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The aim of this research is to contribute to the understanding of how commercial diplomats lobby for public procurement contracts. The institutional environment has ramifications for the manner of lobbying and for the practice of commercial diplomacy. This research brings together these streams of literature, and a conceptual model is developed. By means of an in-depth, single-case study, investigating the lobbying activities of EU diplomats in Indonesia, the study aimed to illustrate the model and draw the list of lobbying activities applicable for commercial diplomats. The findings reveal that in a weak institutional development environment, the diplomats focus on informational lobbying and rely heavily on their networks. If the decision-making powers are decentralized, the diplomats target more decision-makers. If diplomats do not have an access to decision-makers then ‘voice’ lobbying is applied. If the decision-makers are not elected, the diplomats do not engage in constituency-building lobbying. The findings illustrate the plausibility of the introduced conceptual model. They also suggest that domestic factors, such as interest in the host country, priority status of the host country and historical bilateral ties can positively influence the lobbying activities of the diplomats as well.

This chapter presents a study on the work of commercial diplomats as international business promoters at foreign posts. Research has largely overlooked the actual roles and activities of commercial diplomats in explaining the effectiveness of commercial diplomacy and international business support. In this study, it is assumed that commercial diplomats’ behavior is influenced by informal institutions. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 23 commercial diplomats at foreign posts from different countries were conducted and analyzed. The results show three different types of role behavior and differences in proactivity per type. Informal institutions such as background, skills, and experience, cultural differences, and the working environment suggest to explain the differences in levels of proactive international business support behavior of commercial diplomats. Further research is needed to assert these findings.

The purpose of this study is to define the communicational profile of unattached diplomats and explore the viability of state-centric concepts such as citizen diplomacy when discussing non-state actors emerging from civil society.

The paper uses a comparative, multiple case design focusing on descriptive case studies (Yin, 2018) that explore the diplomatic endeavours and social biographies of “citizens of the world” acting at a global or local level, not explicitly attached to or explicitly against an official, state agenda: Malala Yousafzai, Greta Thunberg and Bill Gates.

The unattached diplomats have organisational mobility but are attached to the cause they promote, a configuration that fundamentally opposes that of the traditional or organisational diplomat. Looking at individuals from a diplomatic perspective, not as instruments or as targets, but rather as agents with their own agenda, issues and diplomatic capital, the unattached diplomats define their lack of attachment through organisational mobility, adversarial positioning or personal financial autonomy with regard to state diplomatic institutions or for-profit/not-for-profit organisations.

A higher number and diversity of case studies can enable the identification of patterns and standards.

This study introduces and operationalises the concept of unattached diplomats. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to discuss it in the context of another emerging concept, currently insufficiently researched: civil society diplomacy.

The global economic power shift towards the East has caused the governments of developed economies to support national businesses which are involved in the process of internationalizing and expanding across borders. Commercial diplomacy provides a means for governments to increase their international trade and to stimulate their national economies. Foreign posts play a crucial role in offering effective diplomatic support for international business. But what are the factors that can explain commercial diplomacy effectiveness at the foreign post level? This chapter presents the results of a survey that was conducted among commercial diplomats stationed at foreign posts. It appears that the amount of experience that commercial diplomats acquired at these foreign posts, combined with their established business network, form two of the most important factors which have a positive impact on the quality of commercial diplomacy. This extends further to include the importance of the client (business) preparedness in terms of knowledge and skills as well. Furthermore, the results indicate that the less favourable a cognitive institutional environment in a host country is, for instance in terms of information availability, the more relevance commercial diplomacy will have. The results of this study promote the understanding of how commercial diplomacy works and show how the debate on the future of commercial diplomacy can be taken a step further. This study should also be seen as a starting point for a holistic framework of commercial diplomacy effectiveness.

This paper aims to explore the interplay between burnout, national identity and career satisfaction among diplomats. In particular, the authors focus on the roles of home and host country identification as an emotional resource for overcoming the negative effects of job-related burnout.

Survey responses from 123 diplomats were used to assess the moderating role of home and host country identification on the relationship between burnout and career satisfaction.

Various combinations of high or low home or host country identification were tested, and the findings suggest that the negative effect of burnout on career satisfaction is reduced for those individuals that have high identification with both the home and the host country, while this is not the case for other combinations. This points to the beneficial effects of dual national identifications even for diplomats – a group that would normally be expected to identify strongly with the home country alone.

No existing study that the authors know of has explored the relationship between burnout, national identity and career satisfaction among diplomats or other types of expatriates. This is unfortunate because a better understanding of national identity could guide practitioners in finding ways to reduce the negative consequences of burnout in international organizations.

This chapter describes the business goals, purpose, and strategy of public diplomatic services. It reinforces diplomatic organizations’ fundamental bureaucratic administrative culture (Tier 1). The bureaucratic culture of diplomacy is deconstructed, and each of the five layers is described in detail. The authors also explain why focusing on the artifacts and behavior layers are the dominant and essential starting points for analysis in diplomatic cultures. The public service culture (Tier 2) overlays and mediates the bureaucratic culture.

Additionally, the authors describe the influence that political appointees as leaders may play in shaping public service cultures. Next, the authors explain how diplomatic cultures reflect the core values of a state’s culture. Next, the chapter outlines the landscape of external influencing cultures (Tier 3) in diplomacy. Finally, the knowledge, learning, and collaboration (KLC) culture of diplomacy is considered, with opportunities for future growth.

This paper introduces the concept of business diplomacy as a way to implement values‐based, ethical leadership. Drawing on the Japanese concept of kyosei, business diplomats take responsibility for themselves and others and treat people with respect and kindness while they simultaneously attempt to be entrepreneurial, add business value, and make a profit. This paper reviews the strategies and tactics of business diplomacy and provides case examples of how to be diplomatic and ethical in difficult situations. The paper concludes with recommendations for how to establish an organizational culture based on business diplomacy.

Previous research indicates that accompanying partners often struggle to find employment upon international relocations. This study aims to highlight diplomat’s partners’ employment situation and to examine how unrealized professional aspirations affect their socio-cultural and psychological adjustment in the foreign environment.

This study applies OLS regression analysis to a sample of 220 partners of German Foreign Service diplomats who were surveyed regarding their locational adjustment, general stress and perceived quality of life using an online questionnaire. This study differentiates between working partners (19.5% of the total sample), non-working partners with a desire to obtain paid employment (65.5%) and partners who are unemployed by choice (15.0%).

The results demonstrate that partners’ employment situation and employment aspirations are important variables explaining differences in socio-cultural and psychological adjustment. Working partners reveal the highest levels of general stress, non-working partners with an employment desire report the lowest levels of locational adjustment and non-working partners without employment aspirations experience the highest quality of life.

As this study has a cross-sectional design, the authors are not able to deal with potential issues of reverse causality.

Sending organizations should consider accompanying partners' unrealized employment aspirations by providing services with regard to job search and career development. Moreover, they should ensure the provision of services that support the work–life balance of working couples.

Previous research only sparsely examined the adjustment and well-being of partners accompanying foreign service employees, who are in contrast to business expatriates required to relocate every three to five years. Moreover, this study features the crucial role of partners' employment situation and discusses possibilities to promote spousal employment, as well as complementary measures to improve work–life balance for dual-earner couples.

Government, business support organisations (BSOs), support services and client business firms constitute the key actors involved in the business–government interaction within commercial diplomacy. While businesses are interested in support in their international operations, commercial diplomats (CDs) work towards both objectives: supporting individual firms and promoting the home country's national economy in general. BSOs, public or private or mixed such as bilateral chambers of commerce, sector associations, investment promotion agencies and other self-help business organisations, complete the CD's offer, and are often referred to, and participate directly and indirectly in the home country's trade promotion effort.

The nature of the CD's service to beneficiaries is highly people based, and contains both a consistent amount of government instruction and CD's own personal judgment and initiative in promoting various sectors/sub-sectors and spotting business opportunities. The ‘intermediary’ function of the CD between the beneficiary business and its potential future business partner is important. The interaction may start on either side: the business firm may approach the CD or vice versa. To a large extent, export issues remain the most important enquiries from business to CD vs. other issues such as foreign direct investment, joint venture and debt issues.

From a business perspective the main advantages to use the CD's service are threefold. The CD appears to business firms as the central platform, the starting point to promote bilateral business. Second, CDs enjoy trust as an institution: they are considered credible and neutral (credibility and neutrality). Last but not the least, CDs are found useful in helping out firms in their first steps in foreign markets (not necessarily first exporters but for the firms to which the host country market only is new). The transaction between CD and beneficiary business firm has a material price: some services such as market research are for fee and are often subcontracted. Others being part of a ‘basic service’ of diplomats are free of charge.

Commercial diplomacy within the EU is currently a matter for the individual EU member states (MS). This results in different policies and practices. But to what extent do they really differ? This chapter presents the results of a comparative study on EU MS commercial diplomacy policies and practices. The policy goals and practices of all 27 MS were assessed via document analysis and interviews with commercial diplomats. The findings show considerable differences in terms of the responsible ministry, the policy focus, the network of foreign posts and the work performed at the foreign post. However, countries that entered the EU first seem to have similar commercial diplomacy policy and practices characteristics, as do the countries that entered the EU after 2003. Furthermore, the results of statistical tests show that countries that entered first are similar in size, wealth, share of EU trade, number of embassies inside the EU, number of employees at the foreign post and the activism of the foreign post. These similarities apply as well for the countries that entered the EU after 2003. Overall, this study concludes that home country characteristics (size, culture, government), host country characteristics (institutions, culture, regime) and the relationship between a home country and a host country affect the commercial diplomacy policies and practices.