Does Expat Style Matter? Expatriate Managerial Styles and HCNs’ Turnover Intention

Abstract

Expatriates play a crucial role in managing foreign subsidiaries. We identified expatriates into two managerial styles, commanders and coordinators, to examine the relationship between different expatriate managerial styles and host-country nationals’ (HCNs) turnover intention. Between the expatriate managerial styles, the coordinator is expected to be more effective than the commander in dealing with local employees, thus increasing goal clarity and managerial credibility perceived by employee. We also investigate the mediating effects of organizational goal clarity and managerial credibility between two expatriate managerial styles and HCNs’ turnover intention. Test results of the survey samples responded by 495 HCNs from 19 foreign multinational corporations (FMNCs) operating in China showed that the commander style negatively affects HCNs’ perception of managerial credibility while the coordinator style positively affects both goal clarity and managerial credibility. The results also revealed that both goal clarity and managerial credibility strongly reduce HCNs’ turnover intention. We discuss the implications of these findings for research on expatriate managerial styles and HCNs’ turnover intention.