Abstract
Given the increased internationalization of organizations and economies of scale concentrated in urban centers, graduates are often expected to relocate for their first job. Based on Hofstede’s model and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we examine the effects of cultural dimensions (individualism-collectivism and uncertainty tolerance) as well as subjective norms (parents’ and peers’ attitudes towards geographic mobility) on readiness for geographic job-related mobility in samples of German and Spanish business management students ahead of graduation from university. The study involved administering a survey questionnaire to 273 third- and fourth-year business management students of two large universities (one in Germany and another in Spain). Cross-cultural measurement invariance of the measures was confirmed, allowing for comparison of scores across the groups. We found that German students had generally a larger geographical mobility, whose readiness was predicted by parents’ and peers’ perceived attitude and uncertainty tolerance. Readiness for geographic mobility was also higher when social or material incentives are offered, yet geographic mobility readiness for career incentives and for social incentives was predicted by vertical individualism and horizontal collectivism, respectively. This study is one of the first to examine geographic mobility readiness among undergraduate management students in the two countries, who by nature of their training are expected to be mobile. The study also shows the differential effects of sub-dimensions of the Hofstede cultural dimensions.
Highlights
Geographic mobility seems to be more of a necessity than ever for today’s workforce, even more so because labor migration has been significantly affected by the current coronavirus pandemic (Ivakhnyuk 2020)
We examine the effect of individualism-collectivism and uncertainty tolerance dimensions
An analysis of variance (ANOVA) with the two between-subject factors country of origin and gender was run to test for differences in uncertainty tolerance, individualism-collectivism, and perceived attitudes of parents and peers
Summary
Geographic mobility seems to be more of a necessity than ever for today’s workforce, even more so because labor migration has been significantly affected by the current coronavirus pandemic (Ivakhnyuk 2020). The heightened internationalization of companies’ operations had increased the demand for internationally mobile employees (Remhof et al 2014). International mobility had gain importance for career development (Baluku et al 2019) before the pandemic. Whereas geographic career mobility may not gain the same prominence in the aftermath of the pandemic (Gamlen 2020), it will still be important especially to professionals in the field of business management, many of whom aspire to careers in international firms
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