Terrorism and expatriate withdrawal cognitions: the differential role of perceived work and non-work constraints

Abstract

Building on stress theory, this study investigates the mechanism by which terrorism influences withdrawal cognitions of expatriates, namely, via perceived threat as well as perceived constraints in the work and non-work domains. Data from 160 expatriates currently working in African and Asian countries show that the level of terrorism relates to expatriates’ perceived threat. Further, we find that the effect of this perceived threat is stronger on perceived constraints in the non-work than in the work domain. While perceived constraints in the work domain have a direct effect on job turnover intentions, perceived constraints in the non-work domain have a direct effect on country leave intentions and an indirect, spillover effect on job turnover intentions. Our study underscores the importance of both work and non-work domains for understanding stress and turnover related to expatriation in terrorism-endangered countries.     

Adjustment,turnover, and performance: the deployment of minority expatriates

While in the domestic work environment, minorities are more likely to have turnover intentions and receive lower performance evaluations; the findings in this study indicate that minorities, when deployed overseas, receive higher performance evaluations than Caucasian expatriates. For Caucasian expatriates, cultural adaptability improved interaction adjustment and reduced turnover intentions, but not to the extent to which minority status improved these outcomes. These findings suggest that studying minority expatriates is a critical but overlooked factor in understanding expatriate success.     

Expatriate pay satisfaction: the role of organizational inequities,assignment stressors and perceived assignment value

Using equity, stress and buffer theories, we investigate the role played by organizational inequities (organizational justice and provision of benefits) and assignment stressors (work adjustment and role novelty) in predicting expatriate pay satisfaction. We also assess the role of perceived assignment value as an important buffer that moderates the above relationships. With a sample of 78 expatriates from nine nationalities working in Hong Kong, we find that organizational justice and work adjustment are both positively related to expatriate pay satisfaction. We also find that perceived assignment value strengthens the provision of benefits–pay satisfaction and work adjustment–pay satisfaction relationships. Limitations and managerial implications are discussed.     

A risk management model for research on expatriates in hostile work environments

Abstract

Although much has been written about the causes of expatriate adjustment, more research is needed on managing the fear and anxiety experienced when expatriates work in hostile environments. The perceived risks of terrorism, kidnapping, crime, and civil unrest can have negative effects on the performance of expatriates and the organizations that employ them. While research has begun to examine expatriates’ stress in hostile environments, there is comparatively little research on the effectiveness of management practices that can reduce such stress. We integrate the expatriate adjustment, psychological contract, and risk management literature to develop a model that can guide efforts to reduce environmental stress and its negative effect on expatriate adjustment. Specifically, we build on recent work by Bader and colleagues to develop propositions to guide future research with the aim of improving the conditions of expatriates working in hostile environments.     

Goal congruence: fitting international assignment into employee careers

This research investigates how the quality of the relationship between sending supervisors and expatriates is related to turnover and performance. Utilizing goal congruence and leader–member exchange (LMX) theories, it is hypothesized that the quality of the relationship between sending supervisors and expatriates mediates goal congruence and the two outcome variables: performance and turnover intentions. The goal examined is the degree to which the expatriation fits into expatriates' career paths at the firm. Regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses with a sample of 44 matched sending supervisor–expatriate dyads. Findings indicate that LMX mediates the relationship between goal congruence and performance. Furthermore, goal congruence has a direct negative relationship with turnover intentions. These results suggest that sending supervisors significantly influence the success of expatriate assignments.     

Conditional altruism: Effects of HRM practices on the willingness of host‐country nationals to help expatriates

The assistance of host‐country nationals (HCNs) both within the workplace and in the external environment plays a significant role in expatriate adjustment and work performance on international assignments. Extant research exploring antecedents of HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates focuses on personal and intrapersonal factors but overlooks organizational contextual effects. In this study, we propose and test a model that HCNs' willingness to help expatriates is influenced by HRM practices in international subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Results of analyzing data collected from Chinese subsidiaries of South Korean MNEs showed that high‐commitment HRM practices directly and indirectly influence HCNs' willingness to help expatriates through the mediation of perceived organizational support (POS). Socially responsible HRM indirectly influences the criterion variable through the mediation of organizational identification. Moreover, POS and organizational identification sequentially mediate the effect of high‐commitment HRM on HCNs' willingness to help expatriates. These findings shed some light on organizational antecedents that go beyond personal and intrapersonal factors of HCN attitudes and behavior toward expatriates.     

Stress and turnover intents in international organizations: social support and work–life balance as resources

Abstract

This study investigates whether work opportunities have an impact on stress and the related turnover intentions of employees working in intergovernmental international organizations (IOs). It contextualizes the job resources and demands model within IOs’ specific work conditions. The empirical test is based on original data from a survey administered in four major organizations of the United Nations system. Results demonstrate that social work opportunities and work–life balance are organizational levers reducing stress and willingness to quit for employees who are facing red tape or the stresses of being an expatriate. In this context, the relationships between these work opportunities and turnover intention are partially mediated by stress. Contextualized HR management propositions are made to help organizations coping with these management challenges.     

中国跨国公司员工社会资本对外派适应的影响研究

理论界从社会资本视角探讨外派适应的研究仍处于探索阶段。本文在回顾相关文献的基础上,首先,构建了中国企业外派人员社会资本对外派适应影响的理论框架;其次,采用问卷法进行调查,获取255份有效问卷;再次,采用探索性因素分析、验证性因素分析和层次回归等多种统计方法对这些问卷进行,结果显示,外派人员与东道国居民的工具性关系对一般适应和互动适应有显著正向影响,在工作适应中,仅外派人员与母国其他外派人员的情感性关系发挥显著作用;最后,根据研究结论,本文提出相应的建议,希望能为跨国公司外派实践提供帮助。     

Cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates in Japan

This study examines determinants of expatriate cross-cultural adjustment related to non-work- (interaction and general living adjustment) and work- (work adjustment and job satisfaction) aspects in Japan. It was hypothesized that cultural distance and expatriate gender, language proficiency, type (organizational or self-initiated expatriates), and stable personality traits (social initiative, emotional stability, cultural empathy, flexibility, and open-mindedness) have an influence on both non-work- and work-related adjustment. Hierarchical regression analyses, performed on data from 110 expatriates, indicate that expatriate language proficiency, type, and the personality traits of emotional stability and cultural empathy have a positive influence on both types of adjustment. Implications of these findings for practice are discussed.     

How does perceived underemployment influence expatriate job-related outcomes? A moderated mediation study

Abstract

Although research has investigated the consequences of underemployment in domestic settings, research on the effects of underemployment among expatriates remains limited and has yielded inconsistent results. From a theoretical perspective, there is a need for a better understanding of the mechanisms through which underemployment affects various work-related outcomes and to account for potential contingencies. Drawing on the person-job fit literature and research on organizational identification, we theorise and empirically examine how and under what conditions underemployment influences expatriate performance. Using an original primary data-set of 103 Japanese expatriate managers in the UK, we find that underemployment affects expatriate work outcomes by increasing expatriates’ maladjustment and that this effect is moderated by the level to which expatriates identify with their organization.     

Expatriate stress and burnout

With rapid globalization, multinational firms are sending a growing number of employees on foreign assignments. A growing body of research attests to the interest in the stress experienced by these expatriates. The current study focused on a subject rarely addressed in expatriate stress research, namely burnout. Its goals were to demonstrate: (1) the relevance of burnout to expatriates; (2) the difference between stress and burnout; (3) the role played by the perceived importance of expatriates' work; (4) the relevance of existential theory as a theoretical backdrop. The study included 233 Israeli expatriates who responded to a questionnaire. Findings revealed high level of stress, low level of burnout and very high perceived work importance. Hierarchical regression showed that importance moderated the effect of stress on burnout. There were differences between the correlates of stress and burnout, especially work importance, which was negatively correlated with burnout and positively correlated with stress.     

Perceived organizational support and expatriate performance: understanding a mediated model

What are the mechanisms by which multinational corporations (MNCs) can facilitate the effective performance of their expatriate staff in foreign countries? There is a substantial literature on expatriation, yet few studies have addressed how perceived organizational support (POS) may impact upon expatriates' work adjustment and affective commitment, and then on their job performance. We use data on 118 expatriates working at the German subsidiaries of Japanese MNCs, and demonstrate that career POS has a direct positive influence on work adjustment and affective commitment. Our results indicate that work adjustment fully mediated the relationship between career POS and task performance. We further discovered that both work adjustment and affective commitment play a pivotal role in mediating the impact of career POS on contextual performance. We discuss the practical implications of these findings and provide suggestions for future research.     

The relationships of organizational justice,social exchange,psychological contract,and expatriate adjustment: an example of Taiwanese business expatriates

In the field of international human resource management, studies have seldom examined organizational justice, social exchange, and psychological contract together as important factors in influencing the expatriate adjustment process. The purpose of this research is to fill the research gap by examining these factors and their relationships with expatriate adjustment. The researcher conducted a survey of Taiwanese business expatriates during the first quarter of 2007, collecting 219 valid samples for analysis. A hierarchical regression model was used to test the research framework hypotheses, which showed that expatriates' perception of organizational justice has a positive influence both on their perceptions of social exchange and on their psychological contract fulfillment. Expatriates' perceived that social exchange has a positive influence on their perceptions of psychological contract fulfillment and foreign adjustment. Finally, research implications are discussed and future study suggestions are recommended.     

The relationship between expatriates' personality traits and their adjustment to international assignments

This study investigates the relationship between personality traits of expatriates and their adjustment to international assignments. We focused in particular on the Big Five personality traits: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness to experience. We sampled eighty-three US expatriates in Taiwan and found statistically significant relationships between expatriate adjustment and three personality traits in theoretically reasonable directions. Specifically, our results showed that a US expatriate's general living adjustment in Taiwan is positively related to his or her degree of extroversion and openness to experience. We found that extroversion and agreeableness are both positively related to interaction adjustment (i.e. relationships with local people). Furthermore, a US expatriate's work adjustment is positively related to his or her openness to experience. Unlike prior research on expatriate adjustment, we have examined multiple traits rooted in personality theory, and we have derived hypotheses that are specific to a Chinese context.     

New evidence on absenteeism and presenteeism

This paper draws from two separate but complementary theories, namely social exchange theory and social identity theory, as a means of understanding the organizational antecedents of organizational commitment. Its purpose is to study the connections between the characteristics of work in the organization (a source of perceived organizational support), the characteristics of the organization (reflected in perceived external prestige), organizational commitment and turnover intentions. We test our assumption using a sample of 249 managers and a longitudinal design. The results show that perceived organizational support and perceived prestige are differently influenced by the characteristics of and in the organization. This suggests that the characteristics of the firm, reflected in the notion of perceived external prestige, play a complementary role to the characteristics of work in the organization, reflected in perceived organizational support, in shaping organizational commitment and turnover intentions.     

Antecedents and consequences of host-country nationals' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates: What we do and do not know

Host-country nationals' (HCNs') attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates are critical for expatriate success. Thus, this study systematically reviews the existing literature on the antecedents and consequences of HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates. It is revealed that HCN personality, the perceived compensation gap between expatriates and HCNs, social categorization, HCNs' previous contact with expatriates, expatriate justice, task cohesiveness, interpersonal affect, and interpersonal relationships (guanxi) directly or indirectly predict HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates. The attitudes and behaviors of HCNs toward expatriates are significantly related to expatriate adjustment and performance. This review indicates that the extant research on HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates is limited, and the findings of past studies are often contradictory. Theoretical and practical implications as well as future research directions are discussed.     

The Buffering Effect of Perceived Organizational Support on the Relationship Between Work Engagement and Behavioral Outcomes

The present study examined the commonly held assumption that a low level of work engagement leads to higher turnover intentions and employee deviant behavior. Employee survey results (n = 175) from a manufacturing organization in the United Kingdom showed that employee work engagement correlates negatively with lagged measures of turnover intentions and deviant work behavior directed toward the organization. The results suggest that perceived organizational support moderates the relationship between work engagement and turnover intentions and deviant behaviors directed toward the organization, such that perceived organizational support compensates for relatively low levels of work engagement. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An Eastern and SME version of expatriate management: an empirical study of small and medium enterprises in Taiwan

This study, different from previous ‘individual level’ research, explored ‘company-level’ expatriate training, expatriation policies and the perceived willingness on the part of expatriates to take on an enhanced role in organizational performance. Based on data from 254 Taiwanese SMEs with foreign investments, an Eastern and SME version of expatriate management is presented. The most significant predictors of expatriate premature return and company sales are the ‘number of expatriates’ and ‘ratio of expatriates with managerial positions’. Companies that have a greater percentage of expatriates with spousal accompaniment experience more premature return while insufficient training explains lower company sales. Insights regarding regional expatriate differences and methodological implications are also elaborated.     

Expatriate career support: predicting expatriate turnover and performance

This study aimed at explaining why multinational companies have difficulty retaining their repatriates as well as how multinational companies can improve in- and expatriate performance. In the study 100 in- and expatriates of a multinational company operating in the food and personal care industry reported the career support they experienced, their perceived career prospects within and outside the home organization, their intentions to leave, and their performance. As predicted, it was found that perceived career support negatively related to intentions to leave. Additionally, it was found that perceived career support positively related to perceived career prospects within the home organization and expatriate performance. Interestingly, no relationship was found between perceived career prospects outside the home organization and intentions to leave. Implications and directions for future research and HR practices in multinational companies are discussed.     

The effects of expatriate demographic characteristics on adjustment: A social identity approach

As demand increases for expatriates to manage far‐flung operations in a global economy, scholars and practitioners are focusing their attention on the factors that contribute to expatriate success. One such factor is the support that expatriates receive from host country nationals (HCNs) with whom they work. Researchers interested in understanding expatriate success have not closely examined the phenomenon from an HCN perspective, however. At the same time, although we have gained a significant understanding of the roles of psychological, organizational, and contextual variables in the international assignment, there is still much to be understood about how expatriates' demographic characteristics affect their experiences in international assignments. Current findings regarding the effects of demographic characteristics often are inconsistent, highlighting the need for more complex theorizing. This article reviews recent research on the effects of expatriate demographic characteristics and proposes a social identity approach to understanding how these characteristics affect HCN support for the expatriate. It also seeks to develop a theory that addresses discrepancies in extant empirical findings, provides propositions to guide future research in the study of expatriates, and discusses implications for both researchers and practitioners. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.