Fabian Jintae Froese

Motivation and adjustment of self-initiated expatriates: the case of expatriate academics in South Korea

Globalization and international labor mobility have provided the opportunity for highly qualified people to work in almost any country they desire. The people who take advantage of this opportunity can be categorized as ‘self-initiated expatriates’ (SIE). This study explores the motivation and cross-cultural adjustment of 30 SIE academics in South Korea. The respondents were motivated to expatriate by a desire for international experience, attractive job conditions, family ties, and poor labor markets in their home countries; most of the respondents were well adjusted. Based on our findings, we propose a theoretical framework linking the motivation and cross-cultural adjustment of expatriates.

Organizational expatriates and self-initiated expatriates: differences in cross-cultural adjustment and job satisfaction

Reflecting on recent trends in the international labor force, this study investigates and compares organizational expatriates (OEs), who are dispatched by their companies to international posts, with self-initiated expatriates (SIEs), who by their own volition move and work abroad. Findings from a survey of 57 OEs and 124 SIEs in Tokyo show several differences in individual- and job-related factors, cross-cultural adjustment and job satisfaction between OEs and SIEs. More specifically, mediation analyses show SIEs to have higher interaction adjustment because of their longer stay in the host country and higher host-country language proficiency. However, SIEs have lower job satisfaction because they work more often under host-country national supervisors.

Acculturation Experiences in Korea and Japan

This article provides new insights into the study of acculturation based on a phenomenological research design, that is, in-depth and conscious descriptions and reflections. The in-depth descriptions illustrate the plurality and complexities inherent in the social networks and languages of highly skilled migrants in foreign countries, which transcend the customary local—foreign dichotomy. In Korea and Japan, Westerners may enjoy a moot advantage of being foreigners to whom superior knowledge and skills are ascribed, while simultaneously facing subtle forms of discrimination. Being aware of this situation, some migrants, for example bicultural and biracial people, might be able to take advantage of this ambivalent situation while simultaneously coping with discrimination.

Organizational Attractiveness of Foreign-Based Companies: A Country of Origin Perspective

Attracting high-quality applicants is a crucial activity for the success of an organization. In todays globalized world, multinational enterprises need to attract talent not only in the domestic market but also in overseas markets. This exploratory study introduces the country of origin image framework from marketing literature to the context of recruitment in order to examine why foreign companies are (not) attractive to local job seekers, exemplified by the case of Japanese and US companies in Vietnam. Survey results of more than 300 participants confirmed the robustness of our postulated framework. Symbolic images such as the technological development and images of people of a country predicted the attractiveness of foreign companies above and beyond instrumental images of job characteristics. Detailed explanations and practical implications are provided.

Recruiting and retaining R&D professionals in China

Since the late 1990s, R&D-related foreign direct investment (FDI) has started to surface in emerging markets, above all in China. Owing to the rapid rise in demand, recruitment and retention of local R&D professionals have increasingly become a critical success factor for multinational enterprises (MNE) operating in China. Data from 57 in-depth interviews with R&D professionals, managers and human resource managers from 35 different MNEs in China are presented and analysed. Although monetary incentives are important, career enhancement factors, such as training and promotion opportunities, high reputation of the company are keys in attracting and retaining R&D professionals in China. While some of the findings are similar to those typically observed in the West, other findings could only be explained when the Chinese context was taken into account. Detailed theoretical and practical elaborations are provided.

Burden or support? The influence of partner nationality on expatriate cross-cultural adjustment

Purpose - – The family and specifically, the partners of expatriates are unfortunately the major cause of expatriate maladjustment. Drawing from and extending the concept of relational demography, the purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of the nationality of expatriates’ partners, conceptualized as host, home or third country nationality, on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment. Design/methodology/approach - – Survey data from 299 expatriate academics in China, Japan and South Korea were analysed. The authors used confirmatory factor analyses to validate the scales and ANCOVA to test the hypotheses. To further understand the interactions effects the authors conducted simple slopes analysis. Findings - – Results show that differences in expatriate academics’ cross-cultural adjustment are not Research limitations/implications - – The study was based on a cross-sectional survey of expatriate academics in Asia. Thus, longitudinal, multisource data from various contexts would increase validity and generalizability of findings. Despite these limitations, the study provided new and intriguing findings. The theory and empirical evidence underscore the importance of expatriate partner nationality and thereby, relational demography between expatriate partners and expatriates. Practical implications - – The research aims to emphasize the important role that expatriate partners can play concerning the success of expatriate cross-cultural adjustment. Greater attention should be paid to the adjustment processes of expatriates and their partners to facilitate expatriate cross-cultural adjustment. Originality/value - – The authors are among the first to study the influence of nationality, conceptualized as host, home country or third country nationality, of expatriates’ partners on expatriates’ cross-cultural adjustment by applying the concept of relational demography. Moreover, the authors look at the role that time in the host country has on the partner’s influence on expatriate adjustment.

Terrorism and expatriate withdrawal cognitions: the differential role of perceived work and non-work constraints

Abstract Building on stress theory, this study investigates the mechanism by which terrorism influences withdrawal cognitions of expatriates, namely, via perceived threat as well as perceived constraints in the work and non-work domains. Data from 160 expatriates currently working in African and Asian countries show that the level of terrorism relates to expatriates’ perceived threat. Further, we find that the effect of this perceived threat is stronger on perceived constraints in the non-work than in the work domain. While perceived constraints in the work domain have a direct effect on job turnover intentions, perceived constraints in the non-work domain have a direct effect on country leave intentions and an indirect, spillover effect on job turnover intentions. Our study underscores the importance of both work and non-work domains for understanding stress and turnover related to expatriation in terrorism-endangered countries.

The effect of leadership styles, rank, and seniority on affective organizational commitment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a conceptual model based on the culturally endorsed implicit leadership theory to comprehend differences in the relationships between consideration, and initiating structure leadership styles and affective organizational commitment for US and Korean employees. Further, the authors investigate how rank and seniority moderate the relationships between the two leadership styles and affective organizational commitment in both countries. Design/methodology/approach – The authors developed and conducted a cross-sectional survey in the USA and Korea. To test the hypotheses that perform a series of hierarchical regression analyses. Findings – Survey results from 452 US and Korean employees show that the positive relationship between consideration leadership (i.e. people-oriented leadership) and affective organizational commitment was stronger among US employees than Korean employees. Initiating structure leadership (i.e. task-oriented leadersh...

Culture matters: the influence of national culture on inclusion climate

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model in order to increase the understanding of the influence of national culture on the relationship between organizational diversity and inclusion management and inclusion climate. Design/methodology/approach – Based upon a comprehensive review of diversity and inclusion management literature, the authors develop a conceptual model. Findings – The model delineates how national culture influences the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion management practices in establishing an inclusion climate. In particular, the authors propose that low power distance, high collectivism, low uncertainty avoidance, low masculinity, high long-term orientation, and high indulgence cultures serve as a fertile context for creating an inclusion climate. Furthermore, the authors discuss how cultural tightness-looseness amplifies or attenuates the effects of national culture. Research limitations/implications – The paper extends the understanding of the antecede...

Recruitment source practices in foreign and local firms: a comparative study in Japan

While an important human resource management (HRM) function, little is known about the differences in recruitment source practices in foreign and local firms. Research on recruitment source practices is also important due to the potential HRM differences between foreign and local firms. To partially bridge this research gap, we conducted two studies to examine differences in recruitment source practices in foreign and local firms in Japan and the reasons that explain these differences. First, we conducted a qualitative, interview-based study with 110 employees and recruitment consultants and found that not only firm ownership (foreign firm versus local firm) but also firm age, size, and industry explain differences in recruiting source practices. Second, we conducted a quantitative, survey-based study with 800 employees in foreign and local firms to further examine contingencies in recruitment source practices. We found that foreign firms rely more on recruitment consultants but less on college recruiting, and that firm size and industry moderate the relationship between firm ownership and recruiting source practices. Taken together, our findings contribute to international HRM research by suggesting that not only firm ownership, but also firm size and industry influence recruiting source practices in foreign and local firms.