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1 – 10 of over 22000The purpose of this study is to examine the legal system that overrules these concerns within the body of the international investment laws. The question which remains is how can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the legal system that overrules these concerns within the body of the international investment laws. The question which remains is how can host countries and their ruling bodies maintain their national security without disregarding the legitimate expectations of foreign investments and their international responsibilities?
Design/methodology/approach
Balancing the relationship between the national security of the host country and the legitimate expectations of the foreign investments is one of the oldest challenges within the body of the international investment laws because the realization of the right to maintain the national security, without regulating the host countries, leaves room for corruption, and meeting the legitimate expectations of the foreign investments can lead to the disruption of the national sovereignty of the host country.
Findings
Studies show that the international investment laws do not take a clear stance when it comes to regulating the relationship between the national security of the host countries and the legitimate expectations of the foreign investments and that they are, in fact, in some cases, paradoxical and disorganized; there are instances of attempts to overprotect the national security of the host country, while the rights and the benefits of the foreign investments are disregarded,
Originality/value
At times there is an attempt to expand the realm of legitimate expectations of the foreign investments which would, in turn, disrupt the national security of the host country.
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Laura Guerrero and Luciana Turchick Hakak
A dark side of global mobility is that many immigrants have negative work outcomes. Studies have analyzed the antecedents to poor work outcomes from the immigrants’ point of view…
Abstract
Purpose
A dark side of global mobility is that many immigrants have negative work outcomes. Studies have analyzed the antecedents to poor work outcomes from the immigrants’ point of view or from that of host country nationals. The purpose of this paper is to propose a relational model, which applies terror management theory to address how the economic mobility beliefs of immigrants and host country nationals interact and how these different combinations of beliefs affect the self-esteem of immigrants.
Design/methodology/approach
This theoretical model considers the impact of the social interactions between immigrants and host country nationals when immigrants’ mortality is salient.
Findings
In hostile environments that make immigrants’ mortality salient, lack of confirmation of immigrants’ beliefs about economic mobility from host country nationals can lead to a decrease in immigrants’ self-esteem and therefore to negative work outcomes.
Practical implications
As the number of immigrants grows, so do concerns about their ability to contribute to the economy. Lack of confirmation of their beliefs in a context in which their mortality is salient, is likely to lead to lower self-esteem and perhaps other negative outcomes.
Originality/value
This paper is the first, to the authors’ knowledge, to use terror management theory to advance our understanding of the outcome of a lack of confirmation from host country nationals of immigrants’ beliefs on economic mobility under conditions of mortality salience.
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Ling Eleanor Zhang, Jakob Lauring and Ting Liu
This paper aims to explore the interplay between burnout, national identity and career satisfaction among diplomats. In particular, the authors focus on the roles of home and host…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the interplay between burnout, national identity and career satisfaction among diplomats. In particular, the authors focus on the roles of home and host country identification as an emotional resource for overcoming the negative effects of job-related burnout.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey responses from 123 diplomats were used to assess the moderating role of home and host country identification on the relationship between burnout and career satisfaction.
Findings
Various combinations of high or low home or host country identification were tested, and the findings suggest that the negative effect of burnout on career satisfaction is reduced for those individuals that have high identification with both the home and the host country, while this is not the case for other combinations. This points to the beneficial effects of dual national identifications even for diplomats – a group that would normally be expected to identify strongly with the home country alone.
Originality/value
No existing study that the authors know of has explored the relationship between burnout, national identity and career satisfaction among diplomats or other types of expatriates. This is unfortunate because a better understanding of national identity could guide practitioners in finding ways to reduce the negative consequences of burnout in international organizations.
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Paula Caligiuri, Nataliya Baytalskaya and Mila B Lazarova
For decades, expatriate scholars have understood that the individual factors of cultural humility and ethnocentrism and the contextual factors of feedback and support affect…
Abstract
Purpose
For decades, expatriate scholars have understood that the individual factors of cultural humility and ethnocentrism and the contextual factors of feedback and support affect expatriates’ outcomes. The study, rooted in the observation that great advice and support are often ignored by expatriates, seeks to uncover why. Based in the humility literature, the authors test whether individual differences interact with support to affect expatriate performance. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors surveyed a matched sample of 62 expatriates and their supervisors from one multinational organization.
Findings
The study found that expatriates higher in cultural humility benefit more from the support and feedback offered in the host national work environment which, in turn, facilitates better supervisor ratings of performance. The authors also found that expatriates’ ethnocentrism has a direct negative influence on their ratings of performance.
Research limitations/implications
The findings in the study are focussed and robust, but tested within a single organization. That said, the authors believe the results have implications for expatriate selection and for ways to manage the host national environment to improve expatriate performance.
Originality/value
The study joins the research conversation on how expatriates’ individual differences interact with the environments in which they are placed to affect their success. This study also underscores the importance of humility in the global professional context.
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Antonios Georgopoulos, Eleftherios Aggelopoulos, Elen Paraskevi Paraschi and Maria Kalogera
In an environment of intensive global mobility, this study aims to investigate the performance role of staffing choices within diverse MNE subsidiary strategies. Incorporating the…
Abstract
Purpose
In an environment of intensive global mobility, this study aims to investigate the performance role of staffing choices within diverse MNE subsidiary strategies. Incorporating the integration-responsiveness (IR) framework with a contingency perspective, this study proposes that the performance success of distinct MNE subsidiary strategies depends on staffing choices. This study argues that performance differences of staffing choices such as assigned expatriates, self-initiated expatriates, former inpatriates and host-country nationals derive from their different knowledge/experience advantages regarding the intra-firm environment and local market conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilizes a unique sample of 169 foreign subsidiaries located in Greece that faced the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (in 2020). For robustness reasons, this study also captures the imposition of capital controls (in June 2015).
Findings
This study finds important mediating performance effects of a diversified human resource portfolio across distinct subsidiary strategies in difficult times. Integration strategy tends to use more assigned expatriates, locally responsive strategy tends to utilize more host-country nationals, whereas multi-focal strategy favors self-initiated expatriates and former inpatriates, with positive subsidiary performance effects accordingly. So, staffing policies that are suitable to balance the needs of Human Resource Management (HRM) portfolio differ from strategy to strategy. Moreover, this study finds that managing HRM diversity is crucial in turbulent times.
Originality/value
While the empirical evidence has been predominantly accumulated from large economies, largely neglecting performance effects of MNE subsidiary staffing in crisis contexts, the analysis sheds light on a small open economy (i.e. the Greek context) emphasizing rapidly environmental deterioration. The findings extend existing theorizing on international performance and HRM management by providing an integrative conceptual framework linking integration-responsiveness motivated strategies with distinct groups of high-quality human resources under contingency considerations, so creatively synthesizing largely fragmented IB and HRM research streams. The study provides valuable insights into the performance role of non-conventional staffing choices such as self-initiated expatriates and former inpatriates, given that relevant studies examine either exclusively expatriates or compare expatriates with host country nationals, reaching inconclusive results.
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Lore Van Gorp, Smaranda Boroş, Piet Bracke and Peter A.J. Stevens
The purpose of this paper is to examine how repatriates’ emotional support network affects their experience of re-entry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how repatriates’ emotional support network affects their experience of re-entry.
Design/methodology/approach
This inductive, qualitative study is based on 27 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Belgian organizational repatriates.
Findings
The analyses suggest that expatriation empathy is a key attribute of organizational repatriates’ main emotional support providers. In addition, the results show that although partners are a main source of emotional support on re-entry, they are also important potential causes of distress. Lastly, the results suggest that the cultural diversity of a repatriate’s emotional support network is linked with characteristics of the assignment and that it affects the experience of repatriation.
Research limitations/implications
The results provide empirical evidence that the expatriation empathy of repatriates’ support providers is a more informative characteristic to consider compared with whether they have personal experience of expatriation. In addition, the results suggest that research should also take into account the negative side of social support, and, for example, consider the influence of crossover distress of partners who experience relocation difficulties themselves.
Practical implications
This study points to the possible benefits of organizing social activities or training for repatriates and their partner and any children, as well as the advantages of encouraging expatriates to invite home-country friends to visit.
Originality/value
Although most scholars agree on the importance of support for expatriates’ well-being, the sources of relevant emotional support have received little research attention so far, as has how this influences the repatriation experience.
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Okharedia Goodheart Akhimien and Simon Ayo Adekunle
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between cultural distance and psychological adjustment of expatriates in Nigeria and perceived social supports…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between cultural distance and psychological adjustment of expatriates in Nigeria and perceived social supports moderating the relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a cross-sectional survey research design. Data were collected through 236 validly filled questionnaires by expatriates working in different industries in Nigeria. The research variables were measured using appropriate validated scales developed by different experts. Data collected were analyzed using frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Correlation and regression analyses were conducted to establish the relationships among the variables.
Findings
The study found that the distance between expatriates’ home and Nigeria on each of the dimensions of cultural values: power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance cultural value, long-term orientation and indulgence negatively influence the psychological adjustment of the expatriates in Nigeria. The study demonstrated that the larger the distance between expatriates’ home and Nigeria's cultural values, the larger the difficulties in the psychological adjustment of expatriates in the country.
Practical implications
This study provides useful insights and a better understanding to both present and future global human resource practitioners, multinational organizations, international institutions and local organizations operating in Nigeria with a global mindset on the cultural profiles of expatriates that are critical to adjust to working, social interactions and living environments in Nigeria.
Originality/value
It provides practical guidance to global human resource practitioners and employers on dimensions of cultural values distance between Nigeria and the home countries of expatriates that should be considered when deciding on, searching for, selecting, recruiting and relocating expatriates to work and live in Nigeria.
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Hyoung Koo Moon, Byoung Kwon Choi and Jae Shik Jung
The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively investigate the antecedents of expatriates' cultural intelligence (CQ) by simultaneously considering previous working experiences…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively investigate the antecedents of expatriates' cultural intelligence (CQ) by simultaneously considering previous working experiences in one's home country prior to expatriation, the number of co‐expatriates from their home country and local employees from the host country, perception of promotion opportunities, and self‐monitoring. In addition, the paper aims to examine the moderating effects of expatriates' portion of interaction with local employee and knowledge on length of expatriation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 165 Korean expatriates using self‐reported survey. Hypotheses were tested using multiple hierarchical regression analyses.
Findings
Hypotheses were partially supported. Expatriates' previous working experiences with foreign nationals and in an overseas department in their home country were positively related to CQ. As expected, whereas the number of co‐expatriates from home country was negatively related to CQ, the number of local employees in the host country was positively associated with CQ. Expatriates' perception of a promotion opportunity and self‐monitoring were positively related to CQ. In addition, moderating effects of expatriates' portion of interaction with local employees and knowledge on the length of their foreign assignment were found.
Originality/value
This study contributes to deepen understanding about expatriates' CQ by considering various antecedents, such as previous experiences, human resource practices, and dispositions. The authors' results provide practical implications for multinational companies.
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Shi Li and Shizhong Huang
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) dominated by Chinese enterprises have become increasingly conspicuous and prevalent in recent years. However, many of them were obstructed by…
Abstract
Purpose
Mergers and acquisitions (M&As) dominated by Chinese enterprises have become increasingly conspicuous and prevalent in recent years. However, many of them were obstructed by foreign governments on the ground of “Threating National Security”. Overseas acquisition is a crucial step of Chinese Government’s “Going-Out” strategy, so analyzing the attribution of its success and failure is very important.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts empirical study method to analyze the factors from political and cultural perspectives based on a sample of 327 cross-border M&A transactions made by all listed companies in China from 1997 to 2010.
Findings
The result shows higher failure rate for those acquisition targets which could be classified as political sensitive assets; meanwhile, positive diplomatic relations and higher bilateral trust between China and the host country will facilitate the M&A transaction.
Originality/value
This paper offers a new research angle on cross-border M&As, which is the impact of culture factors, as well as diplomatic relationship, bilateral trust and war history between China and the host country on M&A transactions. This paper also constructs several ways of measuring the diplomatic relationship between countries.
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In the last two decades we have seen a rapid increase in both the number and size of multinational corporations (MNCs). These organisations typically have their headquarters (HQs…
Abstract
In the last two decades we have seen a rapid increase in both the number and size of multinational corporations (MNCs). These organisations typically have their headquarters (HQs) in a parent country, and branches, subsidiaries or joint ventures of different types in host countries. Although their international personnel policies are very diverse, most MNCs send parent‐country managers and professionals to work in the host countries for limited periods of time.