individual, organizational-work and environmental influences on expatriate turnover tendencies an...

8/10/2019 Individual, Organizational-Work and Environmental Influences on Expatriate Turnover Tendencies an Empirical Study

1/28

Individual, Organizational/Work and Environmental Influences on Expatriate TurnoverTendencies: An Empirical StudyAuthor(s): Meg G. Birdseye and John S. HillSource: Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 26, No. 4 (4th Qtr., 1995), pp. 787-813Published by: Palgrave Macmillan JournalsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/155299.

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2/28

INDIVIDUAL,

ORGANIZATIONAL/WORK

ND

ENVIRONMENTAL

INFLUENCES

ON EXPATRIATE

URNOVER

TENDENCIES:

AN EMPIRICAL

STUDY

Meg

G.

Birdseye*

Augusta College

John

S. Hill**

Universityof Alabama

Abstract.Foreign

postings

for executives

are

costly

undertakings

or

multinational

orporations,

specially

when

hey

fail.

Yet little research

has beendone on the causesof expatriate urnover. his115-expatriate

survey

assesses

individual, organizational/work

nd

environmental

influencesn both

nternal

nd

external

urnover

endencies.

t was

found

that job autonomy

nd

material ife

satisfaction

were

key

predictors

or

both

internal

and external

urnover endencies.

Only

for

organizational

turnover

id

job

autonomy upersede

material

ife

satisfaction s the

lead

predictor

of

turnover endencies.

American

expatriates

attach

much

importance

to

maintaining

iving

standards

in

postings

to

foreign

locations.

The United

States

has

$548

billion

of

direct

investment

n

foreignmarkets

[Surveyof

Current

Business

1994].

And while

in

most cases Americanmulti-

national

corporations

(MNCs)

staff

their

foreign operations locally [Tung

1982], here

are

occasions

when infusions

of home

country

nationalsare neces-

sary

additions

to

the

overseas

personnel

mix.

There

are

times, for

example,

whenheadofficeperspectives eed to berepresentedt the subsidiaryevel.On

other occasions,expatriates arry

with them

essentialmanagerial

or technical

skills.

But while

some Americansenjoy the

stimulusof

foreign iving, and view

it as

a

mind-broadeningxperience and

a

foot

up

the

corporate

adder

n

a increas-

ingly

international

world),

for others

the foreign

assignmentis an ordeal.

*Meg G. Birdseye (Ph.D., University of Alabama) is Assistant Professor of Management at the

School

of

Business

at

Augusta College,

Georgia.

Her research interests are

in human resources

and

international management.

**John

S.

Hill

(Ph.D.,

University

of

Georgia)

is

Professor

of

International Business at the

University

of Alabama

in

Tuscaloosa.

His research interests are in

international

business,

marketing

and global strategic management.

The

authors

gratefully cknowledge

he

methodologicalhelp furnished

by Dr. JamesCashmanand

Dr.

Elizabeth

Ferrellof the Universityof Alabama,

and the exceptionally

onstructiveritiquesof the

three

JIBS reviewers.

Received:October1993

Revised:

une

1994;

January& April 1995Accepted:April

1995

787


3/28

788

JOURNAL

OF INTERNATIONAL

BUSINESS STUDIES, FOURTH QUARTER

1995

Going abroad

for

protractedperiods

places strains

on them

and their

families.

For

the expatriate

manager,

adjustments

to new

job assignments

are

usually

necessary

[Torbiorn

1982; Black

1988;

Black et al.

1991; Feldman

and

Tompson 1993];

and

for spouses and

families, unfamiliar

transportation,

housing,

food, healthcare,

and education

systems cause

problems

[Tung 1982;

Black and

Stephens

1989; Gregerson

and

Black 1990].

When

requiredadjust-

ments

are extreme

(Americans

working

in the Middle

East

for example,

[Feldman

and

Thomas 1992]),

or when individuals

fail to adjust

(as with

Feldman and

Thomas' psychological

withdrawal

or palliative

coping

responses),

then

turnover options

become

viable,

either to change

jobs,

locations,

or in extreme

cases, organizations.

U.S. corporate

experiences

have

been

that despite

careful expatriate selection

methods

[Baker and Ivancevich

1971; Heller 1980;

Miller 1973],orientations,

and training

[Earley

1987;Rahim

1983],

between

16%and 40% of

American expatriates

still return prematurely

from

foreign assignments

[Black

1988;

Copeland and

Griggs 1985;

Misa and

Fabricatore 1979;Tung

1981].

To

make

matters worse,

the cost of

maintaining

expatriates

abroad

is

high.

In

the

mid-1990s,

the cost

of

maintaining

an American

with a base

salary

of

$100,000 and a family of two was $220,370 in Tokyo, $180,312 in Singapore,

$157,762

in

Beijing

and $138,469

in Paris [Lublin and

Smith 1994].

When

retraining

and

preparation

costs

are added, foreign

assignments

become

significant

costs for

MNCs to

bear. Multinationals

therefore have

vested

interests

in

ensuring

that

executives

posted

to foreign assignments

have

successful experiences.

Disgruntled

expatriates

may

not

only

perform

poorly

abroad,

but

in

extreme

circumstances

may

decide to

quit

the

company

[Harvey

1985].

Yet

despite

its

prominence

as

an

international

human resource

problem,

academic research

on

expatriate

behaviors, according

to Naumann

[1992]

has

focused on

only specific

aspects,

such as

the 'ideal'

characteristics

of

expatriate

managers [Church

1982;Tung

1982;

Abe and Wiseman

1983;

Mendenhall

and

Oddou

1985;

Mendenhall,

Dunbar

and Oddou

1987; Tung

1987],

the

un-

developed

nature

of cross-cultural

training programs

and

preparations

for

expatriate

assignments

[Brislin

1979;

Mendenhall

and Oddou

1985;

Black

and

Mendenhall 1990],

and

spouse

and

family problems

[Tung

1982;Harvey

1985;

Black and Stephens 1989].

Naumann

[1992]

further

pointed

out that

traditional

turnover

causes

such as

individual, organizational

and environmental

character-

istics

have

not been

empirically

examined

in the

expatriate

setting.

The

objective

of this

article

is

to

assess

the effects

of selected

individual,

organization/work,

and

environmental

characteristics

on

intent-to-leave

measures

relating

to individuals'

jobs,

organizations

and

geographic

locations.

Our database

comprised

the

surveyed

experiences

of

115

American

expatriates

serving in foreign locations.


4/28

EXPATRIATE

TURNOVER

TENDENCIES

789

LITERATURE

REVIEW

The Extent

of the Problem

The costs of sending expatriatesabroad as corporaterepresentatives nd

ambassadors s

significant,

especially

when

training

and

preparation

harges

are ncluded.Directcosts can

be as

high

as

$150,000

per person

[Copeland

and

Griggs

1986; Harvey

1985;

Mendenhallet al.

1987],

and

as

Harvey

[1985]

noted,

that excludes indirect

organizationalcosts

(e.g.,

replacingexecutives

who

are sub-par

performers).The

difficulties

nherent

n

foreign

assignments

can be

put into

perspective

with a

domestic-international

turnover

comparison.

n the

United

States,

turnoverrates of

under

5% are

rare,

while

those over 15%are generallyconsideredseriousproblems Bohl 1986]. This

compares

to

reported turnover rates

averaging

around

30%

for

expatriate

managers

Tung

1987].

FIGURE 1

An

Empirically

Testable Model

of

Expatriate

Dissatisfaction

and

Intent-to-Leave the

Job,

Organization

and

Location

INDIVIDUAL ACTORS

Demographics:

Age

Marital

Status

Education

International

Experience

Quality

of

Life:

Life

autonomy

Life

satisfaction

Family:

Spouse

changes

in

attitudes

Spouse adjustments

Spouse

satisfaction

Number of

Children

WORK/ORGANIZATIONALACTORS

INTENT-TO-LEAVE

Job

Satisfaction:

job duties, work

load, salary

Joranization

fringe benefits,

advancement

Orgat.

prospects, supervisor

relationship,

Location

coworker

relationship

Job

Autonomy:

opportunity for

independent

thought

and

action, job

authority, decision-

making

participation, discretion

Extent of Foreign and Domestic Job Similarity (work

content; means

and

methods)

Promotion Status

Functional

area

Staff-line

ENVIRONMENTAL

ACTORS

Standard of

living,

cost of

living, medical

facilities,

availability

of

products,

quality of products,

educational facilities


5/28

790

JOURNAL

OF

INTERNATIONAL

BUSINESS STUDIES,

FOURTH QUARTER

1995

American

companies'

foreign

assignment

failure

rates

are high

by

international

standards.

Tung [1982]

noted

that

U.S.

firms had

expatriate

failure

rates at

least two

to three

times

higher

than European

and

Japanese

corporations.

ndeed,

76%of American

MNCs had foreign

turnoverrates

in

excess of

10%;this

compared

to

3%

for European

MNCs

and 14%

for

Japanese

MNCs.

So whatfactors

are

ikely

o

contribute

o expatriate

issatisfaction

with

foreign

assignments?

To determine

actual and potential

problems

with

overseas

postings,

the literatures

on domestic

and

expatriate

urnover

were

tapped.

Independent

ariables

were based

on

Mobley,

Griffeth,

Hand,

and Meglino's

[1979] conceptualizationwhich divided causes of intent-to-turnoverand

dissatisfaction

nto individual,

rganizational

nd

environmental

ategories.

Individual

Factors

In this

study

individual(or

personal)

factors

were evaluated

under

three

headings:

demographic

lementssuch

as age,

marital

status

and

education;

family

situation

(e.g.,

spouse

satisfaction);

nd

quality

of

life indicators

e.g.,

life satisfaction).

Demographic

data have generally

not

correlated

well

with

organizational

commitment

variables

n

the

expatriate

iterature

Naumann

1992].Age

has

been weakly

identifiedwith

job

satisfaction [Dewar

and Werbel1979]

but

strongly

correlated

with

organizational

commitment (e.g.,

Morris

and

Sherman[1981])

n domestic studies.

But what of its

effects internationally?

Does the

ability

o

cope

with foreignposting

ncrease

or decrease

with age?

Or

is it relevant?

Maritalstatus s similarlya controversial lement n expatriate tudies.Onthe

one

hand,

Naumann

[1992]

notes that marriage

s a

stabilizing

element

for

expatriates.

On

the

other

hand, Tung

[1984]

has

identified

pouse

and

family-

relatedproblems

as

primary

auses of foreignassignment

ailures.

Education

n

domestic

studies

has

generally

been

perceived

o

be

negatively

related o

workercommitment

Naumann

1992].

In

the

international

ontext,

it may

be that the enlightenment

that

higher

education

should

bring

realistically

realigns expatriate

anticipations

about

what

to

expect

abroad.

Likewise,

nternational

xperience

has been

identified

s

a

precursor

f

foreign

assignment

uccess

Black

and

Stephens

1989].

Families

and

spouses

are

the second

set of

individual-related

lements.Tung's

[1982]

study

showed

that

family-related

problems

accounted

for two

out

of

three

of the

most

commonly

cited causes

of

expatriate

ailure.

Harvey

[1985]

reinforced

his

view,

and

further

noted

that

failures

o

make

necessary

cross-

cultural

adjustments

adversely

affect

expatriate

managers'

on-the-job

performance a side-effectalso notedby Mendenhall t al. [1987].Similarly,


6/28

EXPATRIATE

TURNOVER

TENDENCIES

791

appropriate

amily

adjustments

have been associatedwith

successful

oreign

assignments

Black

and

Stephens

1989].

Finally,

the roleof

childrenneeds

to

be

noted.

Naumann

[1992]equated

successful nternational

ssignments

with

fewerand

younger

children.

The third

and final set

of

factors

relate

to measuresof

individuals'

quality

of

lie,

which

in this

study

includes life

autonomy

and

life

satisfaction.

Life

autonomy emanates

from the

works of Andrews

and

Withey [1974]

and

Janoff-Bulman

nd

Marshall

[1982],

and

ascertains

how

far

individuals

eel

free to

live as

they choose. It

was

included

in

this

study

as

a

generalized

measure of

how constrained

ndividuals felt

in

their

foreign environments.

Similarly, ur life satisfactionmeasurewas included o findout how satisfied

individualswere

with their ife

as a whole.While life

satisfactionhas

not

been

a

major factor

in

domestic

satisfaction

and

turnover

research,

other studies

have shown

that

off-the-job

problems

uch

as

spouse

abuse

[Deming

1991],

or

having

employees

who

are

related o alcoholics

[Sussman

nd

Smith

1992]may

affect ob

performance.

Organizational

and

Work-Related

Factors

While it is possible in theory to separateorganizationaland work-related

effects on

intent-to-turnover

e.g., Naumann

[1992]),

n

practicethe

two

are

not

easily

distinguished,

speciallygiven

that

job-related

conditions

areparts

of

the

overall

organizationalmosaic

[Newman

et al.

1978].

In

this

study, ob

satisfaction,

job

autonomy,

functional

area,

and

staff-line

variables

were

evaluated,

along

with

measures

of

foreign

and

domestic

ob

similarity based

on

the

works

of

Hays

[1971];Fields

and Shaw

[1985];Pinder

and

Schroeder

[1987]).Also

included as

an

experimental

variablewas

whether

the

foreign

posting was perceivedas a promotion,demotion or lateralmove.This builds

on

the

works

of

Feldman

[1991]and

Feldmanand

Thomas

[1992]who

noted

considerable

expatriate

uncertainty

about

whether

foreign

assignments

contributed

positively

o

their

career

development

patterns.

Job

satisfactionhas been

relatedto

turnover

Danserau

et al. 1974;

Mitchell

1981;

Porterand

Steers

1973].

Muchinskyand

Tuttle

[1979]

meta-analyzed

nineteen

articlesdealingwith

job

satisfaction

and

turnover.Overall,

here

was

a negativerelationshipbetweenjob satisfaction and turnoveralthoughthe

strength

of

the

relationship

varied from

study to study.

In

general,

satisfied

workers were less

likely

to

leave their

jobs

than those

with

high job

dissatisfaction

quotients. The

review

noted

that the

relationship

remained

constant over

different ypes of

samples,

organizations, nd

measuresof job

satisfaction.

n

this

research,

atisfaction

evels

weremeasured

with

respect o

a

variety

of

elements:

e.g.,job

duties,work

oad,

salary,and

so on).

Similarly,job

autonomy

measures were

taken

from

the

literature,and

comprised our items:opportunity orparticipationn decisionmakingwhich


7/28

792

JOURNAL

OF INTERNATIONAL

BUSINESS

STUDIES,

FOURTH

QUARTER

1995

is supported

in the domestic

literature

as a predictor

of organizational

commitment

Gladstein

1984;

Glisson

and Durick

1988;

Miller and

Monge

1986]).

A secondcomponent

was

the

abilityto do

the job as

one wished.

This

factor,

otherwise

known as discretion

n the literature,

has

been related

o

cross-cultural

adjustment

n Black

and Stephen's

1989]study

of American

expatriates

in

Japan.

Other items

were the

opportunity

for independent

thought

[Ivancevich

1969;

Heenan

1970];

and the

amount of

authority

connectedwith

the

position[Baker

nd Ivancevich

1971;Sieveking

t al.

1981].

Outside

of

the

job satisfaction

and

job

autonomy measures,

some

other

experimental

variableswere

included:business

function(marketing,

manu-

facturing,

HRM, etc.)

and whether heposition

was

line or staff.

Differences

between

he domestic

andinternational

ob

assignments

ave

been

identified as

being

problematic.

Changes

in corporate

structures,

organiz-

ational

cultures, ob duties

and

methods

can

all

cause

adjustment

difficulties

[Adler

1983;

Mendenhall nd

Oddou

1985;

Mendenhall

t al. 1987;

Black1988;

Feldman

1991].

And while variouscoping

strategies

re

available

e.g.,

getting

assistance,

psychic

reappraisal,

withdrawal,

ocus on acquisition

of new skills

[Feldman

and Thomas

1992]),

differences

n

job assignments

ould

lead

to job

reassignmentequests,or in extreme ases,organizationalurnovers.

The

importance

of

job/task

and

organizational

haracteristics

n

expatriate

intrinsic

and

extrinsic

job

satisfaction

was confirmed

in Nauman's[1993]

study

But

while

there s

generally

n inverse

elationship

etween

urnover

nd

job satisfaction,

the

former was not explicitly

measured

n

the 157

Asian

expatriate

tudy.

Naumann

found that

role

ambiguity,

kill

variety,

particip-

ation,

and career

advancement

ll related

to both

intrinsicand extrinsic

ob

satisfaction,

but that

task

significance

correlated

only

with intrinsic

satis-

factionwhile ob autonomyrelatedonlyto extrinsic atisfaction.

Environmental

Factors

Naumann

[1992]

noted

that

all

foreign

assignments

re not

created

equal,

and

that

dissatisfaction

with national

environments

re known

causes

of

expatriate

discomfort.

Developing

countries

n

particular

eem

to

be

problematic

Lanier

1979].

Torbiorn

1982] ound

that

expatriates

n

the

Middle

East,

Africa and

parts of Asia were considerablydissatisfiedwith their postings. Hofstede

[1980]

noted

the

considerable

cultural

distances

between

the

nations

that

spawn

multinational

nterprises

such

as

the

U.S.)

and

subsidiaries'

ocations.

Gregersen

and

Black

[1990]

also

suggested

that

non-job

factors

such

as

transportation,

housing,

food,

and healthcare

played significant

roles

in

expatriate

etention.

In

this

study,specific

environmental

lements

hat cause

problems

or

hardships

were identified

as: cost

of

living;

standard

of

living,

educational

and

medical

acilities,

and

the

quality

and

availability

f

goods

for

sale [Frankenstein

I985].


8/28

EXPATRIATETURNOVER

TENDENCIES

793

Dependent

Variables: ntent-to-Turnover

Some studies

in

the

expatriate

turnover field have focused on

actual

expatriate

turnover (e.g., Tung [1982]), while others (e.g., Black and Stephens [1989])

have

used intent-to-turnover measures.

Tung's

[1982] ground-breaking study

evaluated expatriate

turnover

on a

post-hoc

basis

(i.e.,

after the

decision to

leave

had been

made).

While

this remains the most valid measure

of

turnover,

the method does have drawbacks

for

organizations

interested

in

anticipating

and diagnosing potential

turnover,

as

the

factors

causing

turnover and other

sources of

managerial

discontent can

only

be

addressed after

the horse has

bolted.

To

this

end,

a number

of intent

to turnover

measures

were

developed. Angle

and

Perry

[1981]

focused on

plans

to

stay

with a

particular

organization.

Mitchell

[1981]

looked

for

factors

promoting

decisions to leave.

Still others

(e.g.,

Arnold and

Feldman

[1982])

looked

at

alternative

employment

oppor-

tunities as

catalysts

to

turnover. What

emerged

from

these studies was

that

dissatisfaction

with one

or

more work facets

(work, pay, promotion

oppor-

tunities,

coworkers,

or

supervisors)

caused

alternative

job-seeking

activities.

These studies equated intent-to-turnover with actual turnover. This assump-

tion

was

confirmed

by

Steel

and Ovalle's

[1984] meta-analysis

of

thirty-four

studies

in

the area. Their

findings

(including

an

T

of

.49)

confirmed

that intent-

to-leave was a

good

substitute for actual turnover

in

this

type

of

research.

A

second consideration

in

reviewing expatriate turnover behavior

relates to

a

broadening

of

the traditional intent to

leave the

organization

measure.

Most

researchers [Arnold and Feldman

1982; Bluedorn

1982;

and Blau

and Bhol

1987]

use external turnover

(i.e.,

intent

to leave the

organization)

as the

major

dependent variable. However, Nauman [1992] noted the existence of internal

turnover

(e.g., job

changing),

and

earlier studies have

also

identified

job-

related factors as sources

of

expatriate discontent

(e.g., Tung

[1981];

International

Management

[1983]; Sieveking

et

al. [1981]).

Tung [1981]

commented

on a

second internal

turnover variable when

she

noted that early

withdrawals from

foreign postings

occurred because

of

failures

to

adjust to the

locations and cultures.

Similarly, Gregersen

and

Black

[1990]

found that

adjusting to the

general

culture

was related to an

intent-to-stay variable.

Overall, this suggests that intent-to-leave the location (to another country or

more likely,

back to the

U.S.) is

also an

important

internal turnover

variable to

be assessed.

Discussion

Recent

research on expatriates has

focused on

organizational commitment

(parent

versus

subsidiary allegiances [Gregersen and

Black

1990]);

expatriate

career

management (e.g., Feldman and

Thomas [1992]); expatriate

adjustment

and coping strategies (Feldman and Tompson [1993]); and organizational/job


9/28

794 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES, FOURTH QUARTER 1995

effects on

expatriate satisfaction (Naumann [1993]). Yet while these studies

provide key pieces to the expatriate assignment puzzle, still there is little direct

evidence about what causes expatriate discontent and inclination to turnover.

This research seeks to address the following issues. First, it seeks to evaluate

the

relative

influences

of individual, job/organizational, and environmental

factors

on

corporate

turnover.

Environmental

(or 'nonwork') factors

in

particular

have been

underemphasized

in

the

expatriate literature [Black et al.

1991] and have not been given the empirical attention they deserve [Black and

Stephens 1989].

Lee and

Mowday [1987]

noted

the importance of more

complete (but necessarily non-comprehensive) models of turnover that

encourage managers to think past their own intuitive assessments of why

turnover

occurs. Second, we

have

broadened the intent-to-turnover concept to

include two internal

turnover

variables

(intent-to-leave the location and intent-

to-leave

the job)

as

well as the

more

widely used external turnover measure

(intent-to-leave the organization).

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Naumann

[1992]

noted that

expatriate

turnover studies

generally

have

been

treated

in

a

very general,

ill-defined

fashion .

While

our research

objectives

are modest

in

relation to

what

needs to be

done in

this

field, they

were

formulated

with

both

practitioners

and academics

in

mind.

Study goals

were

to:

Establish benchmark readings concerning expatriate intent-to-leave

job,

location

and

organization

orientations.

While our

sample

frame is

limited, results should indicate the extent of expatriate dissatisfaction

with

job situations, organizations

and

foreign

environments.

We

also

wanted

to

examine the

extent

of

any interrelationships

between

turnover

variables.

Our next three

objectives

concerned

how

our three sets

of

independent

variables

(individual, work/organization,

and

environmental)

associated with

our

three intent-to-turnover

factors.

Given the

paucity

of

empirical

studies

about

expatriate

turnover

tendencies,

we derived

the

following general

hypotheses:

1. That

intent-to-leave

the

job

and the

organization

would

be most

affected

by

work

and

organizational

factors

[Naumann 1993].

2. That intent-to-leave

the location

would be

most

affected

by

environ-

mental factors

[Naumann 1992; Gregersen

and Black

1990].

3.

That

individual factors

would affect

all

three

turnover

variables,

but

would

be

secondary

influences

relative to

work/organizational

and

environmental factors.


10/28

EXPATRIATETURNOVER TENDENCIES

795

METHODOLOGY

Sample

Frame

Thisresearchwas part of a larger tudyon expatriatebehaviors. nitially hree

American multinationals

were

targeted.

However,

the

research instrument

pretest ndicateda

substantialamountof

respondent

oncernabout

the

intent-

to-turnover

questions; (the

fact that their

headquarters

would

only

receive

result

summaries

pparently

id

not

counter his

anxiety).

There

was a

twofold

response o this concern.

First,

all

potential

respondents

were

given

the

option

of not

revealing

their

company (the

vast

majority,

over

75%,

opted

for

corporate

anonymity,

partiallyconfirming

he

pretest

concernabout

turnover

questions). Second, the survey was broadenedin scope. The commercial

attachesof

153 embassies

were

sent

two

questionnaires

nd

asked

to

forward

them to American

expatriate

business

people

in

their

country.

In

all,

348

questionnaires

were

sent to a random

sample

of

multinational

corporation

expatriates

rom

listings

suppliedby

their human

resource

departments;

nd

306

went to

commercial

attaches or

forwarding

o

appropriate

oreign-based

U.S.

businesspeople.

Independent Variables

Demographic

information

requestedincluded

age (in

five-year

increments);

gender;

educational

level;

marital

status;

number of

children

(if

any);

and

international

xperience.

Managers

also

responded

o three items

concerning

heir

spouses'

perceived

feelings

toward

he

foreignassignment.

The first

examined

current

satisfaction

levels

with

the overseas

posting.

A

second item

measuredhow

easily (or

not)

the

spouse

had made

requisiteadjustments

to

living

abroad.

Finally,a

third

item evaluated he spouse'sfirst

mpressions

of the foreign ocation.This was

combined

with the

current evel of

satisfaction o

obtain a measure

of how

far

spouse

attitudeshad

changed

since

the start of the

assignment.

Life

satisfaction was

measuredon a

0

to 100 scale

(as suggested

by

Andrews

and

Withey 1974]).

The

scale

was

anchoredat one end

by

The

worst ife

I

can

imagine,

with The

best life

I

can

imagine at the

other

end.

Life

autonomywas

evaluatedon a 1-5

scale. The

question

was phrased:

the

abilityto live life as I wish and was assessedas to its presentavailability

( how

much is

availablenow )

and its

normative

availability how

much

should

there

be ).

These were based

on the works

of

Andrews and

Withey

[1974]

and

Ivancevich

and

Baker 1970].

Job

satisfaction was

measured on

a

five-point

Likert-typescale

that

asked

managers

to

indicate

their level of

agreement or

disagreementwith

eight

statements

about

satisfaction with pay,

work,

promotional

opportunities,

coworkers,

nd

supervisors.

This

scale,

originallydeveloped

by Petty and

Lee

[1988]yieldeda Cronbach's

lpha

of .78.


11/28


12/28

EXPATRIATE

TURNOVER

TENDENCIES

797

item)

questionnaire

nd the fact

that it contained

questions

about

a

sensitive

topic

-

turnover

tendencies.

Respondent

Profiles

Respondents'

ges ranged rom

twenty

to over

sixty,

with

most

in

the

forty

to

forty-five

age

bracket

14.5%).Eighty-seven

ercent

of those

responding

o

the

survey

were males.

Most respondents

had

completed

some

college

(30%)

or

had a

bachelors

degree 29%).

Thirty-eight ercentof

the

respondents escribed

themselvesas

being part

of

TopManagement .

The countries

with

the

most

responses were

Peru (10.9%) and

West

Germany(9.1%).

Respondent time

overseasranged romone monthto twenty-three ears,witha meanof forty-

three

months

and

a

standard

deviationof

sixteen

months.

A

more

comprehen-

sive

breakdown s

presented

n

Appendix

1.

Research Goal

Benchmarking

Expatriate Intentions-to-Leave

the

Job,

Location and

Organization,

and

Interrelationships

among

Turnover

Variables

Our

results

suggested hat

expatriates

hink more

about internal

urnover

i.e.,

leaving

their jobs or

locations) than

about

quitting their

organizations.

Respondentsreportedthe highest level of intent-to-leave coresfor location

(mean

2.56,

on

a

five-point

calewith 5

indicating

requent urnover

houghts,

SD

1.38)

and

intent-to-leave

the

job, (2.67,

SD

1.41). Intent-to-leave

he

organization

averaged

2.29

(SD

1.33).

These

indications

of

external

urnover

are

close to

those

reported

by

Black and

Stephens

[1989]

where

on a seven-

point

Likert-type

scale,

spouses

reported

a

mean

intent-to-stay

of 3.51

(SD .91).

Differences

among

means were

tested

using

the

Scheffe method.

Intent-to-leave

he

location and the

job were

significantlydifferent

at the

.05

level; both weresignificantlyhigher (at the .01 level)than intent-to-leave he

organization.

On

a

more

practical

level,

of

those who

checked

Frequently or

Very

Frequently on

the

intent-to-turnover ariables,

19%

did so for

leavingthe

organization,

25%for

leaving

the

job, and

29%

for

leaving

the

location.

This

suggests hat

inclinationso

external

urnover

averaged

ne

executive n

five in

our

sample

while

nternal

urnover

ateswere

higher

betweenone in

three

and

one in four.)

There

were

significant

nterrelationships

mongthe

turnover

variables

all at

p


13/28

798 JOURNAL OF

INTERNATIONALBUSINESS

STUDIES,

FOURTH QUARTER 1995

General

Hypotheses

1,

2 and 3:

Interrelationshipsbetween Independent

Variablesand Intent-to-Leave

Measures

Having establishedpreliminarybenchmarks for our intent-to-turnover factors,

the next stage of the analysis

was to evaluate relationships among

study

variables. Because the sample

size (115) was small

for the total number of

variables examined

(30), a two-stage analysis

was

necessary.

First, all

independent variables were correlated

against

the three intent-to-turnover

factors. Then,

using these

results,

different combinations of variables

were

regressed against each dependent

variable to find out which factors

primarily

affected

turnover inclinations.

Table

1

shows

the two-tailed correlation relationships between

independent

variables and the three intent-to-leave

factors. There

were fifty-threesignificant

correlations,

with all but ten

significant

at

p


14/28

EXPATRIATETURNOVERTENDENCIES

799

TABLE

I

Correlates between

Individual,

Work/Organization,

Environment

Factors,

and Turnover Variables

Intent-to-Leave: Turnover

Internal External

Job

Location

Organization

Individual factors

Demographics:

Age -.2952** -.2189** -.2141*

Marital

status ns ns ns

Education ns ns ns

Time

overseas

-.3131**

-.3327** -.3242**

Life Quality: Lifeautonomy -.3958** -.4163** -.3152**

Life

satisfaction -.3598**

-.4371**

-.301

0**

Family:

Spouse

attitude

change

ns ns

ns

Spouse adjustments ns

-.3449** ns

Spouse

satisfaction

-

.4533**

-

.4469**

-

.4145**

Children ns

ns

ns

Work/Organizational

factors

Job Satisfaction .4322**

-.3231** .3171**

Job duties ns

ns ns

Workload

-

.5066**

-

.2479**

-

.3568**

Salary/Fringe

benefits

ns

ns ns

Advancement prospects -.3446** -.2003* -.3706**

Supervisor

relationship

-.2106*

-.1818**

ns

Coworker

relationships

ns

ns ns

Job

Autonomy

-.4360** -.2854*

-.4218**

Opportunity

for

indpt.

thought

-.3064** ns

-.3338**

Job

authority

ns

ns -.2344*

Decisionmaking participation

-.3318**

-.2279*

-.2764*

Discretion -.3378**

-

.2944**

-

.3799**

Foreign-Domestic

Job

Similarity

Work content

ns

ns

ns

Methods/Means

ns

ns

ns

Foreign Assignment Job Promotion Status ns -.4820** -.1631*

Functional Area

ns

ns

ns

Staff-line

ns ns

ns

Environmental factors

Components Satisfaction

-.3461

**

-.4164**

-.2155**

Standard

of

living

ns -.2914**

-.2485**

Cost of

living

-.2592**

-.3215**

-.1890*

Medical

facilities ns

-.2877**

ns

Product

availability

ns

-.2129*

ns

Product

quality ns

ns

ns

Educational facilities -.2822** -.3175** ns

**p


15/28

800

JOURNAL

OF INTERNATIONAL

BUSINESS

STUDIES,

FOURTHQUARTER

1995

(i.e.,

non-business)

aspects

of foreign

locations

on a day-to-day

basis.

WorklOrganizationalfactors

showed

consistent effects

on

turnover variables

for six of seventeen elements. Job satisfaction (the global measure) was

negatively

related

to all three turnover

variables

(which

parallels

findings from

the

domestic literature).

Consistent with

our expectations

in Research

Objective

1,

the

coefficient was higher

for

job

turnover (-.43)

than it was for

organizational

or location

turnover (-.32

and -.32

respectively).

Of the component

elements

of the

job satisfaction

measure,

workload

was

consistently and

negatively

related to our turnover

variables,

with the

highest

correlate being on job turnover (-.51) and lower loadings on organization

(-.36)

and location

(-.25). The

location turnover

linkage was interesting

as it

suggests

that

individuals place

some blame

on environmental

elements

for

their workload predicaments

(e.g.,

I

have

to work twice

as hard to achieve

the

same

result

I

would back home ).

Advancement

prospects

were

consistently (and

negatively)

associated with

turnover,

with

job

and organizational

turnover having

the higher coefficients

(-.34

and

-.37

respectively).

Uncertainty

about career

prospects

after the

foreign assignment seems to be a concern for some of these executives,

confirming

the

works of

Feldman and

Thomas

[1992].

Job

autonomy

emerged

as

a

powerful

factor influencing

both

external turnover

(where

organizational

turnover

correlated

on all

four

job

autonomy

subcom-

ponents),

and

with

job

turnover

(which

was related

to three

elements).

The

strongest

correlates

were

on

discretion

('the

ability

to

decide on

my

own

how

to do the

job').

It seems that

foreign

work methods

may

be

more

structured

than their American counterparts (perhaps more procedures and protocols)

and

that

individuals

have

less

discretion

in how

they

approach

tasks and

problems.

Our

results suggest

that individuals

are

likely

to

blame

this

lack of

discretion

on the

organization

(-.38),

the

job

(-.34)

and the location

(-.29).

Similarly,

participation

in

decisionmaking

activities was

problematic

and

increased turnover

inclinations

for the

job

(-.33),

the

organization

(-.28

at

the .05

level)

and

the

location

(-.23

also

at the

.05

level).

This

suggests

that

some

cultural/environmental

elements

intervene

to

change

expatriate

participation in decisionmaking from what they were accustomed to in the

U.S.

(e.g.,

autocratic tendencies

in

the

developing

world;

or what

might

be

perceived

as

overly participative

mechanisms

in

the

European Union).

Dissatisfaction

with

job

authority

also

raised

intent-to-leave-the-organization

tendencies

(-.23,

significant

at

.05

level),

as

did

having

inadequate oppor-

tunities

for

independent

thought

and action

(-

.33

and

which also

affected

job

turnover

at

-.31).

It would

seem that

foreign

organizations

can

dampen

individual

initiatives and

stifle

inbred

American orientations

toward

making

things happen.


16/28

EXPATRIATETURNOVER TENDENCIES

801

The

remaining two

work/organizational elements showed

inconsistent

results

over the

three

turnover variables.

Negative

supervisor

relationships

were

related(but not

strongly) with

job (-.21,

p


17/28

802

JOURNALOF INTERNATIONAL

BUSINESS STUDIES, FOURTH

QUARTER 1995

individual

components, suggesting

that some

negative synergies

may accrue

from unsatisfactory

locations.

Predictors of OrganizationalTurnover

This study examined

a broad

set of variables that may

contribute to turnover

tendencies.

While our conclusions should

be treated

as exploratory, efforts

were

made to identify key

variables and to control

for interrelationships

among

independent

variablesusing stepwise

regression

analyses.Table 2 shows

the results

of this

process.

To

strengthen

our

conclusions,

factor analyses (with

varimax rotation)

were conducted to detect

any

underlying relationships

among

the independent

variables. As a

consequence, four variables

(cost of

living,

work duties, workload,

and coworkers)were deleted

from

the regression

analyses.

A four-factor solution was identified. The first

factor comprised the

four job

autonomy variables;

the second took

in

the remaining

four

job

satisfaction

elements (salary, benefits,

career

advancement, supervision);

the

third combined

current life

satisfaction with

living

standards (to produce

a

new variable:

material life satisfaction).

The fourth

factor comprised

medical

facilities,

availability

of

goods

and

quality

of

goods,

and was renamed

'Amenities'.

Two

findings

in

particular

stand

out.

First,

the material

life

satisfaction

variable

is

prominent

for all three turnover elements,

and is

the

key predictor

for both internal

turnover

variables (job

and

location).

This

suggests

that a

primary expatriate

concern is

in

upholding

material standards;

and that

TABLE

2

Predictors of Expatriate Internal and External Turnover

Standardized

Regression

Coefficient Change

Variables

(final beta

weights)

R2

F

Intent-to-Leave

the Job

Step

1

Material

Life Satisfaction

-.32

.15 19.29***

Step

2 Job

Autonomy

-.32

.11 16.49**

Intent-to-Leave

the

Location

Step

1 Material

Life Satisfaction

-.41 .21

29.79***

Step

2 Job

Autonomy

-.23

.05

7.12**

Step

3

Amenities

-.15 .02

3.07*

Intent-to-Leave

the

Organization

Step

1 Job

Autonomy

-.36

.13 16.99***

Step

2

Material

Life

Satisfaction

-.30

.09 13.18***

*p


18/28

EXPATRIATETURNOVER

TENDENCIES

803

corporations

emphasizing

he

material

benefitsof

foreign

tours

can

diminish

turnover endencies.

Job autonomy was the second variable to featureprominently n all three

turnover

ituations.

t

was

interesting

hat while

ob

autonomy

was the

major

factor

in

external

urnover,

t was

also

a

predictor

or

each

of

the

two internal

turnover

ituations.

t

would seem that the

freedoms

associated

with

domestic

job and organizational ituations

do

contrast

with

their

foreign

counterparts.

And,

despite the

unifying effects

of corporate

cultures, different cultural

environments

may

be

disruptive

influences

on

expatriate

work

styles

and

habits.

Most turnover

predictors

paralleled

our

research

xpectations.

ob

autonomy

and

material

ife

satisfactionwere

key

variables n all three

sets

of

regression

results

(though their relative

importance varied,

as

with

the

job

and

organizational urnover

ariables).

The amenitiesvariable

the

compendium

f

medical

facilities,

availability

nd

quality

of

products)

eatured

as

expected

n

the locationturnover

quation,

but

its

influence

was dwarfed

by

the

other

two

dominantvariables.

CONCLUSION

AND

DISCUSSIONS

This was

a preliminary

tudy

of

expatriate

urnover

ntentions

and the factors

that

contributeto

both

external

(i.e.,

organizational)

and

internal (job and

location)

turnover.

While this research

was based on a

domestic turnover

model

[Mobley

et al.

1979],

herewerefour

dimensions xamined

hat havenot

previouslybeen evaluated

n

the

expatriate ontext.

These ncluded

irst,

global

quality

of

life

measures(life

autonomy,

ife

satisfaction)

based on

Andrews

andWithey[1974].Second,becauseof the importanceof spousebehaviorsn

previous

studies (e.g.,

Tung [1982]), this

variable

was broken

into three

elements:

pouse

attitude

change,

spouse

adjustments,

nd

spousesatisfaction.

Third,

a

number of

environmental actors'

impacts were

assessedboth

in

aggregate

format

('component

satisfaction' and

later as

'amenities') and

individually.These included

standardof

living,

cost of living,

medical and

educational

acilities,

and

product

quality

and

availability.

hese

were derived

from

the

literature and were

reinforced by the

researchers'personal

experiencesas expatriates,and from commentariesby seasonedexecutives.

Finally,

the

usual

turnover variable

(intent-to-leave

he

organization)was

supplemented

by

two

internal

turnover

measures:

ntent-to-leave he job and

the

location.

Our

generalhypotheses

were

argely upported

by

both

our

initial

correlation-

based resultsand

by

our

regression

analyses.With

regard o

Hypothesis 1, it

was

interesting

hat

job

autonomy

rather

than

job

satisfaction

emergedas a

key predictorof

job and

organizational

urnover.This

suggests that the job

satisfaction-turnoverink for expatriatesneeds furtherexamination,and that


19/28

804

JOURNAL

OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES, FOURTH QUARTER 1995

opportunities for thought, job authority, managerial discretion, and

decisionmaking participation perhaps supersede traditional job satisfaction

elements such as workload, supervisor and coworker relationships in turnover

inclinations. Similarly, for Hypothesis 2, turnover location orientations, as

expected, had

an

environmental emphasis (amenities), though material life

satisfaction

and

job autonomy were clearly dominant factors. The association

of

living standards and life satisfaction into a material life satisfaction variable

highlighted

the

importance American expatriates attach to materially oriented

lifestyles. Only

for

organizational turnover did job autonomy supersede

material

life satisfaction

as

the

most important predictor. These findings only

generally support

the works of Black

[1988], Black et al. [1991] and Naumann

[1993], who posited that job and organizational factors should impact work

adjustment (or

lack of

adjustment

which

our turnover variables imply), and

that non-work factors should affect general adjustment aptitudes (or, again,

lack

of them

as our

location turnover factor implies). However, these results

should

not be

oversimplified.

The mix of

individual,

job

and general

environmental factors

affecting

each

of the turnover variables

suggests (as

do

the

high

correlations between the

turnover measures) that spillover effects are

not only likely but should be expected.

One other

interesting finding

was

that

spouse

satisfaction

(a major

factor

in

earlier

writings,

e.g., Tung [1982]; Harvey [1985]), dropped

out

of the

stepwise

regressions.

One

speculation

would

be that

spousal problems may

have been

superseded by

their causes

(e.g.,

low

life

satisfaction

quotients

or

dissatis-

faction with environmental

amenities).

Further evaluation

of this

topic

should

be

possible using

more measures and

perhaps

more

powerful analytic

tools

(e.g., LISREL).

Study

Limitations

One limitation

of

this

study

was

its

limited

sample

size

(115 respondents).

While this did

not

unduly

limit available

analytic tools,

it

certainly

hindered

the

generalizability

of the research

findings.

Future studies would

also

want to

have more

global representation (though

our

thirty-one

countries seems

respectable).

An

alternative

would be

to

limit research to

specific regions

(e.g.,

Asia

[Naumann 1993]). Ideally though,

a

large-scale global study

would be

necessary

to

evaluate

more

aspects

of

expatriate

behavior.

Tentative

Implications or

International Human Resource

Managers

Our

results

suggest

five sets

of

possible implications

for

practitioners. First,

managers may

want to

reevaluate

foreign posting

duration

in

view of our

finding

that intent-to-turnover

inclinations decrease

with

time.

However,

we

would

recommend

that some causal

analysis

be done

to evaluate

why

this

occurs; managers might survey or interview long-serving expatriatesto isolate

personality types or foreign assignment situations conducive to longevity.


20/28


21/28

806 JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STUDIES, FOURTHQUARTER 1995

Second,

while

this

study

and others

(e.g., Naumann [1993]) havefound that job

autonomy

and

some of its components are important

turnover indicators,

steps need to be taken to probe this concept further in its international (and

especially expatriate) context. American culture values

independence of

thought and action, personal initiatives, and tolerates some participative

decisionmaking.

Other

managerial cultures are more conformist

(e.g., Japan)

and many have more autocratic (often class-based) managerial

and decision-

making styles [Hofstede 1980]. Certainly under such circumstances

cultural

clashes would not be

surprising,

with

the greater distances between

parent-

subsidiary cultures producing the potential for conflict.

Management style

differentials and turnover issues are possible future topics for research.

Third, this is a first attempt to evaluate the impact of environmental factors on

expatriate turnover,

and

should

therefore

be regarded only as a

building block

for future efforts. While mainstream variables

(cost

of

living,

standard of

living

and

so

on)

were

evaluated,

there are

many

other

avenues

for

research.

Housing

facilities, transportation,

cultural enrichment

opportunities (or

lack

thereof),

cultural barriers

(e.g.,

behavioral restrictions on

women,

alcohol

intake),

expatriate

'colonies'

(or support communities)

are

among

the

many

other

environmental elements that could be

explored.

Fourth, our results noted

some

expatriate uncertainty about career prospects

after

the

foreign assignment.

This dovetails with other

findings

in

the literature

(especially

Mendenhall et al.

[1987]

and

empirically,

Feldman and Thomas'

[1992] work).

It

would seem

that at least within the three

companies used

in

this

sample,

that career

paths

after overseas

postings

need

to be

prespecified

(or

at least

not remain

unspecified). Similarly,

whether

the

foreign

posting

was

perceivedas a demotion, lateral move, or promotion was negativelycorrelated

with location turnover. This

suggests that,

in

executives'

mindsets at

least,

where

they get posted may

be

perceived

as

an

indicator

of

managerial

self-

worth.

High prestige may

not accrue to

all

foreign locations,

and can be a

source

of

expatriate

discontent.

Further research should focus on locational

effects on

expatriate

behaviors

(e.g.,

in

what

parts

of the world are

expatriates

most

and least

contented).

This study has sought to augment the limited store of empirical knowledge on

expatriate

turnover

tendencies.

In

explicitly recognizing

and

measuring

internal

as well as external turnover

orientations,

and

adding

environmental influences

to the

expatriate

turnover

equation,

we feel that new avenues

for

empirical

investigation

have been

opened.


22/28

EXPATRIATE

TURNOVER TENDENCIES

807

APPENDIX

1

Respondent Profiles

Total Years of Work Years of Tenure at This Firm

1-10 28

24%

0-10 61

53%

11-20 26

23%

11-20

29

25%

21-30

33 29% 21-30 18

16%

31-40

27

23%

31-40

7

6%

over

40 1 1

%

Gender

Children

Living

with

You

Male 101

88% Yes 45

39%

Female

11

9% No 45

39%

No

response

3%

No

children

No response 25 21 %

Age of children

Region

Under 6

12

10%

1 N

America 10

9%

7-18

19 17%

2 S

America

29

25%

Over 18

11

10%

3

Europe

30

26%

Mixed

ages

8

7%

4

Mideast

15

13%

None

there 65

57%

5

Australia 7

6%

6

Africa 4

3%

7

Asia 6

5%

No

response

14

12%

Lived Overseas

Previously

Marital Status

Yes

41

36%

Married 92

80%

No 74

64%

Single

23

20%

Education

ANOVA

Analysis

(


23/28


24/28

EXPATRIATE

TURNOVERTENDENCIES

809

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25/28


26/28

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