The Trailing Spouse Re-visited: A Study of Organizational Support During International Assignments

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (1) ◽  
pp. 12595
Author(s):  
Yvonne McNulty
2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret A. Shaffer ◽  
David A. Harrison ◽  
K. Matthew Gilley ◽  
Dora M. Luk

Using human capital theory, we develop hypotheses about the impact of perceived organizational support and two forms of work–family conflict on the psychological withdrawal of expatriates. We also consider the exacerbating effects of commitment to either domain. To test these hypotheses, we collected multisource data from 324 expatriates in 46 countries. Results indicate that perceived organizational support and the interplay between work and family domains have direct and unique influences on expatriates’ intentions to quit.


Author(s):  
Chun-Hsiao Wang

PurposeMultinational organizations are often unable to send their first-choice candidates on international assignments because employees are unwilling to relocate internationally. The purpose of this paper is to understand how organizations can effectively increase employees’ willingness to relocate internationally.Design/methodology/approachThe study sample consisted of 229 employees who have not previously worked abroad in a large and global-minded Taiwanese bank.FindingsThis study found that when employees perceived international assignment experience to be valuable to their career and valued by their organization, they reported a higher level of willingness to relocate internationally. Moreover, this study also found the perceived organizational support (POS) on career and adjustment as moderators.Research limitations/implicationsThe use of one company in Taiwan as the source of the sample may limit the generalizability of the results. The cross-sectional design of this study also makes it impossible to examine the causality among variables.Practical implicationsTo enhance employees’ willingness to relocate internationally, organizations should ensure that they communicate clearly that organizations value employees’ international assignment experience before, during, and after the assignment.Originality/valueThis study uses social informational processing theory to examine the effects of international assignment value on employee willingness to relocate internationally, as well as the effects of POS for international assignment on employee willingness to relocate internationally.


Author(s):  
Hooi Lai Wan

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the factors needed for the development of global human resources for leadership assignments in foreign subsidiaries. The paper aims to find an answer to enhance expatriate mission accomplishment rate at subsidiaries abroad.Design/methodology/approachThis study examines the development of global human resources. In-depth face-to-face interviews were employed to collect data from eight senior HR managers in three financial institutions in Taiwan, while data from 28 expatriates in the overseas subsidiaries were obtained from asynchronous e-mail interviews. Conventional content analysis was used to code categories directly from the data.FindingsThe results of the study revealed that organizational policies do not focus on developing global human resources. To portray a global image, the focus is on staffing overseas subsidiaries with foreigners and Taiwanese that can speak English. Development to prepare staff for expatriation is limited to pre-departure training that focused mainly on language and cultural awareness training. However, organizational support during expatriation and repatriation is important. Expatriates view security briefing crucial and familiarization visit helps them to decide whether or not to accept expatriation. Organizational policies favor those that were not expatriated in terms of career progression deter managers from accepting international assignments.Originality/valueIt highlights some best practices in developing global human resources taking into consideration the herd mentality and social perspective. Social support, social learning and social capital are instrumental in developing global human resources as these hasten cultural adjustment.


Author(s):  
Anne Burmeister ◽  
Jürgen Deller

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify organizational support practices that facilitate repatriate knowledge transfer (RKT) in order to overcome the lack of strategic utilization of repatriate knowledge. Design/methodology/approach – In Study 1, 134 repatriates responded to an online questionnaire and evaluated the organizational support that their organizations provided to facilitate RKT. In Study 2, 22 repatriates and human resource managers were interviewed. Interviewees were asked to assess to which extent the use of seven high-performance work practices – selection and staffing, training, career development, job design, performance appraisal, compensation and rewards, and internal communication – before, during, and after international assignments facilitated RKT. They also explained how these practices were implemented in their organizations. Findings – The results of Study 1 showed that organizations primarily provide administrative repatriation support, while more strategic and knowledge transfer-related support is missing. Study 2 indicated that certain support practices are more important for the utilization of repatriate knowledge than others. Knowledge-related debriefing sessions after repatriation and targeted internal communication mechanisms were seen as important enablers of RKT. In contrast, selection and financial rewards were not seen as relevant facilitators of RKT. Originality/value – Research on RKT reports that organizations still lack the right tools to harvest repatriate knowledge. This study indicates which organizational support practices appear to be most important for the facilitation of RKT, and provides some guidance regarding their implementation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 181-188
Author(s):  
Gabriel Dwomoh ◽  
Asiamah Yeboah ◽  
Evelyn Owusu Frempong

The study seeks to explore existing literature on how MNCs are dealing with dual career couples for international assignees to accept international assignment and what these MNCs have not been able to provide so that contribution can be made to the existing literature. The study was exploratory research where the contributions of various authors were assessed to determine if dual career couples pose a threat for international assignees to accept international assignment. The exploration reveals that MNCs need to deal with issues associated with dual career couples since it contribute significantly to the rejection of international assignments. There are various strategies MNCs adopt in order to entice the international assignee’s spouse to give his or her blessing to the international assignment and mainly among them captured in the literature are providing a lump sum payment for the trailing spouse, inter-firm networking, assisting the trailing spouse to find job in the host country, engaging in reciprocal arrangement with other MNCs to find job for the trailing spouse in the host country and providing career support in order to make the trailing spouse skills, knowledge and abilities relevant to the host country job market. The study identified two strategies that could be used to deal with dual career couples which were not captured in the literature and these are the active involvement of the expatriate spouses in the recruitment and selection process and the use of virtual assignments by relying on the availability of technology for international assignments.


2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis C. Buffardi ◽  
James N. Kurtessis ◽  
Michael T. Ford ◽  
Kathy Stewart ◽  
Cory Adis

Author(s):  
James N. Kurtessis ◽  
Michael T. Ford ◽  
Louis C. Buffardi ◽  
Kathleen A. Stewart

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