Is inpatriate assignment experience a ticket to the top of a foreign subsidiary? The moderating effect of subsidiary context

Research on international assignments and career progress has concentrated on the international assignment experience of parent-country nationals sent from the headquarters of a multinational enterprise to a foreign subsidiary. Adopting the career-cone perspective, we examine the influence of assignment experience in the headquarters on the career progress of host-country national subsidiary managers. Results from surveys and archival data of 268 subsidiary managers confirm that this kind of experience accelerates their career progress, while other assignments abroad fail to do so. Headquarters assignment experience is especially beneficial for subsidiary managers working in subsidiaries that are more integrated into the multinational enterprise.