Expatriate Management Committee

March 10-12, 2004

The EMC met in Scottsdale, AZ, on March 10-12, 2004. Participants included representatives from:

3M / Eli Lilly / McKinsey
American Express / ExxonMobil / Microsoft
Bank of America / Fluor / Motorola
Bechtel / Ford / NCR
Boeing / General Motors / NFTC
Bristol-Myers Squibb / GlaxoSmithKline / Nortel Networks
Cemex / Hewlett Packard / PepsiCo
Cisco / IBM / Philip Morris International
Citigroup / Intel / Procter & Gamble
Coca-Cola / Johnson & Johnson / Raytheon
Colgate-Palmolive / Kellogg’s / Schlumberger Oilfield Services
Corning / Lockheed Martin / Shell International
Delphi / Lucent Technolgoies / Siemens
DuPont / Marsh & McLennan / Wal-Mart
EDS / McDonald’s

Thank you John Murphy and Sue Mrotek of Motorola for all of your work in making arrangements locally. Your efforts helped make this a very successful event.

Localization: Principles & Concepts

Representatives of American Express, Hewlett Packard, and Procter & Gamble described how their respective organizations address the issues and implementation of localization.

Expatriate Management Software Systems: Pros & Cons of Various Systems

An ongoing problem is that there isn’t one single end-to-end system. Currently customized sub-systems are bolted on to available programs. One goal is to have greater web access/utilization integrated into mobility management systems.

A major issue can arise if the current tax provider’s system is used and a change is made in tax providers. This situation is exacerbated by Sarbanes-Oxley-related changes.

Data security is another issue. Lastly, there is no single global payroll system.

Tax Equalization Collections

A discussion was held on how to effectively collect tax equalization reimbursements. Some companies incorporate tax equalization collections into letters of assignment and/or have the expatriate sign a form acknowledging their obligation to settle promptly with the employer.

A related requirement is to have the employee bear responsibility for any penalties and/or interest that was incurred due to the expatriate being late in filing his/her tax return.

Where a problem arises it is effective to advise the expatriate’s senior management as soon as possible so as to have added leverage.

Lower Cost Policy Alternatives

Key factors are company culture and human resources philosophy and where the push for lower costs is coming from within the company.

A company case study was presented by Bank of America. Each year actual expenses are tracked against the budget to determine if a given assignment should be continued or if the assignee should be localized or repatriated.

Communicating and Explaining Policies: Best Practices

Representatives from Delphi and Nortel described how they communicate the elements of their programs.

In one case 100 current and former expatriates were used as a focus group to review new policies.

Use of a web-based policy guide and manager’s toolkit is on the company’s intranet site.

Farewell Betty Halverson, Kellogg’s

The EMC bid a fond farewell to Betty Halverson of Kellogg’s. Betty has been an active member of the EMC for some years. We wish her all the best. She was last seen surrounded by three cowboys and a sheriff in ReataPass.

Welcome Carl Brosman, Boeing

The EMC welcomes Carl Brosman and Boeing into membership.

Company Profile: Hewlett Packard

Beverly Webb provided an overview of the history and current business strategy of HP.

Benchmarking Update: Compensation Survey & Metrics Survey

A status report was provided on the expatriate compensation survey.

A survey is being developed to meet increasing pressures on IHR departments to measure and justify effectiveness of international assignment services.

Self Service Expatriate Orientation

The Raytheon representative described how they developed a CD to communicate policy, information on medical coverage, security information, emergency contacts, banking services, and relocation team contacts.

The Raytheon Enterprise Employee Locator System was also described. It includes cross-border business travelers as well as assignees.

Sub-Committees

The Tax, Operations, Technology, and Communications sub-committees met to discuss topics for the fall 2004 meeting.

The next EMC meeting will be Monday, September 20 through Wednesday, September 22, 2004 in Boston.

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