Shaun Pichler

The relationship between expatriate job level and host country national categorization:an investigation in the UK

Using data from 493 host country nationals (HCNs) in the UK, we investigated relationships between expatriate gender, national origin, and job level, and HCN characteristics and willingness to help expatriates. Results showed that HCNs from the UK are likely to categorize expatriates as in-group or out-group members based on perceived values similarity, ethnocentrism, and collectivism. This categorization is also likely to affect HCN willingness to provide role information and social support to expatriates. Overall, our results suggest that HCNs would be more likely to provide role-related information to subordinates and peers than supervisors, and social support to male peers regardless of their nationality (i.e. USA vs. India). The analysis contributes to the fields of expatriate management, social categorization, and international human resource management. It also has key messages for multinational companies regarding the development of efficient expatriate management systems.

Expatriate‐local interactions: an investigation in China

Purpose: This study aims to build on recent research, by investigating and examining how likely it is that Chinese locals (i.e. host country nationals (HCNs)) would offer support to expatriates from India and the USA. Design/methodology/approach: Data were gathered from 222 participants in Chinese organizations, asking them to respond to questions about their willingness to offer support to expatriates. Findings: As predicted, perceived values similarity was significantly related to higher dogmatism, which had a significant positive relationship with ethnocentrism. Further, ethnocentrism had a significant negative relationship with willingness to offer support. Research limitations/implications: All data were collected from the participants at one point in time, so the studys results are subject to common method bias. Also, it only included India and the USA, as the two countries of origin of the expatriates. Practical implications: Given HCNs do not automatically offer support to all expatriates, organizations might consider sending expatriates who are culturally similar to HCNs, as they are more likely to receive support, which will help their adjustment and thus organizational effectiveness. Originality/value: This study adds to the small, but growing, number of empirical investigations of HCN willingness to support expatriates.

A performance theory perspective on expatriate success: the role of self-efficacy and motivation

Previous research on the expatriate experience has identified several unique individual and organisational factors that influence success or failure on expatriate assignments. Adopting a performance theory perspective, we propose that these and other factors affect expatriate success through their impact on assignment self-efficacy and motivation. We present a new process model and several propositions to study success on expatriate assignments.

Worker outcomes of LGBT-supportive policies: a cross-level model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a cross-level conceptual model of organizational- and individual-level outcomes of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-supportive policies for all workers regardless of their sexual orientation. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper based on an integration of propositions from perceived organizational support and organizational justice theories. Findings The model suggests that LGBT-supportive policies should be related to perceptions of organizational support directly and indirectly through diversity climate and perceptions of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Practical implications The model implies that employees should feel more supported and more fairly treated among firms with LGBT-supportive policies and practices, and that these feelings will be reciprocated. Originality/value This is the first paper to develop propositions about the outcomes of LGBT-supportive policies for all workers, and advances the literature by developing a multi-level model of outcomes of these policies.

Host country nationals' support to expatriates: an investigation in Turkey

Using data from 243 executives in Turkey, we investigate the relationship(s) between perceived values similarity, in-group/out-group categorisation, interpersonal effect and Host Country National (HCN) willingness to offer role information and social support to expatriates. Results of this study confirm that HCNs are more likely to offer support to expatriates whom they categorise as in-group, as well as to those who they perceive as holding similar values. In addition, our data suggest that Turkish HCNs are more likely to offer support to Indian expatriates as compared to expatriates from the USA, and to expatriates who are assigned to work as their supervisors rather than to expatriate subordinates. We discuss implications of our findings for multinational corporations and suggest future research ideas.

Integrating leader affect, leader work-family spillover, and leadership

– Despite the abundance of dispositional affect, work-family, and leadership research, little has been done to integrate these literatures. Based primarily on conservation of resources theory, which suggests individuals seek to acquire and maintain resources to reduce stress, the purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical examination of the relationships between leader dispositional affect, leader work-family spillover, and leadership. , – Survey data were collected from a diverse sample of managers from a broad set of occupational groups (e.g. financial, government, library). Regression and Monte Carlo procedures were used to estimate model direct and indirect effects. , – The results indicate that dispositional affect is a strong predictor of both work-family spillover and leadership. Further, the relationship between negative/positive affect and leadership was partially mediated by work-family conflict/enrichment. , – Data were cross-sectional self-report, which does not allow for causal interpretations and may increase the risk of common method bias. , – This study helps address why leaders experience both stress and benefits from multiple work and family demands, as well as why leaders engage in particular forms of leadership, such as passive and active leadership behaviors. , – This study provides the first empirical examination of leaders dispositional affect, work-family spillover, and leadership, and suggests that managers dispositional affect and work-family spillover have meaningful relationships with leader behavior across situations.

High performance work systems, cultures and gender demography

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop and test hypotheses about the independent relationships between high-performance work systems (HPWS) and high-performance work cultures (HPWC) and employee turnover. Given the growth of women in the workforce, the authors also develop competing predictions about how organizational gender demography (i.e. a higher percentage of women) may either strengthen or weaken the relationship of HPWSs to turnover. Design/methodology/approach – A survey of 171 human resource (HR) executives across organizations of various sizes and industries in the Chicago metropolitan area in the USA was conducted. Findings – The authors found that HPWS and HPWC are associated with lower turnover, though the relationship between HPWC and turnover was stronger. Results also indicate that HPWS are more strongly related to lower turnover among organizations that employ relatively more women. Research limitations/implications – The results indicates that HPWS may not be universalistic i...

A discussion forum on managerial interpersonal skills

Purpose – Managerial interpersonal skills (MIPS) are widely considered important for management development, yet the nature of MIPS has eluded researchers. The purpose of this paper is to propose five MIPS core skills, giving attention to the role of context, the relationship of MIPS to traits, and implications for training design, assessment and evaluation. Design/methodology/approach – The authors interweave a discussion forum of domain experts (Hillary Anger-Elfenbein, Timothy Baldwin, Paulo Lopes, Bronston T. Mayes, Ronald Riggio, Robert Rubin and David Whetten) with research commentary and implications for management development. The discussion focussed on: first, how do we define MIPS? Second, how important is context for defining, assessing or developing MIPS? Third, are MIPS traits, or skills that can be developed? Findings – The authors propose MIPS include five core skills that sequentially build upon one another: managing-self, communicating, supporting, motivating and managing conflict. Althou...

Expatriate categorisation and evaluation: an empirical investigation in Poland and India

Using data from 205 Host Country Nationals (HCNs) (100 in Poland and 105 in India), we examined the impact of nationality and performance standards information on HCN willingness to provide role information, and their evaluations of expatriate colleagues. Results confirmed that both nationality and performance standards information were significantly related to HCN willingness to provide role information. However, nationality was not significantly related to task or trait type performance ratings, but when performance standards were provided, expatriates were given more favourable trait ratings than HCNs. We discuss the results in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.

Leader Member Exchange Revisited: An Investigation of the Moderating and Mediating Effects of LMX in Two Samples — USA and India

Numerous studies of supervisor-subordinate relationships (LMX) have confirmed the differential impact of the quality of relationship on subordinate ratings. In other words, subordinates that have high quality relationships with their supervisors receive higher rewards (e.g., ratings, guidance, support, etc.). However, most of these studies have assumed that high quality LMX relationships automatically lead to high performance ratings, without examining the impact of performance levels. In this two-nation quasi-experimental study, we test for the moderation and mediation effects of LMX quality. Further, given the recent emphasis on, and call for, cross-cultural studies, we extend the study of LMX to a cross-cultural context by comparing the workings of LMX in the U.S. and India. Our results show that the quality of relationship had a significant impact on performance ratings in India — while this did not hold true in the U.S. sample.