their career choices as described by Suutari et al. (2012) as intangible rewards. This is in line with the perceived development of self-awareness, understanding of one's own strengths, weaknesses, and   interests, and personal growth found in global careers (Suutari and Makela, 2007). The two types of global careerists also differ in how they relate to the home country and culture, and the different countries and cultures they live in. The repeat expatriates' relationship with the home country is important to them, while the international itinerants describe losing touch and becoming less bound to a place. This could be due to the link to the home country maintained through the home organization, as suggested by Cerdin and Le Pargneux (2010). The global careerists in this study have learnt to handle moving to a new location. Although the transition of moving to another country still is challenging to them, the repeat expatriates describe the transition when returning to Sweden as the most difficult. This suggests that the problems of adjustment experienced when repatriating (Suutari and Brewster, 2003) do not necessarily become easier with additional assignments. Repeat expatriates' and international itinerants' narratives differ in the family, communities, and networks domain. Family concerns, as well as other Swedes, expatriates, or foreigners, in the host country are important in the global careerists' narratives. However, the two types differ in how they relate to others in their narratives. For the repeat expatriates the relationships to other Swedes and expatriates are more important, while the international itinerants want to distance themselves more from these groups. As found by Peltokorpi and Froese (2009) those self-initiated were interacting more with locals and were more frequently married to locals. Both types of global careerists stress the importance of developing and maintaining networks. These influence their career choices and give them a sense of belonging in the transitory global careers. This paper contributes to the literature on global careers by focussing on the subjective experiences of the global careerists themselves, and on how they narrate what is important to them in their careers. In making the distinction between intra- and  inter-organizational, this paper builds on Nasholm (2011, 2012) and shows that global careerists differ in how they relate to their contexts and in what is important to them. The findings of this exploratory study integrate a range of issues that are important for the subjective experiences of global careers in the three identified domains. Non-work factors have been shown to be important to expatriates' adjustment (Black et al., 1991). However, the global careerists' narratives highlight that additional factors are important with a more long-term career perspective. While the domains are broad, they link a number of aspects in the global careerists' context to give a more comprehensive understanding of the global career experience. These findings suggest that research should not neglect that there are different types of global careers. As has been noted with expatriates and self-initiated expatriates ( Jokinen et al., 2008) as well as inpatriates (Reiche, 2006), the same ideas may not apply. Future research on global careers can address this distinction and treat these as distinct groups in samples of global careerists. This study also highlights that the role of the employing organization is important even in more long-term global careers. The differences between the two types of global careerists have implications for organizations in terms of recruitment, management, and retention of a global talent pool. As suggested by Biemann and Andresen (2010) as well as Suutari et al. (2012) the findings in this study suggest that being able to offer developmental opportunities internationally within the organization is a way of retaining repeat expatriates. They have company-specific competencies that are crucial for some assignment purposes (Tharenou, 2013). With different views on their careers other incentives could be needed to attract international itinerants, and developing human resource practices to do so could give the companies access to valuable talent. It has been argued that for some types of assignments self-initiated expatriates is a viable alternative as they have international and cross-cultural competencies but can be less costly than sending out expatriates (Tharenou, 2013). International itinerants may also already be located in, and knowledgeable about, a specific host country's culture. Understanding the aspects that influence the different types of global careerists' career decisions can lead to the development of appropriate support and management practices for both of these types. This study has a number of limitations that needs to be acknowledged, in particular in terms of the limited number of interviews. This was deemed necessary for an in-depth understanding of what the global careerists themselves narrated as important in their careers. Further studies could address the differences between repeat expatriates and international itinerants on a larger scale. In addition, the respondents were all Swedish, and further studies could examine differences with global careerists of different origins. As the repeat expatriates were employed by the same organization, that employs the same policies, and has the same view on sending out and employing staff globally, and the international itinerants were working for different organizations the comparison is limited. It should also be acknowledged that the interviews were conducted a number of years ago and that the career situation of global careerists may have developed. The repeat expatriates were all male, and as in previous studies more of those self-initiated were female. Further studies could address female global careerists' experiences, career decisions, and motivations. References Banai, M. and Harry, W. (2004), \\\"Boundaryless global careers - the international itinerants\\",
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