Career paths of global managers: Towards future research

The aim of this paper is to identify potentially productive areas where future research on global managers' careers is warranted. Approaching career as a path, we conceptualize a global career path as an intersection of three domains: an individual, an organizational and a global environment domain. To identify, within each domain, the most important factors influencing a global career, we first conducted a review of the literature on boundaryless careers and global managers. This review allowed us to identify those factors that are most relevant to the changing nature of careers and global assignments. We then reviewed past empirical research on international careers to map how previous studies have addressed those factors, further guiding us to formulate directions for future research on global careers. As well as indicating these specific research implications, we propose a contextualized research approach that facilitates understanding of different career moves over time as well as the overall direction of a global career path. (c) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.