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The repatriation process often involves challenging and unexpected readjustment issues, leading to high turnover amongst repatriates. However, research has focussed on the re-entry decisions and experiences of company-assigned (CA) repatriates, whilst studies on self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) that repatriate back to their home countries (i.e. self-initiated repatriates (SIRs)) are limited, particularly in emerging transition economies. This study develops and tests a model to explain the factors influencing professional SIRs' turnover intentions and how repatriation readjustment affects their intentions in Vietnam.

The data was collected from 445 Vietnamese professional SIRs who worked and/or studied for extended periods overseas and subsequently returned to Vietnam. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data.

Results indicate that both work and life repatriation adjustment difficulties have significant positive effects on turnover intentions, whilst only repatriation life adjustment difficulties have an indirect effect via life dissatisfaction. Further, cultural distance positively influences repatriation adjustment difficulties and turnover intentions. SIRs' on-the-job and off-the-job embeddedness negatively moderate the influence of repatriation work and life adjustment difficulties on turnover intentions, respectively.

The study develops a theoretical model explaining how repatriation difficulties impact the turnover intentions of SIRs, considering contextual factors including cultural distance and embeddedness. The research highlights the importance of job embeddedness as a form of social and organisational support for SIRs in managing psychological challenges related to repatriation, which can help reduce turnover and retain highly skilled talent. Additionally, the study extends repatriation research on an under-researched subgroup of SIEs, SIRs, in an under-researched emerging transition economy context.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an examination of Black et al.’s theoretical framework of repatriation adjustment as it relates to career planning for employees with international work experience.

The approach combines narrative with argument and analysis.

This paper expands on re‐entry adjustment to include additional research on repatriation, and discusses the utility of these theoretical propositions for individual and organizational career planning.

Suggestions for future research include repatriation strategies, incorporating concepts from the literature on other life transitions, and the importance of recognizing psychological variables in work adjustment.

Implications for career development are also discussed to help employees and career counsellors understand the impact of working internationally and to help organizations design ways to help employees integrate their expertise and experience through proactive and supportive repatriation practices.

This paper aims to examine the influence of academic repatriates’ perceived organizational support, adjustment and external employment opportunity on their intention to leave.

The data were collected from Sri Lankan academics who returned to their home university after completing their work (teaching/research) abroad. The repatriates who involved in teaching and research for one or more years abroad were included in this survey.

Results indicated that repatriates’ both the perceived organizational support had an important role to play in the prediction of repatriation adjustment and intention to leave. In turn, academics who adjusted to their repatriation better were highly likely to stay at their home university. In addition, repatriates’ perceived organizational support decreased their intention to leave through adjustment. In addition, when repatriates had trouble in adjustment and perceived high external employment opportunities, they reported higher intentions to leave the university than those who perceived fewer external employment opportunities.

This study relied on cross-sectional and self-reported data and was conducted with small number of sample (112).

For the academic institutions, this study will help to clarify their role in managing repatriation adjustment and develop appropriate organizational systems that can facilitate repatriates to better adjust to their repatriation which, in turn, reduces their intention to leave. This study signifies the role of management in retaining repatriates.

This study further contributes to the current discussion on repatriation and moves this discussion to academic repatriates. This study, particularly, discusses the issues of retaining repatriates in a Sri Lankan context as a developing country where attracting and retaining academic repatriates are more challenging tasks for universities.

Aims to increase our understanding of the antecedents of repatriation adjustment. The data were collected through a questionnaire survey among Finnish repatriates in co‐operation with the Finnish union of qualified economics graduates. In the study four different facets of adjustment appeared instead of the three suggested in the literature (i.e. general, work, and interaction adjustment) since the work adjustment dimension appeared to consist of two separate dimensions, here named job adjustment and organisation adjustment. The included antecedent variables explained from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the variance in the adjustment models related to different facets of adjustment. General adjustment was found to be related to the age of the respondent, the length of the assignment, the timing of role negotiations, expatriation adjustment problems, keeping up on events at home and role conflict. With regard to organisation adjustment three antecedent variables were found: timing of role decision, willingness to relocate internationally, and role conflict. Timing of role decision and role discretion appeared as positive correlates of job adjustment, and expatriation adjustment problems and role conflict as negative correlates of interaction adjustment.

While there is a burgeoning literature on self-initiated expatriates (SIEs), the emphasis has been on expatriation not repatriation. The purpose of this paper therefore is to explore how repatriating SIEs perceive the experience of repatriation compared with their pre-repatriation expectations. Further, we examine the seminal work of Black et al. (1992) in the light of current day realities.

This qualitative research draws on interviews with SIE New Zealanders returning home. It is an exploratory longitudinal study, based on interview data collected prior to (n = 32), and after (n = 27) repatriation, comparing expectations and experiences of repatriation.

Findings show that there is a strong level of congruence between the expectations of the return and their experience of repatriation. This congruence eases the transition and mitigates the impact of reverse culture shock. We revise Black et al.'s framework of repatriation adjustment to more accurately reflect the expectations and experiences of repatriating SIEs, recognising the importance of individual agency and the impact of today's technological advances on repatriation.

The contributions of this paper include clarification of repatriating SIEs. Further, through the revision of the framework, we identify new areas of research that would aid our understanding of repatriating SIEs and lead to the development of a more detailed model. We highlight the interplay between variables showing how these might mitigate the shock of repatriation.

Repatriation is an under-researched phase of the SIE, and this study provides empirical data that contributes to our understanding of the construct. Black et al.'s framework of repatriation adjustment is revised in the context of contemporary SIE, highlighting the holistic nature of self-initiated expatriation and repatriation, viewing the events not as discrete, but as a continuum of time.

The purpose of this study is to understand the multiple aspects of readjustment of repatriates and to identify determinants relating to the readjustment, to enable MNEs (multinational enterprises) to utilize the advantages and retain the valuable knowledge that repatriates offer to the organization for talent management.

This study conducted a quantitative work involving questionnaire responses of 192 repatriates who returned to Japan after international assignments in MNEs.

Based on the results of the analysis using this Japanese data, the discussion is summarized in the following three points. First, it is important to seek determinants for the readjustment by focusing on all the aspects of ‘repatriation adjustment’ because the determinants of subordinate aspects are not always identical. Second, ‘organizational factors — work duties’ play a vital role in the readjustment to the organization different from the readjustment to daily life. Further, organizations benefit from providing assistance to both the repatriates and the family of the repatriates to ensure that they are able to successfully readjust to life in the home country.

This study performed a comprehensive analysis of the subordinate concepts of the ‘repatriation adjustment’ dividing it into four aspects of job and private life. Factors related to the readjustment were classified into three factors by using a framework that analyses issues repatriates face by classifying these into changes occurring over time and changes due to cultural differences, and show a logical framework that elucidates the repatriation adjustment factors.

This paper aims to analyze the repatriation adjustment process of international employees in the Spanish context. The paper also aims to test the applicability of Black et al.'s repatriation adjustment model for Spanish repatriates.

The paper reports on empirical quantitative research, based on data from 124 Spanish repatriates. Multiple regression analysis and factor analysis are used to test the hypotheses of the study.

The findings provide evidence for some of the relations proposed in the model but they do not support the model as a whole. The paper questions the existence of the different dimensions of expectations/adjustment and the importance of some of the factors included in the model.

The sample is not very large; some bias could appear as only repatriates who continue working in their companies were questioned. Future research should conduct longitudinal studies.

The study provides evidence of the relevance of facilitating repatriates' adjustment, as it affects their performance. The study also shows that some variables can facilitate the process. In particular, having a mentor and frequent communication with home during the expatriation has been found to help the repatriates to create accurate expectations, which, in turn, affect their general adjustment. Social capacity and the fact that the repatriates had not adjusted completely overseas also facilitate readjustment. Finally, work autonomy on return and social status have been found to positively affect work adjustment.

The paper contributes to the literature by examining the repatriation model of Black et al. that has not been thoroughly analyzed before wither as a whole regarding its applicability to non‐Anglo‐Saxon countries.

This study seeks to address the challenge of repatriate turnover by focusing on how effective repatriation adjustment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment are at predicting the Taiwanese repatriates' intentions to leave their organization. By building on the cross‐cultural adjustment and turnover theories and researches, this study expands these recent findings to Taiwanese repatriates.

Multiple regression was used to predict intent to leave and explain the impact of the three predictors on intent to leave. Correlation was used to compare the relationship of study variables.

The results of multiple regression indicated that repatriation adjustment was the strongest predictor of intent to leave followed by organizational commitment. The combination of the three variables can predict approximately 58 percent of the variance of intent to leave. Overall interrelations among the independent variables showed a positive strong relationship and negatively related to intent to leave the organization.

The results provide empirical evidence that repatriation adjustment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment are negatively related to intent to leave the organization. Furthermore, the conceptual framework of this study can be a guide to future research in repatriates' turnover intention.

The results of this study may help multinational organizations in Taiwan to enhance the international assignment process of their employees and keep valuable human capital within the organization.

The purpose of this study is to examine the question of whether the repatriation adjustment process varies with different combinations of duration and purpose of international assignments.

A multiple-case study within one company was conducted based on in-depth interview data.

The authors find that learning-driven international assignments are more beneficial for career growth and receive better organizational support, as assignees are able to maintain regular communication (visibility) with the home unit. On the other hand, those on demand-driven, long-duration international assignments need to have a closer connection (integration) with employees in the host unit and find it challenging to maintain high visibility in the home unit simultaneously.

The authors contribute to existing research by highlighting that demand-driven assignees on longer assignments face greater challenges upon returning home. In addition, expatriates on short-term assignments face drastically fewer challenges than expatriates on longer assignments.

Although top‐down interventions have the potential to reduce repatriate turnover, most organizations have not been very accommodating and repatriate turnover continues to remain high. Drawing from career transitions theory and the protean perspective of career management, this paper proposes a model of repatriate proactivity as an alternate approach. A “successful” repatriation transition outcome is defined as one in which, upon return, the repatriate: gains access to a job which recognizes any newly acquired international competencies; experiences minimal cross‐cultural re‐adjustment difficulties; and reports low turnover intentions. Individual antecedents are posited to include proactive repatriation behaviors and the personality characteristics which are suggested to drive the use of these behaviors. The strength/weakness of the repatriation situation is posited to moderate the relationship between personality and the emergence of proactive repatriation behaviors. Practical and theoretical implications for both the repatriation problem, and the career development literature in general, are discussed.