J. Selmer, M. Dickmann, F. Froese, Jakob Lauring, B. S. Reiche, M. Shaffer
{"title":"The potential of virtual global mobility: implications for practice and future research","authors":"J. Selmer, M. Dickmann, F. Froese, Jakob Lauring, B. S. Reiche, M. Shaffer","doi":"10.1108/jgm-07-2021-0074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-07-2021-0074","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic has forced global organizations to adopt technology-driven virtual solutions involving faster, less costly and more effective ways to work worldwide even after the pandemic. One potential outcome may be through virtual global mobility (VGM), defined as the replacement of personal physical international interactions for work purposes with electronic personal online interactions. The purpose of this article is to establish VGM as a theoretical concept and explore to what extent it can replace or complement physical global work assignments.Design/methodology/approachThis perspectives article first explores advantages and disadvantages of global virtual work and then discusses the implementation of VGM and analyses to what extent and how VGM can replace and complement physical global mobility.FindingsRepresenting a change of trend, long-term corporate expatriates could become necessary core players in VGM activities while the increase of the number of global travelers may be halted or reversed. VGM activities will grow and further develop due to a continued rapid development of communication and coordination technologies. Consequently, VGM is here to stay!Originality/value The authors have witnessed a massive trend of increasing physical global mobility where individuals have crossed international borders to conduct work. The authors are now observing the emergence of a counter-trend: instead of moving people to their work the authors often see organizations moving work to people. This article has explored some of the advantages, disadvantages, facilitators and barriers of such global virtual work. Given the various purposes of global work the authors chart the suitability of VGM to fulfill these organizational objectives.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83006554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Broadening international mentoring: contexts and dynamics of expatriate and HCN intercultural mentoring","authors":"M. van Bakel, V. Vaiman, C. Vance, A. Haslberger","doi":"10.1108/jgm-06-2021-0065","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-06-2021-0065","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeTo enlarge the focus on international mentoring beyond traditional company-assigned expatriates, this conceptual paper examines important contexts and dynamics of intercultural mentoring involving traditional expatriates and host country nationals (HCNs), with both as mentors and mentees.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper explores how intercultural mentoring in different contexts can guide the individual professional development of expatriates and HCNs, and in doing so, contributes to MNC knowledge management and organization development.FindingsMajor contributions of this paper include increased attention to the role of culture in mentoring, and an illumination of important intercultural mentoring opportunities and imperatives involving traditional company-assigned expatriates and HCNs, who are key global talent players in MNC knowledge management and overall operations performance. This paper also provides practical recommendations on how organizations can facilitate mentoring within a global context, as well as suggestions for viable avenues for future research, including further extending the global talent reach of international mentoring.Originality/valueThis paper emphasizes the importance of taking the intercultural context into account when planning and managing mentoring in MNCs and outlines how culture can affect mentoring relationships involving traditional company-assigned expatriates and HCNs. This contextual aspect has often been neglected in the extant literature, yet can be crucial for the success of mentoring relationships that cross cultural borders. With its inclusion of HCNs, this paper also expands the picture of international mentoring beyond the traditional focus on company-assigned expatriates.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84644544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"It's all in the past: how do colonial legacies between host and home countries affect the expatriate experience?","authors":"Christopher Richardson","doi":"10.1108/jgm-05-2021-0060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-05-2021-0060","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeWithin the expatriation subset of the wider IB literature, the focus of research has been on contemporary contextual factors. The purpose of this paper is to link the present to the past by investigating how the individual expatriate experience may be affected by a colonial legacy between host and home countries.Design/methodology/approachGiven the exploratory nature of this study, a qualitative interview-based approach eliciting thick, detailed descriptions of the practical experiences of seven Japanese expatriate managers working in Malaysia was adopted. These were supplemented by additional interviews with three host-country nationals who work alongside some of the expatriates. The data were analysed through a two-stage coding process.FindingsThe expatriate respondents were largely unanimous in their view that the colonial past between the two countries had no negative impact on their experiences in Malaysia, and the Malaysian interviewees corroborated this. On the contrary, the majority of the expatriates actually spoke positively about their experiences. This was especially true for expatriates in both the tourism and education/research field whose work was linked in some way to the period of Japanese occupation.Research limitations/implicationsThe small, single-context nature of the investigation limits generalisation. There are also many particularities in this study (the nature of Japanese-Malaysian postcolonial relations, cultural values of the Malaysians and Japanese, and so on) that are perhaps not easily relatable to other contexts. Having said this, qualitative research is not always geared towards generalisability but rather towards contextual intricacies and nuances.Originality/valueWhile most of the extant literature on expatriation has examined largely contemporary factors, this paper explores the impact of more historical events on the expatriate experience. Although such events may seem distant from an expatriate's current activities, this study suggests that in certain circumstances, they may have a lingering effect.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"84880146","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A sense of belonging helps! The alleviating effect of national identification on burnout among diplomats","authors":"L. Zhang, Jakob Lauring, Ting Liu","doi":"10.1108/jgm-06-2021-0063","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-06-2021-0063","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis paper aims to explore the interplay between burnout, national identity and career satisfaction among diplomats. In particular, the authors focus on the roles of home and host country identification as an emotional resource for overcoming the negative effects of job-related burnout.Design/methodology/approachSurvey responses from 123 diplomats were used to assess the moderating role of home and host country identification on the relationship between burnout and career satisfaction.FindingsVarious combinations of high or low home or host country identification were tested, and the findings suggest that the negative effect of burnout on career satisfaction is reduced for those individuals that have high identification with both the home and the host country, while this is not the case for other combinations. This points to the beneficial effects of dual national identifications even for diplomats – a group that would normally be expected to identify strongly with the home country alone.Originality/valueNo existing study that the authors know of has explored the relationship between burnout, national identity and career satisfaction among diplomats or other types of expatriates. This is unfortunate because a better understanding of national identity could guide practitioners in finding ways to reduce the negative consequences of burnout in international organizations.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81309563","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"COVID-19 and self-initiated expatriate health workers: Spanish nurses in Germany","authors":"Juan Miguel Rosa González, M. Barker, Dhara Shah","doi":"10.1108/jgm-03-2021-0028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-03-2021-0028","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeGiven that the incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) varies greatly between countries, it becomes relevant to explore self-initiated expatriate (SIE) health workers' perceptions of home vs host country safety during a global pandemic. Thus, the paper aims to study the effects of COVID-19 on the expatriation experience of Spanish SIE nurses in Germany, focussing on perceptions of home and host country safety as push/pull forces on their intentions to repatriate or stay.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews (n = 10) were conducted with Spanish SIE nurses in Germany between April/June 2020 followed by instant messaging interactions with the same participants in October/November 2020. Data analysis was assisted by NVivo software.FindingsOverloaded by information from social networks about the impact of COVID-19 in Spain compared with the situation in Germany, Spanish SIE nurses had exacerbated feelings of stress, and some reported having experienced guilt for not being in their home country. Nevertheless, the contrasting impact and management of the crisis and its relative effect on health workers and the larger society in Spain and Germany reinforced the nurses' intention to stay in Germany.Research limitations/implicationsThe research offers insights to organisations and public authorities involved with providing support to SIEs during crises, highlighting the implications of SIEs' social networks and dual allegiance to home and host countries during a global health emergency.Originality/valueThe study contributes to the growing literature on SIEs, whilst adding to the research on expatriates' well-being and safety during crises.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74863913","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Radical changes in the lives of international professional women with children: from airports to home offices","authors":"Henriett Primecz","doi":"10.1108/jgm-03-2021-0029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-03-2021-0029","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to discover the impact of restrictions connected with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the work and life of international professional women with children.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative, explorative research was conducted with 12 international professional women, who were professional women with children under 12; semi-structured online interviews were used.FindingsThe radical decrease in international travel combined with an increase in online work and the increased demand of parenting resulted in work overflow, temporary re-traditionalisation of gender relations and a radical decrease in international mobility with respect to future prospects.Research limitations/implicationsThe relatively small and non-representative sample needs to be complemented with further investigation into the social and economic consequences of restrictions connected with the COVID-19 pandemic.Social implicationsA large-scale crisis like the pandemic-related lockdown has had a tremendous effect on societies, including with regard to gender relations. Reflection will be needed in the aftermath of the crises and the gender equality achieved before the lockdown needs to be rebuilt.Originality/valueThe exceptional case of the COVID-19 pandemic generated the need to understand the new situation, especially in the life of mobile professionals and women with small children.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76371748","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marina Dabić, M. Moeller, Andrea Caputo, Sebastian Stoermer
{"title":"Guest editorialKnowledge sharing and its management in an international work environment: drivers, challenges and consequences","authors":"Marina Dabić, M. Moeller, Andrea Caputo, Sebastian Stoermer","doi":"10.1108/jgm-12-2021-087","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-12-2021-087","url":null,"abstract":"[...]as organizations begin to rely on a much broader range of global personnel (Reiche et al., 2019;Shaffer et al., 2012) to tap into opportunities that can yield new organizational learning and other positive outcomes, a vast range of global work categories emerged. [...]international work arrangements do not have to necessarily be connected to physically transcending borders. The onsite-offshore phenomenon of service EMNEs,” authored by Hussain Rammal, Parth Patel, João J. Ferreira and Verma Prikshat, examines how emerging market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) operating in the service sector manage knowledge and team members in their overseas subsidiaries and what role expatriates play in their operations. The findings show that Indian IT firms mostly transfer knowledge from headquarters to subsidiaries in host countries using the onsite-offshore model where work is divided and coordinated between team members situated between the two locations.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88214085","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Addressing the knowledge divide: digital knowledge sharing and social learning of geographically dispersed employees during the COVID-19 pandemic","authors":"R. Valk, Gabriella Planojevic","doi":"10.1108/jgm-02-2021-0019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-02-2021-0019","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate digital knowledge sharing (KS) and social learning (SL) of geographically dispersed employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe method is qualitative case study action research within a leading global provider of comprehensive logistics and transportation solutions; 22 employees from various geographically dispersed entities were selected through purposive sampling. Employees took part in interviews to explore their perspectives on and experiences with digital KS and SL.FindingsFindings first show that successful digital KS and SL hinges on the motivation, intentions, attitude and behaviour of employees to share and co-create knowledge embedded in supportive KS culture and climate. Second, findings show that the implementation of knowledge sharing platforms customised to the needs and preferences of employees within the case study organisation facilitated KS and SL, which in turn aided the development of individual and organisational capability, agility and adaptability required in the contemporary, digital knowledge economy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThis research was a single case study of an organisation within one business sector, namely logistics, encompassing a small sample of 22 employees. Hence, this study does not permit statistical generalisation but only permits internal generalisation.Practical implicationsForming and sustaining networks of influencers, i.e. employees who are role models of digital KS and SL, who serve as strong advocates and ambassadors for instilling a KS culture and climate within the organisation have a powerful influence on evoking digital KS and SL organisation-wide.Originality/valueThe contribution of this paper is that it presents an evidence-based “Digital Knowledge Sharing and Social Learning model” depicting the factors that influence digital KS and SL, the benefits and outcomes. This model aids researchers and practitioners to better understand the dynamics of digital KS and SL between organisational members in a cross-cultural business environment during times of crises.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77260465","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sailing through the COVID-19 pandemic: managing expatriates' psychological well-being and performance during natural crises","authors":"Chhaya Mani Tripathi, Tripti Singh","doi":"10.1108/jgm-03-2021-0034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-03-2021-0034","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThe unprecedented challenges brought about by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic affected people's lives worldwide. The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual model to explain how natural crisis events, such as COVID-19, cause stress and influence the psychological well-being (PWB) and performance of expatriates.Design/methodology/approachThe model presented in this conceptual paper is based on Bader and Berg's (2014) two-stage stress emergence and outcome model developed to study expatriates' performance in terrorism-endangered countries. The authors apply their model to natural crisis events and provide propositions to explain the postulated relationships.FindingsThe proposed model delineates the stressors that emerge from psychological and situational factors, and how they impact the PWB and performance of expatriates. The article emphasizes how resilience, social network, and support from the organization, supervisor, and family can help mitigate the adverse effects of stress on the PWB of expatriates. Furthermore, keeping in mind the prevailing situations due to COVID-19, the authors shed light on the indispensability of virtual collaboration in ameliorating expatriates' performance in challenging times.Practical implicationsImplications are discussed for organizations in devising plans and strategies to deal with unforeseen crisis events.Originality/valueThis study extends the expatriation literature to the events of natural crisis by incorporating the stress emergence-outcome model. In doing so, the authors identify the factors relevant to natural crises and apply them to understand how they could impact expatriates in such times.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"87950882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Host country employees’ negative perceptions of successive expatriate leadership: the role of leadership transference and implicit leadership theories","authors":"S. Ciuk, Doris Schedlitzki","doi":"10.1108/jgm-04-2021-0044","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jgm-04-2021-0044","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeDrawing on socio-cognitively orientated leadership studies, this paper aims to contribute to our understanding of host country employees’ (HCEs) negative perceptions of successive expatriate leadership by exploring how their memories of shared past experiences affect these perceptions. Contrary to previous work which tends to focus on HCEs’ attitudes towards individual expatriates, the authors shift attention to successive executive expatriate assignments within a single subsidiary.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is based on an intrinsic case study carried out in a Polish subsidiary of an American multinational pharmaceutical company which had been managed by four successive expatriate General Managers and one local executive. The authors draw on interview data with 40 HCEs. Twenty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff who had been managed by at least three of the subsidiary’s expatriate leaders.FindingsThe authors demonstrate how transference triggered by past experiences with expatriate leaders as well as HCEs’ implicit leadership theories affect HCEs’ negative perceptions of expatriate leadership and lead to the emergence of expatriate leadership schema.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that explores the role of transference and implicit leadership theories in HCEs’ perceptions of successive executive expatriate assignments. By focussing on retrospective accounts of HCEs who had been managed by a series of successive expatriate leaders, our study has generated a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of the role of HCEs’ shared past experiences in shaping their perceptions of expatriate leadership. The authors propose a new concept – expatriate leadership schema – which describes HCEs’ cognitive structures, developed during past experiences with successive expatriate leaders, which specify what HCEs believe expatriate leadership to look like and what they expect from it.","PeriodicalId":44863,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Global Mobility-The Home of Expatriate Management Research","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2021-10-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"81045959","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}