Expatriates: U.S.

companies have historically defined expatriates as

employees who are asked to work outside their home countries for a period of time
with the intent of eventually returning to their home countries. Expatriates who are
from the country where the company is headquartered are referred to as
headquarters expatriates. An expatriate may also be referred to as a parent-country
national.
Home-country nationals: Employees from the country in which the
headquarters is located. Also known as expatriates.
Host-country nationals: Employees from the host location in which a
global or transnational organization is operating. Possible better understanding of
local rules and laws.
Third-country nationals (TCNs): These employees are not from the home
country or the host country. TCNs have traditionally been technical or professional
employees hired for short-term employment and are often considered as
international freelance employees. In terms of employment, the term is often used
to designate "an employee working temporarily in an assignment country, who is
neither a national of the assignment country nor of the country in which the
corporate headquarters is located. It is a term often used in the context

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of migration, referring to individuals who are in transit and/or applying for visas in
countries that are not their country of origin (i.e. country of transit), in order to go
to destination countries that is likewise not their country of origin.Employees from
a country other than where the parent organizations headquarters or overseas
operations are located.
What is the difference between a parent-, host-, and third-country national? Explain.
Host country nationals are from the host country in which the organization is
operating. Parent country nationals (also known as expatriates) are employees from
the country in which the headquarters is located. Third country nationals are from a
country other than where the parent organizations headquarters or overseas
operations are located.
Compare and contrast an ethnocentric staffing policy with a
polycentric staffing policy.
An ethnocentric staffing approach tends to be utilized when overseas ventures have
little autonomy, strategic decisions are made at headquarters in the parent country,
and most of the key positions at the foreign venture are occupied by parent country
nationals. Firms use this approach in early stages of internationalization and when
a firm is establishing a new business or product overseas and prior experience is

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critical.
Organizations that rely mostly on HCNs to staff their overseas business operations
are following a polycentric staffing approach. This tends to occur when a
multinational company considers each of its overseas ventures as a unique national
entity that possesses autonomy in decision-making. These overseas ventures tend
to be managed by host country nationals who rarely receive promotions to
headquarters in the parent country. That is, a firm believing in this approach will
decentralize on a country-by-country basis; coordination between overseas
ventures will be minimal, and the individual locations will be responsible for
developing their own personnel policies and guidelines.

Difference between Expatriates, or Home-country Nationals, Host-country nationals

and Third-country nationals?
Let us say John is a U.S. citizen. If John moves to France to live with no
immediate intention of going back to the US (but also no immediate intention of
becoming a French citizen) John is an American Expatriate. If John goes to France
to study, from his standpoint other Americans are Home-country nationals, French
people are Host-country nationals and people from any country other than the US
or France are Third-country nationals.
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