Forgotten partners of international assignments: development and test of a model of spouse adjustment

The authors developed and tested a model of spouse adjustment to international assignments in a sequence of qualitative and quantitative investigations. From in-depth interviews with expatriate spouses, half of whom had either positive or negative experiences living abroad, the authors identified several potentially important sources of adjustment. These constructs were integrated with others from identity theory and earlier research on expatriates to develop a conceptual model of spouse adjustment. The model was tested by collecting multisource questionnaire data from 221 international assignee couples working in 37 countries. Correlation and regression analyses revealed several important relationships between individual, interpersonal relationship, and environmental sources of identity, and the adjustment of expatriate spouses.     

Reactive Adjustment or Proactive Embedding? Multistudy,Multiwave Evidence for Dual Pathways to Expatriate Retention

The dominant perspective on expatriation characterizes the process as a continuing adaptation to existing job demands on an international assignment. Another, less studied perspective, emphasizes that expatriates can initiate tactics to acquire task, interpersonal, and affective resources for shaping their assignment experiences. Adopting a positive organizational scholarship lens and drawing on the job demands–resources model, we simultaneously examine both of these reactive demand‐based and proactive resource‐based pathways to expatriate retention. We propose that cross‐cultural uncertainty demands and expatriate‐initiated resource acquisition tactics both influence adjustment and embeddedness. Thus embeddedness works alongside adjustment to drive expatriates’ plans to remain in the international position, which in turn leads to actual retention. Using evidence from 2 separate panel studies (one with 2 waves and the other with 4 waves of data), we demonstrate the importance of the resource‐based pathway for expatriate assignments.     

Examining the Relationship between Work Attitudes and Propensity to Leave among Expatriate Salespeople

The study employs literatures addressing turnover of employees in general, turnover of salespeople, and variables specific to expatriate managers to examine turnover of expatriate salespeople. Individual, job, and organizational variables are used as predictors of propensity to leave. The research suggests that several variables influence propensity to leave of expatriates: met expectations, participation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. The research also suggests that organizations need to establish clear expectations concerning the demands of the overseas sales job and allow salespeople to understand the parameters of employment.     

Predicting expatriate effectiveness: The role of personality,cross‐cultural adjustment,and organizational support

The interest in expatriate effectiveness has grown remarkably as a consequence of globalization and the possibility of failure in international assignments. This study has tested a comprehensive model of expatriate effectiveness in a sample of 108 Spanish expatriate managers. They responded to a survey which included a set of variables, including personality, adjustment, language skill, cultural distance, organizational support, and expatriate effectiveness (i.e., job performance, intentions of early return, and manager efficacy perceived by others). The results showed that cultural distance and cross‐cultural adjustment were the immediate predictors of expatriate effectiveness and that achievement, sociability, organizational support, and language skills predicted cross‐cultural adjustment and cultural distance. The results showed a good fit to the hypothesized model (GFI = .973; CFI =.975; RMSEA = .056; SRMR = .053). Finally, we comment on the implications of the findings for the research and practice of selection in international assignments.     

The role of goal orientation during expatriation: a cross-sectional and longitudinal investigation

Using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from expatriates in China, the authors investigated the roles of general, work, and interaction adjustment, as well as work stress, as mediators between the antecedents (learning, proving, and avoiding goal orientations, and perceived organizational support) and expatriate outcome (job performance and premature return intention) relationships. Results indicated that goal orientations toward overseas assignments had differential relationships with expatriate job performance and premature return intention. In addition, it was found that these relationships were partially mediated by expatriate adjustment facets. Implications for expatriate adjustment research and practice are discussed.     

Expatriate Social Ties: Personality Antecedents and Consequences for Adjustment

This expaloratory study examines the relationship between personality characteristics (extraversion, core self evaluations), social tie characteristics (number, breadth, depth), and three types of expatriate adjustment (general, interaction, and work). Data was collected at two points in time from 75 expatriate employees from one organization on international assignments around the world. Results indicate that core self‐evaluations, but not extraversion, are positively related to the number of ties formed with other expatriates and host country nationals. Social ties with other expatriates were found to provide greater social support, but similar access to information, than those with host country nationals (HCNs). In general, depth and breadth of relationships with other expatriates predicted general and work adjustment; whereas, breadth and total number of relationships with HCNs predicted all three types of adjustment. Overall, these results provide initial support for the importance of social ties in facilitating expatriate adjustment.     

Good mercenaries: Performing organizational citizenship behavior in a foreign land

IntroductionResearch on expatriates has typically left underexplored the critical antecedents of expatriates’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB).ObjectivesThis study aims to fill this research gap by studying the effects of constructs specific and nonspecific to the expatriate context of expatriates’ OCB performance.MethodsUsing online surveys, data were collected from 200 expatriates and 280 of their coworkers working in 62 host countries. The hypotheses were tested with structural equation modeling analysis.ResultsFirst, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, job satisfaction, work adjustment and interaction adjustment all had unique contributions in predicting expatriates’ OCB. Second, there was initial support for the indirect effect of the host country coworkers’ OCB performance targeted at expatriates on expatriates’ OCB-I performance. Finally, the results did not provide support for the indirect effect of personality factors on expatriates’ OCB performance.ConclusionCompared to job satisfaction, expatriates’ personality traits (i.e., Agreeableness and Conscientiousness) may have a stronger effect on expatriates’ OCB performance.     

The Effect of Work/Family Conflict on Intention to Quit: The Mediating Roles of Job and Life Satisfaction

Research has shown consistently that job satisfaction predicts turnover, but much less attention has been given to the how relationships between work and nonwork or how overall subjective evaluations of life (i.e., life satisfaction) affects turnover. We tested a model that included job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and conflict between work and nonwork domains of life as predictors of intent to quit. Results from a sample of Air Force personnel revealed that life satisfaction was a significant predictor of intent to quit after controlling for job satisfaction, and that both job and life satisfaction mediated the effects of role conflict between work and nonwork on intent to quit. We consider implications of these findings for both theory and practice. Portions of this paper were presented at the 9th Bi-Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Work and Organizational Values (ISSWOV). The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the US Government.     

Lean on me: The importance of one's own and partner's intercultural personality for expatriate's and expatriate spouse's successful adjustment abroad

This research explores the role of three intercultural personality traits—emotional stability, social initiative, and open-mindedness—as coping resources for expatriate couples’ adjustment. First, we examined the direct relationships of expatriates’ and expatriate spouses’ personality trait levels with psychological and sociocultural adjustment. Psychological adjustment refers to internal psychological outcomes such as mental health and personal satisfaction, whereas sociocultural adjustment refers to more externally oriented psychological outcomes that link the individual to the new environment. Second, we examined the association of expatriates’ personality trait levels with professional adjustment, which was defined in terms of job performance and organizational commitment. Cross-sectional analyses among 196 expatriates and expatriate spouses (i.e., 98 expatriate couples) revealed that the three dimensions are each associated with specific facets of adjustment. A longitudinal analysis among a subsample (45 couples) partially confirmed these findings. Furthermore, we obtained evidence for a resource compensation effect, that is, the compensatory process whereby one partner's lack of sufficiently high levels of a certain personality trait is compensated for by the other partner's high(er) levels of this traits. Through this resource compensation effect, the negative consequences of a lack of sufficient levels of a personality trait on adjustment can be diminished. Apparently, in the absence of sufficiently high trait levels, individuals can benefit from personality resources in their partners.     

Identifying international assignees at risk for premature departure: the interactive effect of outcome favorability and procedural fairness

Two studies examined factors that predict expatriate managers' tendencies to think seriously about departing prematurely from their international assignments. Previous research (conducted outside of the expatriate context) has shown that individuals' willingness to stay with or leave their positions is an interactive function of outcome favorability and procedural fairness. A conceptually analogous interaction effect was found in the present studies. Whereas expatriates more seriously thought of departing prematurely when they perceived the non-work-related outcomes of their overseas assignments to be less favorable, this tendency was much less pronounced when procedural fairness was relatively high. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, as are limitations of the studies and suggestions for future research.     

An examination of crossover and spillover effects of spousal and expatriate cross-cultural adjustment on expatriate outcomes

Integrating work-family and cross-cultural adjustment literatures, the researchers proposed and tested a spillover and crossover model of expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment with reciprocal relationships. Spillover effects refer to the influence that expatriate attitudes in a particular domain (e.g., work) have on attitudes in other domains (e.g., nonwork), whereas crossover effects refer to the influence of expatriate attitudes on the spouse's attitudes (and vice versa). Data collected from Japanese expatriates, their spouses, and their superiors strongly supported both spillover and crossover effects between expatriate and spousal cross-cultural adjustment. In addition, expatriates' cross-cultural adjustment was found to be related to satisfaction, which, in turn, was found to be negatively related to expatriates' intention to return to their homeland early.     

The effectiveness of expatriate coping strategies: the moderating role of cultural distance, position level, and time on the international assignment

On the basis of the stress and coping literature, the authors examined the diverse coping strategies used by expatriate managers in response to the problems encountered while on international assignments. It was hypothesized that although problem-focused coping strategies may be more effective than are emotion-focused coping strategies in affecting cross-cultural adjustment and intention to remain on the international assignment, the relationship is moderated by contextual factors such as hierarchical level in the organization, time on the assignment, and cultural distance. Coded semistructured interview responses from 116 German expatriates on assignment in either Japan or the United States were analyzed with moderated regression analyses. The results suggest that the effectiveness of problem-focused coping strategies in predicting cross-cultural adjustment is moderated by cultural distance and position level but not by time on the assignment. The use of problem-focused coping strategies was not related to expatriates' intention to remain on the assignment.     

中国跨国公司外派人员多目标主动行为的前因与后果——挑战性-阻碍性压力视角

传统研究强调跨文化多重压力阻碍外派成功, 但相对忽视压力具备的动力作用。该研究基于挑战性-阻碍性压力视角, 遵循“压力-动机-行为-结果”的逻辑框架, 对中国跨国公司外派人员多目标主动行为及结果的产生机制展开研究。依据自我决定理论分析挑战性-阻碍性两种不同属性压力如何通过影响动机和主动行为进而影响外派人员的职业发展、工作绩效及组织绩效的过程, 并根据工作要求-控制模型, 从组织和工作资源两方面识别两种压力影响外派结果的边界条件, 以及跨文化背景下主动行为发挥作用的边界条件。该研究揭示外派主动动机及行为在高不确定性跨文化背景下的价值功效, 可以为中国跨国公司挑选、培训、激励和保留国际化人才提供实践的参考。     

Socialization in an International Context

The globalization of the world economy, the widespread expansion of corporations into overseas markets and the increased use of expatriate and repatriate job assignments have all fundamentally changed the context in which organizational socialization now takes place. This article examines the distinctive socialization issues made salient by this organizational context change. The paper reviews existing theoretical and empirical research, provides hypotheses to guide future socialization research in this area and discusses the implications of an international context for the management of organizational socialization programmes.     

You can take it with you: individual differences and expatriate effectiveness

The authors report the collaborative efforts of 2 research teams that independently investigated the effects of stable personality traits (the Big Five) and specific behavioral competencies (cultural flexibility, task and people orientations, and ethnocentrism) on key dimensions of expatriate effectiveness: psychological adjustment, assignment withdrawal cognitions, and job performance. Analyses of multiple-source and longitudinal data from 3 studies, including a diverse sample of expatriates in Hong Kong and separate samples of Korean and Japanese expatriates posted around the world, indicate several direct effects of individual differences. Further data show reliable distinctions between the traits and competencies as well as incremental prediction by either set of predictors in the presence of the others.     

Expatriate adjustment: The role of justice and conflict in intimate relationships

Framing expatriation as family relocation, this research examines the influence of perceived justice and conflict on the psychological adjustment of 103 expatriate couples. Based on the actor–partner interdependence model, the proposed model simultaneously addresses effects of justice and conflict on own and partner's outcomes. Supporting the current model, and based on the self‐interest model, distributive justice influenced work‐related task conflict among expatriates and household‐related task conflict among expatriate spouses. Among expatriate spouses, and in line with the group‐value model, fairness perceptions regarding interpersonal treatment influenced both parties' personal conflict. Unanticipated, both parties' distributive justice also influenced personal conflict. Personal conflict negatively affected both parties' psychological adjustment and acted as a mediator in the relationship between distributive justice and psychological adjustment.     

A LONGITUDINAL INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN JOB INFORMATION SOURCES, APPLICANT PERCEPTIONS OF FIT, AND WORK OUTCOMES

This longitudinal field study was designed to examine the relationships between job information sources, self-esteem, and perceptions of person-job (P-J) and person-organization (P-O) fit, as well as the relationships between perceptions of fit and work outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational identification, intentions to quit, stress symptoms, and turnover). The results indicate that the number of formal job information sources and self-esteem were positively related to perceptions of P-J fit, and formal job information sources were positively related to perceptions of P-O fit. Perceptions of P-J fit were positively related to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, organizational identification, and negatively related to stress symptoms and intentions to quit. Perceptions of P-O fit were negatively related to intentions to quit and turnover. In addition, perceptions of fit mediated the relationships between job information sources and self-esteem with job satisfaction, intentions to quit, and turnover. These results highlight the job applicant's perspective of fit, and demonstrate the importance of both P-J and P-O fit perceptions.     

职业生涯高原对员工工作满意度、组织承诺、离职意愿的影响

职业生涯高原是指个体在当前组织中职业生涯发展的停滞。在控制人口统计学变量以及同一方法偏差的基础上,研究发现职业生涯高原的不同维度对不同组织效果变量有不同影响。（1）层级高原对员工工作满意度和组织承诺并没有显著负向影响,但会增加员工离职的可能性。不过,层级高原对员工离职意愿的影响受到工龄的调节;（2）内容高原对员工的工作满意度、组织承诺均具有显著负向影响,并增加员工离开组织的可能性;（3）中心化高原对员工的工作满意度、组织承诺均具负向影响,但对员工离职意愿却没有显著影响     

Relative importance of personality dimensions for expatriate selection: A policy capturing study

Policy capturing was used to examine relative importance placed by managers on the Big Five personality factors (Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness) in the context of expatriate selection. Ninety‐six managers with expatriate staffing and management experience made judgments about 32 expatriates based on characteristics associated with the Big Five. Judgments were made about (a) completion of overseas assignment, (b) adjustment, (c) interpersonal relations with host‐country nationals, and (d) overseas job performance. Across all four decisions, the raters tended to use the cues (i.e., the Big Five personality factors) in a similar manner. Conscientiousness was perceived to be the most important personality factor for all four judgments examined. Openness to Experience was perceived to be important for completion of overseas assignment. These results from policy capturing are compared and contrasted with those from criterion‐related validity studies of the Big Five for expatriate selection. Implications for expatriate selection systems are discussed.     

“Timely” Methods: Examining Turnover Rates in the U.S. Military

Despite a long history of research on organizational turnover, questions still linger about relative contributions of different factors to the probability and timing of turnover. Complicating matters, civilian and military differences can moderate important relationships among the factors. In this study, several event history models for predicting voluntary turnover in the U.S. military were estimated. Turnover predictors included background variables, military satisfaction, organizational commitment, withdrawal intentions, job withdrawal, and comparisons of military and civilian work and lifestyles. Results showed that withdrawal intentions, job withdrawal, organizational commitment, and military tenure consistently predicted voluntary turnover. Inconsistent findings for job satisfaction and comparisons of military and civilian work and lifestyles raise questions as to their roles as predictors of military turnover.