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Globalization has led to individuals working and living outside their native country. The purpose of this paper is to examine relationship between motives for expatriation and cross-cultural adjustment in Indian expatriates working in the US information technology (IT) industry. Additionally, the moderating effects of self-initiated expatriates (SIE) and organizational expatriates (OE) on the relationship between motives for expatriation and cross-cultural adjustment were studied. Also, existing measures in this area of research were analyzed to improve validity and utility for future studies. Participants responded to questions via an internet survey.

Data were gathered from 336 Indian IT professionals working in America. The authors evaluated the psychometric quality of reasons for expatriation and cross-cultural adjustment measures by considering various fit statistics, modification indices and rational judgment based on item content. The authors used a maximum likelihood extraction method with an oblique rotation (Geomin) for these factor analyses, given the theoretically and empirically supported relationship between the subdimensions of both measures. Using these purified measures, a hierarchical regression analyses procedure was used to test the hypothesized relationships. A computational tool called PROCESS was used to test the hypothesized moderating effect of expatriate type on the relationship between motives for expatriation and cross-cultural adjustment.

Preliminary factor analytic work suggested modifications to the reasons for expatriation measure used to quantify participants’ motives for expatriation. Using this revised measure, those with stronger financial (mercenary) motives for expatriation also reported less positive cultural adjustment, while those with stronger exploratory motives for expatriation reported more positive cultural adjustment. Some evidence was also observed for a weak, but notable moderating effect of expatriate type (SIE vs OE) on the relationship between expatriation motives and cultural adjustment.

This study presents a revised measure of expatriation motives, as well as expanded theoretical and empirical evidence base to help future researchers working with expatriates. The findings may be also helpful to organizations and consultants who work to prepare expatriates for their assignments, especially when these expatriates are Indian professionals preparing to work in the USA.

Despite more than 50 years of research into gender and work, the impact of female expatriates persists to be underrepresented in mainstream international human resource management (IHRM) literature. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore the perceptions of married Indian information technology (IT) women regarding career and expatriating discussions they have with their husbands and its impact on their decision making to undertake international assignments.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 married Indian IT women who had undertaken international assignments after marriage. The study includes two data sets, 1: women on less than one-year assignment; 2: women on greater than one-year assignments.

The study found that women who went on short-term assignments of less than one year travelled alone and found it fortunate and convenient to leave their children in the care of their husbands, in-laws, parents and maids. While in the cases of women travelling for longer-term assignments, most husbands accompanied them. The study suggests that while spousal support was the key, having a shared purpose with husbands along with extended family support was equally significant to facilitate women undertaking an international assignment. As an impetus, the authors note a change within the Indian society where both partners come together to make decisions about expatriating.

The authors discuss the implications for IHRM as they relate to gender diversity within organisations.

The research, underpinned by the early workings of a theory of career hierarchy, explores the complexities in expatriation decision-making processes of married women from the emerging economy of India with traditional family values, who are working within a modern and liberal IT industry.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the control mechanisms used by multinational corporations (MNCs) from emerging economies to manage their subsidiaries in developed countries and their implications for human resource management practices.

The paper draws on data collected through in-depth case studies and interviews with senior subsidiary managers of 12 major Indian information technology (IT) MNCs operating in Australia.

Indian IT MNCs rely heavily on the use of people-centric controls exerted through global staffing practices (via the transfer of parent-country nationals), which, in turn, influence their subsidiary’s discretion over their HR practices. The use of people-centric controls allows Indian IT multinationals to replicate parent-country HRM practices in their Australian subsidiaries in an ethnocentric manner and significantly leverage the people-based competitive advantages from India through short- and long-term expatriate assignments.

The study investigates control and HRM practices from a single country and a single industry perspective. It provides an insight into the normative means of control in foreign subsidiaries of MNCs and enhances our understanding by explaining the integrated relationship that control mechanisms (and their people-centric components) have with HRM practices including the global staffing approaches and expatriate management practices of emerging MNCs.

Indian MNCs are using their business model to leverage the Australian immigration and skilled visa programme to maintain cost advantages. However, the immigration legislation in developed countries needs to be capable of allowing emerging multinational corporations (EMNCs) to maintain such advantages as developed countries seek to attract foreign direct investment from emerging economies.

The results indicate that the control practices of EMNCs are similar to the controls exerted by MNCs from developed countries. They also show that EMNCs do not adopt a portfolio approach to global staffing, and that the people-centric components of their control have a clear impact on their subsidiaries’ HRM practices.

Stress among expatriates has been studied from various perspectives. The present study attempts to assess the occupational stress experienced by Indian expatriates working in Sultanate of Oman, and stress experienced by Indians working in India. The sample of 573 Indians working in Sultanate of Oman and 302 employees working in their motherland, Mumbai, India were selected. A.K. Srivasatava and A.P. Singh’s occupational stress index was used to measure the stress experienced by the Indians working in the Sultanate of Oman and those working in India. The results show that Indian females working in Sultanate of Oman experience more stress than their counterparts working in India. Personnel having post‐graduate qualifications working in Sultanate of Oman experience more stress than their counterparts working in India, and Indian expatriates over the age of 45 who are working in Sultanate of Oman experience more stress than their counterparts working in India.

India's emergence in the international business arena presents challenges to Western‐trained expatriate managers assigned there. These expatriates are familiar with management theories and practices based on value orientations very different from those in India. Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck's Value Orientations Framework is used to provide an overview of the different types of cultural values an expatriate manager will confront in Indian society. The impact of Indian values on various management practices, including team composition, leadership, motivation, and human resource management functions is also discussed It is hoped that this examination of the dominant value orientations of Indian employees will facilitate the successful transfer of Western expatriates to India.

This article aims to examine the challenges faced by highly skilled expatriates (i.e. professionals and managers) from the Indian subcontinent (i.e. India and neighboring countries) as they attempt to advance their careers in Australia. Extant literature has revealed significant gaps between policies for skilled migration proposed by governments in developed countries and the response to policies by organizations in those countries. By employing the theories of habitus, disembedding, sensemaking and acculturation as frameworks for analysis, the authors explore and explain how these expatriates settle and integrate into their new lives and careers as they resolve their experience of habitus.

This study employed phenomenology and narrative research techniques using 21 in-depth, semistructured interviews with expatriate professionals from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh to explore and examine their expatriation experiences and their occupational progress in Australia.

The findings reveal that on migrating to Australia, expatriate professionals are uprooted from their home country habitus and thrust into new conditions that cause them to lose their cultural, economic, intellectual and social capital, which further leads them into a state of “disembeddedness.” These highly skilled expatriates then rely on sensemaking and acculturation to resolve their crisis of habitus. The authors also found that gender is a significant factor in this process, as female expatriates faced more career-related barriers compared to their male counterparts.

This article brings into focus previously unexamined avenues of expatriation research and proposes a novel theoretical framework that is instrumental in explaining the settlement and integration process of highly skilled professionals from emerging nations.

This study examines how emerging market multinational enterprises operating in the service sector manage knowledge and team members in their overseas subsidiaries and what role expatriates play in their operations.

The authors use a multiple case study design and interview 20 senior managers representing 16 Indian IT firm's subsidiaries in Australia. The onsite-offshore concept and the SECI model are used to explain the knowledge management process.

The findings show that Indian IT firms mostly transfer knowledge from their headquarters in the parent country to their subsidiaries in the host country using the onsite-offshore model where work is divided and coordinated between team members situated between the two locations. Furthermore, the host country subsidiaries have limited independence in decision-making due to a forward, one-way diffusion of knowledge, thus limiting a two-way interaction between the HQ and the subsidiary for opportunities to create and exchange new knowledge.

The study is one of the few to investigate the onsite-offshore phenomenon in service-based emerging market multinational enterprises.

This exploratory study used data from three industrial companies (N = 85) in the Sultanate of Oman to assess the values and altitudes of entry‐level Omani and expatriate (primarily Indian) employees. Results reveal strong differences between the two groups on several variables related to life, work, and attitudes toward each other. In contrast to expatriate respondents, Omanis showed a strong preference for more ethnocentric work situations. Additionally, evidence suggested that Omani respondents were less committed to work and their current jobs. Further, personal life value rankings diverged significantly with Omanis ranking more abstract or ideal values higher than expatriates. Managerial and research implications are discussed.

Given the increasing global significance of Indian markets, multi-national corporations (MNCs) are keen to do business here; however, cross-cultural issues can be barriers in managing human resources (HR) in international businesses. The purpose of this paper is to understand how MNCs can successfully do business in India, with special reference to cross-cultural issues and management of HR.

In-depth interviews were conducted with executives working in MNCs and Indian MNCs based in India and abroad. Respondents were senior professionals, working in diverse sectors and had global work experience for about five years. Majority of the interviews were conducted in Delhi and some were conducted in Singapore. Interviews responses were qualitatively analysed.

Findings reveal that MNCs wanting to do business in India need to have a long-term business focus, a well-defined expatriate policy and deep pockets to experience growth and payoffs on investments. In order to be successful, they need to understand India culturally and geographically, build trusting relationships with HCNs, partner with local players who are familiar with domestic challenges and localize the best practices of the west. Attrition and retention being the major challenges in India, compensation alone is not enough to attract and retain talent. Understanding Indian psyche and offering individuals a unique value proposition such as challenging roles and professional growth is imperative for creating an attractive employer brand in order to win the war for talent.

Though sample size is small, this research has implications for MNCs operating in India or planning to set up Indian operations.

Inferences have been drawn out of primary data collected from senior executives who were handling core MNC operations and sharing their wealth of experience. The findings give fresh insights into the whole issues of MNC management involving cross-cultural and HR issues.

This paper aims to explore the experience of self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) moving from the global South to the global North. It considers the relationship between country of origin and host country, the role of non-traditional destinations and the choices made by SIEs.

In-depth interviews were conducted with Indian SIEs and key experts to explore the motives, identities and life narratives of skilled expatriate Indians in France.

The results shed light on how individuals’ careers are fashioned through the intersection of identities; highlighting the interplay between country of origin and the host country as a catalyst in SIEs’ choice of destination. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate a strategic form of agency exercised through these SIEs’ choice of an unconventional destination.

The intricate nature of SIE trajectories holds implications for migration theory, diaspora studies and career theory. SIEs from the Global South adopt varying strategies linked to specific host-country career offerings, often in sharp contrast with home-country opportunities.

The results inform managerial and policy-maker understandings of career motivations for mobile skilled workers moving for career and lifestyle. For countries seeking to attract talent, the findings demonstrate the roles of host-country immigration policy, country reputation and perceived career opportunities.

This study helps address research gaps in relation self-initiated expatriation from the Global South to the North. At the same time, it identifies the potential for transitional spaces and the relationship between countries, identity-formation factors and career agency. These findings on France as a transitional space – one of intermediacy and in-betweenness, where self-identity and future career projections can be re-imagined and reshaped – shed new light on how SIEs and their movements can be conceptualized.