Expatriate Career Research Articles

Expatriate’s protean career orientation and cross-cultural adjustment: the mediating role of career adaptability

PurposeIHRM identifies career adaptability and cross-cultural adjustment as the central tenants for expatriate career. The present study focuses on; (1) it employs the theoretical framework of career construction theory (CCT) to examine the relationship between adaptive readiness, resources and responses by examining the relationship between protean career orientation, career adaptability and cross-cultural adjustment of self-initiated expatriates (SIE) and (2) it explores the moderating role of frequency of interaction that SIEs possess with HCN.Design/methodology/approachA total of 278 Indian SIEs engaged in different occupational roles in different sectors, working in six different countries, i.e. United Arab Emirates, Canada, Germany, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the USA responded through primary survey.FindingsConsistent with CCT conceptualization, the study illustrates a positive partial mediating effect of career adaptability on the direct relationship between protean career orientation and cross-cultural adjustment. Furthermore, the findings of the moderation analysis suggest that frequent interaction of the SIE facilitates the enhancing of cross-cultural adjustment.Practical implicationsThe study suggests that lack of protean career orientation might result in lowering employee interest in the job or assignment, and affect effectiveness, satisfaction, productivity and cross-cultural adjustment. The study also recommends systematically increasing the interaction frequency with the HCNs to facilitate SIEs employees for facilitating cross-cultural adjustments (CCA).Originality/valueThe study theoretically and empirically contributes to protean career orientation and career adaptability in the context of expatriates, which is an enabling factor for CCA in job contexts. The relevance of interaction frequency is acknowledged for the adaptability and adjustments for the international workforce perspective.

Exploring the determinants of career success after expatriation: a focus on job fit, career adaptability, and expatriate type

Expatriation significantly influences the career paths of individuals after their international work experience. This study draws on person-environment fit and career construction theories to examine the role of job fit, career adaptability, and expatriate type in shaping both objective and subjective career success. Our 2020 sample comprised 191 expatriates who had worked abroad four to five years prior. This group included both self-initiated and assigned expatriates, as well as repatriates and re-expatriates, providing a broader scope than is typical in expatriation studies. The research reveals that job fit, career adaptability, and expatriate type substantially affect career outcomes. It also identifies that the type of expatriate moderates the relationship between career adaptability and objective career success. Our work extends the applicability of person-environment fit theory and career construction theory within the complex landscape of expatriate careers. The investigation not only deepens our understanding of the factors driving career success post-expatriation but also provides valuable insights to aid the effective management of international careers.

From a short-term study abroad student to a future expatriate – contrasting the effects of social support from the host-country nationals, sociocultural adaptation, and acculturation attitude

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore how three experiential factors – perceived social support from host-country nationals (HCNs), adaptation difficulties, and attitude towards assimilating into the host culture and society – influence the generation of worthwhile feelings and the intention to pursue expatriate career opportunities in the host country among short-term studying abroad (STSA) students.Design/methodology/approachThis study used data from a survey of 297 Thai students who studied in Chinese universities between 2015 and 2019. A bivariate probit model was applied due to its ability to account for the potential correlation of errors between the two binary outcome variables: worthwhileness and aspiration for expatriate careers.FindingsAdaptation difficulties reported by students negatively impacted their willingness to work in the host country, but did not diminish their perception of the sojourn as worthwhile. Satisfaction with social support from HCNs was found to not only enhance the worthwhileness of the sojourn but also inspire students' expatriate career intentions in the host country. The study also found that while willingness to assimilate into the host culture and society primarily enhanced the worthwhileness of the trip, its effect on students' willingness to consider working in the host country was relatively weak, compared with the effect of social support from HCNs.Research limitations/implicationsThe generalizability of the findings from this study may be limited to country pairs that are geographically and culturally similar.Originality/valueAlthough it is commonly believed that STSA programs help inspire students to develop aspirations for international careers or lifestyles, the specific roles of various factors in their experiences abroad have not been sufficiently studied. This study aims to clarify the different effects between social support received, adaptation difficulties experienced, and inner acculturation attitudes on both the evaluation of the trip itself and the long-term life goals of students participating in STSA programs.

Is There No Place Like Home? Expatriates' Locus of Control Personality, Self-efficacy, Cross-cultural Adjustment, and Organizational Support for Expatriate Career

Expatriates are crucial for multinational corporations' internationalization strategy due to their connective position between headquarters and overseas branches. Understanding expatriates' willingness to remain in the foreign branches may allow organizations to avoid wasting the substantial cost of international human resource transitions and to strengthen the effectiveness of firm strategic deployment. Perceived causality orientation in the international job transition may influence how expatriates cognitively adjust themselves to fit into a new cultural environment, though little work has considered the psychological processes that influence employees’ intention to stay. The study, therefore, explores the relationship between expatriates' causality orientation and their intention to remain in the foreign position through the mediating effect of cross-cultural adjustment process. This considers the social cognitive theory (SCT) and investigates the moderating role of expatriates' self-efficacy and perceived organizational support for their career. The hypotheses proposed in this paper are tested using a unique sample of 219 Taiwanese expatriates in Vietnam. Results show that expatriates with high levels of internal control personality have higher cross-cultural adjustment, and expatriates with better adjustment in different cultural contexts have stronger willingness to stay. However, external locus of control weakens the expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment process when they have low levels of self-efficacy. Counterintuitively, the findings suggest that expatriates’ perceived organizational career support will reduce the positive relationship between their cross-cultural adjustment and the intention to stay.

Employment relationships of Chinese expatriates: A multi-foci perspective of psychological contract.

Research into expatriation has made a great contribution to the understanding of issues surrounding international human resource management. However, academic discussion around the subject of expatriate management remains Western-centred, neglecting the use of expatriate staffing in multinational corporations (MNCs) from Eastern countries. By adopting a multi-foci perspective of the psychological contract, the overall objective of this research is to explore the content of Chinese expatriates' psychological contracts. This paper draws on the findings of an organisational case study and is based on semi-structured interviews with 14 expatriates. The findings provide evidence that individuals have multiple simultaneous psychological contracts, each with a different focus. The contracts held by the Chinese expatriates in this sample contain predominately balanced contract beliefs, which contrast sharply to what the other authors find to be salient beliefs (e.g., transactional contract beliefs) for expatriates based on Western samples. Importantly, the most frequently listed exchange partners by the pre-departure expatriates were line managers and department managers in headquarters; individuals appreciate the respective role of each party in shaping their aspects of work conditions whilst acknowledging the simultaneous existence of such influences. This paper has implications for expatriate management in the following ways. First, managers are encouraged to appreciate the role of multiple parties in shaping expatriates' psychological contracts. This helps to enhance management's understanding on the motives and demands of those expatriates. Second, policies of support and contact would aid feelings of integration. Finally, more attention should be paid to planning expatriate career prospects.

Taking stock of expatriates’ career success after international assignments: A review and future research agenda

This systematic literature review explores studies addressing the objective career success and subjective career success of company-assigned and self-initiated expatriates after their long-term international assignments. Expatriate work is defined as high-density work that affects employee learning and career trajectories. We develop a holistic expatriate career success framework exploring the following questions: 1) What individual career impact results from international assignments? 2) What are the antecedents of such career success? and 3) What are the outcomes of assignees’ career success? A previously neglected range of theoretical perspectives, antecedents, and outcomes of expatriate career success is identified. Subsequently, a threefold contribution is made. First, we extend the conceptualization of international work density to unveil the differences between general and global career concepts. Second, we identify promising theories that have not been utilized in expatriation research, emphasizing context-related and learning theories that chime with the specific nature of global careers. Lastly, we suggest an extensive future research agenda.

Pedagogic Pound: "What is it the professors don't know?"

Pedagogic Pound:"What is it the professors don't know?"1 Robert Spoo (bio) SUPER SCHOOLMASTER: EZRA POUND AS TEACHER, THEN AND NOW, by Robert Scholes and David Ben-Merre. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2021. xxi + 199 pp. $95.00 cloth, $32.95 paper. Ezra Pound was a nonconformist in the college classroom, both as a teacher and as a student. He was an unpredictable, feet-onthe-table lecturer during his brief stint in 1907-1908 as Professor of Romance Languages at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana.2 He excused students from examinations if he thought them either too intelligent or too hopeless to benefit from testing.3 Yet he had presumably impressed the college's President, who had hired him after a half-hour interview despite his bohemian neglect of "a coat. a collar. a neck-tie. also my shoes were not shined."4 Pound's most memorable interactions with Wabash students were extramural, and these were remembered chiefly because they defied the conventions. By 1907, the college had declared itself nonsectarian, but its Presbyterian origins still magnetized the moral compass of the place. Observance of the proprieties was enforced by a town-and-gown vigilance so keen that a professor's rooming-house habits could quickly become the talk of what Pound sneeringly called the "facultate."5 He ostentatiously smoked in his rooms despite a state law that banned the sale and possession of cigarettes,6 and he spiced his pedagogical pronouncements with high-tempered cursing. Certain scandalized students made a beeline for the President's office "to complain," Pound said, "erbout me orful langwidge and the number of cigarillos I consume."7 He decided that having to correct stacks of French and Spanish papers four times a week was "perfectly ridiculous," and he back-burnered this drudgery in favor of "jamming out mss" of his own verses (Poet 57). He was on track to publish and perish. Then as today, colleges found it hard to dismiss an eccentric personality unless there was some really flagrant breach of the rules. Pound was ready to oblige. He had scarcely settled into teaching duties when he wanted to "abandong me 'igh callin' and skidoo to paats more plush lined than Hoosier" (Parents, 2 October 1907, 93). [End Page 335] He changed lodgings four times during his six-months at Wabash, restlessly trying to achieve, and escape, respectability in the closely surveilled town. At one point when he was living in a rooming house favored by traveling actors, "two stewdents" walked in on him as he was "sharing my meagre repast with the lady-gent impersonator in me privut apartments" (Poet 59). The scandal of this probably innocent scene had hardly died down when Pound rescued a burlesque entertainer from the bitter Indiana winter and allowed the young woman to sleep in his bed as he lay on the floor, wrapped in his topcoat. The President of Wabash called for his resignation, and he gave it. But the facts were shaky, and the President offered to recall Pound, perhaps fearing that the young instructor was being unfairly maligned. Newspapers in South Bend and Logansport had already caught the scent and printed allusions to Pound's "alleged gay habits."8 But he declined the invitation to return to the fetters of the facultate, deciding instead to "go to ze sunny Italia" (Parents, 17 February 1908, 103). He launched upon his expatriate career in March 1908, sailing for Gibraltar aboard the Cunard Royal Mail Steamship "Slavonia." Of the Crawfordsville scandal, he airily told his father that he had had "more fun out of the fracasso than there is in a dog fight & hope I have taught 'em how to run a college" (Parents, 17 February 1908, 103). This "showman and charlatan," as one of his Wabash colleagues remembered him, would never again occupy a formal teaching post.9 Yet he would never stop teaching. Pound liked to have learners gathered at his feet, literally, but such audiences were only possible outside the formal classroom. A Wabash alumnus recalled the student soirées that he hosted in his lodgings, "seated . . . on a chair, while his disciples and satellites disposed themselves gracefully...

Effective Planning for an Expatriate Career: What Roles Do Career Adaptability and Cultural Intelligence Play?

Grounded in the theories of career construction, planned behavior, and intelligence, this study examined the antecedents or mechanisms of effective planning for an overseas career among university students. Two studies were conducted (for Study 1, N = 243 students in the Philippines; for Study 2, N = 274 students in Australia). Results indicated that career adaptability (and its dimensions) was significantly related to expatriate career planning effectiveness and that expatriate career intention and cultural intelligence (and its dimensions) played important roles in the relationship. Findings contribute to the knowledge base regarding expatriation and offer practical insights relevant for career counselors, particularly in the assessment and effective preparation of students aiming to embark and establish overseas careers.

Managing expatriates in the United Arab Emirates: the role of host- and home-country mentors on expatriate career outcomes

PurposeThis study aims to empirically explore how mentoring can help Western expatriates before, during and after the overseas assignment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study is built on 20 in-depth interviews with Western expatriates currently working and living in the UAE.FindingsThis study demonstrates that expatriate mentoring is an important area largely unexplored in the literature. The results establish that host-country mentors are fundamentally responsible for helping expatriates to develop common problem-focused coping tactics, whereas home-country mentors predominantly address emotionally focused coping tactics during the pre-departure and repatriation phase of the expatriation process.Research limitations/implicationsOver 30 years’ worth of research literature was searched within the following major databases: ABI/INFORM, ERIC and PsycINFO. These databases contained articles, mainly in English, of limited scope, i.e. more academic than practical. This may have led to the omission of some expatriate mentoring approaches applied in practice by human resources managers, especially in countries where English is not the first language.Practical implicationsMentors in both the host and home countries are crucial in assisting and supporting expatriates in developing constructive coping strategies that enhance the likelihood of a successful expatriation experience.Originality/valueThere is insufficient research in expatriate mentoring, which this study aims to address by focusing on Western expatriates in the UAE, a vibrant Arab, Muslim country whose local business environment is very different from that of China, Europe and the USA, which have been the main focus of prior research.

Career Verdure And Wellness Signification Among Academic Expatriate Members Of Malaysian Private University

The influx of professionals from abroad through the diaspora of career exploration shows a significant increase. Rationally, expatriate individuals who decided to expat must intend to utilise the development of their career development in the host country. In line with the era of globalisation and internationalisation policy of higher education, the understanding of the significance of the career verdure and wellness of expatriates is a critical element in the career development of international staff. The two main objectives of this study are (i) to identify the significance of career verdure and wellness among expatriate academics members of Private Universities of Malaysia and (ii) to work on an assessment that shows the tendency of expatriates in making choices to work in Private Universities of Malaysia. Based on the determination made from the purposeful sampling, a total of 35 expatriate academicians from three private universities willingly gave their consent to participate as study informants. Using a qualitative approach through in-depth interview methods, this study identifies the relevance of expatriate academician’s attendance who choose to serve in Private Universities of Malaysia and the significance of verdure and wellness in expatriate career achievement as an academician. The results of the research include four (4) key findings namely (i) Generating Income Maximization, (ii) Conducive Workplace Environment, (iii) Stimulus of Targeted Job Movement and (iv) Harmony of the Host Country. The findings clearly show that these expatriate academicians have used career paths through expatriation done to develop their careers, further achieving a level of success in a much better direction than what they gained while in their home country. Meanwhile the tendency of the decision to migrate among the expatriates is also seen as a relevant initiative on the part of the university management in order to optimally realize efforts to recruit, select and retain international staff, especially in Private Universities of Malaysia.

Influence of Informal Relationships on Expatriate Career Performance in China: The Moderating Role of Cultural Intelligence

ABSTRACTPursuing an international career in China can be risky particularly when there is a lack of informal relationships and knowledge of the socio-cultural environment of the country. Drawing from social capital theory of career success and intelligence theory, this study investigates the influence of expatriate manager-local subordinateguanxion expatriate managers’ career performance and the contingency role of cultural intelligence. Using multi-source data from a sample (N = 154) of expatriate managers in China, our results show that expatriate manager-local subordinateguanxipositively influences expatriate career performance, and that this relationship is positively moderated by expatriates’ cultural intelligence. The broader theoretical and practical implications of the findings for international careers are fully discussed.

Women's expatriate careers: losing trust in organisational equality and diversity policy implementation?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how female expatriates interpret the effectiveness of practical implementation of equality/diversity policies, trusting this to support their expatriate careers.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional, qualitative research approach draws upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with 14 human resources equality/diversity policy implementers and 26 current female expatriates in two oil and gas firms.FindingsEarly-career stage female expatriates believe that equality/diversity policy implementation will support their international careers. At the most senior levels, women expatriates highlight unequal treatment breaching their trust in delivery of equality/diversity principles to support their expatriate career progression.Research limitations/implicationsLongitudinal research is needed to assess how early-career women expatriates' willingness to trust in organisational equality/diversity principles alters as their careers progress, and the effects of any changing trust relations on their contributions to organisational strategic objectives. Larger senior female expatriate samples are needed to research links between trust relations and turnover.Practical implicationsOrganisations must weigh up benefits from using transparent expatriate selection processes versus less formal mechanisms, if informal processes are not to undermine espoused equality interventions. Unconscious bias training should form part of wide-ranging programmes to tackle discrimination. Senior managerial action with embedded accountability is needed.Originality/valueExploring the rhetoric and reality of equality/diversity policy implementation on women comprising a minority expatriate group, this research demonstrates women expatriates' early-career trust in gender equality falls away as they first recognise and then accept diminishing female expatriate senior grade representation and the implications for their expatriate careers. Should turnover result, this could detrimentally affect organisational expatriate gender diversity objectives.

Unlocking inhibitors to women's expatriate careers: can job-related training provide a key?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine what job-related training interventions female expatriates seek and can access in order to build necessary knowledge and skills to progress into further career-enhancing expatriate positions.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a cross-sectional qualitative research approach, drawing upon semi-structured interviews in respect of organisational training practice with 26 current female expatriates and nine human resource, international assignments and training managers in two oil and gas exploration firms.FindingsBudgets, time and travel restrictions and competitive business pressures constrain on-the-job training provision for expatriates. Assignees require specific knowledge and skills ahead of appointment to subsequent expatriate positions. HR personnel believe training provides appropriate knowledge and capability development, supporting women expatriates' career ambitions. Women assignees view training available within their current roles as insufficient or irrelevant to building human capital for future expatriate posts.Research limitations/implicationsLongitudinal research across a wider spectrum of industries is needed to help understand the effects of training interventions on women's access to future career-enhancing expatriation and senior management/leadership positions.Practical implicationsOrganisations should ensure relevant technical skills training, clear responsibility for training provision, transparent and fair training allocation, positive communication regarding human capital outcomes and an inclusive culture that promotes expatriate gender diversity.Originality/valueSet within the framework of human capital theory, this study identifies the challenges that female expatriates experience when seeking relevant job-related training to further their expatriate careers. It identifies clear mismatches between the views of HR and female assignees in relation to the value of job-related training offered and women's access to it.

Further investigation of the relationship between cultural intelligence and expatriate career intentions

Previous research has shown that cultural intelligence is a positive predictor of expatriate career intentions among university students, but little is known about the “how” of this relationship. In a first study (N = 241) we provide evidence for the incremental validity of cultural intelligence, by showing that cultural intelligence predicts expatriate career intentions over and above emotional intelligence and the five-factor model of personality. In a second study (N = 469), we find that expatriate career self-efficacy mediates the link between cultural intelligence and expatriate career intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Great expectations? Female expatriates’ perceptions of organisational performance and development reviews in supporting access to international assignments

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of organisational performance and development review policy and practice on women’s access to international careers via long-term expatriate assignments in the oil and gas industry, with a specific focus on women’s perceptions of procedural justice. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative cross-sectional case study research design is used to analyse performance and development review, and international assignment policies in two firms, together with in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 14 Human Resource policy custodians and 21 female long-term current assignees. Findings Women assignees do not see performance and development reviews as effective mechanisms to access expatriate roles. Nonetheless, women use these procedures while also operating within senior male networks to signal their desire to expatriate. Research limitations/implications This study identifies differences between organisational policy objectives and policy implementation, and female assignees’ experiences and expectations of accessing expatriate roles. Women’s perceptions of organisational justice are not harmed because women place more emphasis on process and conversations than on policy. Research propositions are suggested extending organisational justice theory. Practical implications Clear articulation of performance and development review processes aids organisational succession planning. Formalised, transparent expatriate career management supports women’s access to expatriation. The roles of key personnel in determining access to expatriate career paths require clarification. Originality/value This paper extends our knowledge of women’s organisationally assigned expatriate careers and perceptions of procedural justice. Women use performance and development reviews to access expatriate opportunities. Employer action aligned to policy intent could help increase female expatriate participation.

Expatriate career development: self efficacy, multicultural personality, collective efficacy, and individual expatriate performance

This research aims to identify and analyse the factors that are affecting the performance of expatriates. The population in this study were expatriates who worked in Indonesia. The sampling method was snowball sampling. The number of respondents of this study was 453 expatriates who worked in several companies in Indonesia. Questionnaires were distributed using Google Form, while the analytical tool used was path analysis. The results of the analysis showed that self-efficacy, multicultural personality, and collective efficacy directly affect the performance of individual expatriates. Sobel test was used to see the mediating effect collective efficacy on expatriate performance. The results showed that the collective efficacy mediated the effect of self-efficacy on expatriate individual performance and the collective efficacy mediated the effect of multicultural personality too on expatriate individual performance.

Expatriate Career Development: Self Efficacy, Multicultural Personality, Collective Efficacy, and Individual Expatriate Performance

This research aims to identify and analyse the factors that are affecting the performance of expatriates. The population in this study were expatriates who worked in Indonesia. The sampling method was snowball sampling. The number of respondents of this study was 453 expatriates who worked in several companies in Indonesia. Questionnaires were distributed using Google Form, while the analytical tool used was path analysis. The results of the analysis showed that self-efficacy, multicultural personality, and collective efficacy directly affect the performance of individual expatriates. Sobel test was used to see the mediating effect collective efficacy on expatriate performance. The results showed that the collective efficacy mediated the effect of self-efficacy on expatriate individual performance and the collective efficacy mediated the effect of multicultural personality too on expatriate individual performance.

A Multi-country Study of Factors Influencing Expatriate Career Intentions

A bstract This paper draws from Ajzen's theory of planned behavior and examines factors influencing an expatriate's intention regarding future international career. Data was collected from 133 respondents about expatriate's perception of his/her task-based and relationship-based acceptance in the host country, the expatriate's satisfaction with host country, self-efficacy and his/her intention to consider future expatriate assignments. We used Bayesian approach to conduct structural equation model. The results indicate evidence suggesting expatriate's perception of task-based group acceptance, self-efficacy and host country satisfaction influence future expatriate career intention. However, we failed to find evidence of the predicted direct effect of expatriate's perception of relationship-based group acceptance on the same. This paper contributes to research by addressing an important gap in the expatriate career literature by examining determinants of future expatriate intentions. Both theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.

A Dual Pathway Model of How Mindsets May Impede and Enable Intercultural Effectiveness

Given how readily intercultural glitches can erode the success of expatriate careers, together with the imperative for fresh insights on how this issue can be addressed, we propose a dual pathway conceptual model of how the self-regulatory and interpersonal manifestations of mindsets influence intercultural effectiveness. The developmental pathway involves mindsets about the plasticity of abilities facilitating or hampering cultural intelligence (CQ) development and intercultural effectiveness via expatriates being culturally mentored and learning the host language, as well as moderating learning from their overseas experiences and maintaining robust cross-cultural self-efficacy. Through the momentary pathway, mindsets compensate or compound the impact of inadequate CQ to handle a challenging cross-cultural encounter via how they shape expatriates’ real-time curiosity, emotional equanimity, and collaborative problem solving. Beyond providing a promising new perspective on a perennial issue in the expatria...

Challenges of Expatriate Management with Special Reference to Compensation

Business organizations are today no more confined in single geographical markets, the need to significantly grow to newer markets with its existing or new offerings has spurred globalization. The development in international business compels organizations to focus on world as a market. These organizations’ setting up manufacturing plants and business development operations in different countries in order to develop international business. Global business operations have provided opportunities both to the business and to employees who may have to shift to other operational locations apart from home locations. These employees are known as expatriates and expatriate management has become a matter of concern for HR Managers as a large number of expats are flipping across borders. The international organizations should understand the crux of employing the skilled and competency based workforce. The concept of written policies for expatriate compensation must be followed. The importance of experienced staff and a proper measure of provision of expatriate benefits in terms of policies must be followed. The paper focuses on key issues such as International Benefits and Compensation, the Expatriate Compensation Balance Sheet, Compensation and Career Planning, the role of expatriates and as to how companies compensate their expatriates.