Expatriation, Repatriation, and Domestic Geographical Relocation: An Empirical Investigation of Adjustment to new Job Assignments

This research examines the relative impact of six sets of factors on multiple indices of adjustment to new job assignments. These six sets of factors include demographic variables, indices of the “internationalness” of the job change (e.g., whether the job changer is an expatriate, repatriate, or domestic geographical relocator), job characteristics variables, types and amount of career development assistance, degree of change between successive job assignments, and types of individual coping strategies employed by job changers. Data were collected from 459 job changers from twenty-six countries. The results highlight both the commonalities among expatriates, repatriates, and domestic geographical relocators in adjusting to new job assignments as well as the differences among them.

[1]  Y. Zeira,et al.  Selecting Managers for Foreign Assignments , 1987 .

[2]  S Roth,et al.  Approach, avoidance, and coping with stress. , 1986, The American psychologist.

[3]  C. Pinder,et al.  Time to Proficiency Following Job Transfers , 1987 .

[4]  N. Nicholson,et al.  Handbook of career theory: Transitions, work histories, and careers , 1989 .

[5]  Daniel C. Feldman,et al.  Managing careers in organizations , 1988 .

[6]  Gary P. Latham,et al.  Application of social learning theory to employee self-management of attendance , 1987 .

[7]  Career Problems of Young Managers , 1976 .

[8]  Mark E. Mendenhall,et al.  The Dimensions of Expatriate Acculturation: A Review , 1985 .

[9]  C. Pinder.  MULTIPLE PREDICTORS OF POST‐TRANSFER SATISFACTION: THE ROLE OF URBAN FACTORS , 1977 .

[10]  Hal B. Gregersen,et al.  Expectations, satisfaction, and intention to leave of American expatriate managers in Japan , 1990 .

[11]  Daniel C. Feldman,et al.  The Multiple Socialization Of Organization Members , 1981 .

[12]  N. Adler.  International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior , 1986 .

[13]  M R Louis,et al.  Surprise and sense making: what newcomers experience in entering unfamiliar organizational settings. , 1980, Administrative science quarterly.

[14]  J. Stewart Black,et al.  Toward a Comprehensive Model of International Adjustment: An Integration of Multiple Theoretical Perspectives , 1991 .

[15]  Douglas T. Hall,et al.  Careers in organizations , 1977 .

[16]  Michael G. Harvey.  Repatriation of Corporate Executives: An Empirical Study , 1989 .

[17]  D. Goldberg.  The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire : a technique for the identification and assessment of non-psychotic psychiatric illness , 1972 .

[18]  L. Pearlin,et al.  The structure of coping. , 1978, Journal of health and social behavior.

[19]  D. Feldman,et al.  Coping with New Jobs: A Comparative Study of New Hires and Job Changers , 1983 .

[20]  G. Gurin,et al.  Americans View Their Mental Health , 1979 .

[21]  M. Jelinek,et al.  Women: World-Class Managers for Global Competition , 1988 .

[22]  Mark E. Mendenhall,et al.  Expatriate Selection, Training and Career‐Pathing: A Review and Critique , 1987 .

[23]  Daniel C. Feldman,et al.  Repatriate moves as career transitions , 1991 .

[24]  D. Feldman,et al.  Feedback-Seeking Behavior of New Hires and Job Changers , 1990 .

[25]  Harbir Singh,et al.  The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode , 1988 .

[26]  Peter K. Mills,et al.  Self-Management: Its Control and Relationship to Other Organizational Properties , 1983 .

[27]  S. Folkman,et al.  Dynamics of a stressful encounter: cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. , 1986, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

[28]  Fred Luthans,et al.  Behavioral self-management—The missing link in managerial effectiveness , 1979 .

[29]  J. Stewart Black,et al.  The Influence of the Spouse on American Expatriate Adjustment and Intent to Stay in Pacific Rim Overseas Assignments , 1989 .

[30]  Nancy J. Adler,et al.  Cross-Cultural Management Research: The Ostrich and the Trend. , 1983 .

[31]  R. A. Cooke,et al.  Stress and strain from family roles and work-role expectations. , 1984, The Journal of applied psychology.

[32]  F. H. Kanfer,et al.  Self-management methods. , 1991 .