Antecedent factors for success in international assignments: the case of expatriates in Peru

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relative most important antecedent factors related to success in international assignment (IA) in specific context such as Peru. It reviews the full range of individual, organizational and contextual factors associated with success in IA as well as discusses the importance of context in expatriate research. Combined with limited interviews, synthesis is offered and the most relevant determinant factors are identified. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with 45 participants who currently hold IA positions or have broad experience in overseas positions. The interviews were conducted in the English and Spanish languages. A priori coding system classification technique based on a content analysis methodology was administrated for the purpose of analyzing and codifying the interviews. Findings – The findings reveal that a combination of individual, organizational and contextual antecedent factors are relevant for explaining success in IA. However, only nine of the 32 factors were found to be the most determinant to success. In particular, cross-cultural competencies, spouse adjustment, motivational issues, time on assignment, emotional competencies, previous international experience, language fluency and social relational skills, as well as contextual cultural differences and organizational recruitment and selection practices, were found to be the most associated to success in IA. The relative importance of the antecedents are discussed related to the context. Research limitations/implications – Because of the nature of qualitative design, a single factor may affect the interpretation and generalization of the findings. In addition, the ample and broad conceptualizations and definitions of the antecedent factors examined from different viewpoints may cause theoretical overlapping and cross-over definition biases, which may result in misleading findings. Therefore, the authors encourage future research to continue examining the full range of antecedent factors employing different methodological approaches by integrating context in a more systematic manner. Practical implications – The paper reviews the implications for IA selection design and process implementation, cross-cultural training and development. Originality/value – To begin with, this paper fills a need to study the antecedents of IA success and determine their relevance. In particular, and to the best of the knowledge, this is one of the few studies that include multi-level perspective: individual, organizational and contextual factors. This comprehensive approach aids in better understanding of the role and relevance of the respective antecedent factors that leads to success in IA with an aim to integrate context in the equation. Second, the sample consists of expatriates in particularly in Peru which gives information about adjustment of expatriates in Peru.

Expatriates adjustment through transformation of social identity of Chinese expatriates working in Pakistan

“…The findings in this study add novelty in the literature in a number of ways. First, this study focused on the consequences of expatriate adjustment process, unlike a number of the previous studies that were limited to antecedents of expatriate adjustment (Abdul Malek et al, 2015;Canhilal et al, 2015;Takeuchi, 2010). Finally, this study has developed a unique process model for understanding expatriates adjustment at multiple stages through incorporation and integration of two models, i.e., "U-curve model" and "social identity theory," hence adds value in the literature on cross-cultural management.…”

Relationship between Cultural Origin of Multinational Companies and Employing Expatriates in Foreign Subsidiaries in Central and Eastern Europe

“…Assignments are often characterized by so called expatriate crises that can evolve at micro (personal and family), meso (network and organisational domains) and macro (host country) levels. (McNulty et al, 2019) Expatriate adjustment is a dynamic, psychologically and contextually determined process (Banai, 2022;Mumtaz & Nadeem, 2022) and, constitutes a challenge to individuals paradoxically even in a culturally similar country (Vromans et al, 2013) It has been revealed that the most significant factors driving expatriate success are the following: cross-cultural competences, spousal support, motivational questions, time of assignment, emotional competences, previous international experience language fluency, social relational skills, cultural differences, and organizational recruitment and selection practices (Canhilal & Shemueli, 2015). In their review DeNisi and Sonesh (2016) propose a multidimensional model of success and failure in international assignments.…”

Status and success

“…The definition of expatriate success in the global mobility and expatriate management literature is not very clear. Holopainen and Björkman (2005) and Canhilal et al , (2015) point out that success has been assumed to be the opposite of what the existing literature has defined as failure. Thus, success has been taken as not having prematurely returned before the international assignment contract has ended (Dowling et al , 2017), i.e., a non-failure.…”