International assignment and repatriation experiences of Indian international assignees in The Netherlands

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of cultural identity change, organizational and social support and cultural distance on repatriation experiences of Indian international assignees.Design/methodology/approachSemi‐structured interviews were held with 19 Indians on international assignment in The Netherlands and 11 Indians repatriated from The Netherlands. Respondents were asked to reflect on their cultural identity changes and the effects of social support, organizational support and cultural distance between the host and the home country on their international assignment and repatriation experiences. Iterative thematic analyses revealed five central themes: cultural identity independence; knowledge utilization and organizational learning; social network support; global career prospects in the Indian economy; work‐life balance.FindingsCultural identity changes ranged from low adaptation to Dutch culture and happiness on return to India through to high cultural flexibility and readiness to move to another sojourn. The majority of respondents reported great appreciation by their supervisors and co‐workers and utilization of their knowledge gained in The Netherlands. These factors, in addition to good career prospects and social support from their informal networks, contributed positively to their repatriation experiences.Originality/valueThis study challenges the frequently reported negative repatriation experiences of sojourners from the West.

Re-entry Adjustment and Job Embeddedness: The Mediating Role of Professional Identity in Indonesian Returnees

“…The results of this study show that difficulty in adaptation and distress upon coming back to the home country make returnees experience a weak sense of professional identity. The findings confirm previous empirical research that the experience of studying and living abroad contributes to the development of professional identity ( Jung et al, 2013 ; Valk et al, 2013 ; Jackson, 2015 ). Experience during living overseas served to broaden cultural, personal, and professional identities, and also the excellent situation for learning and professional development; consequently the identity shifters aspired to new challenges upon re-entry adjustment ( Suutari, 2003 ; Nery-Kjerfve and McLean, 2006 ; Kohonen, 2008 ).…”

Repatriation and (perceived) organisational support (POS)

“…In addition we provided a copy of the transcript, upon request, to the participant in order to maintain accuracy of the data. To gain insight into organisational support for repatriates, several open-ended questions were addressed during the interview based on previous literature (Linehan and Scullion, 2002; Ulrich et al , 2013; Dany et al , 2008; Stevens et al 2006; Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001; Kawai and Mohr, 2015; Linehan and Scullion, 2002; Valk et al , 2013; Lazarova and Cerdin, 2007; Chew and Debowski, 2008; Hyder and Lövblad, 2007; Piéch, 2015; Stahl et al 2009; Szkudlarek, 2010; Arnaez et al , 2014; Black and Gregersen, 1991; Black et al , 1992; Cave et al , 2013; Hyder and Lövblad, 2007; Suutari and Välimaa, 2002; Szkudlarek, 2010) (see Table I for the interview questions).…”

“…Related to the latter, research also indicates that repatriates accompanying partner and children should receive support (e.g. Baruch and Altman, 2002; Black and Gregersen, 1991; Jassawalla and Sashittal, 2009; Kraimer et al , 2012; Kulkarni et al , 2010; Lazarova and Caliguri, 2001; Lazarova and Tarique, 2005; Linehan and Scullion, 2002; Malek et al , 2015; Osman Gani and Hyder, 2008; Sánchez Vidal et al ., 2007; Shen and Hall, 2009; Stahl et al , 2009; Suutari and Välimaa, 2002; Szkudlarek, 2010; Szkudlarek and Sumpter, 2015; Valk et al , 2013, 2014).…”

“…Several scholars argue that HR professionals and line managers have key roles in safeguarding organisational support for repatriation (e.g. Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001; Kawai and Mohr, 2015; Linehan and Scullion, 2002; Valk et al , 2013). However, Welch et al (2009) slightly downplay the HR professionals’ role by arguing repatriate positions are in the domain of others, usually line managers.…”

“…HR professionals, line managers, third party providers, mentors, colleagues) is essential for the quality of repatriation (e.g. Caligiuri and Lazarova, 2001;Kawai and Mohr, 2014;Welch et al, 2009;Valk et al, 2013), but to date there is limited insight into their roles and interplay (e.g. Dickman and Doherty, 2010;Malek et al, 2015;Ravasi et al, 2015;Takeuchi, 2010).…”