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Chapter 7 142 7.2 RQ2: People Analytics facilitates Evidence-Based Expatriate Management The second research question of this dissertation – “ How can people analytics make HRMmore evidence-based? ” – was approached via an application of people analytics to the specific case of expatriate management. In three steps, this dissertation explored how HRM on specifically this topic could become more evidence-based. First, success or impact had to be quantified. Next, general best practices were identified by aggregating conventional research findings. Third, local impact could be quantified via analysis within the organizational contexts. These steps resemble the general process of any people analytics project. 7.2.1 Quantifying Impact In order to make informed, data-driven HRM decisions, one first needs to establish how the success or the impact of HRM canmeasured. The effect of expatriate management on operational and financial outcomes is hard to grasp in practice (BGRS, 2015, 2016; McNulty & Tharenou, 2004). Instead, scholars have explored a broad range of work and psychological outcomes related to expatriation, including stress and adjustment (e.g., Shaffer et al., 1999; Takeuchi, Wang, & Marinova, 2005), performance (e.g., Kraimer et al., 2001), turnover (e.g., Kraimer et al., 2012), career implications (e.g., Ren, Bolino, Shaffer, & Kraimer, 2013), and family well-being (e.g., Takeuchi et al., 2002). On the bright side, the impact of expatriate management is measureable and scholars have taken a balanced approach. On the dark side, the large diversity of studies, outcomes, and samples makes it hard to identify best practices. Expatriate management research is plagued by small and diverse samples: expatriates are hard to find in large numbers and they vary strongly in terms of their characteristics (e.g., host country, home country, nationality, assignment type, assignment purpose, sector). Along with the variety of outcomes under study, this introduces difficulties regarding generalization. Potentially as a consequence, expatriate management in practice is not very quantitative or evidence-based (BGRS, 2015, 2016). 7.2.2 General Best Practices via Conventional HRM Research A systematic review of literature functions as a first basis of evidence for expatriate management effectiveness (Rousseau & Barends, 2011). Chapter 4 explores literature on organizational actors in the expatriation process and their influences on indicators of expatriate success. This review identified various organizational stakeholders (e.g., HRM practices, supervisors, mentors, peers; Chapter 4), the outcomes they influence (e.g., satisfaction, adjustment, performance, commitment, retention), as well as the theoretical underpinning explaining why (e.g., stress management, social exchange, social capital; Chapter 4). A more quantitative approach was needed to establish the exact relevance of each of these stakeholders and their support. Hence, Chapter 5 sought to meta- analytically summarize the findings of 84 independent scientific studies. Some earlier attempts had already facilitated a basis of evidence, but focused on specific practices or specific outcomes of expatriation (Bhaskar-Shrinivas et al., 2005; Littrell, Salas, Hess, Paley, & Riedel, 2006; Mol, Born, Willemsen, & Van der Molen, 2005). In contrast, Chapter