Expatriate Job Performance and Adjustment: Role of Individual and Organizational Factors

Abstract

The expatriate literature has highlighted many individual and organizational factors which effect expatriate job performance and adjustment but the role of some individual and organizational factors is still not clear and/or has been ignored by past researchers. For example, the role of direct and indirect support has not been well conceptualized in past studies. In addition, only a few studies have explained the importance of self-efficacy, cultural sensitivity and social networking in the related expatriate literature. Furthermore, the role of previous international experience has conflicting results in past research. The purpose of this paper is to provide a theoretical grounding and highlight the importance of those individual and organizational factors which have been ignored by past researchers. In this regard, researchers have reviewed journals/articles from different databases, books, and magazines. This paper proposes a comprehensive framework based on the gaps in the literature and suggests propositions. The proposed conceptual framework provides a theoretical grounding for individual and organizational factors that includes individual factors (self-efficacy, previous international experience, cultural sensitivity, and social network) and organizational factors (direct and indirect support). This paper suggests that expatriate adjustment (work, general, and interaction adjustment) mediates the relationship between individual factors (self-efficacy, previous international experience, cultural sensitivity, and social network), organizational factors (direct and indirect support), and expatriate job performance (rated by peer and supervisor). The proposed framework is developed based on past theoretical and empirical studies in order to cover the gap and contribute to the body of knowledge in the field of the literature. Based on the proposed framework, this paper invites researchers to empirically test the suggested propositions in order to further strengthen and develop understanding about individual and organizational factors as predictors of expatriate adjustment and job performance.