Great expectations? Female expatriates’ perceptions of organisational performance and development reviews in supporting access to international assignments

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the role of organisational performance and development review policy and practice on women’s access to international careers via long-term expatriate assignments in the oil and gas industry, with a specific focus on women’s perceptions of procedural justice. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative cross-sectional case study research design is used to analyse performance and development review, and international assignment policies in two firms, together with in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 14 Human Resource policy custodians and 21 female long-term current assignees. Findings Women assignees do not see performance and development reviews as effective mechanisms to access expatriate roles. Nonetheless, women use these procedures while also operating within senior male networks to signal their desire to expatriate. Research implications This study identifies differences between organisational policy objectives and policy implementation, and female assignees’ experiences and expectations of accessing expatriate roles. Women’s perceptions of organisational justice are not harmed because women place more emphasis on process and conversations than on policy. Research propositions are suggested extending organisational justice theory. Practical implications Clear articulation of performance and development review processes aids organisational succession planning. Formalised, transparent expatriate career management supports women’s access to expatriation. The roles of key personnel in determining access to expatriate career paths require clarification. Originality/value This article extends our knowledge of women’s organisationally-assigned expatriate careers and perceptions of procedural justice. Women use performance and development reviews to access expatriate opportunities. Employer action aligned to policy intent could help increase female expatriate participation

Long-term assignment reward (dis)satisfaction outcomes: hearing women’s voices

Purpose Drawing upon compensating differentials, equity theory and the psychological contract, women’s voices illustrate how organisational policy dissemination, implementation and change can lead to unintended assignee dissatisfaction with reward. Implications arise for organisational justice which can affect women’s future expatriation decisions. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study methodology was employed. Reward policies for long-term international assignments were analysed. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted confidentially with 21 female long-term assignees selected using stratified sampling, and with two managers responsible for international reward policy design/implementation. Findings Policy transparency is required. Women perceive inequity when allowances based on grade are distorted by family status. Women in dual career/co-working couples expect reward to reflect their expatriate status. Reward inequity is reported linked to specific home/host country transfers. Policy change reducing housing and children’s education are major causes of reward dissatisfaction. Research limitations This case study research was cross-sectional and set within one industry. It addressed reward outcomes only for long-term international assignments from the perspectives of women who had accepted expatriation in two oil and gas firms. Practical implications Reward policy should be transparent. Practitioners might consider the inter-relationship between policy elements depending on grade and accompanied status, location pairings, and the effects of policy content delivery to dual career/co-working couples. Originality/value This paper advances the field of international assignment reward by examining compensating differentials, equity and the psychological contract and takes these forward via implications for organisational justice. It identifies reward elements that support women’s expatriation and address their low share of expatriate roles, thereby fostering gender diversity. Future research themes are presented

Women’s expatriate careers: losing trust in organisational equality and diversity policy implementation?

Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional, qualitative research approach draws upon in-depth semi-structured interviews with 14 Human Resources equality/diversity policy implementers and 26 current female expatriates in two oil and gas firms. Purpose This purpose of this paper is to examine how female expatriates interpret the effectiveness of practical implementation of equality/diversity policies, trusting this to support their expatriate careers. Findings Early-career stage female expatriates believe that equality/diversity policy implementation will support their international careers. At the most senior levels, women expatriates highlight unequal treatment breaching their trust in delivery of equality/diversity principles to support their expatriate career progression. Research limitations/implications Longitudinal research is needed to assess how early-career women expatriates’ willingness to trust in organisational equality/diversity principles alters as their careers progress, and the effects of any changing trust relations on their contributions to organisational strategic objectives. Larger senior female expatriate samples are needed to research links between trust relations and turnover. Practical implications Organisations must weigh up benefits from using transparent expatriate selection processes versus less formal mechanisms, if informal processes are not to undermine espoused equality interventions. Unconscious bias training should form part of wide-ranging programmes to tackle discrimination. Senior managerial action with embedded accountability is needed. Originality/value Exploring the rhetoric and reality of equality/diversity policy implementation on women comprising a minority expatriate group, this research demonstrates women expatriates’ early-career trust in gender equality falls away as they first recognise and then accept diminishing female expatriate senior grade representation and the implications for their expatriate careers. Should turnover result, this could detrimentally affect organisational expatriate gender diversity objectives

What do we know about diversity, intersectionality and inclusion in organisationally-assigned expatriation? A review of relocation management company/consultancy practitioner research

Abstract Design/methodology/approach A review of 109 practitioner publications on organisational international assignment policy and practice was conducted to identify trends across three decades in minority expatriation and employer interventions to widen expatriate diversity. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on trends in the deployment of minority expatriates, review organisational interventions to increase expatriate diversity, and to consider the challenges facing employers in widening expatriate diversity through a review of practitioner publications published by relocation management companies/consultancies. Findings Practitioner publications record percentage female expatriate participation and expatriate age profiles. While expatriate diversity challenges are reported, employer interventions focus on supporting women and LGBTQ+ assignees but with little detail on their outcomes. There is little emphasis on ethnicity/race, religion, disability, pregnancy/maternity, intersectionality of diversity characteristics, and inclusion. Research limitations/implications Practitioner publications consulted were primarily Western-focused, with access to a ‘complete’ publications record precluded. Academic research that compares employer policy on diversity interventions with how it is implemented is needed. Practical implications A stronger focus on supporting the full range of expatriate diversity attributes and intersectionality is required, explaining how challenges have been addressed and inclusion achieved. Social implications Analysis of employer interventions could assist organisations to widen expatriate diversity and inclusion, and minorities to access international careers. Originality/value This review of practitioner data reveals trends in the deployment of minority expatriates, interventions taken by employers, and challenges they perceive in widening expatriate diversity, providing a unique perspective and enriching our understanding of academic expatriate diversity research. Path dependent organisational action may hinder employers’ future focus on diversity, inclusion and intersectionality

The NF-κB subunit c-Rel regulates Bach2 tumour suppressor expression in B-cell lymphoma

The REL gene, encoding the NF-κB subunit c-Rel, is frequently amplified in B-cell lymphoma and functions as a tumour-promoting transcription factor. Here we report the surprising result that c-rel–/– mice display significantly earlier lymphomagenesis in the c-Myc driven, Eμ-Myc model of B-cell lymphoma. c-Rel loss also led to earlier onset of disease in a separate TCL1-Tg-driven lymphoma model. Tumour reimplantation experiments indicated that this is an effect intrinsic to the Eμ-Myc lymphoma cells but, counterintuitively, c-rel–/– Eμ-Myc lymphoma cells were more sensitive to apoptotic stimuli. To learn more about why loss of c-Rel led to earlier onset of disease, microarray gene expression analysis was performed on B cells from 4-week-old, wild-type and c-rel–/– Eμ-Myc mice. Extensive changes in gene expression were not seen at this age, but among those transcripts significantly downregulated by the loss of c-Rel was the B-cell tumour suppressor BTB and CNC homology 2 (Bach2). Quantitative PCR and western blot analysis confirmed loss of Bach2 in c-Rel mutant Eμ-Myc tumours at both 4 weeks and the terminal stages of disease. Moreover, Bach2 expression was also downregulated in c-rel–/– TCL1-Tg mice and RelA Thr505Ala mutant Eμ-Myc mice. Analysis of wild-type Eμ-Myc mice demonstrated that the population expressing low levels of Bach2 exhibited the earlier onset of lymphoma seen in c-rel–/– mice. Confirming the relevance of these findings to human disease, analysis of chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing data revealed that Bach2 is a c-Rel and NF-κB target gene in transformed human B cells, whereas treatment of Burkitt's lymphoma cells with inhibitors of the NF-κB/IκB kinase pathway or deletion of c-Rel or RelA resulted in loss of Bach2 expression. These data reveal a surprising tumour suppressor role for c-Rel in lymphoma development explained by regulation of Bach2 expression, underlining the context-dependent complexity of NF-κB signalling in cancer

One-Loop NMHV Amplitudes involving Gluinos and Scalars in N=4 Gauge Theory

We use Supersymmetric Ward Identities and quadruple cuts to generate n-pt NMHV amplitudes involving gluinos and adjoint scalars from purely gluonic amplitudes. We present a set of factors that can be used to generate one-loop NMHV amplitudes involving gluinos or adjoint scalars in N=4 Super Yang-Mills from the corresponding purely gluonic amplitude.Comment: 16 pages, JHEP versio

An Internet-Based Course And The Application Of Employment-Based Methods In Civil Engineering Projects

The paper addresses the question of how educational activities in civil engineering in the Netherlands can contribute to the application of employment-based programs in developing countries. National policy makers and international donor representatives acknowledge the various advantages of employment-based programs. However, for a number of reasons the implementation of such programs generally forms a severe bottleneck. Because of the limited number of implemented programs the employment-based methods have not been sufficiently tested and improved, which in turn inhibits reaching the full potential of the employmentbased policies. The University of Twente (UT) has developed a modest program to assist interested governmental and private organisations to enhance the scope and quality of implementation of projects. Based on the existing body of knowledge - to which in particular ILO, WORK and IHE have contributed - a course has been established that can be followed via the Internet. This course offers the basic principles of employment-based civil engineering as well as a framework to develop and implement project proposals. Each of the three modules consists of course material (texts, pictures and films) and an individual assignment that the student submits to the lecturer. Next, the University's internship and traineeship programs provide interested candidates an opportunity to render practical assistance at the spot while at the same time collecting and processing data. After their preparation at the UT the students normally spend 3 to 4 months abroad, frequently in outlying areas. The preparation and execution are carried out under supervision of University staff, while the University also provides financial support by paying for the international travel. Besides their direct contribution to development activities, the students' experiences and reports form the input for improvements in implementation and policy making. So far over 20 students have executed such assignments, mainly in South Africa. The oral presentation of the paper includes a demonstration of the Internet-based course and a discussion with participants on concrete project ideas