Managing the re-entry process of returnee government scholars in an emerging transition economy: An embeddedness perspective

This paper reports the findings of a study that investigates the factors affecting the re-entry and readjustment process of returnee government scholars in Vietnam. These returnee scholars were originally sent overseas to study as part of changes introduced by the Vietnamese government to develop its domestic talent pool. Using the perspective of home country embeddedness, we find that career and community embeddedness factors, together with readjustment factors, have an effect on returnee scholars’ career and life satisfaction in their home country. These factors subsequently affected their intention to stay or re-expatriate. The study contributes to public sector change management theory by examining factors affecting the re-entry process of returnees within an emerging transition economy. It also adds to the limited studies on understanding and managing the re-entry processes and state-led diaspora strategies among returnee government scholars from emerging transition economies and their effectiveness.